Marriage Negotiations Part I
You tried not to think of your conversation with the Maester as your father summoned you into his chambers. He looked somewhat worn out, though distinctly in good spirits. The negotations were over, or rather, the first phase of negotiations was over. Your father, Otto Hightower, and Prince Qoren spent a number of meetings debating the terms of the marriage agreement.
For starters, there was quite a bit of talk over if Dorne would join the realm at all. Apparently Qoren's vassals had urged instead for basically an eternal alliance of brotherhood, meaning the princedom pledging to be an eternal ally of the Iron Throne and vice versa. Your father and Otto refused to even consider that and eventually convinced Qoren, or rather his lords, to accept that the marriage had to come with Dorne pledging feality to the Iron Throne. The king and the prince were able to come to an agreement on a number of matters, largely those on your list of demands, but things were still unresolved in a fair few more. Apparently the Stepstones were proving quite a source of debate between the two.
With Qoren and your father agreeing to a brief one day pause in negotiations, Viserys saw fit to bring what had been agreed upon already to your attention, figuring if you considered it unworkable then it would be best to end things mid-negotiation rather than to wait until the end.
As you sat on your table, your father handed you a piece of parchment laying out the current terms. Terms that would define you marriage and possibly the rest of your life as well. It read as thus.
Where upon King Viserys Targaryen, first of his name, and Prince Qoren Nymerios Martell have agreed to a union of their two families, the Prince Qoren is to take King Viserys eldest daughter and heir, Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, to be his bride under the following terms.
- Upon the signing of the marriage agreement by all parties, the Princedom of Dorne and the Iron Throne are to enter into a binding alliance, pledging to come to each other defense and provide aid as needed. This alliance is to last until Rhaenyra Targaryen is crowned as ruling Queen of the Seven Kingdoms, whereupon Prince Qoren or his successor will pledge eternal feality to the Iron Throne.
- The wedding between Rhaenyra Targaryen and Prince Qoren is to be held in King's Landing, ideally at the start of spring, but no more than than eighteen months after the agreement is signed.
- Prince Qoren requests that his intended bride visits Sunspear at least once before the wedding.
- Two handmaidens, twins of house Qorgyle, will be provided to Rhaenyra to assist with the wedding preperations.
- The Bedding Ceremony will be absent from the wedding.
- Prince Qoren and his succesors will retain the title of Prince or Princess of Dorne, but will acknowledge their feality to the Iron Throne.
- For six years after Rhaenyra's coronation, Dorne's taxes to the Iron Throne will be reduced. For the first three years, Dorne will pay the third part of the taxes and twice that for the following three years. After that period, taxes rates will be in line with the rest of the realm.
- Prince Qoren or a vassal of his choosing is to be given a seat on the Small Council upon Rhaenyra's coronation.
- Dornish Laws will take precedent over laws of the Iron Throne within Dorne unless a change is agreed to by both the ruling prince or princess and the reigning monarch.
- Hence forward, succession of the Iron Throne will fall to to the eldest legitmate child of the ruling king or queen. If they have no children of legitmate birth, succession will instead fall to their eldest legitmate sibling.
- Children born of the union of Rhaenyra Targaryen and Qoren Martell will carry the Targaryen family name of their mother. The eldest surviving child will inherit the Iron Throne while the second eldest will inherit the Princedom of Dorne and Sunspear, and take the name Nymerios Martell upon the death of their father.
- No Child born of Rhaenyra Targaryen and Prince Qoren will be denied their right to a dragon egg or to attempt to claim dragon for themselves.
- The heir to Dorne will be raised in Sunspear from the age of five, health premitting. Additionally, the Prince Requests that if a son is born after the two heirs, that they squire with a dornish vassal when they reach an appropriate age. Rhaenyra will have control of over the raising of her heir and all children not mentioned previously.
- It is asked that Rhaenyra not name any of her children after Aegon the Conqueror or his wives, Visenya and Rhaenys, so as to avoid any awkwardness with the people of Dorne.
You looked over the current terms. The naming thing annoyed you a fair bit. Visenya was a perfectly fine name for a princess. Besides that, most of it sounded decent at least. You were thrilled to see the children would keep your name for starters. Deals along that line were apparently somewhat common practice in Dorne when an heir to a vassal house ended up married to the heir to house Martell. You were annoyed that he wanted a heavy hand in upbringing of two of your possible children though. Apparently Qoren thought having your children act as wards for a few of his more skeptical vassals would soothe some of the tensions this marriage would cause. Eventually, your father convinced him to narrow it down to just one.
The terms of Dorne joining the fold left you conflicted. That it wouldn't actually happen until you joined was a mixed blessing. On the one hand, it meant that for a long while to come the only thing this match really brought you was an alliance with a hated enemy. In the other hand, it did meant that your reign would begin with an incredible victory. You didn't think the tax thing was a particularly big deal since it was only temporary and you could see the wisdom of Qoren's argument that it would help the Dornish to adjust to the extra taxes.
The law thing did concern you somewhat more. Jaehaerys had codified the laws of the Seven Kingdoms with only very limited expections allowed for some realms to have their own laws on specific matters. Dorne being the exception would anger some lords. Recent conversations had very much given you distinct apathy towards the feelings of the lords of the realm, but you weren't blind to their grumbling.
Then there was the wedding. Clearly Qoren was hoping for a short winter. Eighteen months wasn't a short engagement, but it was mayhaps not as long as you desired.
With the negotiations taking a short respite, you knew this was a good chance to talk to Qoren and convince him to change some of the terms, or perhaps discuss matters yet unsettled with him such as the Stepstones. Or you could just accept the terms as they were of course. It would probably improve your father and Qoren's moods. Or reject them entirely.
How Do You React To the Current Terms?
[] Accept them as is
[] Reject Them (This Will Have Ramifications)
[] Speak to Qoren About the Deal (This will involve Hidden Dice Rolls)
-[] Write-in Which Term(s) you wish to discuss
--[] (Optional) Write-in an Arguement (This will effect Dice Rolls)
6 Hour Moratorium
QM's Note: The Conversation with Laena will be in the update after this since I presume you will probably want to talk to Qoren. If not Well I'll just make it an interlude no big deal. Wanted the focus to be on the opening round of the marriage negotiations considering how important it is. Handling this is a bit differently because this is such a big deal I do not want changing terms to be something simple and easy. Couldn't find an image I liked for this update.