“There’s something else you should know,” Doctor Vysaris added.
Lancel thought for a moment.
“I think I understand what you’re getting at.
Evans, your homeland is still independent, isn’t it.”
Evans Dayne straightened with a touch of pride.
“Yes, my lord.
Dorne has never bent the knee to any northern monarch.
Not since the warrior queen Nymeria crossed the sea with ten thousand ships and wed Mors Martell.
Even when Aegon the Conqueror burned our castles with his dragons, we stood unbowed in the deserts and rivers south of the Red Mountains.
My ancestor King Dorian Dayne once ruled the Torrentine before he bent the knee to the warrior queen.
Another ancestor, Ser Davos Dayne, became her prince consort after she was widowed.”
“I heard you brought down a dragon,” Lancel said.
His handsome young face gave nothing away.
“Yes.” Evans nodded.
“Meraxes’s bones still lie in the Ullers’ hall at Hellholt.”
Lynn Valtaken grinned and cut in.
“Not that I want to bring this up, but his ancestors here helped destroy the Rhoynar.
They rode dragons and nearly boiled the whole Rhoyne dry.”
“My lord, that was almost a thousand years ago,” Evans said.
“We take pride in Rhoynish blood, but we don’t inherit our ancestors’ grudges.
And you…”
“My name is Valezeth.
My family were dragonlords of Valyria.
The last Valyrian emperor, Orion Valezeth, is my direct ancestor.” Lancel answered the unspoken question.
“Of course, we’re no longer a dragonlord house.
We lost all our dragons.”
The boy glanced at the people around him and sighed.
“No point hiding it.
My mother was Princess Saera Targaryen.
Now do you see why I’m asking about the state of Westeros?”
Evans froze.
His brain needed a moment to catch up.
A son of Princess Saera.
That put him in the same generation as Viserys I, who sat the Iron Throne right now.
Was he planning to return to Westeros?
Press a claim?
Was that why he wanted to know the current situation?
But the Great Council of 101 had already ruled out the claims of Saera’s children.
No.
Evans suddenly remembered the problem Westeros was facing right now, and a chill ran through him.
“Relax,” Lancel said.
“I’m only asking.
I’m Princess Saera’s trueborn son, but I know perfectly well I have no claim.
I just want to understand my mother’s homeland.
She kept murmuring its name until the day she died.”
He paused.
In truth, Princess Saera had murmured two names before she died.
She cursed Jaehaerys.
She missed Alysanne.
Evans knew this was just a pretext, but he had to give as complete a picture as he could.
“Let’s start with the current state of the Seven Kingdoms.” Lancel raised a hand.
Doctor Vysaris drew an old map from his coat and spread it on the floor.
A complete map of Westeros.
“As you can see, the Six Kingdoms are ruled by King Viserys I of House Targaryen.
He is your, your…” Evans stumbled, then steadied himself.
He had forged a history link, after all, and his noble birth meant the politics of the Seven Kingdoms were no mystery to him.
“My cousin.
Go on.” This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
“From north to south.
The North is the largest of the Seven Kingdoms.
The vast Neck divides it from the southern realms.
It’s bitterly cold year-round.
Even in long summers, snow falls.
It’s also the poorest of the Seven.
The North is ruled by the Warden of the North, Lord Rickon Stark of Winterfell.
When the pirates took me, Lord Rickon had been bedridden for a long time.
His son Cregan Stark will be the North’s next ruler.”
“I’ve heard there’s a great Wall in the north of Westeros, built to hold back legendary death and real wildlings.” Lancel pointed north of Winterfell.
“Yes.
One of the most magnificent structures in the Seven Kingdoms.
Legend says Brandon the Builder, the Starks’ ancestor, raised the Wall with the help of giants and the children of the forest.” Evans chose his words carefully.
“Though the Citadel’s scholars believe the Others, the so-called embodiment of death, exist only in myth.
The archmaesters are more convinced the Wall was built by the North’s early rulers to keep the wildlings beyond it at bay.”
“The Citadel still rejects the mystical.
Hmph.” Doctor Vysaris was displeased.
“Have they forgotten the Citadel itself was founded on the study of the higher mysteries?”
Evans did not dare answer his teacher’s teacher.
He pressed on.
“South of the Neck lies the Riverlands, the basin of the Trident.
Rich soil, flat terrain.
House Frey of the Crossing is a newly wealthy house.
They made a fortune charging tolls and rose to great nobility, but the Riverlands’ lords all look down on them.
House Blackwood of Raventree Hall and House Bracken of Stone Hedge both once ruled as kings in the Riverlands.
Their feud goes back a thousand years.”
Evans went through the great houses one by one.
“House Tully of Riverrun serves as Lord Paramount of the Trident, guarding the Riverlands for the king.
But the Trout Lord’s authority is weak.
The Riverlords prefer to settle their own affairs.
Harrenhal on the shores of the Gods Eye is the largest castle in the Seven Kingdoms.
House Strong rules there.
They lost their lord and heir the year before last.
The current Lord of Harrenhal is a cripple.”
“And it’s ground every army must cross.” Lancel confirmed what he had already studied.
The Riverlands were fertile, populous, lacked strong leadership, and sat surrounded by enemies.
If war broke out, this would be Westeros’s main battlefield.
“The Vale to the east is a closed-off region.
The Bloody Gate in the mountains holds the only road in or out.
Gulltown on the western coast dominates the Vale’s sea trade.
The Vale is ruled by Lady Jeyne Arryn of the Eyrie.
Under the Lady of the Vale, the region is prosperous and stable, but it rarely appears in the court politics of Westeros.”
“The Westerlands are ruled by the Warden of the West, Lord Jason Lannister of Casterly Rock.
The Westerlands are rich in gold.
Despite all the mountains, it’s one of the wealthiest regions in the Seven Kingdoms.
Lord Jason’s brother, Ser Tyland Lannister, was already serving at King Viserys I’s court before I was captured.
He’s close with Ser Otto Hightower of the Reach.”
“The Reach faces problems similar to the Riverlands.” Speaking of his homeland’s old neighbor, Evans clearly knew more.
“The Reach is the oldest and richest region in the Seven Kingdoms.
Legend says Garth Greenhand spread his seed across the Reach and tilled the land.
The Citadel, of course, believes Garth Greenhand was a tribal chieftain from the Age of the First Men.
Either way, the current Lord Paramount of the Reach, House Tyrell of Highgarden, are only the descendants of stewards who served the Gardener kings.
House Hightower of Oldtown, House Rowan of Goldengrove, House Florent of Brightwater Keep, House Peake of Starpike, House Redwyne of the Arbor, House Tarly of Horn Hill, these ancient houses hold vast lands and large armies, and they all claim noble blood tracing back to Garth Greenhand himself.
None of them take Tyrell rule seriously.
Especially House Hightower of Oldtown.
“Westeros is full of internal conflict, it seems.” Lancel studied the other side of the map.
“The Stormlands are ruled by Lord Boremund Baratheon of Storm’s End.
The Stag Lord often clashes with us Dornishmen, but Dorne respects him as a man of worth.
He values oaths, duty, and honor.
His son Borros Baratheon, though, is a rogue and a turncloak.” Speaking of Dorne’s old rivals, Evans grew heated.
“Please continue.” Lynn Valtaken, who had been listening with relish, steered him back on track.
“Dorne is ruled by Prince Qoren of Sunspear.
He’s a cautious leader.” Evans had little to say about his lord’s lord.
He turned to the corner of the map.
“These are the Iron Islands.
The ironborn, who worship the Drowned God, thrive here.
House Greyjoy rules these rocky sea islands.
They’re devoted to reaving and follow the Old Way of taking what they want.
The Iron Throne has banned it many times.
It’s had no effect.”
“That was inevitable.” One look at the Iron Islands’ location and size, and Lancel understood.
The ironborn turning to reaving was almost a foregone conclusion.
“Finally, the king on the Iron Throne.” Evans added, “Though not the king of Dorne.”
“It can’t be denied that King Viserys is a decent king.
He’s continued the policies of Jaehaerys the Conciliator and kept the realm largely stable.
Dorne, too, has mostly enjoyed lasting peace.
But events in recent years have unsettled the whole realm.” Evans sorted through the timeline in his head and went on.
“King Viserys’s first queen died in childbirth, taking the king’s only son with her.
After that, the king had a falling-out with his brother, Prince Daemon Targaryen.
In the end, he named Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, the Realm’s Delight, as his heir.
The Princess of Dragonstone.
She’s also the rider of the dragon Syrax.
But the king soon married Queen Alicent Hightower.
The queen gave him sons: Prince Aegon, Prince Aemond, and Prince Daeron.
This has led many lords to quietly oppose the princess remaining heir.”
“That’s only natural.” Lancel thought of himself and the unlucky fool who had lost his head.
“Viserys’s own claim came from King Jaehaerys using ‘popular will’ to deny his eldest granddaughter and his daughter their rights.
Now he wants to break the tradition of male primogeniture.
How do you think the lords feel about that?”
“But the king has always been ambiguous.
And the princess made her own misstep.
The three sons she bore her first husband, Ser Laenor Velaryon, son of the Sea Snake Lord Corlys Velaryon, have no Valyrian features at all.”
Lancel’s interest sharpened.
Curiosity seized him.
There was a story here.
“People whisper that the three boys are bastards the princess had with her sworn shield, Harwin Strong.
But the boys all hatched dragons, and the king punished anyone who spoke of it.
Few dare discuss it now.”
“Their mother carries the blood of the dragonlords.” Lancel understood.
“The father matters less.”
“After Ser Laenor and his sister Lady Laena died the year before last, the princess and Prince Daemon, who had lost Lady Laena, wed in joy.” Evans sorted through the royal relationships again.
“But around that time, Queen Alicent’s second son, Prince Aemond, clashed with the princess’s second son, Prince Lucerys.
Prince Lucerys put out one of Prince Aemond’s eyes.
Prince Aemond then claimed Lady Laena’s dragon, Vhagar.”
“An eye for a dragon.” Lancel didn’t think that was a bad trade.
The Targaryens were probably happy about it.
The Velaryons might be close kin, but they were still Velaryons, not Targaryens.
“So the rift between the princess and the queen deepened.
In the two years since, the princess and Prince Daemon have lived mostly on Dragonstone.
The queen assists the king in ruling from King’s Landing.
Everything is very calm.”
Very calm?