[AELOR’S POV]
That night, after King Jaehaerys and Prince Aemon had landed and settled into the castle, the pizza and the sweet apple cider I had made were served at a private family dinner between the royal family and our own.
I could still vividly remember the surprise on the king’s face the moment he first bit into the warm cheese and bread.
“Where did you learn to make this delicious dish?” the king asked me.
He took a second slice almost as soon as he had swallowed the first.
The Queen ate the pizza too, but at a much more controlled and graceful pace.
She had already grown used to the taste over the past month, and she had once declared that she was eating for two.
Her children showed no such restraint.
Even Prince Vaegon, whom the castle staff knew as a notoriously picky eater, devoured slice after slice, and King Jaehaerys and Aemon ate with just as fierce an appetite.
Aemon, who had spent a month on the fare at the Red Keep, ate three slices before he remembered his manners.
I purposely did not answer the King’s question right away.
I honestly did not know whether it was meant to be rhetorical or serious.
But seeing that the King ignored my silence and happily reached for more pizza, I ultimately took his words to be rhetorical.
If he pressed me later, I would blame a happy accident with the cider yeast and a great many failed experiments.
Across the table, my mother hid a smile behind her cup.
After the dinner ended, Princess Rhaena and King Jaehaerys sat down to discuss the complex matters of the grand tourney that would soon be held in the grounds of Harrenhal.
I sat nearby with a book open in my lap and listened to every word.
They focused on the prizes and the funding required for such a massive event.
King Jaehaerys formally agreed to give one hundred thousand gold dragons from the royal treasury as the budget for the entire tourney.
My mother, meanwhile, had leveraged her lucrative partnerships with the local merchants.
By allowing them to set up commercial stalls within the tourney grounds, she had easily secured another fifty thousand gold dragons for the prize pool.
That sum was a little under twenty percent of the total coin shares she had secured from her clever deals with the merchant guilds.
In return for so generous a contribution, King Jaehaerys granted House Towers a royal tax exemption on this venture.
My mother was extremely satisfied, since the exemption would save our house a significant amount of coin in the years to come.
Once the funding was settled, ravens were swiftly sent out to the other noble houses across the realm.
They flew from the castle rookery in flocks, black shapes scattering into the evening sky.
The scrolls they carried formally invited the lords to travel to our territory for the tournament, which would begin right after the birth of Queen Alysanne’s child.
——————- You are reading on g.com, the official source.
[AELOR’S POV]
A month had passed since King Jaehaerys and Prince Aemon returned to our territory.
Now I stood with my mother outside the castle, greeting honored guests.
I silently watched the massive influx of canvas tents, bright banners, and noble colors filling the green fields.
The smell of woodsmoke and roasting meat drifted from a hundred cook fires, and the murmur of the growing crowd rolled across the grass like surf.
As the queen’s expected due date approached, more and more nobles arrived from across the realm.
They clearly wanted to attend the grand event, seeing it as a perfect chance to formally meet and speak with the royal family.
Since morning, I had been required to stay at my mother’s side as the high lords arrived at the castle gates.
Each one introduced himself and the family members who had traveled with him, and my mother introduced me to the powerful lords of the realm in turn.
“Lord Edmure Tully, it is a pleasure to finally meet you,” my mother said as she greeted the tall man standing in front of us.
He was the current Lord of House Tully and the ruling lord of Riverrun.
He was the nephew of the late Lord Prentys Tully, who had died along with his wife without leaving an heir, and so Edmure had inherited Riverrun and the title of Lord Paramount of the Trident.
“Princess Rhaena, it is a great honor and a true pleasure to meet the woman responsible for slowly restoring the prestige of Harrenhal. It is a vital symbol of power for the Riverlands, whatever its history,” Lord Edmure said.
My mother inclined her head, and I felt a flicker of quiet pride from her.
Lord Edmure’s manner toward her was deeply respectful.
Through my passive telepathy, I could read his surface thoughts, and I could tell that he genuinely admired her and her recent work.
“I present to you Prince Aelor Towers. He will inherit Harrenhal once he comes of age,” my mother said, introducing me.
I greeted him with the courtesy due to his high station.
Despite my own standing as a prince, he was still the overlord of our house in the Riverlands.
“Ah, the blessed prince! I am truly honored to meet the boy who has been blessed by the Seven themselves. I did not think the wild rumors were true, but ever since I arrived within these walls, the ache I usually feel in my joints at my age has been slowly disappearing,” Lord Edmure said to me, rubbing his shoulder in wonder.
I smiled warmly at him.
“You praise me too much, Lord Edmure. I am the honored one, for I have finally met the Lord of Riverrun and the overlord of our house. I hope this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship between our two houses,” I said with a polite smile.
I had slipped in a line from a movie of my past life, but sadly, no one in this world would ever get the joke.
“Ha! Handsome, respectful, and blessed with a silver tongue. The future Lord of Harrenhal will surely fill his halls with broken hearts,” Lord Edmure declared.
He laughed loudly at his own joke, and I found it funny too.
But before I could laugh along with him, the stern stare my mother sent my way made me swallow the laughter in my throat.
“This is my only heir, Brynden. I truly hope that the two of you become good friends,” Lord Edmure said, introducing his young son.
Lord Edmure waited patiently for Brynden to introduce himself, but the boy was clearly shy.
He stared at his boots and could not even meet my eyes, and all I caught was a mumble that might have been my name.
Lord Edmure’s proud expression soured with disappointment for a brief moment before he composed himself.
My mother noticed his embarrassment too, but we both politely said nothing to spare his pride.
“Please excuse my son’s quiet manner. He is simply shy around new people, but once you know him, you will find him a brilliant boy. I only hope he outgrows it,” Lord Edmure said by way of explanation.
“Do not worry, Lord Edmure. Children are often shy at this age, and we take no offense,” my mother assured him kindly.
Brynden gave a small nod, which I took as the best answer I would get.
I made a mental note to find something he might like later, perhaps a book or a gentle pony.
My mother and Lord Edmure then began a private conversation about trade.
With my duties briefly finished, my attention was drawn to a noblewoman sitting in a wooden chair near the fluttering banner of House Bracken.
‘A red stallion on the banner and a proud dark-haired lady beneath it.
I can only conclude that she is a Bracken,’ I thought with amusement, pleased that my memory of the histories was holding up.
Then a knight in heavy armor bearing the sigil of House Blackwood strode proudly past the seated lady.
Her expression soured at once.
She glared at the rival knight and closed her fist tightly, then slowly let the anger go, taking a few calming breaths.
Her reaction confirmed my guess about her house and proved that the legendary feud between the Brackens and the Blackwoods was very real.
My mother had clearly expected it, since she had already ordered their pavilions set at opposite ends of the fields.
Just as the trade discussion between my mother and the Lord of Riverrun was ending, several town criers began to announce the birth of a new royal princess.
The news came directly from the maester attending the queen.
My mother and I had been busy entertaining the noble guests in the yard, so we had missed the labor itself.
But I already knew of the birth.
My magical senses had brushed against the Queen’s presence throughout, and the servants I had asked to keep me informed had passed along the news.
The labor had been extremely easy and brief for her, and the child, Princess Saera Targaryen, was healthy.
I knew that name from the histories, and it did not belong to a happy story.
‘Not this time,’ I thought, and I made a private vow to see to it, as I had for Daella and Vaegon.
The castle servants began to open massive casks of the new wine I had created, and the visiting lords shouted loudly for a grand celebration as the sweet drinks were distributed.
I also sent a servant down to the cellar for the small cask I had set aside as a gift for the queen.
My mother quickly said her goodbyes to Lord Edmure.
She and I needed to leave the crowded courtyard and greet the queen to congratulate her on the birth.