Author note at the end.
That 7 + 15 dollars is gonna last me a while.
Also ‘Violet’ let me know if you want to kill any character or name any character in the future.
I have extremely conflicting emotions about the Eyrie.
On one hand, the view is something I would die for.
Oldtown and the Eyrie share a certain grandeur in that regard, Oldtown gives you that long, sweeping look over the sea and the Reach, while the Eyrie shows the mountain ranges in all their breathtaking beauty.
Absolutely stunning.
On the other hand, anyone with even a mild fear of heights is completely fucked.
Let’s not pretend the construction of this place makes any sense.
One decent earthquake, one bad landslide, and the entire castle is finished.
“A fine hall, Lady Arryn.” I commented as I looked down the moon door.
“I see the reason your ancestors have been High Kings of Vale for centuries.”
“They were visionaries, my prince.” She replied.
“They knew who they could keep to their sides and who to cast down, they were not the High kings simply because the Eyrie was impregnable but they held each lord and heard court, they knew the difference between honor and hostage.”
Yeah, no.
The only fucking reason the Arryns ever became High Kings was the Eyrie.
Outwardly, I simply nodded in polite agreement.
A house that has always held its honor so high it nearly choked on it… and the only reason they’ve survived this long in this brutal world is because their castle is basically impossible to siege.
“True words, Lady Jeyne.” I smiled.
“I agree with your words more than you would understand.”
I let out a sigh and displayed my hands dramatically, putting on an act.
“Lady Arryn, you hold the Vale together as it’s lady paramount and as you might have heard from the ravens coming out of Kingslanding, my father, Viserys the Peaceful, is with the gods.” I sadly nodded.
“And in his place, a new King has risen, Aegon Targaryen, second of his name.”
Her eyes narrowed as she rested her chin lightly between slender fingers, studying me with quiet intensity.
I knew she wasn’t the same person from the show.
I was fairly certain Hailey Bieber had never appeared in the show.
“And your sister?” she asked, each word clear.
“The named heir. Has she agreed to this… ascending?”
I folded my hands together as I said.
“I truly pray to the gods that she sees reason, my lady. I bear her no ill will. But to send letters across the realm naming my brother a child-killer, a man who never met the babe, and who was nowhere near Dragonstone when the child died, that is madness.”
She gave a small, dismissive shrug.
Her lips curled as she rolled her eyes.
“The words of a grieving mother who lost both her child and her inheritance in the same moon.” A soft snort escaped her.
“They might seem like madness to a man who has never carried a child himself.”
I smiled and inclined my head in acknowledgment.
“You are right, of course, my lady. I am unwed. I have no children of my own. I cannot claim to understand that particular grief.” I let the pause linger just long enough.
“Though that is something you could always help change—”
The great doors of the High Hall swung open with a sudden force and a herald stepped forward, staff striking the stone once as he prepared to announce the new arrival.
“Prince Jacaerys Velaryon!” the herald announced.
He moved with a strange stiffness as if he was trying very hard not to breathe too loudly, yet still somehow managed to look sturdy enough to keep advancing.
He entered the High Hall like a boy who had prepared for every possibility but not knowing what to expect.
Then his eyes landed on me and he stopped dead in his tracks.
His gaze flicked rapidly between Lady Jeyne and myself, widening with each pass.
The poor kid looked like someone had just rewritten the entire script of his diplomatic mission mid-sentence.
I simply smiled and gave him a small, friendly wave.
Lady Jeyne rose for a brief moment in courtesy before settling back into her seat.
“My prince,” she said evenly, “you are welcome in my humble hall.”
A beat of silence stretched.
Jace’s eyes were still locked on me.
Finally, with visible effort, he forced his attention back to the Lady of the Eyrie.
“I… I would not use the word humble to describe this place, my lady,” he managed, offering a polite smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.
“I am honored to be here. And I am delighted to say I bring a letter from my mother, your cousin…”
His gaze flicked toward me again, sharper this time.
“…and your queen. Rhaenyra Targaryen.”
“Quince,” Jeyne called.
An older maester with greying hair and a long, carefully combed beard stepped down from her side.
He accepted the sealed parchment from Jace with both hands, broke the wax, and carefully unrolled it.
“Read it aloud, Maester.”
“Yes, my lady.” The old man cleared his throat.
“To Lady Jeyne Arryn of the Eyrie, Lady Regent and Paramount of the Vale—”
To simplify the long letter, it goes like this: Hey Gurl, I’m your long distance cousin/Queen, I’m in a bit of a tussle, my asshole brother has stole by favourite chair and I need a few people to throw hands, btw your father was like totally my side and my mom always talked about your stupid hill hut, anyway see you in war, ciao bestie.
I may have exaggerated it but that was the context.
“Prince Jacaerys,” Jeyne said once the maester had finished.
“you have brought me a letter from a queen. Yet not long before your arrival I received an envoy from a king. It would appear House Targaryen itself no longer knows who rules it.”
Jace stepped forward quickly, the careful composure he had managed until now beginning to crack.
“My mother is the rightful queen, my lady. Your own father, along with a hundred other lords, swore sacred oaths to uphold her as heir. Those pledges still stand. And now an imbecile impostor sits the Iron Throne in her place.”
I gave a small, almost invisible shrug.
Can’t really argue with the “imbecile” part, if we’re being honest.
Still, I couldn’t exactly sit there looking supportive while someone talked shit about my side of the family.
Time to Saul Goodman this entire situation.
“It is true, my lady,” I said, nodding once.
Both of them looked at me in mild surprise.
Jace’s mouth opened slightly, as if he hadn’t expected me to concede even that much.
“Your father did swear an oath to Princess Rhaenyra,” I continued.
“And it would be perfectly wise of you to honour his word. I have nothing to say against the oath itself…”
I let the pause linger just long enough.
“…except this.”
I shifted slightly in my seat, folding my hands together in a gesture that looked almost thoughtful.
“There were claims against your succession, my lady. Raised by your own cousins. Not once, but twice. Yet you rose above them. The mountain clans banded together and rebelled against the Gates of the Moon. Yet you prevailed. Where was Princess Rhaenyra then?”
Jace’s expression tightened, but I kept my eyes on Lady Jeyne.
“A single word from her, a public declaration of support, would have solidified your claim beyond question. Had she climbed Syrax and flown over these mountains, the rebellion would have been crushed in a day. Where was she?”
“And yet now she writes to you. Now, when she has need of the Vale. She never answered when you might have needed her. She never bothered to ask if you required aid. She was silent when your succession was challenged and absent when your banners were tested.”
I offered a small, almost regretful smile.
“So by all means, my lady… follow the words of your father. Honour the oath he swore. I will not stop you.”
I sat back, letting the words settle in the high, cold air of the hall.
“I simply thought you deserved to hear the full accounting before you decided.”
Her brows arched high.
A slow, low-hanging smile curled at the corner of her mouth as she weighed the points I had just made.
She was clearly turning them over in her mind and she was not the only one.
Jace had noticed the shift too.
I could see it in the way his shoulders tensed.
Her favour was beginning to tilt, and he knew it.
“My lady,” he said, stepping forward once more, voice tighter than before, “I am here to remind you of the oaths your father made to my mother. To ask you to raise your banners and aid us in striking down the false king Aegon… as you must. As it is your duty.”
Oh shit.
He did not just say that, he just told a woman what she must do, like that ever worked out.
Her smile vanished immediately and her brows rose even higher.
“I must?” she repeated, each word precise and cold.
“You seem to forget where you stand, Prince Jacaerys. This is my hall. Do not presume to remind me of my duty.”
She leaned forward slightly, eyes sharp.
“My duty is to the Vale. You are asking me to pluck men from their homes and their families and send them to bleed in a war they had no voice in starting. Is that the duty you speak of?”
Jace’s face coloured.
The anger and urgency that had driven the words out of him drained away just as quickly and his gaze dropped to the floor.
“Forgive me, my lady,” he said, voice quieter now.
“I did not mean it in such a way.”
Jeyne let out a slow breath, visibly forcing herself back to calm.
“You both stand in my presence,” she began.
“asking me to risk the lives of Vale men, to raise my banners and pledge my allegiance—”
“No.”
The word left my mouth sharper than I intended.
I shook my head once, firmly.
Jeyne paused mid-sentence.
Her head tilted slightly to the side.
“Pardon, my prince?”
“You misunderstood the purpose of my visit, Lady Arryn,” I said, keeping my tone polite but clear.
“I did not come here to ask you to raise your banners for my brother. Nor am I here to demand your allegiance. Such a pledge would, of course, be most welcome to the King… but I would never ask you to throw the lives of your men into the middle of my family’s feud.”
I let that settle for a beat.
“No,” I continued.
“I am here to discuss something else entirely.”
Her eyes narrowed a fraction, curiosity cutting through the residual irritation.
“And what is that?”
I offered her a small, carefully coy smile.
“Your hand.”