During the War of the Ninepenny Kings I had co to know Rickard Stark and Steffon Baratheon, and before long we were friends. We had a great deal in common and had saved each other's lives more than once. After the war we kept up our friendship, and they showed the highest form of trust one lord can give another. Robert Baratheon and Eddard Stark were sent to the Vale for to foster and raise.
Everything had been going well, but Aerys began to raise taxes on everything beyond all reason, in service of his "great" projects. There was widespread outrage, and Tywin Lannister worked to stabilize matters, though Aerys actively undermined his every effort. The lords endured it, because the Small Council had assured everyone that taxes would be reduced once winter passed. Winter ca and went, and nothing changed, and the Crown's appetite showed no sign of shrinking. If things continued as they were, famine would follow. This was plain to , plain to Rickard, and plain to Steffon, but Baratheon was too devoted to Aerys and would not hear of taking any part in it. Then an accident happened, and Robert beca the new Lord of the Stormlands. The only ones who grew rich from hunger were the Reach, with the Tyrells at its head. When Robert asked Rickard for the hand of his daughter Lyanna Stark, we understood: this was our mont. Lord Stark moved quickly to arrange a betrothal between his son and heir and the daughter of Hoster Tully.
When a lone man goes to a madman with demands, he will get nothing. But when four kingdoms co to you with demands, you have very little choice but to listen.
But as they say, appetite grows with eating. Where before we had wanted only to restore things to how they were, now we would demand the sa rights as Dorne. Because Dorne had joined the Seven Kingdoms through marriage rather than conquest, it enjoyed a great many privileges. Dorne won the right to assess and gather the taxes due to the Iron Throne with only irregular oversight from the Red Keep. The Red Keep essentially had to take their word for it. That was what we wanted for ourselves. Our resolve beca complete when Tywin Lannister chose to join us through a proposed marriage between Jai Lannister and Lysa Tully. But Hoster managed to squander that opportunity, Lysa was dishonored, the betrothal collapsed, and the Golden Lion was offended.
So ti after the tournant at Harrenhal was announced, a ssenger from Prince Rhaegar arrived and delivered a letter. In brief, the Prince asked to attend the tournant so that we might settle our difficulties there. This intrigued . I had intended to go in any case, since every lord of any standing would be present and I hoped to find a match for Axel.
But before we departed, Axel was struck down by an unknown illness. He ran a fever and suffered periodic fits, and Maester Bart had no knowledge of the sickness and could give no guarantees.
As much as I wished to remain at the Eyrie, I was needed at Harrenhal, and a great deal depended on it.
At Harrenhal my first order of business was to find my wards. We sat together the whole evening trading news and stories, though in truth it was mostly Robert who talked, with Ned listening and adding his agreent in the right places. It ward . If I am being plain: I had missed our evenings together very much.
The following morning there was work to be done. Together with Rickard and Hoster I began mapping out our shared position toward the Iron Throne and Prince Rhaegar. A thought kept nagging at : why would the Prince organize a tournant of this scale, with this degree of splendor? And why gather all the paramount lords in a single place? Then the pieces fell into place. Lords only assembled together for a Great Council. Which ant Rhaegar wanted to secure the lords' support in order to remove his father from power. It was a compelling thought, and a highly plausible one, and I shared it with the others. We ca to agree that it was almost certainly true. Then the question beca: how to act? We needed to put forward our conditions. If those conditions were too brazen, we were rebels, and war would follow. If our strength proved insufficient, we were rebels, and war would follow regardless, so we set about calculating the worst case.
The reckoning ca to this: the North was entirely with us, but the lords would not give their full asure, so fifteen thousand swords at most. The Vale was two thirds behind us, the Arryn-Royce alliance would crush any resistance there, twenty thousand swords. The Riverlands offered one third behind us, another third neutral, and the last third for the Crown, ten thousand swords. The Stormlands were split half for Robert and half for the Crown, fifteen thousand swords. The Westerlands would go however Tywin directed, forty thousand swords in question. The Reach, Dorne, and the Crownlands stood for the Crown, sixty, twelve, and fifteen thousand swords respectively. Open confrontation was a last resort in which no one would co out a winner.
That accounting cooled our heads. Our demands would be plain and reasonable: restore the old level of taxation, grant a temporary reprieve to allow recovery after winter, rein in the Tyrells and their extortionate grain prices, rein in the Martells and their ever-expanding privileges, secure seats on the Small Council and at Court for representatives of our alliance, and by way of earnest intent, a betrothal between Princess Rhaenys Targaryen and Axel Arryn. By evening we had settled on it and agreed to use it as our foundation when eting with the Prince.
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