The Little Cub
Part 47 - The Crowned Stag
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After three hundred and forty years under one ruler, the kingdom of Westeros broke apart. Like the Targaryen kings of old, the ruling family of House Baratheon had equally been troubled by internal conflicts. In the end its own members caused the downfall of the Seven Kingdoms and the destruction of Aegon the Conqueror's legacy. Although there still was a ruler in King's Landing, the realm under his guiding hand had reduced in size to half it once was. The rebels led by Arry Baratheon had won their freedom and where once was but one king now were five. While Jerion Baratheon balanced uneasily on the Iron Throne, the newly-crowned Storm King hosted a feast in his capital, calling all his bannermen to celebrate the hard-won victory over their independence. While the war had taken its toll and the wealth of the Stormlands was not what it was before, there was still enough money left for King Arry to host a lavish feast to his fellow noblemen. And while most wounds were yet to heal, drinking and feasting eased the pain and made everyone forget all the horrors and sorrow they'd had to endure to earn their freedom.
Storm's End had had its share of the war. A huge battle had been fought outside its walls and later the Tyroshi had besieged the fortress, failing in the attempt to take it like so many armies before them. With all the bodies having been scoured away and the siege equipment destroyed or carried off and used to rebuild what was destroyed, an ignorant man gazing down from the walls wouldn't have known there'd been a battle had not King Arry ordered numerous bonfires to be lit for the night of the feast to commemorate the dead and their sacrifice. The fires also served to remind the people that the red priestess Joyeuse had won Arry Baratheon's favor during the war, converting the Storm King to her foreign beliefs. Like once before, the Lord of Light had chosen to place faith in a crowned stag. If it was well placed was another matter entirely.
With the war over and his wife pregnant and no question whether the child was his or not, things were brighter for Arry Baratheon than in a long time. Having been so close to death and things worse than that, it was as if the King was a different man now that the dark days had passed. A heavy burden had lifted from Arry's heart, it seemed that he was now returning back to the gregarious man with bawdy jokes who he once had been. After welcoming his guests and sharing a few words with all vassals of his, the King spent the evening in company of one Ser Rickard Morrigen and later, unknown to everyone, the night with the man's daughter.
Little did Ser Morrigen know what happened that night when next day he emerged from his quarters. Most guests had been too much in their cups to notice Arry slip away into the night, but one pair of eyes followed the King more intently than the day before. Princess Malora - or rather Queen Malora - had turned her back to her father and brother by joining her husband at Storm's End. In the end Arry had won the war but the there was still much to do if he meant to fix the relations between his wife. It was a war not easily won, especiously after the previous night's setback. After the guests departed Storm's End, the King half expected he'd be able to correct his one night's mistake. But when a few weeks later he received a message from Lady Allara, things only got more complicated.
While Arry tried to deal with the problems in his marital bed, the other Baratheon king was facing accuses that her mother had brought another man to hers. By winning the war and declaring himself king, Arry had shown all the other lords of Westeros that there was another option than just obeying the man occupying on the Iron Throne. Even those who'd fought on King Edric's side now began to ponder where their loyalties lie. The first step to earning their own freedom was to undermine Jerion's rule. It had worked against King Joffrey and later King Tommen who both had had a hard time ruling when half the realm questioned their right to do so. Now Lord Bywater attempted the same but the evidence he presented was far from convincing.
King Ryan Tully was hailed as a hero throughout the Riverlands for reforming the long destroyed Kingdom of the Trident. The realm the Riverlands were apart of had changed numerous times in the past, but no more. At last the people of the Riverlands had won their freedom. But like when something seems too good to be true, it usually is. Lord Patrek Mallister of Seagard rose up in rebellion, questioning Ryan Tully's right to rule. King Ryan was a son of Edmure Tully, true, but his mother was also a Frey. Not only were the Freys extremely infamous, but their lands also bordered the lands of House Mallister and the relations between the two families were cold as the Stranger's kiss. When Ryan Tully announced that it was time to move and and forget the past, House Mallister declared that it was time to do the opposite.
With no king on the Iron Throne protecting the Freys, the Riverlanders finally had an opportunity to pay old debts and settle grudges amongst themselves. Lord Patrek had been a young man at the time of the War of the Five Kings and had been held a prisoner by the Freys. The Mallisters had abandoned the Stark cause only after the Freys had threatened to hang young Patrek unless his father opened the gates of Seagard and dipped the direwolf banner. When the message reached Storm's End, bearing a request from Arry's brother-in-law to aid him in this war, the Storm King could not refuse. But as Arry was on good terms with certain members of House Frey, he didn't relish on the idea of the new generation paying for the sins of the old one.
After the war for independence, Arry had expected to live out the rest of his days in peace. It's a lie every man tells himself, but nothing changes under the sun - not even human nature. Once more he rode to war, answering his fellow king's summons like Ryan Tully had done so many times before on Arry's request. The two men were united not only by the spilled blood of their mutual enemies but also by the blood flowing in King Ryan's wife's veins. While Queen Anora Tully had born from the marriage between Tommen Baratheon and Margaery Tyrell, Arry had been sired on another Tyrell. Though they did not share a mother and had spent most of their lives living apart, the bond between the guiding elder sister and the young brother was strong. Brenna was his twin-sister, true, but as they had grown, they had also grown apart. Arry's cousin and wife Malora on the other hand .. no, she was best forgotten. The call for war had given Arry a chance to run away from his pregnant queen, and the lack of her presence on the march gave way for another woman to hold power over the king.
Ever since the red priestess joined Arry's retinue, there had been rumours that she was more than just an advisor to him. The people whispered that she was a sorceress capable of placing a spell on the king and bending him to her will; why else would a son of the pious King Tommen Baratheon convert to a heresy as despised as the religion of Rhllor? Whether that was true or not was a topic often argued among the commoners. But as always, there is atleast a hint of truth in every rumour; for on the march to the Riverlands the King fell to the charms of the Red Priestess.
With King Jerion Baratheon raising an army at the same time to invade the Reach, Arry left most of his banners to the Stormlands to defend it if needed, taking only five thousand knights and man-at-arms capable of travelling over long distances in short time. Before the king on the Iron Throne could rally his army and march it to war, the Stormlander host had already moved across the borderland between the Reach and the Crownlands. King Jaden Tyrell had supported Arry during the rebellion, earning his freedom fighting alongside the Stormlanders. With King Jerion attempting to wrestle the crown away from the son of Garlan Tyrell, Arry already prepared himself for yet another war. But the call for one never came from King Jaden. After all the Stormlands were not tied to the Reach through a marriage like they were to the Riverlands; it was every man for himself.
The Mallister host headed east, first defeating the Freys in an open battle and then placing a siege on one of the twin-keeps guarding the crossing over Green Fork. In the meanwhile King Ryan's host rallied in Riverrun. The Riverlands had suffered grievous losses during the war of independence and it took quite some time for the Tully to organize his host. By the time he was on the march, the Stormlanders had already arrived at the Riverlands and met up with their allies in Blackwood Vale. Ryan Tully and Arry Baratheon rode together once more, following the river up north and placing a siege on Seagard. With news from the Twins bearing ill tidings, telling the Freys were low on both morale and rations and would soon have to surrender, King Ryan rode east with his men, leaving Arry to besiege Lord Patrek's holdfast.
As days turned to weeks, words travelled back and forth on wings. The Crownlands were burning, it seemed. King Jaden had gone on offense, bringing the war to King Jerion's doorsteps. A major battle had been fought in Farring's Cross and the royal army was now on the retreat towards King's landing, having suffered heavy losses. With King Jerion occupied in his war against the Reachmen, it seemed that Arry's fears of the Crownlanders invading the Stormlands with him being elsewhere were for naught. Everything was quiet at the homefront, except for one thing. After a long day of labor, Queen Malora had given birth to a boy with a twisted leg.
As Arry's other two boys were born out of wedlock, this baby stood to inherit the Stormlands after him. He'd missed the birth of his son and heir and if the news were true and the boy indeed was unnatural, he'd have to face challenges beyond counting if he meant to earn the support of his vassals. The thought made Arry sadder than in a long time. The boy's disability also meant that he could not be groomed for combat the same way Arry and his father had been. But perhaps that was only the best. Perhaps soldiers were not the right people to wear a crown and a scepter.
Lord Patrek Mallister had been grievously injured in the fighting against the Freys and by the time King Ryan Tully arrived at the Twins to lift the siege the old Lord of Seagard had succumbed to his wounds. At the sight of the King of the Trident and his host, the besiegers put down their weapons and surrendered without conditions. Hearing the news, Lord Patrek's son and heir Petyr Mallister who'd remained at Seagard to rule in his father's absence opened the gates and bent the knee. Lord Petyr was placed under guard in his own room, and the rest of his kin and household were treated as if no siege or war had happened. When King Ryan returned from the Twins, he forgave the young lord of Seagard. In return Lord Mallister swore fealty to the Trout of Harrenhal and promised not to repeat his father's sins.
With the war over, both the Riverlanders and the Stormlanders returned home. The conflict in the Crownlands had only grown in size with the Westerlands declaring for King Jaden and the Vale siding with the Iron Throne. Passing through the borderlands of Reach and Crownlands proved easy, however, as the fighting was taking place more close to the Kingswood. The ride back to Storm's End was not a return to home with the knowledge that what would follow was peace and prosperity. Arry knew he needed to deal with the bastard he'd planted inside of Lady Annara. But that was not all. The Red Priestess' stomach had grown in size so much that not even her loose robes could hide that she too was with a child.
