Blood of Dragons

The first day of the Royal Tourney proved as thrilling as anticipated, and the amazing pageantry and colour of the festivities was surpassed only by the action in the lists. Before the eyes of the Young Dragon King Daeron, along with the Princesses Daena and Rhaena, Ser William Waxley and the royal party, and many lords, ladies, knights, squires and smallfolk, (including Lord Manfred Dondarrion, the Ladies Elyn and Aisling Ryswell, Marian Stark, Jyana Arryn, Kellyn Lannister, Carmella Dondarrion, Reyna Saltcliffe, Ammena Piper, Rosalind Hill, Ryssa Waters, Keira Sand, the knights Bryon…

After interminable delays caused by a host of factors, not least the extravagant preparations called upon by the king to appropriately celebrate the conquest of Dorne, it seems that at last the tourney draws near. The tourney fields are now readied for the inevitable sea of tents and pavillions that will serve as home to hundreds of visitors, and the lists and barriers are all whitewashed perfection. Wagons come in daily, laden with victuals, cloth, and other goods to help feed and keep the noblemen who will come to feast day in and day out. Ships have come the last month from the Arbor, and…

Last night, the King's men took and (further) imprisoned a hostage from the Dornish Tower. Shortly after dusk, a troop of goldcloaks, a maester, and four retainers of Viserys Targaryen, Hand of the King, made their way quietly into the Tower and the Fowler residence on the second floor. The men emerged barely a minute later with Damarya Allyrion in tow. Outside of her apartments, Damarya's screams for Serion Uller echoed into the stairwell. She was not calling for help, however, but for the blind young man to come out and face her. In the words of one bystander, Damarya, stiff and shaking with…

His Grace, King Daeron, has been ensconced more and more with the small council as news arrives from Dorne of the continuing issues there raised by petty bandits and rebels who refuse to bend their knees. It is said Prince Viserys has made all his efforts in convincing the king to trust in Lord Tyrell and his other captains in Dorne, but the youthful valor of the king will not be gainsaid from spending as many hours as he wishes in interpreting reports and sending orders. It is well known that certain Dornishmen have audiences with the king, perhaps so that he may seek their opinions on what…

Weeks have passed since Daeron II's triumphant return to King's Landing, and in all that time he seemed to exchange no more than a dozen words with his cousin, Prince Aegon. Those who cared about such things supposed it had to do with the hot-blooded prince's taking as mistress the Dornish hostage Cassella Vaith. Certainly, when Aegon finally appeared before the king in his private solar in Maegor's Holdfast, his father the Hand of the King, Prince Viserys, was also present. What was said is known only to those present in that room, but the discussion lasted near an hour. When Aegon at last…

All the noblest and best of the city were gathered in the throne room of the Targaryen kings, with the great black skulls of the dragons looking down upon them. Merchants, guild masters, and even small folk looked down upon the glittering court from the galleries, as the king and the royal kin -- save Prince Aegon and Princess Naerys -- entered the thronged hall. Seated upon the Iron Throne, King Daeron called Prince Viserys before him and confirmed him in his place as Hand, thanking him for his efforts on his behalf and that of the realm. So, too, was Lord Lyonel Tyrell confirmed as holding…

The Young Dragon entered in triumph into King's Landing, greeted by his adoring subjects despite the steady drizzle of rain. A huge fleet of ferries and rafts and boats carried him, the Hand, the Kingsguard, and hundreds upon hundreds of knights who had fought through the whole of the campaign with his grace. Before the River Gate, the king was greeted by the High Septon, the, royal councillors and the rest of the court, as well as by his loving siblings. All the great knights and lords and ladies at court were present, save for the ailing Princess Naerys who stayed indoors, and her husband…

In the early hours of the day, Prince Aegon Targaryen entered the Dornish Tower with a dozen guards, knights, and several servants. This was similar to his other visits over the past weeks, as he provided Ser William the Steward assistance with arrangements concerning the part of the Dornish hostages in Daeron's arrival. But this was not a usual visit, to oversee fittings or discussion of details. It soon transpired that Lady Cassella Vaith, daughter of the deceased rebel Lord Caston, was being taken away from the tower and the company of the other hostages. Was she to be released, returned to…

In the small hours of the day, Prince Viserys Targaryen, uncle and Hand to King Daeron, departed from the Red Keep with a train made of equal parts of royal household knights and his own personal guard from the Tower of the Hand. Accompanying him was his son, Prince Aemon of the Kingsguard, and the Lords Ryger and Cargyll of the Small Council with their own small retinues. A minimum of followers and supplies travel with them, and those largely carried by mules rather than in ox-cart wagons. According to all the news, the Hand is travelling south into the stormlands, where King Daeron's passage…

With word of the king's safe arrival at Blackhaven reaching the city, and the feasting and rest he would find there from the open hands of Lord Dondarrion, the business of the court becomes all the more hurried as preparations of all sorts are made to ensure that the Young Dragon's arrival in King's Landing will be one to remember. There at the verge of the Red Mountains, the larger part of the king's host will disperse, leaving only a core of the men from the crown lands and the isles of Blackwater Bay, and a number of other doughty knights and lords who choose to share with him the great…

Word sweeps like wildfire through the Red Keep when a raven from Dorne announces that King Daeron has decided to return at last to King's Landing after nearly two years spent conquering and pacifying Dorne. The news spills over its high walls to the streets below, and excitement is in the air; in some quarters of the city, flurries of celebration -- near-riots, according to the City Watch -- erupt spontaneously. The bells of the septs of the city, from the greatest to the very meanest, toll with joy, and not long after it's said that his grace's kin are seen amidst a small throng of the court…

Though the name of Caston Vaith is only vaguely known among the smallfolk of King's Landing as that of some rebel Dornishman, the court of King's Landing has had greater cause to know, and rue, the name of the man who had almost single-handedly maintained Dornish sentiment against King Daeron Targaryen, the rightful lord and protector of Dorne. In his endless efforts, Lord Caston lost much of his army in return for what seemed to be only fleeting victories against his enemies, yet Dorne's commoners (and far too many of its nobles) were heartend by it. So when a raven arrived from Sandstone,…

Ravens arrive almost daily in King's Landing from various corners of Dorne, bringing news of rebels and outlaws, skirmishes, supply trains, deaths, garrisons, and more. Amidst the onslaught of tidings are the occasional gems, the things that inevitably slip from the chambers of the high and mighty to the court at large, and thence on to King's Landing. Most notably is the news that his Grace, the King, has put aside his hunt for the now one-armed rebel Caston Vaith, who is thought to have taken to skulking in the desert. Instead, after seeing Vaith secured against possible attacks, he has…

In the dark hours of the night, Princess Naerys was brought early to the birthing bed after great pains ripped through her heavy womb. The labor was mercifully brief, but alas the child (a daughter) had been dead in the womb and came into the world stillborn. It's said that the princess in her grief has been terribly weakened, and her apartments are hushed as maesters and septas constantly sweep in and out to see to her. Her father and brothers both have visited her, though it was the Dragonknight who has been said to spend the most time with her.

With all the turmoil in King's Landing, where it's said many a knight seems to forget his vows when at court, the sight of Prince Aemon the Dragonknight always brings such talk to a stop -- at least when he is around. Finally fully recovered from the poisoned wound he took months ago in the service of his cousin, King Daeron, the prince has spent much time about his duties as the sole Kingsguard in the city, and he has kept his bedridden sister company in those hours which he has had free. For acquaintances and friends, he has had a little time, but they have noticed that even that has…