Chapter 88: Interlude: Fourteen

Thirtieth day, Seventh Moon, 257 AC (+1 days)

The courtyard was cool – as long as you were in the shade of one of the many exquisite shelters or living canopies that were carefully maintained by a large staff. It was a testament to these southerners that they could afford such frivolities – even if it was welcome in such heat.

His companion for the day, Denys Darklyn, was idly sipping his wine across the table from Rickard. Rickard's father had been making sure that Rickard was fostering plenty of connections to notable southern Houses, most of whom maintained some sort of presence in King's Landing.

How they could deal with the heat and the stench was beyond him – greedy for power, he supposed.

To be fair, the heat was everywhere down here with the ocean doing little than make it more humid – and thus even worse.

"So, Rickard, I hear you will be returning North soon?" asked Denys.

"Aye; we will be accompanying the coming trade fleet that is heading to my father's newest bannerman."

"Ah, the House on the western coast?"

He nodded. "Yes. We have yet to visit them since they were granted their lands, so my father wishes to inspect them and to talk to them of other matters."

Denys looked confused. "You haven't seen them since they were raised to in status? I know the North is large, but I would have thought your father would ensure their loyalty."

Rickard resisted the urge to snap at the man. These southerners could be so foolish – as if we were wildlings. "No, my great-uncle has visited many times, and they have, of course, been called to Winterfell many times. I know that my father's domains are so vast it can be hard for people to understand, but we do keep in check with all of our vassals."

Denys unsuccessfully tried to hide his irritation. "Ah, of course. Apologies," he replied curtly.

Gods save him from these Andals. Useful and wealthy, but very annoying. Father had been trying to court House Darklyn after the disagreement with the Master of Coin that would have seen trade increase with King's Landing. Instead, Father was trying to find another port in the Crownlands to export to.

Rickard put his irritation away and continued to make pleasant conversation with Denys – trying to make the man forget about the earlier slight. After a while longer, Denys eventually made his excuses and left Rickard alone in the shade.

Overall, it had been an excellent trip – if trying. They had mostly stayed in King's Landing but had made a few trips to specific castles in the Crownlands at the invitation of various Lords. Father's negotiating was also very impressive, as he was able to get most of what he wanted for the cost he wanted to pay.

Amusingly, it was the one thing that neither of them had considered that almost destroyed the entire trip. The only thing that saved them was that the marriage offer was never official.

Princess Rhaella was certainly comely enough – her Valyrian blood gave her an interesting appearance – though still young but would likely grow in beauty as she aged – if her relatives were any indication. It had confused him at first, why his father was against such a match, but his reasoning was sound. The North must be their focus in the coming years – southern distractions were unneeded at this point. Still, Father had been able to work with the King, and they had announced the new Northern knightly order, Thanes, as well as new laws for the smallfolk's protection.

It was interesting to see how restrictive these southerners were of their smallfolk. It required a lot of political maneuvering from Father and the King, but they had enacted more than a handful of laws like the right for smallfolk to be able to move at their will, banning lords from evicting their smallfolk from the lands during the winter, and a bunch of common sense laws. Somehow, the southerners still seemed to resent the laws – as basic as they were.

Many discussions had taken place, and once they had started to bear fruit, the King had casually brought up marriage to his granddaughter as a reward to House Stark – and to tie the Houses closer together. His son, Prince Jaehaerys, was opposed to the match – luckily not publicly, but opposed nonetheless and wanted his son and daughter to marry each other.

He suppressed a shudder. It may be a tradition – but it was disgusting.

But Father, not wanting such a match, was able to diffuse the situation and alluded to, without promising, that the next generation might be a good time for a match. Not that Rickard couldn't see the benefits from such an alliance, but after some reflection – from the encouragement of his father – had also agreed that the time for such a marriage was not now.

Regardless of the marriage offer, Father was able to see us rise swiftly in the social ladder through political maneuvering as well as being on such good terms with the King. The King and Father had come to an agreement for laying out further reforms over the next five years as the larger, and more divisive, laws needed more support, and that meant more fancy balls and more talk.

With the news of silver in the Stoney Shore, Father had decided to cut out trip short and join the fleet as it made its way around Westeros. Seeing more of the continent appealed to him, even as he dreaded the legendary heat of Dorne.

Still, that left him unmarried, and Father was still undecided on how to proceed. His major bannerman lacked any women of the appropriate age, and Father did not want to wait years for some of them to mature. Father didn't want to have Evelyn, Master Ragnar's second daughter to be married into their House – even with the discovery of silver – as a newly created House was too low, as was the fact that it would be a second daughter – with the first being married to a peasant.

Father's current plan, one that Rickard agreed with, was for him to marry his cousin, Lyarra, and have his other cousin, Branda, marry Master Ragnar's second son, Arthur, and then have Arthur be granted as castle overlooking the silver mine. Thus, neatly tying everything together. Elegant in its simplicity.

It didn't address the need for their House to tie together a few of the Northern Houses that had not recently married into his House, but, in his opinion, they had firm footing in that regard already.

As a few pretty ladies walked past him, he watched them closely even as their elaborate dresses concealed all the good bits.

A passing thought occurred to him. Surely the women could not bear to wear such dresses in the heat of the south, could they?

The heat in Dorne might end up being worth it.

A/N: I'm not really satisfied with Rickard's thoughts on Rhaella. I didn't want to write him as super creepy, but the subject matter is still creepy, and you can't escape that. I reworded it several times, and I don't want to spend any more time on it – so there it is.