"It's my duty, my God-given birthright and my crown."
- Mary, Queen of Scots
In which Valyria Targaryen returns to the Red Keep and becomes a key player in the game for the Iron Throne.
....or....
In which there isn't a person in the Se...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧
133 AC, King's Landing
"I am not happy about this," Valyria mumbled to herself as she sat in the royal box on the newly constructed tourney grounds. "I hate tournaments. All of this is entirely unnecessary. If anything – it is inappropriate. We have just fought a war – and now these men are playing war."
"You are the Queen now, mūna," Cassian reminded his mother, seated on her right, dressed in the colours of his father's house. However, on the yellow robes dragons had been embroidered to interlace with the suns. "You could have prevented this."
Valyria definitely could have stopped the tourney from taking place. Now that she'd taken the throne, her council all believed she needed to have an official coronation in King's Landing, in front of the nobles, to solidify her rule. A bit like Aegon the Conqueror had two coronations during the Conquest of Westeros.
The first took place at Aegonfort where his sister-wives proclaimed him the King after they secured Blackwater Rush; only a handful of lords had been present for that event which is probably why the start of Aegon's reign was counted after his second coronation by the High Septon in Oldtown after the Field of Fire and the submission of the North.
Having a second coronation would therefore be somewhat symbolic for her due to the similarity of how Valyria had been crowned by her husband in front of only a few subjects on Dragonstone. And now when she'd taken the Iron Throne her reign could finally begin for real. Even though she thought it unnecessary to spend the crown's coins on such a lavish celebration for her, Valyria could acknowledge the importance of showing strength.
For the same reason, she had agreed to a tournament in the days leading up to the coronation. While she got no joy from watching grown lords and knights knock each other off horses – and found it distasteful to have men die for amusement in silly games — she understood how these events were remembered throughout history. While they created rivalry, it also brought everyone together.
Valyria also made sure that the citizens of King's Landing were hired and paid to do the needed construction for the tourney, thus making sure the smallfolk also benefited from the nobles' celebration. Not to mention she commanded that all of the food that were left after the feasts should be given to the smallfolk.
"I could," Valyria eventually said, sending her eldest son a smile, "but at least Daemon is happy this way and when he is happy I have much less problems." With that being said, Valyria stood up to address the crowds.
For a moment, she was taken back to the heir's tourney all those years ago and she couldn't help but think of how much everything had changed since then. When the realm gathered to celebrate that time, it was to welcome a new prince into the world – only to attend a funeral days later for a mother and son. Thinking back, that day had been the first step for Valyria's accession to the throne. Had Baelon lived, Viserys would probably have brought his little secret to the grave in order for his long-awaited son to become King.
