Growing Strong ᯽~Ser Harwin Strong~᯽

Safety

The Princess, and Heir to the Iron Throne, Rhaenyra Targaryen, was in search of a new lady in waiting.

Ladies from all across Westeros had made their way to King's Landing for the occasion. Escorted by their fathers, brothers, mothers, or other extended family, the capital had been overflowing with people for the past few days. The crowds might have been enough to deter some, but for most, they had stayed firmly put. The potential reward to be bestowed upon a lady of their house was far too tempting to turn back now.

It had been several hours of waiting, as each and every hopeful was presented to Princess Rhaenyra and King Viserys. The end finally looked to be in sight, once you had made it into the throne room. You'd had your doubts throughout the duration of your journey to the capital, and said doubts were only amplified by worry upon the realization that many members of the King's court had attended the festivity. You hadn't anticipated an audience for the event.

Your father provided a welcomed distraction when he more directly pointed out what he had been vaguely commenting upon all day: most of the other hopefuls were nowhere close to the Princess's age. You couldn't help but agree- nearly every noble lady in line around you seemed either far too old, or far too young. The girl in front of you, escorted by who appeared to be her brother, couldn't have been more than five years of age.

"You may stand a chance yet, my dear," your father said to you under his breath, before pointedly grinning at an observer who was eyeing him.

Though your father sounded hopeful, you weren't sure how to feel about it. Being chosen by the Princess to be one of her ladies in waiting would be an honor, that much was indisputable. But, should you be chosen, it would mean a semi-permanent relocation to King's Landing, which was leagues away from her father and brother.

The Tyrells were notorious among the Reach for being one of the few noble houses that outwardly cared for one another. Some of the other noble houses suspected that it was an act, merely a ploy used to gain the trust and support of the common folk. Perhaps in previous generations, it had been. But that was not the case for the current one. Your father, Lord Larris Tyrell, your brother, Derron Tyrell, the heir to Highgarden, and yourself, had always been close.

Too soon, the girl in front of you was being introduced to the King and Princess as the Lady Rosyn Tully. As the scene unfolded, the most prominent of your worries came to the forefront of your mind.

You knew that your father and brother were hopeful that, should you be chosen to serve Princess Rhaenyra, your list of potential suitors would grow exponentially. Already the only daughter of the current Lord Tyrell, you'd always known that you were expected to marry and secure a smart match for yourself. Though your father and brother had never forced your hand in the matter, you also knew that you were getting to be an age where others may begin to question why you had not yet been matched. Princess Rhaenyra, who was also your age, would undoubtedly be married herself in perhaps a year or two.

You'd come to peace with the fact that you'd be expected to marry, not out of love, but out of duty to your family and House. But the men in King's Landing were strangers. Though it simply was not possible that all were heathens, you'd heard plenty of rumors. Some of the men who walked around the Red Keep were snakes, scheming and plotting with nearly every breath they took. Others were cruel, and took joy in the misfortunes of others, which, unfortunately, seemed to be plentiful in King's Landing. The third group of them, and the scariest and most formidable to you, were the licentious scoundrels who placed little to no value on women, and preferred to think of and treat them as mere objects.

Being the lady in waiting for Princess Rhaenyra would guarantee some safety, perhaps. But while you would have to stay in King's Landing, your father and brother would return back to Highgarden, and with it, they would take the security they'd always provided you with.