𝑆𝛦𝛦𝛫 𝛢𝑁𝐷 𝐷𝛦𝑆𝑇𝑅𝛰𝑌 | 𝛨𝛰𝑇𝐷

𝛵𝑊𝘖

𝐶𝐻𝐴𝑃𝑇𝐸𝑅 𝛵𝑊𝘖 | 𝑅𝛨𝛢𝐸𝛮𝑌𝑅𝛢, 𝑇𝛨𝐸 𝛭𝐸𝐷𝐼𝛢𝑇𝛰𝑅

𝑊𝛰𝑅𝐷 𝛰𝐹 𝑆𝐸𝑅 𝛨𝐴𝑅𝑊𝐼𝛮'𝑆 𝐴𝑆𝑆𝐴𝑈𝐿𝑇 𝛰𝛮 𝑆𝐸𝑅 𝐶𝑅𝐼𝑆𝑇𝛰𝛮 𝛨𝐴𝐷 𝑆𝑃𝑅𝐸𝐴𝐷 𝑄𝑈𝐼𝐶𝛫𝐿𝑌 𝑇𝛨𝑅𝛰𝑈𝐺𝛨𝛰𝑈𝑇 𝑇𝛨𝐸 𝛫𝐸𝐸𝑃. While some held the opinion that Cole had deserved the bashing, no one within the Keep's walls would be so bold as to voice an opinion such as that out loud. The man was still a member of the King's Guard, no matter what others thought of him. Whether Ser Harwin were right in the actions taken, assaulting a King's Guard was a punishable offence.

Rhaenyra knew this. However, that was not the only punishable offence Ser Harwin faced.

Whatever his reasoning, his actions in the courtyard only served to shine a brighter spotlight on the parentage of her sons.

From what her handmaiden, Elinda Massey, had relayed to her, the cause of Ser Harwin's outrage had been the loud questioning of Harwin's relationship with the Princess's sons and, by extension, the Princess, herself. Rhaenyra had been beside herself when she'd heard. She'd never thought that when she'd ended her quiet relationship with Cole all those years ago, he would remain bitter towards her. In any case, the Princess did not have the time to sit and ponder what could have been had she moved more carefully. There was a new task before her and it was an urgent one.

So, as she sat in on the small council meeting a day after the meltdown in the courtyard, she sat quietly, fiddling with the glass ball in front of her as she thought over the proposal in her head.

"It is Lord Blackwood's contention, therefore, that the Brackens moved the boundary stones in the dead of night and put their horses to graze in his field," Tyland Lannister explained.

Rhaenyra resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"Why was this issue not brought before Lord Grover?" The Queen questioned. "Has he grown so feeble he cannot settle a quarrel over rocks?"

"I've hear tale that Lord Grover's son now rules Riverrun in all but name." Jasper Wylde chimed in.

"Well, he is also a Tully and this remains a Tully problem," Alicent replied, her hands clasped in front of her face.

"I would agree," The King agreed with his wife.

Tyland took the King's word as a sign to move on, though he was quickly stopped by Rhaenyra who did not stand in agreement with the Queen nor her father.

"And yet, the Brackens and the Blackwoods will use any excuse to spill each other's blood," Rhaenyra said, thinking back to her marriage tour all those years ago when the small Willem Blackwood, who couldn't have been taller than Rhaenyra, had run through Jerrel Bracken with his long sword. "I have witnessed this fued, first hand. I think that this dispute bears looking into. There will be countryfolk who know where the lines have been drawn for generations."

"That is easy enough," Lyonel Strong agreed.

At that, the Queen shook her head. "Of course," She mumbled, bringing her goblet to her lips and taking a sip. This had not gone unnoticed by Rhaenyra and Lyonel, however, the Queen did not care.