A Wolf of War (Completed)

Hunter III (Part 1)

(103 AC)

It was not long after Rhaella had told Hunter that she was pregnant, a few (six) months of her marriage and a few months of her pregnancy. Hunter loved his Rhaella, don't get him wrong, but it was dangerous for their relationship to come into place. Hunter knew it was true; he'd seen it before, not that he had been apart of it but because he knew the outcome of those situations. Especially in King's Landing, and with the Princess Rhaenyra being who she was, nothing was ever safe. Don't get Hunter wrong, he loved her, but he didn't want their statuses to be in the way of her life or their child. She was the only one in the last hundreds of years that actually caught his eye; after Sarra, Rhaella was the only one who made him feel anything. The raising of their child, in this horrid place, would have to be done carefully. Hunter was worried for her, Rhaella was three months away from the birth of their child. Why was he worried? She was healthy and the Maester had said that the baby was healthy, plus from the way that she was carrying that the baby would be a boy. 

However, that wasn't the problem; his first wife, Sara Stark, and their son, Rodrick, had been born weeks before his birth and was almost pronounced as a stillborn. Hunter was rarely scared of anything, but when it came to his family, that was the most that he was scared. As the Tully words were: Family, Duty, Honor; the Tullys took a lot of their ideas from House Valyrrn. Family, being from Tullian and Hunter's strive to protect her; Duty, being the right to protect what is his; and Honor, being the ego that every man strives for and the respect that they deserve. He had a fear of losing his family, like most lords have that have that fear. As much as he was scared for her, they had to strain themselves from being near one another. Rhaenyra was always watching, she had her own spies watching the two. The Mistress of Whisperers refused to use her spies against Lord Valyrrn, and the hateful princess almost hanged her that night. That is until Lord Valyrrn and the King stepped into place.

Lord Grafton to Hunter's knowledge, was still going into the city every night and staying days on end at brothels. Lady Lynara Stark, the Mistress of Whisperers, had brothel workers spy for her and Lord Valyrrn had Myra, the Bastard of Lefford, work as a prostitute at a different brothel. Myra was used when Hunter needed someone on the inside, where his men could not go without being recognized. No matter what, though, Rhaella's brothers would always protect her rather than Rhaenyra. 

They were weary of Lord Valyrrn at first, but having grown up with him made their minds change. Yet, no one in the Targaryen family had suspected Lord Valyrrn and Rhaella's affair. They were still under the influence that Rhaella was still married to Lord Grafton. They had a plan though, when their son would be born, they would only tell the King. King Viserys loved Hunter, thinking of him as a father figure in his life and a great influence to his children. However, they didn't know how he would react to them saying that the child was Hunter's, and the King's grandchild would be illegitimate. That didn't matter, since it had been said that Rhaenyra's children were illegitimate, but the rumors hadn't been addressed yet. 

As it got closer to the day that Rhaella was going to have their child, the two tried to spend as much time together as they could. Rhaella's days didn't consist of much, normally she would attend events with her sisters and mother or spend the day inside her room. Hunter's on the other hand was busy; as the Hand of the King, his day consisted of advising the king, attending meetings, writing letters, discussing plans with the City Watch and the Gold Cloaks, it was too much to handle. However, he had asked the King if he could have Rhaella help him with some of his work. The king had noticed that the two had gotten closer, and he knew when his daughter was the most happiest. When she was with Lord Valyrrn; so he had allowed it to be, and the next day his daughter went to be the Hand's helper. Their days consisted mostly of writing letters and speaking with the City Watch, along with their many little antics together when they were really alone.