For almost her entire life, Daella Targaryen has lived as Mellara Rivers, the bastard daughter of Arnold Arryn and cupbearer of Lady Jeyne Arryn. First and trueborn daughter of Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, Daella had but slight contact with her fami...
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F O U R T Y - N I N E , AEMOND
Love is blindness I don't wanna see ─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
Aemond had been sitting in the War Room, staring long and hard at the table which had been carved in the shape of Westeros, when the Hand entered the chambers with a grave expression on his face. He did not look up at once, his eye focused on the south of the Seven Kingdoms. He had secured Storm's End only weeks ago after spending a hefty amount of time hunting with Lord Borros Baretheon and they could count on the support of Old Town due to his mother, which made the chance of a threat coming from the south very small.
With the Vale of Arryn backing their cause as well, something they had to thank his wife's childhood relations for, only the East and the West were left undefended. Aemond knew that Lord Grover of House Tully backed the current united Queen and King of Westeros, but his grandson Elmo was bound to run to his half-sister at the first given opportunity. He supposed he could treat with the grandson to win over Riverrun, or better yet, he could send his wife with terms. Though the thought of Daella leaving the safety of Kingslanding frightened Aemond more than he cared to admit, he could see the importance of securing the East and he was sure that she could make old Lord Grover fall in love with her, and by extension his grandson. He could also fly over to the Iron Islands and promise them the lands of Riverrun should the Tully's retaliate, but the Ironborn were a strong-headed and unreliable people.
The only true weak spot in their defence was the east side of Kingslanding, where Dragonstone and Driftmark were located. The fleet that would come to Rhaenyra's side now that she had joined hands with House Velaryon was another reason to strike a bargain with the Ironborn, despite the fact that it might take weeks before their ships would arrive at Blackwater Bay. Daella had taken the name Targaryen at birth, considering she was Rhaenyra's first-born and if Aemond was to draw conclusions from the youth his wife had, he would say that she had little and less connection with her father's House. If Laenor Velaryon had been her true father at all.
"What are you thinking, Your Grace?" Otto Hightower asked after observing the King for a while, breaking the silence.
Aemond looked up and having already forgotten about his Hand's presence, his gaze skimmed over his grandfather's frame before returning to the table in front of them. Placing one hand on Kingslanding, he laid the other on top of the Iron Islands. "I fear that we must either treat with the Tully's of Riverrun or the Greyjoys of the Iron Islands, and preferably both," Aemond said, his voice hoarse. His eyes were heavy and his body tired, longing for the soft and warm touch of his wife. "If we do not secure Riverrun, we are vulnerable to an attack from the East. The Greyjoys could solve this problem by taking Riverrun if the Tully's leave and attacking them from the back while the knights of the Vale charge at them from the front. If we secure Riverrun and the Iron Islands, the Iron Fleet might either come to Kingslanding's defence when the Velaryon Fleet attacks us or take Driftmark at unawares."
