The People's Prince

A small council

King Viserys sat at the head of the small council table, with his Hand, Lord Otto Hightower, beside him. An empty seat awaited his brother, Prince Daemon, captain of the city watch, on his other side. The remaining seats were filled by the other council members: Lord Lysman Beesbury, the Master of Coin, and Lord Lyonel Strong, the Master of Laws. Opposite his grace sat his Master of Ships, Lord Corly Velaryon.

Corlys spoke, "My lords, the growing alliance among the Free Cities has taken to styling themselves as the Triarchy. They have amassed on Bloodstone and are suspiciously raiding the Stepstones of pirates."

Viserys replied, "Well, that's suspiciously good news, Lord Corlys."

Corlys continued, "Their leader, Crahghas Drayar, has taken to calling himself their Prince Admiral and is nicknamed the Crabfeeder due to his inventive methods of punishing his enemies."

Viserys remarked, "Now, tell me, Corlys, are we supposed to weep for dead pirates?"Princess Rhaenyra entered the council chamber late, prompting her father to jest, "Rhaenyra, the King's cupbearer must never be late, leaving us wanting for cups."

"Sorry, Father, I was visiting Mother," she replied.

"On dragonback?" her father quipped, evoking laughter from the entire council.

Lord Beesbury then spoke up, "Your grace, at Prince Daemon's urging, the crown has invested significant capital into the retraining and re-equipping of the city watch. I would urge you to have your brother take his seat on the council and provide an assessment as commander of the city watch."

The King replied, "Do you think Daemon is distracted by his present task, and that his thoughts and energies are occupied?"

"One would hope so, considering the associated costs, your grace."

"Then consider your gold well spent, Lord Beesbury."

Lord Corlys voiced his worries to the small council regarding the Triarchy, wishing for them not to gain a foothold in the Stepstones as it could jeopardize trade routes for House Velaryon and the realm. However, his concerns were dismissed by the King and Council due to the nature of the conflict being a war with the three cities and the lack of concern for pirates outside of the realm's jurisdiction.The Hand then redirected the discussion, saying, "Shall we talk about the preparations for the heir's tournament?" This distraction led the King to discuss his plans for the tournament, along with the Grand Maester's concerns and lords' opinions regarding the child's gender and the costs related to the celebration.