c20: Conquest Year 284
In the year 283 after Aegon I Targaryen began his calendar following the conquest of Westeros,
Eddard Stark, Lord of Winterfell, personally led the northern host south to relieve the long siege of Storm's End.
The fortress had been surrounded for nearly a year by the powerful forces of House Tyrell and their bannermen, who had attempted to starve out the defenders loyal to Robert Baratheon.
Inside the castle, Robert's younger brother Stannis Baratheon stubbornly held the fortress with a starving garrison, refusing every demand to surrender.
When Eddard Stark's army arrived, the political situation had already shifted dramatically. With Aerys II Targaryen dead and King's Landing captured by the rebels, the Reach lords abandoned the siege and withdrew.
After a short stay at Storm's End to confirm the castle's safety, the northern cavalry did not linger.
Eddard Stark soon marched south again across the lands bordering the Reach, his attention fixed on the distant deserts of Dorne.
There were only three major land routes leading into Dorne through the Red Mountains.
The first was the harsh and narrow Boneway, the route closest to Storm's End.
The second was the wider but heavily fortified Prince's Pass.
The third lay farther west along the Red Mountains near the territories bordering Oldtown.
Because the northern force consisted mostly of fast-moving cavalry and needed to travel quickly, Eddard Stark did not choose the brutal terrain of the Boneway.
Instead, the northern army advanced toward the central route through Prince's Pass.
The sight of a northern host approaching their borders immediately placed Dorne on high alert.
For generations the Dornish had fiercely defended their independence, and memories of past wars with northern kingdoms still lingered.
When word spread that the Lord of Winterfell himself was marching south, the Dornish prepared their defenses and gathered their spears.
However, the tension was soon eased when a raven arrived carrying Eddard Stark's message.
True to his reputation for honor, the Stark lord declared that he had no intention of invading Dorne or starting another war so soon after the rebellion.
He ordered his army to remain outside Prince's Pass.
With the Dornish granting cautious permission, Eddard crossed the border accompanied by only six loyal companions.
Those who rode with him were Ethan Glover, Martyn Cassel, Theo Wull, Howland Reed, William Dustin, and Mark Ryswell.
Together the seven men crossed into the rugged lands of Dorne searching for Eddard's missing sister.
Their search eventually led them to a lonely white tower hidden in the northern mountains of Dorne.
The place would later be remembered as the Tower of Joy, located near the remote fortress known as Vulture's Roost.
There they found Lyanna Stark.
Guarding the tower were three legendary knights of the Kingsguard.
They were Arthur Dayne, Oswell Whent, and Gerold Hightower.
These knights had remained loyal to Prince Rhaegar Targaryen even after the prince had been slain at the Battle of the Trident.
At the foot of the tower a brutal battle erupted.
Seven men against three.
Though the northern group outnumbered the Kingsguard, the three white-cloaked knights were among the greatest warriors in all the Seven Kingdoms.
Steel clashed beneath the blazing Dornish sun.
The exact details of that fight were never fully recorded.
No bard witnessed it, and only two men survived to remember the truth.
When the battle finally ended, the three Kingsguard knights lay dead beside the tower.
But the victory came at a terrible cost.
Five of Eddard Stark's companions had fallen in the struggle.
Only Eddard Stark himself and Howland Reed survived.
Inside the tower Eddard found his sister Lyanna gravely weakened.
Shortly afterward she died, leaving her brother with a promise he would carry for the rest of his life.
Afterward Eddard Stark traveled to Starfall to return the legendary sword Dawn to the family of Arthur Dayne, honoring the fallen knight's bravery.
Only after fulfilling this duty did Eddard depart from Dorne.
He returned north carrying his sister's body, accompanied by the quiet and loyal Howland Reed.
The great conflict known as Robert's Rebellion had begun in the year 281 after Aegon's Conquest.
By the time the battle at the Tower of Joy ended in 283 AC, the war had finally reached its conclusion.
House Targaryen was overthrown from the Iron Throne.
Most members of the once-mighty dragon dynasty were dead, slain during the sack of King's Landing or during the brutal battles of the rebellion.
Only a few scattered survivors remained in exile.
Meanwhile, the victorious leader of the rebels, Robert Baratheon, entered King's Landing in triumph.
Inside the grand sept known as Great Sept of Baelor, Robert was formally crowned.
Before the assembled lords of Westeros, he was anointed with the sacred oils by the High Septon and swore the ancient vows of kingship.
Thus Robert Baratheon ascended the throne as Robert I, King of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms, and Protector of the Realm.
The Seven Kingdoms of Westeros, with the exception of Dorne, were finally united in the name of their new king after the fall of the Targaryen dynasty.
Dong
The deep, melodious bells rang across King's Landing, their echoes rolling through the crowded streets and over the rooftops of the city.
High above the gathered crowd stood the new king on the towering marble steps of the Great Sept of Baelor. His broad shoulders and towering figure made him seem as immovable as a mountain.
Below him, lords and knights from nearly every corner of the realm knelt on one knee, bowing their heads and offering their congratulations for the coronation of the new ruler of Westeros.
"Lord Jon Arryn!"
The black-haired and powerful king spoke loudly, his booming voice carrying even above the ringing of the bells.
"I hereby appoint you as Hand of the King."
Before the eyes of the assembled nobles, Robert Baratheon personally stepped forward and placed the golden badge of the Hand upon the chest of the aging lord who had once served as his foster father.
Jon Arryn, the elderly Lord of The Eyrie, now nearly sixty years old, had hair already streaked heavily with gray.
"Your Majesty," the old lord said quietly, bowing his head. "I fear my abilities may be insufficient for such a heavy responsibility."
He began to kneel in refusal, but King Robert burst into loud laughter and quickly reached out to pull him back to his feet.
"Ha ha ha ha! By the Seven!"
"Lord Arryn!"
The young king's laughter filled the cathedral hall, loud and warm, echoing against the tall stone pillars.
"If even you are not worthy to serve as my Hand, then there is no man in the Seven Kingdoms more suited to the task."
Yet even as he laughed, a faint shadow crossed Robert Baratheon's face when the words Seven Kingdoms were spoken aloud.
Because the truth was that the realm was not yet fully united.
Dorne had not willingly accepted Robert's rule.
The proud Dornish still remembered the brutal deaths of members of the Targaryen royal family, especially the killing of Elia Martell and her children during the sack of King's Landing.
The desert kingdom remained a difficult thorn in Robert's side.
If Dorne chose to resist the new regime or support surviving members of House Targaryen, the realm could easily fall back into yearsbperhaps decades of war.
Therefore, Jon Arryn's first duty as Hand of the King was clear.
He would travel south to Dorne and attempt to negotiate peace with the ruling house there, seeking to calm their anger and prevent another uprising.
"I will do everything in my power," Jon Arryn said solemnly in the great hall beneath the eyes of the Seven.
Under the carved statues of the gods, the elderly lord coughed slightly before finally nodding his acceptance of the office.
Among the nobles attending the coronation was Robert's stern younger brother, Stannis Baratheon.
Though not yet thirty years old, Stannis already showed signs of a receding hairline, and his thin lips remained pressed tightly together.
His expression rarely changed.
The fleet he had begun constructing at Storm's End was still incomplete.
Shipbuilding and the training of sailors required time, discipline, and patience.
But Robert Baratheon was not a patient man.
Though he had been in good spirits during most of the celebration, the sight of his rigid and humorless brother quickly soured his mood.
To Robert, Stannis had always been as stubborn and unpleasant as a rock buried in a privy.
Worse still, the new king could not bear the thought that the last remnants of the "dragonspawn" might still be alive.
Robert hated the Targaryens with a burning fury that had never cooled.
Thus, even during the ceremony celebrating his coronation, Robert issued another command.
He ordered the newly submitted lord of the Reach's powerful navy, Paxter Redwyne, to lead his fleet in an assault against Dragonstone.
The goal was simple.
Capture the surviving members of the Targaryen family before they could escape across the Narrow Sea.
…
March, Year 284 After the Conquest.
Time passed swiftly, and Viserys Targaryen had now spent more than six months living on Dragonstone.
Meanwhile, his mother, Rhaella Targaryen, grew visibly heavier with pregnancy.
Her belly had become round and prominent beneath her gowns, and the servants within the volcanic fortress whispered among themselves, speculating whether the coming child would be another prince or perhaps a long-awaited princess.
During this time, Viserys continued his daily training.
He practiced swordsmanship under the instruction of Sir William, learning how to wield a blade with discipline and patience.
At the same time, he continued his education with the castle's elderly maester, studying the histories and noble houses of Westeros.
Yet tragedy often arrives without warning.
Like a sudden landslide crashing down a mountainside, illness struck unexpectedly.
The aged maester of Dragonstone, already more than eighty years old, suddenly fell gravely ill as winter winds began to sweep across the Narrow Sea.
In an age where medicine was limited and disease poorly understood, reaching such an advanced age was already considered remarkable.
But the old man's frail body could no longer withstand the severity of the sickness.
His face grew pale and sunken, and his once-steady voice became weak and trembling.
Finally, lying in his bedchamber with flickering candlelight dancing across the stone walls, the old maester whispered his final words.
Taking Viserys's hand gently in his own, he spoke a few quiet sentences before his breathing slowed.
Moments later, he passed away.
The candles in the chamber flickered softly.
Outside the castle walls, the night was dark and silent.
Queen Rhaella wept bitterly.
After the recent deaths of her husband, Aerys II Targaryen, and her eldest son Rhaegar Targaryen, this loss was yet another painful blow.
Already physically weak and burdened with pregnancy, the queen's sorrow deepened once again.
Standing nearby was the loyal knight Ser Willem Darry, who had helped escort the royal family safely to Dragonstone.
Though his wounds from earlier fighting had healed enough for him to stand, the long journey and months of hardship had left lingering pain throughout his body.
Winter's cold winds made the old injuries ache fiercely.
Still, he remained silent and watchful beside the queen.
Viserys stood quietly by the bedside, still holding the cold hand of the old maester.
He said nothing.
He simply watched as the man who had been guiding his education took his final breath.
Then
suddenly
a long, drawn-out alarm bell began ringing from the direction of the Dragonstone lighthouse.
The harsh metallic sound echoed across the island and cut through the silent night.
...