The Rise of the Dragon

Under Ser Gareth Long’s tutelage, King Aegon was expected to acquire the skills of a knight. However, Long was a notoriously harsh taskmaster, and when he could not mete out his usual punishments to the royal person, he found an alternative. With Lord Unwin’s permission, he had Gaemon Palehair—the king’s only friend—appointed as Aegon’s whipping boy, receiving all the punishments that Long wished to inflict on the king. Gaemon’s tears and blood led to a marked improvement in the king’s skills, but hatred for the master-at-arms bloomed in the king’s heart.

Septon Eustace departed King’s Landing soon after his dismissal and took up residence at Stoney Sept, the town of his birth. He devoted his time to writing his account of the Dance, titling it The Reign of King Viserys, First of His Name, and the Dance of the Dragons that Came After. In later years he would enter the ranks of the Most Devout.

Unwin surrounded himself with his own personal guard: ten richly paid sellswords called the Fingers, led by a Volantene named Tessario the Tiger for the tiger stripes tattooed across his face and back, which marked him as a former slave soldier; Tessario would earn the king’s enmity when he killed Ser Robin Massey in a quarrel over a horse. Lord Unwin wished to project strength and sternness, unlike the soft-spoken Ser Tyland Lannister before him. He made a show of the fact that he had appropriated Orphan-Maker, the Valyrian steel sword Bold Jon Roxton had carried at Tumbleton. And on the feast day of Our Father Above, a propitious time for judgments, he and Ser Victor meted out justice with a bloody efficiency. Scores had hands amputated, eight rapists were gelded and sent to the Wall, noses were slit, an eye was plucked out, and a number of murderers were hanged.

The final three prisoners were the most prominent: the false Shepherd Reborn; a Pentoshi who was said to have captained the ship that brought the Winter Fever to King’s Landing; and Grand Maester Orwyle. Ser Victor Risley, in his position as King’s Justice, dealt with each one personally. He beheaded the false Shepherd and the Pentoshi captain with his headsman’s axe, but Grand Maester Orwyle had a nobler death by the sword, in recognition of his high birth and long service.

By midyear, the castle, city, and king were firmly in Lord Unwin’s grasp. So now his focus must turn to the wider realm, as trade remained practically nonexistent, the ironborn still warred against the westerlands, the Dornishmen were raiding into the marches, and winter’s harsh grip had caused a famine in the North.

Lord Unwin named his famous uncle Ser Gedmund Peake—known as Great-Axe for his favorite weapon—as commander of a fleet composed of eight great warships (commissioned by Ser Tyland) and twenty older cogs and galleys. Ser Gedmund was no sailor, so his second was a sellsail known as Ned Bean, more often called Blackbean for his beard. When they set sail for the Stepstones, Racallio Ryndoon’s power had largely been swept from the sea, but he still retained control of the largest isle, called Bloodstone. Braavos and Pentos jointly controlled most of the rest of the Stepstones. Knowing they could not defeat Braavos at sea, Lord Unwin ordered Ser Gedmund to defeat Ryndoon and his sellsails, then take over Bloodstone and use that as a base to keep the narrow sea open for trade. Ser Gedmund turned to Alyn Velaryon in turn, commanding him to turn over control of the Velaryon squadrons to Ned Bean. Lord Alyn refused to relinquish the command, but his ships dutifully joined the fleet.

By the time they reached the isle of Tarth, where their strength was augmented by a dozen longships commanded by Lord Bryndemere the Evenstar, the situation had changed on the Stepstones. The Sealord of Braavos, the Archon of Tyrosh, and Racallio Ryndoon had made common cause. With full control of the Stepstones, only ships licensed by Braavos or Tyrosh would be allowed safe passage. Learning of this, Gedmund Great-Axe sent word back to King’s Landing, wondering how to proceed. While Alyn Velaryon urged immediate action, saying that the element of surprise would be lost if they waited too long, Ser Gedmund refused to budge.

The king’s ships approach Tarth.

Lord Unwin and Tessario.

The next morning, the Velaryon fleet was gone. Gedmund cursed them, believing that they had fled back north to Driftmark, but the truth was otherwise. Lord Alyn had taken matters into his own hands and sailed south, and three days later he launched a devastating surprise attack that caught the Braavosi unaware. Half the Braavosi ships were captured, burned, or sunk. Lord Alyn won the name Oakenfist for sinking the great Braavosi dromond the Grand Defiance when he rammed it with his ship the Queen Rhaenys. His victory was complete, losing only three ships (though one, the True Heart, was lost with its captain, his cousin Daeron) but sinking more than thirty. He also captured seventeen and acquired many hostages and prizes—including an elephant intended for the menagerie of the Sealord of Braavos. Sailing back to King’s Landing, Lord Alyn was cheered by tens of thousands as he rode through the River Gate on the back of his elephant.

The reception at the Red Keep was much cooler, however. Privately, Lord Unwin threatened to behead him. The attack on the Braavosi had been a rash action, because it had left Ser Gedmund unable to invade Bloodstone and seize it from Racallio Ryndoon, whose pirate kingdom was now stronger than before. Moreover, a direct attack against a Braavosi fleet might well lead to a war the kingdom could ill afford.

Publicly, however, Lord Alyn received great accolades from Lord Peake and the council of regents, including knighthood, the office of master of ships, and a place on the king’s small council. What Alyn Oakenfist did not realize, however, was that there was poison hidden amid the sweets, for shortly thereafter he was asked to lead the Velaryon fleet to liberate Fair Isle and quell Lord Dalton Greyjoy, the Red Kraken, who had caused so much trouble in the west. The mission was a trap, designed by Lord Unwin to either weaken or kill Lord Alyn. And should he, against all odds, succeed…well, that would only enhance the reputation of the Hand and the council for having ordered the attack.

Lord Alyn gifted his elephant to the king, then proceeded to Hull to gather his ships and take leave of his wife, Lady Baela, who revealed to him that she was with child. From there, he departed on the galley Lady Baela for the long voyage into the west. The journey from King’s Landing to the westerlands was an arduous one, passing through the hostile Stepstones, along the barren and unwelcoming shores of Dorne, and into the teeth of the waiting ironborn.

Lord Alyn first had to pass through Stepstones, where he could either treat or fight with “Queen” Racallio. Oakenfist chose diplomacy, so Ryndoon hosted him for a madcap fortnight at his fortress on Bloodstone. Whether Lord Alyn was a captive or a guest was never quite clear, even to his lordship himself, for his host was as changeable as the sea. One day Ryndoon would hail Oakenfist as a friend and brother-in-arms and urge him to join him in an attack on Tyrosh, who controlled the other half of the Stepstones. The next he would throw the bones to see if he should put his guest to death. Ryndoon forced Alyn to wrestle him in a pit of mud, kill three Tyroshi prisoners, and sent two of his wives to Lord Alyn’s chambers so that Oakenfist could give him sons. (Sources are at odds as to whether Lord Alyn did as he was bid.)

Lord Alyn’s fleet.

In the end Ryndoon allowed that the Velaryon fleet might pass—for a price. He wanted three ships, an alliance writ on sheepskin and signed in blood, and a kiss. Oakenfist gave him the three least seaworthy ships in his fleet, an alliance writ on parchment and signed in maester’s ink, and the promise of a kiss from Lady Baela, should Ryndoon ever visit them on Driftmark. That proved sufficient, and the fleet sailed through the Stepstones.

After the Stepstones came Dorne, but that was less of a challenge. The Dornishmen were understandably alarmed by the sudden appearance of the large Velaryon fleet in the waters off Sunspear. Lacking any strength at sea, however, they chose to regard Lord Alyn’s coming as a visit rather than an attack. Aliandra Martell, Princess of Dorne, came out to meet with him, accompanied by a dozen of her current favorites and suitors. The “new Nymeria” had just celebrated her eighteenth nameday, and was reportedly much taken with the young, handsome Oakenfist. The princess lavished a great deal of attention on Lord Alyn, to the displeasure of her younger siblings as well as her own lords and suitors, and some accounts claim she took him to her bed. When he left Dorne, he did so with fresh supplies and maps that showed him how to navigate the most dangerous whirlpools along the southern coast.

At Oldtown, Lord Alyn’s fleet was met with a grand welcome from Lord Lyonel Hightower and his paramour, Lady Sam. The two lords immediately took to one another, and Oldtown pledged twenty warships to Alyn’s fleet. Lord Redwyne was also to provide thirty ships, but delayed so long that Lord Alyn was forced to leave without them. More galleys joined them from the Shield Islands.

These additional ships quickly proved a boon, because Dalton Greyjoy had been warned of the approach of the Velaryon fleet and had gathered hundreds of longships off Fair Isle, and more off Feastfires, Kayce, and Lannisport. After he had sent “that boy” down to the halls of the Drowned God at the bottom of the sea, the Red Kraken proclaimed, he would take his own fleet back the way that Oakenfist had come, raise his banner over the Shields, sack Oldtown and Sunspear, and claim Driftmark for his own. He would even take Baela Targaryen as a twenty-third salt wife.

However, Greyjoy and Velaryon never met. On a stormy night at Faircastle, one of his twenty-two salt wives—a woman named Tess—opened Dalton’s throat from ear to ear as he slept before throwing herself into the sea. As word of his death spread, the fleet he had assembled to meet Alyn Oakenfist began to dissolve, as captain after captain slipped away for home to prepare for the coming war of succession—for Dalton had never taken a rock wife and had left only two salt sons as his heirs.

The people of Fair Isle then rose in rebellion, slaughtering any ironborn who remained on the island. By the time Lord Alyn arrived with his fleet, Fair Isle was liberated and there was no foe to fight. Despite this, he and his fleet were celebrated at Lannisport, and Lady Johanna feted Oakenfist and his captains. When discussion turned to the Iron Islands and the danger they still posed to the westerlands once their new leader was chosen, Lady Johanna proposed that Lord Alyn’s fleet ferry soldiers and knights from the west to invade the islands. Her purpose? To put every man to the sword, and sell the women and children to slavers, ridding Westeros of the ironborn forever.

Lord Alyn declined this proposal, but did allow a third of his fleet to remain behind to protect the west until such time as the Lannisters and their vassals rebuilt their own fleet. He sailed on to Oldtown again, then to Dorne and Sunspear where Princess Aliandra was most welcoming. It was there that he was approached by Drazenko Rogare, an envoy from Lys, and the very next day Lord Alyn set sail for Lys.

Alyn Velaryon and Aliandra Martell.

While all this was occurring, however, much was also happening in King’s Landing. Concurrent with Alyn’s departure from King’s Landing, Lord Unwin sent Lord Manfryd Mooton to Braavos, to treat with the Sealord, returning his elephant and hopefully negotiating a peace before the Braavosi could declare war. The pragmatic Sealord, valuing gold over glory, was more than willing to negotiate, and a peace was declared. But the huge indemnity demanded by the Sealord so depleted the royal treasury that Lord Peake found it necessary to borrow from the Iron Bank of Braavos just so the Crown might pay its debts; that in turn required him to reinstate certain of Lord Celtigar’s taxes that Ser Tyland Lannister had abolished, which angered lords and merchants alike and weakened his support amongst the smallfolk.

Worse, on the twenty-second day of the ninth moon of 133 AC, Queen Jaehaera perished at the age of ten. She had been a strange and simpleminded girl, often given to weeping but generally happy to live a quiet life in her chambers with her kittens and dolls. And yet something had driven her to leap from her window in Maegor’s Holdfast to die a slow and pitiful death on the spikes below—the same choice her mother had made three years earlier. King’s Landing grieved for the little queen—especially the smallfolk—and rumors ran wild concerning her death and its cause. Some blamed the king’s lack of affection for his bride, but others refused to believe she killed herself and whispered that she had been murdered. Several culprits and motives were proposed, but the likeliest was Lord Unwin Peake, the Hand of the King, wishing to free Aegon III of his child bride so that he could go about the business of begetting heirs. And, of course, the Kingsguard knight who stood guard at Jaehaera’s door that day was the Hand’s own bastard half-brother, Ser Mervyn Flowers. Perhaps Ser Mervyn had either done the deed himself, or admitted some other cat’s-paw to fling the queen from her window. But the truth of these allegations was never proved, and so the question remains.

A mere seven days after Jaehaera’s funeral, Lord Unwin informed King Aegon III that it was time for him to marry again, and that a bride had been found for him: Myrielle Peake, the Hand’s only living child. At fourteen, she was only a year older than the king. However, this ambitious act went beyond what the other regents were willing to bear—especially as they had not been consulted. Lords Rowan and Mooton protested, and so too did Lady Jeyne from the Vale, Lords Kermit Tully and Benjicot Blackwood from the riverlands, and Lord Stark from the North. Also, by having put forward his own daughter, Lord Peake had inadvertently opened the door to the daughters of many other lords, great and small. In the end, it was decided that a great ball would be held on Maiden’s Day, in which all eligible highborn maidens were welcome to present themselves to the king for his choosing.

At this decree, a great excitement took hold of the court and city, and spread out across the realm. Peake, who still hoped to make his daughter queen, summoned her immediately to the city. Though Maiden’s Day was three moons away, his lordship wanted Myrielle at his side, in hopes that she might charm the king and therefore be chosen on the night of the ball. Yet even as he awaited his daughter’s arrival, Peake also set in motion several plans designed to undermine, defame, distract, and besmirch those he deemed his daughter’s most likely rivals.

All these calumnies reached the king’s ears—mostly from Mushroom’s lips, for the dwarf was much in His Grace’s company following the death of Queen Jaehaera. (Though Mushroom later confessed to having been paid handsomely to poison Aegon III against these prospective brides.) Nor were words the only means by which Lord Unwin sought to win his war for the king’s heart, if the whispers can be believed. Several candidates met with mishaps and disfiguring accidents. Some men began to talk of a “Maiden’s Day curse,” while others—wiser in the ways of power—saw unseen hands at work and held their tongues.

Not since the reign of King Viserys had there been a ball of any sort in King’s Landing, and this would be a ball like none other. At tourneys, women vied for the honor of being named the queen of love and beauty, but such reigns lasted only one night. Whichever maid King Aegon chose would reign over Westeros for a lifetime. The highborn descended on King’s Landing from every part of the Seven Kingdoms—and even from across the sea. To limit their numbers, Lord Peake decreed that the contest would be limited to maidens of noble blood under thirty years of age, yet even so, more than a thousand nubile girls crowded into the Red Keep on the appointed day.

Jaehaera’s death was not the only tragedy to befall the realm at the end of that year. Among some of the most notable were the following:

Lady Rhaena announced she was with child, but miscarried a moon’s turn after.

Famine spread through the North, as did the Winter Fever, which reached inland to Barrowton.

A wildling raider, Sylas the Grim, led three thousand wildlings against the Wall, breaking through at Queensgate. Lord Cregan Stark, joined by several bannermen and a hundred rangers of the Night’s Watch, was forced to hunt them down.

Ser Steffon Connington, the bold and handsome consort of Lady Elenda of Storm’s End, was killed in an ambush led by Wyland Wyl.

No doubt these maidens dreamed of dancing with the king, charming him with their wit, exchanging coy glances over a cup of wine. But there was to be no dancing, no wine, no opportunity for conversation. Due to the sheer number of the candidates, King Aegon III sat atop the Iron Throne while the maidens paraded beneath him one by one. As the king’s herald announced the name and lineage of each candidate, the girl would curtsy, the king would nod down at her, and then the next girl would be presented. Later, Mushroom would dub the occasion the “Maiden’s Day Cattle Show.”

Though the throne room was cavernous—the largest hall in the Seven Kingdoms outside of Harrenhal’s—there were a thousand maids at hand, and each with their retinues of parents, siblings, guards, and servants. It soon became too crowded to move, and suffocatingly hot, though outside a winter wind was blowing. The herald charged with announcing the name and lineage of each of the fair maidens lost his voice and had to be replaced. Four of the hopefuls fainted, along with a dozen mothers, several fathers, and a septon. One stout lord collapsed and died.

The foreign candidates for Aegon’s hand included a daughter of the Prince of Pentos, a sister of the Archon of Tyrosh, and women of ancient lineages from both Myr and Old Volantis. (Though the Volantene contingent never arrived, as they were carried off by corsairs from the Basilisk Isles.) There was even a daughter of a magister of Lys, whose garments were so translucent that the Kingsguard barred her entry into the hall until she changed into something more demure.

The Maiden’s Day Cattle Show.

Lady Myrielle was early among the maidens presented to the king—and in the time she had spent in King’s Landing, she had often been in the king’s company thanks to the machinations of her lord father. The king seemed to like her well enough, even giving her one of Queen Jaehaera’s dolls. When she was brought before him that night, he spoke to her—the only contender he directly addressed—thanking her for her appearance. Lord Unwin surely took heart, believing that all his careful scheming had borne fruit. Yet it would all be undone by the king’s half-sisters—the very twins whose succession Unwin Peake had been so determined to prevent.

Fewer than a dozen maids remained, and the press had thinned considerably, when a sudden trumpet blast heralded the arrival of Baela Velaryon and Rhaena Corbray. The doors to the throne room were thrown open, and the daughters of Prince Daemon entered on horseback, upon a blast of winter air. Lady Baela was great with child, Lady Rhaena wan and thin from her miscarriage, yet seldom had they seemed more united as they announced that they had found a new queen for their half-brother: Lady Daenaera Velaryon, daughter of the late Ser Daeron, who had died during Oakenfist’s attack on the Braavosi fleet.

Daenaera had been a ward of Lady Baela and Lord Alyn since the death of her father. She was six years old, and breathtakingly beautiful, the blood of Old Valyria apparent in her silver-gold hair, deep blue eyes, and skin as pale as winter snow. The king returned her smile, and after the last presentations had drawn to a close, announced that Daenaera would be his bride. Lord Unwin attempted to have the choice set aside by the council of regents the next day, arguing that a six-year-old girl would take too long to produce heirs, but the other regents overruled him. On the last day of 133 AC, King Aegon III wed Lady Daenaera of House Velaryon.

And indeed, the marriage seemed to make King Aegon a little happier. In the moons following, he seemed more willing to leave the castle, to practice at arms, to engage in his studies. He even attended council meetings—though this annoyed his Hand, who saw the boy-king’s presence as a nuisance at best and a rebuke at worst. The Hand’s hostility was not lost on King Aegon, and in time he stopped attending the council. And yet still Unwin stewed over the role the Velaryons had played in the choice of Aegon’s bride. He came to believe that Alyn and Baela intended to place their own future son on the throne. Baela’s delivery of a healthy infant girl briefly put his paranoia to rest—until part of the Velaryon fleet returned to King’s Landing bearing a cryptic message: Oakenfist had sent them on ahead whilst he sailed to Lys to secure “a treasure beyond price.”

These words inflamed Lord Peake’s suspicions. What was this treasure and how did Lord Velaryon mean to secure it? The smallfolk saw Oakenfist as a hero, while Peake was resented and reviled. Even within the Red Keep, there were many who hoped that the regents might remove Lord Peake as King’s Hand and replace him with Alyn Velaryon. The excitement occasioned by Oakenfist’s return was palpable, however, so all the Hand could do was seethe.

When Lady Baela’s sails were first seen across the waters of Blackwater Bay, every bell in King’s Landing began to toll. Thousands crowded onto the city walls to cheer, while thousands more rushed to line the shores. King Aegon and Queen Daenaera descended from the castle in their litter, accompanied by Lady Baela and her newborn daughter; her sister Lady Rhaena with her lord husband, Corwyn Corbray; Grand Maester Munkun; Septon Bernard; the regents Manfryd Mooton and Thaddeus Rowan; the knights of the Kingsguard; and many other notables eager to meet the Lady Baela at the docks.

The morning was bright and cold. There, before the eyes of tens of thousands, Lord Alyn Oakenfist beheld his daughter, Laena, for the first time. Then with a flamboyant gesture, he summoned forth the treasure he had brought from Lys. Down from the Lady Baela emerged a beautiful young woman, arm in arm with a richly clad boy near the king’s own age, his features hidden beneath the cowl of his embroidered cloak. When the boy threw back his cowl and the sunlight glittered on his silver-gold hair, King Aegon III began to weep, throwing himself upon this boy in a fierce embrace. For Oakenfist’s “treasure” was none other than Viserys Targaryen, the king’s lost brother, the youngest son of Queen Rhaenyra and Prince Daemon, presumed dead since the Battle of the Gullet and missing for close to five years.

As it happened, the ship carrying the young princeling had survived the battle and limped back home to Lys, where Viserys found himself a captive of the grand admiral of the Triarchy, Sharako Lohar. Defeat had left Sharako in disgrace, however, so he sold the boy to a magister named Bambarro Bazanne in return for Viserys’s weight in gold. After the Triarchy dissolved into war, Magister Bambarro thought it prudent to keep his prize hidden, lest the boy be acquired by one of his fellow Lyseni, or rivals from another city.

Viserys was well treated during his captivity. Though forbidden to leave the grounds of Bambarro’s manse, he had his own suite of rooms, shared meals with the magister and his family, and had tutors to instruct him in languages, literature, mathematics, history, and music. He even had a master-at-arms to teach him swordsmanship, at which he soon excelled. It is widely believed (though never proved) that Bambarro’s intent was to wait out the Dance of the Dragons, and then either ransom Prince Viserys back to his mother (should Rhaenyra emerge triumphant) or sell his head to his uncle (should Aegon II prove the victor).

Bambarro Bazanne died in the Disputed Lands in 132 AC, however, when the sellsword company he was leading against Tyrosh turned against him. Upon his death, it was discovered that he had been hugely in debt, and so his worldly possessions—including the captive princeling—passed into the hands of another nobleman, Lysandro Rogare. Lysandro was the patriarch of a rich and powerful banking dynasty, whose bloodlines could be traced back to Valyria before the Doom. Once he realized he had a prince in hand, the magister quickly married him to his youngest daughter, the Lady Larra Rogare.

The chance encounter between Alyn Velaryon and Drazenko Rogare at Sunspear had provided a perfect opportunity to return Prince Viserys to his brother…at a price. So it was first necessary that Oakenfist come to Lys and agree to terms. Oakenfist, however, was no haggler. To secure the prince, his lordship agreed that the Iron Throne would pay a ransom of one hundred thousand golden dragons, agree not to take up arms against House Rogare or its interests for a hundred years, entrust the Rogare Bank of Lys with such funds as were presently held by the Iron Bank of Braavos, grant lordships to three of Lysandro’s younger sons, and swear that the marriage between Viserys Targaryen and Larra Rogare would not be set aside. To all this Lord Alyn had agreed.

Prince Viserys had been seven when he was taken from the Gay Abandon. He was twelve on his return in 134 AC. His wife, the beautiful young woman who had walked arm in arm with him from the Lady Baela, was nineteen, seven years his senior.

The return of Viserys from the dead worked a wondrous change in Aegon III, with all his guilt at having abandoned his brother in the war finally assuaged and his childhood companion returned. Better, with Viserys alive, the succession was clear—and would be all the clearer when Larra of Lys bore his children, for the marriage had already been consummated.

One man, however, was not pleased: Lord Unwin, the Hand of the King. He was furious at the terms that Alyn had agreed to, but the council of regents overruled his objections and let the pact stand. Worse still, Lord Alyn was given new honors and rewards. Lord Peake was so angry that he threatened to resign, perhaps expecting that this might bend his fellow regents to his will. Instead the council accepted his resignation with alacrity, and appointed the bluff, honest, and well-regarded Lord Thaddeus Rowan in his place. Humiliated, Unwin Peake returned to Starpike to brood on all the wrongs he felt he had suffered, leaving behind him many kinsmen with appointments at court. He even left Tessario the Tiger and his Fingers to help guard the new Hand.

The Regents accept Lord Unwin’s resignation.

Lady Johanna’s revenge.

THE REMAINDER OF 134 AC passed peacefully enough in King’s Landing, marred only by the death of Manfryd Mooton, the last of King Aegon’s original regents. His lordship had been failing for some time, never truly having regained his strength after the Winter Fever, so his passing excited little comment. To take his place upon the council, Lord Rowan turned to Ser Corwyn Corbray, Lady Rhaena’s husband.

The rest of Westeros was less fortunate, however. The winter continued to bite hard in the North. Thousands starved, some men sold themselves to slavers so their wives and children had food, and a third of the Night’s Watch was killed by the cold and the famine, while hundreds more died fighting the thousands of wildlings who had gotten around the Wall by walking across the frozen sea at its eastern end.

In the Iron Islands, the bloody struggle for the Seastone Chair was heating up, as Dalton Greyjoy’s son Toron was seized by his aunts and their husbands, while Lords Harlaw and Blacktyde were joined by Toron’s cousins to raise up a younger salt-son, Rodrik. On Great Wyk, a pretender named Sam Salt, who claimed descent from the black line of Harren, made his own claim.

The fighting raged for half a year before Ser Leo Costayne, the Sea Lion, attacked the Iron Islands. He commanded the fleet that Lord Alyn Velaryon left behind to guard the west, but Lady Johanna had convinced him, in return for her hand in marriage, to ferry her forces across so she could seize control of the Iron Islands in her son’s name. It proved costly. Ser Leo was killed and most of his fleet destroyed, but Lady Johanna got her revenge. Hundreds of ironborn ships were burned, and countless homes and villages as well. Women and children were mercilessly put to the sword, a score of noble lords and ladies killed, and thousands more left to starve after the remainder of Johanna’s fleet carried off or spoiled all the stored fish and grain. To add insult to injury, Rodrik Greyjoy was gelded and made to serve as a fool for Lady Johanna’s son.

One more battle over succession broke out toward the end of 134 AC, with the death of the childless Lady Jeyne Arryn, the Maiden of the Vale. In her last testament, she named her fourth cousin, Ser Joffrey Arryn, the Knight of the Bloody Gate, as her heir. But this was immediately contested by two other claimants. The first was Ser Eldric Arryn, son of Lady Jeyne’s first cousin Ser Arnold, who had twice tried to depose her and had gone mad after years of imprisonment in the dungeons beneath the Gates of the Moon. The second was Isembard Arryn of the cadet branch of the wealthy Gulltown Arryns, who became known as the Gilded Falcon for his habit of paying lesser lords to support his claim and hiring sellswords from across the narrow sea to contest it in battle.

Larra of Lys.

Lord Thaddeus Rowan and the regents attempted to restore order to the realm. Food was shipped to the North, but it was not nearly enough to end the famine. Lady Johanna was ordered to withdraw her forces from the Iron Islands, but she ignored the regents’ commands. So, too, did the rival claimants to the Eyrie, when Lord Thaddeus commanded them to present themselves at court to have their claims adjudicated.

While the regents and the boy they served were increasingly ignored, another problem began to develop—one that struck at the very heart of the court. Though Prince Viserys was loved for his cleverness, gallantry, and the joy he brought to King Aegon, the same could not be said for his wife. Larra of Lys made no effort to integrate—or ingratiate—herself with the court. She had no interest in learning the Common Tongue, wore only Lysene fashions, kept only Lyseni companions and servants, and was guarded by Lysene swords by night and day. But all this the court and kingdom might have come to accept had Lady Larra not also insisted upon keeping her own gods. She would have no part in the worship of the Seven, nor the old gods of the northmen. And this only increased the prejudice against her.

Among the deities of Lys which Larra Rogare and her companions worshipped were the following:

Pantera, the six-breasted cat goddess; cats were seen coming and going from Lady Larra’s rooms at all hours and were rumored to be her spies.

Bakkalon of the Sword, the Pale Child.

Saagael, a faceless god; every time a child disappeared in King’s Landing, Lady Larra was suspected of having used them as a blood sacrifice.

Yndros of the Twilight, man by day and woman by night; some said Larra turned herself into a man at night, to take part in orgies in the Street of Silk.

Pantera

Bakkalon

Saagael

Yndros

Larra’s brothers were even less well-regarded. Her brother Moredo, captain of her guard and the bearer of the Valyrian steel sword Truth, was a stern and aloof man who had a poor grasp of the Common Tongue. Her brother Lotho established a branch of the Rogare Bank on Visenya’s Hill and was widely believed to have too much control over the realm by virtue of holding its purse strings. Finally, her brother Roggerio opened an opulent Lysene pillow house called the Mermaid, and filled it with parrots from the Summer Islands, monkeys from Sothoryos, and a hundred exotic girls and boys from every corner of the earth. Though their favors cost ten times as much as any other brothel dared to charge, Roggerio never lacked for customers.

By the end of 134 AC, many believed the Rogares to be using their positions and wealth to manipulate the court. Lotho bought men with gold, Roggerio seduced them with flesh, and Moredo frightened them into submission with steel. Yet the brothers were no more than puppets in the hands of Lady Larra; it was her and her queer Lysene gods, many said, who held their strings. Munkun would call this period the Rogare Ascendancy, but in King’s Landing it would be called the Lysene Spring, as early in 135 AC the Conclave in Oldtown declared an end to the harsh winter at last.

There was much hope in 135 AC that the new spring would bring peace and plenty. As if to herald that, Lady Rhaena flew her dragon Morning for the first time early that year. Not a fortnight later, Larra of Lys gave birth to a son—a child that the thirteen-year-old Prince Viserys named Aegon. Gifts flowed in from across the realm to mark the occasion, and in Lys the newly appointed First Magister for Life, Lysandro Rogare, declared a day of feasting to celebrate the birth of his grandson.

Though the Rogares were subject to great suspicion, their wealth had a positive effect on the Seven Kingdoms. The Rogare Bank offered high returns, so more gold was entrusted to its vaults, and trade flourished with the Free Cities. King’s Landing may have profited the most, but all the other great ports of the realm saw substantial gains as well.

Yet this new Aegon’s arrival, initially met with joy, also sparked a new spate of rumors against Larra and her brothers. These rumors grew fiercer and wilder as the early hopes of 135 AC were proved false. The earliest omen was in Driftmark, when the dragon’s egg presented to Laena Velaryon upon her birth quickened and hatched…and from it came a wyrm, wingless and white, that immediately turned on the little girl in the cradle and tore a bloody chunk from her arm. Lord Alyn Velaryon leapt to his daughter’s defense, ripping the dragon off her and hacking it to pieces. No one could ever recall such an event happening in all the years since Aegon the Conqueror and his sisters had brought fire and blood to the Seven Kingdoms. Already fearful of dragons, King Aegon commanded that any dragon eggs in the Red Keep be sent to Dragonstone—a command that angered Prince Viserys, who did not wish to part with his still-unhatched egg. Viserys refused to speak with his brother in the aftermath.

A deadly hatchling.

His Grace was much dismayed by the quarrel with his brother, but what happened next left him bereft and devastated. King Aegon was enjoying a quiet supper in his solar with his queen and his friend Gaemon Palehair when first the bastard boy and then Daenaera began to complain of a cramping in their guts. By the time Grand Maester Munkun arrived, Gaemon had collapsed. The Grand Maester gave Daenaera a powerful purgative, which most likely saved her life, but he had come too late for Gaemon. The boy—all of nine years old—died within the hour. George Graceford, the lord confessor, sharply questioned anyone who might have had contact with the apple tarts that Munkun had determined contained the poison. Under torture, seven confessed to attempting to poison the king…but each account differed from the next, there was no agreement on where they got the poison, and none of the captives could correctly name the dish wherein the poison had been contained, so the Hand dismissed these confessions as worthless.

Aegon’s grief at Gaemon’s loss did lead to a reconciliation with Prince Viserys. However, the brief brightening of the king’s mood that had arisen after his marriage and subsequent reunion with his brother came to an end, and he resumed his morose and melancholy demeanor, seeming to lose all interest in his court and kingdom. It proved a mood well-suited to the times—especially when word arrived from the Vale of Arryn.

Early in 135 AC, the Hand had dispatched Ser Corwyn Corbray and a thousand men to Gulltown to restore order and settle the matter of the succession. Upon his arrival, Ser Corwyn had declared Ser Joffrey Arryn the rightful Lord of the Eyrie. He imprisoned the Gilded Falcon and his sons, and executed Eldric Arryn, but Ser Arnold Arryn, Eldric’s mad father, escaped to Runestone, where Gunthor Royce gave him sanctuary. When Ser Corwyn arrived to winkle Ser Arnold out of his sanctuary, Lord Gunthor rode out to confront Corwyn in the ancient bronze armor, covered in the runes of the First Men, that had won him the name of the Bronze Giant. Though they were under a banner of parley, words grew heated, turned to curses, then to threats. When Corbray drew Lady Forlorn—whether to strike at Royce or merely threaten him—a crossbowman on Runestone’s battlements loosed a quarrel that pierced him through the breast.

Striking down one of the king’s regents was an act of treason, akin to attacking the king himself, and the Vale fell to war again in the wake of this act. Lord Quenton Corbray, Ser Corwyn’s nephew, joined the Hunters, Craynes, and Redforts to support Ser Joffrey, while Lord Gunthor and Ser Arnold Arryn found support from the Templetons, Tolletts, Coldwaters, Duttons, and lords throughout the Three Sisters and the Fingers. Even the Gilded Falcon still had support from Gulltown and its rulers, House Grafton.

The Hand arranged for five thousand men to march up the kingsroad, under the command of his eldest son, Ser Robert Rowan, to restore the King’s Peace. That number swelled as other forces joined the march, and by the time they entered the Mountains of the Moon, Rowan’s army numbered nine thousand men.

The parley at Runestone.

A second attack was then launched by sea. Oakenfist would command the fleet himself, whilst his wife, Lady Baela, went to Dragonstone to comfort her widowed twin (and incidentally make certain that Lady Rhaena did not attempt to avenge her husband’s death herself on Morning). The army Lord Alyn was to carry to the Vale would be commanded by Lady Larra’s brother Moredo Rogare, Lord Rowan announced, even though Moredo’s grasp of the Common Tongue was poor.

Both attacks failed spectacularly. Lord Alyn’s ships easily landed troops at the walls of Gulltown, but many hundreds died taking the walls and fighting from house to house. And when his translator was slain, Moredo Rogare had great difficulty communicating with his own troops; the men did not understand his commands, and he did not understand their reports. Chaos ensued.

As for Ser Robert’s force, the march through the high road was beset by attacks from the savage clansmen who made their homes in the mountains, and the deep snows that slowed their march to a crawl. Three thousand men had died of exposure, hardship, or wildling attack by the time they arrived at the Bloody Gate under the command of the fifteen-year-old Lord Benjicot Blackwood, as Ser Robert Rowan had been among the dead. The survivors were in no state to fight on behalf of Joffrey Arryn—or anyone.

One incident during Robert Rowan’s march bears noting. When a dozen men climbed up to a mountain cave, hoping to find some shelter from the winds, they instead found scattered bones. And when they entered the cave itself, out came Sheepstealer, roaring and spouting flame. On his back was Nettles. Sixteen men were killed, and more burned, before the dragon and his rider flew off, deeper into the mountains. This would prove the last recorded sighting of the two.

Among the clans of the Mountains of the Moon, tales are still told of the “fire witch” who had lived in a secret valley. One clan even came to worship her, sending youths to her with gifts and declaring them men if they returned with burns that proved they had faced her and her dragon.

The fire witch.

How matters would have proceeded had Moredo Rogare remained in control of his force are unknown, for dire news reached him that led him to abandon his command and sail for Braavos instead. And that news was the sudden and swift end of House Rogare, who had held such power in both Lys and the Seven Kingdoms. Moredo’s uncle Drazenko—who had wed Princess Aliandra of Dorne the previous year—was said to have choked to death on a fishbone, while Moredo’s father, Lysandro, drowned when his pleasure barge sank. That the two men died within a day of one another, separated by the breadth of the narrow sea, made many wonder if they had been assassinated. The Faceless Men of Braavos were widely believed to have been responsible for the killings, as no more subtle assassins are known. And with these deaths came a swift and deadly struggle among the magisters and merchant princes of Lys, fighting over the offices that were now vacant.

Lysandro’s vast wealth and holdings were divided among his children, but his eldest son, Lysaro, aspired to rule Lys as his father had. He purchased a thousand Unsullied, the eunuch slave-soldiers trained in Astapor, then set about winning the martial office of gonfaloniere. From this office, he intended to lead Lys into a short conflict with a rival Free City—either Tyrosh or Myr—so he could sack that city and use its wealth to restore the gold he took from the Rogare Bank to pay for both his office and his campaign. But word of the diversion of funds began to spread, and a rumor took hold that the Rogare Bank was unsound. Men began to demand the return of their deposits until a torrent of claims emptied Lysaro’s vaults and led to the bank’s collapse. Lysaro Rogare fled in the night, abandoning his family and his palace.

The collapse of the bank led to the collapse of House Rogare. All their holdings were seized to pay debts, and when that was not enough, the Rogares and their children were enslaved and sold. Lysaro Rogare was captured on the Rhoyne and sold back to Lys by the Triarchs of Volantis. There he was condemned and died a horrifying death, as those who had been made destitute by the collapse of the bank were permitted to lash him repeatedly, according to the magnitude of that loss.

As word spread of the downfall of House Rogare, waves of panic hit the Seven Kingdoms as merchants and lords realized that their deposits were now lost. Though Moredo escaped to Braavos, his brothers Lotho and Roggerio were both arrested in King’s Landing. It was at first thought that Lord Thaddeus had given the order, but a few hours later Ser Mervyn Flowers of the Kingsguard arrested him as well, while Tessario and his Fingers watched. Many and more were arrested: cousins and a nephew of Lord Rowan, two score servants and grooms and knights in Rowan’s service—and then Ser Amaury Peake approached Maegor’s Holdfast with the intention of arresting Lady Larra herself.

Awaiting him was Prince Viserys, carrying a heavy axe, and King Aegon. When they asked who had commanded her arrest, Ser Amaury revealed it was the new Hand of the King: Ser Marston Waters, Lord Commander of the Kingsguard. Ser Amaury even claimed that Ser Marston had been appointed by the regents, though only two of those regents remained and one of them—Lord Thaddeus—had just been removed from that position at Ser Marston’s command. Viserys warned them not to cross the drawbridge, driving his axe into the wood to mark the line they must not pass. As the prince and the king withdrew, Sandoq the Shadow stepped forward. Huge and powerful, black of hair and skin, he was a mute pit fighter from Meereen who had survived a thousand fights. He had been sent by Lysandro Rogare to act as Larra’s defender, and now he proved his skill, carrying a black shield of nightwood and a curved sword with a dragonbone hilt and a Valyrian steel blade. Ser Amaury and the dozen men-at-arms he had brought all died, cut down like so much wheat at harvest.

Sandoq the Shadow meets Ser Amaury Peake.

For eighteen days, Maegor’s Holdfast stayed shut, with the king and his brother inside. The rest of the Red Keep was in the hands of Ser Marston Waters and his Kingsguard, while beyond the castle walls Ser Lucas Leygood and his gold cloaks kept a firm grip on King’s Landing. But neither could entice the king from his sanctuary. Ser Marston declined to storm the holdfast, in part because he did not wish to dishonor his vows by attacking his own king. Instead, on the twelfth day, Lord Thaddeus Rowan was brought out from the dungeons in chains. He was a broken man, his face and body bearing the marks of torture. He had confessed to a long list of crimes, including conspiring with Oakenfist against Lord Unwin Peake, looting the Rogare Bank, and plotting with the Rogares to poison Aegon and Daenaera and place Viserys and Larra on the throne instead.

But when Prince Viserys questioned the former Hand, he discovered that Lord Thaddeus had been so badly broken that he would admit to anything. At that, the king commanded Ser Marston to seize Lord George Graceford, the lord confessor, and Ser Marston did as the king commanded. To this day, some assert that Ser Marston Waters was no more than a cat’s-paw, a simple honest knight used and deceived by men more subtle than himself, whilst others argue that Waters was part of the plot from the beginning, but abandoned his fellows when he sensed the tide turning against them.

Regardless of why Ser Marston obeyed, it did not prove necessary to subject the lord confessor to torment; the sight of the instruments was all that was required for him to give up the names of the other conspirators. Amongst those he named were Ser Amaury Peake and Ser Mervyn Flowers of the Kingsguard; Tessario the Tiger; Septon Bernard; Ser Gareth Long; Ser Victor Risley; the Commander of the City Watch, Ser Lucas Leygood, and six of the seven captains of the city gates; and three of the queen’s ladies.

Not all surrendered peacefully. Lucas Leygood and eight others died when men-at-arms came to arrest him. Tessario the Tiger was captured as he tried to buy passage to the Port of Ibben. Ser Marston Waters chose to arrest Ser Mervyn Flowers himself, as they were both bastards and sworn brothers of the Kingsguard. Flowers offered his sword in surrender, only to seize Waters’s arm as he reached for it, driving a dagger into his belly. Ser Mervyn was killed while trying to saddle a horse and escape, while Ser Marston Waters died of his injuries that night.

But when considering all the conspirators, one person connected most of them, either by kinship or by association, and his name was Lord Unwin Peake, the former Hand of the King. There were those at court who came to suspect his influence behind all that had happened, but Peake had been at Starpike during the secret siege, and none of his supposed cat’s-paws ever spoke his name, so his involvement remained unproven.

So thick was the miasma of mistrust in the Red Keep that Aegon III did not leave Maegor’s Holdfast for six more days after his brother Viserys unraveled Lord Rowan’s false confession. Only when he saw Grand Maester Munkun send forth a murder of ravens, summoning his most loyal lords to King’s Landing, did His Grace allow the bridge to be lowered once again. They had run so short of food within the holdfast that Queen Daenaera cried herself to sleep at night, and two of her ladies were so weak from hunger that they had to be helped across the moat.

The death of Ser Marston Waters.

Soon thereafter, Thaddeus Rowan once more took up residence in the Tower of the Hand…but it was plain to all that his lordship was in no fit state to resume his duties. The things that had been done to him in the dungeons had broken him. After a moon’s turn, with Lord Rowan showing little or no signs of improvement, Grand Maester Munkun persuaded the king to relieve him of his office. Rowan set out for his seat at Goldengrove, promising to return to King’s Landing once he had recovered his health, but he died upon the road in the company of two of his sons. And for the rest of that year, the Grand Maester served as both regent and Hand, for Aegon had still not reached the age of manhood. Yet as a maester, chained and sworn to serve, Munkun did not feel it was his place to pass judgment on high lords and anointed knights, so the accused traitors languished in the dungeons, awaiting a new Hand.

In 136 AC, a gathering of lords arrived to form something like a great council, though it was not formally given that name. Lords from the crownlands, riverlands, and stormlands were the most numerous, but from the Vale had come Lord Alyn Oakenfist, who with Bloody Ben Blackwood had at last forced Joffrey Arryn’s rivals and their respective supporters to bend the knee; thus were Isembard Arryn, Ser Arnold Arryn, and Lord Gunthor Royce all pardoned. With him came Lord Arryn and several other lords. Lady Johanna Lannister sent representatives, while Lord Torrhen Manderly, Lord Lyonel Hightower, and Lady Sam came in person. And, notably, Lord Unwin Peake also attended, bringing a thousand men-at-arms and five hundred sellswords. Once gathered, the lords argued for a fortnight before new regents were chosen, and various offices—most critically, that of the King’s Hand—were filled. Once this was settled, King Aegon III put his seal to the matter.

The following offices were decided by the gathering of lords:

Three new regents, chosen by lot: Willam Stackspear, Marq Merryweather, and Lorent Grandison

Lord Torrhen Manderly, Hand of the King

Isembard Arryn, master of coin

Ser Gedmund Peake, lord admiral and master of ships

Ser Raynard Ruskyn, Lord Commander of the Kingsguard

Ser Adrian Thorne, Commander of the City Watch

Afterward, the trials began and would continue for thirty-three days. Of the forty-two who were accused, eighteen remained to be judged; the rest had either fled or died. Prince Viserys attended every trial—often accompanied by his wife, her belly swelling with their second child, and their son Aegon with his wet nurse—while King Aegon attended only three: the trials of Ser Gareth Long, Lord George Graceford, and Septon Bernard. Long and Graceford were condemned but allowed to take the black, as were a number of gold cloaks and the surviving Fingers, while Septon Bernard was allowed to live at the High Septon’s behest but was gelded and forced to walk back to Oldtown as penance. Ser Victor Risley, formerly the King’s Justice, demanded a trial by combat, and was quickly slain by Ser Gareth Long, who had been the first man to name Risley in the plot. This left three of Queen Daenaera’s ladies. Lucinda Penrose and Priscella Hogg were condemned to have their noses cut off—with the understanding that the punishment would be stayed should they give themselves to the Faith, so long as they remained true to their vows. Cassandra Baratheon, who had confessed to having shared her bed with Ser Mervyn Flowers and occasionally Tessario the Tiger, was married to an aged knight from Cape Wrath named Ser Walter Brownhill. Ser Walter had fathered sixteen children by his previous wives, thirteen of whom still lived. It was thought that caring for these children—and any additional sons or daughters that she herself might give her new husband—would keep Lady Cassandra from plotting any further treasons. (And so it did.)

This concluded the last of the treason trials, but the dungeons beneath the Red Keep had not yet been emptied. The fate of Lady Larra’s brothers Lotho and Roggerio remained to be decided. Though innocent of high treason, murder, and conspiracy, they still stood accused of fraud and theft, for the collapse of the Rogare Bank had led to the ruination of thousands in Westeros as well as Lys. They were duly tried, but even those who most despised them could offer no shred of proof that either had known of their brother’s depredations in Lys, or had benefited from his plundering in any way. In the end, the banker Lotho was adjudged guilty of theft, for taking gold and gems and silver not his own and failing to restore the same on demand. Lord Manderly gave him the choice of taking the black, or having his right hand removed as if he were a common thief. Lotho, who was left-handed, chose mutilation. Nothing at all could be proved against his brother Roggerio, but Lord Manderly sentenced him to seven lashes all the same—for no other crime than being a “thrice-damned Lyseni.”

With the trials completed, many of the lords who had come to King’s Landing departed. As Hand of the King, Torrhen Manderly proved to be an honest and capable ruler in Aegon III’s name, and he soon became the most influential man at court, as the three new regents proved more followers than leaders. Lord Torrhen ensured that various offices were filled with good and capable men, saw the Kingsguard restored to its full complement of seven, enacted a major reform of the taxes with the help of Isembard Arryn, provided some relief to lords and merchants who had suffered losses with the collapse of the Rogare Bank, and repudiated Alyn Oakenfist’s pact with House Rogare, since that house no longer existed. King Aegon never warmed to his new Hand, but His Grace did not have a trusting nature, and the events of the past year had only served to deepen his suspicions. Nor could Lord Torrhen be said to have had much regard for the king, whom he referred to as “that sullen boy.” Manderly did become fond of Prince Viserys, however, and doted on Queen Daenaera.

The trial of Lotho and Roggerio Rogare.

When Larra gave birth to her second son, a boy named Aemon, Lord Torrhen arranged a celebratory feast. The court was delighted by the birth of yet another potential heir to the Iron Throne…or at least, most of it was. Aemon’s brother, the year-and-a-half-old Aegon, was discovered one day striking his infant brother with the dragon egg in his cradle, but Lady Larra intervened before any harm could be done.

In the wake of the trials, Roggerio would sell his possessions to buy a cog, named the Mermaid’s Daughter, that would serve as a roving pleasure house. Lotho became a confidant and councillor to Lady Sam and Lord Lyonel Hightower, advising them in the creation of the Bank of Oldtown, which increased the already considerable wealth of the Hightowers. Moredo Rogare, alone of the brothers to escape the Seven Kingdoms, would convince the keyholders of the Iron Bank of Braavos to fund an attack on Lys; three years later, he would be in position to reclaim the bones of his brother Lysaro and see them interred in the family tomb in Lys.

Brotherly love.

Shortly thereafter, Lord Alyn Oakenfist grew restless and began to make plans for the second of his six great voyages. The Velaryons had entrusted much of their gold to Lotho Rogare and lost more than half their wealth in consequence. To restore their fortunes, Lord Alyn assembled a large fleet of merchantmen, with a dozen of his war galleys to guard them, intending to sail to Old Volantis by way of Pentos, Tyrosh, and Lys, visiting Dorne on the way home. Lady Baela was less than delighted by the visit to Dorne, knowing the now-widowed Princess Aliandra’s fondness for her husband, but their quarrel was quickly resolved, and at midyear Lord Alyn sailed away, leaving Lady Baela, carrying their second child, behind.

With King Aegon’s sixteenth nameday and subsequent majority fast approaching, Lord Torrhen Manderly determined that King Aegon and Queen Daenaera should make a royal progress to mark his coming of age. It would be good for the boy to see the lands he ruled, the Hand reasoned, to show himself to his people. Aegon was tall and comely, and his young queen could supply whatever charm the king might lack. The commons would surely love her, which could only be of benefit to the solemn young king.

The regents concurred. Plans were made for a grand progress lasting a full year, one that would take His Grace to parts of the realm that had never seen a king before. Hundreds of knights and lords begged the honor of a royal visit, and the planning for the progress consumed the court. Lady Rhaena asked to attend with her dragon, Morning, but the king’s antipathy to dragons meant that her request was denied. Lady Baela, on the other hand, insisted on taking part regardless.

And then came King Aegon’s nameday. A great feast was to be held that night in the throne room, and the ancient Guild of Alchemists had promised displays of pyromancy such as the realm had never seen. It was still morning, though, when King Aegon entered the council chamber, where Lord Torrhen and the regents debated the last details of the progress. With him came four of the knights of the Kingsguard, and the hulking figure of Sandoq the Shadow. Curtly, the king stated his readiness to rule, and had Lord Torrhen remove himself from the head seat at the council table. Then he informed the council that the progress was canceled. Though Lord Torrhen tried to persuade him that it would win him the love of the people, King Aegon stated that he would do that through providing peace, food, and justice. He even called off the nameday feast in his honor, sending the food to the poor instead. “Full bellies and dancing bears shall be my policy,” the king announced, before relieving the regents and the Hand of their offices and granting them leave to return to their seats.

Lord Torrhen Manderly left for White Harbor less than a fortnight later, in company with Mushroom. The fool had grown fond of the big northman and had eagerly accepted his offer of a place at White Harbor rather than remain with a king who seldom smiled and never laughed. But Manderly was far from cheerful on the journey home. Instead, he gnawed at the humiliation he felt at his brusque dismissal and what he called the “murder” of the royal progress. King Aegon had turned a loyal and devoted servant into an enemy with his first act—an omen of things to come.

And so the broken reign of the Broken King began.

The end of the regency.

Index

The page numbers in this index refer to the printed version of the book. Each link will take you to the beginning of the corresponding print page. You may need to scroll forward from that location to find the corresponding reference on your e-reader.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

A

Addam Hightower, 38–39

Addam (of Hull) Velaryon, 223–24, 243, 247–48, 253, 261, 263–64, 266–67

Addison Hill, 46

Adrian Tarbeck, 229, 232

Adrian Thorne, 338

Aegon Ambrose, 72

Aegon’s High Hill, 26, 77, 89, 111, 162, 229

Aegon I (The Conqueror) Targaryen

banner of, 26

Blackfyre and, 36, 179

court of, 42, 43

crowning of, 26, 30, 35

death of, 51

and the Iron Throne, 31, 32–33, 35

landing and conquest by, 11, 25–31

lineage of, 344

marriages of, 21–22, 49

reign of, 35–51

Aegon II Targaryen (Aegon the Elder)

banner of, 218

birth of, 185

coronation of, 198–99, 201, 205, 209

death of, 283

at King’s Landing, 274, 275

lineage of, 345

reign of, 201–83

Aegon III (The Unlucky) Targaryen (Aegon the Younger)

birth of, 196

healing hands of, 304–5

at King’s Landing, 286, 287

lineage of, 344

marriages of, 274, 278–79, 295, 320

personality of, 287

regency of, 287–343

Stormcloud and, 207, 223, 226

Aegon (The Uncrowned) Targaryen (son of Aenys I), 50, 64, 66, 71, 73, 76–77, 81–82, 85, 109, 113, 344

Aegon Targaryen (son of Baelon), 158, 345

Aegon Targaryen (son of Jaehaerys I), 129, 345

Aegon Targaryen (son of Viserys II), 328, 338, 341, 344

Aemma Arryn, 157, 177, 180, 181, 212, 344

Aemond (One-Eye) Targaryen, 185, 193–195, 197, 205, 207, 214–15, 220, 222, 227, 229, 232, 233, 236, 238, 240–41, 243, 244, 246, 248–51, 260, 303, 344

Aemon Targaryen (son of Jaehaerys I), 138, 149, 151, 153, 157, 158, 166–67, 345

Aemon Targaryen (son of Viserys II), 341, 344

Aenar Targaryen, 7, 21, 147

Aenys I Targaryen

birth of, 49

Blackfyre and, 179

children of, 50

crowning of, 51, 52–53, 55

death of, 66

lineage of, 345

personality of, 49

reign of, 55–66

royal progresses of, 50, 51

tension between Maegor and, 63–66

wedding of, 50

Aerea Targaryen, 77, 92, 93, 99, 104, 105, 107, 122, 123, 127, 128, 131, 135–36, 138–39, 179, 344

Aerion Targaryen, 344

Aethan Velaryon, 45

Alan Beesbury, 222, 226

Alan Tarly, 222, 226

Alaric Stark, 109, 120, 141–42, 151

Alayne Royce, 107, 118

Albin Massey, 125, 138, 145

Alfador, Maester, 197

Alfred Broome, 268–70, 274, 280

Alfyn, Septon, 127, 134

Aliandra Martell, 298, 302, 314–15, 333, 342

Alicent Hightower, 173, 183, 185–87, 189–90, 193–97, 201–5, 209, 217, 226, 229–30, 236, 244–45, 259, 273–74, 277, 279–80, 288, 304, 344

Allard Royce, 56

Alton Celtigar, 45–46

Alyn of Hull. See Alyn Velaryon

Alyn Stokeworth, 44, 46, 56, 60

Alyn Tarbeck, 92

Alyn (Oakenfist) Velaryon (Alyn of Hull), 224, 266, 272–74, 277, 279, 288, 291, 293, 295, 298–300, 307, 309, 311–12, 314–15, 320–21, 323, 329, 331, 333, 336, 338, 339, 341–42, 345

Alysanne Blackwood (Black Aly), 217, 293–95, 302

Alysanne Targaryen, 50, 66, 85, 86, 93, 97, 99, 104, 107, 111–17, 120–21, 125–29, 131, 132, 134–36, 138–39, 141–42, 147, 149, 151–53, 155, 157–58, 161–63, 166, 169–70, 173, 178, 179, 208, 223, 345

Alys Harroway, 63, 65, 73, 77, 85–86, 93, 344

Alys Oakheart, 39

Alys Rivers, 232, 240, 241, 251, 302–4

Alyssa Targaryen, 147, 153, 157, 158, 161, 163, 345

Alyssa Velaryon, 50, 55, 58, 63, 66, 71, 73, 76, 81, 85, 86, 91–93, 99, 100, 107, 109–13, 115–16, 120–22, 125–27, 129–30, 134–35, 148, 179, 205, 345

Alys Turnberry, 158, 161

Alys Westhill. See Elissa Farman

Amaury Peake, 307, 334–36

Amos Bracken, 211, 217

Androw Farman, 107, 108, 109, 115, 118, 135–37, 344

Anselm, Maester, 136

Argella, 12, 25, 29

Argilac the Arrogant, 12, 25–27, 29

Arlan III, 12

Arlan V, 12

Arnold Arryn, 326, 330, 338

Arrax, 192, 207, 214, 215

Arrec, 12

Arryk Cargyll, 180, 201, 220

Arryn, House, 16, 218. See also individual members

Artys I Arryn, 16

B

Baela Targaryen, 191, 207, 246, 270, 272–74, 279, 283, 292, 300, 301, 312, 314, 320–21, 331, 341–42, 345

Baelon (The Brave) Targaryen (son of Jaehaerys I), 139, 151, 153, 157, 158, 161–62, 166, 169, 170, 179, 345

Baelon Targaryen (son of Viserys I), 181, 344

Bakkalon of the Sword, 327

Baldrick, Septon, 127

Balerion the Black Dread, 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 31, 35, 38, 39, 55, 56, 63, 71, 75, 78, 82, 136, 138, 139, 153, 168, 169, 170, 190, 251

Balon Byrch, 254, 268

Bambarro Bazanne, 321

Barth, Septon, 126, 134, 138–39, 142, 147, 161, 169

Bartimos Celtigar, 209, 236, 247, 253, 254, 296, 316

Benifer, Grand Maester, 93, 113, 115, 134, 138

Benjicot Blackwood (Bloody Ben), 234, 261, 264, 266, 280, 281, 294, 316, 333

Bernard, Septon, 308, 321, 336, 338–39

Bernarr Brune, 60, 72

Bertrand Tyrell, 147

Black Aly. See Alysanne Blackwood

The Black Brides, 90, 91, 92, 100, 113, 127

Blackfyre, 36, 50, 63, 93, 149, 161, 179, 274

Black Trombo, 240, 263

Blackwood, House, 295. See also individual members

Blood, 217

Bloody Ben. See Benjicot Blackwood

Bold Jon Roxton, 248, 263, 266, 302, 309

Boremund Baratheon, 129, 148, 155, 166, 204–5, 209, 345

Borros Baratheon, 204–5, 209, 214–15, 235, 273–74, 277–80, 282, 283, 291, 300, 302

Borys Baratheon, 117, 122, 148–51

Bramm of Blackhull, 72

Brandon Snow, 30

Brandon Stark, 109, 120

Bran the Builder, 11, 17

Braxton (Stinger) Beesbury, 158, 161

The Burning Knight, 256

Burning Mill, Battle of the, 217, 218–19

Byron Swann, 242, 243

C

The Caltrops, 261, 262, 263, 266, 308

Cannibal, 208, 223, 246

Caraxes the Blood Wyrm, 151, 158, 166, 185, 187, 191, 192, 193, 207, 210, 211, 243, 246, 251

Cassandra Baratheon, 274, 295, 339

Castle Driftmark, 164

Caswell, Lady, 238–39

A Caution for Young Girls, 117, 121

Century of Blood, 21

Ceryse Hightower, 50, 63, 76, 78, 81, 89, 100, 344

Cheese, 217

The Citadel, 30, 134, 135

Clement Celtigar, 291

Corlys Velaryon (The Sea Snake), 46, 133, 154, 163–66, 170, 183–85, 187, 190, 196, 207, 209, 218, 222, 224, 226, 230, 243, 248, 253, 259, 273, 274, 278–80, 287–88, 290–96, 298–300, 345

Corwyn Corbray, 288, 300, 321, 325, 330, 345

Corwyn Velaryon, 164

Coryanne Wylde, 116–17, 121

Craghas (Crabfeeder) Drahar, 183–85

Cregan Stark, 212, 214, 279, 288–96, 302, 317

Crispian Celtigar, 45

Criston Cole, 180, 185, 187, 189, 201–5, 218, 220, 222, 229, 232, 236, 238, 240–41

Culiper, Maester, 136

D

Daella Targaryen, 149, 153–58, 177, 344

Daemion Velaryon, 299

Daemon Targaryen, 157, 170, 178–81, 183–85, 187, 190–96, 202, 203, 206–7, 209, 211–12, 214–15, 217–18, 222, 227, 229–30, 232, 238, 243, 246–51, 254, 279, 297, 300, 320, 321, 345

Daemon Velaryon, 26, 45, 91, 93, 109, 113, 122, 125, 136, 164

Daenaera Velaryon, 320–21, 330, 336, 337, 339, 341, 342, 344

Daenerys Targaryen, 131, 145, 147, 153, 158, 345

Daenys (The Dreamer) Targaryen, 7, 21

Daeron (The Daring) Targaryen, 190, 193, 207, 222, 226, 235, 236, 238, 241, 243, 244, 246, 248, 253, 260–61, 263, 264, 267, 344

Daeron Velaryon, 299, 311, 320

Dalton Greyjoy (The Red Kraken), 204, 229, 236, 240, 291, 297, 312, 314, 325

Damon Darry, 303–4

Damon (The Devout) Morrigen, 71, 72, 100

The Dance of the Dragons, 202, 204, 214, 280, 287, 308

Dark Sister, 45, 50, 86, 178, 179, 180, 191, 251

Darry, House, 211. See also individual members

Davos Baratheon, 58

Defenestration of Sunspear, 36, 37

Dennis the Lame, 100, 101

Deria Martell, 40, 56

Derrick Darry, 261

Desmond, Grand Maester, 85

Desmond Manderly, 212, 301

Dick Bean, 72

Dickon Flowers, 72

Donald Tarly, 291

Donnel (The Delayer) Hightower, 101, 122, 134, 145

Dorne, 18, 36, 38–40

The Dragonkeepers, 138, 151, 153, 256

The Dragonpit, 89, 111, 120, 126, 131, 138, 139, 151, 161, 173, 205, 236, 247, 254, 256–59, 274, 277, 296

Dragonstone, 7, 20, 21, 65, 86, 87, 128, 147, 269

Dragon’s Wroth, 39

Drazenko Rogare, 315, 323, 333

Dreamfyre, 55, 64, 81, 82, 92, 93, 118, 120, 127, 136, 193, 207, 222, 256

Driftmark, 191

Dunstan Pryor, 161

Durrandon, House, 11–12, 29

Durran Godsgrief, 11

E

Edmyn Tully, 27, 41, 45, 55

Edwell Celtigar, 92, 93, 109, 113, 120, 125,145

Eldric Arryn, 326, 330

Elenda Baratheon, 291, 295, 302, 317

Elinor Costayne, 92, 93, 95, 113, 127, 344

Elissa Farman (Alys Westhill), 107, 118, 132–34, 139

Ella Broome, 116

Ellyn Baratheon, 295

Ellyn Caron, 58

Elmo Tully, 211, 261, 277, 279

Elysar, Grand Maester, 147, 153, 154, 161, 169

Erryk Cargyll, 180, 201, 207, 220

Essie, 260, 274

Eustace, Septon, 187, 189, 193, 203, 204, 205, 212, 231, 238, 243, 254, 259, 288, 290, 305, 308

Eustace Hightower, 133

Exceptionalism, Doctrine of, 126–27, 132, 134, 136, 147

The Eyrie, 30, 56, 57

F

The Faith Militant, 65–66, 75, 85, 91, 101

Field of Fire, 8–9, 11, 29, 30

fire witch, 332, 333

The Fishfeed, 234–35, 236, 240

Florence Fossoway, 147

Florian the Fool, 128

Floris Baratheon, 274, 295, 300

Forrest (Fool) Frey, 188, 211

Fourteen Flames, 7

Franklyn Farman, 118

G

Gael (The Winter Child) Targaryen, 153, 169, 345

Gaemon Palehair, 254, 259, 274, 291, 298, 308, 329–30

Gaemon Targaryen, 152, 345

Gaemon the Glorious, 152, 173

Galon Whitestaff, 13

Gardener, House, 14–15, 29. See also individual members

Gareth Long, 308, 336, 338, 339

Gargon Qoherys, 55

Garibald Grey, 234, 240, 244, 246

Garibald of the Seven Stars, 72

Garmon Hightower, 39

Garse VII Gardener, 12

Garth Greenhand, 14

Gawen, Grand Maester, 46, 71

Gedmund (Great-Axe) Peake, 309, 311–12, 338

George Graceford, 308, 330, 336, 338

Gerardys, Grand Maester, 193, 197, 206, 247, 248, 268, 270

The Giant of the Trident, 50

Glendon Goode, 254, 256

The Golden Wedding, 109–12, 127, 138, 151

The Goodwife, 128

Goren Greyjoy, 58

Gormon Massey, 223

Great Council (of 101 AC), 170–71, 173, 177, 178, 180, 202, 204

Great Tourney (of 111 AC), 174–75, 177, 185

Gregor Goode, 46

Grey Ghost, 208, 223–24, 246, 270

Griffith Goode, 46

Grover Tully, 211, 277

Gullet, Battle of the, 27, 224, 226–27, 321

Gunthor Darklyn, 268

Gunthor Royce, 330, 338

Guy (The Glutton) Lothston, 72

Gwayne Hightower, 204, 229

Gyles Belgrave, 283, 292, 293

Gyles Morrigen, 100, 111, 152

Gyles Yronwood, 256

H

Hal Hornwood, 295

Hard Hugh Hammer, 223, 243–44, 246, 248, 260, 263

Harlan Tyrell, 29, 36

Harmon Dondarrion, 56, 58

Harrenhal, 13, 24, 25, 27, 29, 85, 170, 232, 233, 248, 249, 302, 303

Harren the Black, 13, 25–27, 55, 86, 325

Harren the Red, 55, 56, 60

Harrold Langward, 100

Harrold Westerling, 187

Harwin (Breakbones) Strong, 180, 188, 189, 192, 195, 196

Harwyn Hoare, 12, 13

Harys Horpe, 72

Helaena Targaryen, 185, 193, 196–97, 207, 216–17, 222, 230, 253, 256, 273, 345

The High Septon, 30, 43, 50, 55, 63–66, 72, 76–78, 81, 85, 92, 93, 101–3, 111, 113, 115, 122, 134, 145, 205, 292, 295, 302–3, 339

Hightower, House, 30, 164, 183, 340. See also individual members

Hoare, House, 13, 27, 35, 36

Hobb the Hewer, 256

Hobert Hightower, 248, 260, 261, 266

Horys Hill, 73, 75, 77

Howard Bullock, 121

Hubert Arryn, 56

Hugh the Hammer. See Hard Hugh Hammer

Humfrey Bracken, 217

Humfrey Lefford, 232, 235

Humfrey the Mummer, 46

I

Iron Islands, 13

Iron Throne, 31, 32–33, 35

Isembard Arryn (The Gilded Falcon), 326, 330, 338, 339

J

Jacaerys (Jace) Velaryon, 189–90, 192, 194, 196, 197, 206–7, 209, 212, 214, 222–24, 226, 228, 229, 288, 345

Jaehaera Targaryen, 196, 217, 230, 236, 240, 256, 273, 274, 278–79, 291, 295, 298, 300, 304, 308, 316–18, 345

Jaehaerys I (The Conciliator) Targaryen

birth of, 50

Blackfyre and, 161, 179

childhood of, 66, 85, 86, 92, 93

crowning of, 102–4

Dark Sister and, 179

death of, 172, 173

early reign of, 125–39

later reign of, 157–73

lineage of, 344

meets with leaders of the Free Cities, 140, 141

proclamation of, 93, 95

regency of, 98–122

returns to King’s Landing, 106, 107

royal progresses of, 96, 99, 124, 125, 128, 141, 149, 163

wedding of Alysanne and, 114

works of, 141–55

Jaehaerys Targaryen (son of Aegon II), 196, 217, 220, 256, 345

Jason Lannister, 188, 229

Jasper (Ironrod) Wylde, 202, 230, 236

Jennis Templeton, 116, 131

Jeyne Arryn (Maiden of the Vale), 190, 209, 212, 222, 268, 277, 279, 280, 292, 296, 298, 300, 307, 316, 326, 327

Jeyne Rowan, 291

Jeyne Westerling, 92, 93, 344

Jocasta Lannister, 107, 118–20

Jocelyn Baratheon, 135, 148, 149, 151, 153, 166, 345

Joffrey Arryn, 326, 330, 333, 338

Joffrey Dayne, 38–39

Joffrey Doggett (Red Dog of the Hills), 77, 85, 91, 93, 101, 104, 111–12

Joffrey Lonmouth (Knight of Kisses), 189, 192

Joffrey Velaryon, 192–194, 206–7, 212, 222, 238, 243, 254, 256, 345

Johanna Lannister (Lady of Casterly Rock), 229, 291, 295, 297, 301–2, 314, 325–27, 338

Johanna Swann (Black Swan), 184

Jonah Mooton, 158, 161

Jon Cafferen, 39

Jon Charlton, 234, 235

Jon Hogg, 75, 85

Jonos Arryn, 56

Jon Piper, 81

Jonquil Darke (Serpent in Scarlet, Scarlet Shadow), 112, 128, 161

Jonquil’s pool, 128, 139

Jon Rosby, 36

Jon Roxton, 248, 263, 266, 302, 309

Joseth Smallwood, 261

The Judgment of the Wolf, 293

Julian Wormwood, 280

K

Kermit Tully, 279, 287, 288, 316

The Kingdom of the Isles and the Rivers, 13

The Kingdom of the Three Daughters. See The Triarchy

The Kingsguard, 39, 45–47, 112, 201, 306, 307

King’s Landing, 31, 44, 45, 62, 63, 106, 107, 130, 131, 230, 254, 255, 274, 275, 278, 279, 286, 287

The King’s Peace, 43, 330

Kingspyre Tower, 210, 211

Kingsroad, Battle of the, 280

L

The Lads, 288, 290

Lady Forlorn (sword), 122, 300, 330

Laena Velaryon (daughter of Alyn Oakenfist), 321, 328, 345

Laena Velaryon (daughter of Corlys), 166, 170, 183, 190–93, 196, 215, 222, 246, 300, 345

Laenor Velaryon, 170, 187, 189, 192–94, 196, 208, 223, 224, 245

Lannisport, 54, 55

Lannister, House, 16, 29, 164, 296. See also individual members

Lann the Clever, 16

Larra (of Lys) Rogare, 321, 323, 326–28, 331, 334–36, 339, 341, 344

Larys (The Clubfoot) Strong, 180–81, 195, 202, 204, 230, 232, 236, 240, 259, 269, 274, 278, 279, 283, 290, 292, 294

The Last Storm, 27, 28, 29

Leo Costayne (The Sea Lion), 325

Leowyn Corbray, 288, 296, 300, 304

Lodos, 34–36, 56

Lodos the Twice-Drowned, 56, 58

Longleaf the Lionslayer. See Pate of Longleaf

Lorcas the Learned, 103

Lorence Roxton, 112

Loren I Lannister, 15, 16, 29

Lorent Grandison, 338

Lorent Marbrand, 201, 207, 247, 254

Loreon Lannister, 301

Lothor Burley, 141

Lotho Rogare, 328, 334, 339–41

Lucamore Strong, 138, 152–53

Lucas Harroway, 63, 65, 77, 85, 86

Lucas Leygood, 308, 335, 336

Lucerys (Luke) Velaryon, 192, 193–96, 205–7, 209, 214–15, 298, 345

Lucifer Massey, 72

Lucinda Penrose, 339

Lucinda Tully, 101, 104, 113, 116

Luthor Largent, 204, 229–30, 247, 252, 253

Lyle Bracken, 72

Lyman Beesbury, 202–4, 218

Lyman Lannister, 73, 76, 81, 92, 107, 118–20

Lyonce, Grand Maester, 46

Lyonel Bentley, 268

Lyonel Deddings, 261, 264

Lyonel Hightower, 291–92, 295, 314, 338, 340

Lyonel Strong, 180, 185, 188, 195–96

Lysandro Rogare, 321, 323, 328, 334, 335

Lysaro Rogare, 334, 340

M

Mad Hal Hornwood, 295

Maegelle Targaryen, 149, 151, 161, 166, 169, 344

Maegor I (The Cruel) Targaryen

birth of, 50

Blackfyre and, 50, 63, 179

crowning of, 70–73

Dark Sister and, 50, 179

death of, 95

departure from King’s Landing by, 62, 63

at the Eyrie, 56, 57

as Hand of the King, 60

knighting of, 50

lineage of, 344

marriages of, 50, 63, 74, 75, 76, 92

at Oldtown, 78, 79, 81

personality of, 49–50

reign of, 71–95

tension between Aenys and, 63–66

Maegor’s Holdfast, 77, 86, 89, 128, 253, 280, 291, 316, 335, 336

Maegor Towers, 139, 152

Maelor Targaryen, 196, 217, 230, 236, 238, 345

Maiden of the Vale. See Jeyne Arryn

The Maiden’s Day Cattle Show, 318–19

Maladon Moore, 89, 93, 100

Malentine Velaryon, 298

Mallister, House, 211

Manfred Hightower, 30, 38–39, 63

Manfryd Mooton, 229, 296, 307, 315, 325

Manfryd Redwyne, 125, 142, 147, 163

Mara Martell, 158

Marilda of Hull, 224, 277, 298

Maris, Mother, 127

Marla Sunderland, 27, 35

Marq Ambrose, 266

Marq Farman, 82, 118

Marq Merryweather, 338

Marston Waters, 270, 274, 280, 291, 295, 296, 307, 334–37

Martyn Hightower, 78

Martyn Tyrell, 147

Mattheus, Septon, 113, 115, 126, 134

Medrick Manderly, 247, 295, 296, 301

Meleys, 153, 163, 166, 207, 209, 220–22, 270

Mellos, Grand Maester, 187, 188, 197

Melony Piper, 55, 81, 82

Meraxes, 26, 27, 36, 39, 40, 157

Meredyth Darklyn, 268

Meria Martell, 18, 30, 36, 39, 40

The Merman’s Court, 212, 213

Mern IX Gardener, 14–15, 16, 29, 30

Merrell Bullock, 116

Merryweather, House, 238. See also individual members

Mervyn Flowers, 307, 316, 334, 336, 339

Mirror Shield, 242, 243

Moon, Septon, 91, 92, 93, 101–4, 109, 113

Moondancer, 207, 223, 246, 270, 271

The Moon of the Three Kings, 259, 260, 273

Mooton, House, 211. See also individual members

Moredo Rogare, 328, 331, 333–34, 340

Morgan Hightower, 78, 81, 85

Morghul, 256

Morion Martell, 157–58

Morning, 279, 328, 331, 342

The Muddy Mess, 280, 281, 288

Munkun, Grand Maester, 202, 206, 212, 243, 254, 290, 292, 296, 298, 304, 307, 321, 328, 330, 336–38

Murmison, Septon, 63, 65

Mushroom, 187, 189, 193, 196, 197, 204, 206, 212, 220, 223, 240, 243, 246, 254, 259, 283, 291, 317, 318, 342

Myles Hightower, 291

Myles Smallwood, 136, 139

Myrielle Peake, 316, 318

Myros, Grand Maester, 76

Mysaria (The White Worm, Lady Misery), 180, 181, 217, 238, 247, 259

N

Ned Bean (Blackbean), 309

Nettles, 224, 243, 246–49, 254, 333

Night’s Watch, 46, 81, 107, 120, 126, 141, 142, 153, 293, 317, 325

The North, 17–18, 144

Nymeria, 18

Nymor Martell, 40

O

Oakenfist. See Alyn Velaryon

Oldtown, 38, 78, 79, 249

Ollidar, Grand Maester, 46

Olyver Bracken, 93, 120

Ormund Hightower, 207, 222, 226, 235, 236, 238, 241, 243–44, 248, 249, 267, 291, 302

Orphan-Maker, 263, 309

Orryn Baratheon, 113, 122, 126

Orwyle, Grand Maester, 197, 202, 203, 209, 229, 243, 259, 270, 273, 290, 292, 296, 298, 304, 307, 309

Orys Baratheon, 25–27, 29, 36, 38, 40, 45, 58, 59

Oscar Tully, 288, 295

Osmund Strong, 44, 46

Oswyck, Septon, 114, 126, 132

Otto Hightower, 173, 178, 180, 183, 185, 196, 202–4, 207, 209, 218, 224, 230, 236

Owain Bourney, 248

Owen Bush, 86, 89, 93, 100

Owen Fossoway, 266

P

The Painted Table, 23, 51, 136

Pantera, 327

Pate of Longleaf (Longleaf the Lionslayer), 229, 234, 240, 246

Pater, Septon, 81

Pate the Woodcock, 112

Patrise Hightower, 81

Peake, House, 308. See also individual members

Perianne Moore, 158, 161

Perkin the Flea, 254, 259, 274, 280, 290, 293

Pinkmaiden Castle, 81, 82

Piper, House, 211. See also individual members

The Poor Fellows, 65–66, 73, 75, 77, 78, 85, 91, 101, 102, 104, 107, 120

Prentys Tully, 109, 125

Priscella Hogg, 339

Q

Qarl Corbray, 109, 122, 125, 145

Qarl Correy, 189, 193

Qhored the Cruel, 13

Qhorin Volmark, 35–36

Qoren Martell, 218

Quenton Corbray, 330

Quenton Qoherys, 36, 55

Quicksilver, 49, 51, 55, 64, 66, 81, 82, 83

R

Racallio Ryndoon, 185, 297, 309, 312

Ragged Silas, 100, 101

Rayford Rosby, 72

Raymund Mallery, 93, 120

Raynard Ruskyn, 338

The Reach, 13–15

Red Keep, 44, 50–51, 77, 86, 88, 89

The Red Kraken. See Dalton Greyjoy

Red Robb Rivers, 232, 234

Red Roy Connington, 151, 158, 161

Reeds, Battle of the, 27

Regis Groves, 303–4

Rego Draz, 125, 126, 131, 136, 139, 145, 146, 147

Rennifer Crabb, 291

Rhaella Targaryen, 77, 92, 93, 104, 105, 107, 122, 126, 152, 344

Rhaena Targaryen (daughter of Aenys I), 50, 55, 63–66, 73, 76, 77, 81–82, 91–93, 99, 104, 107–9, 111, 112, 115, 118–20, 122, 127–28, 131–32, 134–36, 139, 152, 178–79, 193, 344

Rhaena Targaryen (daughter of Daemon), 191, 215, 222, 278, 279, 292, 300, 317, 320, 321, 325, 328, 331, 342, 345

Rhaenyra Targaryen, 176–77, 180–81, 185–89, 192–97, 201–4, 206–7, 209, 211, 212, 215, 217–18, 220, 222, 227, 229–32, 234–38, 240, 243–49, 253–54, 259, 261, 267–70, 272–74, 277–78, 287, 288, 290, 291, 296, 299, 300, 305, 321, 344

Rhaenys Targaryen (daughter of Aemon), 153, 163–66, 170, 183, 187, 191, 204–5, 207, 209, 220, 222, 345

Rhaenys Targaryen (sister of Aegon I), 22, 26–27, 29–30, 36, 39, 44, 49–50, 133, 345

Rhea Royce (Lady of Runestone), 179, 190, 345

Richard Roote, 46

Rickard Redwyne, 151

Rickard Thorne, 201, 230, 236, 238

Rickon Stark, 212, 214

Robar II Royce, 16

Robb Rivers, 232, 234

Robert Darklyn, 307

Robert Quince, 246, 268

Robert Redwyne, 147

Robert Rowan, 330–31, 333

Robin Darklyn (Darkrobin), 46

Robin Massey, 307, 309

Robin Shaw, 147

Roderick Dustin (Roddy the Ruin), 232, 240, 244

Rodrik Arryn, 147, 155, 157, 177, 344

Rodrik Greyjoy, 325, 326

Rogar Baratheon, 93, 99–100, 102, 107, 109, 111, 113, 115–17, 120–22, 126–27, 129, 134–35, 147–49, 345

Rogare, House, 323, 328, 333, 334, 339. See also individual members

Rogare Bank, 323, 328, 334, 336, 339

Roggerio Rogare, 328, 334, 339–41

Roland Westerling, 291, 295, 296, 304

Rollo, Septon, 127

Ronnal Baratheon, 122, 147

Ronnel Arryn, 16, 30, 31, 56

Roote, House, 211

Rosamund Ball, 116, 128

Royce Baratheon, 291

Royce Blackwood, 154

Royce Caron, 295, 296, 298, 307

Roy Connington, 151, 158, 161

Runciter, Grand Maester, 187

Runestone, 330, 331

Rupert Falwell (The Fighting Fool), 75

Ryam Redwyne, 142, 147, 169

S

Saagael, 327

Sabitha Frey, 240, 241, 261

Saera Targaryen, 149, 158, 160–62, 173, 344

Samantha Hightower (Lady Sam), 291–92, 295, 302–3, 314, 325, 338, 340

Samantha Stokeworth, 107, 118

Samgood of Sour Hill (Sour Sam), 112, 145

Sam Salt, 325

Sam Tarly, 58

Samwell Blackwood, 211, 217

Sandoq the Shadow, 334–35, 342

Sara Snow, 212

Sargoso Saan, 50

Scarlet Shadow. See Jonquil Darke

The Sealord of Braavos, 109, 133, 139, 190, 192, 309, 312, 315

Seasmoke, 208, 223, 226, 247, 248, 261, 264, 302

The Sea Snake. See Corlys Velaryon

Serpent in Scarlet. See Jonquil Darke

Serwyn of the Mirror Shield, 243

Seven Kingdoms, 7, 11–18, 41

Seven Stars, Battle of, 16

Sharako Lohar, 321

Sharis Footly, 248, 302

Sharra Arryn, 16, 27, 30

Sheepstealer, 208, 224, 226, 243, 246, 249, 333

The Shepherd, 248, 253–54, 256, 259, 273–74, 276, 277, 290, 309

The Shivers, 145, 147–48, 304

Shrykos, 256

Silverwing, 86, 93, 111, 141, 142, 143, 162, 169, 208, 223, 226, 244, 264, 266, 267, 268

Simon Strong, 211

Stanton Piper, 261, 264

Starry Sept, 30, 64, 81, 103, 104, 117, 134, 303

The Stars. See The Poor Fellows

Staunton, House, 220

Steffon Connington, 302, 317

Steffon Darklyn, 201, 205, 209, 223, 224–25, 268

Steffon Sunderland, 35

The Stepstones, 182–85, 190

The Stormbreakers, 295

Stormcloud, 207, 223, 226

Storm Kings, 11–12, 13, 18, 25–27, 41

The Stormlands, 11–12

Storm’s End, 11, 29, 215

Sun Chaser, 133

Sunfyre, 193, 207, 218, 220–22, 229, 243, 269–72

The Swords. See The Warrior’s Sons

Sylas the Grim, 317

Sylvenna Sand, 260, 274

Syrax, 176, 177, 178, 187, 193, 196, 207, 229, 243, 254, 256, 259

T

Targaryen, House. See also individual members

“dragonseeds” of, 142, 223

illness and, 147

lineage of, 344–45

marriage customs of, 21, 223

origins of, 7

physical appearance and, 26

Tarth, 166, 309, 311

Tessarion, 193, 207, 222, 226, 243–44, 246, 264

Tessario the Tiger, 308–11, 323, 334, 336, 339

Thaddeus Rowan, 222, 226, 235, 300, 307, 316, 321, 323, 325, 326, 335–37

Theo Bolling, 92

Theomore Manderly, 141, 151, 161–62

Theon Stark, 17

Theo Tyrell, 39

Timotty Snow, 295

Tom Tanglebeard, 246, 270, 283

Tom Tangletongue, 246, 270, 283

Tom the Strummer, 112

Tom Turnip, 158

Toron Greyjoy, 325

Torrhen Manderly, 247, 254, 295, 296, 301, 338, 339, 341–42

Torrhen Stark, 17, 18, 29–30, 35

The Trial of Seven, 71–73

The Triarchy (Kingdom of the Three Daughters), 183–85, 190, 218, 224, 226, 240, 295, 297, 321

Triston Massey, 45

Truth (sword), 328

Trystane Truefyre, 254, 259–60, 273–74

Tully, House, 295. See also individual members

Tumbleton, 260–61, 263–67

The Two Betrayers, 244, 246, 248, 260–61, 266

Tyanna of the Tower, 73, 76, 77, 81, 85–86, 92–95, 344

Tyland Lannister, 188, 202, 204, 230, 236, 259, 278–80, 291, 296–300, 304–5, 309, 316

Tymond Lannister, 155

Tyraxes, 192, 193, 207, 222, 223, 254, 256

U

Ulf White (Ulf the Sot), 223, 243–44, 246, 248, 261–63, 268

Ummet, 283

Unwin Peake, 248, 260–61, 266–67, 299, 307–9, 311, 312, 315–18, 320, 322, 323, 336, 338

Urron Greyiron, 13

V

Vaegon Targaryen, 149, 153–54, 156, 167, 170, 344

Vaella Targaryen, 63, 345

Vaemond Velaryon, 196, 299

Valaena Targaryen, 344

The Vale, 16

Valerion Targaryen, 344

Valyria, 6, 7, 21

Vance, House, 211

Velaryon, House, 26, 164, 218. See also individual members

Vermax, 192, 207, 212, 225, 228, 229

Vermithor, 86, 93, 100, 111, 125, 126, 131, 149, 158, 208, 223, 226, 244, 248, 261, 263–64, 302

Vhagar, 26, 27, 30, 35, 39, 51, 64, 71, 76, 78, 151, 158, 166, 183, 190, 191, 192, 193, 205, 207, 215, 220–22, 229, 236, 238, 240, 243, 246, 248, 251

Victor Risley, 308, 309, 336, 339

Victor the Valiant, 112, 145

Vikon Greyjoy, 36

Violante, Septa, 127

Visenya Targaryen (daughter of Rhaenyra), 206, 344

Visenya Targaryen (sister of Aegon I), 21, 30, 31, 35, 38–40, 44–46, 49, 50, 56, 58, 63–66, 71, 73, 76–78, 81–82, 85, 86, 151, 179, 344

Viserra Targaryen, 151, 161–63, 344

Viserys I Targaryen

Balerion and, 169, 170

birth of, 153

claim of, 170, 204

death of, 197, 201–2, 205

first flight of, 153, 154

lineage of, 345

reign of, 177–97

Viserys II Targaryen, 222, 224, 226, 321, 323, 327, 328–30, 334–36, 338, 341, 344

Viserys Targaryen (son of Aenys I), 50, 51, 66, 85, 86, 100, 345

The Vulture Hunt, 60, 61

Vulture Kings, 56, 58, 60, 120, 148–49, 157, 273

W

The Wall, 141–44

Walter Brownhill, 339

Walter Wyl, 58

Walton Stark, 109, 120, 121, 141

Walton Towers, 86

Walys Mooton, 229

The War of the Hundred Candles, 158, 159

The Warrior’s Sons, 65–66, 71–72, 75, 77, 78, 81, 85, 91, 100, 101, 104, 111, 120

Wat the Hewer, 73, 75, 76

Wat the Tanner, 254

The Westerlands, 15–16

Westeros, map of, 10

Willam Royce, 256

Willam Stackspear, 338

Willam the Wanderer, 72

Willam the Wasp, 112, 138

William Stafford (The Drunken Knight), 112

Willis Fell, 201, 230, 236, 273, 291, 295–96, 304

Winter Fever, 301, 304, 307, 309, 317, 325

The Winter Wolves, 234–35, 240, 243–44

The Wolf Pack, 295

Wyland Wyl, 317

Wyl of Wyl (The Widow-lover), 36, 38, 39

Y

Yndros of the Twilight, 327

Ysabel, Septa, 116, 127

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Art Credits

Allen Douglas: 1, 2, 3

Andrey Pervukhin: 4, 5, 6, 7

Bastien Lecouffe-Deharme: 8, 9, 10

Borja Pindado: 11, 12

Campbell White: 13, 14, 15

Chase Stone: 16, 17

Daniel Alekow: 18, 19

Diego Gisbert Llorens: 20, 21, 22, 23

Eddie Mendoza: 24

Ertaç Altinöz: 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46

Francesca Baerald: 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, and sidebar filigree throughout

Francisco Vegas: 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73

Gaga Turmanishvili: 74, 75

Grzegorz Przybyś: 76, 77

Hristo Chukov: 78, 79, 80

Ivelin Trifonov: 81, 82

Joe Slucher: 83, 84, 85

John McCambridge: 86, 87, 88, 89

Joshua Cairós: 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95,

Kieran Yanner: 96, 97, 98

Liam Peters: 99

Lily Abdullina: 100, 101, 102, 103, 104

Lucas Graciano: 105, 106, 107

Magali Villeneuve: 108, 109

Marc Simonetti: 110, 111, 112

Mark Smylie: 113

Martina Fačková: 114

MV Renju: 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124

Nutchapol Thitinunthakorn: 125, 126, 127, 128, 129

Paolo Puggioni: 130, 131, 132, 133

René Aigner: 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141

Sam Keiser: 142

Shen Fei: 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155, 156, 157

Sven Sauer with Igor Posavec: 158, 159, 160

Thomas Denmark: 161, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166

Tomasz Jedruszek: 167, 168, 169, 170, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178, 179

Wei Guan: 180, 181

Wouter Florusse: 182, 183, 184, 185

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