EDITED: 7th Jan 2022

264AC

The retinue from Dorne was impressive, Tya had to admit. There were plenty of knights, yes, but spearmen too, all atop sleek and elegant sand steeds, many wearing brightly coloured silk robes in fashions that weren't commonly seen in the court of King's Landing. The few ladies that rode with the party wore dresses in daring styles that revealed far more skin than was proper, and the Martell banners of a red sun on an orange field pierced with a golden spear were everywhere.

At the head of the party was a handsome woman who looked to be in her mid-thirties, with dark skin and darker hair drawn back in a regal style. She wore a more modest gown than many of the other ladies, in red and orange silk, and though she did not wear a crown as her ancestors had done before the Targaryen conquest, she looked a queen without it.

"Princess Loreza of Dorne," The herald announced. "Her son and heir Prince Doran, and her younger son Prince Oberyn,"

The Dornish heir was a young man, not yet twenty, and though he gave a small smile in greeting, bowing to the king and queen alongside his mother - Tya found it almost jarring to see the regal-looking Loreza bow to anyone, let alone Aerys - he seemed rather reserved and careful.

His younger brother, however, was a much bolder boy of six who moved remarkably gracefully for his age and wore an easy smile that could almost have been sweet if it weren't for his dark, watchful eyes. Princess Loreza's daughter Elia, however, was back in Sunspear; apparently, the young girl was too frail and sickly to travel such a long distance.

"A pleasure to see you in court after all this time, Princess," Aerys smiled charmingly. "And welcome, Princes Doran and Oberyn,"

"You're most kind, your Grace," Loreza replied, her smile remarkably genuine.

There had been a feast that night to welcome the Dornish retinue, planned by Aerys of course, who loved this sort of thing and was admittedly good at it. Dornish food was served for their meal. Tya tried one of the hot peppers and struggled to keep a straight face in public for the first time in years, with Jason beside her laughing at her predicament as she gulped down her own cup of water and then his own.

Besides the food, Dornish music played in the background and there were Dornish dancers for entertainment. To everyone's embarrassment and amusement, the king even wore loose layered robes in the fashion of their guests instead of his usual clothes.

It looked absurd - the material was vivid orange, which clashed greatly with his silver hair, pale skin and purple eyes - and Tya saw the young Prince Oberyn snickering until his brother nudged him in reproach. Princess Loreza, to her credit, praised Aerys' choice of clothing without batting an eye, making the king preen, but Tya caught the barely-there hint of mockery in her eye.

"Did you not fancy wearing Dornish silks like our esteemed king?" Jason murmured into her ear as they stood together at the edge hall, watching the dance floor, amusement colouring his tone. "I'm sure he'd appreciate you joining him in his enthusiastic welcome of our guests,"

It was the first chance they had to get away from the high table, and thus the first chance they had to speak somewhat openly about Aerys' choice of attire.

Tya fixed her husband with a flat look.

"He'd appreciate me dressing like that girl there," She nodded to one of the dancers, who was dressed nothing short of scandalously, her low cut, almost see-through dress barely covering her chest, with a large slit up the side to allow an almost unobstructed view of her long tanned legs. The eyes of many men in the room followed her every move; her husband made no attempt to hide that he was one of them.

"And dancing like her too, no doubt," Jason grinned. "Though I wouldn't mind that either - stiff and uptight as you are, it would be painfully amusing," The way the girl danced was more befitting of a brothel than a royal feast, though apparently they did things differently in Dorne, and women were not shamed for acting like whores.

She was about to reply to that, when they were interrupted by the loud voice of Aerys as he swooped over towards them, robes billowing and a wide smile on his face. So she subtly ground her sharp heel into her husband's foot instead.

"Let me steal my dear Lady Tya away from the Master-of-Laws," He said for the benefit of Princess Loreza, who was at his side, grabbing at her arm and tugging her away from her husband, who followed regardless. "It's time to enjoy yourself, my lord, my lady, and socialise, not discuss politics,"

Jason's smile had fixed in place, and he shot her a look of 'here we go again'.

"I thought Lord Jason was the Lady Hand's husband, your Grace?" The princess inquired politely before Tya could get a sharp word in, surprising her slightly with the use of her title that most men tended to conveniently forget. "I'm sure they have much more interesting things to discuss than politics,"

"Quite," Tya said, her tone even, disentangling her arm from the king's grip. "Your Grace, did I not request for you at the last feast to not haul me around like a child's rag doll?"

"You probably did," Aerys shrugged, unconcerned, and Loreza raised an amused eyebrow. "But I thought you two would get along. You're both women who do men's work, after all,"

Tya was used to backhanded - well, not even compliments, and did not rise to it. The Dornish princess, on the other hand...

"Thank you, your Grace," Loreza smiled like a shark. "I'm sure Lady Tya and I will get along just fine. Oh, and before I forget, you must thank Queen Rhaella for this beautiful feast. She clearly takes her queenly duties very seriously,"

Jason's lips pressed together to avoid smirking. Tya, despite herself, found herself fighting not to do the same.

"It's the king you have to thank for tonight, Princess," She said evenly.

"Yes, his Grace did a fine job," Jason nodded.

"Oh, that is a surprise!" Loreza exclaimed. "Well in that case, my humblest thanks to you, my king. You have a talent for hosting - I know of few men who can plan such a stunning feast without a woman's touch,"

Aerys' smile went rather sour, but there was nothing offensive in her words to anger at.

"Not at all,"

He did leave them after that, though, making a beeline for the most beautiful of all the Dornish dancers, dragging Jason along with him. Two sharp pairs of eyes followed them.

"Men's work," Loreza actually scoffed. "Apologies if you thought that disrespectful towards the king, Lady Tya,"

"I did," She said. "It was entertaining nonetheless,"

The princess smiled then, taking her arm in hers. Tya bristled slightly at the presumption; she had never been one of those ladies to go around hanging off the arms of her friends and giggling. She had only ever really linked arms with Genna. But she got Loreza's intention and went along with it for now, as they set off towards the doors. She was at least three inches taller than the other woman, and also two decades younger.

"I'm impressed how well you stand him," The princess said once they were clear of the hall, into much quieter corridors. "And everyone in government here, really. I remember now why I don't frequent King's Landing often - though I expected it, I forgot how irritating it is when my every decision is questioned because of what lies between my legs,"

"They don't question me anymore," Tya replied. People tended to know better after two years of her being Hand, and her piercing stare was dreaded by everyone who had ever been on the receiving end.

"I can see why," Loreza considered her. "Even in Dorne we've heard your reputation. The mysterious disappearance of Emmon Frey - not that I'm suggesting anything, but many people do - and as for the Reynes and Tarbecks... I mean this in the most complimentary way possible, but you are the most intimidating woman I have ever met,"

She wasn't quite sure what to say to that, though it did please her that a woman who seemed such a force of nature herself thought that of her.

"Aerys said much the same when he made me Hand," She replied.

"Yet he still hauls you around like a rag doll," The princess smiled faintly, echoing her words from earlier.

"He hasn't learned from my wedding night," Tya said, then realised that whilst the events of that night had been the talk of the Crownlands at the time, word probably hadn't reached as far south as Dorne. Now she would have to explain, because out of context that sounded awful. "His Grace took certain... liberties during the bedding ceremony. And ended up with a bloody lip for it,"

Loreza laughed, and she tried to surprise the surge of unease at the sound. Growing up with the entirety of the Westerlands mocking her father had made her hate laughter from most people. It still infuriated her when Jason laughed at her.

"So that's where the rumours came from," The princess said. "I thought them false, or exaggerated - did you truly bite him?" Tya nodded and she laughed again. "I'm sure it was well deserved. He has some nerve. Lucky that your husband is a forgiving man, seeing as you're clearly not a forgiving woman,"

"Jason isn't forgiving, just better at hiding it," She said. "It's nothing new besides. When we were children, Aerys wanted me as his queen. Then he married his sister like a proper Targaryen. Now he'd have me as his mistress," Her lip curled.

"Would that be so bad?" Loreza shrugged, making her eyes widen slightly. "The king is a handsome man, if irritating,"

Tya stared at her for a moment.

"Why would I lower myself to being Aerys' whore?" She asked with a note of incredulity. "I'm married, besides, and so is he,"

The princess smiled rather wickedly.

"Who says you'd be his whore?" She asked. "In your position, I would've made him mine. It's all about perspective," She laughed at the look on her face. "Perhaps that is a more Dornish attitude to have. Of course, if you love your husband that's a different story,"

Do I? She enjoyed Jason's company far more than most, certainly, and he was her equal in ways no one else truly was. He still irritated her regularly, of course, no matter how they showed a united front in public. But this wasn't the time or place for such thoughts. Tya paused before replying.

"People already claim that I only got this position from sleeping with the king," She said. "Out of earshot, of course. I remove a finger from anyone caught saying it, but they say it nonetheless,"

"Quite right," Loreza said. "But people will always talk and spread untruths. I learned to listen but not care. In the end, I'm still Princess of Dorne and have everything I want. What do I care what people think of me?"

That was... one way of looking at it. Tya would be the first to claim she didn't care for the opinions of people she deemed irrelevant, but she supposed she did, in some ways at least.

They fell into an easy silence.

"It's strange, being back here," The princess glanced around idly. "So much the same, but so much different. Of course, when I last spent any amount of time here I was only a girl, one of Queen Betha's ladies; Princess Rhaella was born two years before I left to marry. And Aegon was king at the time - I suppose a different sort of king breeds a different sort of court,"

Tya almost smiled at that.

"I served King Aegon for four years as cupbearer," She said. "He was... kind, but intelligent too," Her calling anyone kind was not normally a compliment, but she had a lot of respect for Aegon the Unlikely despite his foolishly idealistic reforms. "Like you said, a different sort of king,"

Loreza laughed.

"I thought Aerys a wise king before this visit," She said. "Mature for his age, astute and surprisingly progressive for a northerner in making you his Hand. Of course, I should have realised the only significant decision he has made was letting you rule the kingdoms for him. Oftentimes a woman's touch is needed, particularly with a man that proud - he would feel more threatened taking orders from a lord rather than a lady, I believe. It lets him kid himself that he's in control. How could a woman outshine a king, after all?" She eyed her meaningfully.

That was perhaps the most accurate assessment of Aerys Tya had heard from anyone save Jason, who had been his close friend - well, companion - for years.

"I'm hardly going to complain," She said. "If the king wishes to plan tourneys and host balls then it is simply my duty to take over the less entertaining aspects of ruling,"

"You look more a king on that great ugly throne than he does," Loreza scoffed, waving a hand. "And you know it, too. A good thing you married such an accommodating man - you'd have been wasted as the lady of some lordly house. Or even as Queen of the Seven Kingdoms,"

Jason might be accommodating in public, and show her every respect due as Hand of the King - not caring for any mockery this earned him from others, as the man ruled by his wife - but he was far from derential in private. Tya would never admit it, but while she ruled the kingdoms, in some ways he ruled her. Her smiles were his, he knew her better than anyone, could get her to concede like no one else could.

She said none of this, however.

From that evening onwards, Tya supposed that Loreza Martell was her friend. They were similar in many ways - both powerful women, intelligent, no-nonsense and intimidating to many - though the Dornish princess was far warmer and more charming, and had rather more... open views on things like what went on in a lady's bedchamber.

Tya had never really had a friend who was a woman before, aside from Rhaella and her own sister Genna, but Loreza was different in that she felt more of an equal. Though Tya enjoyed the queen's calm and pleasant company, and was entertained by her sister's brashness and bold nature, she related far more to the Dornish Princess.

Even after the Dornish party returned to Sunspear, they still kept in regular correspondence via letters. Both Dorne and the Westerlands had benefitted from this friendship too, given that both sides were more open to arranging certain trade deals, often to the detriment of the Reach given it was surrounded to the north and south.

Loreza was one of the first people Tya wrote to of her pregnancy.

It hadn't been a sudden realisation, more the hint of a possibility that had grown slowly into hard fact. She felt rather sick at the thought, a feeling she recognised as fear and loathed.

Tya was not a fool. Though her nausea in the mornings could have been passed off as a minor ailment, the fact she had missed her cycles for two months running was rather telling that she was with child.

She had never thought much about becoming a mother, other than that she would eventually have to. But it had always been a distant certainty, one that - particularly with Jason - she would not have to face for a while. Her duties as Hand were far too important to set aside to go into confinement; it would have the lords muttering all over again that a woman was not fit for such a position of power, if she had to take so many months away from her work to raise a child.

There and then, she resolved to herself that she would do no such thing. No matter how gruelling pregnancy was, she would grit her teeth and push on with her duties, running the realm right up until the day the child was born.

"You seem distracted," Jason asked her as they dined together. "Not irritated, which is strange - it can't have been something I did, then, or the king,"

"It is your fault," She said. "I'm with child," She saw no point in keeping it some great secret. But seeing the small smile cross her husband's face, for the first time she felt a tiny stab of satisfaction at the fact she was pregnant.

"Poor baby," He said, though the smile didn't leave his face. "With us as parents. Imagine a daughter with your ferocity and my charm - horrifying,"

"A daughter?" She raised an eyebrow. "You don't know that. I'd rather have a son, besides. With your sharp tongue, and my pride," She paused. "It's to be kept secret until it's too obvious to hide," Women lost children all the time in the early stages of pregnancy, and she could not stand the idea of pitying looks and sympathetic comments from other women, along with the muttering behind her back that the stress of her work had doubtless caused her to miscarry, and wouldn't she be better off focusing on raising a family from now on. "And I will work as long as possible, to be back just as fast,"

"I wouldn't expect anything less," He said. "The small council will likely end up meeting around your bed, before this child is born,"

She smiled faintly at the idea of that, setting down her eating knife, a little less tense.

"The maester says the child is due in seven moons. All is healthy so far, although it's too early to tell too much,"

"It's strange, hearing you talk like that," Jason said. "As though I should thank my darling lady wife for giving me the gift of an heir, like a real lord would,"

"It's more my heir than yours," She glared at him. "I'll be remembered as the first Lady Hand. You'll be remembered as my husband,"

"Thank you for reminding me so gently, Tya," He scoffed slightly, but she knew he wasn't offended. She doubted she'd offended him with anything she'd said in their lives. "So you'd rather have a son, then?"

"I wasn't aware that you could choose," She thought for a moment. "But yes,"

There was more of a future available to a son of hers. Although both she and Jason had places on the Small Council, and would always have a home at Casterly Rock if the king's favour suddenly turned, they did not stand to inherit any land or titles. Her son could be a knight, and rise up to lead the army of the Westerlands alongside Kevan's future sons, like Tygett or Gerion. He could go into politics like his parents. He could marry an heiress and have a keep of his own, for although she had no lands, her name carried weight and she was the second most powerful person in the realm.

Her daughter would simply be married off to some lord. Tya didn't dare hope that any future king, Rhaegar or otherwise, would make another woman their Hand. Though Aerys had many faults, he had overlooked her gender in that regard and given her a high position as she was the best suited to the job.

They had also been friends since childhood, and he had desired her for almost that long. The circumstances were rather unique.

"I wonder what they'll look like," Jason remarked dryly.

"I wonder. Dark-haired and blue-eyed, no doubt,"

"I never knew you fucked Steffon Baratheon, my lady?"

She hit his arm for that, though his stupid comment had made her think for the first time what the baby would look like. Golden-haired and green-eyed of course, but what about beyond that?

Her husband was better looking than she was herself, but she had been called pretty her whole life so the child would hardly be ugly. She was tall for a woman and he was tall for a man, so any son or daughter of theirs would also be above average height. Would they have Jason's sharp smile, her own piercing stare, his high cheekbones, her cut-glass jaw?

Either way, they would be her child.

That realisation hit her harder than when she realised she was pregnant. The child inside her would be hers, and she would fight tooth and nail for them to do well in this world. They would be strong and brave and beautiful, and no one would ever laugh at them. Her son would be a great warrior, and her daughter would be a queen.

*

To the anonymous reviewer on FanFiction.net - apologies, I can't reply to your review directly so I'll have to do it here. It's unfortunate that you think I'm bashing Aerys too much; it's simply my interpretation of a character who we honestly know little about compared to characters who actually feature in the events of the books. What we do know is that he was inappropriate to Joanna on her wedding night, and regularly insulted Tywin. All the madness had to come from somewhere, I doubt he went from being a saint to burning innocent people alive. And as for 'who the fuck is Jason Lannister? Is he Joanna? And if he is then why is he genderbent as well?' thank you for putting it so eloquently - yes Jason is the genderbent version of Joanna, because it's fanfiction and why not.

Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter, as ever please leave feedback or constructive criticism as I do take notice of it and work it into the story. Next up, Jaime and Cersei arrive. Thanks for reading!