SKYFALL,          CREGAN STARK
chapter one. an unexpected announcement
( 120 AC )

ALYSANNE TARGARYEN WAS completely and utterly bored. The girl had been sitting on the makeshift, and quite elaborate, chair her King Father had demanded be made specifically for the tour of her hand. She had barely paid any mind to the men that offered their hand, lands, coins, and whatever else Lords liked and kept for themselves. The teen had begun to take interest in the decorations around her rather than the men in front of her, tuning out everything that they were saying. All Alysanne wanted to do was slip into her chambers and jump into her bed and fall fast asleep. Nothing about listening to men drone on and on about the riches they have and the live they could provide to the young Princess was something that piqued her interest. She wanted to be far away from this whole situation.

"ARE YOU EVEN listening Princess?" Tyland Lannister had whispered into Alysanne's ear from the right of her, immediately pulling her attention from the intricate flower details on the numerous of tables placed in the halls.  The man was requested to be an advisor of sorts regarding Alysanne choosing the best suitable match for her and the court.  Her Father entrusted him to enlighten her on the men and other young boys attending,  whether that be their names,  relationship to the throne,  or anything else that Tyland viewed as important.

          "I THINK YOU already know the answer to that Tyland," Alysanne replied,  voice lacking inflection as she began to tap the tips of her fingers against the armrest of the chair she was currently sitting on.  Her bright violet eyes jumped from body to body as they scanned the entire room,  small smirk creeping on her lips as she silently giggled to herself and lean in a little to her right to whisper into Tyland Lannister's ear.  "I think it's beginning to stink in here from all these men in the room.  Don't you agree?" She said,  a chuckle escaping her lips,  quickly trying to cover it up by a cough so the others in the room watching her didn't think too much of the action.

          TYLAND ONLY ROLLED his eyes at the Princess' statement,  gently shaking his head as he huffed out a breath in response.  He found no point in responding to her teasing question and instead continued to listen to the man that was currently droning on and on about his wealth and abundant lands.  "What I think is that you should start listening to what these men are saying.  You may learn a thing or two while you do," he quipped,  hands interlocking as he settled them on his lap,  "Plus,  it's a good skill to have Princess".

          ALYSANNE ONLY GIGGLED more at her temporary advisors comment,  giving him this win as she finally turned her attention to the umpteenth man to have approached her tonight.  "While I enjoyed hearing you speak of what you can provide to me and the future of the realm,  I really do think that you give the next man a turn in speaking," she spoke up,  putting on the fakest genuine smile she could muster as she urged the man in front of her to shut up and move on.  "Thank you for your time,  Lord..." she dragged off,  completely missing the man's name when he first introduced himself to her.  Her eyes quickly darted to Tyland as he coughed a quiet Prewett.  "Thank you,  Lord Prewett," she quickly recovered and finished,  nodding at the man to step aside. 

          BUT BEFORE THE NEXT lad could present himself to the Princess Alysanne, a guard had abruptly entered the large room and announced that the time was late,  the Princess needing to head to her chambers as she had an early start in the morrow.  Some quiet groans where heard from various of men in the room,  disappointed in either not getting to speak with the Princess or their time in her presence not being enough for her to choose them amongst the crowd.  Alysanne bid all the men goodnight and a thanks for coming,  internally buzzing with excitement that she was finally able to go rest in her chambers after a long day listening to men blabber about whatever men blabber about.

          "OH,  YOU'RE BACK early Princess," a handmaid had verbally observed,  greeting the young girl with a smile.  Alysanne had just entered her bedchambers and let out a frustrated sigh as the other woman in the room spoke.

          "YOU DO NOT KNOW how much I've longed to be in my bed,  Vara," she grumbled,  taking only a few steps towards her bed before flopping onto the covers and groaning in pleasure as she was finally able to relax after sitting in that damned chair for nearly all day.

        Her handmaiden,  Vara Seam,  only chuckled and shook her head at the Princess,  making her way towards the young girl as she urged her to stand up so she could help her undress.  "I can only imagine,  your highness," she replied,  a soft smile covered her face as Alysanne begrudgingly stood up and pouted.

          "ALL I WANT TO do is sleep," she mumbled,  lifting her arms up as Vara effortlessly lifted up her dress and slipped it off.  "I've had to listen to men talk all day long.  I wanted to blow out my eardrums from having to hear them talk about how much wealth they have or about how much easier they can make my life," the Princess rambled,  periodically lifting whatever limb she needed to in order to assist her maid in her undressing.

          "WELL,  WITH ALL THAT talking,  did one at least catch your eye?" Vara asked,  striding towards the wardrobe where Alysanne kept all of her nightdresses and other sleep clothes. 

          THE TEEN GIRL COULD only scoff at her maids question,  repeatedly shaking her head as she rolled her eyes.  "No,  none of them did.  But all of them were either halfway in the grave or significantly younger than me!" She exclaimed,  flabbergasted at the amount of old men that were offering their hand to a girl of ten and seven.  And the boys that were only around the age of three and ten offering theirs.  Such young boys being forced by their houses to offer their hands in marriage so their parents could relish in the new found status and wealth they got with being in-laws of the Targaryen Princess.  It was quite gross actually.  The more she thought about it,  the more Alysanne wanted to cave in on herself.

          "WELL,  THAT'S A shame," Vara huffed,  pulling down a cream colored nightdress from a wardrobe for the young lady to wear to sleep.  "Perhaps you'll have better luck tomorrow?" She offered,  trying her best in comforting the young girl.  She could only imagine the type of stress that she was put under.  Having your hand be offered to all available and eligible Lords of the realm must've been extremely stressful and anxiety inducing.  Vara could never imagine having to go through such things.  The privilege of being a handmaiden she supposed.

          ALYSANNE ONLY NODDED,  eyes nearly closed in exhaustion as she half processed Vara's words.  "Perhaps," she whispered as a reply,  once again putting her hands up so her maid could slip the nightdress over her head,  the fabric sliding down her body before it rested against her pale shoulders.

          VARA ONLY SMILED and nodded in return,  pulling back the covers of the Princess' bed as she aided Alysanne in slipping underneath the layers of fabric.  "I'll see you in the morrow Princess.  Goodnight and sweet dreams," she whispered out into the darkened room after she quickly tucked the girl into bed and blew out all the lit candles that were burning.  Vara only heard an incoherent mumble as a reply before quietly shutting the door of Alysanne Targaryen's bedchambers,  the young girl fast asleep in her bed as she snored into the night.

HARSH WHISPERS AND insistent shaking of her body is what roused Alysanne from her slumber, groaning as she turned onto her back and peeled open her eyes, them burning from the large amount of sunlight peeking out from the undrawn curtains. Disoriented and confusion were the two emotions the teen was feeling as she struggled to make sense of what was being said and who was saying it, eyes nor ears adjusted yet.

"WHAT?" ALYSANNE RASPED out as she slowly sat up and rubbed the sleep away from her eyes. A loud yawn made its way through her mouth, body trying to wake itself up for the long day ahead.

"MY LADY, IT'S an urgent matter," Vara rushed out, tearing the warm covers away from Alysanne's body as she ran around the slightly messy room to try to find an appropriate dress for the Princess to wear. "Quite an urgent one indeed," she mumbled to herself as she hurriedly tried to find the dress she had in mind for the girl.

THE EYEBROWS ON Alysanne's face pulled together in severe confusion as she tried to interpret what her handmaiden was mumbling about. "What do you mean, Vara? Is my Father okay?" She asked, pulling herself up from her bed and onto her feet as she stood up, ignoring the cold stone against her warm feet.

VARA ONLY SHOOK her head as she pulled out nearly every dress that Alysanne had and tossed them over her shoulder, creating a huge pile of discarded dresses on the floor. "No, it is not your Father. He is okay," she responded, attention still on trying to find a particular dress. "But it does involve your Father. And Grandsire. And Mother," Vara continued, mumbling other things under her breath.

"WHAT? VARA, PLEASE slow down. I can't hear a word you're saying," Alysanne spoke, gently grasping the older woman's forearm in an attempt to stop her handmaiden from having a panic attack. "What do you mean by that it involves my Father? What happened?" She continued, anxiety now becoming prevalent in Alysanne's system.

VARA STOPPED IN her tracks and gazed down at the Princess, mouth opening and closing as she struggled to find the words to speak. "It–It...It's about your hand. They've requested that you come down to the war room to discuss the urgent matters of your hand in marriage," she quickly rushed out, some of the words mumbled together as she spoke but Alysanne still understood what she was saying. "That is all I know," she finished, continuing her search.

THE WORDS HER handmaiden had spoke made Alysanne Targaryen freeze in her spot, anxiety crawling up her spine as she processed what was just said. Hand in marriage, war room, urgent matter, her Step–Mother and Grandsire. All of this could only mean one thing. That all three of them had finally come to an agreement on what to do with Alysanne's hand or regarding on who she should be betrothed to. Oh Seven Hells, she thought to herself as she began to nervously chew on her lips. The three of them are going to marry me off to some old man that's halfway in his grave. Or worse, to some lad that already has six wives and a zillion kids.

"I'M SURE IT'S nothing, right?" The Princess asked, not necessarily to Vara but more towards herself. "Yes, it has to be. Father would never give my hand to some man without my permission. He promised," she continued, now copying her handmaidens prior pacing. But he did the same thing to Nyra, she hissed at herself in response to her external mumbling.

"YES! I'VE FOUND it!" Vara exclaimed as she held up the dress she had practically looked everywhere for. The whole dress was made out of velvet material, a deep maroon red with a purple underskirt, along with gold stitching and embellishments around the cuffs and neckline. The sleeves were long, cuffs stopping at the wrists. And it had a stitched in cloth belt that had a design of two dragons facing each other, tips of their snouts barely touching each other, a small triangle of pearls stopping them from meeting in the middle. The clothed belt would rest on the upper portion of Alysanne's abdomen and was roughly only three fingers wide. It was truly a beautiful dress that was handcrafted for the Princess when she turned six and ten. Vara wanted to dress Alysanne in this dress specifically just in case the King and his consorts did betroth the youngest Princess. It was her job as the girls handmaiden to make sure she looked presentable whenever she left her chambers and Vara wanted to make sure that her Princess made an excellent first impression on her potential future betrothed,  that's if he was being included in that mornings discussion.

"COME, YOU MUST make haste to dress before your Mother sends for Ser Criston to collect you," Vara muttered as she motioned for the Princess to undress herself as she began to prepare the dress for wearing. The quicker she dressed, the quicker Vara could escort Lady Alysanne to the war room. The handmaiden never liked interacting with the knight sworn to the Queen. His entire presence threw Vara off her game, making her freeze in her spot nearly all the time as he passed her by in the halls of the Red Keep. She didn't like leaving the Princess in the knights presence either, always insisting that she was the one to escort Alysanne wherever she was needed.

THE TARGARYEN PRINCESS didn't protest much as she began to quickly undress and aid Vara in prepping the beautiful dress. "I don't think I'll have time to do your hair so I must do it on our way there, Princess," the handmaiden commented as she bundled up the skirts of the dress to shimmy it over Alysanne's head and down her body.

"I CAN JUST brush through it with my fingers, Vara," she responded, pulling her white hair out from underneath the fabric of the dress, running her fingers through the knotted locks as gently and quickly as she could. The dress was finally situated on her body as she and Vara smoothed and patted down the wrinkled parts of the dresses fabric.

ONCE EVERYTHING WAS satisfactory to Vara's standards, she shooed Alysanne towards her shoes on the floor by her bed as she looked through the Princess' jewelry box for the usual pieces of jewelry the girl wore nearly everyday. "The dragon necklace or the Godswood tree, your Highness?" Vara had asked as she presented both necklaces, Alysanne already done with tying her laces.

"DRAGON," SHE ANSWERED as she once again ran her fingers through her hair.  Turning around so her back faced Vara as she attempted to tame her wild hair.  The necklace had been a gift that she was supposed to receive from her late Mother,  Aemma Arryn, on her tenth birthday but she had sadly passed way before then.  Alysanne never took it off when she received the gift from her Father on the date she was intended to get it.  It was the last remaining thing she had of her Mother,  something that often brought her immense comfort when needed.

          ONCE THE CLASPED was closed and the necklace secure,  Alysanne's handmaiden began to drag her out of her chambers and down the varying hallways that led to the war room.  The Princess' quarters was quite a ways away so once the pair arrived at the wooden door,  they both were out of breath and slightly sweating from the fast pace they had set for themselves on the way there.  Vara had quickly did a single glance over the Princess,  dabbing her forehead and neck clean of any sweat she managed to produce on the way.  Once the handmaiden thought the girl looked decent enough,  she rapidly knocked on the door to the war room,  fiddling with the star of the Sevens that dangled from her waist band.

          "OH GREAT,  YOU'VE made it just in time,  Alysanne," the raspy voice of her Step–Grandsire said,  being the first to greet said Princess and her handmaiden once the door had been opened.  The older man had worn his usual green colored attire but no longer held the pin symbol of the Hand of the King.  That title had now belonged to Lyonel Strong,  the Father of Ser Harwin Strong,  the Captain of the City Watch.  Alysanne hadn't seen Otto Hightower since he was banished from King's Landing for accusing her eldest sister of losing her maidenhead to their uncle,  Daemon,  in a brothel.  Albeit him not being allowed to step foot in King's Landing and no longer being someone Viserys turned to,  her Father still allowed him to have a say for her hand in marriage and was clearly fine with him being at the castle for only this instance.  It was their topic of conversation during Rhaenyra's engagement to Laenor Velaryon.  Viserys had wanted to make sure that his youngest daughter (at the time at least) would receive a suitable match for her hand,  allowing both his Wife and ex-Hand to put in some insight as to who he should choose.

          "I JUST SENT Ser Criston to fetch you,  dear," her Step–Mother,  Alicent Hightower,  said as she gently smiled at Alysanne,  brushing passed her Father and striding towards her Step–Daughter,  embracing her into a hug.  Alicent always tried to butter up to Viserys' second daughter.  At least,  that's how Alysanne viewed it.  She'd always try to put herself into the position as Aly's Mother,  treating her kindly compared to how she treated Rhaenyra.  And she insisted on the maids and servants within the Keep to refer to Alicent as Alysanne's Mother,  completely disregarding her actual Mother who no longer walked amongst the living.  The Princess never liked it and therefore tried her best to always make an excuse to cut conversations short or stay out dragon riding far later than she's supposed to so she'd miss Alicent on her way to bed. 

          "I'LL SEND ANOTHER guard to bring him back,  your Majesty," Vara quipped,  bowing her head towards the Queen before giving a reassuring nod towards Alysanne,  swiftly making her exit as Alicent ushered the Princess into the room.

          THE AIR IN the room became stiff.  Tension so intense that you could cut it with a knife.  Only Alysanne herself,  Alicent,  Otto,  Lyonel,  and her King Father were in the room.  No other man in sight,  which was a great relief,  meaning that this discussion was of other matters entirely or her betrothed wasn't going to be attending the meeting.  Alysanne really hoped that it was the ladder.

          KING VISERYS WAS the one to break the prolonged silence,  shattering his daughters hopes with it,  "I am sure that you know the reason we have requested your presence to join us in this room today.  The matter of your hand has been settled,".

          ALYSANNE'S HEART FELL from out her chest and onto the floor,  splintering into pieces below.  This can't be happening,  she internally screamed as she kept a neutral face to the news,  eyes scanning the reactions of those around her.  The Princess could only hum in acknowledgement to her Fathers statement,  afraid that if she opened her mouth to speak that vomit would be the only thing to exit.

          "HE WASN'T PERSONALLY able to make it to your tour nor was he able to make it to this morning's decision,  unfortunately.  But his Uncle had stepped in and acted as his voice," Otto butted in,  one leg crossed over the other as he sat in his chair and rested his interlocked hands on his lap.  The small smirk on his face was evident enough that he was taking great joy in seeing Alysanne internally struggle to not jump over the table and choke out everyone there.  He took immense pleasure in seeing the kind of misery he could bestow upon Viserys' two eldest daughters.  It was practically his job before he was booted out.

          ALYSANNE HAD LOOKED at her Father to see if what Otto was saying was true.  The look on his face told her that it was.  I wonder if Rhaenyra knows,  she thought,  knowing that her sister would fight tooth and nail for her to not have an arranged marriage as she did.  That wasn't something Rhaenyra wanted for her younger sister. 

          "HE IS OF noble house and is very kind,  as I've heard," Alicent added,  smiling at Alysanne as she placed a gentle and cool hand on the girls shoulder,  delicately rubbing it.  "You should live a good life with him.  His Uncle made sure to assure us that you would be well taken care of and in good hands while in his Nephew's company," she continued as she glanced towards her Father first and then to Viserys. 

          ALL THIS TALKING of what he'll provide but not who this man is,  Alysanne grumbled to herself inside her head,  shaking her head at their tiptoeing around the identity of the man she's betrothed to.  It made her even more anxious to find out who exactly it was that managed to win her hand through her Father. 

          IT WAS IF Lord Strong had read her mind and gave her the identity of the man they were talking about.  He lightly coughed before speaking,  gaining the attention of everyone in the room, "Your Highness,  your Father has decided that the man who has won your favor and hand in marriage is young Lord Cregan Stark of Winterfell,".

          ALYSANNE'S EYES NEARLY bulged out of their sockets upon hearing the name of the man she was arranged to marry.  Lord Stark?  But how is he kind?  I've heard that he tore out a Wildings throat with his bare teeth,  she thought,  shivering at the thought.  Alicent must've noticed her quick shiver because she placed another hand on the Princess' bicep and soothingly rubbed over the material of her dresses sleeve. 

          "DO NOT WORRY my sweet thing," Viserys started,  smiling at his precious daughter,  "Bennard reassured me that they will begin to build a Dragonpit for Vermithor as soon as he sends word to Winterfell.  And Cregan'll provide plenty of furs for you to keep warm in the cold.".  By the time he finished speaking,  Alysanne had already began to tune out what he was saying and what the others were including after as well. Her mind began to swirl with thoughts of Cregan Stark and the potential future she was forced to face.

          ALYSANNE HADN'T HEARD much about the young Lord of the North,  word being hard to spread around to due just how far King's Landing was from that snowy part of Westeros.  But the things that she has heard had struck fear into her heart.  How he looked more like wolf than man,  sharp and elongated teeth for tearing into the flesh of those he fought against.  How he practically towered over everyone and nearly made the Tully brothers piss their pants when they first saw him at age ten and three.  She was fearful that his Uncle only lied to her Father about his Nephew's kindness so he could gain the Princess' hand and ultimately get closer to the Iron Throne.  That she was considered a snack for the young Lord to devour and play with as he so pleased. 

          BUT NO MATTER what Cregan Stark turned out to be or how he acted towards her,  Alysanne vowed to herself that she wouldn't fall for it and get herself out of the marriage.  No matter what it took.  She didn't want to turn out like her Step–Mother or the other Targaryen women before her.  No,  that cycle ends with Alysanne Targaryen.  She'd make sure of it.

authors note!
— holy shit, this is nearly 4k words 🧍🏻💀
i also forgot that otto had his job as the
kings hand taken away after he insisted that
rhaenyra had "sullied" herself in a brothel
w/ daemon halfway through writing this
so, apologizes for any confusion. i tried to
fix it but i'm not sure if that cleared anything up 🤷‍♀️
anyway i hope you enjoyed it & i cant wait
to show you what i have in store for cregan & aly 🤍