Widowhood I
Edmyn's funeral was a solemn moment. Most of the lords of the houses of the riverlands went. As well as Princess Helaena and Prince Aemond. The green Targaryens.
Most weren't just subjects they were friends. Edmyn had a big heart and good humor, it was easy to be friends with him as demonstrated by the large number of men who gave their condolences to Haelyx and the ravens that came to Riverrun.
The black Targaryens sent their excuses for the pregnancy of Princess Rhaenyra. Haelyx gritted her teeth thinking of all the members of the blacks who had a dragon and who might have come to pay her respects to her late husband.
People have not stopped whispering about the separation of the royal family. But Haelyx didn't care about that. She was delivering her husband to the earth. She did not stop crying and was supported by Oscar. That made many look at her, but Oscar was also crying so they assumed that they had united in the pain of the loss of the good man.
Helaena walked over to Haelyx and hugged her tight. It was difficult, because they were both many months pregnant, Helaena would give birth next week, from what she had said. Aemond stood to the side watching as Hedwig was mourning the death of her rider's companion. The dragon was crying in her own way
- Don't worry, don't cry. Where there is death and sorrow, one day there will be life and joy. Four guardians will be born the day love arises again
Haelyx smiled, she had always liked Helaena. She reminded her a lot of Luna Lovegood. The strange, disturbing, adorable, wonderful and chaotic Luna
-In Avalon you will always have a place, Helaena.
-I know. In my dreams I have seen myself there, with my children…. No blood and cheese. -- Helaena sighed. --- – But I'm not the only one who has children.
Haelyx understood and nodded from her. Apparently she was going to become the damn refuge of the Targaryen children during the war. She only hoped that she could take care of Lucerys and Joffrey as well.
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Haelyx wore black, the color of mourning, predominantly. The mirrors in her bedrooms and her paintings had been draped in dark fabrics and she had abandoned her beautiful loose hairstyles to pull her hair tight and easy in a simple braid or low bun.
She spent most of her time sewing clothes for her unborn child and not talking to anyone. And the rest was spent in the Sept or by Edmyn's grave. She was often seen in the company of Oscar. He used to remind her when she should eat and only showed affection and understanding to the woman's broken heart.
The bards began to sing songs about the beautiful princess whose tears turned into a river as she wept for her beloved who had died in battle against the giant wolves. The sad and romantic song became very popular, spreading Princess Haelyx's love and sorrow for her late husband throughout the seven kingdoms.
Haelyx, whose tears created a river. Said the bards in their songs.
In everyone's eyes, the only thing that kept the Targaryen Princess alive was the child that grew in her womb. The maids used to hear her whisper things to her unborn child. How she wanted her to have her father's baby hair, Edmyn's hair, that she hoped to be able to adequately explain how Edmyn's laugh was, how handsome her Edmyn was,…
Ronia and many of the maids used to go to the Sept to pray for the health of the Princess's son. Ronia was no longer Haelyx's personal maid since she had married and she already had a child. But all the inhabitants of Riverrun knew that if the boy was lost the Princess she would never recover.
Only Oscar and Haelyx made plans
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The birth of the princess was a story with two versions. The first was the official version that was told throughout the seven kingdoms and caused the bells of the Septs across the continent to ring in sorrow for the stillborn child. The second version involved a young woman giving up her own daughter and leaving her home for almost six years to return to the Red Keep.
The first version started one sunny morning. Princess Haelyx was getting dressed to go to breakfast when she felt a sharp pain in her belly. Her maid knew that the birth was approaching and called the Master and the midwives. The Princess was laid on her bed and labor began.
For three days and two nights the Princess screamed in the bedroom as the labor continued. At the end of the second day, the Master spoke with Lord Elmo and his wife to tell them that there was a problem with the unborn child. He told them that it was possible that neither the mother nor the child would survive the birth. The Master asked which of the two he should save if the worst happened.
The horrible stories of Queen Aemma's childbirth filled everyone's mind and they refused to enter the room to support the young woman. In the end, only Oscar Tully stayed in the hallway guarding his good sister.
The maids came out non-stop with sheets covered in blood and all the other occupants of the castle cried. One of the servants was sent to dig a grave next to Edmyn's. A grave for a mother and her son
The delivery ended with a heartrending cry from the young mother. Without crying of a child.
The Master came out and said that the Princess had survived, but that her son had the cord of life around his neck and could not be saved. The Master's eyes were full of tears as he announced this.
The Master also said that the birth had damaged the Princess's body a lot and that it was possible that she could no longer conceive after that.
Blaina approached her good daughter's bedroom and saw her swaying from side to side as she clutched a bundle to her chest where Blania supposed her son was. The Princess's eyes were shedding tears and her sobs were so loud that there was not a sound coming from her lips.
Blaina could only stay with the girl and wait until she passed out from exhaustion.
As she took the bundle into her arms Blaina opened it to look at her late first grandchild. A child, a man.
His hair was red and thick. There were already a few freckles on the bridge of his nose and dotting his pale skin. Blaina opened one of the boy's eyes and was greeted by a purple iris. The woman shook her head and carried the body back to the Sept.
The funeral took place while the Princess was plagued by high fevers caused by childbirth. Edmure Tully, the boy who didn't live, found a resting place with his father. The Princess's fevers became so strong that a third hole was dug in the ground for wife, husband, and child to rest together. But the princess survived and a month later she was able to leave her bedroom and go visit the graves.
That was the story that resounded in the seven kingdoms
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Oscar adjusted his cloak so that nothing of the body was visible. He was going to a brothel where he knew that Kermit had dropped his seed many times. Enough to make a girl pregnant.
The crying in the brothel calmed him down. He wouldn't have to kill a child.
The brothel lady looked at him suspiciously. But she let him pass while he made his way to the room of the girl who was crying over a dead child. She was very young, younger than Haelyx, and very blonde.
Oscar turned to the brothel lady and explained what he wanted. She looked at him with kind eyes and thanked him for taking care of the son of a prostitute. Oscar gave the girl enough money so that she could live well for a few years and then left, telling them that he would bury the child in the family cemetery.
Technically, he was going to keep his word.
The castle was strange, but Oscar easily found the guards his sister-in-law had bewitched into obeying her and her alone. The guards led him into the room without bumping into anyone. Oscar knew that the screams were the result of a spell, even so they froze his blood.
Oscar entered the room and the image shook his soul.
Haelyx was disheveled, with wild hair, covered in sweat and pale, she was also wearing a thin nightgown. But she looked more beautiful than ever, like a warrior returning from a great battle. In her arms there was a little being that cried and turned
-Iolanthe Peverell, my precious, precious daughter.
-Are you OK? Was the birth hard?
- No, it was quite simple. Or so I have been told. Iolanthe is so beautiful, she has Edmyn's hair, but her eyes are just like mine. My precious daughter.
Oscar smiled and asked to take his niece in his arms. She was beautiful and she looked just like Edmyn. Then he looked at the Master and the midwives who seemed drugged in a corner.
- I have the body of the child. – Oscar lifted the bundle with delicacy and respect. Haelyx nodded and looked at the newborn child. A Tully through and through. She opened the boy's eyelids and saw green eyes.
Oscar shuddered, the prostitute had green eyes. The boy had his mother's eyes. They would find out. Haelyx muttered something and the boy's eyes turned purple. She closed those little eyes and dressed the boy in the clothes she had made before kissing the boy's eyelids and thanking him.
-Now begins part two of the plan.
- In two days – Agreed Oscar.
For two days Oscar stayed in the room while he watched Haelyx and her daughter. He then took a wet nurse that Haelyx had prepared and took his niece to a private bedroom. Haelyx's screams made him cry
He had to repeat himself a thousand times that it was necessary. After his mother took the child away, the Maester said that Haelyx was gravely ill and no one was to visit her. Haelyx had her daughter with her all this time. It was the best for Iolanthe.
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Haelyx left the room in short walks. Most of the people in Riverrun looked at her pityingly and avoided meeting her eyes. Haelyx walked to the graves and collapsed before them, crying her eyes out.
She repeated that pattern six times as she stuck a thought into Elmo and Grover's mind. If the Princess died in Riverrun due to lack of care, the Targaryens would lash out. And the Princess was consumed before the eyes
In those moments, a raven arrived announcing the King's illness and Haelyx felt that her stomach fell into a frozen place. First Edmyn and then his uncle.
Haelyx said that she would return to Court to care for her uncle and both Elmo and Grover were relieved that they would not have to deal with a sterile and useless Princess in the house.
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Haelyx sat at the Avalon council table. She had created ministries and the ministers were arguing. Surprisingly, the Ministry of Finance was not complaining that they no longer had space to store the wealth of the Valyrian Freehold. That had been his constant complaint for the past two years.
The problem now was quite different. They had lots and lots of cash, but they only had about ten percent of the territory they had reclaimed from the curse mapped. Even though they had a rough map of the whole territory it was very out of date. The geography had changed a lot after the natural disaster.
At this time they could not defend themselves. They had the right army, but they couldn't defend themselves because they knew almost nothing of the terrain in which they moved. That meant that they depended on the shield created with magic. But even that had its limits and a coordinated attack on more than four points and the shield would break if Haelyx wasn't there supplying magic.
And this was a problem because the greedy eyes of the world wanted the treasures of Valyria. They had literally received a messenger from the seven kingdoms who demanded all the treasures because the Targaryens were the only true blood of ancient Valyria.
-Witches can't supply magic to the shield?
-There are only thirty witches. And they are weak, they couldn't supply a strong enough flow of magic.
-And are they the only ones that have magic?
Haelyx raised her head at that. She had never thought about it, but there were people with magic cores even if they didn't know how to use them.
-They could be used, but we would have to detect them all, teach them the spell that will give their magic to the barrier and get them to do it at least once a day, every day. – Haelyx spoke slowly before turning to look at the minister of magic, a witch named Loreen. - Will you need me or can you detect everyone who has magic on your own?
The witch looked at her Queen with an adoration that bordered on fanatical obsession.
-It is a simple test, my Queen. We have a crystal that detects who has magic and who doesn't just by putting their hands on it. But we only have one that was the creation of a late sister. Most of us only use magic to attract a suitable successor to our side.
Haelyx sighed
-What is our current population?
-Eighty-seven thousand inhabitants.
-It will take time to find all possible magicians. A long time. Well, there is no better time to start than now.
They all spoke in whispers and Oscar placed his hand on Haelyx's shoulder. She had already introduced him as her trusted man and had explained the plan they would use for two years. Ministers were drooling to get that information straight from the source.
But the biggest worry was that the Queen herself was being used as the spy for Avalon, which filled their hearts with fear. This woman had created a country and she had united them all, they did not want to be separated again.
-And what will we do when everyone knows if they have magic or not? – The Minister of Internal Affairs seemed exhausted. – People will complain, they will want to learn more magic than just recharging shields
-And what's wrong with that?
Haelyx laughed at Oscar's words. The man had found it difficult not to intervene earlier. But he had said the same thing Haelyx wanted to say.
-I really seem to remember that years ago I said that I wanted to open a school to teach magic to those who had the talent. This is as good a time as any. Wizards can be a great asset to our country. Whether in the army, in food production or medicine.
They all nodded their heads.
-And what will happen to the non-magical ones? If magical children are offered free education to non-magical children we should also give it to even things out.
-That was the plan. It is a long-term plan. Unfortunately, we first have to focus on educating warriors and protectors for our country. But when we have more stability, I had thought of founding educational centers for all the children of our country.
-That would be very….- The supplies minister was half red. His ministry was in charge of controlling the food production of the young country and having the children study would remove labor from the fields
-The more knowledge there is, my dear, the better this kingdom will be. Tomorrow a farmer may discover a new method of cultivating land that will produce better crops. How will he transmit that knowledge if we do not give him a voice and the means to transmit it? A Master who researches to create a medicine and does not get it, maybe a few years after his death an herbalist takes his notes and knows how to make the medicine work. And all this will be possible if we educate our people. And that is only a small part of what can be achieved.
The air of the meeting became tense. Haelyx reminded herself that most of those present were born nobles and considered educating the masses to be giving them dangerous power. Obviously he would have to fight to build a school. But, as she had already said, it was a long-term plan.
Haelyx clapped her hands together, and two house-elves entered with a tray containing three small barrels. The ministers were encouraged by that. The house elves had impressed them at first, now they were just another oddity from the land they lived on.
-Are the drinks that her Majesty created?
-Yeah. I want to do a taste test. Butterbeer, has no alcohol but tastes like beer, in theory. Red wine from the first grapes collected in our kingdom. And mead left to ferment in a white oak barrel. Fire Whiskey won't be available until next year unfortunately
Harry had had a wife, Ginny. She had died with her brother Ron, the best friend of Harry, in an accident involving the network that connected all the chimneys. Harry and his best friend were widowed with children at Hogwarts. Harry, to distract Hermione, took her to museums and to learn new things.
A lot of new things. Hermione planned a new excursion every two weeks.
At the end of his life, Harry Potter could basically subsist from scratch. He knew how to make things from the simplest elements of him. Things like meals, steam machines, drinks and much more.
Drinking had been important after Haelyx had been allowed to drink wine after the fourteenth day. The best wine in the world, the most expensive, and she had almost thrown it up because that wine tasted disgusting. The beer was even worse, if that was possible. Edmyn had laughed at Haelyx. But she had decided that she would recreate the good spirits that she knew from Harry's memories.
Haelyx was currently nursing Iolanthe, so she could only taste Butterbeer. That was the first barrel to open
The tasting glass was ridiculously small. Haelyx sniffed at the Butterbeer and was relieved by the perfect scent. Before the gaze of those present, she took a little of the liquid in her mouth and let it slide down her tongue.
Perfect
As perfect as Harry's memories, warm and tasty.
Before the Queen's smile, the ministers tasted the drink and burst into exclamations of praise. The other two barrels were just as satisfying.