[PREVIEW] Nihilus Filius Et Sacerdos 14

“Husband, please see reason!”

Viserys stared tiredly at his wife, who was grasping her dress with enough force to pierce. He hadn’t recognized it at first, but then he recalled it was a gift from Lyseni merchants who visited the court moons past. Shame the emerald silk would now be marred with holes. 

“To insult you in such a manner before the court…we cannot allow this to pass without judgment!” she began pacing back and forth. “Word will have spread to every corner of the Crownlands by the sennight, and the rest of the kingdoms won’t need long to hear the same!” 

“I must agree with the queen, Your Grace,” said Lyonel Strong. The Hand’s face was still pale from the earlier events, and every so often, he glanced at the door, waiting for the girl to barge in with her gigantic hammer. It seems his Hand hadn’t quite believed him when he recounted the events of Driftmark. “To brandish such a weapon before the royal family, when here at your behest…they practically violated guest rights!”

Clasping his hands, Viserys tried to maintain some form of composure. “What would you even have me do?”

“Arrest them!” Alicent sharply hissed. “The king must never be threatened inside his own keep, else others may presume to act in the same manner! We must show that even foreign guests are beholden to the crown’s laws whilst they reside here, especially on the king’s invitation. Their brazen act of intimidation at High Tide was enough of a slight.”

He blanched at her words. Arrest them? “After what you have seen of them? My love, have you forgotten the events at Driftmark? If we arrest them, I would fear for the soldiers who would fail in the attempt.”

“Then the crown’s image is forever shamed by your inaction, husband!” she hissed. “Do you wish to see your rule crumble because every lord and knight found the nerve to challenge you in your own palace? Worse, that lies and falsehood about sorcery poisoning your ear?”

Viserys resisted an incredulous scoff. He was well aware of the potential ramifications of Lady Ecclesia’s…display, but surely it wasn’t as extreme as Alicent made it out to be? The girl’s display of magic, while lesser than Master Albaz’s magnificent transformation, was impressive, but only in the physical aspect. There was nothing to suggest she could ensorcell him…but there were no records of the magics they wielded in his grand library either.

“While arresting the king’s guests might take the issue too far,” Lord Strong interjected, carefully measuring his words. “I agree with Her Grace in that we cannot let this matter lie. There are enough whispers at court without the fear of mysterious foreign interlopers.”

“There are always whispers at court, Lord Strong.” Viserys wasn’t blind to the sudden factionalism growing within the Red Keep. The noble ladies were the prominent markers of this division, wearing clashing gowns of green and black. All because of vile rumors about his daughter, aided by the ever-present scheming opportunists in the snake’s den. “But I will not insult my guests by putting them to the question when I have pried them away from Lord Corlys’s shadow.”

Alicent sharply inhaled and clenched her robes even tighter, but thankfully, his Hand interposed himself before his wife’s oncoming tirade. “No one was suggesting that, your grace. Extreme measures such as imprisonment should only be used for extreme actions. I would ask you to consider a gesture to assuage your subjects that all guests of the crown bear the weight of your laws. A public apology would do well as a start.”