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125 AC, King's Landing
Alicent Hightower stood in the Throne Room, watching as her husband held court, dealing with one petitioner after another, each of whom spoke of petty things, ignoring the injustice that they all lived in. The world was not as it should have been. She knew that with a certainty. Her father should have been there, with her, as Hand of the King. Her son should have sat on the Iron Throne, proud and brimming with greatness, and together, they would have brought the Seven Kingdoms into a new era, all for the glory of the Seven Who Are One.
Alas, she stood there, alone. Her father was dead, killed by the whore who had been banished from Dragonstone instead of dying like a traitor of the realm should have. Her bastards had gone to Driftmark, their true natures still not acknowledged by the King, and instead of learning alongside the Sea Snake, her son would be king.
Rhaenyra should have been executed like the traitorous whore that she was. Her children should have been sent to the wall, or become wards of the crown, and Daemon should have been banished for the role he undoubtedly had over it all. And yet, her husband's weakness stayed his hand, and if anything, Rhaenyra's treason had been rewarded with her blood on the throne in the form of a son who would most likely forgive his mother for her crimes, something that she could not allow.
Seven Hells, Viserys would likely do it himself in a few years. Hadn't he done the same to Daemon? Did he not think that Rhaenyra did not have influence in the Capitol? Did he not think that Daemon would obey his wife's commands, a woman whom he had once sworn an oath to as his future queen? Rhaenyra saw Alicent and her children as a threat to her blood and would rid herself of that threat, something that her father could not protect her from.
Even much of the forces of House Hightower had returned to Oldtown with her cousin, leaving her defenceless as the dragons circled around her. Alicent Hightower lived a life of fear for every moment since her father's death, a fear that no one understood.
She had been abandoned by her children, with Aegon refusing the idea of pushing his claim to the throne, calling the matter settled. He had even stopped her from seeing Jaehaerys and Jaehaera, claiming that it made him uncomfortable. Helaena, her sweet daughter, had simply told her that she respected her husband's choices. Oh, what a queen she would have made…
Daeron was too far away, safe in Oldtown, but she found that she missed his presence dearly, nonetheless. Aemond had been the worst out of them. He had called her words foolish and began to work with Rhaenys, the woman who had usurped his grandfather from his post, whom he seemed to begin admiring.
Did they not see the threat before their eyes?
Viserys was too weak to notice it, but he was barely even ruling the realm. Rhaenys was, under the guise of being his Hand. She obeyed her wishes, but most of the affairs of the realm were handled by her, with Viserys barely, if ever, having any input.
Two decades after the first Great Council, it seemed that the Queen Who Ever Was had come out victorious after all.
And even in the event of his death, it would not be Aegon the Younger who would rule, but Daemon. The same Daemon that Viserys had banished twice and called Rhaenyra his heir just to avoid him being King, the same man that her father had dedicated decades of his life to stop from rising to the throne and burn the world to ashes, with his terrible dragon.
No, Alicent would not have it. She would not have her father's efforts be in vain. She would not fail her father again, not even in death, for she would be the lone tower to stop the devastation that would soon engulf the realm.
Grief started to seep into her at the memory of her father's sacrifice, but she had run out of grief long ago, and all that she was left with was her rage.
Alicent had vowed that she would not fail the task that her father, one of the greatest men in the history of the Seven Kingdoms, had given her. She had attempted to find allies who would see the dangers ahead, just as she had, and yet nothing worked.
A few perished in an accident, namely Unwin Peake and even Maester Munkun, whom she attempted to centralise an alliance in the Reach that would spread further into the realm. And aside from this, any inroads she made in any other kingdoms did not last for long. House Reyne had all but disappeared from King's Landing, something that she was sure Tyland Lannister had a hand in, and Robin Darklyn had been caught bedding Lady Emmon.
These scandals always occurred whenever she tried to make any sort of progress towards rectifying the world to what it should be. The tale repeated itself again and again, each one chipping away a part of her, each one taking away a fragment of her hope.
In the end, she had almost given up, thinking that she would always be alone, a lone tower, in a city of dragons. And she had ended up doing something that she hadn't done in some time; she had prayed.
Her prayers had stopped comforting her long ago, and a part of her thought that it had been the gods forsaking her. She had stopped for a while, but she found the act natural. She had hoped perhaps to feel her mother's familiar presence once more, and yet, nothing came of it either.
Yet, this time, she continued. She prayed and prayed, never stopping, not once. She prayed for her children's safety. She prayed for the gods to smite Rhaenyra. She prayed for Daemon to fall ill. She prayed for Viserys to come to his senses and put their son on the throne. She prayed until she forgot what she was praying for, not once feeling a drop of the comfort that it once brought her. She prayed against an unjust world, hoping that the gods would fix it, for what else could she do?
Until one night, she woke up from a wonderful dream, and she knew what the gods willed of her to achieve; she knew what to do to turn the world to what it should be, with her son on the throne, and the lords of the realm bowing to him, as they should.
And it would begin soon…
Soon…
The Queen of the Seven Kingdoms walked out of the throne room with a smile on her face, unseen by the members of the court, this alone being a testament to the wrongness that plagued King's Landing. Yet, she did not care, for instead, she imagined what these proud lords would think of what would soon be.
And so, she walked towards the Sept that she had asked to be built in the Red Keep, and knelt on the ground, and began to pray.
Alicent had not missed a single day of prayer since that day, for it had been the day that the gods had shown her that she had been foolish to attempt to regain Aegon's birthright without their blessing, for only misfortune had followed.
She was always meant to do so only with their will, and soon, her family would regain what it had lost, her enemies would be defeated or dead, and her father's dream would finally be fulfilled. The Gods' faithful servants shall cleanse this unjust world, and it would be her duty to reforge it into something worthy of the Seven, which was something that she knew intimately. That thought reassured her and brought her more peace than all of the false sympathy of lords and ladies who were once her father's allies.
As she knelt, she felt the light of the candles flutter for a moment. She did not know how she did it, but something inside her screamed that she was in danger. She turned and saw… nothing.
She did not know why, but that did not reassure her in the slightest, and she asked loudly, "Who is there?"
For a few seconds, Alicent thought herself to have been foolish, that the backstabbing politics of King's Landing had finally overwhelmed her. Of course, that was until a soft female voice spoke up almost behind her, "I am."
Alicent flinched and turned, only to freeze as she looked at the figure that spoke these words. It was that of a woman, but that was all that she could perceive of her, for the intruder wore a hood, one that hid her features and hair.
Her reaction was one born out of practice for the years that she spent as Queen of the Seven Kingdoms. "Guards!"
Her voice travelled outside the Sept, and she heard the guards rushing back in quickly, including the Kingsguard that accompanied her, Ser Rickard Thorne.
She regretted it now, asking them to stay outside the Sept when she prayed, but she found it more peaceful when she was alone for it all. Still, the guards swarmed the Sept, their swords unsheathed, and surrounded the intruder, who simply stood there, utterly impassive at the fact that they would soon breathe their last breaths.
To attack her in a Sept! The gall of such a heretical act!
It was only when she was completely surrounded that the intruder softly said a simple word, one that terrified Alicent to the core. "Sleep!"
As if it occurred at once, every guard, including the Kingsguard, fell to the ground, unconscious, leaving her alone with the intruder that was now revealed to be a witch. She hissed as such, "Witch! You dare use such foul magicks in the presence of the Seven Who Are One!"
The voice now held a small hint of amusement, "I will take my chances."
"Who sent you then? Was it Daemon, or perhaps Rhaenyra? I would expect that there is no depth that she shall not sink in, if only to bring me pain."
"I was sent by no one," the figure spoke up softly, "I came here to speak with you."
Alicent almost scoffed at that. The intruder was wearing something that she would have once characterised as the perfect garments for an assassin. She was obviously planning on killing her, and yet, the thought did not terrify her as it once had. After all, she was inside a sept, and the Seven Who Are One would protect her. They had to, right?
She answered with a denial, "We have nothing to talk about."
"I believe otherwise," the figure answered softly, "Like what you sought to achieve with your schemes to arm the Faith once more."
Oh…
Alicent had thought herself to have been discreet with her work, but it seemed like someone had finally noticed, not that it mattered. The Gods' will would not be stopped, not by anyone. She had ensured this.
The Gods had guided her towards their true faithful followers, knights across the Seven Kingdoms who would see their will done, who would undo the mistakes of all of those who had forsaken them, who did not listen to them anymore.
She had contacted these True Knights of the Seven through remnants of her father's connections, which she found through the grace of the Seven, when she looked through his belongings after his death. It included spare resources that he kept to himself, resources that she sent to these knights, all to train a force that would enforce the will of the gods, as true knights would.
For if the lords of the realm accepted this mockery of a Great Council, if the King would not see to her children's rights, then the Seven shall do it instead.
This could not be stopped, for the Knights of the Seven did not know of one another, or of the nature of their benefactor. They did not, for she knew that the Seven would guide them as well, and soon, they would begin their sacred duty, and there would be no figurehead to be killed, for they would all be children of the Seven, and it was fitting that it was all thanks to what her father left her, proof that looked at her from the heavens and would see his greatest goal finally come true.
And so, Alicent simply refused to answer. She did not need to justify herself to this creature that obviously opposed the Seven's will.
To her surprise, the intruder seemed almost disappointed by her lack of answer, "You would plunge the realm into a war, one that would arm the faith, and that will spread across the realm, one that would certainly get the North to react very violently, and for what? What could possibly justify such a choice?"
Alicent answered hotly, "It is for the sake of the realm that I must. There is a sickness, a rot, infesting it, and it needs to be wiped away. Laws of the realm, ones that have governed this continent for thousands of years, despite them being divided, ones that have existed since the Seven Who Are One shone their light on Westeros, had been ignored. It is my duty as queen…"
"This has nothing to do with your duty," the intruder interrupted rudely, approaching her slowly, "And everything to do with your rage. I can almost see your anger boiling inside you, the indignation, the betrayal. But most of all, I see your loss, and the urge to give it meaning. You would justify anything to see the world suffer as you do, for them to lose as you have, for Rhaenyra to lose as you have, even if everything they need to burn."
Alicent did not know why these words affected her so, but she felt her blood thumping in her veins, as an anger that she had kept in check since the day her father perished was finally gone loose, and she spoke up, her voice filled with pure venom, "Why should they burn? They stole what was ours, twisted the laws of gods and men alike, and expect us to kneel and smile as if it were just. They expect me to forget my father, to forget his sacrifice, to forget what was promised to my son! No. Let them burn, let them choke on the same loss they forced upon us. Let them learn what it means to have everything taken, to watch their legacy crumble into ash."
The Queen was almost heaving near the end, letting the tirade end, but there was something so freeing when she finished it. And so, she felt her smile widen more than it ever had before, and the words that followed seemed to spill out without her meaning to. "You cannot stop what is to come. The will of the Gods is inevitable."
The figure seemed unsettled for a moment, though she spoke up softly, "Ser Alan of Riverrun. Ser Robert of Duskendale. Ser Harrold of Gulltown. Ser Joffrey of Lannisport. Ser Morgan of Oldtown. Ser Lyle of Castamere. Ser William of the Twins. Ser Harys of Highgarden. Ser Dickon of Maidenpool…"
And so, she continued, and Alicent paled with every single name spoken, for they belonged to the knights that she had sponsored, that she had entrusted with training the warriors of the Seven, a list that none but her should have ever known of.
She was so shaken that she barely registered the intruder continuing, "The ravens should come soon. Guards would have investigated these knights with claims that they had robbed merchants. They would be found with far more gold than expected, and a fight would break out. Some of the guards shall be killed, and they would all but be hunted down in raids, which would end in the execution of hundreds of what would be called bandits. Similar tales would spread across the Seven Kingdoms, always ending with blood spilt. Of course, in Oldtown, a Septon who was familiar with your father would make his way here, to the Capital, with the aim of blackmailing you, knowing of your likely involvement in the mess. He will not arrive at his destination."
The world spun with every revelation, with the knowledge that she had failed in her mission, that her efforts in the last year had all been for nought. However, that soon compounded into a single realisation that Alicent voiced, mostly to herself. "It was you. It was always you…"
The strange accidents that stopped her from rebuilding what she had lost, the allies that were caught up in scandals, the hope that had been dashed away. It was too much, and she jumped at her enemy with a small knife drawn, ready to slice her with it, only for the woman to casually grab her hand in a tight grip, forcing her to drop it. The hooded figure then tripped her, gently holding her down to the ground, despite her thrashing.
Her voice sounded almost sad when she spoke up, "I have tried for so long to protect you from your choices, and yet I failed to see this. I failed to see how the Seven used your grief to cultivate your rage, a righteous rage against all who deny the principles of the faith, against all who could be a threat to the faith, for one of their own to sit on the Iron Throne. They hid it quite well. I almost did not catch it, but that does not change the fact that I should have known… I should have spared you this pain, and for that I apologise, for this, and what is to come."
Right as she was about to question something, the woman held a strange blue gem towards her and held it to her forehead. Immediately, Alicent felt herself lose something of herself the moment that the gem touched her. She saw the gem glowing with every moment. It felt like something fundamental inside her was being removed by this wretched creature before her. She could feel the gods' blessing leave her, likely having seen her as unworthy after failing them, just as she had failed her father.
As the world darkened around her, she swore that she saw familiar purple eyes staring back at her beneath that terrible darkened hood, before she fell down, unconscious.
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The Accounts of the Green Queen and Their Impact on the Seven Kingdoms
By Archmaester Baelor of King's Landing
Over the years, many Queens of House Targaryen had left their marks on the Seven Kingdoms. It became something of a tradition for the Queen to work on certain projects that would be for the betterment of the Seven Kingdoms. Of course, the nature of these projects often benefited them in some way, perhaps in terms of reputation, but also in strengthening political parties that often appeared whenever a kingdom or a certain House held more influence than others over the affairs of the Crown.
One of the greatest divides was seen in King Viserys the Peaceful's court, which was surprising given the fact that his rule was often considered blessed by those who followed it. This divide existed because of the dubious nature of the inheritance at the time, as well as his health, which he cleverly rectified during the Great Council of 123 AC.
As such, one of the major players in this divide was the King's wife, the Green Queen, Alicent Hightower, who pushed for her son, Aegon, to be the next king, not to be mistaken with King Aegon II, son of Daemon and Rhaenyra Targaryen. Of course, with her son losing his claim on the throne, as well as her father's death during the Shadowbinder's Attack, the queen retreated from most public events.
It was not until 125 AC that the Queen showed herself, where she had claimed to have been attacked by a witch during her daily prayers in the Sept, while also hysterically claiming that she had failed the gods and that they had taken their light from her. Of course, the Capital was scoured to find this vague description, and given that the Queen was unharmed, as well as every single one of her guards, including a Kingsguard, had corroborated that they had seen nothing enter or leave the Sept, the matter was shelved to other things.
Of course, the fact that the Queen called them traitors, that they hid their battle with the witch, and that they were all servants of Rhaenyra Targaryen (who was banished to Dragonstone at that time) did not help stop the rumours of her instability. They blamed it on her grief for her father and the loss of her son's claim on the throne, but a few believed her.
The next few days were said to have been worse for the woman, though most of the court had been more focused on a string of corrupt knights who turned to banditry across the Seven Kingdoms, who had been killed alongside their men by the forces of their cities. It was mostly concerning, given that this occurred in some of the most important and populous cities of the realm, and so the Queen's instability quickly became a thing of the past.
In the meantime, Princess Helaena had stepped in and spoken to her mother, calming her. It was said that the princess had spent much of her time with the woman since the alleged attack, even including her in her projects, especially the orphanage, and that she was a calming presence on the woman. Queen Alicent must have found her calling in this, for she participated in the construction of many other projects, which were said to have brought her closer to her second son, Prince Aemond, and later her Granddaughter, who would later become Queen Jaehaera Targaryen.
Strangely, Queen Alicent refused to visit a Sept from that day, which largely contrasted with much of her image as a pious Queen, which she had cultivated throughout her rule. To this day, we know very little of the Green Queen, or if there were any truths regarding her alleged attack, but one cannot claim that such a change in character is a purely coincidental matter. This author finds it strange that people dismiss it so, for it seemed to have marked the final day of the divide in House Targaryen, of Greens and Blacks, for these factions were no more, yet this event was one that we know frighteningly little about. Alas, such an outcome is seldom born without cause, even if that cause has long since been erased from the annals of history.
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AN: I also wasn't sure about this chapter. One of the avenues that I had planned was a confrontation between Alicent and Rhaenyra, each one being under the influence of their own gods. I sort of scrapped that idea, and I suppose I wanted to leave a bit of a trace in it here. Long story short, since Harry messed with how faith worked, some would need to be very devout, very faithful, just for a god to contact them.
Alicent had poured herself into her faith, and in her dreams, the gods gave her direction. The main idea was for her to follow their will and create a decentralised Faith Militant. I also wanted to show a bit how Alicent was quickly spiralling downward while making a parallel with Rhaenyra's own fall. Only that Alicent has Helaena making sure that she wouldn't cause too much trouble, like making deals with manipulative lords and so on. As for Helaena, I wanted her not to really realise just how terrifying she was for someone like Alicent, without even meaning to, essentially being this great threat that undid every scheme that she tried. Still, Helaena was almost caught off-guard with this, meaning that she needed to remove the Seven's influence from Alicent, and she took responsibility for her mother after that, while having used illusions to trick the guards.
As most of you probably noticed, we're nearing the end of the story, so if you want to see some other loose ends being tied up or any particular chapters for this story, please let me know in the comments. I already started working on a sequel, which will take place in the Star Wars universe, which I'm very excited about. As usual, please let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions.
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If you want to support me, check out my patréon at https://www.patréon.com/athassprkr
I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions on them, so you can read up to 20 chapters ahead as a bonus.
Thank you guys for your support in these hard times.