𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑟 1 - 𝐴𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑝

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King's Landing, 105 AC

Aliza Strong

With her hands clasped behind her back and the comforting warmth of King's Landing accompanying her, Aliza Strong walked down the corridors beside her brother, Ser Harwin Strong, in his beautiful grey-white gown. With an indelible smile on her face, the young girl glanced at her older brother as she felt his gaze linger on her.

"Why are you looking at me like that ?" she asked curiously. Her elder's amused smile did not go unnoticed, and his silence annoyed her. She stopped and turned to face him. "Are you mocking me ?"

"Don't get me wrong, dear sister, you just look..." He paused as Aliza slowly craned her neck and moved her head forward, as if he would respond more quickly if she came closer. Curious what he would say. "Very happy today."

"I don't see what the harm is."

"There isn't. But it amuses me to see your infatuation when I remember how you refused to leave Harrenhal." The brunette could see what the knight was getting at, but feigned ignorance.

"I..."

"Didn't you ever tell your mother that you didn't want to go to a city that smelled of dragon dung, if you believed the gossip ?" he reminded her.

Aliza looked at her brother - who had resumed his walk, a false look of neutrality on his face hiding his satisfaction - outraged. Her face turned red and she looked around to make sure no one was there.

"Don't say things like that in public, I don't want anyone to think I'm being impolite." Of course she remembered what he was talking about. She played with her fingers, a little ashamed, and looked up at the strongest knight in the Seven Kingdoms as she heard him burst into laughter.

Indeed, Aliza hadn't taken the news of her new life very well. Well, at first she did, but once she'd understood all the implications, her opinion of the whole thing quickly changed. Moving away from her friends, her brother's squire, who she thought was really cute, and her mother, who was already dictating her every move. As soon as she heard the news, Claere Fort warned her of the pressure she would be under.

Her mother insisted that she be part of the princess's inner circle. She was to befriend one person and not get close to another. Her every move and relationship would be watched. She knew. She knew her mother and it was unthinkable for her to give up the idea of creating real and sincere bonds, so Aliza had expressed all the reluctance in the world to go to King's Landing, but the young girl was only fourteen and now fifteen, she couldn't make her own decisions.

Aliza had done as her mother had told her. She had befriended the Princess, admittedly in an unnatural way, but she had done it, even if the brunette sometimes doubted the Targaryen's affection for her. She thought she tolerated her presence more than anything else, thanks to Alicent.

Alicent was probably the only real friend the youngest member of the Fort family had made. With her, things just fell into place. They were simply on the same wavelength. It was reassuring for Aliza, who was still unfamiliar with the place, to know that she could at least have an honest relationship.

"Are you sulking ?" Aliza, lost in her thoughts, had not noticed the silence that had fallen for long seconds. She looked up at her brother and frowned.

"I'm not a child anymore, I don't « sulk » as you say."

"Then why are you so quiet ? You're so hard to keep quiet." Ever since she was a little girl, Aliza had been full of energy. A mischievous little girl with her ears everywhere and who talked a lot. Really a lot. To make her angry, the eldest in the family would sometimes compare her to a weasel - which didn't usually please the youngest.

"I'm not as talkative as you portray ! You shouldn't be doing your knightly things."

"Are you trying to send me off ? Today's day off, I remind you."

"Yes, you are particularly annoying today." Aliza knew that Harwin's favourite pastime when they were alone together was to drive her mad. And it worked.

Aliza and Harwin had a pretty good relationship. Of all her siblings, he was the one she was closest to, and she knew it was the same for him. There was Larys, but as much as she thought she could count on him, he had always intimidated her. A part of the brunette feared him. She didn't know why. Probably because he bore a strong resemblance to their mother. And that mysterious side of him made her feel like she didn't really know him, and what could be more primitive in man than to be afraid of the unknown ?

Lyonel Strong, her father, Claere Strong, her mother, Harwin and Larys Strong, her brothers. Five people, one family, and yet she always felt that there were two clans, two camps. Her mother and Larys, always of the same opinion. The younger brother always supporting his mother. And then there was her father and Harwin. The Lord of Harrenhal may not have realised it, but he was always on the side of his eldest son. And she was in the middle.

A divided family is common enough. You'd think there'd be nothing wrong with it, but over the past few years, and especially since her arrival in King's Landing, Aliza has felt and known deep down that this division within her family would one day matter. Years from now.

♕

Alicent Hightower

With a book in her hands, Alicent Hightower walked towards Princess Rhaenyra's bedroom. The fact that there was no soldier at the princess's door should have alerted the daughter of the King's Hand, but she paid no further attention. She knocked on the door to announce her presence, but received no answer.

Having enjoyed a certain closeness with the King's daughter for years, Alicent cautiously opened the door to the Targaryen's chamber. "Rhaenyra ? Are you in here ?"

Rhaenyra had become Cupbearer to her father, the King, and was required to attend every meeting of the Small Council. With one of these meetings due to take place shortly, the Hightower would have expected to find her friend in her chambers. But she was not surprised when she did not find her there.

The Targaryen liked to play by the rules. Conventions sometimes went over her head. Without rushing her, Alicent tried to remind the princess as often and as subtly as possible of her rank and the restrictions that came with it.

As her friend was not in her chambers, Alicent simply placed the book - a work lent to her by the princess - on a table before leaving. She quickly formed a hypothesis about the princess's whereabouts and decided to check it out. She went to another friend's chamber, which was locked, meaning she was no longer in the castle.

"Of course," sighed the Hightower.

Slightly annoyed at not having been informed of her escapade, Alicent resumed her journey through the corridors of the Red Keep. At the junction of one of the corridors, she came upon the eldest and youngest of the Strong. Her annoyed expression turned to a smile. "Aliza, Ser Harwin," she greeted them cheerfully.

"Lady Alicent." Harwin greeted her with a nod before walking away under the eyes of the two girls.

"Did I put your brother off ?" asked Alicent worriedly. She positioned herself next to her friend and joined her. The two girls made their way to the outside of the castle.

"Far from it, don't worry, he was going to retire before you got there," the brunette reassured her.

"Perfect timing then." Of course, she put her arm around Aliza's and pulled her along.

Alicent had naturally and quickly befriended the daughter of the new Master of Laws. It was through her father that the young girl had learned that Lyonel Strong had been appointed to the Council and that he had a daughter of Rhaenyra's age. Her father had told her to greet her when she arrived, which had taken her a little by surprise. Of course, she did, not only because her father told her to, but because Alicent was particularly kind and curious to meet someone new. The arrival of new people at court always excited her.

She had taken Rhaenyra with her, who was particularly annoyed because she didn't care about the arrivals and departures of the court people, as she had told her so well. But Alicent had managed to bait her friend by telling her that the strongest knight in Westeros would be among the new arrivals. She knew the Princess and knew that she would be fascinated to see what the man considered the strongest of the Seven Kingdoms looked like. And Alicent had to admit that she, too, was intrigued.

What might such a man look like ? Well, an ordinary knight, really. Although he was rather imposing and very charming. Alicent didn't know Ser Harwin Strong personally, but he seemed to be a quiet and honourable man. From what little Aliza had told her about her brother, Alicent knew that he was much appreciated by the female population and had no trouble believing her friend on that subject.

"Isn't Rhaenyra with you ?" asked Aliza. It was true that she spent most of her time with the princess and her other friends. The four of them spent most of their time together.

"She wasn't in her room," she informed them. "Neither was Aenemys," she added, knowing full well that her friend would make the connection. If both girls were nowhere to be found at the same time, it meant only one thing.

"Of course," Aliza breathed out amusedly. Alicent, who had had exactly the same reaction, smiled.

"Come with me," offered the Hightower, who had planned to join their two friends.

"Where ?"

"We will wait for them at Dragonpit. You've been with us for almost a year and you've never seen a dragon up close. You'll see, watching them land is quite impressive ! I'm sure you'll enjoy it." Alicent smiled broadly as she saw her friend hesitating. She tugged lightly on her arm. "Come on, what's stopping you ? If you're afraid of dragons, don't worry, we'll keep a safe distance." Alicent may have accompanied Rhaenyra and Aenemys to Syrax or Dermex many times, but she was never completely comfortable in their presence.

"All right," Aliza finally conceded, to Alicent's delight. She let out an exclamation and the two girls walked briskly arm in arm towards the entrance of the castle.

♕♕

Claere Strong

Claere Strong stood outside in one of the castle's outer corridors, leaning against the stone balustrade and watching the two young girls cross the courtyard below towards the castle entrance. She turned back to the man she had been talking to for several minutes.

"Our two daughters are very good friends," she remarked to the king's hand in front of her.

"Indeed. It is a comforting sight."

"You've done well running a tight ship all these years, Otto." Alone in this rarely used corridor, Claere decided to address the Hightower with more familiarity than when they could speak in more formal contexts.

"I was... lucky, you might say," he said in a monotone voice. The man's lips curled slightly into a calculating half-smile and his insidious gaze fell on her.

"Lucky ? The king's hand and your daughter close to the princess. I don't think it's just luck." She didn't believe in luck, especially not with a man as scheming as Otto Hightower. She knew that he deliberately feigned complete innocence about his position, and she also knew that he knew that she knew.

The two parents had known each other long before they married, and although they hadn't seen each other for decades, they knew at a glance that they hadn't changed. That they, like each other, hadn't changed and, on the contrary, had got worse. They were each other's opposite sex namesakes. And that was why they liked each other, respected each other and distrusted each other.

"You were the one who always said that luck must be provoked. I did what I had to do to get where I wanted to go." Claere's satisfied smile widened a little. She liked it when they laid their cards on the table. Each knew the other's pettiness. There was no point in pretending in each other's presence.

"I don't get the feeling you're satisfied, though." They were both ambitious beings, and it had been a while since the King's Hand had stagnated, no longer making a name for itself. After all, what could be more important than becoming the King's Hand ? But Claere truly believed that the Hightower would soon make a comeback. When the world least expected it... BANG ! He would strike.

"All things come to those who wait." A broad, vague and enigmatic answer, just as Claere hated it, but it proved a fact. Otto Hightower was definitely up to something, and Claere would find out what. "But so are you. The last time we saw each other, well, I mean before you moved to King's Landing a few months ago, you were just Lord Tyrell's daughter. And now here you are, chatting to me in the Red Keep. Married to Lyonel Strong, a member of the Council, stepmother to the strongest knight in the Seven Kingdoms and a daughter as well-connected after mine obviously is."

"I was lucky." It was both true and false. As much as she'd like to take credit for it, she was completely innocent in her husband's rise. He'd opened many doors for them, and once the keys were in her hand, all she had to do was place the pawns on the chessboard.

"Not to mention the Queen's friend." He nodded at her, falsely admiring, but his mischievous smile never left his face. The woman suspected that the day Otto had learned the Strong family was coming to King's Landing, he had known Claere would jump at the first opportunity to get close to the queen.

"Do you know where our daughters have gone ?" asked Claere. This sudden change of subject made the king raise an eyebrow. She wasn't talking about their daughters for nothing, but she could see that he still didn't understand what she was getting at.

"Probably gone to join the Princess and her cousin," he replied, baffled by the Harrenhal lady's question.

"So in that case, they're going to Dragonpit."

"How..." the king's hand began, clearly surprised that she knew the position of the princess and her cousin. He coughed and continued. "Well, I can see that you've really got your bearings here. You already know everything."

"It's all about relationships." The first thing Claere had done after settling into the Red Keep had been to scout around. Who was loyal to whom. Which maid was spreading rumours, who to get information from and who to trust. Today, Claere was surrounded by trusted handmaids who brought her every scrap of information.

"Indeed."

"Doesn't it bother you to see your daughter chasing after the princess ?"

"I prefer to say she's close to her."

"Which is quite an advantage."

Otto stared at Claere's face. Watching for any small expression she might show. She had something on her mind and was about to tell him. He had to be patient.

"You know this because you sent your daughter to do the same."

She smiled. "I wonder how you're going to use your daughter's proximity to the princess, because you're bound to use it." Her hand rested on the stone railing, her fingers tapping on the rock.

"I can ask you the same thing."

She sighed, understanding that Otto would not speak until she did. "It's all about relationships, as we know. With the right relationships, it will be easier to make them more important when the time comes."

"To make our girls grow, we'll have to be tricky. Won't that slow your husband down ?" She raised an eyebrow and looked in his direction. That sentence was pure provocation. She knew it. He wanted to see how far she was willing to go.

"Lyonel is a good man. He's an honourable man, but I think that gives him a certain naivety. I have always taken care of my children and I will continue to do so. I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty." The man's lips curl into a knowing smile.

"That still doesn't tell me why you're talking to me about it now." Otto Hightower didn't seem to want to play riddles. She knew he suspected where she was coming from, but preferred the satisfaction of her telling him everything herself.

"I mean, I am a mother, Otto. And since my daughter is really considering yours, I'm worried about this little one."

"Your sudden interest in my daughter fools no one. We were almost engaged, I remind you. We've known each other a long time. I know you. So what do you want ?" Her smile became more false before it faded and took on a firmer expression. She was finally going to speak.

"Make a deal." The king's hand straightened and she could see a gleam in his eyes that showed how interested he was in the woman's words. He was open to all suggestions. "It costs me to admit this, but you have a head start and advantages. You're higher up and you've been here for so many years that you've learned countless tricks. I don't know how, but I have a feeling that you will eventually make your daughter important, and I know that you would be prepared to eliminate anyone who stood in your way."

"As you would if you had something on your mind."

"That's why I want to make a deal with you. Your little tricks can hurt the whole world for all I care," she began to explain.

"But you wish it would not affect your daughter in any way." He cut her off. Claere could see that the king's hand had already begun to consider the possibilities and advantages of an alliance with her.

"That's right, and I will do the same. I also want you to tell me if any of your opportunities can benefit me or my family, and to take advantage of them, of course". Yes, Claere Strong demanded a lot, but that didn't scare her. She had always aimed high. And her closed face told her interlocutor that she meant business.

"It seems fair to me, but why should I accept ?" The question was justified. But he knew that making such an oath with her would be a win-win situation. It had to benefit him as well for him to accept.

"Not to mention the fact that you know I'm a valuable ally."

"Better to have you as a friend than as an enemy," he finished his sentence. Claere's face crumpled and she stretched out a new smile. She hoped that her certainty that he would accept this agreement would prove true.

She did not take her eyes off him during her time of reflection. The Hightower had turned to face the courtyard below. How it annoyed her to see people pretend to think when she knew they already knew what their answer would be. Claere crossed her arms and expressed her impatience with an exasperated sigh. Otto finally faced her again. He had his answer.

"All right." He walked over to the stone railing and leaned against it. He watched everything that could happen around them, as if he ruled the world. He felt powerful here, he could feel it, but the woman knew he shouldn't let it go to his head, or the fall would be hard.

"Then we have a deal." She took a few steps forward to stand beside him.

"Well, let's wait and see how things go now".

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Sorry, I'm updating the story very slowly, it takes a long time to translate and at the same time I'm working on my other books and revising for my exams in May.

Please, let me know your thoughts !