Westeros?

"There is something I think you need to know," Visari added.

Lonzell thought for a moment. "I think I understand what you want to add. Evans, your homeland is still independent, isn't it?"

Evans Dayne puffed out his chest with some pride. "That's right, my lord. Ever since the warrior queen of the Rhoynar, the great Nymeria, crossed the sea with ten thousand ships and married Mors Martell, Dorne has never bent the knee to any northern monarch. Even when Aegon Targaryen the Conqueror burned our castles from dragonback, we still stood proudly amid the deserts and rivers south of the Red Mountains. My ancestor, King Dorian Dayne, once ruled the Torrentine, but bent the knee after being defeated by the warrior queen. Another of my forebears, Ser Davos Dayne, became her prince consort after she was widowed."

"I heard you even brought down a dragon?" Lonzell asked. His handsome young face revealed nothing.

"Yes." Evans Dayne nodded. "Meraxes's remains are still kept at Hellholt, seat of the Uller family."

"Though I don't particularly want to bring it up," Lynn Valtaken interjected with a smile, "the ancestor of the man before you took part in the war that destroyed the Rhoynar. Riding dragons, they nearly dried up the entire Rhoyne."

"My lord, that was nearly a thousand years ago," Evans Dayne explained. "Though we take pride in our Rhoynar blood, that does not mean we inherited our ancestors' hatred. And you—"

"My surname is Valaerys. I was indeed once part of Valyria's Dragonlord family, and the last Valyrian emperor, Aelyon Valaerys, was my direct ancestor." Lonzell answered his unspoken question. "Of course, we are no longer a Dragonlord family, because we lost all our dragons."

The boy looked at those around him and sighed. "I'm not afraid of letting you know. My mother was Princess Senira Targaryen, so do you understand why I asked about the current state of Westeros?"

Evans froze.

He figured his mind needed a moment to process that.

Princess Senira's child was of the same generation as Viserys I, who now sat the Iron Throne.

He wanted to return to Westeros? To contest the succession? Was that why he was asking about the current situation?

But Princess Senira's children had already had their succession rights denied at the Great Council of 101.

No.

Evans suddenly remembered the problem now facing Westeros, and his heart shuddered.

"Relax." Lonzell reassured him. "I'm only asking. Although I was Princess Senira's legitimate son, I know perfectly well whether I have a claim. I merely want to know how my mother's homeland has been lately. Before she died, she was always murmuring the name of her homeland."

He paused.

In truth, Princess Senira had kept murmuring two names before she died.

She cursed Jaehaerys.

She missed Alysanne.

Evans knew this was merely an excuse Lonzell had found, but he still had to give as complete an introduction as possible.

"Let's begin with the current state of the Seven Kingdoms." Lonzell raised a hand, and Visari pulled an ancient map from his robes and spread it on the ground.

It was a complete map of Westeros.

"As you can see, the ruler of the six kingdoms of Westeros is King Viserys I of House Targaryen, who is also your, your—" Evans stumbled slightly, but quickly regained his composure. After all, he had forged the chain representing history, and as a nobleman, he was no stranger to the political situation of the Seven Kingdoms.

"My cousin. Please continue."

"From north to south, the North is the largest of the Seven Kingdoms. The vast Neck separates it from the six southern kingdoms. It is cold there year-round; even during the longest summers, snow still falls. Thus, it is also the poorest of the Seven Kingdoms. The ruler of the North is its Warden, Lord Rickon Stark, Duke of Winterfell. When I was captured by pirates, Lord Rickon had already been bedridden for a long time. His son, Lord Cregan Stark, will become the North's future ruler."

"I heard there is a Wall north of Westeros, built to defend against the death of legend and the Wildlings of reality." Lonzell pointed north of Winterfell.

"Yes, it is one of the Seven Kingdoms' most magnificent structures. Legend says Brandon the Builder, ancestor of the Stark family, raised the Wall with the aid of Giants and the Children of the Forest." Evans chose his words carefully. "However, Citadel scholars believe the White Walkers, said to symbolize 'death,' exist only in myth and legend and cannot be trusted as fact. The maesters are more inclined to believe that the Wall was built by early northern rulers to keep out the Wildlings beyond it."

"The Citadel is still so hostile to the mysterious. Hmph." Visari sounded displeased. "Have they forgotten that mysticism was the very foundation of the Citadel?"

Evans did not dare respond to his grandmaster's words and continued. "South of the Neck are the Riverlands around the Trident. The land is fertile and flat. The Frey family at the river crossings is a newly risen wealthy house. They made a fortune charging bridge tolls and became great nobles, but the Riverlands lords all look down on them. The Blackwood family of Raventree Hall and the Bracken family of Stone Hedge both once ruled as kings in the Riverlands. The feud between those two families goes back a thousand years."

Evans introduced the great noble houses one after another.

"The Tully family of Riverrun serves as governor of the Trident region, guarding the Riverlands for the king. But the authority of the trout lord is not especially great; the Riverlands lords prefer settling their own affairs. Harrenhal by the Gods Eye is the largest castle in the Seven Kingdoms. The Strong family rules there, though they lost both their lord and heir two years ago. The current Earl of Harrenhal is a cripple."

"This is also land every military power would fight over." Lonzell confirmed what he had learned. The Riverlands were rich and populous, lacked a sufficiently strong leader, and lay at the crossroads of four regions. Once war broke out, this place would surely become Westeros's main battlefield.

"The Vale in the east is a relatively isolated region. To the east of the mountains, the Bloody Gate guards the only land passage into and out of the Vale, while Gulltown in the west dominates its seaborne trade. The Vale is ruled by Lady Jannie Arryn, Duchess of the Eyrie. Under her rule, the Vale is prosperous and stable, but it rarely appears in Westerosi court politics."

"The ruler of the Westerlands is its Warden, Lord Jason Lannister, Duke of Casterly Rock. The Westerlands produce gold in abundance, so despite their many mountains, they are one of the Seven Kingdoms' richest regions. Lord Jason's younger brother, Ser Tyland Lannister, had already held a post in King Viserys I's court before I was captured, and he was very close to Ser Otto Hightower of the Reach."

"The Reach faces problems similar to those of the Riverlands." Mentioning an old neighbor of his homeland, Evans was clearly better informed. "The Reach is the oldest and richest region in the Seven Kingdoms. Legend says Garth Greenhand spread his branches and tilled the land there. Of course, the Citadel believes Garth Greenhand was a tribal leader from the age of the First Men. But regardless, the current governors of the Reach, the Tyrell family of Highgarden, are merely descended from the stewards of the Gardener kings who once ruled the Kingdom of the Reach. Whether it is the Hightower family of Oldtown, the Rowan family of Goldengrove, the Florent family of Brightwater Keep, the Peake family of Starpike, the Redwyne family of the Arbor, the Tarly family of Horn Hill, or the others, these ancient families not only possess vast lands and numerous armies, but also noble bloodlines tracing back to the legendary Garth Greenhand. None of them care much for the Tyrell family's rule. Especially the Hightower family of Oldtown: after King Viserys married Queen Alicent Hightower, the Hightower family of Oldtown quietly became the Reach's leader."

"It seems Westeros is riddled with internal conflicts as well." Lonzell studied the other side of the map.

"The Stormlands are ruled by Lord Borremund Baratheon, Duke of Storm's End. Though the stag lord often clashes with us Dornishmen, the Dornish respect him as a good man who values oaths, duty, and honor. But his son Borros Baratheon is a rogue and a chameleon." Mentioning the Dornishmen's old enemy, Evans grew somewhat agitated as well.

"Please continue." Having listened with great interest, Lynn Valtaken promptly steered Evans back on track.

"Dorne is ruled by Prince Qoren of Sunspear, a cautious leader." Evans did not wish to comment much on his lord's lord, so he turned to a corner of the map. "These are the Iron Islands, where the ironborn who worship the Drowned God multiply. The Greyjoy family rules those stony islands in the sea. They are fond of raiding and follow the Old Way of taking what they want by force. Though the Iron Throne has prohibited it many times, it has had no effect."

"That is inevitable." The moment Lonzell saw the Iron Islands' position and size, he understood. The ironborn taking the path of raiding was nearly inevitable.

"And lastly, the king on the Iron Throne," Evans added. "Though not the king of the Dornish."

"It cannot be denied that King Viserys is a decent king. He continued the policies of Jaehaerys I the Conciliator and maintained general stability within the realm. Dorne, too, has largely enjoyed a lasting peace. But events in recent years have made the entire realm rather uneasy." Evans sorted through the timeline of those events before continuing.

"King Viserys's first queen died in childbirth, taking the king's only son with her. Afterward, the king had conflicts with his younger brother, Prince Daemon Targaryen, and ultimately decided to confirm Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, the 'Realm's Delight,' as his heir and Princess of Dragonstone. She is also the rider of the dragon Syrax. But the king soon married Queen Alicent Hightower, who bore him sons: Prince Aegon, Prince Aemond, and Prince Daeron. This caused many nobles to secretly oppose the princess remaining heir."

"That is perfectly normal." Lonzell thought of himself and that unfortunate fellow whose head had been chopped off. After all, Viserys gained his inheritance because King Jaehaerys used 'the will of the people' to deny the claims of his eldest granddaughter and daughter. Now he wants to break the tradition of male primogeniture—what are the nobles supposed to think?

"But the king remained ambiguous, and the princess herself encountered trouble. The three sons she bore to her first husband, Ser Laenor, son of Lord Corlys Velaryon, the Sea Snake, all lacked Valyrian features."

Lonzell immediately perked up. Curiosity instantly filled his mind. Scandal!

"People speculate that all three boys are bastards born of Princess Rhaenyra and Ser Harwin Strong, the princess's sworn knight. But the boys all hatched dragons, and coupled with the king's harsh punishments, not many people speak of the matter now."

"After all, their mother has Dragonlord blood." Lonzell understood. "Who their father is matters less."

"After Ser Laenor and his sister Lady Laena died two years ago, the princess happily married Prince Daemon, who had lost Lady Laena." Evans sorted through the royal relations once more. "But at that time, Queen Alicent's second son, Prince Aemond, clashed with the princess's second son, Prince Lucerys. Prince Lucerys stabbed out one of Prince Aemond's eyes, while Prince Aemond claimed Vhagar, the dragon Lady Laena left behind."

"An eye for a dragon." Lonzell did not think that was a loss. In fact, the Targaryen royal family was probably happy to see it happen. No matter how close the Velaryon family might be, they were still Velaryons, not Targaryens.

"Thus, the conflict between the princess and queen deepened. In the two years since, the princess and Prince Daemon have lived long on Dragonstone, while the queen has remained in King's Landing to assist the king in managing the court. Everything is very peaceful."

Very peaceful?

First update of the day checked in. There will be another tonight. Once I finish these next few days of work, I'll settle on a fixed release schedule. Please feel free to offer criticism and advice.