The sea wind swept across Crackclaw Point with a bone-chilling cold, battering the stone walls along the cliffs of Dyre Den with a mournful howl.
Inside the council chamber of the ancient castle that House Brune had held for generations, the fire blazed, yet the atmosphere was heavier and more oppressive than the sea wind howling outside.
Every registered noble house on Crackclaw Point had gathered around the long table: House Crabb of the Whispers, House Brune of Dyre Den, and the Boggs, Hardy, Payne, and others, all seated together.
Logs crackled in the hearth, and flickering firelight played across grave, silent faces. No one spoke first.
There was only one reason for their hesitation and dread: after taking control of King's Landing, Aegon Targaryen's first decree concerning the nobility had publicly announced the abolition of the old nobles' hereditary privileges.
"Enough of this silence." At last, the head of House Brune of Dyre Den, a middle-aged man with lean cheeks and a sharp gaze, broke the suffocating quiet.
His brows knotted together, and his fingers tapped unconsciously against the oak tabletop. His voice was thick with anxiety he could not suppress:
"Prince Aegon's new policies have been proclaimed throughout the realm. The old nobles' private armies, private punishments, and autonomy over their hereditary lands are all to be placed under the Crown. It's there in black and white, plain as day. Where does that leave the houses of Crackclaw Point?"
He scanned every face around the table, his tone growing blunter, almost sharp with despair. "What has kept us rooted in this wretched land for generation after generation?"
"Those few noble privileges, isn't it? The right to raise troops, collect taxes, and govern our own little domains by our own rules! And now he wants to abolish all of