"The Redwyne Strait is just ahead." Garlan Tyrell dismounted and reached out to help Margaery down from the carriage.
The endless green fields came to an abrupt end here, giving way to a stretch of azure sea.
The sea breeze blew into her face, carrying the scent of salt and moisture and stirring her hair.
Across the strait lay the Arbor, home to House Redwyne's ancestral castle.
While the sailors readied the ship, hauled in the mooring lines, and raised the sails, Garlan stood beside Margaery, gazing at the island's faint outline across the water with some puzzlement.
"Margaery, if we're going to persuade the lords, why not visit Oldtown first? It's closer to Highgarden. Mother was born into House Hightower. Our blood ties to them are no more distant than those to House Redwyne."
"Why pass over somewhere close for somewhere farther away, bypassing Oldtown to visit House Redwyne first?"
Margaery glanced at him.
Her second brother was well known throughout the Reach for his swordsmanship and courage, but he lacked political instincts.
Their mother, Lady Alerie, was indeed the daughter of the Earl of Hightower. Their blood ties to that house were closer than those to House Redwyne, into which their grandmother Olenna had been born.
The problem was that House Hightower's influence in the Reach was second only to House Tyrell's. They were a truly ancient noble house.
Persuading them would be anything but easy.
And there was another, more crucial reason... though House Tyrell ruled an entire region, its actual influence fell far short of the Lannisters' in the Westerlands or the Starks' in the North. It could not even match House Tully's influence in the Riverlands.
The reason was simple: the old noble houses of the Reach held themselves in high esteem. Deep down, they