Great Council of Firmridge II

(Erlend POV, Firmridge)

"You insolent cur!"

Erlend watched exasperatedly as yet another Lord dodged a slap that came for his face by his lady wife. The man even smiled at her playfully, only to receive a slap from her other hand across his face.

"Should've seen that coming." Muttered the Lord.

"The Targaryens were good Kings!!" Screamed his wife.

"Good kings?! Give a single Targaryen King that hasn't messed up?"

"Jaehaerys The Conciliator."

"He spat on the succession laws."

"Visery the First."

"He also spat on the succession laws."

"Daeron the Young Dragon."

"He trusted the Dornish."

"..."

That ironically earned him several aye's of agreement by the Marcher Lords, though he took notice of it as the wife tried to hit her husband again. A well-known Targaryen sympathizer, she looked positively shaking with rage and Erlend felt just a little pity for the man.

'Well, he's not sleeping in his chambers tonight. A lot of people won't be sleeping next to their spouses tonight.'

'How the hell did their marriage survive the rebellion?'

It had been like this since he completed his revelations of the true causes of the war and the mad plot spun by Rhaeger to fulfill his prophecy.

His Mad father and predictable cousin made it all too easy for him.

Rhaella and Elia both looked shocked when it was revealed the full plot made by Rhaeger, as he had always intended for a war to occur to fulfill the whole 'salt and smoke' bullshit.

They knew he was obsessed with getting a third child, hence he seduced Lyanna Stark. The war was something they always assumed to be an indirect cause due to factors out of his control.

After the first signs of violence, his men had moved to put a stop to it but Erlend had signaled for them to let it be. He doubted anyone would be killed since all weapons had been removed from this Great Hall, excluding his men. The fights began with lords and their wives, then friend against friend, and so on. As for why no one was worried about him just slaughtering them all, well they held a lot of faith in guest rights, it was one of the reasons the Red Wedding was so successful, despite the distrust most Lords held for House Frey in canon.

As for why he allowed this, it was mainly to cool tempers, then again he couldn't deny the fact that he found it slightly amusing. Still, he kept his features calm and steady, no need to aggravate those present.

An emotionally exhausted person tended to be more pliant and agreeable, something he would benefit from soon enough.

He could hear the lords and ladies whispering different things. Many especially the former Rebels looked vindicated, whilst the Royalists looked furious. Though was rather hypocritical of them considering they tended to go to war with each other for pettiest reasons.

These fools wouldn't have lifted a hand against Aerys if he hadn't gone to the extremes he had, the same could be said about Rhaeger and who many here believed had the sun shine out of his ass.

It wasn't to say Westerosi was more prone to being stupid compared to people from his past life. Old man knows how many lackwits existed in his previous life that would make Hodor look positively intelligent.

It was just that unless it directly affected them or put them in danger, then they simply wouldn't care.

Aery's executing a Lord Paramount and his heir without proper justification or trial meant he could do so to just about every other Lord, something that remained a key factor for the rebellion.

There was also the fact that his cousin Elbert the heir of the Vale had been killed. Combined with the rest of the Lordling's deaths and Lyanna's supposed abduction, well that was something they simply couldn't ignore.

His Uncle Jon wasn't just fighting to protect his wards, the man was also seeking vengeance for the Death of his nephew and son in all but name.

…

As things began to calm down between those present, Stannis Baratheon was the first to rise.

"I would like to ask how you came about this information, Lord Erlend?" Stannis stared at him. The man looked haggard at the fact that his brother had been played like a fool. That his Kingdom suffered for no reason but to satisfy the whims of a mad prince.

Erlend noticed that the Lords and Ladies within the Great Hall all looked interested from where he got this information. It was not from Rhaella or Elia who hadn't hidden their surprise at the latter revelations.

"Lady Lyanna Stark, my Uncle requested my help in locating her early on the war." Jon Arryn did no such thing, His Uncle had been struggling to get Hoster to agree to an alliance.

Interestingly enough, what finally drew Hoster into the rebellion was the fear of what Aerys would do to House Tully considering Catelyn had been betrothed to Brandon. That alongside the betrothal agreements laid out for marriage after the war and the facts that some of the Riveroords who had begun to poison the King's ears against him had forced him onto Robert's side.

While he had little trust in the Late Lord Trout, his position was hardly enviable at the time.

Ah… he was losing himself in his thoughts again. "My men successfully managed to find Lady Lyanna after the the 'Burning of King's Landing, where many of the parchments you now hold were found".

The mention of the 'Burning' definitely made them uncomfortable. His answer satisfied Stannis at least who returned to his place.

After that many more questions began appearing, each he answered to his best ability. While some of the answers didn't fully satisfy those present, it had to do for now.

As the final questions rolled. "With that, the matter of the cause of the rebellion is now concluded." Authority laced his tone. Many were looking at him with awe and some of them with respect.

"We will continue onto the next issue at hand within a few moments, you may take a short break." He ended.

Immediately discussions began between the various nobles in the room. Many hushed conversations and arguments could be heard.

Not minding them much, he turned his head and saw the worried look in Elia's eyes, "Erlend, why didn't you tell me about this before?" She asked, looking troubled. Rhaella also leaned in, wanting an answer to it.

"So that you aren't saddled in with Rhaeger's madness if it was apparent to the Lords and Ladies here that you already knew, they'd bay for your heads" He whispered back to her.

Her eyes widened in understanding, Rhaella herself wasn't any better. Their honest reactions to Rhaegers plot made sure that those present knew they had no hand in the plot. Sure they'd still be shadowed by their relations to the Mad Duo, but at least they weren't going to be considered active participants.

While Erlend could protect them, it would become a stain on his reign and would make the Lords more resistant to accepting him as their liege. No reason to add let problems arise if he could just nip it in the bud.

The grateful look they both sent him, showed their agreement in his decision.

…

As the break ended, his Uncle cleared his throat, gaining everyone's attention.

"Moving on to the next issue at hand, the future of Westeros…" Erlend said gravely.

"We refuse to crown the Targaryens again." Stannis showed no hesitation in voicing the thoughts of the majority.

The roars of approval and agreement certainly didn't help matters.

The only ones silent were the Crownlords, some of the Reachmen, and the Dornish. Though none spoke in opposition to his statement.

Finally, one of the Lords of the Narrow Sea stepped, he wore a sea-green coat emblazoned with a silver sea horse. "What will happen to House Targaryen?" He asked, looking rather uneasy.

"They will remain under protection. Any attack on them will be considered an attack on me," Erlend responded coolly. The man sighed in relief at his reply, more than likely that was Monford Velaryon he thought.

The rest of the Hall looked disgruntled at that announcement but chose to remain silent. It wasn't like Erlend had declared he'd crown the Targaryens which was a relief to them.

The next person to stand up was Lord Eon Hunter, this was a man who was half crippled by the Gout, yet he still made it to the summons, Erlend wondered how Doran would react to that.

"MY LORDS!" The Hall went quiet at the Old Man's roar, Erlend was frankly astonished he could even speak.

"Here's what I think." He said standing proud, despite his near-crippled state, his son Gilwood looked near delirious at his father's actions. "Haven't we had enough of that Dynasty, who have consistently spawned mad men and tyrants!"

Raising his cane he pointed it towards Erlend. "There sits the only man I intend to bend my knee to. The true King… THE YOUNG CONQUEROR!" This drew cheers from nearly all that were present, only the North, Stormlands, and the Dornish remained silent, observing the situation.

Eon moved to kneel in front of him "My King" he said hoarsely.

Yohn was the next to speak up. "A King worth serving." Moving to kneel alongside the old Hunter.

"A Conqueror twice proven!" Jason Mallister voiced, placing himself next to Bronze Yohn.

Like a deck of cards, the rest of the Riverlords and Valemen followed suit. Tully, Ryger, Blackwood, Bracken, Piper, Templeton, Egen, Grafton, Corbary, Redfort, and Melcom declared their Erlend King and swore their loyalty. These houses showed no hesitation in declaring for him.

Even the newly sworn houses he'd poached from the reach declared for him.

Not wanting to be seen as traitors and under severe pressure from the rest of their fellows House Darry, Mooton, Belmore and Waynwood knelt and swore oaths of loyalty.

Erlend wasn't blind to the uneasiness they all felt, while they hid it well from the rest of the Hall, he could sense it using his Aura. He'd have to deal with it later on, for now, he'd let it go.

It didn't stop there as Ser Baelor 'Brightsmile' went to his knees and declared "House Hightower swears to remain Steadfast to the King!".

That was all the Reachlords needed as Mathis Rowan and Desmond Osgrey not wanting to be outdone by the Hightowers did the same.

Mace Tyrell beat them all ironically enough, "House Tyrell will remain faithful and true to House Mudd, we shall strive to be its most dependable vassal!" he proclaimed rather grandly.

Randyll Tarly snorted at Mace's words, "House Tarly swears its allegiance to House Mudd." as simple as it could be, Erlend had more faith in grizzled veteran loyalty than he ever would for the Tyrell rose.

This was the man who remained steady against an off-her rocker's Mother of Dragons if he can remain loyal to Cersei despite that. Then Erlend trusted him to do the same for himself.

…

(Stannis Baratheon POV, Firmridge)

Stannis Baratheon was a stoic man, a hard man who was rarely phased by anything, his stand against the immeasurably large Tyrell Siege had shown that.

But this… this was something that stumped him, his fellow Stormlords weren't any better as they witnessed the rise of a new King so suddenly.

All of them were aware of the now King Erlend's ambitions, it wasn't a particularly shocking revelation to them. The Mudds had the blood of Kings, Great Lords, and Emperors in their veins. Most houses that had even a speck of that legacy would seek the same goal.

He hadn't expected the Mudd Head to be so blatant about it, and to think it would be the most silent of Erlend's vassals to kick this off.

Locking eyes with Benjen Stark, there was a visible shock in them as well, the two sharing understanding worry within their gaze.

Sending a glance to Oberyn Martell, all he could see was amusement in his eyes. The Red Viper knew this would happen he realised. Giving him a wink, the Prince of Dorne rose and headed towards the Mudd, trailing behind him were the Dornish Nobility who had resigned looks on their faces.

'He Means to Swear Loyalty too'

With an ostentatious bow, "On Behalf of my Brother the Ruling Prince of Dorne Doran Martell, Dorne is yours, your grace." the Prince of Dorne said.

The Dornish Lords followed suit, though some were disgruntled by the decision, they swore their oaths all the same. Erlend not dallying, confirmed House Martell's position as Princes of Dorne, not having to do for the Reach since he'd already declared them Overlords of the Reach long before this farce of a Council started.

He turned his attention to the Lions to see what they would do, and much to his dismay he found out almost immediately. The littlest lion after a few whispers from Lady Genna, rushed in front of the throne, his vassals hot on his heels.

The already sworn men made way for the Westermen, as they each knelt and gave their oaths. Erlend for his part did not create much of a fuss and like the Martells also confirmed House Lannister's position.

Rhaella and Elia for their part sent suspicious glances towards the Lions but kept their peace.

"FOR THE KING, FOR HOUSE MUDD!"

Their roars rang through the hall.

"LONG LIVE THE KING!"

The voices were likely being carried by the wind to the camp city outside the fortress walls.

"LONG MAY HE REIGN!"