Arthur XI

292AC

I nodded at my father's words. I had honestly expected him to start mentioning the prospect of betrothal with me earlier in our correspondence, but I suppose he felt that holding off on it was keeping his word in a way. "Alright then Father, I'm up for it."

"Good, I want to give you input here within reasonable limits. You've proven yourself effective at administration already, and I've come back to Dragon stone to find it far better than I left it. However, do not think this means you will be allowed to marry below your station." He placed his hands on the stack of papers, even as I smiled at the praise. "These are all of the offers of betrothal I have received for you over the past two weeks, so we can be reasonably certain that these houses would still be amenable to a marriage, however, your mother, Master Cressey and I have already gone over this stack, and placed our stamp on the ones which we find most acceptable. If you see another which you can make a compelling argument for then I will hear it. I admit that I am somewhat unaware of the future plans for your trading company, despite your correspondence, if any conflict or unseen benefit exists, you will bring it up with me immediately."

"I will do so," I said, taking the proffered stack. "Is there anything else I should be aware of?"

"Yes. I intend to know to whom you wish to be betrothed by the end of the week, or I shall make the decision by my own judgment. The longer I stay here on Dragonstone the more time my duty as master of ships remains unattended."

I nodded at that and was turned to depart when my mother made a noise in her throat that had me turning my attention towards her. "Mother?"

The tall woman sighed, brushing a stray strand of hair from her face. "Arthur, I want you to be aware, your father and I both agreed on this. Of those acceptable choices, do take the time to consider your happiness and hers. We have had a… difficult, marriage. There is no need for you to have the same simply because you desire the good of the house. Every betrothal we've placed a seal on will benefit the house, so please, think of yourself instead of only your company."

I must have been staring open-mouthed for a full minute. That was quite possibly the nicest thing my mother had said to me in my life, despite her love for me. Even when I had finally recovered from Greyscale she had not said so much.

I turned to my father who nodded sharply and dismissed me with his hand, letting me know that it was indeed an agreement between them.

I could not get the skip out of my step on my way to my own quarters, shutting the door tightly behind me and even laying the latch down, before spreading the possible betrothal down on the table, my eyes flashing over the letters one by one…

At the end of it, I had to admit that my father was probably more generous than he ought to be, some ladies from houses whose only notable trait was that their holdings were coastal had made it into the list, and they ranged as far as the Iron Islands.

I had to snort at the fact that Asha Greyjoy of all people had somehow made the cut, with a betrothal offer apparently set up by her uncle Lord Harlaw. He described it in his letter as having a goal of mending relations, and my father had indeed stamped it, what with her being a Lord Paramount's daughter, but I suspected he did so only in the confidence that I would likely want nothing to do with the woman.

Also notable was, of course, Desmera Redwyne, Lord Paxter's daughter and only a couple of months older than me. Theoretically, she would be a great match being half Tyrell, and I could find no real objection to it, so unlike Asha, the offer for her hand formed the base of a small stack I would personally describe as being "In consideration." The issue there was binding myself to the poisonous and "absolutely want you dead" Tyrells, which I hesitated to do for obvious reasons, even if the Arbor was absolutely powerhouse.

Brienne of Tarth was also in consideration, for geographical and tactical purposes if nothing else. Personally, I wished that she herself had been allowed input on the letter, rather than her father, as I had little clue as to whether she desired the match. From what I heard she had already driven one suitor away by kicking his ass, and while I didn't think poorly of her I had little to no idea how she felt about me. Still, Tarth would be just as large again as the Arbor for its proximity to the Stepstones and it's largely pristine and underused resources. It was just a bit smaller than Ireland had been on earth if my measure was right, and yet from all, I could tell it was more sparsely populated than even Dragonstone had been, at least in present times.

She went on the Consideration pile.

By far the strangest and most thought-provoking of all of the proposals, however, was also the only one written in a woman's hand, though her father's seal was still on it, which made it even stranger still.

What made it so strange was that I was damn sure that Arianne Martel was supposed to be secretly engaged to Viserys Targaryen, and thus there was no damn way that her Father would let her send a proposal to me. Much less seal it with his own blessing. My thoughts immediately turned to the idea that it was a trick, but frankly there was little they could stand to gain from using her to poison me or something, I wasn't an heir to throne true, but it would give Robert a perfect excuse to smash the Dornish into pieces with the whole kingdom behind him.

'But what else could it be besides?'

By all accounts, I had thought Doran had intended her to sit the Iron Throne with Viserys, but I suppose I was likely a good prospect were that removed, and my and my father's lack of proximity to the Sack of Kings landing and Elia's murder probably softened the blow somewhat. I had no idea if they knew of my plans for the Stepstones as of yet, but my trading company and ships would give Dorne mercantile resources that they surely wanted, and an "in" with the dynasty that dodged the thorny hatred they had for Robert and the Lannisters.

Still, I just kept coming back to that sticking point, there seemed no way that Doran would drop his ambition of placing his daughter on the Iron Throne so easily, the man was like a less competent Twin in that regard, which left me with one, dangerous conclusion to make.

'Something has happened in Essos.' I thought, pulling my hair back out of my face. 'She can't marry Viserys anymore.'

Most likely somebody had killed the dipshit early, but that was a big assumption to preface my future plans on. No, I couldn't rely on luck. I would have to ask my uncle to look into it in my next letter to him, and maybe have my traders make some discreet inquiries when I started sending them to the Free-Cities.

I glanced back down at the betrothal, Arianne wrote with a flowery, and I imagined very stylish hand, and she laced half a dozen innuendo throughout the letter, but the offer itself wasn't a terrible one, access to Dorne considerable resources, though not it's throne since she would rule independently, and obviously I would benefit from the associated military alliance of joining with another Paramount Household.

Well, technically the Baratheon's of Dragonstone weren't a Paramount household, but we would effectively be soon enough.

Unlike the Greyjoy, she went on the viable stack, if only for the fact that her offer of resources was far greater than any of the other potential betrothals, and not tied to an Iron Noose.

Conspicuously absent from the proposals however, we're two girls I had half expected to see. Margaery Tyrell was only a few years younger than me, nothing by Westerosi standards (and still older than half the girls whose fathers had sent proposals, one was only four!, Blech) but there was an obvious reason there with our Father's mutual enmity.

The real question was why the Starks, and indeed it seemed the North at large, had little interest in my hand. As to that I wasn't sure, but while I could see Lord Eddard or Lady Catelyn protecting their young daughters much as my father had protected me, that failed to explain why the only news I ever got from the North at all was from house Manderly, who had no daughters, and only wanted to discuss trade missions and the like.

Well, there was also that verbal offer by House Crowl that the Great Stag had brought back from Skagos, but while I was happy to trade with the blasted cannibals I had no desire to marry one, and they hardly counted as Northmen besides, closer to Wildlings.

I just couldn't put my finger on a reason for the North to so uniformly reject the proposition of marrying their daughters to me, especially when the rest of the realm seemed fine with it.

Still, it was a mystery for later days, and I turned back to the stack of three letters that were remotely acceptable, going over them in my head for some time before sighing.

'I'm not cut out for this matchmaking business.' I finally decided, Any of these would be workable, I thought at least, save perhaps for Brienne if she were entirely unwilling, and they all came with both risks and benefits.

I just couldn't come to a decision over which one had the greatest benefits in relation to risks.

Fortunately, I could take the ultimate fall back option that all children had. My parents had given me the decision sure, but ultimately it was my Father's call as to whom I married.

I would let him make it.