In retrospect

- 289 AC -

(3rd Person POV)

In a giant and equally beautiful and powerful castle, a small boy with short black hair and green eyes was walking through the corridors as fast as he could. He had reached his 5th name day a while ago and the festivities were officially over. This meant that his lessons started again and that's where he was going right now. He had eaten a hearty breakfast with his family as they always do, which had become a family tradition where they exchanged banter, stories, and worries with one another. It was a moment when they were alone and could enjoy themselves. 

He opened the castle library door, which was exclusive for the family and a select few. The door was heavy, but thankfully the boy didn't have to open it on his own. As soon as he came running, the two guards standing at the door smiled and one of them opened it for him. 

"Late again, are we Edric? Better get in quick, he's waiting."

"Thanks, Jon. I'm running as you see.", the boy says getting the two guards to chuckle.

The boy walks into the room and no longer runs as it is forbidden from running in this room. Looking around, Edric sees the familiar look he has known for years now. His Mother came when he was but a babe and sat in front of the wide fireplace to drink tea and read him some stories. His father also takes all of the family to read with them and enjoy their evenings together. 

From Edric's vantage point, the library seems even more immense as he might be a tall 5-name-day-old child, but he is still only 5. The shelves stretch up high, far beyond his reach, filled with books containing generations' knowledge, stories and secrets. The room feels like a different world of mystery and endless possibilities to Edric. He can almost hear the whispers of history contained within the leather-bound volumes and he gets giddy just thinking about all of them. 

Edric loves to read about history and the adventures of knights, princes or normal men and women from the smallfolk. But the stories he enjoys the most are the ones that depict the accomplishments of one particular man. His chest rises with pride thinking about it. 

After walking for a moment, he reaches the place where he is having all of his lessons. They started 2 years ago when he was 3. Normally children would never start at that age, in this time and age, but Edric was special. He might prefer the physical training over the intellectual one, but he still enjoys many things that have to do with history and economics. The lessons started out very simply with games that were meant to tickle his imagination and intellect slowly. Whenever he could, Edric's father would spend time with him and teach him as well as play with him. Edric loves his family dearly. It was one of the virtues his parents instilled in the children. 

Mother also seemed to love her family. She seemed to love her brother and respect her father. But Edric could tell, that she loved his father and her children more than anything in the world. His father was the same, but he loved his younger brother as well. 

.

"Morning Professor.", Edric greets his teacher and sits down on the small chair reserved for him. 

"Good morning, Edric. How were the festivities? Did you enjoy yourself?", Professor Lemont asks.

[Picture]

"Aye, I did. It was great. Mother went above and beyond again, to make it as enjoyable for me instead of the usual nonsense that only serves to please the other lords and ladies.", Edric says. 

"Oh? What do you think is the reason for such feasts and celebrations?", Lemont asks him. 

"For several reasons. For one, inviting other noble families to celebrations helps to strengthen political alliances and foster good relations. It provides an opportunity to reinforce existing alliances or forge new ones. And secondly, hosting grand celebrations showcases our power, wealth, and influence. It serves as a reminder to allies and rivals alike of our family's status and capabilities."

"Correct. Spoken like you memorised it from a book."

"Hehe."

"Nevertheless you are mostly correct. There are of course other reasons for it as well. Like tradition, social networking, negotiations and exchange of information. But that isn't what we want to discuss today is it?"

"Professor, can we do another history book today?", Edric asks. 

"And what are you thinking of?"

"I wanted to know more about the events that led to the Tourney at Harrenhal and then later ... you know."

"Very well. We ought to go over those years anyway and getting in touch with the present helps us not to lose ourselves in the past. Let me see now ...", Lemont asks and goes to search for a book on one of the shelves. 

"Here we go. A relatively new book. And a secret one as well. This one was written by me, after all. I will be able to fill in the blanks that weren't allowed to be written down. This special room is one of the only ones in the world where the walls don't have ears. Alright, here we go ...

|A history of a King. His Grace Robert I Baratheon - Volume 2 

... 

Let me skip the parts that aren't very important and get to the parts that are. As you already know, King Robert was once thinking about getting betrothed to another woman."

"Whaat? Really? Who was it?", Edric asks interested. 

"It was Elia Martell, the daughter of the late Princess Saera Martell, the mother of the current Prince Doran Martell. You already know him. But things weren't meant to be it seems. Let's see here ...

|... but this wasn't meant to be. The relationship, if it could be called such, between Robert Baratheon, then still Heir to House Baratheon and Elia Martell, was a short one. Although it seemed that they enjoyed each other's company, their 'romance' was very short-lived. They-|"

"Professor?"

"Yes?"

"Why did you say it like that?"

"What do you mean?"

"'Relationship'"

"Ah, well you see. It was hardly long enough to be called a relationship. Also ...", Professor Lemont started to whisper for some reason, "... I see no reason to anger the Queen when it isn't necessary. It wouldn't be ... proper."

"Hehehe, you're scared of Mother.", Edric smiled

"*cough* let's not talk about it and continue. Where was I ... ah here.

|... Although it seemed that they enjoyed each other's company, their 'romance' was very short-lived. They were separated rather forcefully by King Aerys Targaryen who was looking for a bride to marry to his son, Rhaegar Targaryen. In an attempt to search for a bride, King Aerys had sent his cousin, Steffon Baratheon to Volantis and search for a woman with valyrian heritage. It didn't work, Steffon Baratheon was whipped in front of all the court and even Lady Cassana was almost stripped bare that day.|"

"What?! Grandmother was almost ... stripped?! How dare he?!", 

"Some say the fact that all of the Lords and knights present that day were killed quickly, is a testament to the fact, that your Grandmother was in fact NOT stripped. Someone, no one knows for sure, managed to stop the former King Aerys that day. And I can say, thank goodness for that."

"Aye. If there's anything my father has it is the Baratheon fury for anything concerning his family. But it seldom shows. I have never seen it myself, but Mother told me about it."

"Indeed, young Edric. You see, the man who is in control of his emotions is that much more dangerous as he can productively channel his feelings, just like your father did back then. You will surely learn that in the future. Now, let us continue.

|... It was announced afterwards that Rhaegar Targaryen was to marry Elia Martell, but some didn't like that. The Princess of Dorne, Saera Martell refused the 'offer' at first and sadly died shortly after that. No one knows for sure what happened there as it looked like an accident. But there are reasons to believe, that it was done intentionally to weaken the connections The Stormlands had with the other 7 Kingdoms. And it seemed to work since after Elia Martell married Rhaegar Targaryen in early 279 AC, she 'belonged' to the Crownlands and Kings Landing. Therefore there was no longer anyone in Dorne who was close to House Baratheon. 

The rest of year 278 AC up to the year 281 AC saw great change and progress for the Stormlands and Storm's End in particular. You see, after getting disrespected by King Aerys, His Grace foresaw more insults and attacks on House Baratheon. So together with your uncle Stannis Baratheon, your Father had to make preparations. They prepared for the day that the King pushed the Guilds too far and waited for an incident to happen. Meanwhile, he began investing more money in the improvement and expansion of Storm's End and prepared plans for all of the Stormlands. 

Many meetings were held with the Stormlords and business deals were implemented. No one knows what they talked about during those meetings, but it is said that the Stormlords became much closer after their meetings, like brothers in a way. Business deals were made and other connections as well. The Stormlands started to slowly unify under one true banner, House Baratheon. This result is not very surprising though, since our King Robert I Baratheon has enough charisma to sway his mortal enemies to his side. 

As the year 279 AC arrived, shortly after their marriage, Rhaenys Targaryen was born prematurely- |

"Big sis was born prematurely? I didn't know that.", Edric says. 

"That's not something you tell anyone, Edric. It is rather personal and doesn't really matter anyway. You wouldn't notice the truth if you saw her. The Grand Maester Pycelle at the time, was surprised at how healthy she was. 

| ... Robert Baratheon started to visit the North and the Vale of Arryn more often. His foster brother, Eddard Stark and Foster father, Jon Arryn were the primary reason for that. But it didn't stop the young Lord from helping both of the Kingdoms with their problems. The Vale had problems with the Mountain Clans and the North had a problem with their harsh winters and the exorbitant prices the Reach had on their food. 

Using his connections with the Merchant Guild, His Grace was able to arrange for a meeting to take place in Winterfell between Lord Rickard Stark and the representative of the Merchant Guild in the North. The young Lord was present during the meeting as well and it was arranged for the North to get better prices on the food they ordered. However, Lord Rickard was unhappy with the tensions that would arise with the Reach and decided against the deal in the end. A mistake on his part, as it turned out, because a year later in 280 AC another winter struck, forcing the North to buy a lot of food from the Reach. 

.

In the late 279 AC, the King decreed that the Guilds were to pay more taxes which wasn't accepted. The Guilds went so far as to leave King's Landing for a while. This caused a lot of tension because Aerys refused to let them leave and surrounded them with the city watch, forcing them to pay anyway. 

This tension continued to rise and the King even started to focus on the Stormlands but it all found a very sudden end. In early 280 AC, there was an assassination attempt on the King. Aerys was attacked and his spine wounded which effectively paralysed him and ended his interest in Robert Baratheon and the Guilds. It was a great scandal and many people were burnt alive by the decree of the King. It was a terrible time for Kings Landing. 

And as it turned out ... it would not be the only thing that happened to the king that year.

.

In the Vale of Arryn, the young Lord arranged for a force to be brought together who were interested in getting rid of the Mountain Clans. Surprisingly, quite a lot of Lords were interested in eradicating the Vale of the Mountain Clans and sent men to fight for the cause. The young Lord Baratheon was the one leading the charge of the advancement and a force of 200 men and women, started to train under him. It was a very successful endeavour on our King's side. He managed to form the 200 men and women into a single unit in record time. 

They went about it methodically and started to move through the Vale, destroying the Mountain Clans they came across and ridding the Vale of them. The exact details aren't known, but most if not all the Mountain Clans were eradicated by the small force, earning them a great reputation. Robert Baratheon was pushed into the Vale Lords' good graces and their opinion of him couldn't be better at that point.

.

In mid-280 AC, things started to get heated in Kings Landing and the Red Keep. Rumours started to spread that the King abused his Queen, which resulted in growing unrest and some minor riots taking place, where the important business ventures of the King were hit and plundered. There were different rodents and frogs found in the King's food quite often, which resulted in even more deaths and burnings.

Hundreds of cooks and servants had to die and it was a very dark time for the smallfolk. 

Out of all the changes and improvements, Storm's End was the one that saw the most of them. It was transformed into a large fortress and will probably be remembered in the generations to come.|

"Is that all Professor?", Edric asks. 

"No, there are many other things that happened, which I didn't include in this volume or any other for that matter. Writing more would be like exposing secrets to enemies and rivals. And that would be folly.", Lemont says. 

"Hmm, very well. I'll ask Father about the details then. See you tomorrow, Professor.", Edric says and walks out of the room, leaving a smiling man behind. 

"The truth is much too dangerous and valuable to write in a single book. His Grace will surely be known as the greatest King to ever live and the one who knew how to play the game the best. Of that I am certain."

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Lot's of spoilers in this chapter. The chapter before was not me whining but explaining things. If you don't like his bloodline, or anything else just leave. No need to announce that you left. 

This was a small sneak peek, I came up with. The next arc will begin in about a week from now.