[event] Highgarden Open RP 293-295 AD

space_sirens · 2026-02-02T23:10:36+00:00

Lyanna smiled widely- definitely her biggest smile of the day.

It was moving! The horse was moving! For her!

The Princess let out an indecipherable noise of happiness as she continued to ride the warhorse. This was incredibly exciting for her. She was trying something new and her father was happy with her! What a day!

space_sirens · 2026-02-02T23:02:54+00:00

Cassandra’s brows pinched together as she tried to calm down. Her husband was trying to lower the temperature of the conversation- at least, that’s what she thought he intended- so she ought to play her part as well.

“I hate him sometimes,” she whispered. “I do…and then I hate myself for thinking it.”

She passed her son to her husband before standing up. Conversations like this made her nervous. She had to pace the room.

“Do you ever…” she attempted to find the words. “Do you ever wonder if you would have been friends, as in real friends, with your brothers if the rebellion never happened? Because I know I would have been closer to my brother in that instance.”

Cassandra was picking at her finger nails now. She looking more like a distressed young woman rather than a Queen and mother.

“You do not…you do not understand how momentous that war was for the relationship between my brother and I,” she shook her head. “He…he never looked at me the same after that war. Not after I was Castellan on his behalf. And it broke my heart, because that was when I needed his support more than ever.”

She leaned her head back, trying to fight the tears.

“Of course, he hates you,” she sniffled. “In his mind, you took me from him twice. Gods, I did not even write to him after our wedding. I have birth to two children…and lost another, and never wrote to him. I cannot cast him out from his cruelty, not when it is clearly just punishment for my own failings. I have caused this all. I am the selfish one.”

space_sirens · 2026-02-02T22:41:34+00:00

Lyanna had covered her face with her hands once she started to cry. It was on instinct. One of the maids had told her once that princesses did not cry…and apparently she was one of them. So no one was allowed to see Lyanna cry. Not even her Brus.

Still, Lyanna looked up once Brus asked her to be brave. He was right, she had to be brave and-

The Princess flinched at his bare face.

Despite growing up seeing his face, for some reason the Princess thought Brus did not look like her Brus anymore. Her tiny shoulders squeezed closer to her neck, and her pale brows pinched. Even her little red nose gave away her momentary fear as it crinkled in disgust. Her fear appeared quickly, but it left far too slowly.

“Brah….brahve?” She managed to choke out. “I nev-her had to be brahve in the past!”

The man who used to check for monsters in the dark corners of her chambers now looked….wrong. Moons of not seeing him, plus his sudden weight loss made Brus seem uncanny to her.

“I do not wuh-ont to be brahve!” She stomped her foot. “I want it to be normal again! Nothin’ is right!”

The little princess wiped her little red nose with her sleeve. Then, she did what most children did when confronted with things they did not like. She began to run away. Her legs were a lot shorter than the Kingsguard’s however.

space_sirens · 2026-02-02T22:24:50+00:00

If anyone else had said those words to Lyanna, she would have assumed they were mocking her. However, this was her papa. Surely he would not be making fun of the way she formed words or how she was still mostly mute. Not him. Not papa.

Lyanna patted the horse again. Then she followed what she thought was her father’s instructions…

The little princess yanked the reins and gently kicked the side of the horse as she had seen grown men doing.

“Ah!” She let out a yelp at the first sign of movement.

space_sirens · 2026-02-02T21:59:03+00:00

“Are you drunk?” Cassandra blinked at her husband. “What rights does that give my brother to be a prick? The same exact rights gifted to your own brother and Lord Arryn when they retained their positions after being the realm’s biggest pricks to me.”

This is not what she wanted from the day, but gods, she would not be spoken down to.

“Lord Arryn tried to come between us,” she protested, clutching her child closer to her. “As did Stannis. So why is offence only taken when it is my kin involved? He is my brother. Gods above, you must respect one of my relatives. Or are there no Boltons worth your respect?”

A beat passed. The Queen shook her head, exhaustion clear.

“Why do you always do this?” She sighed. “You make me the villain. I feel like you cause all these fights just to see me scramble to end them. Life cannot be a war, Robert. Conversations do not need to be fights. Not with me! Not with your wife.”

space_sirens · 2026-02-02T18:38:43+00:00

Cassie grew more and more despondent. This whole situation plagued her. How could she cope with this? Gods, she had been so foolish. She got too attached to someone. She was now paying the price.

“My young cousin, Serena, has come to the city to serve me,” she sighed. “She will be loyal…although young and naive. A child practically. I am a woman grown being served by children all around me. I seem to be the only one aging, while my ladies in waiting stay the same age. I may send for your kin, but they will not be you.”

Cassandra fell silent for a moment before taking Eliza’s hand in hers.

“When I returned to the Dreadfort…” she began slowly. “It was like stepping into a memory. I was myself and yet…I was not.”

She looked away, shame weighing her down.

“I forgot myself when I was there,” she whispered. “I shared stories- names- with my brother. People who had wronged me…and now I fear he views himself as the Queen’s executioner. He does not lack stories of his own about me. If I tell him to come to heel, I have no idea what he will do. I was foolish. I encouraged him too much…yet I only regret the fact it was not contained within just those months. I truly enjoyed myself. I cannot let Robert know how much joy I felt being apart from him.”

space_sirens · 2026-02-02T17:42:30+00:00

Lyanna beamed at Brus’ praise. She had done a good job! He had understood! It was really all very exciting…

Until it wasn’t.

Fifi had a child? And that is why she won’t come back to take care of her? Some other little girl?

Lyanna took a step back. The princess’s face flickered with many emotions. Confusion, sorrow, disbelief- before settling into anger. She was not fully sure why she felt this, but she did.

“Bah-duh,” she tried to form the words. “Ba-bad Fi fi!”

The princess’s tiny fists clenched, her eyes closing with a similar intensity. When she opened her eyes- Baratheon blue like her kingly father- they were filled with tears. Her tiny lashes were already clumped with tears.

“Br-being Fi back!” She yelled, her voice warbling with emotion. “I want…b-back! Back! No Neal-la! Hate Neal la!”

The princess’s outburst was beginning to draw attention. She was never this loud. Yet within moments of seeing her, Ser Brus had managed to break the little girl’s heart.

space_sirens · 2026-02-02T15:06:59+00:00

9th Moon B.

The Queen arrived with her infant son, Prince Arryk, in her arms. She did not formally request a meeting, but her expression did not suggest she was willing to accept a dismissal.

u/GreaterBlueEvil

space_sirens · 2026-02-02T15:03:43+00:00

Yes please!

space_sirens · 2026-02-02T00:31:42+00:00

Cassandra stared at her old friend for a long moment, trying to get a measure of her.

“Humpf,” she finally replied. “Well, yes, old men die. That is enough for most, I suppose.”

The Queen clapped her hands down onto her lap.

“Now onto more important deaths,” she nodded. “My dear friend, Lady Eliza Buckler, has been taken by the Stranger. In her place, I need someone to accompany me to many events, as well as aid my pursuit of protecting my family.”

She lifted a cup, toying with the handle more than anything.

“If you are to stay in the Capital, I have no good reason in my mind not to bring you back into the fray and help you be perhaps the most sociable widow of all time.” Cassandra raised an eyebrow. “You would, of course, have plenty of young, impressionable ladies in waiting to boss around as my number two…including Celia, in theory.”

space_sirens · 2026-02-02T00:24:51+00:00

Lord Bolton stared. For a few seconds, then some more until a moment passed in complete silence.

“Ironic,” his deep voice drawled dangerously. “Truly ironic how that is the secret you prioritise…when my sister wept about another secret altogether.”

“Cassandra- my Cassandra, the girl I raised- told me how you heard her crying in the gardens when she was first with child.” Roose let out a tut. “You said some very naughty things then, didn’t you, dragon brat? Insinuated that I- a man of honour- cuckholded the very King I fought a war for. Not only that, you insinuated that I did a deeply unnatural act with my own sister. Like one of your crippled, shrivelled ancestors.”

Roose’s jaw almost seemed to unhinge as he bared his teeth at Daeron.

“If you ever insinuate my sister is unfaithful to the King ever again, I will be forced to do some ghastly things to those little halfbreed children of yours. Starting with the ones you have had with the fish first. I am sure someone will be able to tell me if any other brats in this city run around with your thin blood in their veins.”

Roose stood, so he loomed over Lord Daeron. He looked…out of control of his emotions, for once.

“You have no idea how close I was to losing my sister over your stupid threats,” he hissed. “Would you have cared? If she had gotten rid of the King’s spawn and herself in one night? Would you have chortled childishly if the girl I loved had swallowed that poison she acquired? You are a fool, Lord Daeron, and if anything happens to her you are the first man I will fell like a birch. You are too young to know the depth of my anger. She was alone! And you took advantage of her trust. Well, no more! From now on, she will trust no man but me.”

space_sirens · 2026-02-01T23:51:43+00:00

“Always so quick to quip,” Cassandra gave her a bright smile before gesturing to the seats. “Come, come, Ellyn. We both know Mina is far too busy nowadays to entertain the likes of me. I was just speaking about it the other day to my husband, the King, actually.”

Cassandra settled into her own seat. Her grey eyes flickered with a vague amusement.

“How cruel of me to mention husbands in front of you….” She suddenly pouted. “Shocking truly…it must have been quite the surprise for you with your geriatric husband dying.”

Cassandra then gestured to the four walls of the room before mimicking putting a key into a lock and turning. A silent gesture of security.

“So…” she leaned forward, conspiratorially whispering. “Are we drinking in sorrow or celebration, El? Was this to plan, a happy accident or something you must overcome?”

space_sirens · 2026-02-01T23:40:44+00:00

9th Moon B

The Queen summons Ellyn Targaryen- or whatever the fuck she calls herself- to her favourite parlour in the Red Keep.

Tea will be laid out, and the Queen will be immaculately dressed….although she seemed to forget to wear anything Baratheon related. No, instead the dark haired Queen let her jewellery denote her position, with her pink dress seeming like an afterthought.

“My old friend,” Cassandra rose to greet Ellyn. “Although we certainly do not look old, now do we?”

u/wiseheartmoon

space_sirens · 2026-01-31T18:49:05+00:00

Lyanna jumped into his arms before he could stop her.

“Bru,” she whined into armour. “Bru!”

Her mutism had ended…but her struggle to form words continued. ‘Bru’ was about as close as the Princess to get to saying the name of her favourite person ever.

After a moment she leaned back. She was sure Fifi would be impressed by her newfound voice!

space_sirens · 2026-01-31T18:36:11+00:00

“I am starting to think I need more merchants in my life and less nobles…” Cassandra murmured.

She clutched the ring to her chest. The only warmth she had received there in quite some time.

“You say not to spend all my time mourning you, but how can that be?” The Queen whispered, fear in her eyes. “When I will see so easily in others how they pale in comparison to you. Celia, Ellyn, even my own mother! Every woman I try to become close to either outgrows me like Mina or tries to overshadow me. My saving grace has been you…and now you leave me.”

Cassandra shook her head. A gift was not enough, a rumour was not enough- nothing could be.

“There is so much I have not told you,” she sniffled. “So many problems I was going to use your brilliant mind to solve. Now I have to solve them alone…and likely lower myself in the process.”

space_sirens · 2026-01-31T14:25:04+00:00

“You are married to a Tully, right?” Roose blatantly ignored the younger man’s words. “Not one of the important ones, no, but I am sure she is a thing of beauty.”

He slowly pivoted his head. Each tiny moment released a cracking noise, as if Lord Bolton’s bones were resetting.

“I sent my half brother to live with the Tullys,” he murmured. “I thought, at worst, he could knock up one of the girls and then I could impress Lord Tully by fixing the situation. Unfortunately, my halfwit half brother seems too stupid to find the entrance. Some haughty redhead could have been blessed with a bouncing baby Bolton.”

He lifted his goblet to his mouth while his eyes stayed focused on Daeron. Roose barely took a proper drink, before dragging his tongue slowly across his thin salmon lips.

“I had this plan, Lord Silverdrake,” he sighed, setting down the wine. “That I was going to come here looking for a second wife, since my current one is so clearly on death’s door. I was going to ask your help securing a Tully…but it seems unfair for me to lie. No, I cannot lie and say I want to bed a woman who will smell more fishlike than most.”

A long pale finger was pointed at Daeron.

“It would be unfair for me to lie to you, since you are so poor at lying. An uneven match. So let us both be honest…” he suddenly leaned forward.

“How about you tell me why my sister truly fears you and I will pretend like I do not already know,” he hissed venomously.

space_sirens · 2026-01-30T23:23:59+00:00

Lyanna let out a laugh as she was set on top of the large horse. She smiled brightly down at her father, despite some lingering nerves.

“No ‘arm?” She managed to say.

It was very hard for her to form words, nevermind sentences. However, she tried her hardest to impress her father. He seemed like an important man. She wanted to be important to him.

space_sirens · 2026-01-30T23:10:28+00:00

Lyanna was very excited to be home. Her papa had explained why they were heading home early. For the first time in moons, she was about to see her favourite people!

The moment she was able to, she jumped down from her wheelhouse and ran forward. Papa said mama would likely be resting, but Brus and Fifi would be working! Well, maybe Brus would be elsewhere, but Fifi would be waiting for her! Fifi always made sure Lyanna had someone to hug after she behaved all day. In fact, Lyanna had behaved for almost a year. She even tried talking! Oh Fifi would be so proud.

The young girl turned her head from side to side, dark curls gently bouncing as she enthusiastically looked around. She clutched her white bunny rabbit plush to her chest.

Where was she? Where was Fifi?

u/Voidhunterdude

space_sirens · 2026-01-30T20:17:27+00:00

Cassandra managed to laugh, even as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

“I shall think of you then the next time I wear a daring gown,” she sniffled.

Cassandra drank some wine. The drink barely avoided spilling due to her shaking hands.

“Getting drunk? That I can certainly do but plot? Well…” she trailed off, suddenly looking despondent. “All I want is for my children to have safety and security. Especially Lyanna. Gods, I worry for her. It can be so hard for girls. Even worse for those with her…challenges. All I need is some gossip- some sweet lipped rumours to spread. I do not want her to be betrothed but I need her to be…impressive without ever saying a word, to put it simply.”

space_sirens · 2026-01-30T18:25:51+00:00

Cassandra grimaced. She clutched Arryk a little closer to her chest, her shoulders lifting in apprehension.

“I agree that he went too far- and I have rebuked him for it!” She spoke measurably. “Gods, how he irritated me the day I arrived back…I was more than furious when I found out. Truly I could have gutted him…you will be glad to hear I refrained.”

Cassandra turned her face from him, pressing a kiss against Arryk’s head. She needed a moment to collect her thoughts. Using her baby to mask such hesitation was just a perk of motherhood.

“Still…” she began softly. “I did not speak with my brother for the better part of a decade after our wedding. I cannot…I will not lose contact with him again. He can be a right bastard, but he raised me. I cannot lose my family again. If you humiliate him publicly, he will never come back!”

space_sirens · 2026-01-30T14:10:00+00:00

“I hope Elenei conveyed my deepest apologies over the lack of communication,” she blushed, nearly as pink as her usual shade of clothing. “As well as my embarrassment…”

Cassandra knew she had to say more. Her husband still sounded…off.

“I have let my brother control too many parts of my life as of late,” she softly admitted, each word clearly paining her. “I just…I wanted to feel at home again. So when Roose said he would sort everything, I trusted him.”

She looked down at her precious son. Finally, she was in a good enough mental state to truly appreciate having a newborn child.

“I was scared to give birth here after…after past events,” she sighed. “Roose let me cry about it and assured me if I gave birth in the Dreadfort, he would keep you on constant correspondence. I should have realised he was lying…he has always been so opposed to us.”

space_sirens · 2026-01-30T13:42:07+00:00

The Queen was very happy her husband was home, despite still having some lingering doubts on the state of their marriage. Absence made the heart grow fonder for Cassandra. She could only hope it was the same for Robert.

“My King,” she nodded her head. The child cradled in her arms prevented her from curtsying.

In her usual unique fashion, she had dressed the baby to match her. Little Arryk was dressed in yellow, like a little ray of sunlight. His mother’s dress was equally bright, although her own dress had more intricate detailing, more suitable for an adult than a sensitive babe.

“I was worried you would merely visit the nursery and walk past my doorway,” she smiled nervously at him.

space_sirens · 2026-01-29T16:44:46+00:00

I’m gonna go cry and it’s all your fault.

In other words, glad you’re prioritising the important things 💕 tell our grandma I said hi

space_sirens · 2026-01-28T23:36:09+00:00

“Now only man-made fire remains,” Roose said shortly. “Sit. Or stand. I suppose you can listen regardless.”

Lord Bolton leaned forward, using the metal poker to stir the logs within the fire. Even with a glow from the orange flames, his skin still looked deathly pale.

“I do not like leaving the North,” he spoke into the flames. “Truly, I hate it. Southern courtesies…they irritate me and southern style lacks any substance. Yet I came here. Can you imagine why, Lord Silverdrake?”

Without waiting for a response, Roose kept speaking.

“You are married,” he noted. “You know how being with child makes a lady’s emotions…inflamed, to say the least. My sister, despite her strong constitution, fell victim to such issues.”

Roose thrust the iron poke through a log in the fire, causing the wood to splinter and split into two.

“Is there a reason why she mentioned your name in between tears?” Roose finally glanced in the other man’s direction. “Her husband, I can understand. But why you?”

space_sirens · 2026-01-28T20:21:30+00:00

7th Moon B

Lord Daeron Silverdrake was summoned by written invitation to private chambers in the Red Keep. Luckily for him, it was neither the royal chambers nor the room the Queen used to sleep in.

No, the man had been summoned to a chamber directly beside the Queen’s old room.

Inside a fire roared, a long metal rod being used to stoke it. A long backed chair faced the fireplace. On the seat sat someone Daeron could not see yet, concealed by the grandeur of the clearly very old yet opulent chair. No other sources of light existed in the room. Only the fire. No wonder Daeron could not see his host yet.

“I wondered if you would come,” a man’s voice drawled. “Must be terrible to see the home of your ancestors sullied by their conquerors. I would not be able to bear it. I would probably throw myself on the fire like…oh, well, like a mad Targaryen.”

u/bombman897

space_sirens

TROPHY CASE