Mya Connington
Mya Connington formally Mya Stone, Lady of Storm's End and wife to Lord Jon Connington the Lord of Storm's End and Hand of the King, sat in her husband's solar going over the various accounts of the castle whilst she heard the waves of Shipbreaker's Bay lapping against the rocks from which her castle was situated on. Sometimes she still had trouble fully believing that she, a mere bastard girl from the Vale was now Lady of Storm's End and had a claim to the Iron Throne to boot, when Nestor Royce had told her the truth of her parentage, that she was the eldest born child of the late King Robert Baratheon, Mya had been stunned. She had not known what to really believe, for so long she had believed that her father had simply died or left her mother and herself, and that he had never truly cared for either of them. A thought that had never truly sat well with the memories she had, of a big strong man with black hair throwing her up into the air and making her giggle.
She knew that was why her husband had chosen to marry her, the King had named him Lord of Storm's End and he needed a proper claim from the Baratheon line to make sure that his lordship sat more comfortably with their bannermen. So he had had the King legitimise her as a Baratheon, and suddenly she had found herself Lady of her father's ancestral castle, and learning all it meant to be a lady of a great house. Though she had been Lady of Storm's End for five years now, there were times when she found the work of being a Lady so unbearingly frustrating and boring. She did not mind looking over the books and the accounts for that was something she and Randa had often done when Randa's father had been to busy to look at them, especially after Randa's mother had died. No it was the having to plan feasts and deal with the airhead ladies of her husband's bannermen that frustrated her, as well as the constraints that often came with such things. No longer was she free to roam around the castle and do as she pleased, nor was she free to voice her own thoughts properly, if she was she knew she would have insulted many of her husband's bannermen for being the simpering ninnies that they truly were.
It was only when her husband was back from the capital or when she was with her children that Mya felt she could truly be herself. Though there was roughly twenty years difference between herself and her husband Mya felt that there was now much that they could see eye to eye on, which had not been the case when they had first been wed, and she had been in King's Landing for some time. Her husband had thought her too much like Robert Baratheon, far too headstrong and stubborn for her own good, and she had thought he was too serious and boring by half, nothing like Michael Redfort. After Nestor had been born though, something had changed between them, they had reached more of an understanding, as they worked together to ensure that their son was brought up not to be as proud and boastful as other lordlings were brought up to be, but that he was a child with common sense and some smartness. The love she now felt for her husband had started becoming apparent when she had been pregnant with their daughter Cassana, there was something overtly attractive in her lord husband when she was with child, he was she had found not as serious or as gruff when he was around her or their children, and he smiled much more easily, and she had found that she quite liked him, in fact she was certain that was she felt for Jon Connington was much more pure than what she had ever thought of Michael Redfort.
Their children were the jewels of their lives and of the castle, Nestor at four was the very image of Jon, with his fiery auburn hair and serious personality even at his young age. She had voiced some concern over Nestor's seriousness, but any fears she might have had about Nestor had been laid to rest when Jon had told her, that as a child he too had been very serious. Nestor though seemed much more easier to smile than his father, a bundle of joy when the mood struck him, he often caused havoc amongst the servants of the castle, and Mya was not one to really curtail her son's rowdiness, not seeing the need for a Septa to be there to help her, seeing as she had largely raised herself along with Randa and Albar, she spend most of her time when she was not looking over the accounts making sure Nestor did not get into too much trouble. Cassana, at two already had the makings of the perfect little lady, she was polite where Nestor was serious or brash, she was sweet where Nestor could be a terror, and her hair was as raven black as Mya's. Jon had once joked "She will be a true Baratheon our daughter." And for a brief moment Mya had not truly understood why her husband would say such a thing, but then one of their bannermen's little girls had thought to take away Cassana's favourite toys away from her, and their daughter had unleashed hell on the girl who was slightly older than her, leaving the girl crying and Mya and Jon fighting hard not to laugh.
Shaking her head slightly, Mya looked over the letters that were on the table in front of her and sighed slightly. Jon had sent word from King's Landing, apparently tensions within the kingdoms were beginning to show. Daenaerys Targaryen who was claiming the Iron Throne for her own had sent envoys both to Riverrun and to Winterfell hoping to sway them both to her side. Nestor's namesake, Nestor Royce had gone to Riverrun and as Mya had expected he had deliberately done a bad job of persuading Lord Edmure to join the princesses side, Mya knew from experience just how persuasive Lord Nestor could be if truly wanted you do something. Jorah Mormont the exile had been sent to Winterfell, and according to Jon the man had been received even less well than they had even thought possible. To compound matters it seemed that Daenaerys had not taken the rejection well and had sent an assassin after Lord Targaryen's wife and unborn child, something that had deeply shocked Mya and made her angry on Lord Targaryen's behalf and made her make sure Nestor and Cassana were always protected. Jon wrote that Lord Targaryen had been deeply angered by his aunt's moves, and as such had called his banners and was marching south, there was fighting in the Riverlands, as the Riverlords were torn between Aegon and Daenaerys. Jon himself had written that he would be coming back from King's Landing soon enough to call the banners to deal with any potential threat from the Reach.
King's Landing, a city of vipers and other such foul treacherous beasts. Her husband she knew despised the city and yet he would work there until he could work no more for he had helped King Aegon to take the city, and as such saw the king as the son he had not allowed himself to have before Nestor was born. There were times when Mya felt very down with the world, when Nestor's antics got too much for her, or she could not stand just how ladylike her daughter was turning out to be, when she would angrily think that her husband preferred his adopted son to his own children. Such thoughts never lasted long though, Jon often wrote to them and always enquired of her and the children's health when he wrote. He also wrote of the politics of the court, which she knew he despised. Of the King, though Mya was not entirely sure what she felt. She knew that he was a handsome and kind man, who had the potential to be a great king, but there were times when she thought him a mere child. He had lived much of his life on a boat, the conquering of the Iron Throne had inflated his ego, as it would for any young man, but there was a sense Mya got that perhaps his confidence would be his undoing, especially with Daenaerys Targaryen present in the Vale with that snake Littlefinger whispering in her ear.
Littlefinger, she remembered very little of, he had been in Gulltown when she had been but a little girl, though if she remembered correctly he had often come to the Gates of the Moon to visit Lord Nestor. She remembered thinking him to be a snake and slightly creepy, and the letters she received from Randa seemed to suggest as much, the fact that Daenaerys Targaryen seemed to be relying so heavily on his council on the matters of the state was deeply distressing Mya knew for her husband. She was the one who had started this war that was currently being fought, her and Littlefinger, just when peace seemed about to return to the realm, the man who had had the highest ambitions according to Lord Varys had started yet another war that would likely dragon Westeros through for another two years, especially with winter here.
Eventually some two weeks after her husband's letter arrived at Storm's End, her husband arrived in the flesh. He came with a part of thirty men, mainly those who made up his household guard, something that signalled to her that this trip might be his last for a while. He seemed very, very tired when he greeted her and the children in the courtyard that afternoon, and in the evening once the children had been put to bed and they were in bed, he spoke sounding so very, very old. "Aegon has decided to march for the Reach, it appears that Lords Florent, Osgrey, Peake, Ambrose and Appleton have decided to ally with Daenaerys. They have mustered some 20,000 men and with winter here and Lord Mace ill, it seems that his son Ser Garlan will be leading the loyalist host. Aegon wishes to end that fighting quickly should Daenaerys seek to take the capital with him gone."
"Where will you be going? With the King or will you be staying in King's Landing?" My asks hearing the fear in her voice.
"I will be calling the banners and then heading to defend King's Landing, and perhaps I will be needed in the Reach. The Stormlords could muster roughly 15,000 men. The fact that we were not needed to come to arms during the War at the Wall has allowed our men to replenish." Her husband says tiredly.
Mya feels the fear begin to stir up inside of her at her husband's words. "The king would leave you to hold King's Landing against an army that could potentially have two dragons with it. One of which is said to the Black Dread reincarnated and the other which Lord Varys has said that not even the Princess can control? Would he truly be so cruel?"
Mya hears her husband sigh. "I must do as the King instructs my love. If I must hold King's Landing whilst he deals with the threat in the Reach then I must do so. If I must fight the Reacher Lords alongside Ser Garlan Tyrell then I shall do so. Lord Targaryen shall be marching south with his dragon to help the Riverlords, and Martyn Lannister has called his banners, should the Vale march in full force then we shall be very stuck and King's Landing will be needed to be defended."
"What of the Queen and the Princess? Where will they go?" Mya asks.
Her husband sighs once more. "They will be coming here. Her Grace and the Princess will be the safest here. They might have gone to Dorne had there not been the threat of ships coming from the Iron Islands, or even from the Vale to intercept them. Furthermore there is someone in King's Landing who works for Littlefinger who would have attempted to commandeer the ship had the Queen and Princess Alysanne left for Dorne by that route."
Mya nods her head against her husband's chest, and then says. "You know for a fact that Littlefinger has men inside King's Landing still? I would have thought all of them would either of fled or been killed by now?"
"Because Varys found out what exactly Littlefinger himself did in his brothels. The man still owes large amounts of brothels in King's Landing, and it would not do to draw attention to the fact that we know about his plots and intrigues by shutting down his brothels. But one of the workers there told one of Lord Varys men that Littlefinger has men everywhere doing deeds for him and trying to sow discord amongst the council. We know not who this man is, but Aegon has decreed the Queen and Princess Alysanne shall be safe here." Jon replies.
"And when shall they be arriving?" Mya asks softly.
"In two weeks time. They set sail the same time that I left from King's Landing, they will be circumventing some of the conventional sea routes, and will be on Greenstone at the moment. By that time I will be gone." Jon replies.
Mya nods and then they drift off to sleep. The next two weeks are spent in hasty preparation both in order to make sure the castle is well stocked and equipped for when Queen Allyria and Princess Alysanne arrive and to make sure that Jon gets to spend enough time with Nestor and Cassana. Neither of their children truly understand what is going on, all they know is that their father is leaving. The Lords of the Stormlands answer the call to arms in full force, 15,000 men arrive at Storm's End and at the feast held before they are to leave, Jon announces "500 men shall remain behind in the castle to serve as a garrison. We know not whether the Reach shall turn for Daenaerys, nor if Daenaerys shall come straight here, for we know Littlefinger has spies but how well the network runs we know not. I am entrusting Ser Rolland Storm to hold the castle as Castellan, the men left here shall look first to my wife and then to Ser Rolland."
That night Jon simply says. "I know that you have been taking lessons in sword fighting with Ser Borros. Whilst normally I would chide you for doing such things. With myself gone and Ser Rolland only being seventeen, I entrust the defence of our children to you my love. Hold onto them and protect them and make sure that they are never left undefended." He gives her a blade then, castle forged steel and Mya kisses him and swears not to let him down.
Five days Mya and their children say goodbye to Jon and the lords of the Stormlands Queen Allyria and Princess Alysanne arrive accompanied by Ser Lyle Crakehall and Ser Balon Swann of the Kingsguard. Three days after that, they learn of the fighting that has broken out in the Westerlands led by rebel leader Ser Gowen Lannister of Lannisport. More fighting to come and perhaps Mya's skills with the blade will be needed.