In the remaining years of the fifty-second of the Conquest, Aegon and Alysanne devoted themselves wholly to the burdens of rule.
Aegon knew well that he was not suited to sitting long hours at a desk, patiently sifting through petitions and decrees. He had little taste for the drudgery of parchment and ink. What he loved instead were curious studies, the embrace of beautiful women, the savor of fine wines, and the thrill of adventure.
At last, with no better remedy, he begged his wife to return to the Small Council.
Queen Alysanne's reappearance was greeted with cheers from the gathered lords. During her regency she had shown such breadth of knowledge and sharpness of mind that her voice carried great weight in every debate, and the great officers of the realm were eager to heed her counsel.
Alysanne herself looked back fondly on her childhood, before her uncle Maegor seized power.
In her grandfather the Conqueror's day, the court brimmed with song and dance, art and splendor. Musicians, mummers, and bards competed to win her and her father's favor. Wine from the Arbor flowed freely at feasts. The halls and courtyards of Dragonstone rang with laughter, and the jewels adorning the court ladies dazzled the eye.
By contrast, the court under Maegor's rule had been cold and oppressive, steeped in shadows. Alysanne never forgot the fleeting brilliance of her grandfather's court, and she resolved to bring that same light and beauty back to the Red Keep.
She ordered fine tapestries and carpets from the Free Cities, and commissioned artisans to craft murals, statues, and tiles to brighten the halls and chambers of the castle. Slowly, the Red Keep regained its luster.
She even commanded the City Watch to seek out Tom the Fiddler—the street singer whose bawdy songs during the "White Cloak Dispute" had once set both Emperor and common folk laughing—and named him court minstrel. That post endured for decades, becoming part of the court's culture.
Alysanne also brought to court a harpist from Oldtown, a troupe of performers from Braavos, several dancers from Lys, and, for the first time, a fool.
This jester, a plump man called "Goodwife," dressed always in women's garb and carried with him two finely carved wooden "children." His mouth poured forth crude, bawdy jests that shocked and delighted in equal measure, bringing a strange sort of merriment to the halls of the Red Keep.
These diversions pleased Aegon II greatly—but months later Alysanne gave him a gift that outshone all others.
She was with child.
The news that House Targaryen would soon welcome new life filled the Emperor with joy. He hosted a splendid, lavish feast in the Red Keep, celebrating the tidings with lords, ladies, and smallfolk alike.
...
Time flowed on, and the dynasty entered the fifty-third year of the Conquest.
Aegon the Conqueror had once left a maxim:
—A king and his queen must show themselves to the people from time to time, so that the commons know they may bring forth their grievances.
"I want them to see me," Aegon II declared firmly when he announced his first royal progress in the first half of that year.
It would prove only the beginning. In the decades to come he would ride on countless progresses across the realm. These years were the key time for stripping power from the great lords; once half a century had passed and the Targaryen Empire was firmly built, such journeys would no longer be needed so often.
Throughout Aegon II's long reign, he spent far more time visiting lords and sitting in judgment in market towns than he ever did dwelling at Dragonstone or the Red Keep.
Queen Alysanne usually accompanied him. Her silver dragon and Aegon's great crimson three-headed dragon soared side by side above the countryside, a sight both wondrous and terrifying.
The progresses of Aegon the Conqueror had been massive affairs, often numbering a thousand souls—knights, soldiers, grooms, cooks, and servants. Though awe-inspiring, they placed crushing burdens on the lords who hosted him.
To feed and house so many was no easy task. If the king wished to hunt, the nearby woods were soon scoured bare. Even the richest lord would find his cellars drained, his granaries emptied, and half his maids swelling with bastards once the court had departed.
Remembering these lessons, Aegon II resolved to do things differently.
He decreed that the retinue accompanying him on progress should never exceed one hundred, with twenty knights among them, the rest guards and servants.
"I ride Ghidorah. A god needs no great host to protect him," he said with confidence.
This sharp reduction in numbers allowed him to visit minor lords whose modest keeps could never have housed the massive train that once followed Aegon I. Aegon II wished to travel as widely as possible, to make himself seen by all the realm. At the same time, he stayed only briefly in each place, so as not to burden his hosts or turn himself into an unwelcome guest.
The route of his first royal progress was kept simple: first north through the Crownlands, then into the Vale of Arryn, before returning south again.
Though Aegon II wished Queen Alysanne to accompany him, he planned a gentler, easier journey on account of her pregnancy, hoping to spare her fatigue.
Following this route, they visited Stokeworth and Rosby, then rode along the coast to Duskendale.
In Duskendale, Aegon eagerly toured Lord Darklyn's shipyards and spent an afternoon fishing, while the Queen convened the first "Women's Court."
This soon became a fixture of every progress. The "Women's Court" admitted only women, regardless of age or station. The young Queen encouraged them to speak freely of their fears, troubles, and hopes.
The journey passed peacefully, and Aegon and Alysanne came safely to Maidenpool. They were to remain with Lord and Lady Mooton for half a month before crossing the Bay of Crabs by ship to Wickenden, Gulltown, and the Vale.
Maidenpool was famed for its Sweetwater Springs, where legend claimed Florian the Fool first glimpsed Jonquil bathing in the Age of Heroes. Like countless women before her, Queen Alysanne longed to bathe in Jonquil's Springs, said to possess miraculous healing powers.
Centuries earlier, the Lords of Maidenpool had raised a grand stone bathhouse beside the pool and entrusted its care to the Holy Sisters. Men were forbidden to enter, so when the Queen laid aside her garments and stepped into the sacred waters, she was attended only by her companions, her maids, and the Septas.
Edyth and Lyra, once novices under Septa Ysabel, had since sworn their vows and devoted their lives to the Faith, now serving faithfully at the Queen's side.
Though Aegon's centralizing reforms advanced steadily, with more than half the nobility already on his side, many remained defiant. These malcontents began to plot in secret, seeking ways to halt his designs.
But as the Emperor's power stood unchallenged and his personal might beyond question, the old lords turned their malice instead upon Queen Alysanne and the royal heir in her womb.
Among the Sisters who tended the Jonquil Springs, three had been bribed by the old nobility. They plotted carefully to strike while the Queen bathed.
As soon as she disrobed, the three women drew daggers hidden beneath their robes and revealed their murderous intent.
Yet the assassins were untrained, and they badly underestimated the courage of the women surrounding the Queen.
These women, called "Wise Sisters," though naked and unarmed, flung themselves forward without hesitation, shielding their Queen with their own bodies.
Septa Edyth's face was cut.
Prudence Celtigar took a blade to the shoulder.
Rosamund Ball was stabbed in the belly and died of her wounds three days later.
But Queen Alysanne survived the attempt without harm.
The screams from the bathhouse at last brought her guards running—Ser Joffrey Doggett and Ser Gyles Morrigen of the Kingsguard. Loyal as ever, they had stood watch at the doors, never dreaming the danger would come from within.
They fell upon the assassins like tigers, slaying two outright and taking the third alive for questioning.
Under harsh interrogation, the survivor confessed and named six more Sisters. These had lacked the courage to wield blades but had aided the plot in lesser ways.
When Lord Mooton heard, he was enraged. He wished to hang every accused, even some innocents, sweeping away guilt and innocence alike.
Queen Alysanne forbade it. She urged Mooton to keep them alive for further questioning. She understood her husband's cause and how many interests his reforms had wounded. These women were needed as witnesses to expose the truth.
When news reached Aegon II, his fury was terrible.
In wrath, he abandoned his planned journey into the Vale and resolved to return at once to the safety of the Red Keep, to guard his Queen and their unborn child.
For Aegon knew well—this was no sudden madness of three women. Behind it lay darker powers, lurking in shadow, conspiring against the crown and seeking the blood of the royal house.
He would show no mercy. They would feel the Emperor's wrath, and rivers of blood would flow.
...
Though Queen Alysanne returned safely to the Red Keep to await her child's birth, the attempt left a shadow upon her heart that she could not easily shake.
After much thought, she told the Emperor solemnly:
"I must have my own sworn guard. Your seven Kingsguard are loyal and brave, but they are men. In certain places and at certain times, men are… less fitting."
The Emperor agreed at once. That same night, he sent a raven to Duskendale, summoning the illegitimate sister of the new Lord Darklyn—Jonquil Dark.
During the "White Robe Dispute," Jonquil had disguised herself as the mysterious knight "Scarlet Serpent." With her courage and singular charm, she had won the hearts of the commons.
Within days, Jonquil Dark arrived in King's Landing. Clad still in her crimson garb, proud and fearless, she accepted the post of the Queen's sworn protector without hesitation, her eyes alight with loyalty.
From then on, she was known to all as the "Red Shadow."
Ever after, she was said to be at the Queen's side, a shield no blade could pierce.