Only the intervention of Aelira had prevented the king from unleashing his full fury upon the family. She had been born a Valecroft, and although she had long since become queen, the blood ties had not disappeared simply because she wore a crown.
Cedric had fallen to his knees before the throne and offered drunkenness as his excuse, claiming he had been wildly intoxicated, unable to control his senses to understand what he was doing. It was a pathetic explanation, and Ardyn had nearly killed him for it. Ardyn had drawn his sword, ready to take the young lord's head where he knelt.
It was Rhaelynn who had thrown herself at the King's boots, weeping dramatically, crying out that if Cedric died, Rimea's honor and reputation would be ruined forever. She had spoken of her daughter's future, of the whispers that would follow her through every court in the five realms, and she claimed no respectable high lord would ever take a ruined princess as wife.
