As the echoes of the coronation faded and the lords returned to their keeps, whispers stirred beneath each noble roof.
In the North, Lord Rickon Stark stood by the godswood in Winterfell, the frost of morning clinging to his beard. "A Targaryen crowned," he muttered, "and dragons stirring. Let us hope their flames stay far from our snows." But in his heart, he felt the pull of ancient oaths—and the dread of southern folly.
At Riverrun, Lord Grover Tully traced the carved fish on his chair, his brow furrowed. "Too many dragons for one sky," he said to his maester. ",Too much pride." He would send his banners when called—but not before weighing the river's flow.
In the Eyrie, the young Lord Gerold Arryn was all eagerness and valiant words. "The blood of the dragon is strong again," he said. His aunt, Lady Jeyne, smiled thinly and whispered of past fires that had burned too bright and too wild.
The Stormlands remained silent. Lord Boremund Baratheon sent no word, only watched the sea from his tower, his gaze stormy and skeptical. He remembered Maegor's rule, and the price of silence.
In Oldtown, Otto Hightower sat in his study, fingers steepled, his daughter Alicent listening quietly beside him. "Viserys rules now," Otto said, "but dreams do not make kings. Ambition does."
In Driftmark, Lord Corlys Velaryon walked the hall of his ancestors. The Sea Snake smiled, but his thoughts churned like tide. "My blood now stands beside the crown," he mused. "But for how long?"
In the Westerlands, Lord Jason Lannister drank from a goblet of golden wine, his smirk never fading. "Let the dragons roar," he said. "The lion does not fear fire—so long as it knows when to crouch and when to strike."
And in the Reach, the Faith whispered louder. The High Septon's words, veiled in scripture, stirred doubt and obedience alike. "When kings dance with dragons," he told a gathering of septons, "it is the gods who decide the victor."
Across Westeros, eyes turned east, toward King's Landing.
And every lord asked the same question:
Would this dragon bring peace—or fire