Was It Black For Weddings and White For Funerals Or The Other Way Around?

A Tyrell and A Martell Sharing The Same Husband? That Was Sure To Wake The Dead, Or At Least Creates Some New Dead. What None Expected However, Was For The Dead Person In Question To Have No Bloodline Connection To Either Family. Lord Jon Connington Had Died In His Sleep, A Result From His Prolonged Illness and Refusal To Resign To Attend To It. Aegon Had Orchestrated His Uncles **** True, But He Never Expected The Griffin Lord To Die Soon After. This Left Him Out An Able-Bodied Hand, and Eddard Stark Had Been Having That "Eddard Stark Shouldn't Be In A Brothel" Look On His Face Of Late, So Aegon Offered For Him To Resign His Position On The Council To A More Able-Bodied Northerner For The Position Of Master Of Ships.

The Northerners Aegon Suggested Were Eddard's Distant Relation Lord Rickard Karstark, The Richest Man In The North Lord Wyman Manderly, and Eddard's Own Son Robb. With These Men In Mind, Eddard Pointed Out That Lord Wyman Was The Best Choice, Due To His Seat Of White Harbor Being The Main and Only Real Port Of The North. But Aegon Countered That That Assessment Was Only True If He Wanted A Mercantile Fleet. Lord Karstark Though A Man Of Landed Combat, Could Easily Produce One Of The Finest Navies For Military Operations In The History Of The Seven Kingdoms and The World. While The Young Wolf That Was Lord Robb Stark Had Enough Youthful Charisma and Quick Thinking To Make An Able-Bodied and Expert Battle Commander.

Upon Hearing This, Lord Stark Realised Aegon Had Plans For A War, and While He Never Stated Who Or What The Enemy Was, He Made It Clear The Master Of Ships Would Be Key To Victory. So He Suggested Aegon Take Lord Karstark. But Aegon Having Decided To Invite Him Into The Grand Scheme Of Things Surprised Him By Instead Taking Lord Manderly and Offering Eddard Himself A Special Seat As An Advisor, For The Invasion Of The Stepstones and Lord Karstark Would Come To Kingslanding To Fill A Commission To Lead The Armies Of The Crown Into Battle, With Robb Stark As His Second. The Pirates In The Straits Were Proven Troublesome, Because They Were Beginning To Grow Bolder and Bolder In Their Raids, Leaving Aegon Little Choice But To Invade At Some Point Or Another To Slap Them Down Like A Mangy Cur Getting To Big For It's Britches.

Aegon Would Annex The Stepstones Into The Seven Kingdoms, and Add Them Into His Realm As Part Of Dorne. By Controlling The Islands Dorne Would Gain A Strategic Point In The Defense Of The Seven Kingdoms Southern End. The Islands Were A Breeding Ground For Pirates Due To It's Location Perfectly Positioned To Raid Trade Shipments, But By Annexing It Into Dorne, Aegon Acquired A Valuable Position Of Strength and Trade For Dorne. He Would Also Gain Gratitude Of The Merchants Who Traversed That Section Of The Seas Into Westeros, Because It Meant That The Raider Presence Was Eradicated and A New Number Of Ports Would Be Opened Up For Dorne and Thus Bring In More Trade. Aegon Planned To Gift One Of The Islands To House Jordayne, Another To House Martell For Trystane To Rule Over, and The Third Main Island Would Serve As The Royal Port For Supply and Defense Of Dornish and Reach Shores. The Third One Was To Be Controlled Directly By The Crown, Which Would Have Salty Dornish Working The Boats, Men Of The Reach and Stormlands Would Protect The Isles Shores, and Men Of Westerlands Working The Trade and Commerce Affairs.

Aegon Was Keenly Aware That In Spite Of Solidifying Dornish Rule As Well As The Legitimacy Of House Tyrell's Rule Over The Reach, There Was Still The Matter Of The Blackfyre Children: Visenya and Her Brother Daegon. Both Unwed and A Threat To His Reign and His Future Heirs. While It'd Be Far Simpler To Kill Them and Be Done With It, Aegon Figured The Best Way To Deal With It Would Be To Have The Boy Prove Himself In The Coming Conflict, While His Sister Could be Married To Willas Tyrell, In Order To Tie Down One Blackfyre To A House Whose Greatest Loyalty Was To Their King For The Boon Of The Marriage To Their Only Daughter and Potential Female Heir. This Left Rhaenys and Dany Free To Marry, and If The Brother Died In The Coming War In The Stepstones, That Wasn't A Terrible Outcome. But Aegon Knew That If The Brother Survived The War, He'd Have The Chance To Revive The Blackfyre Dynasty, and Be Free To Marry A Lass Of His Choosing, Within Reason.

Aegon Sat In The Small Council Chamber With The Small Council, His Mothers, His Northern Advisor Lord Eddard Stark, Lord Rickard Karstark, Lord Wyman Manderly, The Young Robb Stark, Lord Tyrell, and Arianne and Margaery. "First Things First, Lord Manderly, Your The New Master Of Ships. We Offered The Position To Lord Stark As A Test, and Seeing As He Passed We're Ready To Move Forward With Our Plans. This Brings Me To The Three Other Northerners In The Room Not Including Lord Stark and My Stepmother." Says Aegon. "What About Me Your Grace?" Asks Karstark. "You Were One Of The Three We Considered To Replace Lord Eddard, But Ultimately Your Best Use Is As A General On The Field Of Battle, Not At Sea, Which Is Why We're Offering You A Military Commission To Lead Our Armies In The Coming Fight. Young Lord Robb Shall Serve You As Your Second." Says Aegon. "I'm Sorry Your Grace, But Who We Fighting Against?" Asks Robb. "Lord Tyrion? If You Would?" Asks Aegon. "The Stepstones Have Become A Problem." Says Tyrion.

"Define Problem?" Asks Karstark. "Raiding Is At An All Time High, Ships Make It In Scarred From Battle More Than Half Their Ruined Beyond Selling Quality On Average, Some Don't Even Make It Here and Leave Due To Damage To Their Ships and Crews." Explains Varys Further. "We Conquered It Once, But That Was When We Had True and Fully Grown Dragons, We're Gonna Need The Ships, The Men, and The Right Officers To Lead Them Into The Coming Battle. I Want A List Of The Best Military Men In The Seven Kingdoms, Who Can Still Fight By The End Of The Week." Says Aegon. "That Could Take A While Your Grace." Says Tyrion. "Which Is Why I'm Having The New Hand In Charge Of Helping With It, Ser Arthur? Send Him In." Says Aegon, and Arthur Bows and Opens The Doors.

When The Doors Open To Show The New Hand Of The King, A Few Men Are Shocked, A Few Are Speechless, and A Few Are Clearly Considering Reaching For Their Swords.......