The Palace of Triarchs

Triarch Mellaria Vhassar calls the other Triarchs to a closed meeting, inviting only Prince Aegon Targaryen and his betrothed.

Ser Brandon is offered a refreshment by a buxom slave-girl while he waits, and the Prince [OOC: and Princess?] is/are led into a small room with a circular table with several chairs around it. There are a number of platters on the table, several of them piled with with flaky baked tarts made with peaches and fireplums, and there were also several bowls filled with an assortment of berries topped with cream. Several slaves stood by holding trays with a number of different varieties of honeyed wine.

"Please, be having a seat, Prince of Dragonstone," Triarch Vhassar said, taking her own seat. "My fellow Triarchs are being tardy, I am afraid, I am hoping you will forgive us."

Rhaena arrived with Aegon and sat next to her betrothed, smiling slightly and making the necessary pleasantries upon arriving to the triarch.

Triarch Vhassar frowned at the final Triarch's absence, but did not say anything yet. It was widely known in Volantis that she despised Nyanna Maegyr, though there was practically no indication of that on her face in this meeting. "We are having a quorum, even without him," she said after a while. "Let us be starting, and perhaps he will be arriving to be explaining his rudeness."

"I am wishing first to ask you about the City of Lys, Prince of Westeros," she said, eyeing him carefully. "Their envoy was binging reports that you were murdering a Magister and threatening the city; they were urging us to be turning you away at our gates. However, Volantis is not being so inhospitible as that, and I am wanting to hear your side of the story before I am coming to a judgement. You are being welcome in Volantis regardless what happened, and you are being respected as a guest of honor until you are departing, but if what the Lysene say is being true that will be effecting the bargains hope to be making this day."

"We are agreeing that it is so, here in Volantis. They Lysene are being known for their inhospitability, and for not being respecting of the rights of a guest. I was being sure that you were not committing such an act unless it was being deserved, so I was desiring to hear the entire story," she replied with a knowing nod. "We are knowing that you are already betrothed, Prince of Dragonstone, but I am understanding you have two others sisters who are being unwed? My eldest son is being a year short of twenty, and it is customary for young men to be having their marriages arranged by their twentieth year."

"The Princess Aemy has tragically passed," Aegon replied, his face tightening for a moment. "But the Princess Daenya is yet unwed. She is young and beautiful, and the last of His Grace the King's children to be betrothed. As a parent yourself, I am sure you understand how important it is to the King and Queen to find the right match for her." Aegon kept his tone neutral -- neither eager nor nor dismissive, though he privately did not see what these slavers and spice merchants had to offer above a good lord of Westeros.

"Indeed, it is being most important, to provide matches for our children that are being beneficial to our family and its future," the Triarch replied. "A Vhassar is being Triarch in every year but three, out of the last sixty," she added, with a sidelong glance at the Maegeyr Triarch. "She is sounding perfect for my son, and it is being the desire of many in Volantis to foster closer relations with the Dragonriders. The fifty richest merchants in Volantis are agreeing extend a loan to the Iron Throne, if this marriage is being arranged to the favor of us all," she continued. The Triarch named a figure and an interest rate that made Aegon's eyes bug out of his head; if such a deal was struck, the Iron Throne would be able to pay back well more than 2/3 of what the crown owed the Iron Bank, and the interest rate on this loan was a tiny fraction of what the Iron Bank was charging.

She ignored the other Triarch completely, though for a brief flash her rage was apparent on her face; the idea that one Triarch would try to outmaneuver or undercut another in the middle of meeting with foreign dignitaries was unconscionable, though she quickly maintained her composure and watched for Aegon's response.

"Certainly. I fear I may have been too blunt," she said. "I am overly hasty with the common tongue, it is true. It was not my intention to suggest that the proposed match with my esteemed colleague's son would not be welcomed by House Maegyr and the tigers. Far from it. However, I would certainly like to propose a match with the tigers as a supplement to the other. I have an unmarried brother and niece, either of whom would make most suitable consorts for any members of your house in need of a spouse. Furthermore, should the right candidate be proposed, the wealth of House Maegyr may offer a bridal gift of fifty thousand gold honours and ten ships to be commissioned upon the occasion of the wedding."

Aegon looked from one foreign woman to the other. It seemed Westeros was not the only nation with inner tension. After Vhassar had all but stormed out, Aegon returned his attention to Maegyr. "You understand, Triarch, that the Princess Daenya's marriage is of great concern to my father, and it is our custom to marry those of the royal line as closely together as possible. But it strikes me that my Uncle Varryn is yet unwed. He is a clever man, strong of character, and would make a fine husband... so long as your generous gift remains on the table, of course."

"His Grace's cousin," Aegon replied. At least Aegon thought that was right -- his family had less of a family tree and more of an overgrown, thorny family bush. "A full-blooded Targaryen. He has no lands, but perhaps the king may fit to grant him a castle if he has a wife to support."

"There are many landed men in Westeros. Fewer landed Targaryens, and none of them single. A year ago there would have been more options to offer you, but now?" He shrugged. Finding a marriage prospect for the Maegyrs was not a pressing concern for him.

"We would be happy to arrange a suitable trading relationship," said Nyanna. "Though my esteemed colleague and Master Azantys would be the best people to discuss such matters. But nonetheless, princess, feel free to call upon me at any time. I will welcome your company. I would be happy to offer you a guide to the city, if you wish it."

She turned back to Aegon. "Perhaps you may tell me something of these other lords, esteemed prince. Westeros was Seven Kingdoms once. I know the former kings bent the knee to your Aegon the Conqueror. Do their descendants not still hold the lands they ruled before the Conqueror? I know a little of your kingdom's wars and was sure this was the case."