Andy's Book Club Andy Zhou

When the gods take with one hand, they give with the other. Over the years, the Good Queen Alysanne would be blessed with many more children. But at the same time, tragedies would strike as she would lose a few children as well, due to disease and other complications. The realm, although otherwise prosperous under the good rule of Jaehaerys, would be struck with an unusually cold winter and a pandemic called the Shivers. The wheel of fortune turns, and there's no way for even House Targaryen, as powerful as they are, to escape the whims of fortune.

The reign of Jaehaerys and Alysanne is considered to be a golden age for Westeros. Under the watchful eyes of the King and Queen, the populations of all major cities in Westeros grew, and food prices fell. However, not all was going perfectly. The Princess Aerea, daughter of Rhaena and niece to Jaehaerys, was still missing. She had ran away from home on the back of Balerion. Further, Elissa Farman had stolen three dragon eggs from Dreamfyre and was still at large. All this was going on while delegations arrived from Tyrosh and Pentos. The two city states had been at war and requested that Jaehaerys host them in King's Landing to have a neutral ground where they can discuss peace terms. Jaehaerys could not pass up this opportunity to increase his influence in Essos, but rather inconveniently, he had announced his royal procession to the North already and did not want to cancel it last minute for fear of angering Lord Alaric Stark. Thus, a compromise was reached, it would be Queen Alysanne who would embark on this procession alone.

The wheel of fortune turns. Sometimes when the gods give with one hand they take with the other. The years leading up to 54 AC would bring with it many joyous events such as the birth of King Jaehaery's new half brother. However, other tragedies would befall House Targaryen with the deaths of Queen Dowager Alyssa, the High Septon, and the tragedy involving Rhaena's husband Androw Farman who finally had enough of abuse and ridicule from Rhaena and decided to take his revenge in a violent way.

Jaehaerys was apprehensive about announcing his marriage to the realm. He had seen the kind of pushback his older siblings, Rhaena and Aegon the Uncrowned, had received when they announced their marriage. Jaehaerys wanted to make absolutely sure that there would be no Faith rebellion. To this end, he assembled a team of seven preachers, whose job it would be to travel all over Westeros and argue for the Doctrine of Exceptionalism. The Doctrine of Exceptionalism states that Targaryens ought to be treated differently compared to other people, since Targaryens were descendants of Old Valyria, whose people practiced incest on a regular basis.

The year of 49 AC started off with a bang, with Rhaena announcing her marriage to Androw Farman, the second son of Lord Marq Farman, the ruler of Fair Isle. This announcement was not without its controversy, as Rhaena had not informed nor invited her mother Queen Dowager Alyssa to the wedding ceremony. Lord Rogar Baratheon, the Hand of the King, would announce another big marriage between himself and Queen Dowager Alyssa, finally uniting the two most powerful people in Westeros (as well as two of the most powerful houses in Westeros, with Queen Dowager Alyssa being from House Velaryon). The issue now became who Jaehaerys and his sister, the princess Alysanne, would marry. And when it came to the topic of marriage, Jaehaerys and Alysanne had both already made up their minds as to who they wanted to marry.

After the terror of Maegor the Cruel, Jaehaerys, the 3rd son of King Aenys and Queen Alyssa, and grandson of Aegon the Conqueror, ascended the Iron Throne at the tender age of 14. The realm held its breath in nervous anticipation, having been traumatized by the Maegor in recent years. Jaehaerys would meet many challenges immediately, such as how to deal with the Faith of the Seven and a small rebellion led by a loud, fat, and charismatic septon named Septon Moon. Can Jaehaerys undo the damage that had been done and lead Westeros into a golden age?