As the King was lost in his private reverie, a page announced the arrival of another set of guests.
"Presenting Lord Jeor Arryn, Warden of the East, and his mother, Sansa Arryn!"
Before we begin with their introduction, let's talk a little bit about what led up to this moment. It was quite easy for them to strut around like they owned the place, these two, because for a time, before the death of Jon and Danaerys, they practically did. For a period of over 10 years - from Jeor's third year in 306, to the assassination of the previous King in 318 - the two had lived in King's Landing, the darling of its social circles, and Sansa herself remained for much of the time right until 325. Jeor had grown up alongside the two elder princes. From the moment of his first thought, he had known that he would never have any brothers or sisters, and tried his best to make up for it with the other boys. Up until his thirteenth birthday, he was - or would have himself be - their profound friend and ally.
As for Sansa, having long since made her peace with her bastard brother, she took it upon herself to become an aunt to all three of them. It was easy for her to do; the hardness of her heart in the face of her family's betrayal and her guardian's machinations did not forbear her capacity to love, nor her willingness to pour it forth for anyone she felt could take it and keep it. That included, of course, Danaerys's three boys. She had held her hand through all three births.
When Jon and Danaerys were killed, Sansa mourned at their funeral even as their house remained a strong ally to the Tyrells. That had been Petyr Baelish's doing; he was the Seneschal and he saw at once which way the wind was blowing. For seven glorious years, the Tyrells could could on the Arryns having their back.
Then Jeor Arryn assumed the mantle of leadership, recalled his mother to the Vale, threw his Seneschal out of the Moon Door, and proceeded to keep his own counsel privately. Since then, they have been enigmatic.
Even though they arrived last, it took them long to get there, almost as long as the Starks. First, there was the long and winding road down from the Eyrie, where Jeor and his household - his wife, two of his three children, his mother, and his household retainers. From there, he proceeded east to Gulltown, to rendezvous with others who would join them. He also dropped off his wife and the two children, the better to stay with the other child and with her parents. Wife deposited and retinue in hand, the whole Arryn party took to a ship and sailed around to King's Landing.
In addition to Jeor and his mother, the party included seven knights, 20 of Jeor's household serjeants-at-mace, and 12 servants including a cook. The ten knights had all been the top contestants in a tourney held three months prior in the Vale, the sole purpose of which was to determine who would be permitted to attend this tourney here in King's Landing. The winner of said tourney was Ser Lyance Corbray, cousin to Ser Lyonnel Corbray the Knight of Ninestars. By general acclaim, he was one of the top 10 knights in the Seven Kingdoms, and his cousin had bid him wear to King's Landing the family's Valyrian sword Forlorn, to the honor of Ninestars and of the Vale, and perhaps to earn a seat on the Kingsguard. The rest were all solid contenders in their own right, and were here to provide a fine spectacle for the King's entertainment at the jousting and melee. Jeor had brought his best, and his best was quality stuff indeed.
But soft, let us not linger over-much on Jeor, for as soon as he was announced but before he could speak his part, his mother Sansa cut him off to approach the king. She was now one of the great women of Westeros, and she and Margaery had spent the last 30 years in a continual quadrille of cooperation and betrayal. She was profoundly tall, for a woman, and skeletally thin, but she moved with pronounced and profound vigor.
"Your Grace," she said with a deep curtsy. "It has been long since last we saw one another. My congratulations on your coming wedding." Then she flashed him a smile.
"May an old woman embrace her nephew?"
