*ੈ✩‧₊˚as high as honor— alya arryn in the cerennaverse.₊˚✩‧*ੈ
hey goats... we're back again with another installment of the moot's ocs in the cerennaverse series! this time we're kiking with @lovesonglilies's alya arryn! now i've known my little goat for some time now, and it's a but scary to characterize her for the first time on my own, but here we are! here we be!
#livelaughlove #stopasianhate. and by asian hate I mean criticism of me. thank you.
also thanks soph for creative directing this!! mwah
*ੈ✩‧₊˚a songbird in the falcon's nest.₊˚✩‧*ੈ
when lysa tully found out she was with child, and so soon after her wedding, she was delighted. cat was pregnant too, their sons would be the greatest of friends, like lord robert and eddard stark! As the rebellion raged beyond the walls of riverrun, robert baratheon leading both her husband and catelyn's into battle after battle and winning (though everyone knows jon arryn would be the real power behind the throne if robert were to topple the targaryens), lysa's belly grew as catelyn's did. the girls were delighted— and despite lysa's apprehension about her much older husband, this new babe, her golden son, will be her sole joy in life!
then, in the early days of the next year, both catelyn and lysa go into labor within days of one another. cat brings her boy into the world first, a strong and robust little heir for house stark and the north, and lysa... when her baby girl is born, she can barely bring herself to look upon the squalling thing. she refuses to even name the babe, sending the girl to the nursery while catelyn delights in her newborn pup.
when robert baratheon does win the war, jon arryn is appointed hand of the king, and lysa comes to court... with her daughter. jon is absolutely delighted and dotes on his baby girl, naming her alya and showering her in fine clothes and expensive toys, but lysa cannot even watch the girl in her cradle without feeling some sort of resentment. miscarriage after miscarriage makes lady arryn even more fragile, and the sight of little alya growing more and more robust, taking more of her husband's attention (when he's not entirely occupied with affairs of state), filled her with something poisonous she herself did not understand.
as for alya herself, she was a sunny girl, adored and cherished by her powerful father despite her mother's scorn and strict reprimands. she grew up as the close playmate of the princess cerenna, the eldest daughter of king robert and queen cersei, and the two of them often seen giggling and playing together. gentle and timid alya was the perfect balance to the vivacious and demanding cerenna; the two girls often terrorizing the kitchens together for pastries and playing with their own little siblings: cerenna's younger brother and sister, tommen and myrcella, as well as frail little robert, alya's brother. alya and cerenna also grew quite fond of stories, begging their nurses tell the romances of brave knights and blushing maids several times nightly.
alya always tried her hardest to endear herself to her mother, hoping that if she were good enough at embroidery or music or dance, if she played cyvasse well enough or presented herself prettily, lady lysa would show pride. alas, it seems lady arryn had nothing of the sort for her daughter, even as she grew into a young lady of great beauty.
*ੈ✩‧₊˚the game of thrones.₊˚✩‧*ੈ
a betrothal was floated by jon arryn between alya and prince joffrey, the heir to the iron throne— but alya was not pleased. as handsome as the prince was, he was cruel and entitled, always barging in on cerenna in her chambers or commanding his hound to set upon hapless victims he'd choose with glee. however, that betrothal never came to pass. jon arryn died around alya's eighteenth nameday, and lady lysa flees to the vale of arryn with her two children, vanishing from the capital while the royal family visited winterfell.
alya came to adore the vale, but she found difficulty adjusting to life without her father. her mother was named regent for sickly and odd little sweetrobin, and it seems the power went to her head. alya found herself fighting more and more with her mother, and it became so frequent that on one emotion-fueled night, lady lysa orders her daughter confined in the maiden's tower, high and isolated.
alya would sit in her tower, her only companion being her maids and her cat symon, writing letters to her friend cerenna, practicing her embroidery, drawing and painting, or reading the tales she loved so much in king's landing. she was denied nothing, for the only sister of the lord of the eyrie is quite the valuable maiden, but a gilded cage is a cage just the same. alya, used to the freedom king's landing provided, wondered if she would ever see the outside of this tower or the eyrie's grounds ever again.
when her cousin robb sent his mother, lady catelyn, to treat with his aunt again, the dowager lady of winterfell was horrified seeing her lovely niece so strictly confined. lysa saw no issue, for it was her command, but catelyn know she had to take this into her own hands. she entered alya's maiden's tower and asked after her; all alya had to do was ask, and she was being smuggled from the eyrie, through of the mountains of the moon, and into the riverlands. reunited with her friend of childhood and her cousin (though she did not know robb all that well), alya felt free at long last. moons and moons of confinement had taught her that freedom is precious, independence is priceless, and that the only power a girl has in a world such as this is through her husband... or her blood.
alya was the witness to robb stark and cerenna baratheon's legendary love story, often aiding her friend in seeking the affections of the king in the north. she was the sole witness of the rushed wedding at the crag, as the constant companion to her friend and now her queen. she was asked to write to her mother and convince her to send the knights of the vale to aid her cousin's cause, but she knew her words would fall on deaf ears. until her beloved aunt catelyn died in the red wedding, of course. she wrote to her mother then, a scathing letter reminding her that if she had sent the men when robb had asked first, there would have been no need to turn to house frey. there would have been no red wedding.
lysa arryn did not respond. she did, however, send the knights of the vale, who arrived weeks later.
after robb stark won the iron throne, alya arryn was happy to return to king's landing, the home of her childhood. she served queen cerenna as her principal lady-in-waiting for a time, before begging her leave to return to the eyrie. she knew her brother robin had taken ill, and though she often found him whiny or mercurial, he was still her brother. cerenna allowed her to go, and so alya went east, up the mountains, and back to the eyrie.
she found her lady mother in a teary-eyed state of paranoia. guarding her ailing son like a dragon hoarding treasure, lysa arryn refused to let alya even come near him as his health declined. "you're poisoning him," she would hiss. "it should have been you."
alya, mortified, continued her attempts to nurse robert, her generosity, humility, and kindness impressing her brother's courtiers. no matter what venom lady lysa spewed, the valemen paid her dust. they came to love their future lady, naming her "sweet aly" or "our little falcon". lady lysa called upon her childhood friend, petyr baelish, in order to help her secure power in the vale yet again, but he was markedly unpopular when he assumed the regency. the lords of the vale saw "littlefinger" for what he was, and though he tried to endear himself to alya behind closed doors, she liked him not.
*ੈ✩‧₊˚lady of the eyrie.₊˚✩‧*ੈ
when little robert arryn breathed his last, it was lady lysa and petyr baelish who knew first. they married in great haste, elevating petyr to the station required to forcibly take up the regency before alya even knew she was lady of the eyrie. when she did find out, she was livid. she was confined to her maiden's tower by littlefinger and her mother, who had bought the allegiance of the eyrie's guard, but they seemed to forget she knew the eyrie well by now. servants were loyal to her, the lords adored her, the people wanted her. she got a raven out to queen cerenna, and in just a few weeks, robb stark sent a company of men to liberate his dear cousin and apprehend littlefinger.
alya was always averse to violence. she did not enjoy her next task, she had no desire to harm anyone, but she knew what must be done. but instead of waiting for his execution, petyr baelish demanded a trial by combat. alya arryn was at a loss for a champion. she had no idea what to do, there was no knight who could stand against whatever costly fighter littlefinger's gold would buy... until garlan tyrell arrived at court.
an envoy for willas and sansa tyrell, garlan and his wife leonette came to the eyrie to discuss trade. garlan saw the dilemma in front of the lady of the vale, and he could not just sit by and watch. he declared his intent to fight for alya's cause, determined to see honor and justice prevail. he fought the essosi assassin littlefinger hired in alyssa arryn's garden the morning after he was chosen as champion, prevailing with great difficulty. petyr baelish was put to death, and alya arryn was free at last. her mother was spared, but lady lysa was sent to riverrun to stay with her brother edmure. she cursed her daughter the whole way.
she was a fair and just lady, giving a great deal to charities and educational causes, sending men to abate and discipline the mountain clans and stop the raiding along the winding roads which through the mountains of the moon. however, her lords were constantly nipping at her heels. they'd seen a lady capable enough to rule in the likes of Jeyne Arryn, but that was not their issue. lady alya was unmarried, and because she was the last of her line, it was paramount she sire an heir. and quickly.
*ੈ✩‧₊˚her most loyal knight.₊˚✩‧*ੈ
lady alya understood her courtiers' concerns. she knew her lords only wished for the arryn line to continue, but she despised the husband they chose for her. harrold hardyng was handsome, yes, tall and golden-haired and athletic, but he was boorish and arrogant and ridiculous. he was her heir, ambitious enough to "accelerate" his ascension, so she knew she had to act before harry had the chance. she married him, albeit begrudgingly, though she loathed him entirely.
harry was unsatisfied with the role of lord consort, but he grew accustomed to life at the eyrie. an endless parade of mistresses resulted in bastard after bastard, humiliating alya and filling her with resentment. as if that was not enough, he openly stated that his ancestry made him "just much an arryn as his wife was", clumsily alluding to the fact that he would make a better lord. alya was beyond angry. she even considered executing him on charges of treason and conspiracy, but she could not do it.
instead, she found comfort in her friend, ser garlan tyrell. he had stayed on at court as an ambassador from the reach, especially when his wife had died of green fever. garlan was intelligent and kind, he respected her and often asked for her favor during tourneys. he often broke lance after lance with lord harrold, winning jousts and crowning his lady queen of love and beauty. alya would repay him in kind with a seat on his council (which he was qualified for, of course), as well as her constant company. the two of them were often seen in the gardens together reading poetry or listening to singers and musicians, as well as dancing at balls or strolling in the snow together.
ser garlan was cultured and warm and gentle, and alya found herself drawn to the knight, despite the potential scandal. charged looks and brushing hands became chaste kisses in corridors, and soon enough, an affair began. alya cared little for her husband's thoughts on the matter— he had his lovers, she had hers'. she came to love garlan, truly; he did not see her as a wide-eyed girl to manipulate or a lady paramount to be obeyed. he revered her, he adored her, he worshipped her... he knew her. how could alya not love him back?
When they were discovered by alya's husband in flagrante delicto, alya panicked. harrold took the case to the lords of the vale, declaring his wife a harlot and demanding her abdication and retirement to the silent sisters. alya denied the claim, stating the affection between herself and ser garlan was simply that of a knight and his lady. though the lords of the vale took her side, always loyal to their lady, lord harrold demanded a trial by combat. he was determined to take down garlan tyrell once and for all. he failed.
ser garlan fought him valiantly and nobly, wearing alya's favor around his wrist as he cut her husband down. exonerated, alya married her beloved knight in great pomp and style, the glamorous event attended by all the great lords and ladies of the realm. queen cerenna congratulated her friend, who she had always kept in touch with, on finding love at last with a lavish wedding gift— ten elegant white palfreys, a suite of ruby and pearl jewellery, and a collection of illuminated manuscripts, retelling the tales they'd loved as girls. lady alya arryn had it all at last— love, freedom, and happiness. a happy ending if ever there was one.
