Rhea Reyne

Rhea Reyne c. 380 AC

**Rhea Reyne** is a member of House Reyne of Castamere, and the only daughter in the main line. She is an accomplished tourney knight despite her young age, competing under the names **The Stillwater Knight**, **The Knight of the Mere**, and  **The Knight of Cups**

## Biography

### Early Life

Rhea was born in the year 360 AC, the last of Lord Reynard Reyne and Lady Jeyne Lannister's trueborn children, and their only daughter. A hale and hearty girl, she was doted on by her mother from an early age, but her father was... less than warm. It wasn't exactly her fault, but Reynard Reyne was a cold man by nature, more focused on the game of thrones and the matters of his sons than a girl.

From an early age, like many a young girl in Westeros, Rhea was enamored with the tales of chivalry of old- however, unlike many, who saw these virtuous, skilled knights as the ideal man, a sort of hero to fawn over, Rhea saw them as the people she wanted to *be*. As soon as she was old enough, she started going out into the yard, tussling with her elder brothers, her cousins, the castle guards, anyone who was willing to humor the girl's delusions. Unlike most lady knights, who took to the joust or to swordplay, Rhea found herself enamored with tales of her goodfamily, the Baratheons. Her uncle Lyonel and his line were like gods in the young Rhea's eyes, and she took to the maul readily, eventually being given a gilded hammer by her father, one that she trained with religiously.

Tragedy stuck the house of Castamere when Lady Jeyne was stricken with illness. After many months of languishing, the Lady of Castamere took her own life rather than continue to suffer, leading to a loud upheaval in the house after the septon preached of her 'grave sin' at the funerary proceedings. Rhea, having been close to her mother for most of her life, was particularly hard-hit by the loss, and often blamed herself for her mother's actions.

### Lady of the Mere

In 370 A.C., Rhea's brothers, Robert and Alyn, left with their cousin Prince Aegon for a tour of Essos. Young Rhea didn't understand why her brothers were leaving, or where they were going, but what she did understand, and immediately noticed, was that her father was suddenly paying a lot more attention to her. He wasn't kind. Rhea was relentlessly drilled in the manners expected of a lady of the nobility (Courtly), and given a full, comprehensive education in economics, statecraft, and even warfare. It was as if Reynard had gone from having zero interest in Rhea's existence outside of making sure she lived to majority, to treating her as if she was the only person in the house- even neglecting her other brother at times to instruct Rhea. She also went abroad during this time- provisionally, it was to make connections and possibly arrange a betrothal, but in practice it was an attempt by Reynard to find willing tutors for his daughter's skills-at-arms, though he never told her such. Among those who had instructed her were Joffrey Clegane and Leyon Hightower, who instructed her in arms and armored combat

By the time her brothers returned from Essos in 376, Rhea was a woman grown, and her time under her father's thumb had changed her. She was a much more angry woman, short-tempered and anxious, and that translated to her relationships and her fighting alike. She grew impatient, angry, and quick to rage in battle, and her relationships with her elder brothers, save for Cedric, quickly hit a breaking point. Robert, the eldest, was often given a shove to arm's length, while Alyn, the second, was outright *scalded* at best, often bullied or disparaged for his perceived 'lack of manhood'. In the entirety of House Reyne, only her cousins, and perhaps her bastard brother Olyvar, on occasion, had her attention for more than a scornful glance.

During her teenage years, Rhea often traveled across the realm at her father's behest, in search of worthy teachers under the guise of betrothals. She grew close to her Baratheon cousins during this time, often training in the yards of Storm's End with Steffon and Robert Baratheon whenever the three found themselves there.

Starting in 377, Rhea took the name of the Stillwater Knight and began participating in tourneys across Westeros, alongside her half-brother Olyvar. She competed in many tourneys during that short time, including an excellent showing at the Tourney of Lannisport where she crossed blades with her uncle, the King, but it was the Wet Wedding of 378 that brought her the most acclaim. There, she managed to completely outclass most all of her opponents in the melee, defeating the likes of Crake Crakehall and Steffon Baratheon to eventually win the melee and reveal herself to the crowd, who responded… poorly. With even her own uncle cursing and frothing with rage at the embarrassment, the heartbroken lady fled Storm's End forthwith, returning to Castamere. She would not compete again until Dalton Greyjoy's Great Tourney of Pyke a year later, where she would turn in a dismal performance at the melee. However, when she unmasked this time, the Ironborn met her valor with cheers rather than scorn. Rhea has held a fondness for the Isles and Lord Greyjoy ever since.

### The Dragon's Defiance

The War changed Rhea more than any other event in her life. Whereas she had a sort of idealized depiction of the whole affair thanks to her books of chivalry and such, the real war made less sense to her- her uncle killed her cousin, who was married to her cousin, and her cousin's father, her uncle, declared war on him for it, but her uncle who was the king said that her cousin the prince had murdered her cousin, his wife. It made no sense, it angered her, and it scared her, but Rhea was never the type to back down from a fight.

She went to war.

Rhea fought alongside her father in the open field at High Heart, where she dueled Lord Beck Dragonfly during his famed Stand, only to be dragged off the field after his spear slipped through her armor and struck deep into her arm. Her uncle, Addam, was killed in the fighting, and her cousin lost an eye to Tully archers. Rhea's first taste of war had not been a good one. She wouldn't fight again until the defense of King's Landing, where she stood alongside her liege lord and her father in the attempted defense of the city. When Reynard died, Rhea witnessed it with her own eyes. Had it not been for the watchful eye and strong arm of Joffrey Clegane, she'd have likely joined him.

After the war was done, Rhea found herself profoundly changed by the experience. Her smiles and upbeat nature felt disingenuous and forced, a cover for deep-seated hatred for herself and those she felt were responsible for the suffering of herself and the rest of the realm, and for the anxieties that now plagued her with her father's firm hand removed from her life. She has few friends, even among her family, and finds herself unable to trust what were once her closest confidants. The reality that she is a woman in a man's world is now fully hitting home, and the truth hurts. How she'll face it, she doesn't know.