As with all the children of Highgarden, Seokjin learns the quickest path to the centre of the briar labarynth before his eighth birthday. It takes half a year of practice to remember not to run into dead ends, or cheat the brambles by ducking through holes forged by countless impatient children before him. But standing alone, in the centre of his universe, he feels it’s worth it.

Years later, Seokjin stands before the Red Keep in King’s Landing, and wonders when the world got so big.

“Seokjin Tyrell, of Highgarden!” the crier croaks around the horns that step before him to mark his path. Green and yellow banners line the halls and the queen smiles when he bows to her, and he knows that to interpret any of it as a sincere gesture of goodfaith will run him into a dead end.

Or into the grave.

Seokjin bows, “my lady,” and his smile is just as politically candid as hers. At age eighteen, Seokjin begins to navigate the nobility on his own terms, safe in the knowledge that he’s played this game before.