Jonquil's Pool

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The attempted assassination of Alysanne Targaryen at Jonquil's Pool, as depicted by Douglas Wheatley in Fire & Blood.

Jonquil's Pool is a famed sweetwater pool in the town of Maidenpool. A bathhouse has been constructed around it.[1] According to legend, Florian the Fool first saw Jonquil and her sisters bathing in the spring-fed pool[2] during the Age of Heroes,[3] inspiring the song "Six Maids in a Pool".[2]

Description

The waters are said to be blessed with healing properties.[1] The town of Maidenpool is named after the pool,[2] and centuries ago House Mooton built a great stone bathhouse around its waters.[1] The bathhouse is maintained by an order of holy sisters from the Faith of the Seven. Men are forbidden from entering the structure and the pool.[1]

History

King Jaehaerys I Targaryen and his sister-wife, Queen Alysanne Targaryen, visited Maidenpool during their first royal progress in 51 AC. Alysanne was pregnant with her first child, and came to Jonquil's Pool to bathe in its healing waters. However, danger awaited her; though the Seven Speakers preached that Alysanne's incestuous marriage to her brother was allowed by the Faith under the Doctrine of Exceptionalism, some of the holy women had not been convinced, and believed their waters would be polluted forever if the queen and her unborn "abomination" were to enter them.[1]

When she entered the bathhouse, Alysanne was accompanied only by her ladies-in-waiting, maids, and septas, while Ser Joffrey Doggett and Ser Gyles Morrigen of the Kingsguard waited outside. As Alysanne disrobed, three of the holy sisters suddenly attacked her with daggers. But the queen was not harmed due to the courage of her Wise Women, who did not hesitate to protect Alysanne despite being naked and unarmed, stepping between her and the assassins. Septa Edyth and Prudence Celtigar were wounded by the daggers, and Rosamund Ball was stabbed in the belly and died three days later. Shouts and screams during the struggle alerted the Kingsguard outside, who entered and slew two of the attackers. The third was spared for questioning, and she confessed the names of six others in the order who had helped plan the assault. The guilty were hanged by Lord Mooton, who might have hanged the innocent members of the order as well, but Queen Alysanne convinced him to spare them.[1]

In response to the attack, the royal couple postponed their progress to the Vale of Arryn, and returned to King's Landing and the safety of Maegor's Holdfast. The former mystery knight Jonquil Darke was called to court to be Alysanne's sworn shield, to go where men could not. Some time later, the queen gave birth to a son, but Prince Aegon Targaryen had been born prematurely, and only lived for three days. Alysanne always believed that her firstborn would not have died if she had been allowed to bathe in Jonquil's Pool.[1]

Recent Events

A Storm of Swords

Maidenpool is sacked three times during the War of the Five Kings.[4] When Ser Jaime Lannister, Brienne of Tarth, and Ser Cleos Frey visit the town, Jonquil's Pool is filled with corpses and its waters appear a murky grey-green. Jaime begins singing the opening line of "Six Maids in a Pool", but Brienne tells him to be quiet.[2]

Quotes

Six maids there were in a spring-fed pool...[2]

Care for a bath, Brienne? You're a maiden and there's the pool. I'll wash your back.[2]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Fire & Blood, Birth, Death, and Betrayal Under King Jaehaerys I.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 21, Jaime III.
  3. A Game of Thrones, Chapter 66, Bran VII.
  4. A Feast for Crows, Chapter 14, Brienne III.