Bethany Hayford

Lady Bethany Hayford is the current Lady of Hayford, ruling in her own right over the town and castle in the Crownlands just outside King's Landing. She is the daughter of the former Master of Coin, Lord Steffon Hayford, whom she succeeded in the Lordship. Lady Bethany is the widow of Ser Gilbert Mallery, whom she bore four children, which, according to the marriage agreement, bear the Hayford name.

Appearance and Character
In her youth, Lady Bethany was known as a great beauty, or at the very least pleasant to behold, making her a popular member of the court at King’s Landing. That golden-haired attractiveness has not faded away entirely, but is slowly transforming into a more dignified appearance, befitting that of a matriarch ruling over her own castle.

Lady Bethany is fully immersed into her role as Lady Regnant with all her personality, being diligent in her administrative work and ambitious with regards to her goals set by herself, and in the course oftentimes shows a great love for coin and takes pride in her exalted station. She is gregarious as a noble court often requires it, and quite honest with those she considers friends, but also always looking out for potential risks that might lie in the relation to others, preferring to be rather too paranoid than too trusting.

Early Life
In 365 AC, Lord Steffon Hayford’s wife gave birth to their first daughter, whom they named Bethany, shortly after Lord Steffon had moved into the City of King’s Landing after being named Master of Coin by King Aenar Targaryen. Young Lady Bethany was tutored at the court of the Red Keep, as was her younger sister Myrcella, who followed her in 368 AC.

From early on, Bethany learned skills relating to diplomacy and stewardship, the former from her interactions at court, which she greatly enjoyed, the latter from her father, who after a few years had given up the expectation that his Lady Wife would bear him another child, thus making Bethany the expected heiress, nothing unusual for House Hayford, as both Lord Steffon’s mother and his grandmother Ermesande had ruled in their own right. Young Bethany became a charismatic and reputable member of the Royal Court, and from time to time dabbled into courtly intrigue, although she spent not much time of it, preferring more honest means to achieve her goals.

Accompanying her regular noble education, Bethany also received some training in martial matters, but expectedly little, as she was a girl and not a boy. The best she fought with a thin rapier, as a regular longsword was too heavy for one hand and she lacked the coordination required for two-handed swords.

When Bethany became a maiden flowered, she took part in dances more often, and charmed many a young knight, while she was charmed in turn. However, it was only at the age of ten-and-seven, when her father had already left the Small Council due to reasons stemming from his health, and retired to Hayford, that she let one of those suitors ask Lord Steffon for her hand, that being Ser Gilbert Mallery, a scion of a younger line from Endwater, who would agree to a matrilineal marriage, expecting no inheritance of his own.

Lady Regnant
Only one year after Bethany had given birth to her first child, a son named Renfred, Lord Steffon died at the age of two-and-forty of his poor health. Thus, in the year of 385 AC, Lady Bethany, twenty years of age, returned to Hayford to rule the castle, the town, and the surrounding lands. There, she improved her skill in stewardship, not only regarding statecraft, which she fully mastered, but over the years, she also gained a basic understanding of construction and architecture.

Over the years, Bethany gave birth to three more children, her second son Oswell, as well as the two daughters Falena and Annara. From 392 AC on, the year Annara was born, the Great Famine spread, and as King Aenar managed the situation well, Lady Bethany’s skill in administration was challenged, as well, and when the famine was defeated eventually, her reign was truly established among the subjects of House Hayford. However, Ser Gilbert had fallen ill in the meantime and died in the year of 394 AC.

Lady Bethany, with four children that had well survived the challenging times, as had the very most of the townsfolk in Hayford, chose not to remarry, but ruled on her own, aided only by the advisors at the castle, mainly the holding’s Maester.

Thus, Hayford has prospered over the past years, and Lady Bethany found herself a true home, even though she misses the opportunities of the Royal Court. However, her children, which have grown up at Hayford, mainly, with the exception of Oswell, who became a squire to Ser Borros Baratheon of the Golden Company, now have reached the age in which marriages shall be arranged, and so Bethany sees her chance to once again put her diplomatic skills to the test.

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Family
Family Tree

Household

 * Renfred Hayford (b. 384), son and heir
 * Falena Hayford (b. 389), daughter
 * Annara Hayford (b. 392), daughter
 * Myrcella Hayford (b. 368), sister and advisor
 * Clement Hayford (b. 388), nephew and household knight
 * Clayton Hayford (b. 392), nephew
 * Symond Waters (b. 370), good-brother and master-at-arms
 * Maester Paxter (b. 350), counsellor, healer, and tutor