ASOIAF/GOT The Komneniad: A Very Byzantine ISOT.

[Witteric of the West]

And having returned in victory from Volantis, Basileus Ioannes had a Triumph held, and a monument was erected in memory of the two fallen princes. And in those days did a delegation come, led by one Kevan Lannister, to propose a marriage between the Imperial House and the House of Lannister. And after some discussion, Basileus Ioannes agreed, and his eldest living son Isaakios also agreed to marry the lady Cersei Lannister.

And as many in the East converted, as new bishoprics were founded and the Latin rite began to make itself more prominent among the converts of the West, the Patriarch Eusebius called for a Synod, for it was agreed that, with all that was known about the ancient days of the world, that some mistake had been made by Bishop Theophilus of Antioch and by the Chronica Paschalis in calculating the age of the World. And in this synod did the Latins make themselves felt. For those of the Latin Rite had been using a calendar based on the Birth of the Lord since the times of Charles the Greater, King of the Franks[1]. And one Andreas, an old priest from Genoa who had tended to the Latins since before the Act of Union that followed the Great Light, and who had been the one to baptize Reynald Reyne, convinced the Synod. Although the calendar dating from creation would still be used in some documents by the Church.[2]

And so, on the feast of Nativity, of the year 1147, Basileus Ioannes proclaimed the new calendar and the New Year. And there was great celebration.

And shortly before the feast of Pascha[3] arrived a ship, carrying the lady Cersei Lannister. And for two weeks she remained before, amidst great fanfare she was baptized and given the name Theodora, and afterwards her father arrived, and she was married to Isaakios Komnenos in a great ceremony in Hagia Sophia.

And soon did the court sour, for at the time there was great tension, as it was rumored that Basileus Ioannes intended to make Nikephoros his heir instead of Isaakios. And among the supporters of Nikephoros there was Roger Reyne the Younger, the eldest son of Reynard Reyne and close friend to Nikephoros. And after his marriage to the lady Lannister much of the court turned to support Nikephoros, for the lady Cersei soon gained the ill will of many at court.

And Nikephoros married soon after, taking Anna, the second daughter[4] of Alysanne Blackfyre as his wife. Unlike the lady Lannister, she was of a patient and humble character, albeit there was a steel behind the silk, so that some began to compare her to Theodora, the wife of Justinian the Greater. And she was also well liked at court.[5]

For two years there was much tension at court, until in 1149, Basileus Ioannes made Nikephoros Symbasileus, and proclaimed that he was to succeed him. And the lady Lannister, inflamed, had her husband leave the Queen of Cities, and they soon drew support from the Anatolian Dynatoi and from various members of the court who felt that they had not been honored properly by Basileus Ioannes. Among them men such as Konstantinos Doukas, Theodoros Kastamonites, Ioannes Dalassenos, as well as the families Gabras and Skleroi. And they held residence at Smyrna, but Isaakios did not allow his wife or those who supported him to make moves against his Father.

And in such a state passed the final years of the reign of Basileus Ioannes. And shortly after the New Year of 1155, with his regency over, and Aegon VI crowned as Basileus of the Andals, Daeron Targaryen, his wife Theodora, and their children, came to Constantinople. For it was agreed between Daeron and Aegon, that the former ought to spend some time away, so that none would try to use him or his sons to threaten the reign of Aegon.

And after three years, being the year 1159 since the birth of the Lord, Ioannes II, Basileus of the Romans, died in his sleep.

[1]Charlemagne, of course, although Eudokia Komnene shows some admiration for the man that brought the Franks to the height of their power in a time where the Roman Empire was still recovering from the Iconoclasts, among other situations, she will never call him an Emperor. Although a uniform AD system was not achieved until later in the Middle Ages, it began to become popular during his reign, being introduced by an English monk in the service of Charlemagne, it is first noted to be used by one Dionysus Exiguus, although the first high-profile chronicler to use it would be the Venerable Bede.
[2] The Synod is a bit of a cop-out, mostly so I can start using dates without the cumbersome extra conversions. in OTL the Orthodox Churches started using AD only after 1700, when Russia started to do so. Up until then they used the Anno Mundi system dating creation to 5509 BC. Thus I will only need to convert dates to the After Landing format.
[3] Easter. Since most languages use a derivative of this word rather than Easter, I will use the greek word to refer to it even among Latin-rite Andal Christians.
[4] Anna and Saera's father is not mentioned by Eudokia, he was a Lysene merchant whose origin is debated, although he is widely believed to have been a cousin of Lysara Whitefyre. He died during Ioannes II's campaign to punish Tyrosh.
[5] Such a marriage might seem counter intuitive until this is said. As Nikephoros essentially solidified the favor of the Court by doing this.

 

[Witteric of the West]

Author's Note: This update is from Cersei's POV, take some things with a grain of salt

Cersei Lannister watched from the balcony, her eyes set on the harbor of Smyrna.

Theodora... That was the name the Roman priest had given her, and at first she loathed it. She could remember, standing in the baptismal font of the Cathedral, in nothing but a white tunic and absolutely drenched in cold water as the priest spoke those words, and gave her a Rhoman name...

At the time she had not much to say about her then betrothed. She had seen him a couple of times since her own arrival, but it was after her induction into the Rhoman faith that he came to her on the gardens of Blachernae. And then he told her the story of the empress that bore that name. To say that she was enamored at once with that woman would be an understatement. Here she was, being presented with the tale of a woman who rose to become more feared and respected than her husband the Emperor, who held court in her own name, who adressed those in her service as it was her due for her position...

She soon set out to emulate this empress of Old.

In Constantinople she had had many enemies. Her goodbrother was apathethic to her, but his wife, the little Blackfyre whore clearly was after her. Of course, her husband should have been made emperor, but her scheming and that accursed Reyne had made it so her husband was left out of the succession... Reyne, his mere existance was an insult upon her, all of his bloodline ought to have perished at Castamere... Isaakios did not seem to mind, but it was clear that he was after more than being a glorified castellan. He was just too honorable to take up a sword against his father and brother. But then again, that's why she was here.

Of course, her husband was a dutiful man, if one prone to anger. He did not take it out on her, instead taking that anger out on the training yard. He was attentive enough and he seemed to focus mostly on matters of war, thus listening to her without much inconvenient when it came to other matters. She could not say that she loved him. He was also stubborn, very much so, but she had come to at least worry for him more truthfully than she expected

So, as soon as old Emperor Ioannes had named Nikephoros as his heir, she seized the chance and got her husband away to Smyrna, where he owned a large manse, and more importantly, where those who agreed with her on the matter of who should be Emperor were gathering.

Some of them were just as insufferable as those bootlickers in Constantinople, but some were friendly enough, such as Maria Gabras and the Skleroi twins... But now she was alone. Her husband was recieving visits. Normally she would be by his side, but recently she tired easily, no doubt because of her pregnancy. In the next room there were her children, Ioanna and Alexios.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a serving girl, a Naathi girl. There were no slaves in her household -and it seemed that household slavery was declining, at least among the nobles. she had been bought, then freed and chose to remain.

"Your Highness, I bring news from Constantinople" She said in her accented Rhoman. With a raised eyebrow and a stern look, Cersei waited as the girl bowed deeply and held out a letter. She took it and with a gesture of the hand she bid the girl to leave, which she did at once.

Cersei read the letter, and then did so again, and again, and a smile formed on her face.

All she had to do was to send word, and then no one would stand between her children and their rightful place in this foreign land.