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waitingforwinterwinds · 1 year

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ASOS; Steel and Snow: 14 CATELYN II (pages 188-201)

Robb returns to Riverrun, Catelyn meets her surprise new daughter-in-law, and Edmure learns his victory against Tywin was not the best outcome.

"King Robb has returned from the west, my lady," the knight said, "and commands that you attend him in the great Hall." It was the moment she had dreamt of and dreaded. Have I lost two sons, or three? She would know soon enough.

Reading this line and my first thought is just "there's more than just one way to lose someone." And I think Cat's aware of that, especially with how she's been treated and shunned for releasing Jaime, even if Robb returns alive, he might turn his back on her too. Treat her like the enemy because (it feels like) she's the only one who even seems to remember that Sansa and Arya are still hostages.

(Well not really Arya, not that anyone knows that at the moment outside that little in and King's Landing. But very much it's like no one else cares about the why now that Ned's dead.)

"- Love is not always wise, I've learned. It can lead us to great folly, but we follow our hearts... wherever they take us. Don't we, Mother?" ... "Forgive him, Mother." "If you will forgive me." "I have. I know what it is to love so greatly you can think of nothing else."

Cat, my beloved, let me translate what he's circling around. "Ma, I kinda sorta fucked up, because I couldn't keep it in my pants, but also let's not focus on that too hard because you fucked up too and honestly I think we should all just let bygones be bygones on this one, okay? no blame for anyone? plz?"

all hail king robb, the oathbreaker. but let's not talk about that. I'm sure it will have zero consequences later down the track. (exhausted sarcasm)

She had the uneasy feeling that someone was missing, too. ... It was only then that Catelyn realized what was amiss. The wolf. The wolf is not here. Where is Grey Wind? She knew the direwolf had returned with Robb, she had heard the dogs, but he was not in the hall, not at her son's side where he belonged.

It's actually kind of interesting, ... how to put this? I dunno, I'll just ramble it out and hope that it makes sense.

First of all I suppose: look at that foreshadowing, Grey Wind not being with Robb, and we'll call back to one of Ned's chapters (GoT) just after Summer saved Cat and Bran, where Ned realised that the Wolves were sent to protect his children.

This is the moment, for those of us who've already read or seen the show, we know that Robb's done something he can't come back from, this is the moment we see him set on the path to death.

But it's interesting in that, with Bran and Rickon and Jon, there's a steady presence of their wolves even when they go hunting or aren't by their side, there's still a connection, between the boys and the wolves and Winterfell/the Stark family.

The girls both lost their wolves, Nymeria to the wilderness, Lady to misplaced duty and death, but it's not them being cut off from their heritage at all, it's representative of how their home intertwines with the support they've been receiving. ( "support," "receiving," for given values.)

Sansa (and I have seen the theories that Lady's death means she's not a Stark, and the theory that like the warg who got stuck in the bird, Lady did a reverse and is still with Sansa in spirit) has no help from former allies, she's stuck in place, her help is coming from people with a connection to her mother, and from herself.

Arya literally just reconnected with a man from Winterfell after helping free some of her brother's men, she and Nymeria were in the same area, Nymeria was helping her, but Arya's path is leading her back north to Winterfell (for now) and reconnecting her with those allies (for good or ill) before she'll be lead away from that path again to Braavos (the wilderness, metaphorically).

Jon and Bran are both shown warging with their wolves, but the wolves are both wandering away from them and home to them, and their own paths lead them away from and back to allies and familiarity.

And Rickon is a feral baby.

There is a reflection in the wolves and the fate of the stark children, not about blood rights, or inheritance, or whether they are part of the family, but in... pack bonds, for lack of a better term.

For Grey Wind to be missing in these moments, feels like a reflection of the broken bond, the broken oath which will lead to Robb's death.

... Well, at least Lady Mormont and Greatjon are on Catelyn's side with the Jaime-exchange plan... or understanding of it.

The first thought that flew across Catelyn's mind was, No, that cannot be, you are only a child. The second was, And besides, you have pledged to another. The third was, Mother have mercy, Robb, what have you done?

quick on the uptake, if only her eldest son had inherited her intelligence. I'm sorry Robb, I'm being very mean to you, but you just did such a stupid thing.

"- Jeyne had me taken to her own bed, and she nursed me until the fever passed. And she was with me when the Greatjon brought me the news of... of Winterfell. Bran and Rickon." He seemed to have trouble saying his brothers' names. "That night, she... she comforted me, Mother."

Oh? She got you in her bed before she got you in her bed, did she? I'd love to know whose plan that was, hers or one of the adults in her life.

Well played though, shame their efforts to secure themselves to Robb's crown safety are what led to the Red Wedding. (Let's not kid ourselves, it was probably the crown.) And involved taking advantage of an emotionally vulnerable, possibly medicated boy.

(I do wonder if the swap from this Jeyne to Talisa more about false-feminism brownie points - Look, our love interest isn't like other girls, she's a cool battle field medic! Girl Boss! Empowerment! Don't you mansplain politics to her you man! - or about making Robb look like less of a boob by giving him pseudo-agency, and turning his flustered teenage boy hormones and sense of honour into a battlefield romance.)

"- If I'd listened to you and kept Theon as my hostage, I'd still rule the north, and Bran and Rickon would be alive and safe in Winterfell." "Perhaps. Or not. Lord Balon might still have chanced war. -"

Oh he would have, he'd already given Theon up for dead (or worse: turned into a delicate wilting flower like the rest of those land-lubbers!)

Robb bristled at that. "The Westerlings are better blood than the Freys. They're an ancient line, descended from the First Men. The Kings of the Rock sometimes wed Westerlings before the Conquest, and there was another Jeyne Westerling who was queen to King Maegor three hundred years ago."

... which Maegor? Cause babe? Probably not the positive argument you think it is.

...brb, wiki.

... Maegor as in Maegor the Cruel... Jeyne was one of three women he widowed during the wars then wed in a single ceremony (where her son by her dead husband was used as a hostage to force her to go through with it), called the 'black brides' ... got pregnant and ... ah, yeah, there it is: premature labour resulting in a still-born and malformed feotus, Jeyne died shortly afterwards.

Robb: "She'll make a great wife mum, she even shares her name with another queen!" The other queen: widowed and killed in childbirth losing the baby.

Damn. GRRM did not pull punches on this one.

"- Grey Wind doesn't like her uncle either. He bares his teeth every time Ser Rolph comes near him." A chill went through her. "Send Ser Rolph away. At once."

Cat's got more of an eye for the wolf warnings than the boy with the wolf bond. Probably helps that she's not addled by hormones right now, but you'd think Robb would be vibing.

... oh good, and now Robb and Blackfish are telling of Edmure.

I feel I'd enjoy that a lot more if it didn't boil down to "how dare you do things without telling us, now you've upset the plans we had that we told you absolutely nothing about nor indicated you needed to stay out of, how dare you take initiative."

People in this series either need to stop getting upset at people for taking initiative and acting with incomplete information, assuming they get any information to begin with, or start sharing information with their family members/closest allies.

... learning that Edmure's sallie against Tywin led to Stannis' loss from the rear at King's Landing does change the context of Edmure being the sacrificial Groom at the Twins.

#a storm of swords #steel and snow #a song of ice and fire #catelyn stark #catelyn tully #a chapter a day reading #asos #asoiaf

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vivacissimx · 2 years

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Arya Stark has depression

Beginning in AGOT and running through ADWD, Arya displays symptoms of neurodivergence. Learning to cope with it helps to save her life & identity.

Like most children who experience mental illness, Arya develops coping mechanisms that allow her to hide the extent of her depression from the adults around her. This starts earlier than commonly realized. Where initially it seemed her first depressive episode follows Mycah's murder it's actually fair to say she exhibits these patterns of behavior prior to that.

Arya in Winterfell doesn't meet the benchmarks of girlhood that are used to predict a successful future transition into the role of noble womanhood. Arya is aware of this in no small part because her peers (who refer to her as 'Horseface') and the adults in her life (her parents & Septa Mordane who uses Arya as a scapegoat/the "anti-girl") make her aware of this. Given the small scope of her world & her young age, Arya extrapolates that small sample into everybody.

Sansa's needlework was exquisite. Everyone said so. "Sansa's work is as pretty as she is," Septa Mordane told their lady mother once. "She has such fine, delicate hands." When Lady Catelyn had asked about Arya, the septa had sniffed. "Arya has the hands of a blacksmith."

Everyone was looking at her. It was too much. Sansa was too well bred to smile at her sister's disgrace, but Jeyne was smirking on her behalf. Even Princess Myrcella looked sorry for her. Arya felt tears filling her eyes. She pushed herself out of her chair and bolted for the door. Septa Mordane called after her. "Arya, come back here! Don't you take another step! Your lady mother will hear of this. In front of our royal princess too! You'll shame us all!"

-AGOT, Arya I

"Lyanna was beautiful," Arya said, startled. Everybody said so. It was not a thing that was ever said of Arya.

-AGOT, Arya II

This last quote isn't necessarily factual (Arya tells us in ADWD The Blind Girl that her parents and Jon did call her pretty), but it's true in the sense that Arya sees her nonconformity as a personal failure.

This could very well be depression speaking, and it starts early. When Arya fails at a task she isolates herself to the extreme: runs away in tears, doesn't believe she can go to her parents or siblings for comfort, decides nobody loves her.

Arya wonders if she's an imposter.

Arya thought that Myrcella's stitches looked a little crooked too, but you would never know it from the way Septa Mordane was cooing.

Nymeria was waiting for her in the guardroom at the base of the stairs. She bounded to her feet as soon as she caught sight of Arya. Arya grinned. The wolf pup loved her, even if no one else did.

Jon had their father's face, as she did. They were the only ones. Robb and Sansa and Bran and even little Rickon all took after the Tullys, with easy smiles and fire in their hair. When Arya had been little, she had been afraid that meant that she was a bastard too. It had been Jon she had gone to in her fear, and Jon who had reassured her.

-AGOT, Arya I

Arya withdraws socially from places where she believes she cannot succeed or receive affirmation - she leaves the embroidery lesson in a blaze of glory, refuses Queen Cersei's tea invitation on the trip to King's Landing, forgoes attending the Hand's tourney, flees the Brotherhood without Banners. Arya is on average an intensely social creature, however her first line of defense to hide her feelings of inadequacy is not showing up in the first place.

And that's all set in place before the Hound kills Mycah.

In King's Landing, Arya experiences what is possibly her first depressive episode.

Arya had loved nothing better than to sit at her father's table and listen to them talk. She had loved listening to the men on the benches too; to freeriders tough as leather, courtly knights and bold young squires, grizzled old men-at-arms. She used to throw snowballs at them and help them steal pies from the kitchen. Their wives gave her scones and she invented names for their babies and played monsters-and-maidens and hide-the-treasure and come-into-my-castle with their children. Fat Tom used to call her "Arya Underfoot," because he said that was where she always was. She'd liked that a lot better than "Arya Horseface."

Only that was Winterfell, a world away, and now everything was changed. This was the first time they had supped with the men since arriving in King's Landing. Arya hated it. She hated the sounds of their voices now, the way they laughed, the stories they told. They'd been her friends, she'd felt safe around them, but now she knew that was a lie. They'd let the queen kill Lady, that was horrible enough, but then the Hound found Mycah. Jeyne Poole had told Arya that he'd cut him up in so many pieces that they'd given him back to the butcher in a bag, and at first the poor man had thought it was a pig they'd slaughtered. And no one had raised a voice or drawn a blade or anything, not Harwin who always talked so bold, or Alyn who was going to be a knight, or Jory who was captain of the guard. Not even her father.

"He was my friend," Arya whispered into her plate, so low that no one could hear. Her ribs sat there untouched, grown cold now, a thin film of grease congealing beneath them on the plate. Arya looked at them and felt ill. She pushed away from the table.

-AGOT, Arya II

To recap, symptoms of (childhood) depression Arya experiences here are: social withdrawal, heightened anxiety, loss of appetite, sudden changes in mood, low self-esteem, isolation from loved ones.

Notably, Arya's depression lifts when she's a) affirmed by Ned, b) in a manner that shows Ned values her, and c) is set to a task with a teacher who encourages her rather than berates her.

"We have come to a dark dangerous place, child. This is not Winterfell. We have enemies who mean us ill. We cannot fight a war among ourselves. This willfulness of yours, the running off, the angry words, the disobedience… at home, these were only the summer games of a child. Here and now, with winter soon upon us, that is a different matter. It is time to begin growing up."

"I will," Arya vowed. She had never loved him so much as she did in that instant. "I can be strong too. I can be as strong as Robb."

[Syrio] tossed her one of the wooden blades. She grabbed for it, missed, and heard it clatter to the floor. "Tomorrow you will catch it. Now pick it up."

-AGOT, Arya II

Panic gripped her throat like a giant's hand. Arya could not have spoken if her life had hung on it. Calm as still water, she mouthed silently.

-AGOT, Arya III

Her water dancing lessons provide her with progress she can be proud of, and mantras for self-soothing, which help her hide her anxiety & depression. This is a coping mechanism she relies on throughout the books.

Arya experiences another pronounced depressive episode when she begins her travels through the Riverlands, after her father has died and her family is splintered. She has volatile reactions to Hot Pie & Lommy teasing her, and her social withdrawal strikes again. Once again, she relies on what she learned from Syrio to soothe herself.

Arya slid into a water dancer's stance and waited. When he came close enough, she lunged, right between his legs, so hard that if her wooden sword had had a point it would have come out between his butt cheeks. By the time Yoren pulled her off him, Hot Pie was sprawled out on the ground with his breeches brown and smelly, crying as Arya whapped him over and over and over. "Enough," the black brother roared, prying the stick sword from her fingers, "you want to kill the fool?" [...] "Every time you look at him, he twitches," the Bull told her as she walked beside his donkey. She did not answer. It seemed safer not to talk to anyone.

-ACOK, Arya I

In the Riverlands, Arya adopts another coping mechanism: she dissociates.

There's no doubt that Arya is a strong warg and that her bond with Nymeria is intense even for the starkling standards. Yes Arya dreams as Nymeria, uses her wolf dreams as escapism from a world in which she feels helpless, but in ACOK Arya speaks of herself as a wolf before her wolf dreams start up again.

I won't cry, she thought, I won't do that. I'm a Stark of Winterfell, our sigil is the direwolf, direwolves don't cry. [ACOK, Arya I]

By the time they marched, Arya knew she was no water dancer. Syrio Forel would never have let them knock him down and take his sword away, nor stood by when they killed Lommy Greenhands. Syrio would never have sat silent in that storehouse nor shuffled along meekly among the other captives. The direwolf was the sigil of the Starks, but Arya felt more a lamb, surrounded by a herd of other sheep. She hated the villagers for their sheepishness, almost as much as she hated herself. [ACOK, Arya VI]

Yes, Arya thought. Yes, it's you who ought to run, you and Lord Tywin and the Mountain and Ser Addam and Ser Amory and stupid Ser Lyonel whoever he is, all of you better run or my brother will kill you, he's a Stark, he's more wolf than man, and so am I. [ACOK, Arya VIII]

Help me, you old gods, she prayed silently. Help me get those men out of the dungeon so we can kill Ser Amory, and bring me home to Winterfell. Make me a water dancer and a wolf and not afraid again, ever. [...] I'm not an evil child, she thought, I am a direwolf, and the ghost in Harrenhal. [ACOK, Arya IX]

She had been better off as Squab. No one would take Squab captive, or Nan, or Weasel, or Arry the orphan boy. I was a wolf, she thought, but now I'm just some stupid little lady again. [ASOS, Arya III]

Salty is a stupid child, she told herself. I am a wolf, and will not be afraid. She patted Needle's hilt for luck and plunged into the shadows, taking the steps two at a time so no one could ever say she'd been afraid. [AFFC, Arya I]

Arya conceptualizing herself as a wolf (which includes her lambasting herself for not being one) and Arya's wolf dreams are two different things. Arya is a wolf when she feels brave and powerful, whereas Arya dreams as a wolf when she is at her most vulnerable e.g. when the Bloody Mummers are set to discover her, after the Red Wedding, when she loses her sight.

It's a cycle of idealization and devaluation not uncommon to children's black-and-white thinking, but it's often pronounced in neurodivergent kids. At this point, Arya has experienced several traumatic incidents and largely been left to her own devices to grapple with them. While she rightly blames others for her suffering (Ser Gregor, Dunsen, Polliver, Raff the Sweetling. The Tickler and the Hound. Ser Ilyn, Ser Meryn, King Joffrey, Queen Cersei), those people are all far away. Her pack is ever morphing. The only consistently available person she can take anger out on is herself, and her mechanism for doing this is by comparing herself against the ideal version of herself. The self that can be summarized as: the wolf.

By AFFC, she's done this process so much it's seamless. In fact, she can do it in her sleep.

The wolf dreams were the good ones. In the wolf dreams she was swift and strong, running down her prey with her pack at her heels. It was the other dream she hated, the one where she had two feet instead of four. In that one she was always looking for her mother, stumbling through a wasted land of mud and blood and fire. It was always raining in that dream, and she could hear her mother screaming, but a monster with a dog's head would not let her go save her. In that dream she was always weeping, like a frightened little girl. Cats never weep, she told herself, no more than wolves do.

-AFFC, Cat of the Canals

After the Red Wedding, Arya experiences her strongest depressive episode to date.

Some mornings Arya did not want to wake at all. She would huddle beneath her cloak with her eyes squeezed shut and try to will herself back to sleep. If the Hound would only have left her alone, she would have slept all day and all night.

And dreamed. That was the best part, the dreaming. She dreamed of wolves most every night. A great pack of wolves, with her at the head. [...] They would never leave her. [...]

They were never my pack, not even Hot Pie and Gendry. I was stupid to think so, just a stupid little girl, and no wolf at all. [...]

Some of the women tried to put her in a dress and make her do needlework, but they weren't Lady Smallwood and she was having none of it. And there was one girl who took to following her, the village elder's daughter. She was of an age with Arya, but just a child; she cried if she skinned a knee, and carried a stupid cloth doll with her everywhere she went. The doll was made up to look like a man-at-arms, sort of, so the girl called him Ser Soldier and bragged how he kept her safe. "Go away," Arya told her half a hundred times. "Just leave me be." She wouldn't, though, so finally Arya took the doll away from her, ripped it open, and pulled the rag stuffing out of its belly with a finger. "Now he really looks like a soldier!" she said, before she threw the doll in a brook. After that the girl stopped pestering her, and Arya spent her days grooming Craven and Stranger or walking in the woods. Sometimes she would find a stick and practice her needlework, but then she would remember what had happened at the Twins and smash it against a tree until it broke.

-ASOS, Arya XII

Recap: Disruptive sleeping habits, antisocial behavior, sudden changes in moods, low self-esteem, loss of interest in hobbies, isolation. Her coping mechanisms (water dancing [self-soothing through repetitive movement & mantra], positive relationships with others [creating a pack], & dissociation [striving to embody the wolf]) fail her entirely.

In AFFC/ADWD, Arya is in Braavos with the House of Black and White, an arc that nearly succeeds in fracturing her identity. However it's her reliance on her well-honed methods of coping with depression that guide her through this. Syrio taught Arya to practice repetition - as a water dancer, true, but Arya went on to use that to comfort herself, to keep her list of enemies, to consistently return to her ideal wolf persona as a touchstone. It’s already second nature to her in when she serves in Harrenhal, when she’s becoming accustomed to life on the run, as her various roles in Braavos.

Themes of return. An expansive internal world kept secret from adults. Places Arya is always going to retreat to because the world has always felt hostile to Arya Stark.

She padded to her basin on small, bare, callused feet, silent as a shadow, splashed cool water on her face, patted herself dry. Ser Gregor, she thought. Dunsen, Raff the Sweetling. Ser Ilyn, Ser Meryn, Queen Cersei. Her morning prayer. Or was it? No, she thought, not mine. I am no one. That is the night wolf's prayer. Someday she will find them, hunt them, smell their fear, taste their blood. Someday. [...]

Skinny as they were, her legs were strong and springy and growing longer every day. She was glad of that. A water dancer needs good legs. Blind Beth was no water dancer, but she would not be Beth forever.

She knew the way to the kitchens, but her nose would have led her there even if she hadn't. Hot peppers and fried fish, she decided, sniffing down the hall, and bread fresh from Umma's oven. The smells made her belly rumble. The night wolf had feasted, but that would not fill the blind girl's belly. Dream meat could not nourish her, she had learned that early on.

-ADWD, The Blind Girl

Enough slaps, and she might stop chewing on her lip. Arya did that, not the night wolf. "I do deny it." "You lie. I can see the truth in your eyes. You have the eyes of a wolf and a taste for blood."

Ser Gregor, she could not help but think. Dunsen, Raff the Sweetling. Ser Ilyn, Ser Meryn, Queen Cersei. If she spoke, she would need to lie, and he would know. She kept silent.

Arya bit her lip. She did not know what she wanted. If I leave, where will I go? She had washed and stripped a hundred corpses, dead things did not frighten her. They carry them down here and slice their faces off, so what? She was the night wolf, no scraps of skin could frighten her.

-ADWD, The Ugly Little Girl

So yes, Arya is neurodivergent. She copes with depression, trauma, and the everyday horrors of girlhood through repetitive soothing tasks & thought processes. Normally diagnosing ABC with XYZ is something I'd abstain from because it can be tricky, but Arya's experiences are so compelling in this frame, so age-specifically intentional, that I think it's worthy of discussion. I know there are a lot of conversations as to whether Arya really comes across as an eleven year old, but in this specific respect I'd say she hits the mark.

#arya stark #asoiaf #valyrianscrolls #canonarya #aryastarkmonth2022 #text

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agentrouka-blog · 2 years

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I don't remember correctly but are there terms from Lannisters in exchange for bending the knee by Robb and North besides freeing Jaime?

This is Rob's motivation for his terms:

“More bloodshed will not bring your father back to us, or Lord Rickard’s sons,” Catelyn said. “An offer had to be made—though a wiser man might have offered sweeter terms.”

“Any sweeter and I would have gagged.” Her son’s beard had grown in redder than his auburn hair. Robb seemed to think it made him look fierce, royal . . . older. But bearded or no, he was still a youth of fifteen, and wanted vengeance no less than Rickard Karstark. It had been no easy thing to convince him to make even this offer, poor as it was. (ACOK, Catelyn I)

They are bold but they are genuine.

This is Tyrion's motivation in treating with Robb Stark:

It seemed to him that Robb Stark had given them a golden chance. Let the boy wait at Riverrun dreaming of an easy peace. Tyrion would reply with terms of his own, giving the King in the North just enough of what he wanted to keep him hopeful. Let Ser Cleos wear out his bony Frey rump riding to and fro with offers and counters. All the while, their cousin Ser Stafford would be training and arming the new host he'd raised at Casterly Rock. Once he was ready, he and Lord Tywin could smash the Tullys and Starks between them. (ACOK, Tyrion V)

It's all to buy time. He means none of this. It is intended to be rejected. These are the terms:

"Here are our terms," said Tyrion. "Robb Stark must lay down his sword, swear fealty, and return to Winterfell. He must free my brother unharmed, and place his host under Jaime's command, to march against the rebels Renly and Stannis Baratheon. Each of Stark's bannermen must send us a son as hostage. A daughter will suffice where there is no son. They shall be treated gently and given high places here at court, so long as their fathers commit no new treasons."

Cleos Frey looked ill. "My lord Hand," he said, "Lord Stark will never consent to these terms."

We never expected he would, Cleos. “Tell him that we have raised another great host at Casterly Rock, that soon it will march on him from the west while my lord father advances from the east. Tell him that he stands alone, without hope of allies. Stannis and Renly Baratheon war against each other, and the Prince of Dorne has consented to wed his son Trystane to the Princess Myrcella.” Murmurs of delight and consternation alike arose from the gallery and the back of the hall.

“As to this of my cousins,” Tyrion went on, “we offer Harrion Karstark and Ser Wylis Manderly for Willem Lannister, and Lord Cerwyn and Ser Donnel Locke for your brother Tion. Tell Stark that two Lannisters are worth four northmen in any season.” He waited for the laughter to die. “His father’s bones he shall have, as a gesture of Joffrey’s good faith.”

“Lord Stark asked for his sisters and his father’s sword as well,” Ser Cleos reminded him.

Ser Ilyn Payne stood mute, the hilt of Eddard Stark’s greatsword rising over one shoulder. “Ice,” said Tyrion. “He’ll have that when he makes his peace with us, not before.”

“As you say. And his sisters?”

Tyrion glanced toward Sansa, and felt a stab of pity as he said, “Until such time as he frees my brother Jaime, unharmed, they shall remain here as hostages. How well they are treated depends on him.” And if the gods are good, Bywater will find Arya alive, before Robb learns she’s gone missing. (ACOK, Tyrion VI)

Alongside that, he sends the secret agents supposed to free Jaime, utterly not caring that he is easily risking his own cousin's life, since he doesn't warn Cleos that he's breaking the rules of the peace banner.

Nothing about these negotiations is done in good faith by Tyrion, and the Starks are ultimately lucky that they got Ned's bones out of this farce. Which is actually a very fitting image. Few of the lives supposed to be saved in this negotiation are saved.

Countless smallfolk die. Cleos, Willem and Tion die. Donnel Locke and Lord Cerwyn die. Ice is unmade.

The bones of the dead is all they get.

#anti tyrion lannister #robb stark #negotiations #war of the five kings #peace terms #politics in asoiaf

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currently-kraken · 3 years

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Theon Greyjoy’s Costumes by Michele Clapton

I saw a post that asked about a piece of Theon’s clothing and I wanted to see if I could help with this. I have Michele Clapton’s Game of Thrones: The Costumes book so I thought I’d share the info and pics (some from the internet, others from the pics of the book my low res phone can provide lol) for Theon (+ Yara) for whoever needs it :)

1. Theon (Alfie Allen) wears an ornate doublet intended to indicate that he is rather conceited.

At the beginning of the story, Theon (Alfie Allen) is full of himself—a weak, unpleasant boy who bears a grudge against Ned Stark for making him his ward and taking him away from the Iron Islands. That sense of having been wronged by the Starks compels him to make terrible choices. He leads an assault on Winterfell in the name of the Greyjoys but later loses control of the Stark homestead to the sadistic Ramsay Bolton (Iwan Rheon). Theon pays an unimaginable price for his failings.

Initially, Theon's costume has elements of the classic Stark look but in the Greyjoys’ colors—his loyalties divided from the start. In early episodes, he wears an overly ornate doublet that hints at his pretentiousness and sense of entitlement, but his cloak is thin and his collar is a simple one made from rabbit fur. He wears a Stark shirt underneath his doublet.

2. Theon’s (Allen) cloak is thin and made from lesser materials, indicating that, as a ward, he isn’t as well cared for as the members of the family who are related by blood.

3. Theon (Allen) may look like a Stark, but his loyalties are divided—his cloak features the Greyjoy kraken sigil.

Theon is taken prisoner by Ramsay later in the storyline and subjected to horrific tortures that fundamentally change his character. To humiliate Theon, Ramsay renames him Reek and dresses him in the same manner as the rest of the servants in Winterfell. He wears a long, apron-shaped tunic made from layers of ragged linen. His finery—and his nobility—are stripped away entirely. But during Ramsay’s wedding to Sansa, Theon is dressed in an outfit that gives a slight nod to his former status. Theon wears somber tones of gray and black with a silhouette that’s very traditionally Stark. He’s also wearing brocade, which is a callback to Catelyn’s Stark’s influence, but Theon’s fabric doublet is shorter than in should be. The fact that it’s slightly ill-fitting makes him appear more servile, the poor tailoring indicating his low status.

4. Theon’s “Reek” costume is made from ragged layers of black linen.

5. As “Reek”, actor Alfie Allen wears a simple collar around his neck to emphasize his subservient status.

6. For Sansa’s wedding to Ramsay, Theon (Alfie Allen) wears a finely tailored brown doublet; his shirt sleeves and his cloak are both made from brocade, an homage to Catelyn Stark.

7. The costume includes a brocade cloak with cross-body straps and an embossed brown leather belt.

After Theon escapes from Ramsay, he begins to reclaim his identity as a son of the Iron Islands. Most notably, he adopts a much more traditional Greyjoy costume that includes a doublet prominently featuring the house sigil, the kraken, a suitably intimidating sea monster. As with all the Greyjoys, we slashed a very graphic kraken image directly into Theon’s armor—I wanted it to look like something they might do themselves using a blade. Still, the Stark influence can be found in the straps near the neck of his armor. The colors, too, denote his allegiance: Instead of rocky gray, he’s in Northern brown and black. Theon is willing to atone for his past mistakes and sacrifice everything to regain his honor—which he does in the end, giving his life to defend Bran from the Night King.

8. TOP Theon (Alfie Allen) embraces his Iron Islands heritage with a costume that includes all the hallmarks of the Greyjoy look.

9. BOTTOM The Greyjoy kraken sigil adorns his belt.

10. LEFT This costume features Theon’s traditional Greyjoy cloak, which is essentially made from a rectangle of waxed cloth.

11. TOP RIGHT The kraken sigil is prominently featured on Theon’s doublet, the symbol appearing as though it has been slashed into the leather.

12. BOTTOM RIGHT The kraken appears once more on Theon’s scabbard.

BONUS: YARA

13. Gemma Whelan as Yara Greyjoy.

Theon’s sister, Yara (Gemma Whelan), is a natural-born warrior who embraces every aspect of the Greyjoy way of life—she is determined to follow in her father’s footsteps and rule over the Iron Islands from the Salt Throne on Pyke. She grew up entirely apart from Theon—they are essentially strangers when they meet as adults—but nevertheless the love she feels for him is profound. Even when Theon seems completely lost to her, Yara goes to great lengths to save him, acting out of honor, duty and compassion.

Whenever she appears on-screen, Yara is dressed in some version of the primary costume that I designed for her. As a true Greyjoy, her wardrobe would have changed little, so her clothing always remained consistent. The waxed fabric of her doublet is the color of stone and features the standard Iron Islands lacing. She wears lived-in leather trousers that were broken down and aged to give the impression that she rarely takes them off. She has very high boots that stop above her knee. I wanted her to have swagger, and giving her these high leather boots changed her gait in a way that says a great deal about the character. She walks with an attitude and is cool and confident. The boots were also suitably practical for an experienced captain who often finds herself at the center of armed conflict.

Yara’s costumes are quite androgynous. She dresses in a similar fashion to the men of Pyke, which felt like a logical choice for someone who commands a fleet of men. Ironborn sailors wouldn’t follow a woman who appeared overtly feminine, even one as intelligent and fierce as Yara. She would always have to project strength because weakness is anathema to her people. Her strength is really unassailable—you can see it in her actions and in her costumes as well.

14. Yara’s long-sleeved doublet and trousers are made from waxed linen to appear waterproof.

15. OPPOSITE TOP LEFT Yara’s doublet is intended to be the same color as the Iron Islands themselves and is closed with waxed laces that appear waterproof.

16. OPPOSITE CENTER LEFT Shoulder detail of Yara’s doublet.

17. OPPOSITE BOTTOM LEFT Close-up of the laces used to tie the doublet, which was studded with metal for protection.

18. OPPOSITE RIGHT Yara’s (Whelan) signature look includes striking boots that go over her knees.

Tagging the people on the original post @sing-for-theongreyjoy @selkiewife @attaining-fic @robbeonsa

Hope this helps, guys!! 😁🦑

#Game of Thrones #Costume Design #Michele Clapton #Theon Greyjoy #Yara Greyjoy #Greyjoys #Ironborn #Alfie Allen #Gemma Whelan #Squid Squad

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istumpysk · 3 years

Text

Operation Stumpy Re-Read

AGOT: Eddard IV (Chapter 20)

"Yes, my lord," the steward said. "We have given you Lord Arryn's former chambers in the Tower of the Hand, if it please you. I shall have your things taken there."

Ned, take my advice, sleep anywhere else.

+.+

His hand left powder stains on Ned's sleeve, and he smelled as foul and sweet as flowers on a grave.

Varys, smellin’ like foul perfumed sweetness. Love it, love it.

+.+

"Lord Renly spends more on clothing than half the ladies of the court."

It was true enough. Lord Renly was in dark green velvet, with a dozen golden stags embroidered on his doublet. A cloth-of-gold half cape was draped casually across one shoulder, fastened with an emerald brooch. "There are worse crimes," Renly said with a laugh. "The way you dress, for one."

Renly Baratheon still sitting #1 in the Best Baratheon Brother ranking.

Stay tuned for further updates.

+.+

He eyed Ned with a smile on his lips that bordered on insolence. "I have hoped to meet you for some years, Lord Stark. No doubt Lady Catelyn has mentioned me to you."

"She has," Ned replied with a chill in his voice. The sly arrogance of the comment rankled him. "I understand you knew my brother Brandon as well."

🔥

+.+

"I should have thought that heat ill suits you Starks," Littlefinger said. "Here in the south, they say you are all made of ice, and melt when you ride below the Neck."

Am I crazy in thinking that saying this to the Hand of the King, when his father was famously burned alive in that very castle, is the type of blunder that would get you dismissed from your royal duties and cost you a few titles?

+.+

He had only to look at Sansa's face to feel the rage twisting inside him once again. The last fortnight of their journey had been a misery. Sansa blamed Arya and told her that it should have been Nymeria who died. And Arya was lost after she heard what had happened to her butcher's boy. Sansa cried herself to sleep, Arya brooded silently all day long, and Eddard Stark dreamed of a frozen hell reserved for the Starks of Winterfell.

It seems Eddard Stark has prophetic dreams as well.

Sansa. :(

+.+

Hesitantly, Ned followed. Littlefinger led him into a tower, down a stair, across a small sunken courtyard, and along a deserted corridor where empty suits of armor stood sentinel along the walls. They were relics of the Targaryens, black steel with dragon scales cresting their helms, now dusty and forgotten.

(...)

Ned studied the rocky face of the bluff for a moment, then followed more slowly. The niches were there, as Littlefinger had promised, shallow cuts that would be invisible from below, unless you knew just where to look for them. The river was a long, dizzying distance below. Ned kept his face pressed to the rock and tried not to look down any more often than he had to.

Where have I read this before?

Along the walls stood empty suits of armor, dark and dusty, their helms crested with rows of scales that continued down their backs.

(...)

Sansa dared not look down. She kept her eyes on the face of the cliff, making certain of each step before reaching for the next. The stone was rough and cold. Sometimes she could feel her fingers slipping, and the handholds were not as evenly spaced as she would have liked.

Keep following papa’s journey, little one.

+.+

Bran's wolf had saved the boy's life, he thought dully. What was it that Jon had said when they found the pups in the snow? Your children were meant to have these pups, my lord. And he had killed Sansa's, and for what? Was it guilt he was feeling? Or fear? If the gods had sent these wolves, what folly had he done?

+.+

"Why should Tyrion Lannister want Bran dead? The boy has never done him harm."

"Do you Starks have nought but snow between your ears?" Littlefinger asked. "The Imp would never have acted alone."

Let’s sidestep answering that question. Subtle, Littlefinger.

+.+

"I had hoped to see the girls …" Catelyn said.

"That would be most unwise," Littlefinger put in. "The Red Keep is full of curious eyes, and children talk."

"He speaks truly, my love," Ned told her.

+.+

Catelyn went to him and took his hands in her own. "I will not forget the help you gave me, Petyr. When your men came for me, I did not know whether they were taking me to a friend or an enemy. I have found you more than a friend. I have found a brother I'd thought lost."

+.+

And from this day on, I want a careful watch kept over Theon Greyjoy. If there is war, we shall have sore need of his father's fleet.

1. Robb Stark, you failed to do this.

2. Love hearing about that valuable Greyjoy fleet! :D

+.+

That was the most dangerous part, Ned knew. "All justice flows from the king," he told her. "When I know the truth, I must go to Robert." And pray that he is the man I think he is, he finished silently, and not the man I fear he has become.

"You knew the man," she said. "The king is a stranger to you." Catelyn remembered the direwolf dead in the snow, the broken antler lodged deep in her throat.

Final thoughts:

I hate everything.

-> return to menu <-

#operation stumpy re-read #agot #eddard iv

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brydeswhale · 3 years

Text

Fics I would be writing if I had the time, energy, or mental space...

Game Of Thrones/ASOIAF

1. The one where Sansa and Robert and Cersei's kid get betrothed. Basically, the idea is that Cersei and Robert's kid from the show lived, grew up in all that dysfunction and Robert wants him to marry Sansa. The two of them get along swimmingly, but canon is going on in the background, and bad things happen. Featuring an OC who cries, a LOT, and people calling Ned on his poor parenting.

I actually want this one because I love Sansa/If Robert And Cersei Had One Legit Kid, but they almost always are written by people who don't like Sansa, or have a very... weird view on events. So they're almost always really unsatisfying.

2. The one where Ned gets Sansa a harp teacher. This would have the harp teacher be part of a family of entertainers, who hide Sansa and Jeyne in their ranks and take her across Westeros, only to find a job they took on includes more than they expected. Features Ned surviving, and a granny who's in deep mourning that Sansa is being wasted by being a princess instead of the incredibly talented musician/composer she could be.

3. Robb goes to King's Landing and Sansa stays in Winterfell. Features an early Queen in the North, a creepy Tywin Lannister, and Robb being horribly traumatized, forced to marry Cersei, and an unknown player, out to destroy the Lannisters.

4. Sansa escapes and becomes the wife of a nice commoner, only to be discovered and forced to decide between the life she's come to love and the life she might have had.

5. Finishing the Five Wolves. Features Stannis being force fed his respect women juice, Grey Wolf living past the red wedding and saving Sansa before Littlefinger gets in there, Vale dire wolves who've been in hiding this whole time, and a puppy.

6. Robb is separated from Catelyn during an attack on Riverrun in his infancy, floats downriver in a basket and is picked up by a childless riverdwelling couple, part of an ethnic minority of river traders in the Riverlands. They assume he's actually an unwanted baby from a brothel upriver, set adrift in the hopes that he might be picked up by someone just like them. He then grows up, finds Grey Wolf, slays a mountain, goes to Dorne, gets married, and comes home, and meets the Queen In The North.

7. Septa Mordane dies after she and Sansa catch some kind of lung ailment. The new septa finds Arya charming and spirited, while deciding that Sansa is sullen and lazy(bc getting over massive illness). She also declares that Arya is just lovely, and Sansa is almost like a reed with a flame on the end. More of an exploration on how Sansa and Arya's dynamic is more about how they're perceived by the audience and the people around them than anything they actually do. Features Sansa hiding from her Septa in the kitchen.

8. The one where The wolves and the Stark Kids are more connected than people realize, and killing Lady kills Sansa. Sansa and Lady become a Demi-god/fairy duo who wander between the North and the Riverlands, saving lost children, guiding refugees, etc.

Teen Wolf:

1. The one where Scott is kidnapped by vampires, who think he's just the best EVER and almost refuse to let him go. Featuring some characters from when I used to play Vampire The Masquerade.

2. The one where biologist!Scott and momentary film! maker Kira find a coy wolf pup in the woods, raise her to release her to the wild, and get caught up in a battle between Argent Agriculture and Derek Hale's environmental activist group. Features monoculture crops and a snake.

3. The one where Scott rescues a little kid.

4. The one where Scott is captured by a shady branch of the FBI, only to be confronted with a familiar face. Features selkies, cat fairies, and a mer-person. also, teeth.

6. The one where Scott runs away from home after being rejected by his mom. Features found family and people who like trees.

7. The one where people rescue Scott from his friendship with Stiles, AKA you don't have to be friends with ppl who are mean to you.

8. The one where, instead of being stopped by Derek Hale biting her, Victoria Argent is seen by a teenager who records her trying to kill Scott on her cellphone, after calling the police. Victoria is arrested, her family is dragged through the mud, and Scott almost dies, but recovers. Hunters show up, as do other people.

The Untamed

1. The one where Wei Wuxian is raised by the Burial Mounds, who are actually pretty good parents. Features Ghosts and Wei Wuxian.

2. The one where Wei Ying is a recent exonoree from a death row in an unspecified southern state. Features the Lan family healing, and Jin Ling being cared for.

That's it. I wish I could write.

#the untamed #long post #my writing #GOT #asioaf #teen wolf #anti stiles stilinski

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dany-is-my-queen · 4 years

Text

Born To Be Yours | Part II

Sansa Stark x Fem! Baratheon! Reader (Daenerys Targaryen x Fem! Baratheon! Reader eventually)

Season 1-8

Word Count: 1,795

Note: I’m back!!!

Part 1 here Pt.3 Pt.4 Pt.5 Pt.6 Pt.7 Pt.8 Pt.9

“You shouldn’t interfere when it’s none of your business.” Joffrey was still angry with you.

“Don’t mess with the ladies and we’ll be in peace.” You calmly said.

“Always so honorable... the hero saving the day.” Your mother mocked.

“Why you say it like that, mother? I would do it over again, you are so heartless and extreme about little matters.” You rolled your eyes.

“You don’t care about your brother's honor. That’s the real reason you defended those pathetic girls.” She spat.

“I do care about him. It’s the other way around. You are a pampered kid. You should start acting more like a man, Joffrey.” And with that you left his room.

“May I come in, princess?” The sweet voice of the oldest Stark daughter rang. You were on just a pair of trousers, definitely not wearing proper clothes to be talking to her.

“Of course, my lady. Just give me a second, please.” You put on a dress. “Let her in.”

“I wanted to apologize for my earlier behavior. You saved my wolf’s life, I’ll be forever thankful, my princess.”

“It was the right thing to do. I would have preferred her to stay by your side, though.”

“She’ll find a new home. I hope she returns to the north, where she belongs.” You gave her a soothing smile. “Does prince Joffrey hates me?” She asked sadly.

“No no, he is just a bit... irritating and gets easily offended. But it’s not personal, my lady. You are promised to him so with time your relationship will evolve.”

“I hope so. I’ll leave you to enjoy your evening, my princess.”

“Lady Sansa, if you need someone to talk to you can always come to me. You and your sister. I pray for your little brother to wake up. She nodded.

“You are very kind.”

~~~~~~

“Did you found a suitable candidate up in the North, niece?” Uncle Renly asked with a droll voice.

“I met a boy... very good looking and a gentleman but he wasn’t my type. He’s the eldest son of Lord Eddard.”

“Sounds quite the man.”

“We didn’t have the chance to get closer so I’ll forget about him.” You might never see him again after all.

“Princess Y/N, what can I do for you?” The tall man greeted.

“I haven’t had the chance to thank you, my lord, for accepting to be the new hand. I know it was a difficult choice to make, leaving your home. My father really needs you. He lacks of loyal friends and I believe you’ll be very helpful around here.”

“Oh, I will do my best not to let Robert down.” He smiled.

“A raven came this morning. I- I forgot to deliver it earlier, my lord hand.” Maester Pycelle said with his usual stutter and left.

“Good news?”

“My Princess! I didn’t expect to see you.” A voice that didn’t please you stated.

“Lord Baelish.” You faked a perfect smile.

“Lord Stark, perhaps you’ll like to share the news with your wife.”

“She’s on Winterfell.”

“Is she?”

“I won’t tell my mother. Lord Baelish knows I can keep a secret. Can I join you?” The relation you had with Petyr was not the best. He informed you of things your parents won’t share with you. Despite that you never liked him nor his personality.

“Better not keep her waiting.” You reached his brothel unnoticed.

“I’ll talk to her when you’re done. I’m not a spy. I can be trusted but I prefer to stay out of your business, Lord Eddard.” And it was true. You had no interest in gossiping.

“Thank you.” They entered. Not before he took Baelish and throttle him suspecting this was a trick.

“Lady Catelyn.” You bowed your head.

“Princess Y/N, what a surprise...” She looked at you with dismay.

“It’s fine. I won’t tell a soul. I am glad to hear that little Bran is finally awake. And also, I wanted to let you know that I’ll keep your daughters safe. Now that you both are here I give you my word. My family is complicated and tends to have a reputation. I will look after Lady Sansa and Lady Arya, as long as I can, I promise.” Since the incident with the direwolves you had this enormous feeling of responsibility, deep down you knew their stay in King’s Landing won’t be as enjoyable as they thought. You hoped you were wrong. Prevention was a good idea.

“I will be in your debt, my princess. Knowing this gives me relief. It’s hard to find good people here in the capital.”

“It certainly is. Say hello to Lord Robb from me.” You wished her good travel home but sensed trouble in her.

~~~~~~

“Y/N! Want to spar? I’m so bored and Myrcella is doing lady stuff.” Tommen asked you, holding his little sword.

“That’s not proper for a princess to do and mother doesn’t approve.” Joffrey hissed.

“But father does. We are not useless like yourself, big brother.” You rumpled your brother’s hair. “Let’s go Tommen.” You found Arya in the courtyard with his dancing teacher. “Mind if we join the class?”

“This is Syrio Forel, he is from Braavos.”

“My Princess, my Prince.” He did a small reverence.

“I want to learn how to be a knight!” Tommen said excitedly. After a long time practicing you got tired. Syrio was surprised when he saw the way you wield the wooden blade.

“Natural talent, Princess Y/N.”

“Thank you. My father was the first person that taught me how to properly do it so I can defend myself when there are no guards around. Ser Jaime also instructed me of some techniques.”

“That’s my intent too. Not wearing dresses and attending to councils. I was born for this.” Arya said sure.

“No one will be able to stop you when you are old enough, perhaps not even now.” She grinned.

You could see yourself in this girl, you have a lot in common. She was fearless and didn’t seem to want to marry a lord and live in a castle. You could also see the similarities between Lady Sansa and you. You love to fight and go hunting, use a bow, but you knew how to weave as well, how to properly greet the lords and ladies, and you wished to get married someday. You were a proper daughter, with dignity and manners, your father was always more fond of you, your mother on the other hand... she loved you in her own way, you were the perfect child in everyone’s eyes.

“Lady Sansa, I am happy to know your brother is fine.” You put a hand on her shoulder.

“He won’t be able to walk ever again. But it was a miracle. Thanks for your prayers.” She answered.

“Would you like to visit the Throne Room? Your septa can join us.” She nodded.

“Someday your husband will sit there and you by his side, then you’re going to present your son to the court. All the important people of the Seven Kingdoms will gather here to see the prince.” Septa Mordane stated.

“What if I have a girl?” The Stark inquired.

“If the gods are good you’ll have girls and boys, plenty of them.”

“They all going to be beautiful children. Just like her mother.” You complemented.

“But if I only had girls...”

“The throne will pass to Tommen, my little brother.”

“And everyone will hate me.” She harried said.

“No one could ever hate you, Sansa.” Her septa affirmed.

“Your Septa is right, my lady. I already told you. As your friend, I won’t let anybody speak ill of you. Besides, you are lovely.” You squeezed her hand.

“Thank you, my princess.”

“Sansa, do you remember your lessons? Who built the Iron Throne?”

“Aegon the conqueror.”

“And who built the Red Keep?”

“Maegor the cruel. My grandfather and uncle were murdered here, by orders of the Mad King. Why?”

“You should speak to your father about these matters.”

“You are dismissed.” The old woman left. You walked towards the throne indicating her to follow you.

“Would you like to seat on the throne, my lady? It’s not a comfortable chair but it was forged from the one thousand swords that had been surrendered to Aegon in the War of Conquest by the lords who had offered their fealty, though the actual number of the swords is less than two hundred. These were melted down by the fiery breath of Balerion the Black Dread.” You conclude telling her.

“You seem to like these type of stories, Princess. Your knowledge for the topic is quite vast.” She was surprised yet amused.

“Yes, I enjoy to read and uncle Tyrion told me a lot about this when I was just a little girl. What kind of stories enthralled you, sweet lady?”

“The ones with honorable knights, chivalry and love.” A dreamt sigh left her mouth.

“I like those too. Especially this tale about Ser Florian called Florian the Fool, he was a legendary hero of the Riverlands from the Age of Heroes. He felt in love with a maiden named Jonquil. Singers compared the sudden marriage of King Jaehaerys I Targaryen and Queen Alysanne Targaryen to their great romance.

“I know that one! Is my favorite tale of all time. But I didn’t know they compared them with the Targaryens of that period. It’s very romantic.” She blushed a little.

“And one of the songs... I think this is how it goes, Six maids there were in a spring-fed pool... oh my gods! I sound terrible.”

“No! You have an adorable voice, princess Y/N.” You grinned.

“You are lying! I found that song a bit creepy. He was watching Jonquil and her sisters bathed. The face of the girl turned just like her hair. I didn’t mean to ruin it.” Both of you laughed.

“It’s alright. I still love it.” The throne room was never your favorite place to be, it was hollow and boring. You imagine all the horrible things that happened here. But now with the presence of such a pretty lass it felt different, not gloomy at all.

The next day it was the tournament in the name of Eddard Stark. Though the man didn’t attend. You sat next to the oldest Baratheon boy. Tommen was inpatient so as your father. Lady Sansa smiled at your brother but he looked away, avoiding her completely.

“Is it so hard to be nice at your lady?”

“Shut up.” You return the smile to her. She was half disappointed it wasn’t Joffrey and half happy you did notice her.

“Start the damn joust before I pissed myself!” And the opponents made their appearance. Ready to begin.

#sansa stark x reader #sansa x reader #game of thrones shot #game of thrones fic #got #baratheon reader #sansa x fem baratheon reader

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turtle-paced · 4 years

Text

Revisiting Chapters: Brienne VIII, AFFC

This post is also available on my wordpress.

The story so far…

Having done what a true knight does and saved the children at the Inn, a wounded Brienne is taken to receive her just reward. The catch being it’s Lady Stoneheart’s idea of just.

Fever Dreams

The chapter starts with Brienne incapacitated. Aside from the fact that someone’s tied her up (so tightly that it cuts into her wrists, we find out later) and slung her across a horse, she’s very much not well. She’s in a lot of pain and she doesn’t understand what’s going on. Pod’s somewhere in the background.

Cue successions of horrible dreams, swapping back and forth with reality. Brienne revisits the bear pit, calling out for Jaime, and then for a maester. She dreams of Renly’s murder and Vargo Hoat with an infected ear. She replays the fight at the Whispers and loses, because she cannot fight without the magic sword Jaime gave her.

The reader understands as Brienne does not at this point that what’s going on around Brienne is very, very bad for her. When Brienne mistakes a girl who speaks to her for Sansa, a man nearby laughs. Some time afterwards, she’s moved and given medicine. The girl administering said medicine gives us a rundown of Brienne’s injuries. Aside from the nasty wound on her face from Biter’s bites, she’s got a broken arm and some cracked ribs.

Brienne’s with it long enough to hear the confirmation that yes, Gendry killed Biter at the end of the previous chapter. The girl treating her is definitely not Sansa Stark, though. Instead, she appears to be the innkeeper, now revealed to be Jeyne Heddle (and her sister, back at the inn, is Willow Heddle). Her status as a prisoner is confirmed by a dark-haired man Brienne keeps mistaking for Renly (it’s Gendry). She’s being taken to Lady Stoneheart.

“M’lady means to make you answer for your crimes.”

Ominous! Brienne is quite sensibly afraid. She asks after Pod and Ser Hyle, though she also thinks that Septon Meribald and his dog are there. That’s about the end of that bout with lucidity. Next up, she’s taken across a river. No Gendry, he’s gone back to the Inn to protect the children. A man in a yellow cloak and wearing the Hound’s helm threatens to kill Brienne.

Finally, Brienne dreams of her encounter with Ronnet Connington. Her father promises to bring her a rose, but Brienne needs a sword. She bites her own tongue off in her nervousness, spits it out to lie next to the useless rose, and as her dream suitor expresses his digust with her, Ronnet turns to Jaime.

The overarching themes of Brienne’s dreams here are sex and romance, violence, and failure. Each of Brienne’s dreams ends with her failing in some way - to win a fight, to protect Renly, to even speak. In several of her dreams, she’s missing her sword and wants it back. This particular bit I find particularly telling:

“He will bring a rose for you,” her father promised her, but a rose was no good, a rose could not keep her safe. It was a sword she wanted. Oathkeeper. I have to find the girl. I have to find his honour.

While it’s a sweet notion, it also makes me sad. The only person who can find Jaime’s honour is Jaime. It also shows us how Brienne has come to see her quest - not just for Catelyn, but for Jaime as well.It’s not hard to see how the recent events of Brienne’s life have resulted in this traumatic mishmash of images. I don’t think they’re prophetic in any way, just reflecting her own rather poor state of mind. She feels like she’s failed, and she feels helpless.

The Broken Brotherhood

The first sign that this is, for sure, the Brotherhood Without Banners again is the presence of this man:

One of the shadow men shoved the girl aside. He was clad in rusted rings and a studded belt. At his hip hung longsword and dirk. A yellow greatcoat was plastered to his shoulders, sodden and filthy. From his shoulders rose a steel dog’s head, its teeth bared in a snarl.

Lem Lemoncloak. Compare to his first good description in Arya II, ASoS, where his armour is steel but not rusty and his cloak is only worn and stained instead of absolutely filthy.

The fact that the Brotherhood Without Banners has been taken over by undead Catelyn Stark was the subject of the epilogue of ASoS. As GRRM does with the epilogues, though, that was a one-off PoV character who doesn’t survive his experience with perspective voice. It’s a reveal for the readers. This is the internal reveal to our surviving and continuing PoV characters. Not the big reveal yet. But part of it.

Lem says that they’ll be hanging Brienne, to which she protests that she should have been covered by guest right, back at the inn.

“Guest right don’t mean so much as it used to,” said the girl. “Not since m’lady came back from the wedding. Some o’ them swinging down by the river figured they was guests too.”

This is not the same band that was doing their best to protect the peasants of the Riverlands. This tells us that nothing is sacred in how this new Brotherhood pursues their revenge against the Freys and Lannisters. Brienne, being ill, conks out again and doesn’t wake up for a while.

She wakes up again in what’s basically a grave.

The air was cold and heavy, and smelled of earth and worms and mold. She was lying on a pallet beneath a mound of sheepskins, with rock above her head and roots poking through the walls. The only light came from a tallow candle, smoking in a pool of melted wax.

And if that wasn’t making the point enough:

The flickering light cast queer shadows. Shadows of the slain, she thought, dancing all about me, hiding when I turn to look at them. Everywhere she saw holes and cracks and crevices, but there was no way to know which passages led out, which would take her deeper into the cave, and which went nowhere. All were black as pitch.

Brienne’s not alone down here; there’s an “old grey man” in rags as well. He helpfully flags for Brienne that their current location is representative of the Brotherhood’s moral slide. The man checks Brienne’s fever (broken) and tells her the status of her face (badly scarred, once it heals). He was not the one who treated Brienne, though. That was the girl from earlier, Jeyne.

Brienne asks why she received treatment if they’re just planning to hang her. He tells her that it was Lem’s screw-up that made the fight at the inn necessary - Lem was baited into charging off after the Bloody Mummers, but the man considers that Lem should have known better. Then we get to the key question: who are these people?

“We were king’s men when we began,” the man told her, “but king’s men must have a king, and we have none. We were brothers too, but now our brotherhood is broken. I do not know who we are, if truth be told, nor where we might be going. I only know the road is dark. The fires have not shown me what lies at its end.”

I know where it ends. I have seen the corpses in the trees.

Then it clicks for Brienne. This is the Brotherhood Without Banners, and she’s speaking to Thoros of Myr. Who clearly has his doubts again. Beric Dondarrion is dead. The Brotherhood has a new leader, who Thoros describes as “grimmer”. He goes to get her some food.As in her dreams before, Brienne finds herself looking for a weapon. She finds none.

When Thoros returns, he does so with some pretty lousy food. No milk, no honey, which is absolutely representative of the stores of human kindness on offer. Thoros says so himself, when Brienne asks for Pod to receive pity. If kindness is not available, what about justice?

“Justice.” Thoros smiled wanly. “I remember justice. It had a pleasant taste. […] We were king’s men, knights, and heroes…but some knights are dark and full of terror, my lady. War makes monsters of us all.”

Ah, wordplay! Thoros sees how the cause of the Brotherhood has turned from justice to revenge, and frankly he preferred the justice. This moment here with Thoros is for the reader to reconcile the somewhat morally ambiguous band of Merry Men who tried to look after Arya, tried to give to the poor, and try to conduct trials with the people who’ve been hanging and hanging and hanging people throughout the Riverlands.

That’s when Thoros hears company arriving. Brienne half remembers them from her interludes of lucidity. Once again Lem Lemoncloak is the most noticeable figure. He took the Hound’s helm from Rorge’s corpse. Lem does not deny it when Brienne identifies him as “the Hound”. By taking up the helm, Lem becomes the man. With consequences:

“There is nothing good about that helm, nor the men who wore it,” said the red priest. “Sandor Clegane was a man in torment, and Rorge a beast in human skin.”

“I’m not them.”

“Then why show the world their face?”

Fear, basically. But literally, though, there are those in the Brotherhood who are becoming the evil they fought. Who’s going to be able to tell Lem Lemoncloak apart from the previous men who wore the Hound’s helm? Who’s going to be able to tell the Brotherhood Without Banners from the other groups terrorising the Riverlands, now that they’re not a brotherhood and they’re all out of kindness and justice?

Heart of Stone

Once Brienne is brought to the main cavern (to answer for what she’s done, leaving her rather confused as to what it is she’s supposed to have done), she gets her first look at Lady Stoneheart, recently returned from Fairmarket.

A trestle table had been set up across the cave, in a clef in the rock. Behind it sat a woman all in grey, cloaked and hooded. In her hands was a crown, a bronze circlet ringed by iron swords. She was studying it, her fingers stroking the blades as if to test their sharpness. Her eyes glimmered under her hood.

The readers know several things that Brienne does not, in this moment. The obvious one, that this is undead Catelyn. Then there’s the less obvious. This crown was last mentioned back in Jaime VI, in the possession of Ryman Frey (in point of fact, Jaime told Ryman that Ryman shouldn’t take the crown when he left the camp). Sure enough, in Jaime VII, we’ll learn that Stoneheart’s men ambushed Ryman Frey and company two leagues out of Fairmarket. This is Robb’s crown that Lady Stoneheart now has.

The accusations against Brienne are quickly made clear. Association with and loyalty to the Lannisters. The evidence for this? She was calling out for Jaime in her fevered state. Not great evidence. But then they bring out Oathkeeper. Valyrian steel. Though it’s noted that Lady Stoneheart is focusing only on the lion pommel. Plus the letter Jaime gave her, signed by Tommen, claiming that Brienne is about his business. Better evidence.

All Brienne has to counter that is the truth. Jaime Lannister, famously dishonourable, gave Brienne a Valyrian steel sword and sent her to find Sansa Stark to protect her. Actually protect her, not the ‘move her to Cersei’s dungeons pending trial’ protection. The problem is…

“Are we supposed to believe the Lannisters are handing out gold and ruby swords to foes? That the Kingslayer meant for you to hide [Sansa] from his own twin? I suppose the paper with the boy king’s seal was just in case you needed to wipe your arse.”

It’s frankly unbelieveable. Unbelieveable to anyone who wasn’t in Jaime’s PoV for the duration of ASoS. To make matters worse, Pod and Hyle are brought forth too, described as “the Imp’s own squire” and “one of Randyll Bloody Tarly’s bloody household knights” respectively. Brienne can see the way this is going and pleads for them to be left out of it.

At last Lady Stoneheart speaks. Not well. She needs a young northman (Harwin, not that Brienne knows his name) to translate her words. She asks the name of Brienne’s sword.

“Oathkeeper,” Brienne answered.

The woman in grey hissed through her fingers. Her eyes were two red pits burning in the shadows. She spoke again.

“No, she says. Call it Oathbreaker, she says. It was made for treachery and murder. She names it False Friend. Like you.”

Again, the reader knows something that Brienne does not. Some of the last words Catelyn Stark heard in life were Jaime Lannister sends his regards. What this looks like to Lady Stoneheart is that Jaime had a hand in arranging the Red Wedding, then bribed Brienne to go after Sansa as well.

In the meantime, Brienne is confused about why Lady Stoneheart is making such a personal accusation, and this at last prompts the reveal.

“Lady Catelyn?” Tears filled her eyes. “They said…they said that you were dead.”

“She is,” said Thoros of Myr. “The Freys slashed her throat from ear to ear. When we found her by the river she was three days dead. Harwin begged me to give her the kiss of life, but it had been too long. I would not do it, so Lord Beric put his lips to hers, and the flame of life passed from him to her. And…she rose. May the Lord of Light protect us. She rose.”

So the classic zombie look, really, but a zombie retaining Catelyn’s last traumatic memories and plenty of will. Brienne’s narration refers to her as “the thing that had been Catelyn Stark.” As Brienne is absolutely adamant that she never broke faith with Catelyn, Lady Stoneheart demands she prove it.

“What does she want of me?”

“She wants her son alive, or the men who killed him dead,” said the big man. “She wants to feed the crows, like they did at the Red Wedding. Freys and Boltons, aye. We’ll give her those, as many as she likes. What she asks from you is Jaime Lannister.”

Note the simplicity of this agenda. Lady Stoneheart wants the one impossible thing - her murdered son, not to have been murdered. Failing that, the next best thing is lots and lots of dead people. She wants to do the same thing to the Freys as the Freys did to her. There’s no suggestion of retaking land, or dealing with administration and supply. She just wants everyone even tangentially involved with her son’s murder dead.

This is all very well and good if we’re talking about your Walder Freys (any one of several options) or your Roose Boltons, but now we see Lady Stoneheart lashing out at Brienne, and Pod, and Hyle. Brienne’s situation looks bad, but the reader knows that she’s right when she says Jaime’s not the man he was. Pod’s backstory as revealed in Brienne’s own chapters show his lack of options. Even Hyle, who’s undoubtedly an asshole, is clearly not responsible for Catelyn’s suffering. This is why Thoros was bemoaning the general lack of justice he was seeing around the place.

Lady Stoneheart then offers Brienne a choice. Her own life for Jaime’s. The sword or the noose. Brienne refuses to pick. So Lady Stoneheart orders Brienne hanged. Hyle and Pod too. Brienne tries to bargain for Pod’s life, using the same ‘sapphires’ line Jaime tried, but Lem (now referred to in narration as ‘the Hound’) tells her he wants his wife and daughter back, and starts the hanging. Brienne is focused on Pod. Just Pod.

The chapter finishes with Brienne screaming a single word.

Chapter Function

This chapter is our first proper look at Lady Stoneheart, who’s as tragic as she is terrifying. GRRM’s used Brienne’s PoV well to get both these things across. While Jaime’s storyline necessarily deals with the effects of Lady Stoneheart’s actions, it’s Brienne’s that makes you feel for her victims. It’s also Brienne’s storyline that makes the reader feel for Catelyn herself, who was wronged and murdered and brought back to more pain.

This is the true emotional climax of Brienne’s AFFC arc. Not the fight. The choice. We’ve seen Brienne decide good and honourable things all throughout her storyline, but here she’s put in a situation where there is no good and honourable decision. Take the sword to kill Jaime, betray the trust of a man who saved her life. And, though Lady Stoneheart doesn’t believe it, betray the mission Catelyn gave her. Take the noose, and Pod hangs with her.

Sometimes there’s no way to keep every vow. Brienne has the best of intentions. We’ve seen her good character. But there’s just no good solution to this problem. It’s the point Jaime made, way back when. Brienne’s vows are less important than doing what’s right, and allowing Pod to hang when she could prevent it isn’t right.

Now to see how she handles Jaime. The climax of this AFFC arc lets us know how things will be progressing in TWoW, because now we need to know how Brienne’s going to handle the choice, while also knowing that Lady Stoneheart won’t be backing down from hers. More trouble for the Riverlands is ahead.

Miscellany

Thoros notes that Long Jeyne Heddle treated Brienne as well as a maester could. I doubt she’s had much formal training. Which means that what Jeyne learned, she learned from experience. There’s a nasty thought.

It’s worth thinking twice about Lady Stoneheart and the crown. While Catelyn believes that Arya, Bran, and Rickon are all dead, she has no idea where or whether they were buried. She knows for sure that Robb is dead, but again, it’s not clear where or whether he was buried - given the desecration of his corpse, and what happened to Catelyn’s own body, it doesn’t seem likely that he received a respectful funeral. The fact that Sansa’s vanished without a trace is rather important to Brienne’s storyline. This crown is all Catelyn has left of her children.

Clothing Porn

In her final dream sequence, Brienne wears a silk brocade gown with blue and red quarters and decorated with golden suns and silver moons. Out of dream flashback, she’s wearing a brown woolen shift. Thoros wears the remains of an old robe, red faded out to pink and white.

Food Porn

Onion broth. Cold, greasy stew. Hard bread and harder cheese.

Next Three Chapters

Jon VII, ACoK - Jon IX, ADWD - The Princess in the Tower, AFFC

#ASoIaF #valyrianscrolls #revisiting chapters #cw: violence #a feast for crows #brienne of tarth #catelyn stark

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lea12 · 4 years

Text

Trigger warnings: mentioned self-harm, age difference

Day 3: crown

###

Rhaegar survives, winning the war, but loses his loved ones.

Crown on the head means nothing if you lost the ones you wanted the crown for.

His mother is dead, his father is dead, His children are dead, his wife is dead, his Lyanna is dead, his and Lyanna's child is dead-

the ones he loved the most are dead because of him and crown and victory aren't truly his.

He curses the prophecy, curses himself for his foolishness and selfishness.

But his brother and sister live, the only family he has left, and he vows to protect them from the dangers of the crown and love and madness.

His people hate him, and what can he do to gain their love again?

Nothing, but try to be kind and a good, generous king.

He forgives those who went against him, he forgives and he tries to make amends.

His advisors tell him he could consider marriage again and he laughs to their faces, for what good will another marriage do?

He already has heirs.

He thinks of Elia, of their children, of Lya and their unborn child and he cries and screams, burns his harp, burns his crown, scars his throat until his Kingsguard barges in and saves him from himself.

His advisors don't speak of marriage ever again.

The rumors start, talking about how is as mad as his father was and he

He makes amends with every house in Westeros, except with the Starks.

Twenty years after the war, he finally heads to the North.

Lya often spoke of North, her grey eyes always lightening up when she would talk about her brothers and snow and her home.

He comes to the North, and his scars burn, as well as his heart.

He sees Ned's children, the bastard son and the Greyjoy boy.

The bastard looks just like Ned when he was younger. More than his own children look like him.

He greets Ned and Catelyn and their youngest first, who he recognizes has wolfblood already. He greets their oldest, who looks like a Tully more than a Stark. He sees the bastard behind him and he isn't quite sure why, but he recognizes Lya in the boy's face.

Their daughter is a great beauty already, even more beautiful than her mother.

He chokes when he sees her, when he sees a girl who looks just like Lya.

"Lya-" He whispers, swallowing hard because his scars burn.

"Arya." Lya... the young girl corrects him and he regains his composure, but can't help but chuckle at the girl. He sees she's dirty, in pants and her hair is ruffled and his heart aches for Lyanna.

"Forgive me, Lady Arya, you reminded me of someone for a moment." Her nose goes in disgust as he calls her a lady and he laughs again.

He forgot how his genuine laughter sounds like.

He keeps his eye on Arya, enchanted by how much she looks like Lyanna.

He's disgusted by himself when he's reminded by how old she is, his scars burn and his heart aches.

He watches her fence with Jon, Ned's bastard and they both remind him of Lya so much in that moment.

***

"You are all welcome to King's Landing." He says to Ned and Catelyn. "I understand Lady Sansa would be delighted to come, and I believe she would do wonderful there."

The couple share a look and he knows what they're thinking.

"I could use someone like you there, Lord Ned."

"My King-"

"I know what you're thinking and I'm aware my honor means nothing anymore, but I truly do wish for you to come with me. My brother and sister are rather lonely and I trust your children would get along with them quite well."

"Can we sleep on your offer?" Lady Catelyn asks and he nods, knowing they'll say no.

He goes back to King's Landing, a reminder of a girl with Lya's looks and spirit and a boy with her soul cut into his mind.

Two years later, he goes to Winterfell again, bringing his siblings alone.

"It's incredibly cold here." Viserys says when they come and Rhaegar nods.

"It will do you some good."

He hasn't arranged marriages for either of his siblings yet, even if they are of marriageable age. He knows what everyone thinks, that he wants to continue the Targaryen tradition, but no, he wants them to marry for love.

He knows why Viserys loves visiting Dorne so much, for Lady Arianne is a wicked, but beautiful girl and Sand sisters are even more wicked.

Daenerys is lonely, he knows how lonely the it can be. Lady Sansa might get along well with his sister, he hopes they do.

He sees Lady Arya first, of course he does and his breath hitches, for she is Lyanna reborn now.

***

She's alone in the woods now, practing with a sword and he looks at her, scars and heart burning.

"Lady Arya." He greets her, but she isn't frightened. "Do you need company?"

"No." She remembers who he is. "My King."

"If you strike me, Lady Arya, I'll give you anything you want." He says and she smirks.

"You can't give me freedom. But, I would love to say how I striked the king." He smirks and her mischievous smile reminds him of Lya.

They fence and she does manage to strike him.

She makes him laugh, she always suceeds in making him laugh.

***

"Lady Arya." Her nose always goes up in disgust when she's called a lady and it reminds him of Lya. Everything about her reminds him of Lya.

"My King?"

"What do you wish for, Lady Arya?"

"For everyone to stop calling me lady. My freedom."

"I will give you anything you want, if you come to King's Landing with me."

"My King-"

"You are as beautiful as your aunt was."

"I'm not my aunt."

"No, you're not. You're Arya, and your spirit is more of that of a wolf than hers ever was."

"What do you want, my king?"

"For you to be by my side. I won't touch you as a husband would touch a wife, but just be by my side, Lady Arya."

"Don't call me Lady Arya anymore."

"Don't call me my king anymore." There's a hint of a smile on her lips.

"With you near, I finally laugh as I used to, I finally feel alive again. Arya, I'll give you freedom and everything else you wish for, just to keep that feeling."

"Wearing the crown doesn't mean freedom, it means being bound even more."

"Not if you're near me. You could do anything you want there, I'll let you have your freedom. You can share your bed with men, women, as many as you wish, I would not care."

"I want freedom. I want to ride a horse, never wear a dress again, go anywhere I want without a title bounding me."

"I'll give you that. You can have title of my mistress, no one will bother you then."

"It would bring ill name to my house."

"Be my queen, I promise you'll have freedom."

"Your crown won't bring me the freedom I want. Besides, the crown was always meant for my sister."

"Lady Sansa is destined for a queen, but she's not who I'm offering."

"What do you want, Rhaegar? In this moment?" She asks.

"A kiss, if you'll give me." He answers, truthfully, and she pulls him in a heated kiss, leaving both of them gasping for air.

"I don't want to have my aunt's fate."

"But what do you want?" She looks at him with her grey eyes.

"I want you."

"You'll have me forever." He promises and his scars burn yet again.

***

She's looking at herself in the mirror, knowing she looks like Lyanna reborn.

"Arya." Rhaegar calls for her from the bed meant for their bedding and she turns around, naked expect for the crown on her head.

Her aunt might have gotten the wreath of flowers as a crown, but Arya got the dragon's crown, silver and red.

#asoiaf #asoiafrare #asoiaf rarepairs #targaryen #prince rhaegar #rhaegar targaryen #rhaegar x arya #arya x rhaegar #arya stark #tw: self harm #drabble #i tried

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winterrose527 · 4 years

Note

For the wip games (I'm so slow sorry), I wanna hear about Dancing on the Strings or Fairytales, if you haven't already talked about them :))

Hi love, thanks for the ask! Dancing on the Strings is a WIP I have on AO3. Myrcella goes to the Vale to find her half-brother Gendry, and finds the Starks, a Snow and a Greyjoy at the same time. It’s the usual pairings, but one of my favorites that I hope to return to soon.

I’ve included the one shot Fairytales below.

It was one of those clear nights that chilled the bones the moment you stepped outside. It had been years since she’d been able to see her breath and she relished it now as sounds from the party wafted through the double-paned glass windows of the Stark’s mansion.

Not for the first time, Myrcella Baratheon thought to herself that all of the fairytales were lies. In the fairytales everyone rejoiced when their lost princess was returned to them, but she had been brought back from Dorne as unceremoniously as she’d been sent there three years prior. Her mother had been hovering over her and Tommen had been sweet as always, but no one else had shown any indication that her absence nor her presence made the least bit of different. Uncle Jaime would be happy to see me, she thought, but her handsome uncle was seeing to the family’s interests across the Narrow Sea. If her family’s reception had been lukewarm, it had been positively emphatic in comparison to that of the other society girls. Where they had once at least been obsequious if not kind, they now ignored her, fluttering around the Tyrell girl with the necklines of their gowns at their navels.

In truth it mattered not to her. She had only come to this party at the insistence of her mother, an attempt for the Starks and Lannisters to mend fences as it were, and if she could not have her feet in the Dornish sand then it mattered not where she was.

“You’ll catch a cold out here,” a deep Northern voice said from behind her.

Her fifteen year old self would have swooned when she found that it belonged to Robb Stark, the eldest son of her father’s dearest friend, but Myrcella had grown in the past three years, and it would take more than his presence to daunt her now.

“Then what are you doing out here?,” she asked with a challenging raise of a brow.

The old fashioned lanterns cast him in a hazy glow and he’d loosened his bowtie. He had always been handsome and bright, the heir any father would want, as her father often pointed out to Joffrey, but there was something else to him now. He had changed too in these three years, and now at twenty there was something almost dangerous about him. Though perhaps that was just the blue of his eyes.

“I was sent to fetch you,” he explained, “That dress can’t be doing much to keep you warm…”

She looked down at her gold Elie Saab confection. Thought it was more conservative than most of the girls’ gowns, with its high neck and long sleeves, it had an open back and was thin and beaded.

“Not sure that is its purpose,” she agreed, though pretended to consider, turning this way and that and giving him an ample view of her. The Dornish men, and women, had taught her to appreciate her form, for others always would.

“You’ve changed,” he said, as though trying to work her out.

“You say that as though you knew me before I left…,” she said, though there was something in his gaze that made her unable to meet his eye.

“Perhaps not. But I’d like to know you now.”

The admission made her bold, and she was better at these games now than he was.

“I thought you were with the Tyrell girl, the pretty one,” she said, which was a useless denotation. All the Tyrells were pretty, the garden was overgrown with them now, all of them more scantily dressed with a prettier laugh than the last.

“Marg?,” he asked and rubbed his chin, “No…no we aren’t together. Though you have your Martell heir, don’t you? Tristan is it?”

“Trystane,” she corrected. Poor, sweet Trystane. “No. Warring families are so 16th century, wouldn’t you say?”

“Oh I don’t know,” he said, and took his first step closer to her. She held her ground, drawing herself up to her full height. At 5’8, 5’11 in her heels, she was no match for him, who must be 6’2 at least, but she felt better with straight posture, always had. “Doesn’t everyone love a doomed romance?”

Now that he is closer she can see the stubble on his chin, she can see the light dancing in his eyes, she can see that his body is made for fighting. He had been born in the wrong century, in a different age he would have been a great warrior, a leader of men. Now he probably boxed at the gym her family used with its $300 a month membership.

“Who sent you to fetch me?,” she asked, changing the subject, keeping him on his toes, leading him in a dance of her choosing.

“Y-your…mother,” he said uneasily. The best predators are those who look like prey.

“You’re a terrible liar,” she sighed, then turned on her heel and started walking down the terrace.

“Wait! Myrcella? Where are you going?,” he asked her and she smiled to herself as she heard him run to catch up to her.

Once he’d fallen into step with her she pointed out, “Well if no one sent you to fetch me, that means no one is looking for me.”

She stopped to turn towards him and he turned towards her as well. The music drifted out of the home and she could see the couples turning round and round inside, the icicles melting on the window panes and casting them in an otherwordly glow.

She heard him sigh, but then he was stepping closer and easing his tuxedo jacket over her shoulders. It was warmed from him, and it smelled like pines and snow.

“Then come along, there’s a place I’d like to show you,” he said and offered her his hand.

She’d been warned against this, love is a poison, so she placed hers in his.

He led her down the stairs, down the gravel path the surrounded the manicured garden. Winterfell was an ancient home, but it was Catelyn Stark who had created its enviable garden out of something once referred to as the tilt yard.

Her hand felt small in Robb’s, and she was distantly aware that only he knew where they were going, but he squeezed her hand and grabbed her other one when he went to lead her down more steps in the dark, and she found that she didn’t quite care because she’d go wherever he lead.

He opened an ancient door and all of a sudden she was hit with the smell of lilacs and lavender, peonies and roses. He turned on a small storm lamp that cast the room in a warm light, and she saw that it was a kind of green house. I have not been this warm since Dorne, she thought and automatically raised her face towards the ceiling, as though the sun might warm it even now.

“Here,” he said, letting go of her hand as he went to get something. “Close your eyes,” he said.

She gave him a challenging gaze and he gave her a puppy-dog expression that looked so out of place on his chiseled features that she acquiesced.

All of a sudden a smell, more delicate than the others filled her senses.

“It smells like -,” she started.

“You,” he finished and she opened her eyes to find him holding a jasmine plant. She looked at him questioningly and he set it down. “I noticed it for the first time when you were twelve. Your parents were fighting so you and your brother Joffrey,” she did not miss the note of disdain she heard in his voice at that, “Came to stay with us. Joffrey preened around, being rude to the staff, flirting with Sansa…but you kept to yourself. You read for hours and hours every day, and then Grey Wind started disappearing. One night he came back and I went to wrestle with him and I smelled it. You.”

Myrcella thought back to those days. She’d spent much of the time by herself, both she and Sansa too shy and awkward at twelve and thirteen to really befriend one another, and Grey Wind had been her only friend. He would sit by her side for those hours as she read under a big white tree she’d found.

“You never spoke to me…,” she reasoned.

“We were children,” he protested.

“You were seventeen when I left,” she pointed out.

“And our families were at war. So 16th-century, wouldn’t you say?” he asked her with a small grin.

“And who says this peace will hold?,” she wondered.

An uneasy truce had been reached, a tacit alliance as they all dealt with the larger issue, the Targaryens.

He took a step forward, taking her hands in his and raising them to his chest, “Doesn’t everyone love a doomed romance?”

This was foolish, rash, ill-advised. He was too much, too all-consuming, too dangerous. She was smarter than this, she had always been smarter than this.

“Let’s find out,” she suggested, because at eighteen she was ready for foolishness, even for danger if it came with the feel of Robb Stark holding her.

He grinned and touched his lips to hers. It was full of sweetness and reverence and ever after she would remember it when she smelled honeysuckles.

***

Three years later, on a terrace that was adorned with the flowers from Winterfell’s glass gardens, Myrcella Baratheon became Robb Stark’s wife.

In the end, the peace held. Robert Baratheon got the heir that he wanted so dearly, and her husband as well, and no shyness kept Sansa and Myrcella from one another as they grew as close as any sisters.

Often Myrcella would wake to find a freshly cut peony on her pillow. She had called it right all those years ago, Robb Stark was dangerous. He had stolen her heart that evening, and had never returned it.

Their union brought about an era of peace and prosperity, reviving the economy and the spirit of Westeros after the defeat of the Targaryens.

The princess had returned to find her prince, who had been waiting for her those three long years she was gone. He had fallen into a spell, awakened only by her return. She saved him that night, and he saved her right back.

After all, not all fairytales are lies.

#fanfiction #modern au #robbcella #fluff #fairytales #ask

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