“She’s half starved.” Lyanna mutters, adjusting the baby in her arms. She passes off the sleeping Jon to one of the lady’s and tucks her other arm under Daenerys. She loved her son, that was for certain, but he didn’t need her near as much as this tiny, skinny baby did. Lyanna had never seen a baby be skinny before Daenerys’ arrival. “She and Jon are but six months apart adn yet – yet she seems so… different then he.” She feels the tiny toothless baby gum her nipple slightly, almost as though she’s making sure it’s still there.
“He’s so little.” Lyanna mutters, Aegon was just eighteen months old if her maths was correct, and to have sustained the injuries he did… it was a miracle he was still breathing, but she wasn’t hopeful he’d be whole. “An-and Elia’s brother, Oberyn, have you written him? told him the children are okay. I-I know he might not… like the idea but I-I’d like to keep them here. They’re Jon’s siblings, and after the trouble birthing Jon that I had they may be his only siblings for a long while.”
She purses her lips when he mentions the Kingslayer. “Rhaegar, it would be different if it were you. You did not swear a vow to protect your father with your life. If Jamie Lannister could break that vow once he’d do it again, I know he would and next time it might be you or the children. I-I won’t have him around them. Assign Arthur Dayne to the children and I if you must but please, not Jamie Lannister.” Tywin as the hand was a whole other bed of vipers, she’d have preferred someone else, literally anyone else, but there was no persuading Rhaegar when he took that tone. “Just – I don’t want Lord Tywin or Ser Jamie around our children. it’s too dangerous.”
“Oberyn, yes I have. In fact i’ve asked him to be apart of the small council. He’s agreed, i’m trying to foster the relations broken during the war, and this way Oberyn can be close to his sisters children and they to their Uncle. I’ve arranged for Viserys and Arianne Martell to marry when they are older. We also need to look for other arrangements for Rhaenys and when Dany and Jon are older…”
Lyanna was just as stubborn as he was on this subject and he knew that she was scared, scared of the possibilities that might occur. “Both Gerold and Arthur will attend to you and the children. I promise you. Ser Barristan will accompany and watch Rhae and Aegon’s chambers” Rhaegar paused, giving a long heavy sigh.
“Jaime swore an oath yes, but he was also sworn to obey his father. His father rebelled against the King. He swore to protect the innocent and defend the weak. My father would have killed the innocent and the weak. He nearly blew up Kings Landing and more. I’m not saying what Jamie Lannister did was right, but I as a knight and a Prince understand where his mind set was at during the time. How could he obey the King when his duties also applied to myself and the others of royal blood? He had to obey his father and mine…It’s a tug of war he couldn’t have won, Lyanna. My father killed your brother and father. He’s part of why this war happened. He kept the letters we wrote to your family and started Robert on his idea of a rebellion.”
“Lord Tywin hasn’t accepted the position yet, dealing with Robert asking for Cersei’s hand. Lord Tywin stayed netural in the war but he was against my father. Not myself. Those loyal to my father and not myself are to be killed or sent to the wall. Robert’s lucky I don’t send him off to the wall. It’s only your brother, Eddard who stays that action.”
“I just need help putting them to bed” Lyanna whispered, there was no way she could get up with both of them. Both babies were fast asleep against her. “Especially Daenerys. Every time i try to take her off my breast she starts screaming.” The baby was asleep, Lyanna’s nipple still in her mouth, but Lyanna had already tried to remove her twice to no avail. “Did she – well was she fed at all on the journey from Dragonstone?”
She knew that if she was given anything it was Goat’s milk, which would sustain life but was woefully inadequate when it came to nutrition. Guilt settled in her stomach again when he mentioned little Aegon, he was older then Jon, though not by much he’d’ve been less then two still and Lyanna knew she couldn’t nurse him too.
“W-will he be alright? I-I know the maester said he’d live but – but will he be… damaged?” She knew the injury to his head had been bad, everyone thought he’d die. “An-and Rhaenys, we – we’ll get her a new kitten and- well I don’t know…” She trails off. The little black kitten Rhaenys had so loved had been found with it’s skull crushed under the bed in Elia’s chamber. She can’t help but feel guilty for it, for what had happened to Elia and Rhaella, and the two children.
“An-and the Kingslayer?” She asks. “H-he’s – I want him dead. He can’t be around the children if – if we can’t trust him.”
“I believe she was but not by any kind of mothers milk. Prehaps goat milk?” He told her, giving his sister an odd look as he noticed how she slept. It was odd to think of this little babe as his sister. Viserys was older and they’d spent time together but Daenerys was a just a babe and it was harder to wrap his head around the idea that he was a good twenty years older than her and they were siblings.
“Aegon will be alright. For now. The Maester doesn’t know if he’ll be damaged in any way or the severity until he heals up some more.” Rhaegar prayed to the Seven that Aegon would be fine. A happy healthy child with no problems but he couldn’t be sure, the blow had been hard. “The Masester tried to be positive but…There was something in his tone that makes me worry if i’m being honest. Of course. I think she’d like that very much.”
Her request left Rhaegar a bit stunned. “Jaime Lannister. Jaime did what I would have done had I known his plans with the wildfire, Lyanna. Besides, I’d rather be on good terms with his father seeing as he took care of the kingdom while my own crept further into paranoia and madness.” Rhaegar started, his brows came furrowed a bit as he thought. “Jaime didn’t get close to the children. The one i want dead is Gregor Clegane. H-he was the one who helped lead the attack on my children and Elia. Who r-ra-raped her…If Jaime hadn’t killed my father, I’d be a Kinslayer and not he as Kingslayer. My father should have been dealt with before any of this came as it did.”
There was guilt in his voice, heavy in his body language as he couldn’t look Lyanna in the eye. “Jaime will stay on as Kingsguard. Tywin will serve as my hand. I’m not changing my mind on this.”
“Well, what’s done cannot be undone, once the war is over I will honor those men,” Lyanna said stepping out onto a balcony to where Rhaegar kept his ravens.
“May these words ease his troubled mind,” Lyanna said tying her note to the Raven’s leg and sending it off. “Will you help me collect my belongings, Brandon?”
“Hope it ends this damn war” He huffed as he watched the raven leave and go where it was meant to go. “Of course, there’s no way i’m letting my sister with a babe in her belly carry all of these…” He shook his head as he gathered what he could make of what belonged to her and packed them up.
“My horse is outside, you can still ride yes?” He asked as he packed “Or is there a boat nearby? We need to get to the mainland as quick as possible, High Garden is quicker but Dragonstone might be a better…” He shook his head at the idea as soon as he said it knowing Dragonstone would be under attack as it housed Elia Martell and her children. Robert and Tywin would attack there soon. “We might not make it home in time by boat if you should give birth…”
“He did not! We ran away together, you make me sound like a damsel in distress, Brandon.” Lyanna said lowering her knife for the first time, “and this child is no bastard! Rhaegar and I are wed in the sight of The Seven, performed by a Maester of the Citadel, this child is proof of this union, a sign of a brighter future.” Pushing past her brother Lyanna searched for a piece of parchment and a quill and ink on Rhaegar’s desk, scribbling down a few words, she turned back to her brother.
“Let me send this raven to my husband, and then I will go with you since you took it upon yourself to murder my guards.”
Brandon was stunned by what his sister was telling him. She had wed Rhaegar…They loved one another and this child…His niece or nephew was royalty. There was a war going on and now there was extra urgency on everything. He couldn’t go to Robert with this news, and he was sure Ned would still side with Robert until he heard the words from Lyanna herself.
If they wanted to stop this war they’d have to kill Aerys and even than Brandon knew Robert would be an issue, despite being married to Rhaegar legally Robert would still see Lyanna as his bride to be and want to kill Rhaegar and he couldn’t let that happen, couldn’t let his sister be a widow and their child fatherless.
“If that future is able to be seen through the anger and bloodshed.” Brandon remarked as Lyanna went to the desk to write. “To be fair at the time I didn’t know they were your guards” He gave a half attempted laugh and the corners of his mouth gave a small twitch of a smile.
“Save me? But I don’t need saving!” Lyanna protested, and then he spoke of the child growing in her womb. Pressing a hand protectively over her stomach, the she-wolf met her brother’s gaze with flint hard eyes.
“I will do no such thing! How dare you, my child isn’t some mistake to be hidden away and forgotten!”
Just how far had Rhaegar’s influence spread? Brandon couldn’t believe he for a while thought Rhaegar would have been a better king than his father after how he took his sister, defiled her…
“He took advantage of you, Lyanna. Kidnapped you. Would you want to carry a bastard into the world?” As much as he knew how Lyanna would love the child he also knew how the world looked down upon a woman with bastards rather than how it was with a man and his bastards.
“Dear sister please listen to me. We must leave.” Brandon didn’t know if the battle had truly started, if the tides had turned to favor one army or the other but he didn’t want to be here when it shifted for the worse.
The Tower of Joy was usually a peaceful place, if not a little lonely since Rhaegar had gone off to defend his crown. So when Lyanna heard the shouts of the guards below followed by the clash of swords, clutching her swollen belly, Lyanna grabbed a knife and waited, should the intruders should come in.
With shaking hands and bated breath, Lyanna held her little knife before her, she could hear the footfalls of someone coming up the stairs. But when the door burst open, Lyanna did not expect to see who the intruder was.
“Brandon! What are you doing here?”
“Coming to get you and save you from this place. Take you home.” Brandon growled as he stormed closer to Lyanna, noting her pregnant belly and had to rip his eyes from the sight, not masking the disgust at the idea of Rhaegar having had his way with his little sister.
“You’ll drink moon tea on the way home. Or give it up once we get home. Robert and Eddard are fighting for you. We’ll find you a better match than Robert. You’ll be safe again, I promise.” The eldest Stark moved to try to help Lyanna hoping she’d put the knife down.
“In the privacy of just us, yes. But, I suppose I should look presentable if i’m too leave this room” Rhaegar gave a soft sigh as his mind was soon filled with thoughts he knew he would have to act on sooner than later. “Lyanna, you should write to your family” Rhaegar knew they had left abruptly, he was sure there must have been rumors going about already about the two of them. He just hoped that there was enough time to get things set in motion, namely getting rid of his father on the throne.
“Let them know that you are safe and well and I shall write to Tywin Lannister if it’s not too late to gain his support” He kissed her cheek and smiled lovingly at her, embracing her for a moment wishing they could just live out their days here but he also knew the longer his father sat on the throne and went further into madness the worse it would be for everyone.
Out of all the Stark siblings, Brandon and Lyanna were perhaps closely the most similar. Brandon was stubborn and hot-tempered, and Lyanna while perhaps not as wild as her eldest brother had her own wildness and despite this similarity it caused the two to often clash especially when they disagreed. ❝ Everyone has plans and what I want doesn’t matter! ❞ She howled so loudly her throat burned, it was no surprise that she was not in the least bit happy about this engagement but, it angered her even more that her own family thought she should be content with such a thing.
The eldest Stark growled as his sister yelled at him, louder than he had expected. “Will you hush!” He answered back just as fiercely. “What you want Lyanna? Robert Baratheon may not be a good man but he’s a good match and comes from a proud strong house.” Brandon wasn’t fond of the Stag and his wondering ways and while people said he would stop once he married his sister he doubted that would change.
“Do you want me to go over father’s head and tell him to not marry you off to Robert? To let you become a real knight? Lyanna you know as well as I do that our plans for ourselves will not go as planned.” Brandon closed the distance between his sister, his eyes glaring at the she-wolf. “I want to see you happy, I do. But to break such an engagement could mean disaster for our house. For our…your reputation.”
she shuddered, breath watery and trembling. she reached for him, trying her best to still and settle him. “brandon, please! you’re hurt. be still…” she couldn’t live with herself if another member of her family were to die for her naive foolishness. she moved to stand shakily before him, attempting to push his strong body back onto the bed. “i don’t know. your sword wasn’t with you when they brought you.” and they didn’t keep weapons in lyanna’s chambers, save the ones worn and carried by the appointed guards.
“I’ll be still when you are safe.” He snarled at his sister as he tried to block her as she came fourth as he managed to stand, he was caught off guard at her push and he sat back upon the bed, a grimace on his face. “Seven hells….” He needed a weapon. Needed to get them both out of this damn tower. “You are not staying here another moment. Lyanna.” Brandon stood again this time pushing past the pain as he looked out the tower window and saw Rhaegar’s guards, their backs to the tower. “What awaits us if we leave this chamber. Guards outside these doors?”
Goldnwulf 