GoT LB: Chapter 11 (Patreon)

Third Person Point of View

Five-year-old Renly Baratheon sat out in the open with the other children. Now that they had food every meal, they had the energy to play again. The children were playing leapfrog as they laughed and cheered, until a hawk flew out of nowhere and began pecking at one of Renly's eyes. He cried out in pain. The assault was swift, brutal, and over in the time it took anyone to realize something was wrong.

Later that day, the moment Stannis walked out of his castle, a ten-pound rock dropped from the sky, barely avoiding his skull and breaking the bones in his foot instead. A bird peered over the side to see if he had missed or hit the target he wanted to before flying off. The bird flew for a long, winding path so no archers would get the chance to shoot it down before landing on a small boy's shoulder.

The child’s eyes opened as he spoke aloud to the group surrounding him. “Well, good enough for now.”

…

Rhaegar appeared at the camp as he needed to speak with my uncles. He wanted Arthur and Gerold to protect Lyanna, and after I explained how a single woman as a midwife was a bad idea, he expanded the people we could bring with us. Rhaegar wanted Lyanna’s birth to be a secret, up to the point of letting her die from lack of help. My uncles had been side-eyeing me ever since I inhabited this body, but this was the first time they mentioned it.

“Alexander… What are you scheming?” I smiled at my uncle as we made our way there. Our group had grown dramatically, and I had six bastards underneath me, and they each had five men underneath them. It meant, instead of the three Kingsguard to defend Lyanna, there would be almost forty there this time. 

I could hire about a hundred mercenaries with the money I passively generated, but that would be a mistake. I needed to start building up my currency, so I only took those who wanted a higher station in life and could wait to be paid until later. That didn’t mean I didn’t reward them for following me; they were all wearing much nicer armor, had much nicer weapons, and even had several shared horses between the group we formed for them to ride on. Horses were rare enough to be considered a luxury or even a sign of lower nobility.

My uncles had to have noticed that these men deferred to me; they must have noticed how well equipped we were now compared to previously. “I’m just preparing for the future.” Gerold was straightforward, while Arthur tried to ask leading questions. “For what? What does a child your age have to prepare for besides being a squire?”

“This is only the start… No matter who wins, this is a sign that the king isn’t all-powerful. There aren’t dragons left to hold the kingdom together anymore. Whoever wins will become king, and they might rule in peace for their entire life… But after they die, the kingdoms would tear themselves apart to get their king on the throne. That’s what I’m worried about.”

We walked in silence as several of my other plans were in play. It would take a month of travel to make it there, and the war would take another month or so to finish, then another month for Ned to find his sister. I needed to make sure I’m ready by then.

…

Ned Stark’s Point of View

We’ve done it, we managed to kill Rhaegar, avenge my father and brother, and now we're dealing with the aftermath of us winning. I was heading to the Tower of Joy to bring my sister back. I just hoped… That she was still her. That strong, proud girl who became a woman, the one beautiful enough to draw the unwanted attention of a married man.

I wasn’t sure what I was expecting when I arrived… But it wasn’t a large set of tents and men training outside, a large enough group that our numbers wouldn’t be enough to scratch theirs. We approached tentatively, but they almost completely ignored us; only the Kingsguard came out to greet us. “Well met, Eddard, it’s been some time since I last spoke with you.”

Arthur was his normal, cheerful self. I was confused, so I had to ask. “What is all this? Where’s my sister?” His calm smile broke for a moment before he motioned to the biggest tent. “She’s in there… Giving birth.” I almost lose my calm as he motions for me to go forward. “Get the story from your sister before you judge.”

I made my way toward the tent, surprised by the people I could recognize. Elia Martell was here with her children, and so was a heavily pregnant Rhaella. My breath catches at the unexpected sight of someone I hadn’t expected to see. It made sense; she was Elia Martell’s closest confidant. The small babe in her hands made me stop cold at the sight.

She looked up, making eye contact with me as a soft smile formed on her face… She was still beautiful, perhaps the most beautiful woman in all the land, except she appeared to have aged. Her long, beautiful hair now had streaks of grey running through it. Her perfect features had a sickly look to them, her skin a pale, sickly white instead of the pure alabaster perfection it was when I… Made love to her. Even with her haggard appearance, she still rendered me speechless.

Ashara Dayne could only chuckle before urging me on. “Go, little Ed. Go to your sister.” And I did just that. I watched as my sister gave birth, pulling out a babe that she clearly loved as she explained what happened. She was slowly bleeding out, but a small child approached with an older woman, and as he cut the palms of her hands, the blood flowed out, and the bleeding of my sister suddenly stopped as she began to look more like her old self than the girl worn down from giving birth.

What was there to say, other than I was shocked at the sight? I could see the woman who gave herself willingly to the sacrifice had aged dramatically, her black hair now grey with streaks of white inside periodically. The little boy handed her a purse, and she gave him a large smile as tears formed in her eyes. “Thank you, m’lord. With this, I’ve secured the future for my children.”

“No need to thank me. I’m just glad I found someone with Stark blood to take part in the ritual; otherwise, the sacrifice would have most likely died.” The boy waited for all the help to leave before he softly spoke to a man at the entrance of the tent. “Make sure no one is outside this tent eavesdropping. We have some things to discuss for the future of the kingdom. Lyanna needs to decide if she is willing to sacrifice herself for her child, or if she wants to flee south to Dorne to live the rest of her life under threat of the future king.”