Chapter Text
Ariane I
Why? Why had her family done that?
Hadn't they grown up together, hadn't they been like sisters?
Those questions and thousands more ran through Ariane's head as she looked at the horizon on the ship she was on.
After her father's murder at the hands of the Sand Snakes she knew she was next, with her brother missing and her father dead the throne of the Sun Spear fell to her. So if the Sand Snakes wanted to rule she was next on the list.
She was lucky that her faithful knight, Daemon Sand, accompanied her when the assassins arrived, the fight was short, they weren't great fighters and they were quickly dispatched. But she knew they wouldn't be the only ones, so she quickly packed what she had on hand and took the first ship that left from where she was.
The plan was simple, to reach Sunspear safely where she would call her banders and send for her conspirators to hunt down, but therein lay the problem, with the war the waters were infested with pirates and ironborn, she did not know how to make a distinction between them.
The sun made her close her eyes slightly, with a tired sigh she went to her cabin, formerly the captain's but she had paid more than enough to make it hers, followed by her faithful knight and a small group of guards, she entered her small room and with a sigh she rested her head on the hard mattress, the trip was making her dizzy, the first few days she had not been able to stop vomiting, added to the incipient food on the ship, her patience had begun to weaken, directing a tired look at her caretaker she indicated that she was going to sleep, (a difficult task with the movement of the ship). With a nod she went to her door to stand guard outside with the other guards.
The night was at its height when screams woke her up.
Confused and still asleep she tried to understand what the screams were saying. At first she only heard babbling, focusing her hearing she heard the sound of clashing swords and screams of fighting, but what she heard next woke her up completely
Sons of Iron
Margaery I
She was tired
Her father, brother, and dozens of nobles she knew were killed in the explosion
The only reason she was still alive was her grandmother.
She had foreseen that something was wrong with the ceremony and had her removed from the sept, leaving her brother and father to not raise any alarm.
Preparing her men to get them out of there while they waited for whatever was to happen, but the explosion was something the legendary queen of thorns had not expected. What happened next was a blur in her mind
The city was a mess, people running back and forth in panic, the ever-present smell of shit in the capital was overshadowed by the smell of thousands of charred people
Coming out of her stupor, she was ordered by Oleana Tyrell to escape the capital, a feat that was hampered by the blockade that was held on the outskirts of the city. A few throat cuts later and that problem was avoided, only to be replaced by an even bigger one. They were in the middle of enemy territory with only a dozen men.
Coming out of his reverie he looked ahead.
Hooded men rode steadily down a back road, avoiding the hundreds of patrols roaming around looking for survivors from the capital looking to flee.
Looking to his right he saw his grandmother complaining of the pain caused by the many hours of riding, having dispensed with the wagons to maintain anonymity, travel was her only option.
With a deep sigh he tried to push away the thoughts of his favorite brother, now dead, and his father along with the tears that accompanied those thoughts. He tried to direct his thoughts towards the new news.
Tommen Baratheon had taken his own life after his supposed death, thus leaving his mother as sole ruler of the 7 kingdoms.
Myrcela Baratheon had been killed by the Sand Snakes and a coup d'état had left the missing Ariane Martell as ruler of Dorne. The Vale was now under the control of Littlefinger who had sent a small force north thus breaking his neutrality. The Riverlands were a veritable no man's land after the Red Wedding, mostly occupied by Lannister forces who had sent most of the heirs to Casterlirock to further control the devastated kingdom.
After Balon Greyjoy supposedly fell off a bridge during a storm (something no one believed) Euron Greyjoy took power raiding the coasts of the entire continent
The Stormlands were still devastated after Stannis' defeat
And finally the North, the now legitimate bastard Boton ruled the North with Sansa Stark as his wife, it was rumored that his bastard half brother had gathered the wildling force he let through the wall to rescue her.
She just hoped that she would succeed, Sansa was nothing more than a naive child, and if the rumors she had heard about this Ramsay were true, Sansa would be living in hell.
With a small prayer she turned her attention back to her grandmother's complaints as she yelled at one of her men. A melancholic smile took over her lips as she remembered when those complaints were directed at her and her brother.
Daenerys I
-Aegon you say-
-Yes your grace, your nephew Aegon- answered Varys
She narrowed her eyes at the spider, she didn't believe anything it said, but if what it said was true her entire claim to the throne would be totally abolished.
Glancing around she noticed the conflicted expressions on the faces of her advisors.
-You will understand that this is very difficult to believe Lord Varys, the last thing I heard was that my nephew was killed along with my sister-in-law by the mountain -
-As I told you, I replaced the children before the sacking, Your Grace-
-A fantastic story if you ask me - said Tyrion emphasizing the fantastic
-It is the truth - said Varys simply
Sighing, he raised his hand to stop Tyrion's answer
-If he really is my nephew, why didn't he come looking for me before, why would the Golden Company follow him when they laughed in Viserys' face when he wanted his services, - pausing he felt his temper worsen - why did he let me be sold to the Dothraki -
-Jon Connington revealed his ancestry to him a short while ago, Your Grace - pausing he continued - He was raised to be king, but his ancestry was only revealed to him at the right time -
Narrowing his eyes even more he tried to calm his temper, Varys was too useful in this moment.
—this session has been... informative— he said, choosing his words carefully
—I believe you already know your room, Lord Varys—
Recognizing a dismissal for what it was, Varys headed for the door, taking one last look before leaving.
—I don't believe a word of it—Tyrion said fervently
The dwarf had his ever-present wine glass in his hand, Dany didn't trust him at all, but he was a very skilled administrator and a competent advisor.
— although I was not present at the sacking... — began his faithful hand, Ser Barristan
— Robert Baratheon boasted every day for years about the death of Rhaegar and his progeny — the legendary knight recalled with shame in his voice
— not to mention the problems he brings us — Tyrion began
— his claim is superior to yours — he said looking at his queen
— if it is legitimate — he answered quickly — which it is not — he continued
after a small silence Tyrion spoke
— he will want to marry you to improve his claim—
— not to mention the dragons — Missandei spoke for the first time
— whatever — said Dany with a sigh — how are the preparations going for the march to Westeros — she asked the room
— the Greyjoy brothers estimate that the preparations will take approximately 2 or 3 more moons — informed Barristan
— the second sons are already exercising control so we can leave them in charge whenever your grace wants — he contributed Tyrion
— Well, let me know if anything happens, I'll be in my room — he warned as he stood up from the throne — Come Missandei, come with me —
Sansa I
She set the letter aside and pondered its contents
— greetings lord bolton
as you know the bastard son of the idiot wolf has let a horde of filthy savages through, my scouts have seen small groups of these piercing the neck
i have no idea what their objective is or how they have penetrated it, but I ask for your collaboration to exterminate this plague.
walder frey —
her blood boiled at the way the weasel referred to her father. after a few breaths she thought about the implications of the letter.
the freys and by extension the south still did not know of the recovery of winterfell at the hands of her brother after "the battle of the bastards" as people had begun to call it, battle was only a euphemism for the massacre that it really was. her brother had led 4,000 wildlings, the deserters from stannis' army and the few loyal houses that joined, with house mormont being the first, followed by the flint, the wull and the norrey, adding up to a total of 4,867 men, 5 mammoths and 8 giants against the almost 9,000 men that the bastard gathered.
the day of the confrontation was the most stressful day of her life, she was terrified, the night before the fight her brother tried to calm her tremors in many ways, in the end he ended up hugging her while giving her words of encouragement and caressing her hair, she remembered with a blush how she had fallen asleep in his lap. that night her usual nightmares disappeared replaced by a memory of her, a little arya, robb and jon fighting with snowballs. Her fear was replaced by rage at the sight of the bastard who had caused her so much harm, she happily helped her brother provoke him, the hundreds of scars on his body were a reflection of his fury, and for her brother's plan to work they needed him to be very angry.
As soon as the negotiations began they ended and the battle began.
She was evacuated along with the other non-combatants to a camp far from the battle, although she did not know the details she knew that her brother had used a type of ambush using himself as bait while fighting on the front, she knew that as a northerner it was his obligation to fight alongside his troops, but that did not literally mean being on the front line, a fact for which she severely reprimanded him before giving him a deep hug and burying her head in his neck as she cried and thanked him for everything he had done for her.
The battle ended with more than half of the Bolton troops dead and only 367 allied casualties not counting the wounded. But the most important thing happened after the battle, the wildlings who had previously viewed him with a certain god-like quality (something I attribute to him saving their lives) now viewed him with even greater respect, he also heard the rumors of the battle, some claimed his brother had the strength of a giant, others said he had killed a hundred men single-handedly, one of the Baratheon men claimed Jon was The Warrior Reborn, another calmly called him Azor Ahai. The rumors were followed by nicknames, some of the most notable being "the white wolf" or "the white demon" but his brother didn't take them seriously and called all the lords of the north to renew their loyalty to House Stark. The banquet was held a couple weeks later when the last lord arrived at Winterfell, one by one the lords and ladies renewed their vows of loyalty to their house. She almost jumped out of her chair when Lyana Mormont stood up from her spot and began her speech, then she drew her sword and knelt before Jon, proclaiming him King in the North. Her declaration was followed by a deafening silence that lasted a few minutes, but the girl never wavered and remained kneeling, one by one the lords came out of their stupor and followed the young warrior's example.
She remembered turning her head to see Jon in complete shock, then, as if coming to her senses, she stood up and accepted the position.
The next day the trials were held, many officers were beheaded by Jon's hand, many others chose black to avoid the sword, but she paid no attention to it, no, she was 100% focused on the monster that had caused so much harm to her, she knew that the sword was too merciful for him, she wanted to see him suffer a wish that she communicated to her brother, who simply smiled at her and said -I will take care of it- and gave her a deep kiss on the forehead.
Ramsay was led in chains to the yard where the executions were carried out. But unlike the others he was not taken to the block, but was tied hand and foot to a cross.
“Ramsay Snow,” his brother began, “for the crimes of treason, rape, murder of family members, among many other atrocities, I, Jon Snow, King in the North, hereby declare you guilty. What are your last words?” Ramsay gave him a chilling look. “Oh… dear wife… I will miss you in my bed…”— his next words were lost in his throat when Jon felled him with a strong blow to the stomach, I swear I heard something break.
Clearing his throat, Jon continued — due to the atrocity of his crimes I decided that decapitation is too much mercy for such a vile being, therefore, the sentence will be... blood eagle — the courtyard fell into a deathly silence before it erupted in cheers from the northerners.
At first Ramsay remained unmoved as his punishment began, but when his ribs were exposed he screamed, cried and writhed like a child, he felt
a certain satisfaction in hearing his screams while his brother continued to work to get his lungs out. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Brienne vomit beside him, she felt sorry for his sworn shield, but northern justice was not for everyone.
Finally, his lungs were exposed on his back, a soldier handed Jon a small vial of salt, with a last scream the life left Ramsay Bolton.
— today justice has been done before the eyes of the gods— shouted Jon, with a quick movement of his hand Jon unsheathed his sword and cut the bastard's belly, letting his entrails fall to the ground. Taking them with his hands Jon hung them from the heart tree, as tradition demanded.
Then he looked in her direction and approached her stopping at a nearby guard muttering something about head, preserve, maester and message, she did not pay much attention since only then had he noticed the tears in her eyes.
With a nod the guard went to do his task and Jon approached her, he extended his arms in search of approval, she quickly nodded and he hugged her. At another time she would have been scandalized by ruining her dress with blood but now she did not care. It was all over, he was gone, he could no longer hurt her.
— it was all over—