Title: and so it ends
Author: kimbo-smarties
Rating: T
Disclaimer: A Song of Ice and Fire does not belong to me.
Genre: Angst, Friendship
Fandom: A Song of Ice and Fire
Ship: Arthur Dayne/Lyanna Stark, Rhaegar Targaryen/Lyanna Stark, mentions of Ned Stark/Ashara Dayne
Summary: To Lyanna Stark, Arthur Dayne is no more than Rhaegar's white shadow. A friend, a protector, a constant fixture in the background of this life she's run to under the cover of secrets and darkness. But then the prince dies, her stomach swells, and, isolated together in the mountains of Dorne, Arthur Dayne steps rather suddenly into the forefront of her life.
Author's Note: Assumes R + L = J.
He always cleans Dawn in her chambers, at the very top of the tower, on the balcony overlooking the never-ending red mountains. He keeps her company with stories of Starfall, his brothers and sisters, his adventures as a knight, and Rhaegar. She counters with stories of Winterfell, her brothers, her adventures pretending to be a knight, and Rhaegar.
Most of those he knows, having stood silently by the prince's side for most of their relationship- from Harrenhal to the escape from the North, to the secret wedding in front of the burned weirwood at Summerhall, to Dorne. But he was all but invisible then. Just the sworn shield, the white knight in the background, worthy only of a cursory glance before all attention is focused on the prince.
The prince dies, her stomach swells, and suddenly Arthur Dayne isn't invisible anymore.
She walks the steps in the tower, down and up and down again, until her belly grows large and Ser Gerold forbids it. She paces her chambers then, walking every inch over and over again in dizzying circles.
Arthur walks with her in the last months, one of his hands holding her's and the other on the small of her back. She moves slowly, a pace she's neither accustomed to or fond of. He distracts her by talking, by making her laugh. He tells her embarrassing stories of his Kingsguard brothers, mostly of Oswell, easy target that he is, and of the time Allyria shore off Ashara's hair while she slept.
He doesn't have the heart to tell her about Ashara and Ned's baby when she asks. There's only so much death and sorrow a person can endure.
The raven comes from King's Landing two days later. The Lord Commander reads it to her through clenched teeth, deep and suddering breaths puncuating each sentence. She says nothing, only nods once he's done. Even Oswell is speechless. Arthur goes hunting that evening, killing everything in sight and resupplying them for the next several months.
When he gets back, he spends his first night in Lyanna Stark's bed. They lie on their backs and stare up at the ceiling, a foot and a half of empty air seperating them. He lies with eyes wide open and listens to her sob.
Sometime in the night she reaches into the space between them. He takes her hand.
He holds her hand while she gives birth. He holds her hand as she screams and curses, gasps and gnashes her teeth in pain, and brings the new king into the world.
He holds her hand and strokes the sweat-soaked hair from her too-warm forehead. She smiles and calls him Rhaegar, and it's only then that he sees the blood. He doesn't correct her.
He holds her hand as Oswell announces the riders, seven of them, Stark men, her brother leading the way. Lyanna doesn't stir at the sound. The Lord Commander places the wailing king beside her on the bed, and still she doesn't stir.
She stirs when he lets go. She reaches for him, weakly and blindly, and begs him to stay. Her lips move over the words, and in his mind he can hear her voice- her loud and boisterous voice booming over the roar of the sea as they sail down from the North, as she tells inappropriate jokes at dinner, as she told him not a month past that he was the best friend she'd ever had. She speaks softly now, barely making any sound.
"I'll only be a moment, my lady. I'll be right back." He kisses her fingers and rests them on the bundle of her son. "I promise I'll be back."
Arthur Dayne goes down the tower and doesn't come back up.