one: the little swan

"Are you sure I must go?" Emma asks her mother one final time, but Lady Stark shakes her head sadly in reply.

"My darling Emma," her mother says, brushing a kiss against her forehead, "we will not be parted forever. Things are not as they once were in Kings Landing – I assure you that we will see each other again."

Lady Snow smiled shakily at her eldest, and so Emma did her best to smile as well – if only to reassure her mother that she is not as frightened as she really is.

Emma Stark has not left the walls of Winterfell, has not ventured south even to her mother's home of Riverrun, seat of her grandfather Lord Leopold Tully. All she knows is the hills and fields of the North, and now her father wishes to take her south. The kitchenmaids have been whispering that northern girls who go south do not return – or at least her aunt did not, but that story is not one told in polite situations. It is a story whispered of in backrooms, in the coldest nights of winter, the story of the winter rose and her dragon prince.

It did not end well, but then again, none of Emma's fairy stories end well. Her mother frets when the bards sing the sad tales, and yet Emma does not understand why she worries so: the world is harsh and unfair and will be, regardless if they used pretty words or cruel ones.

Her mother would wonder where Emma got these ideas, as Lady Snow is kind and gentle, but Emma sees the suffering of the petitioners that come asking for aid. She knows the horrors wrecked by war, and understands only too well what the seven kingdoms must overcome. That is why King Victerys Targaryen wishes her father as Hand of the King. Lord David Stark is a noble man, honor-bound, and the summons seeks to heal old wounds.

Her brother August stands beside her mount. He hands her the reins when she approaches, and Emma takes a moment to embrace him. He is not her real brother, merely an adopted ward of her mother and father but raised like their true son and Emma knows he will watch over her mother and little James, who scampers around the courtyard like his father and sister are only going to White Harbor and not Kings Landing itself.

"You will be fine, little swan," August tells her, helping her onto her horse. Emma nods, wishing that she felt the same. Kings Landing is far from Winterfell, and she has overheard her mother say that they will be gone for many years. Emma is five-and-ten, and knows that she may be used for marriage brokering and alliances – that is why the King wishes Lord Stark to bring his daughter, or so her lady maids say when they think she cannot hear. The idea takes root inside of her and grows like a tree, spreading its branches inside her skin.

(She tries to tell this to her mother, after the raven arrived from the capital, but her mother refused to listen to her pessimism, tried to paint the summons in broad streaks of happiness, and so Emma listened and said nothing.)

"Write me many letters," August makes her promise. "Tell me all that you can about Kings Landing and I will read them to little James."

Emma smiles in spite of her sadness, and agrees, for the thought of telling little James about the places she travels may very well be her sole comfort. She would have him learn more about the beauty of the world outside Winterfell – the beauty her mother speaks of – instead of the horror.

Her father mounts his horse beside her, and with a few final goodbyes they set off. Once they leave the courtyard, he looks over at his daughter with a smile.

"This will be an adventure, little swan," he promises.

Emma can only hope.

…

Emma was born during the harshness of war, when the mad king lashed out at the kingdoms for the death of his firstborn son at the hands of the vicious and angry Greyjoys, ruled by Queen Cora of the Iron Isles. Though the Isles themselves are but small, Queen Cora must have known that it was the push that would be needed to set the wheels in motion (or, so Emma's mother says. She has hatred for Queen Cora that Emma supposes must do with the death of her own mother during an Ironborn raid in the Riverlands, but that is only what Emma's father supposes).

It was a combined force, led by the Lannisters of Casterly Rock and the other wardens and their noble houses, that overthrew the mad king and put his son, Victerys, on the throne. Victerys never intended to be king, and was but Emma's own age when he assumed the crown, so for years Lord Lannister whispered his dark words into the king's ears as the Hand of the King. Those who supported Victerys father were put to the death, and those who supposed the Lannister's interests were promoted into positions of esteem. It earned Lord Lannister the title 'the Dark One.'

The rumor in Kings Landing, and all the seven kingdoms, was that it was love that saved the king. The arrival of Lady Ruby of House Tyrell, the second wealthiest house in all of the seven kingdoms, changed everything. Lady Snow swore that Ruby's beauty and kindness won the king's heart. With his marriage to Lady Ruby, he dismissed the Dark One. Rumor has it, though, that the Dark One cursed the king, which is why he was unable to settle on a suitable Hand since. And yet, Lord David Stark thus became the latest in a line of Hands that would be tasked with carrying out the King's will throughout the Seven Kingdoms.

Lord David Stark was eager and hopeful, but Lady Snow was not, and in spite of this Emma accompanied her father south, to Kings Landing, in the hopes that maybe her father could right the wrongs of so many years.

…

"What is the king like?" Emma asks her father one day as they break their fast. They are nearly at the Twins, and this will be Emma's first time outside of the North. Her palms are sweaty and even though her father assures her that the south will be beautiful, she is nervous.

"I don't know – I met the man once, at a tourney soon after he became king," her father says. He takes a bite of bread.

"So why do you chose to answer his summons?" Emma asks, tearing her bread in two.

Her father shrugs. "Why does any man do any thing? For the greater good, I supposed. If the king thinks that my presence as his hand will be helpful for the kingdoms, it is my duty as his sworn servant to obey."

Emma studies her food carefully before asking her next question. "They want to marry me off to someone, don't they?"

Her father almost spits out his drink. "Emma – where do you get these notions?" he asks.

"That's what the maids said," Emma says, feeling embarrassed.

"The king and queen have no children, Emma, and the only child your age is the queen's youngest brother, Killian," here her father snorts, "and I can promise you, Emma, Killian Tyrell is the last man I'll let you marry."

Emma has heard rumors of the youngest Tyrell son's penchant for mischief. His older brother, Liam, captained the king's fleet in Blackwater Bay and there were rumors that the youngest Tyrell was also a sailor. There were also rumors he once snuck onto a ship and sailed to the Summer Isles, returning months later with gold and jewels and a wife. There were rumors of his behavior in Oldtown with the whores, and that his penance was being sent to Kings Landing by his grandmother, the Queen of Thorns, to be kept under his sister's watchful eye.

Emma may not believe in happy endings of fairy stories, but when she marries she wishes it to be for love like her parents or, if she is not so lucky, that her husband would be a fine man who would treat her with respect and not succumb to the temptations of whores and wine. The prospect of Killian Tyrell as a husband causes her to wrinkle her nose in disgust (his older brother, however…)

Her father laughs. "You have impectable taste, little swan," he tells her, reaching out to ruffle her hair. "Do not worry too much about what will be in Kings Landing. Let us see when we get here."

Emma nods her head, and reaches for her cup. "I will try," she says with a small smile.