Occurs just after Stannis has failed to take king's Landing. This is very much a chapter to set things up. Enjoy
Sandor Clegane had gone missing in the aftermath of the attempted Sack of Kings Landing, assumed amongst the dead that were still being recovered from the waters and around the walls.
Joffrey had been briefly annoyed until he realised that all the remaining Ser's and knights would be falling over themselves to prove themselves to him to be appointed his next protector. All in all, Joffrey was more than pleased with how the battle had gone, Tyrion had been sent away to the other side of the Keep, he had a new fiancée, and he had won the battle.
The clean-up had been extensive of Kings Landing, broken parts of the wall and the dead and injured were swiftly moved away and Joffrey was adamant that Kings Landing should recover and move on as quickly as possible.
It was three weeks after the battle when a servant boy passed the message on to Cersei that there was a highborn woman approaching the Red Keep castle, and he thought she had the Hightower Coat of Arms on her cloak.
She had swiftly stood and followed the servant boy out, Joffrey following with curiosity, followed by much of the court, which had been assembled at the time. No one from the outside had entered Kings Landing since the battle, probably terrified of Joffrey's wrath.
In the courtyard everyone stood and watched as the gates opened slowly, a figure approaching through it.
The Hightower Family were incredibly wealthy, probably more so than the Lannister's themselves. They were based in the Oldtown Port, which was a beautiful City without the impoverished areas of Kings Landing. The current head of the house was Lord Leyton Hightower, who had remained in the lighthouse tower at Oldtown for over ten years.
The Heir was Baelor Hightower, and the family were tied to the Tyrell's through marriage and over time, they had become two very close and very powerful houses. The Hightower's were aligned with the Lannisters now, and everyone was very much aware that they needed to have them remain that way.
The Lannister and Baratheon troops were still recovering both physically and in numbers, so the whole Court was curious as to why this woman was here. The Hightower's aligned themselves with the Tyrell's, and there were now two at the Red Keep, where one was soon to be the Queen.
The horse was a huge ash grey steed, the woman on the back was stunningly beautiful, the guards looking up at her in amazement as she parted them. She looked around 18, with long light brown hair, very lightly tanned skin, brilliant blue eyes and full red lips. She was wearing a long red dress with a grey cloak over her with a white tower symbol of the Hightower family, a fine gold pattern on the front bodice of the dress, which was tightly laced to her tiny frame.
They all knew instantly that she was a highborn women and Joffrey came down the steps slightly as she neared them.
Margery was beside Joffrey and blinked in surprise 'Kess?'.
Joffrey looked at her with intrigue 'what is your name?'.
'Kestrel, of house Hightower. I have just come from Sunspear, in Dorne'.
Everyone looked up sharply 'Mycella-'.
Kestrel cut Cersei's panicked sentence off before she could finish 'Your daughter is fine my Lady, she has learnt to read, she has learnt to ride properly, she is happy. I was riding back west and Mycella asked me to deliver this-'.
She took out a package from her cloak 'she says she misses her family, and wanted you to have this. News came to us of the battle, and she wanted to see that none of her family came to any harm. I also wanted to send my congratulations on to Margarey on her engagement, I have not seen my cousins in so long'.
Margarey smiled back at her and Joffrey looked between the two. 'Who is your father?'.
'Baelon Hightower, my lord'. Joffrey nodded slowly, thinking of what he knew of the Hightower family. Baelon was the heir to Oldtown, and Kestrel was his only child and possibly the heir herself one day. The South were much like the Dorne lands, placing women before men in succession if they were elder.
Margery looked clearly surprised at seeing Kestrel there. Margery had been raised outside of Oldtown, which was where the Hightower's were the governing Family. Margery and Loras had been raised in Highgarden, the home of the Tyrell family. Kestrel was their cousin who had been raised in Oldtown, and they hadn't had much interaction over the years.
Cersei took the parcel and took out an embroidered patch, smiling
'It's the Lannister-Baratheon sigil'. Kestrel smiled and Cersei was gently stroking the embroidery, looking happy, and Joffrey looks up at her, looking intrigued still. 'Where are you riding to?'
'Little Creek'
He raised his eyebrows slightly but nodded 'for the sword smith?'. She nods with a smile 'My Father believes there is no such thing as too many swords for his men, I travelled with members of House Barne but I left them on the Western Road'
Joffrey nodded 'Your father is a smart man. You cannot ride there tonight, night falls soon. Stay here, your family do not expect you back immediately?'. She shook her head 'no they do not, my lord, you are very generous'.
As she dismounted a stable boy ran up to hurry away with the horse as Joffrey took Kestrel's hand, kissing it with a huge amount of theatricality, meeting her eyes. 'My Lady, do you wish for food tonight?'. She shook her head 'We feasted on the Western Road your Grace, that was many hours ago'.
He nodded 'someone will show you to the guest rooms, I shall have someone bring you to our feast later'.
She smiled in a deep curtsey and a young servant girl motioned for her to follow. She was probably younger than ten, grubby and filthy, hair wild and her eyes the only clean part of her entire body. Kestrel glanced at her for a second before following the girl, Margarey slipping her arm through hers and walking with a grin on her face as they entered the castle.
'Kess, oh it is wonderful to see you again! You'll be here for the wedding!'. She smiled, though it didn't quite meet her eyes as they made their way through a maze of corridors behind the servant girl 'yes, I may stay that long… I'll see what Father says'.
Margarey clearly didn't realise anything was wrong with the way her cousin was speaking and looked happy 'Mother will be so happy to see you. You always were her favourite niece, Loras will be back in two days, will you wait for him to return?'.
Kestrel nodded 'of course, are you happy, Margery?'. She nodded, looking a little confused 'yes, why?'. She waved a hand slightly 'never mind. I will see you at the feast'.
The servant girl was moving around the grand room, lighting the fire as Margarey left, leaving Kestrel to look around the room on her own. 'Do you have a name?'. The girl looked up in surprise and confusion, her voice quiet 'yes, my Lady'.
'And what is that?'.
'Beccas, my Lady'. Kestrel reached into her bag and handed the girl a gold coin with a gentle smile 'keep yourself safe Beccas. Is Sansa Stark still in the castle?'.
The girl nodded, staring in amazement at the gold coin, eyes wide 'yes…she is in the room at the end of this corridor, with the golden lock on it'. Kestrel smiled, touching the girl gently on the shoulder 'thank you. You may go now Beccas'. The girl wasn't really listening, nodding quickly and leaving with a clumsy curtsey.
Five minutes later Kestrel had removed her Grey crested cloak and replaced it with a long black one, slipping quickly into the darkening corridor which was otherwise empty. On the servant girls information she swept quickly and silently down the corridor, letting herself in after a knock.
Sansa was sitting looking out of the window of the plain looking room, looking surprised to see Kestrel there.
'Sansa Stark? My name is Kestrel Hightower'. She saw the flicker of recognition on the younger girls face 'Baelon's daughter?'.
She nodded, starting to pace the room slowly 'I am a guest here, the bride to be is a cousin of my family…I understand that you are here as a uh, 'ward' I assume we could call it?'.
Sansa understood the insinuation in her words and nodded at the elder woman, who was walking around the room, looking thoughtful until she stopped suddenly and looked over at the younger woman
'Sansa, may I ask you a question?' she got a nod as a response 'why did you not flee here on the night of the siege? You could have run home to Winterfell, in your heart you must know that Theon Greyjoy would never harm your brothers'.
Her eyes flickered, voice quiet 'how do you know?'.
'I know more secrets than the wind my dear'.
The redheads eyes followed her as Kestrel continued to walk, smoothing her dress 'let's just say this Sansa, not everyone is what they seem'.
She looked over at Sansa, who was looking at her closely as the brunette gently bent down and put her hand into the roaring fire, picking up a red hot poker in her hand, not looking bothered as she dropped it again into the fire.
Kestrel smiled and kissed Sansa on the forehead, voice quiet 'your father will be avenged, as will my own'.
Kestrel leant forward slightly so her lips were right beside Sansa's ear, her voice incredibly quiet 'do not listen to idle gossip Sansa, your brothers are all alive, and Arya is hiding under the noses of our enemies. Stay strong and I will save you'.
Sansa looked shocked and confused as Kestrel nodded politely and swept from the room, stalking back to her own bedroom as quickly as possible, going unseen.
Sansa sat in confusion, thinking of what she knew of Kestrel Hightower and there was only one fact she knew for sure, Robb had mentioned it once. Baelon and his wife had appeared at the end of Robert's Rebellion with a daughter, in the same way Ned Stark had returned with Jon Snow.
The more Sansa thought about it, the more confused she was. Who really was this girl from the Oldtown, and what was she planning?
Not long later, Kestrel was summoned for the feast, a knight she didn't recognize taking her down to the great room and she could feel his eyes on her as he attempted to make conversation with her. She simply smiled sweetly and swept in front of him in to the feast room, where she was greeted by most of the people there.
She was to be the heir of one of the biggest, most powerful and the richest families in the seven kingdoms, no one wanted to be on the other side of the Hightower family.
Joffrey was being remarkably likeable over the feast, clearly intrigued and enamoured by the new guest they had. Kestrel was sat beside Cersei who, despite herself, found the young Hightower girl both sweet, friendly and clearly very strong.
As the men around them began to discuss battles, wars and sackings, Cersei turned to the young girl.
'You are to be the heir of the Hightower lands are you not Kestrel?'. She nodded, putting down her wine glass 'yes, your Grace. My Grandfather lives in his white tower overlooking our City, my Father has raised me to take his place at the right hand'.
'And you are not married yet, my dear?'. She shook her head 'Father wants me married, but has never been satisfied by any of the suitors that came to us'.
Cersei nodded, remembering the fact that she had nearly married a Hightower herself but deciding not to mention it. 'Well, there are plenty of Knights and Ser's at the Keep, Kestrel, we shall find you a worthy husband before you leave'.
Kestrel took a deep sip of her wine, distracting from her paled face. She had told Baelor Hightower and her Uncles what she was planning; they knew the truth of course, they had known since day one.
Baelor had never lied to his family, the Tyrell's didn't know of course, they might have been family but they could never know the family secret. The Martell's knew, that was what worried Kestrel the most, they couldn't always be trusted to keep quiet as long as necessary.
The real reason she had ridden for hundreds of miles to meet with them they already knew but she wanted to tell them her plan before she left for Kings Landing.
They had agreed, the Hightower's had agreed, and she had left for the Red Keep, now she was sitting at a feast with the very people she wanted dead. Kestrel was looking for blood, looking for vengance.
Of course, Baelor wasn't really her father.
The girl had been raised as his own to keep her from harm, from the very people who she was sitting with. If any of them knew who she really was, Kestrel would have been publicly beheaded hours before.
Another half an hour into the feast, a member of the Kings Guard swept into the room, his bright white cloak catching the attention of everyone and making them go quiet as he swept up to the top of the table, removing his helmet and bowing to Joffrey.
'Your Grace, Ser Sandor Clegane has returned to the castle. He is weak and injured, but alive, just'.
Joffrey looked stunned 'take him to his rooms, send someone to heal him'. 'Your Grace, they are all in the Western Quarter treating the battle wounded'. Kestrel half stood up 'Your Grace, I know some medical knowledge, I can treat the Ser'.
He nodded slightly and she stepped up from the bench, looking at the Kings Guard Knight with a quick nod 'take me to him'.
She swiftly left the room, everyone going back to their conversations and their food. It wasn't that uncommon for women in the South and in Dorne to be trained equally to men, she could read, write, had some medical knowledge and could ride and fight as good as any man.
Sandor was bruised, cut up, weak and almost delirious as he was gently laid on the bed of his room, looking dizzy and confused at the brunette woman standing over him, gently washing a wet sponge over his face, removing blood, sweat and dirt.
His voice was cracked and weak 'who…who are you?'. She smiled lightly 'My name is Kestrel, now sleep. You need to rest'.
At her words Sandor felt sleep overtake him, washing away the soreness and pain for now, until he woke up again.
So, who do you think she really is? And what do you think is going to happen?
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