Game of Thrones: Fresh New Start

Chapter 1 of my new Game of Thrones story, a Rickon/Shireen modern AU, enjoy.

Disclaimer: Game of Thrones belongs to George R.R. Martin.

Chapter 1

The seventeen year old girl sighed as she stood in front of her mirror. She wondered how her life had got to this stage; how and why things had become so messed up. Her greatest fear was wondering how she could cope with all of it. The girl's name was Shireen Baratheon; she was the daughter and only child of Stannis Baratheon, younger brother of President Robert Baratheon, and his wife Selyse. She looked forlornly in the mirror at her appearance; she had inherited her father's black hair, which she wore long, just past her shoulders, and blue eyes. However she had also inherited her father's firm square jaw as well as her mother's prominent ears.

'I've never been beautiful.' She thought sadly. 'But this…this is just…it makes it worse; even worse than before.'

Her skin was rather pale, which, in her mind, made her most recent and worse deformity even more noticeable. The left side of her face was marred by burn scars; she cringed at the memory of how she got them, which was also part of the reason why things had changed so much for her.

She sighed sadly. 'I just wanted to be normal, to be happy. But no, I never had a chance, I was nothing but the ugly little girl; now I'm the ugly girl with the burnt face.'

She shuddered at the memory of the buns and pushed it away; despite her efforts it remained.

So, in an effort to distract herself, she tried to focus on getting ready for school. She pulled on her uniform and then bit her lip as she looked in the mirror.

'This doesn't help, it just makes things worse.' She noted to herself.

As it was the height of summer, the uniform consisted of a red pleated skirt, coming down to about mid-thigh; a white button up short-sleeved shirt, a simple red tie; white knee high socks and brown loafers. She observed the uniform critically and only felt worse.

She tugged on the hem of the skirt. 'This skirt is way too short; the socks only come up to my knees. I'm showing my legs; ugh, could they look any fatter.'

She felt a sudden wave of longing for her old school; at least there she had the option of tights, or some other means to hide her legs. She knew she couldn't delay anymore; she didn't want to be late, not on her first day. So she turned away from the mirror and left her room, heading downstairs. Once downstairs, she found her father sitting at the table in the kitchen, reading the newspaper. There was no sign of her mother, nor would there be; it was just her and her father now. These circumstances only added to Shireen's confusion, depression and unease. However all these little problems were actually connected to each other.

Just over a year ago, Selyse had converted to a new religion, which worshiped a single god known as R'hllor. While Stannis stayed faithful to the Faith of the Seven, Selyse had attempted to convert Shireen too. Shireen however was nervous and wanted nothing to do with it. Her mother did not accept this; trying as she usually did, to control nearly every aspect of Shireen's life.

In the end, she had forced Shireen to be present to witness 'a miracle of R'hllor' first hand, involving one of the fire rituals of said religion. Unfortunately said ritual got out of hand and nearly killed Shireen, it had been that incident which had burned her face. Despite his stiff formal attitude, and his emotional distance from her, seeing his daughter in that state was the final straw for Stannis.

His relationship with his wife had been tenuous for some time; this had gone too far. So began a rather stormy divorce with an extremely contentious custody battle. In the end Stannis won custody of Shireen, with Selyse being allowed visitations; usually on the first weekend of the month. After that; she and her father had moved to the house they now lived in; Shireen was now going to a new school too. The one which required the uniform she now wore, and already disliked.

She felt the only good thing from this new school was she'd be able to see her cousin Myrcella more regularly; as well as the only two friends she had ever made, Devan Seaworth and Edric Storm.

As Shireen took a seat at the breakfast table; Stannis looked up from his newspaper. He managed one of those tight, almost smiles he usually did as he greeted her.

"Good morning Shireen." He paused and then added. "You look nice."

Shireen shook her head. "You're only saying that because you're my father."

Stannis exhaled softly, but didn't pursue the issue. While it was difficult for him to admit it, he did truly love his daughter. Which was why seeing her with this negative body image of herself, pained him. The trouble was, he just didn't know how to express himself, how to help her. So they simply ate silently and, when they were done he stood up.

"Let's go, I'll drive you to school." He said.

She nodded. "Okay, thanks dad."

Shireen collected her schoolbag and together they left the house. Before long they were in the car, Stannis drove silently while Shireen stared out the window.

'Dad tries so hard…He doesn't really understand me, there's just too much distance between us.' She quietly noted to herself. 'But at least he's trying; he wants me to be who I want to be…not like Mum, who wants to make me into how she thinks I should be.'

She truly appreciated her father's efforts; while saddened by the loss of her mother. Despite everything Selyse did, she was still her mother. She just hoped this would really work out for the best. Right now however, she had to face her current issue that was causing her nervousness. They had arrived, it was time for Shireen to face her new school.

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.