I see a dragon riding a direwolf avenging me
I do not own a song of ice and fire. There is violence in this chapter. This story's rating is teen but it may develop into mature.
This is the first chapter there is a Rhaenys POV along with Jaime's POV but Ned's is quite long
Can you please review so I know what changes I can do and how to develop this story?
283 AL
Rhaenys POV
When I dream I always see a dragon riding a direwolf killing black manticore. I see it again and again. It scares me. And always the dragon riding the direwolf whispers to me "sister, sister, I have avenged you". It scares me, am I to die, but what about mother, father and little Aegon, What about them, are they to die as well. But then who is my other brother, and what of the direwolf.
I hear screaming and shouting, people dying. The city burning, Kings landing had fallen. My mother, Elia of Dorne, storms in and says "find a place to hide, hide Rhaenys hide".
"Mother" I reply
"Hide, hide, hide" she said and then she left. It left me wondering if this was the last time I would see my mother. She always looked after me, cherished me, and made me laugh. What about father did he die as well, he went to battle.
All of a sudden the door was blasted open there was a knight he had small portly eyes, he was overweight; he was wearing the arms of his house, they were a black manticore on a red field. He was here to kill me. But I'm only a little girl why would anyone want to kill me.
"Are you here to kill me" she quietly said.
"Yes I am" he replied. "For the new king will reward me generously for the death of dragonspawn."
I screamed. I yelled. I shouted.
I shouted "Father, Mother, uncle Oberyn, uncle Lewyn, Jaime, Barristan"
He laughed. The laugh made my stomach turn inside out.
Laughing he said "your father is dead, your mother is dead and Jaime killed the King" and he laughed and he laughed, mocking me and my family. Then he unsheathed his sword.
I screamed. Then he stabbed me.
"Unbowed, unbent, unbroken" I said. He laughed. He stabbed me "unbowed, unbent, unbroken" I said, he stabbed me. "UNBOWED, UNBENT, UNBROKEN" he stabbed me laughing. "I see a dragon as great as Balerion the black dread riding a massive albino direwolf killing a black manticore. My brother will avenge me." He stabbed me again laughing but with fear in his eyes. With the last of my strength I shouted "FIRE AND BLOOD", he stabbed me again. My body went limp as I saw my father, my brother and mother. But I knew that one day I would be avenged. And then I died.
Jaime Lannister POV
"Burn them, burn them all. Let them feel the wrath of the dragon". King Aerys said. He was mad. Some people say that every time a Targaryen was born, the gods would toss a coin and he would be either mad or great. However the maddest of the Targaryen kings were much saner than Aerys. He killed Brandon and Rickard Stark in this very room. Every time I go to sleep, I see Brandon being strangled and reaching for his sword. I see his father burning in his armour, such monstrosities and all I did was watch it happen. As I saw Aerys rape his wife Rhaella, his own sister, for sometimes I wish I could kill him. But I am a member of the Kingsguard, it is my duty to protect and serve the King. However mad he may be.
"Let him be King over charred bone and cooked meat" he said to Rossart. "Let him be the king of ashes".
"Your grace, Tywin Lannister has invaded the city" Rossart replied as he stuttered, probably from fear of being burned in wildfire like the previous hand Qarlton Chelsted.
"Lannister" the king shouted. "I want him dead, your traitor father. I want his head, you'll bring me his head, or you'll burn with the rest, all the traitors. Rossart says they are inside the walls! He's gone to make them a warm welcome". He was laughing; he means to burn the city and everyone inside it.
"Yes your grace, at once your grace". I replied having made the decision that would define my life.
As Rossart went to execute the plan, I slit his throat. Such a painless death to someone who endeavoured to cause huge pain, it seemed unfair, I should have drowned him considering his love for wildfire. I entered the throne room. "Whose blood is that?" Aerys asked confident it was my father.
"Rossart's" I answered. Those purple valyrian eyes grew large. His mouth dropped in shock. He panicked as he lost control of his bowels and ran for the throne, as if it would save him from my blade. He was struggling up the steps of the iron throne. He squealed like a pig and he smelt like a privy. One simple slash across his throat and he died, it was so easy. No king should die that easily, it should have been harder, much harder. I guess there is a new king now. I climbed the steps of the iron throne. And I sat on the throne with my sword across my knees. He looked down at Aerys the blood was spreading now. Then a man came astride his war horse. His visor on, He lifted the visor; it was Eddard stark, brother of Brandon, son of Rickard. He judged me; by what right does the wolf judge the lion, by what right.
Ned Stark POV
He had killed the king. Jaime Lannister had killed the king. He killed the man he had sworn an oath to protect the man he had murdered in cold blood. The man had no honour; the man had disgraced the white.
People were watching Robert with interest. He made his way through the crush of bodies, to where Tywin Lannister stood. The Lord of Casterly Rock had one hand on his hip and another pointing to the ground, where Lannister cloaks were wrapped around two small shapes.
Blood I can smell blood. And when i looked down i saw the reason for this terrible smell. Blood. Two Lannister red cloaks were soaked through with it. "…a token of my fealty to you," Lord Tywin was finishing.
A token of fealty, what sort of man proves his fealty with rape and by having children murdered. Only monsters do that, only monsters.
Robert looked like someone who was keen to establish his authority and to send out a new message that everyone would receive. But there was something in his eyes that was troubling. He was glad. No man should be glad by what lay before him. He looked down at the small shapes and it all clicked horribly into place. They were Rhaegar's children, Princess Rhaenys and Prince Aegon. The shapes were about the right size for a four-year-old girl and a babe of a little less than a year. Shocked, I looked from Robert to Tywin Lannister and then back again, unable to contain the revulsion on his face.
"Did you kill them?" Robert was asking Tywin.
"My men did the deed," he explained in that steady, calculating tone he had. It made Ned's skin crawl with distrust. "But it was on my orders. Although, I confess that Elia of Dorne made herself rather troublesome and was killed in the event as well. That was unintentional."
Unintentional, she was raped and murdered. Sometimes I wonder what I have done to be in this world and this time. Haven't I lived a good and honourable life?
Robert nodded. "Your deed and the purpose behind it is noted, my lord," he said after a moment. "Your fealty is welcomed and accepted. And you shall be rewarded appropriately my lord Lannister."
"I will serve you in any other way you would see fit, Your Grace." And with that, he turned and left the throne room, his boots sounding out in the silence that pervaded. A dog that is what you are Tywin Lannister the lowest place in the seventh hell was made for likes of you. Robert dismissed the crowd with a wave of his hand and they began to disappear, although their eyes still lingered on the dead children laid out on the floor. Children, Robert they were children. What did they ever do to deserve this end? I do not know you my friend. I do not know you.
When I was alone, I dropped to his knees and opened the cloak covering Rhaenys. The child was a horrifying sight. Her little face was smeared with blood, but it was her body that most distressed me. Her body was a mess she had been stabbed half a hundred times. Who in the name of the seven stabs a child half a hundred times? Who does that? Monsters do that, the likes of Tywin Lannister and his son. Her chest and stomach were a tattered mess of stab wounds. I covered her body, this would haunt me for the rest of my life, and I turned to the smaller body. Swallowing as I opened the cloak, I forced my eyes shut at what I saw. Baby Aegon's skull was smashed to a ruin, his face barely even recognisable. You could see glimpses of his pale Targaryen hair upon his head had been stained dark with blood and brains.
"Dear Gods-" my hand went automatically to his mouth and he looked up at Robert, who had walked in while I was looking on the bodies. Robert was standing motionless above me. "You condoned this?" I asked him in astonishment.
He was angry. "I did," he said. "You heard me."
"This is murder, plain and simple. These children did nothing wrong, they bore no weapons, they did not challenge you in any way."
"Their existence challenges me!" roared Robert. The empty throne room made his voice seem even louder than it was.
"They are no more than babes."
"I see no babes," Robert spat, "they are dragonspawn, the rapist's whelps – if there were no other reasons to take their lives then that would be enough."
"Robert, what are you saying?" I was angry, I was shocked, this was not my friend.
"These creatures may be children now, but children grow and will come to wield weapons in time. And those weapons will be pointed at me." He stormed up the steps of the Iron Throne and sat himself on it as if he was reminding himself that it was his and his alone. I stood up and faced him face to face. I could not believe this. I had known Robert was a man who loved war but that he would sink to murdering babes was something that I had never believed him capable of, only monsters are capable of this. I shook my head.
"I cannot believe I am hearing you say this. They were children and they were murdered with complete savagery. There is no honour in that."
"Honour." He mocked my words "It is the way of war, Ned. Or haven't you realised that yet?"
"No, Robert, it is not the way of war. It is the way of dark, ruthless creatures like Tywin Lannister, who would have the world believe that he is a tyrant for the sake of a show of strength. You are better than that."
"I am King now. There must be a show of strength. There must be fear."
"Fear? No… loyalty is won and maintained with a fair and firm hand, with compassion and justice and honour, not with murder and rape. My father never ruled his lands with fear. My ancestors never ruled their lands with fear. What has happened to you Robert?"
"Your father was burnt alive by a mad man!" Robert yelled. I stopped and stared at Robert. A cold anger crept over him like ice freezing over a lake in winter. Robert went on, "If Aerys had feared him, even a little, he would never have dared to do such a thing!"
I continued to stare.
"Be careful, Robert," i warned him in a quiet voice.
But Robert did not heed my warning. "As long as there are Targaryens in this world, my claim to this throne is in danger. I would sooner cut off my own hand than see another madman rule the Seven Kingdoms, and if that means I have to kill babes, then so be it!" He turned his face away.
I replied "Robert the First you are on your way to becoming like Aerys II"
I continued. "If that is what you feel then we are done here. Take your crown and your Seven Kingdoms. I will go back to Winterfell and rule my lands how I would wish them to be ruled – with honour, justice and compassion." I turned and walked away, Robert's curses echoing after me.
As I marched out of the throne room, I realised that I was shaking with rage, I was so angry I could kill a man. People looked at him strangely. I was trying to calm myself when Jon Arryn, my foster father, came around the corner. "Ned," he greeted. "They told me you were fighting."
"I will have nothing more to do with him," I replied in as calm a voice as I could produce. "What was done to those children was the vilest crime. Murder, Murder, Murder"
"The Prince and Princess," said Jon with a rueful shake of his head. "I have just heard about that. Tywin Lannister has been at his work again – he is a devil of a man. The whole thing stinks of some kind of treachery."
"How could he condone such a thing?" I asked.
Jon raised his eyebrows and blew out a breath through his teeth. "Only Robert knows the answer to that, I'm afraid." He paused. "I will try to give him counsel, if he will allow me."
"Good luck with that," I said angrily. "I thought he valued my opinion, but clearly does not, he values the opinion of monsters like Tywin Lannister."
"Give him time, Ned. He's just getting used to this whole thing and it's understandable that he might make a few errors along the way. We just have to hope that we can speak wisdom to him and that he will listen. That's all we can do." He put out a hand and rubbed my arm in sympathy.
I replied, "You're right but I'm going to need some time to myself, in order to forget the things he said to me in there and what he has done. I'll take the troops to Storm's End and break the siege. That will keep me out of the way while he calms down and you have chance to talk to him. And gods help"
Jon was silent.
I left Jon and made for Maegor's Holdfast. Before I left there was something he needed to do. My feet were heavy as I climbed the steps up to the royal apartments. Men passed him on the stairwell, acknowledging him. When I reached what he believed to his desired location, I found two men-at-arms guarding the door. They were dressed in Arryn garb, so I asked them politely. "Were these Prince Rhaegar's rooms?" he asked.
"Yes, my lord," replied the older of the two men. "Do you wish to enter?"
"I do." I did not provide a reason.
At the end of the room was a window with a stained glass depiction of a three-headed dragon with eyes wrought from red crystals, breathing out a plume of fire. Sunlight streamed in through the window and cast a smaller, duplicate version of the colours and pattern of the dragon on the stone floor.
I opened a door. Inside there was a stale smell; the room hadn't been used for some time. A wide bed, fresh made with white sheets and with a canopy of white silk above it, dominated. Beside the bed was a bookcase, crammed full of hefty leather-bound tomes, atop which stood a candle in an iron stand. There was a massive stone fireplace with dragons' heads carved along the mantel. Candles lined that as well, their wax having oozed down to form a dribbling curtain.
To the other side of the room, beneath the window, a writing desk stood with a chair before it. I went to the desk and looked it over. The surface was clear, apart from a quill ready-dipped into the inkwell. Sitting down in the chair, I began to open the drawers in front me. Inside there was a small knife to be used for sharpening quills, fresh leaves of parchment and numerous pots of ink of varying colours. Inside I found a diary but it was empty.
When I was just about to give up, I found a secret compartment on the desk. There was a small gauze bag held a stash of dried blue rose petals, lyanna always loved blue roses. I picked up the bag of rose petals and studied them, turning them over in my hands.
I then placed the bag into my pocket. And with one final look around the room of the Crown Prince, I was starting to wonder that Lyanna had not been taken against her will, and I went in search of Howland Reed.
He found the crannogman in the library, sitting in the window seat, reading from a book that seemed half as large as he. He looked up when and he saw enter and closed the book, smiling. "My lord," he greeted. "I have not seen you in days."
"She wasn't taken against her will," said I said.
Howland Reed regarded me with the same twinkling green eyes he always did. "You are sure of this?" he questioned.
"As sure, as I can be now that he is dead and I cannot speak to her."
"This morning, something crossed my mind. I came up here to check it." I paused. "Who are the Kingsguard?"
"They are the seven elite knights who are sworn to protect the king and do his bidding," I explained "What of it?"
"Where are they?"
I began to think. Lewyn Martell, Jon Darry and Barristan Selmy had been at the Trident – he had seen Prince Lewyn cut down before his own eyes and had watched Ser Barristan bend the knee to Robert and receive a pardon just the other day. Jaime Lannister – well, I know where he is, that is for sure.That was four. But the others? "There are three I have not come upon," I said.
"Who are they?"
"The Lord Commander, Ser Gerold Hightower, Ser Oswell Whent, and the Sword of the Morning, Ser Arthur Dayne." I looked at the crannogman. "In the eyes of the Targaryens, Prince Viserys is the rightful king, so I would suppose they have gone to Dragonstone with him and Queen Rhaella."
"But we know that Aerys sent the Queen and Prince Viserys away," said Reed, "and they had only Ser Willem Darry with them."
"No Kingsguard?" I was confused.
"No Kingsguard," confirmed the crannogman.
There was a pause during which Ned's frown grew deeper. "Perhaps they were sent to join with Mace Tyrell."
"Perhaps. We shall find out shortly, I suppose," said Howland Reed, and he looked at Ned with a glint in his eye, his head angled. "You wish to leave soon."
"By noon hopefully," I said. "I do not suspect the Reach Lords will offer much in the way of resistance. I shall meet you at the gates."
"You will, my lord."
I turned and walked out of the library, my mind thinking on what the crannogman might have meant by his words.