Of Dwarfs And Daughters: Chapter Two

The Citadel was never accustomed to children, seeing as all its members took an oath of celibacy once joining its ranks, therefore, Alodin was thrown into great confusion when presented with a child to keep.

It was meant to be temporary, and Alodin did try finding a foster family for the child, however, times were difficult and people struggled everyday even without extra mouth to feed. So Beatrice remained there, growing up to the sight of books and the sound of clattering chains.

In Westeros, bastards got a surname of objects that were common in their region, such as Snow in the north and Sand in Dorne, so when Beatrice was born in the Citadel some joked that she should receive the bastard name "Books", a joke that quickly became a fact, and the little girl started wearing the name with pride, and truthfully it couldn't have fit her better; At the age of 3 Beatrice Books taught herself to read, and by the time she was sixteen she read more books than eldest of the maesters and thanks to her eidetic memory - remembered them all.

However, the lack of friends her age left its mark on the girl, who turned from a cheerful toddler to a wise woman all too fast for Alodin's liking. True, he enjoyed having smart conversations with her, answering all her questions, feeding her knowledge, but he missed the time she barely reached his knees and would pull his chains whenever wanting attention, and a partner for a childish game she came up with.

But what's done is done, and little Beatrice was all grown up now and Alodin knew that it won't be long till he would have to say goodbye to her and let her find her own way, oh how he feared this day.


Beatrice looked around and studied the villagers.

A young man passed her, giving her a meaningful wink.

This one's too young, he probably wouldn't remember my mother she decided, and ignored him.

This one's probably too old to remember anything she ruled out an old man who leaned against a hay stack with an unfocused look in his eyes.

She walked slowly, looking for anyone that might be able to help, then she stopped on the entrance of what appeared to be a tavern.

If anyone could remember my mother, he would be in here she thought, and entered the place.

It was midday, yet a few customers could be seen downing what was obviously not their first nor last drink for the day. It's always wine hour somewhere she recalled the old saying, and with a shrug of her shoulders approached a woman who stood behind the bar, probably the tavern owner, or his wife. She was a big woman, her chin threatening to meet her collar bone, and her breast threatening to escape her dress. Aside from that she was rather unmemorable with narrow brown eyes and thin red hair.

"You're a little early to try pick up a customer" the woman gave more attention to the cup she was polishing than to Beatrice.

"I'm… what?... no, I'm not here for that. I'm not a prostitute" Beatrice was thrown off guard for a second then clearing her throat she pulled a parchment from an inner pocket of her cloak.

"Have you ever seen this woman? I have reasons to believe she lived in this town about eighteen years ago" Beatrice held out a drawing of her mother she drew based on Alodin's description and he confirmed it looked just like he remembered her. She loved to draw ever since she could hold a quill pen, and although the Citadel's walls were decorated with paintings drawn by artists who were far more talented than she could ever hope to be, she was satisfied with her drawing skills.

"Maybe, information is not free you know" the woman noted.

Beatrice pulled a silver stag out and held it for the woman to see, then put it on the bar. The woman put the cup down and took the drawing to study it closer.

"Hmm, I think it looks like Olivia".

"Olivia" Beatrice rolled the possible name of her mother on her tongue "What can you tell me about her?" she asked.

"Well, not much, she hasn't been around for years now. I figured she ran off with that lord she fancied so badly…" the woman returned the parchment to Beatrice who took it with shaky hands.

"Sounds like her, please tell me everything you know, about her and about that lord" she asked in excitement. The woman reached her hand forward, Beatrice put another coin in the woman's palm.

"My father took Olivia in from an orphanage, she used to work for him here. Father would put her behind the bar almost every night, 'It brings more customers' he used to tell me" the woman spoke with clear jealousy in her voice "One night a convoy from King's Landing that was on its way to the Arbor visited our tavern, and the next thing you know, Olivia was gone, off to entertain some lord apparently."

Beatrice was relieved to hear her mother wasn't a prostitute, but at the same time, felt anger rushing through her blood to hear that woman describing her mother as mere entertainment.

"She returned in the morning with starry eyes, but wouldn't tell me who she'd been with. She snuck out to meet him the following night as well, and when the convoy continued their journey to the Arbor she wouldn't stop gazing off into the distance and wait for him to be back. It was quite pathetic really. Then she found out she was pregnant, the poor thing. I offered her a potion to wash out the bloody thing from her womb but she refused. When the convoy passed here again on their way back she apparently told the lord that she's carrying his child, and he was presumably thrilled, but then he disappeared. He promised he would come back for her when she'd be nearing the end of her pregnancy."

But he never did Beatrice thought bitterly "What happened next?" she asked. The woman simply raised an eyebrow as if saying "you know the drill", Beatrice made peace with draining her savings for this cause and gave the woman yet another silver stag. "So what happened afterwards?" She asked again.

"I wouldn't know" the woman shrugged "One night she simply vanished, and right on time too, as pretty as she was, she was no longer attracting clients with that big belly of her" the woman said, plain and simple.

How is that piece of information worth a silver stag? Beatrice cursed under her breath, then turned to leave the tavern.

"So what is it to you? Who are you?" the greedy woman asked her.

Beatrice stopped and without turning to face the woman said "I'm the bloody thing…"


Beatrice and Alodin ate their dinner quietly. Only the rattling of their spoons and the tapping of their cups against the wooden table broke the silence occasionally. Beatrice told Alodin everything she found out that day and he took some time to process it.

"So your father never came back for her… for you" he finally said.

"So it would seem" she replied, thoughtfully.

"How does it affect your decision to find him?" he wondered.

"Well…" Beatrice contemplated her words "The possibility that he wants nothing to do with me was always there, and it may have just become more probable, but I still want to know who he is".

"I understand" Alodin sighed, "So what's next for you?".

"The woman from the tavern told me the convoy was from King's Landing and was on its way to the Arbor, it's very likely that they were going there to stock up with wine, and if they did, there would be a record of the convoyers somewhere in the Red Keep." she theorized.

"Isn't the distance from here to King's Landing a bit too long to travel just for the sake of confirming, or more likely, contradicting a hypothesis" Alodin tried one last time to talk her out of the impossible goal she set for herself although he knew it was bound to fail.

"It's the best clue I have" she concluded, stubbornly.

"Perhaps not the best…" Aldoin said and got up and walked to the back of the room. He cameback and handed Beatrice a necklace. "After your mother died I prepared her for burial and removed it from her neck. Everything else she had seemed simple and that was the only thing that stood out".

It was a golden necklace with an icicle shaped crystal hanging from it. The crystal was clear and beautiful, the light from the candles broke on it to magnificent colors.

"That's beautiful! There's no way my mother could have possessed something so luxurious unless she received it as a gift" Beatrice said in awe and wore the necklace.

"That's what I thought too. So I've decided to wait for when you're older to give it to you. But now I think it might be of use to you on your quest" Alodin told her.

She hugged her guardian tightly and whispered "Thank you! You will always be a father to me".

When she released him from the hug he asked her with teary eyes "When will you ride to King's Landing?"

"Tomorrow".


A/N: Thank you Marvelmyra for pointing out that there's no way one could read all the books in the Citadel in thirteen years.