"Mama!" Rhaenys ran to the door when Elia entered the room, frail arms clutching at her mother's gown with all the strength a girl of three could muster. She buried her face in the fabric of the Princess' skirts, hiding the tears that had damped her cheeks.
"I'm here, darling." The woman soothed her, fingers running through her daughter's black curls, the way she did to make her fall asleep. We are both safe, now. Ser Jaime will protect us. "But we have to go now." Rhaenys nodded, trying to look older than her three years of age, hiding her fear behind a brave face. That's my little girl. Elia felt a rush of pride for her daughter, as she took her little hand in hers to lead her out of the chambers.
An indignant meow reminded them of the black tom cat curled up under the bed.
"Mom, we can't leave him!" Elia sighed.
"Fine. But you'll have to take care of him." Rhaenys smiled happily, as she slipped under the bed. She surfaced with a ball of black fur in her arms,and only then she was ready to leave.
Jaime had stayed outside of the room, letting Elia enter alone, and Rhaenys let out a scream when she saw him, his golden armour stained with blood and the sword drawn.
"He is going to help us." She hushed the child, explaining why he was there, and Rhaenys eyed the knight warily. Jaime, however, did not waste time in calming the young girl's fears. They needed to go now, to be as far away as they could before the army would enter the gates, and Elia understood that as well.
The corridors seemed endless before them, and they all looked the same even for those who lived there. The only light came from the torches at the walls, giving the impression of an endless dark tunnel. Elia wondered if they would all die there, between those harsh stones, but pushed the thought away as fast as it had come. We will all live, she told herself.
When she heard the clangour of metal coming from before them, she stopped in her tracks, holding her daughter's hand more tightly and the child safely in her arms. It was a matter of seconds, before three armed men came running from the staircase. Jaime took a few steps forward, as if he was preparing himself to fight, but his sword was pointed towards the floor. For a moment, Elia feared that she had trusted this man too soon, that he would really throw them all in their enemy's arms.
"Ah, there they are. You did a good job, Ser Jaime." The voice of the knight in the middle was thin, no matter how the helm he wore gave a metallic sound to it. His sword was drown and bloody, meaning that he had fought to get there.
"It was not hard, Ser Amory." Jaime replied, his voice almost amiable as he spoke, taking a couple more steps towards the other man. The knight and the two soldiers lowered their swords, and the one in the middle even lifted his helm's visor, revealing a face with cruel features and sharp dark eyes. Elia felt a shiver running through her spine, felling the knight's eyes on her as he wetted his lips with his tongue.
"She is pretty, the dornish bitch. Too bad she must die." By her side, Rhaenys was fighting not to cry, while Aegon whimpered against her chest.
"Yes. Too bad." Elia barely saw the movement of Jaime's sword, but when she lifted her eyes to Amory's face there was an angry gash from his nose to his chin. Rhaenys screamed, as the knight fell on his knees. The other two cursed, and prepared for the fight, but Jaime was faster.
Elia only saw a flash of metal, and the second man fell back a few steps, his chainmail cut open and his entrails spilling on the floor. Jaime lifted his arm to parry the blow that came from the man on his left, but the blade collided harshly with his armour instead of stopping against a shield that was not there. With an angry growl, the golden blade found its way in the visor of the man's helm, and came back soaked with blood.
"Are you…" Elia asked, when Jaime turned towards them to see if they were alright.
"We can't stay here." He cut short, his breathing rapid from the fight, however short it had been.
"Your Grace. Ser Jaime. This way." Elia knew the voice. Lord Varys was wearing a brown cloak, the hood falling on his shoulders and allowing them to see his face. She was not sure she could trust the man, the Spider as everyone called him. She looked at Jaime, who nodded slightly at her, and realized she had no choice but to trust the eunuch.
"I know a passage. It will bring you to the docks." Varys explained, leading the way. They walked in corridors Elia did not recognize, opening doors that the Princess had never seen but that the Spider seemed to know like the back of his hand. The secret passages. He knows all of them. In that moment, Elia was thankful for Maegor the Cruel's paranoia.
Rhaenys had fallen silent, too scared to even cry, holding her mother's hand tightly. Elia's arm was beginning to tire from the weight of Aegon's body, but the adrenaline of the moment was enough to make it seem like a minor problem. For the first time, she dared to hope that they could all be alive when the night would come, all of them together. All but my husband.
"Why are you helping us?" Jaime asked, his voice weary, and Varys gave a sigh at the question.
"Why does no one trust the Spider?" He took a few moments of silence, before giving the proper answer to the question. "My loyalty lies in the realm, Ser Jaime. With Rhaegar gone, and Viserys too young to reign…" The eunuch turned for a moment to look at Elia, and she knew what he meant with those words. I am the Queen Regent for my brother in law. She could not say that the thought made her happy.
Jaime seemed to understand as well.
"Where is Viserys?" She asked, worry in her voice. She was fond of the child, although his father tried to keep her as far from him as he could.
"He and his newborn sister are with Ser Willem Darry, on a ship to Essos." Elia turned pale at the thought. It could only mean one thing.
"What about Queen Rhaella?" She dared to ask.
"She died giving birth." Elia felt her eyes stinging with tears at those words, and for a moment she could not quite grasp their meaning, refusing to believe it. There was no time to cry, and she could not afford to stop just now. She would grieve her mother in law when she and her children would be safe.
They walked through the secret passage for a time that seemed infinite, even if Elia doubted it could have been more than a few minutes. When they surfaced, they were well away from Maegor's Holdfast, she realized. The sound of the battle was distant now, and before them she saw the sea. Varys walked securely towards one of the ships, and Elia wondered when he had planned all of this.
"It will bring you to Dorne." Varys explained. "The captain is loyal to the crown." He added, anticipating Jaime's question.
"That I am." A voice came from behind them, as a man walked out of the darkness. "You kept me waiting. The crew was ready one hour ago." He added, sounding only mildly disappointed by the inconvenience. Elia was not surprised that she did not know who the man was. He looked young, to be the captain of a ship. She esteemed he could not be older than five and thirty, with straw blonde hair and fair eyes, clean shaven. He was short, not much taller than Varys, but his body gave an impression of strength with every move he made.
"I… thank you, milord." She thanked politely, knowing fully well the risks that he faced if they were caught. The man almost laughed at her, a raucous sound.
"I am no lord, Your Grace."
"There is no time for pleasantries, Laerio. You must set sail." Varys urged, looking around him wearily, as if expecting Lord Tywin or his soldiers to appear anytime soon.
"Aye, m'lord." Elia was puzzled for a moment when the Spider did not make a move towards the ship.
"Are you not coming with us?" She asked.
"I shall cover your traces and divert the attention towards Essos, where they can't reach. My duty is here. Now go." Elia nodded, and gave the Spider a small, tired smile, allowing Jaime to escort her to the safety of the ship. The knight had fallen silent, his sword still well in hand, ready to fight.
The last thing Elia saw, as the ship moved away from the quay, was the smoke rising from the city, the cries of the people carried to her ears by the wind.
Author notes: As a first thing, I would like to thank everyone who reviewed, followed or just read my story. As a writer, it means a lot to me that there are people who trust this story to be something good and worth reading! I think it is very important, and it does help me through the writing process.
You may wonder how I often I plan on updating this fanfiction. Well, the plan is to add a new chapter every week, on Saturday. I am currently ahead with chapters, so if I keep up at this rate I may even make it twice a week. We shall see…
Once more, thank you for reading this story, and I hope you will enjoy reading it as much as I am enjoying writing it! Feel free to ask me questions about the plot, or to explain something if you have some doubts, and I will gladly answer to the best of my abilities!
Disclaimer: I do not own A Song of Ice and Fire, the characters and the world belong to GRRM.I only own the writing and the original character(s) that are introduced as the story goes. I am not earning any money with this fan fiction.