Disclaimer! I own nothing! The world of a song of Ice and Fire and game of thrones belongs to George R.R. Martin and the creators of the show, I have no claim to anything.
A/N please remember that this story is not edited!
Chapter 3
A young man is standing in a middle of a dimly lit room. He is surrounded by his dead banner men and his dead wife and his unborn child. An arrow is sticking out of shoulder and his blue eyes are filled with defeat and a glint of acceptance, he is staring at his red headed mother, who is holding a whimpering girl captive with a knife to her throat and she is pleading for something and to someone.
An old man with a snarl on his face sits at the head of a table, casually drinking some wine,
'On my honour as a Tully, on my honour as a stark, let him go or I'll cut your wife's throat!"
The old man shrugged casually a small smirk on his face, "I'll find another."
The young man called out, "Mother" the woman turned and looked at him, tears streaming down her face as another man walked up to her son and spat out, "The Lannister send their regards," and plunged a knife into the young mans chest and watched calmly as the young man slowly fell to the ground, dead. The woman let out cry filled with anguish and grief and anger and then slit the young girls throat, without seemingly realising what she had done. She stood there defeated and after a few moment another man walked up to her and slit her throat, watching with a malicious smirk as blood burst from the woman's neck as she fell to the ground. Outside the castle, you could hear the cries of the soldiers and could hear them running for their lives as each and every one of them were being slaughtered. Finally, a group of men started shouting "The King In The North! The King In The North!"As the young mans body was tied upon a horse, and a dire wolfs head was sown onto his body. In the distance, the banner with a direwolf was burning.
Everra woke up with a sudden gasp and sprung upwards from the bed in panic, whirling her head wildly across the room, shuddering and closing her eyes tightly, trying to get the burning image of a young man with a dire wolfs head out of her mind. She heard a purring sound from below and looked over to see Andromache on the foot of the bed, gazing up at her with a concern.
"Come here you," Everra murmured and gestured for Andromache to come closer. Andromache hopped onto the bed with a light thud and moved towards her mistress, rubbing her head against her shoulder in a attempt to comfort her mistress.
Everra gently petted her head and sighed, shifting her gaze towards the entrance of the tent. The sun had not yet risen and the only sound you could hear was the howling of the wind. Everra rose out of bed and strode to the other side of the tent where a dark green velvet dress lay out for her to wear.
Everra quietly slipped off her nightdress and allowed the cool air to feast on her naked body, no goosebumps appeared, she had not felt cold ever since her father had left her out in the snow with only her nightdress for four nights straight when she was six. It had been considered a miracle she had not died by all the maesters that had treated her afterwards.
She tugged her underdress over her head and then slipped on the dark green dress. It was a beautiful dress, with gold laces on the back and gold embroidered flower designs on the upper body, with a gold belt shaped in circles that went down the front of her body, almost reaching her knees and then she attached her sword 'Kindness' to her belt.
Everra, rolled up the sleeves of her dress until her elbows and wrapped a band around each of her forearms and placed two knifes under each band and then tugged the sleeves down to cover them.
She then tugged the skirts of her dress up and bent down to give her shins the same treatment. She always had a weapon on her, she had been taught to expect danger at any moment and she was not planning on leaving herself vulnerable anytime soon.
She brushed a comb through her black, waist length curls and simply tied two pieces of hair at the back of her head and placed down her comb.
"Andromache! Too me!" she commanded, and sure enough the large black cat was next to her in an instant.
"Time to wake up the rest of them," Everra muttered and exited the tent, Andromache trailing behind her.
The sun had just started to rise, the darkness of the night slowly started to fade away, it was time for them to get back on the road. The men had just started to wake and soon enough the once quiet atmosphere filled with shouts and murmurs.
"My lady, everything is almost ready for us to be on our way, we should arrive at RedRun before nightfall," Ser Daavos uttered, approaching Everra.
Everra looked at him from the corner of her eye, he looked tired, with circles surrounding his grey eyes, they looked rather abnormal on his tan skin, he really was quite a handsome man. Everra's eyes had gone back to their usual emotionless state as she assessed the guards progress.
"My lady, a raven was sent from RedRun, here is the message," Ser Daavos handed the small piece of paper to her. She took it from his grasp and tore it open, her eyes skimming over the words quickly.
'My lady, is all well?"
"Everything is just as it should be, Ser Daavos," she replied and then promptly tore the paper into small pieces, ignoring Ser Daavos's concerned look and let the wind blow the pieces into somewhere unknown.
She then turned to look at him fully, her eyes lingering on his face, letting no emotion show as always,
"Lets just say we will be having a very entertaining supper."
Everra walked away from him, leaving him standing there with a confused look on his face.
"My lady, we should arrive at RedRun within the hour," Ser Daavos announced from beside her.
They were on their horses now and were currently surrounded by green mountains and grey skies,
the wind howling and Andromache running off in the distance. She had brought five hundred men to accompany her to RedRun and was now regretting that decision as they were slowing her down. she was getting frustrated at their slow pace, she needed as much time as she can if she is to start setting her plans into motion, she couldn't afford any time to lose.
'My lady?"
Everra snapped out of her thoughts and turned her gaze towards him, "Tell me Ser Daavos, have I ever told you the history of my home?"
"No my lady, I'm afraid not."
"When the Targareyns first came to Westeros three hundred years ago, the bloodlands had no lords, or ladies for that matter, it was a deserted piece of land which barely anyone liked to go too because of the legends about the place,however my ancestor Everth helped put Aegon on the throne and spied for him and to reward him for his services, Aegon made him the warden of the bloodlands and and placed three other noble families around the area, however it was too small to be considered a kingdom. Do you know why the call them the bloodlands? It is because people believe that the rocks used to make the castle RedRun were stained with blood, and all the other ground surrounding it too."
Ser Daavos looked like he wanted to question her more about it but she cut him off before he could.
"Have we heard any news from Laria yet?"
"Yes my lady," he turned around to make sure no one was eavesdropping and considerably lowered his voice, " All of the 'little birds' have reported everything you wanted them too. It appears that whatever you threatened them with made them lose all thoughts of loyalty towards Lord Varys."
"Good, he cannot know of our plans Ser Daavos, because if he knows, then the king and queen know and if they know… then this is not going to work the way we want it too." Everra looked at him directly in the eye and brought her horse to a halt, " This war… we may not survive it. I've won many battles, but I've heard of Tywin Lannister, he lives up to his name and reputation. So do I, I suppose, but I'm not trying to win this war for myself it would seem. I have to help a man I barely even know to win it and he does not even know that it is coming. When we arrive at RedRun, everything is going to change. We'll never be able to go back to Essos. At least, I will never be able too."
"My lady, if things go as planned, as I am sure that it will, you have never lost a battle and you have an army of sixteen thousand men alone, some of which including the best warriors in the world-"
"Ser Daavos, my father once told me to never underestimate you're enemies, because if you do, it will come back and bite you in the ass. My father forgot that over the years and thats what got him killed. I do not plan on making that same mistake." Everra regarded him closely and continued on moving forward.
"Then perhaps we should have never come back, my lady," Ser Daavos called out, his voice desperate.
Everra tilted her head to look back at him, she had always known that Ser Daavos felt something for her that she did not feel for him, but it was moments like this where she she almost pitied him for falling in love with someone like her. Almost. She was about to speak up before Andromache let out a small roar and she snapped her head up to look at the sleek black cat whom was a small distance away from them.
'It appears we are within sight of RedRun Ser Daavos, it is a little bit to late for wishful thinking," Everra continued, "Let the men know, tell them to move faster," she commanded and did not wait for him to reply, making her horse gallop to where Andromache was waiting for her. When she arrived, she jerked her horse to a stop, admiring the site of her childhood home.
The first thing you could see was the bloodstone tower which was a singular, tall thick stone tower the colour of blood, towering over the rest of the castle, rumours had spread that it was so tall it reached the sky, though Everra noted that this was a major exaggeration. Two other small thinner towers rose to a similar height except with a pointed triangular top while the other was square shaped and with battlements. There were thick high halls, made of the same stone, with battlements that surrounded the castles and then there was moat with a bridge over it, that lead to the main gate, which led them to the front courtyard.. Behind the castle you could see tall mountains casting a shadow over it. Those mountains are known as the Blood Mountains, because of their unusual shade of colour - that of blood. There was no road to RedRun, only the people who lived there knew the safest ways to travel there.
Everra could feel her hands tightening around the reigns of her horse and could feel, a heavy weight of emotions inside of her that she dared not let show. She knew that coming back here would affect her, she just did not know how much. No one knew then, and no one knows now. He is not there Everra, you saw to that, she kept on chanting in her head, all the while keeping a blank expression on her face.
"My lady?"
Everra snapped out of her thoughts and then came to realise that she had not moved the entire time and that the men and the carts had all swept on in front of her, trailing down the hill. She ignored Ser Daavos and motioned for her horse to gallop to the front, Andromache sprinting beside her.
Everra would not let some ghost of the past affect her, she had no time for the dead, only the living.
As they finally reached the main gate, Everra took a moment to prepare herself internally, for she knew that the ghosts and demons that she had thought she left behind were still there along with the girl she used to be.
When the large wooden doors finally opened, she knew in her heart of hearts that there was no going back and strangely enough, she felt a kind of excitement she had not felt in years spark up in her heart. I guess I am more like my father after all, getting excited at the thought of war, she thought to herself wirily.
The front courtyard was a dull place, with no flowers or trees to be seen, only stone, with stairs leading up to the main tower, the one that was said to reach the skies. She had always disliked the place, even when she was a child. There was a small group of men, women and even some children waiting for her at the beginning of the stairs. She recognised them as the families of all her lords, Lord Willem Gilbert, Lord Edwin Tudar and Lord Yullian Maery. She also recognised Maester Liwin whom she had known since she was born, he was an old man with hunched shoulders and a permanently serious look on his face, but he had kind eyes, eyes that held more kindness than she possessed in her entire body.
The air was thick and tense and as she climbed off her horse, she sensed a slight air of disapproval from Lord Willem and his wife and children, whom all had a distasteful look on their faces. They were an ugly bunch and they would get what was coming to them, but first she must play her part.
She turned to a group of guards that were standing nearby, with fearful expressions on their faces, she gestured towards them, "Escort my men to the training pen and take all of the horses to the stables. I expect that accommodations have already been made," she commanded and when they made no sign of moving she yelled more forcefully, "Now!"
"My lady," they all stuttered and got to work, leading the men away from the courtyard, leaving the courtyard in silence and only Ser Daavos behind her.
A small growl filled the air of the courtyard and she internally enjoyed the expression of fear in majority of the groups eyes as they noticed Andromache.
Everra leaned down and rubbed her behind her ear, instantly relaxing Andromache. Everra strode towards the group and took a moment to assess them all. Lord Yullian Maery was a man in his fifties who could have been reasonably handsome in his youth if he did not have a permanent smile on his face, exposing his yellow teeth, he was somewhat of an idiot and a weak one too. His wife was a small woman, with a solemn expression on her face, she was somewhat pretty, maybe if she smiled she could have been considered beautiful. The pair had two daughters and one son, the daughters of who were ten and two and the son who looked slightly older than Everra. Lord Edwin Tudar had refused to marry although he was a handsome man considering his age, with broad shoulders and black hair that was turning grey at his scalp. Lord Willem Gilbert was an arrogant fool and so were his wife and his only son, who also happened to be his only child.
They all slightly curtsied towards her and echoed 'My lady'.
"Rise, My lords, my ladies, Maester". They turned there heads up to look at her and slowly rose in front of her, looking warily at Andromache.
"Have no fear, she will not harm you whilst I'm around, my lords, my ladies," Everra announced, regarding them all closely.
"My lady, it has been so long! Ten very longs years have we awaited your return! We have all missed your presence at RedRun," Lord Gilbert cried out dramatically.
Everra noticed that Lord Willem narrowed his eyes at the other Lord and stiffened as he realised that she had noticed. "My lady," he said stiffly, averting his eyes from hers.
"Yes, yes my lady, how we have missed your presence! You have grown so much! We have been counting the days until your return, my lady," Lord Yullian had spoken now, though she noticed that from the others expression's that this was normal behaviour and was genuine, unlike lLord Willem and his family.
"I'd like to thank you all, for your patience with me for my absence over these long ten years. I am most grateful to you all. I will reward you all later this evening at the feast, that I've heard my dear Lord Gilbert has planned for my return," Everra said praisingly, pasting a wide smile on her face as she addressed him, " My dear Lord Gilbert, what would I have done without you and your families help!" She pressed her hands to her chest and said with a sickeningly sweet voice, "Oh how you and your family has touched me with your kindness! I hear you've been taking care of everything here at RedRun and have taken care of running the mines and the household! Oh how your kindness has touched me so!'
Ser Daavos was staring at her, gobsmacked, eyes filled with confusion. Everra turned her back to everyone and winked discreetly and walked up to him grabbing his hand in her cold one,
'Everyone this is my companion Ser Daavos, he has been one of my constant companions in my journeys abroad, he will be staying here for as long as he wishes,' Everra continued on with her sickeningly sweet voice.
After all the introductions had ended and all the lords and ladies left to their chamber to prepare for the feast did Everra finally lower her facade and return to her usual emotionless expression. Maester Liwin and Ser Daavos remained with her in the courtyard, both of them still looking on with confusion.
"My lady," Maester Liwin whispered, "did you not receive my raven about how-"
"Have no worries Maester, I am fully aware of what he is planning. Everything is under control. Ser Daavos, find the men we brought with us and only the men we brought with us and tell them to round up all the men that Lord Gilbert has granted money or rewarded with some sort of title. Master Liwin will give you the list of names shortly after I leave. Tell them to wait until everyone is in the great hall for the feast before they bring them, round them up outside the door. Tell them to wait until they hear a woman's scream to enter."
Ser Daavos continued on looking confused, "My lady if I may ask wh-"
Everra turned around to look at him and stared at him coldly, 'No you may not ask why. Do as you are told. Now you best get moving, this will take a while. You must be the last one to enter the great hall and when you do, close the door, do I make myself clear?" Everra asked harshly, he nodded.
"Good, now if you'll excuse me I have to prepare for the feast," Everra started up the stairs, Andromache following behind her, before stopping halfway and said quietly, "Oh and Maester Liwin, out of all the people here, you are the only one I am even remotely glad to see."
Everra turned her back to the pair, and walked up the stairs, silently fuming. If there was one thing she could not stand it was treachery, it was a shame that her first night back home would be a bloody one.
A/N Hi everyone, thank you to all of those who have favourited and reviewed. I wasn't too pleased with this chapter, but I hope you all enjoyed it. Let me know how you feel about Everra and her relationship with Ser daavos. Hope you all are enjoying this so story so far! Please remember to review, I would really appreciate it if you did! Thanks again!
