279 AC


A Song of Dreams and Starlight

By Odeveca

3: Re

"I leave on the morrow?"

"Yes, my dear, you both will be gone on the morrow," her father reiterated, coughing up the green phlegm that smelt of sour milk, he had become worse since the last year, terribly ill for someone his age, he had seen fifty-eight summers, a long and fruitful life, and yet, she still ached for the time she would lose with him by venturing forth to the dragon's capital, King's Landing.

She felt her eyes leak at the thought of leaving her home, "do not cry my dear."

"I will cry if it pleases me," she stubbornly put it, it was the one right she was taking for granted at the moment, and still it made her feel guilt, "you must forgive me father," she sat with him, petting his hand, brushing her other over his clammy forehead, "please forgive my impetuous will."

He humored her, holding her hand so tightly, "What is there to forgive?"

My foolish girl fantasies, late nights with Alyssa, wondering what it would feel like to run away with a man that loved me completely, and still be allowed back to court with the bastard he would put in me, Leila thought. To dare use a father's love as a weapon against those that would belittle my devilish design.

"Forgive me," Leila repeated the simple words, she could not kill him with those thoughts.

"I forgive you my little one, no tears, please," her ailing father said, rubbing her own hand, understanding her need for touch, and yet he was still sweating under his covers, too ill to be worried about such things. Her father had been swaddled in blanket for the entire day to get over this sickness, it seemed to not be working, and it only made it harder to leave him like this.

"Forgive me father, I have a woman's heart."

"Your mother had one too," he mentioned sweetly, "a woman's heart, I was quite fond of it," Leila enjoyed whenever he mentioned her late mother in soft glowing light, and he knew she liked it too, did it just to get a smile out of her. His lips rose for another putrid cough, and her heart went with each breath of his, and she was sure that was the reason why people put up with her childish ways.

They both made each other so happy.

"I love you father," she kissed his frightfully clammy hands.

"As do I, but listen to me. You will do well to take care daughter, King's Landing is not always as it seems, you will have to have both ears, and ten eyes to catch what these southerners are cooking up," it was hard to understand the danger when she had never been farther south than House Tully, and all the while the eavesdropping Maester listened to her father's warnings, thoughtfully preparing a healing elixir in the corner.

"I will give it my best," she tried to focus on him and not on whom might have heard his concerned words, and send them to the Dragon King. Alyssa's stories said the King enjoyed torturing traitors disloyal to the Crown.

"I am useless to you," her father gave a drawn out sigh, "if it wasn't for this bout of sickness, I would join you my sweet, I am entrusting your care into dear Elbert here. He will watch over you."

Leila thought not, "but what about his mother, my Aunt Bellara? She has need of him too in her own sickness."

This was news to her father, "What is the matter with my good-sister?"

They must have kept him in the dark, she bit her lip, "In truth, she looks far worse than you do now, it grieves me, it grieves Elbert too," Elbert looked upset that she would bring it up, he hated saying no to his Uncle, "she is terribly ill, I would not have it said that he leave his mother at this time, lose a second of time with her," Leila would never steal any time that was special to Elbert, it just felt wrong to tear a son away from his ailing mother for a wedding summons.

Lord Arryn propped himself higher in his featherbed, "Elbert you must attend to your mother, she is your last parent in this world."

"I will do as you bid me," Elbert conceded immediately.

"You are a good man Elbert," her father agreed, and Leila grinned for what that meant.

She butted in, "But, I could go alone father, I am old enough," her father made a face at her request, "yes, I am more than enough representation of House Arryn. I would only need a retinue, they will watch over me, any other man would watch me as well as he, nothing of consequence should happen if we take it safely-"

Her father humored her, "Do you not fear the mountain clans, oh untouchable one? Will they close their eyes as you pass by?"

She had many fantasies of a primitive clansman taking her to bride, how more masculine they seems to the prissy men in the courtyard, "only as much as any other great foe to House Arryn," her good spirited words always seemed to appease her father, it was working now.

He was still unsure, "what if something were to happen to me while you were away, how could I ever forgive you for abandoning your last parent in the world," the good Lord Jon Arryn was playing with her now, he coughed for every laugh he gave, that worried her, "would it be said that my daughter left me in my most dire circumstance."

"This was your idea father, and it would be rude to ignore a royal summons," she wanted him to believe that, her excitement for the capital was consuming her, of adventure, of seeing the places she read in her stories, "besides, it's all the more reason for Elbert to stay, he is your heir father, he deserves to stay by your side, his presence assures the people!"

Jon Arryn did not like that, "How quickly you give up your birthright," she had no problem with doing it, she was never meant to rule, "you both are my heirs," he reminded her, "you both will rule if I were to leave this one for the next," so that was what he kept telling his advisors and other nobles sworn to House Arryn. A wedding that was indefinitely postponed because, Elbert was patient, and she was too picky, or so the stories went…

"Oh father, you are too kind to us," her father was too kind for his own good, a woman would never inherit, he knew it, even Elbert knew it, and her betrothed was too quiet while father and daughter discussed the matter of the Targaryen King's proposal.

Leila thought a different approach, "we can always miss the Targaryen wedding. Say that the summons came too late."

"Nonsense, and risk Aerys' ire," he addressed the dragon in the room, "No! You must go as a representative of this House, and you shall take Ser Vardis Egen to accompany you," his father proposed, the captain of his personal guard, one of the greatest warriors in their land, and a protector that Leila had known since she first remembered being carried on her step-mother's hip. The glorified knight stepped forward.

"Lord Arryn, you have my sword," Ser Vardis Egen stepped forward, tipping his head in salutation, "I will watch her my Lord."

The thought of her father's protector in the capital, so far from his place by the Lord of Arryn, sent a rush of fear through her, "Don't be ridiculous, I will not take your best guard father, Vardis stays here."

"But Leila-"
"He is needed most here, who will be here to take care of you when I am gone?"

Her father sputtered, "I have hundreds of men here to look after me-"

"None of them as great as Vardis," she saw the captain smirk at her praise, he would remember that for later, she rubbed her father's sweaty head, cleaning the residue, taking the servant's job for the moment, "here let me help you."

He rejected her help at first, "so proud is House Arryn, so proud is it's Lord, but not proud enough for a loving daughter to help him? I think not," she enjoyed these quiet moments with the the two Arryn men, the ones Elbert chose to stay instead of retiring, and when her father would stare at her in wonder as she wiped the rest of his sweat away from his body, "you are a stubborn old man, you remember that."

He said in the same tone, "And you remember that you are a bothersome daughter."

After a while, he relented, holding her hand again, "I will send a group of guards with you, I only wish for your safety, send Robert and Ned, they could protect you," she truly rolled her eyes now, the sickness had made him delusional.

"What good could they do?" Leila complained, "They are just boys."

"They are going to ride to Storm's End at the end of the season," like that made any difference to her, "yes, they can accompany you too, does that please you daughter," he asked, he was getting tired out, this was already enough distress for one night.
"Yes, it pleases me that my father takes such good care of me," she agreed quickly, glad that at least the Arryn men would be staying in the Vale where they were needed most.

When her sick father had allowed her to retire, he did not allow his second heir to do so, "Elbert, my son, you stay. I must have a word with you."

Elbert's dark blue eyes' questioned Leila.

She shrugged, not worried about the news between men, especially those that cared so deeply for her, "It's fine. I'll be waiting outside."

Leila went outside, seeing her father's boys waiting there too, "what are you doing waiting outside," the boys were probably listening in on their conversation, and gossiping about trouble no doubt, "did you know father wants to see you? He says we will be leaving on the morrow," she narrowed her eyes at them, "You both didn't know about this earlier, did you?"

They looked suspicious, eyes cast to the carpeted floor, she questioned, "why didn't you tell me earlier Ned?"

The sweeter of the two bent his head, "I am sorry Lady Arryn."

She teased the young boy of fourteen summers, "you can call me Leila, Ned. I already gave you my permission, no need for formalities."

"Yes Lady Leila."

"I already told you it's just Leila, just Leila," she bent down to rub his long brown hair, his dark grey northern eyes widening, and his cheeks becoming red, "I would never be cross with you, there is no need for you to feel badly," she pinched his cheek, and the boy next to him laughed like thunder.

"The problem is, oh can I tell her, oh buggering seven," Robert leaned forward, "he can hardly stare at your enormous tits, how is he supposed to call you by your first name," she smacked the Baratheon boy upside his inflated head.

"You insolent twerp, I was not talking to you. You're lucky I don't tell father on you."

"You love me too much big sister," the Baratheon twerp was right, even if he was taller than even her, and she would ring his ear when he commented on it.

There was another lady that would do the same in this situation, "how is your Marnella doing, is she ready to pop yet?"

"She'll be ready in a few weeks," Robert shrugged, as if a soon to be born bastard son was old news, "she looks it."

Sometimes he could be so thick, "You better tell Marny that we are leaving to the capital tomorrow or at least get father to postpone our departure so you can speak to her. She will miss you terribly-"

"Aw she'll be fine," he sam way he waved away the affections of his kitchen wench, "see you around Leila, come on Ned, let's see what that pillow biter Elbert is saying to Jon Arryn."

As they left her, she muttered a bawdy curse, "insolent little prick," knowing her father had failed in driving the insolence from the future heir of Storm's End. There would be hell to pay for Robert's whoring ways, but she was not his mother, or his actual elder sister, thank the gods, he would grow up to be someone else's problem.

"Leila," Elbert came out now as the boys went in, he had finished with her father, and was twisting his hands, he was nervous.

That made Leila nervous, "What did he say?"

Elbert became ashy grey, it frightened her.

"What did he say Elbert? You're scaring me-"

"When you return, there is going to be an Arryn wedding."

"Oh, a wedding, is that all, " her father had found another wife, no doubt a secret the men of the House shared before telling the woman folk, "I believe congratulations are in order then."

He said the words carefully, "In some way perhaps."

"You don't look happy about it," it should be a pleasant round of news for them both as his closest kin, her father wished to share this private news with Elbert, the possibility of her Lord father birthing a male heir meant they both would be pushed aside for the new heir to come, and yet Leila always knew this was a possibility, but she just couldn't understand how it would bother Elbert so.

She took his arm, sweetly reprimanding him, "you should be happy for him Elbert, my father deserves happiness, he works far too hard," she exclaimed, "think it, to be married again, it has been awhile since he allowed himself to love in that way, I will have a new mother soon," that had always excited her, "You should be happy for him, we both should-"

He released her, "No Leila, it is not his wedding," he leaned against the wall, the ashy grey of his cheeks seemed more real, and his darkened eyes making more sense now, "it will be our wedding."