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Alyssa I Targaryen

Book : The War of the Four Sovereigns

Chapter 5: Strengthening and Breaking Allegiances

Beta:

Lord Roose Bolton was in the Hall of the Hundred Hearths breaking his fast in Harrenhal, a castle he'd recently taken in the name of Queen Alyssa Targaryen. Oh! He knew full well that the woman officially co-ruled with her husband Renly Baratheon but he was under no illusions who wielded the true power in that relationship.

He was just finishing his meal when an upright oval of swirling darkness forms at the other end of the castle's excessively large great hall. Standing up quickly, he drew his sword and watched as a group of flabbergasted guards encircled the strange phenomenon only to be further shocked when no less than Lady Arya Stark stepped out of the portal with the direwolves Nymeria and Lady, a flamboyantly dressed Braavosi Bravo, and a contingent of what appeared to be Reach knights led by a man in yellow plate armor with sunflowers worked into the metal as adornments following closely behind her.

"What is the meaning of this?" The yellow knight demanded furiously. "Weren't we expected? The Queen sent a raven did she not?"

Roose in a rare moment of shock could only mutter a weak response. "We weren't expecting you for days. Nor for you to arrive via whatever that was."

"That's a Gate spell." Lady Arya said as the portal vanished. "One of my sister's magic spells. She is a mage. You do know that right, Lord Bolton?"

Roose should had been affronted by the tone, much less the question. Though he had the grace to be neither. For he had indeed chalked the Queen's supposed magic to be little more than fanciful tales like those of the snarks and grumkins.

"Apologies, Lady Arya." The Bolton Lord said instead with an apologetic nod. "I underestimated our Queen's prowess.

"Don't do it again." Lady Arya told him bluntly.

Did the girl have no manners? On second thought, that's unlikely. Her trout mother may be many things but she would not fail in teaching her daughters proper manners. This, Roose looked to the two horse sized direwolves standing on either side of the Stark girl. Is her wolf's blood talking. That and I imagine a healthy amount of bravado from being regarded by a dragon riding witch Queen as a sister.

"I will endeavor not to."

"Good." Lady Arya said before she fished through a pouch she slung at her waist over her decidedly masculine trousers and tunic, opposite the small, slender sword sheathed on her right. It took her a moment before she pulled out a sealed missive. "This is for you."

"Thank you, my lady." Roose said with a bow as he took the Queen's letter. He checked the seal was unbroken and was satisfied, the shield of House Targaryen was indeed whole. Not that he suspected any foul play when it was the Queen's most beloved little sister serving as her courier but one must still go through the motions.

Especially when the leader of Lady Arya's escorts was watching.

"All seems in order, my lady." He hadn't noticed it earlier but every time he called her that Lady Arya's nose crinkled in displeasure. It was a childish, unsightly gesture but he wasn't about to say anything. It wasn't his place to correct her, not when he suspected from the lack of surprise at the action from her escort that the Queen permitted her such behavior.

Instead, he proceeded with the niceties. "Would you and your escort like to be shown to your chambers for a rest? Or-"

"No, we're fine. We came straight from Bitterbridge, no travel involved." Lady Arya cut him off in a decidedly unladylike way and Roose was thankful for that. While he had given orders to have rooms ready for her and her party when he'd received the raven to expect her today, he'd put no urgency behind them. After all, he'd mistakenly thought she wouldn't arrive for days. He thus would need some time to make sure that the appropriate accommodations were indeed ready.

"I'd rather you had someone show me around the castle." Lady Arya said, unaware of the relief her host was feeling at her request. "My grandmother on my mother's side grew up here and I would like to explore it."

"Of course, my lady." Roose said gesturing to the highest ranking of the men-at-arms in the hall. "Take the lady on a tour of the castle."

"Yes, milord." The soldier, a man from House Tallhart. "This way milady."

As Lady Arya's party filed out of the hall with their new guide, Roose hurried off in a separate direction to make sure that everything was ready for the girl and her men when they were finished. He did not want a visit from her sister if she was made unhappy.

Later that evening, Roose found himself sitting in his solar in the captured castle pondering after the two missives before him. One was from the Lannisters offering him the North in exchange for defecting to their side. The other was from the Queen, as delivered by her sister-cousin Arya Stark, that told him that she knew he and the Lannisters were secretly communicating with each other and that they were making him offers for his defection which he might be considering to accept.

That alone chilled him to the bone. He was certain that the agents he used were secure. And he had checked, as far as possible, that the same was true on the Lannister end as well. Yet, the Witch Queen had discovered their exchanges anyway.

If her dragon had not convinced him of which side to align himself, this feat of espionage would have. Not to mention the feat of magic she'd worked sending her sister to Harrenhal this morning

"The Lannisters are fools to challenge someone like her." Roose Bolton said with a dry chuckle.

Had he not been attempting to do the same? Perhaps, but he would not be a fool any longer.

The Queen had ordered him to hand whatever communications he'd already had with the Lannisters to her sister who would act as her courier and to play along with the Lannisters in the hopes of gaining some useful intelligence. It was a dangerous game where one misstep would likely see him burned alive by dragonfire but it was the unfortunate position his attempt to play both sides had put him in. He could only live with the consequences.

Standing, he walked to the door and opened it.

"You," he said to one of the guards standing watch outside the solar. "Go let Lady Arya know that I would like to speak to her."

Roose closed the door to the man's armor clinking as he ran to obey his orders and walked back to the desk. He had some work to do before Lady Arya arrived. There were many missives and letters he'd need to hand over to the Queen after all and it would take time to compile them all.

"Robb, welcome!" Alys greeted him warmly as the customary greetings were completed and she pulled him into a hug in the middle of the Bitterbridge yard. Something that made the slight bulge caused by her pregnancy very noticeable to him. It was thus impossible for him to not stare at it as they pulled apart.

"Not even going to greet me, brother? Is my baby bump really that interesting?" Alys asked with a teasing pout.

"I would be lying if I said no." Robb told her honestly. "But it's good to see you too."

Alyssa smiled at him happily, looking radiant even as she probably unconsciously ran a hand over her slightly swollen stomach.

His examination of his pregnant sister was interrupted when his other sister tackled his side.

"Robb! Did you forget me?" Arya asked him with a glare.

Chuckling, Robb pulled his little sister into a hug. "Of course not. But couldn't you just wait your turn?"

"If I did, you'd be stuck staring at Alys and her belly for the next hour." Arya told him as she returned the hug.

She'd be right too.

"Alyssa, we'll be retiring for now. You'll show your brother the way-"

"I'll handle it Renly." Alyssa told her husband sternly and Robb had to smother a chuckle.

It was exactly how he'd always pictured his sister dealing with a husband. With how strong willed she was, he had always known that whichever man she ended up marrying would end up controlled by her. It seemed that Kings were no exception to this as Renly Baratheon just nodded at his wife's words and walked away, looking not unlike an obedient dog. At least to Robb and if Arya's shaking shoulders were anything to go by, his sister as well.

"If you two are done laughing at my husband," Alyssa said, calling them both out on their behavior. There was no heat behind it though, rather amusement. It seemed she thought as highly of the man she'd married as they did.

"Then I have some important things to hand over to you, Robb." Alyssa continued as Robb finally released Arya though his youngest sister refused to let go entirely and instead leaned into his side.

"What is it?" Robb asked seriously.

Alyssa gestured to a group of servants and they brought forward a familiar greatsword and what looked liked a chunk of ice.

"Ice belongs to you now, brother." Alyssa said as the servant bearing their family's ancestral Valyrian steel sword presented it to him.

With subtly trembling hands, Robb took the blade from the man and reverently strapped it to his waist.

"Thank you, sister, for recovering it. And that is?" Robb asked, nodding towards the chunk of ice.

Alyssa looked at whatever it was and a distant look came across her face. It was thus Arya who answered his question.

"It's the casket containing Father's ashes." His usually rambunctious sister said with uncharacteristic solemnity. "Alys made it with her magic."

Robb's eyes went wide even as he opened his arms to receive the icy casket with even more reverence than he had Ice.

"He would want to be laid to rest in Winterfell." Alyssa said, finally pulling herself from whatever memory had taken hold of her. "I would've preserved his body, but-"

"His ashes are good enough, sister. Thank you." Robb told Alyssa sincerely.

He didn't know what went through his sister's mind to prompt her to burn their Father's body rather than preserving it like was their family tradition but he trusted she had her reasons. Reasons that she could inquire after when they were in private for the sound of nervous shifting behind him reminded him that they were very much not alone.

"Alyssa, I have a surprise for you as well." Robb told his sister with as much of a teasing smile as he could manage while he held the supernaturally preserved ashes of his Father.

"What is it?"

"That would be me," Lady Jeyne said stepping forward at last, instead of hiding herself anxiously in the heart of Robb's party. Nerves that were probably not helped by the appraising look that Lady Margaery offered her from where she had stood silently supportive to Alyssa's right the whole time.

"Jeyne?" Alyssa gasped in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"At her insistence, I brought her here to serve as your handmaiden."

"That is if you would have me, your grace." Lady Jeyne said while offering Alyssa a low curtsy and a questioning look towards Lady Margaery.

Looking visibly confused, his poor sister could only nod.

It was a look that was so amusing that Robb almost forgot he was holding the remains of his wrongfully killed Father. Almost.

A few hours later, Alyssa had regained her poise and leaving Jeyne to be settled into her new role by Margaery, she sat beside Renly at the High Seat in the Bitterbridge Great Hall as they convened their war council.

"First things first," Alyssa said as she began the meeting. "I think congratulations to my brother are in order for the successful taking of Harrenhal by his bannermen."

"You honor me, your grace." Robb replied with such formality that Alyssa had to fight to hide her pout. "But while that might be true, our attack on Duskendale was repulsed as were other attempts to cut off the Lannisters' supply lines to King's Landing. Furthermore, we have been unable to do anything about Tywin Lannister's large host at Stoney Sept."

"That is all true," Alyssa acknowledged. "But we need not worry about the old lion for much longer."

"Your ravens mentioned you have a plan." Robb asked, leaning forward in his eagerness. "Would you enlighten us?"

"Renly, if you please." Alyssa said sweetly to her husband who rolled his eyes but nevertheless picked up the explanation.

"We're using King's Landing as bait." Her consort said. "Not just for Tywin but also for my brother. You see-"

As Renly began getting into the details, Alyssa sensed a familiar foreign magic and she searched the hall and especially the many patches of shade in the room for the shadow assassin. Her wandering attention did not go unnoticed by the present Rainbow Guard and they gripped the hilts of their swords expectantly and swept the hall as well.

Perhaps sensing that its presence was detected, the creature decided to throw caution to the wind and shot out of the shadows directly behind where Alyssa and Renly were seated.

"Renly!" Alyssa shouted in warning even as she summoned a Flame Blade to her hand.

The hall exploded into confusion as the gathered lords shot out of their seats in confusion and reached for their weapons. At the same time, the shadow assassin stabbed at Renly with a lance of shadow that shattered the Frost Armor that had deployed from the Glyph of Warding cast upon him. It had nevertheless deflected the blow however and before the shadowy creature could launch another blow, Alyssa swung her flaming scimitar at it forcing it away from her husband.

This unfortunately had the effect of making the assassin change its target and it lunged at Alyssa with its lance.

"Not on my life!" Brienne of Tarth roared as she parried the shadowy weapon with her sword now ablaze with the stored power of the Flame Blade spell Alyssa had enchanted it with.

"Take the Queen to safety!" The warrior woman said as she pushed Alyssa behind her.

"I have her." Robb said grabbing Alyssa's arm and pulling her away from the fight as four of the present five Rainbow Guard engaged the magical creature, while Loras dragged Renly to safety on the opposite side of the hall.

"Be careful!" Alyssa shouted at the Rainbow Guard. "The Flame Blade will start warping your swords!"

"Don't worry about them! Worry about yourself!" Robb shouted as he stepped up his pace. "Greatjon! Carry her!"

"Wha-!?" Alyssa managed before the giant of a man that was Lord Umber picked her up in his arms and began sprinting out of the hall.

"Sorry about this, your grace." The man said but she barely heard him as she leaned over his shoulder to see as the four Rainbow Guard bested the shadow assassin stabbed their flaming, half-melted swords into its umbros flesh.

Clearly dying and unwilling to do so without completing the task for which it had been created, the shadow assassin transformed the last of its body into a pair of shadow bolts. One shooting towards Renly as he was led to safety by Loras and another hurtling directly at Alyssa herself.

"Wall of Ice!" She cast hastily, conjuring a barrier of thick ice that shattered at the impact of the shadow bolt but nevertheless negated the shadow assassin's last desperate attempt to kill her.

"Alys, are you alright?" Robb asked urgently as Lord Umber unfolded himself from where he'd wrapped himself around her to shield her from the ice shards that flew everywhere when her Ice Wall had failed.

"I-I'm fine." Alyssa said, shaken by how close she'd just come to death. "Renly? Is he-"

The heartbreaking sobs from Loras that echoed throughout the hall was answer enough.

"You should just let us kill them all." Loras said angrily as Alyssa, Margeary, Robb and he watched from a window in one of Bittterbridge's towers as half of Renly's Stormland army prepared to leave.

News of Renly's death had spread quickly through their camp, not helped at all by how very public spectacle it had all been. As a result, half of the Stormlanders had chosen to defect despite pleas from the remainder to stand with her as Renly's widow and mother of his unborn child. The defectors had even fought a brief skirmish with the loyalists but the fighting had thankfully ended when Alyssa flew in on Ghost and demanded they stop.

"I made them a promise." Alyssa reminded her late husband's lover. "Out of their previous loyalty to Renly, they will be allowed them to leave."

"And I don't understand why!" Loras hissed. "They are turning their back on Renly. You're his wife and you're pregnant with his child. And they would abandon you for Stannis? The man who is most likely responsible for Renly's death!? They deserve to die!"

"Renly wouldn't want it." Alyssa told the knight, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Doing so would be tyrannical."

"Is that wise?" Robb asked with a frown.

"We- I must not be seen as a tyrant," Alyssa said with a sigh at the slip of her tongue and pulled away from Loras to allow herself to fall into Margey's comforting embrace. "Westeros has seen enough tyrants. If I mean to sit the Iron Throne, I must make it clear that I am no despot. That means being honorable and allowing these traitors to to abandon ou- my cause peacefully."

"Even if it means you'll just have to face them on the battlefield later?"

"On the battlefield at least they will die as my enemies, killing them now would be dishonorable." Alyssa said. "Father would disapprove and so would the people of Westeros. Rightfully so."

"Agreed." Margey said supportively. "Though there is something strange."

"What is it?" Loras asked, his face a dark cloud as he turned to face them.

"Simply how quickly so many of the Storm lords turned their backs on us. It's almost as if this was all planned."

"It probably was to some extent." Alyssa concluded. "Stannis must have planted agents in the ranks of the Stormlands contingent. Some of the lords themselves might have served the role and worked to convince their peers."

"Are we absolutely sure that Stannis is responsible for that thing?" Robb asked with a frown.

"He has the motive." Alyssa informed him. "In addition, our agents in his court say that an Essosi Red Priestess is serving as one of his closest advisors. We have no proof she's a shadowbinder but it's possible."

"And he will die for killing Renly. This I swear."

"You'll get your chance brother, right Alys?" Margaery asked.

Running a hand over her small baby bump, Alyssa leveled a harsh glare at the departing traitors.

"Indeed you will, Loras. Soon we will avenge Renly."

Done!

So things are still moving along the canon rails huh? I know it might be late but it's about to jump the tracks entirely. So hang on folks!

Besides wanting to tell you guys that I really have nothing to say this chapter. So till next time ardievas!