Bran
It had been three days past since the wedding, when the red comet had appeared in the sky above. The comet was a wonder unlike anything Bran had ever seen before, and all around the castle there was talk of what it could possibly mean.
Most seemed to be in agreement that it was a blessing of the marriage and Lord Renly. King Renly, now, Bran reminded himself.
Today was the day that Lord Renly had announced he would crown himself, and he had tasked Bran with writing to Robb. He had written letters to Winterfell, Riverrun, Harrenhal, the Twins, Seagard, Raventree Hall, White Harbor, Cerwyn, Stonehenge, and half a hundred other castles it seemed, each encouraging them to swear fealty to Renly.
Bran still had his father's letter on him, yet he hadn't shown it to anyone else, even to the king.
Lately he had been dreaming of his father more and more, and of Winterfell too. There was something in the Crypts, something new, something that Bran feared to see what it was.
The ceremony began in the Sept. It was the largest sept Bran had ever set foot in, said to be the largest in Westeros save for the great Sept of Baelor in King's Landing, and the Starry Sept of Old Town. He had personally seen the Sept of Baelor from a distance, but it had never seemed so large as this one did though. It was for a certainty much larger than the Sept his father had built for his mother at Winterfell, or the Sept of the Red Keep.
Bran watched on as Renly was anointed by the Septon there.
The new king was a towering man, standing nearly as tall as his brother, King Robert, had, with a broad and muscular chest. His coal black hair ran to his shoulders, while he was clean shaven and he had deep blue eyes, and for a while this seemed to be similar to that of the wedding. But this time Renly wore a suit of enameled green armor, rather than lavish green silks.
Blessings after blessing was bestowed upon him, and more and more of the ceremony came and went.
Many a lord and knight was there, in honor of the occasion, and the past few days he had taken oaths of fealty.
The biggest thing that Bran had wondered was why Lord Renly was being crowned. While Robert was dead, both Robert and Stannis had sons, and Stannis himself was still alive.
Bran had thought perhaps to ask Renly, or even Lady Floris, but had thought better of the notion. But the closest he could gather was just that Lord Renly was the Lord of Storm's End, and had wed a daughter of the Lord of Highgarden, while being a brother of King Robert.
His dreams had been troubling, and he had spent most his time that he had in the Godswood praying. He wondered about his mother and sisters in King's Landing as knew father had planned to send them back to Winterfell, but Bran had heard nothing from Lord Bryce on the matter.
Robb was leading a host south now though, a host of Northern men to free father, marching against Lord Tywin. He was only five and ten, which troubled Bran.
For as wonderful a castle as Highgarden was though, Bran felt terribly lonely. Willas and Lady Floris had a son, Alester, who was of an age with Bran, but he didn't like Alester very much, or many of the other boys close to him in age, that were at Highgarden. They all seemed to look down on him for being a Northerner, and were scared of Summer, so they left Bran out when they played Come Into My Castle, and other games.
It made him wish that he was back in King's Landing, where he at least had his sisters for as annoying as they were sometimes, and Prince Tommen and Lady Allara and all the rest too.
The ceremony ended with Ser Loras Tyrell placing a crown upon Lord Renly's head, making him King Renly. A loud cheer went up amongst the people gathered in the sept, though Bran himself remained silent.
Afterwards Bran found his way out of the sept as the crowds began to disperse. For as big as Highgarden was and as empty as it seemed to him most the time, it was still crowded.
He followed Lord Bryce away from the Sept, and towards the Great Hall. The sun was only just beginning to set as they entered.
They feasted on boar in celebration of the King's coronation, and he sat at the high table looking quite handsome. His crown was a soft gold with a ring of roses, while in the front he had a stag's head, made from dark green jade, that had golden eyes and antlers that was quite unlike the crown King Robert or his queen wore. Next to him was Queen Margaery, who wore a beautiful green dress, and a similar crown to her husband's, though it didn't have the same jade stag on the top.
And above them was the personal coat of arms that Renly had taken since crowning himself, with a crowned golden stag on a green field, rather than a crowned black stag on a golden field.
The two looked beautiful, and they were joined by the rest of the Tyrells and other high lords and ladies who had come too.
The feast ran deep into the night, with Bran eating his fill. Lord Bryce allowed him two cups of wine, though Bran only barely managed to finish the first.
His first dance was with Lady Alysanne Bulwer, the heir to Blackcrown who was a girl of seven. They danced together for two songs, before they moved onto different partners.
He must have shared a dance with half a hundred other ladies, most girls from the Highgarden household, but a few others of higher birth that were older than him, and some of Queen Margaery and Lady Tyanna's companions.
Bran danced as gracefully as he could, and tried not to trip over himself. Almost everyone was a stranger to him here, and at first he was nervous that when he asked he would be told no, but he quickly became more sure of himself.
He was sharing a dance with the steward's daughter who was two years his elder though when Lord Bryce found him.
When the song finished, rather than searching for a new partner to dance with, he instead turned to Lord Bryce, who seemed to have something urgent for him. "What is it my lord?" He asked.
He didn't feel any relief though from the man's face, which seemed quite grim still. "Bran… There was word from King's Landing… Your lord father is dead."
No, he can't be, Bran thought to himself at first, but he remembered his dreams. They had been warning him he realized and that it was his father that was in the Crypts now.
For a few moments they stood together in silence, before Lord Bryce took his hand, and began to lead him out of the Main Hall. As they went, he sensed people were watching him, as though they knew the news too, wondering how he would react to it.
Bran looked down. He couldn't cry, not now he decided. I'm almost a man grown, not a boy.
When they were outside, he breathed in the sweet summer air, and there was a little breeze that kept it cool enough for him. They ended up stopping near a column next to the Great Hall, and there they stood for a few moments, Lord Bryce turning away.
"This means Robb is the Lord of Winterfell," he finally said after some time to break the silence. Thinking of his brother as Lord was a strange thought, just as it was to imagine him wed, and a father, even if they were all going to happen at some point. There still hadn't been word of any engagements between Robb and Lord Tywin in the Riverlands, just that the two hosts were marching, and likely to soon engage, if they hadn't already.
"It does… Why?" Lord Bryce asked.
"Robb is the Lord of Winterfell… Not me or Rickon. He's the oldest, so how is Renly king?" Bran wondered. He hadn't asked anyone until now, but he wanted to know.
"Lad… You shouldn't worry about those things. Renly is King, because he named himself a king, as his brother did."
Bran nodded sullenly. His mother had told him once that it was the gods who made kings, but he left that unspoken here. It was her that she decided he needed to worry about. "My mother and sisters… They were in King's Landing too… Are… Are they?" He tried to stammer out.
"I do not know Bran. Perhaps we will learn more soon."
"When can I go home?" Bran asked, deciding that he didn't want to be at Highgarden anymore. It was supposed to be an adventure, but now he would never see his father again, and the rest of his family all seemed lost to him.
"Renly has sent letters, inviting your brother to come to Highgarden. If he comes, I'm sure that your brother will arrange for you to go home before long. Until then, I'll need to keep you safe here," Lord Bryce told him. "You should get some rest though… We'll be marching in a few days."
Bran did what he was told, and began to make for the great keep, to his bedchambers, that seemed even more lonely and empty now than they were before. He was alone here at Highgarden, his mother and sisters captives or worse, his father dead, and Robb at war. Since they had gotten to Highgarden, he had written to Jeyne, and the maester had sent the letter, but she hadn't responded to him.
Before he went to bed though, he went and found Summer, who was howling from kennels he had been kept in. Summer was so big that they had tried to put him in the stables at first, but the wolf had scared all the horses, so instead they had been forced to make accommodations in the kennels instead, but he usually took Summer with him wherever he went anyways, leaving him there only when he had to.
"Quiet!" He told the wolf when he finally got the kennels, as he unchained it. Summer began to pad along with him as they made for his bedchambers.
It was only when he was there, alone, that Bran finally allowed himself to cry. Eventually, he must have cried himself to sleep, since dreams came not long after.
In his dreams, there was a three-eyed crow, cawing at him, talking to him, as Bran wandered the empty castle of Winterfell.
Eventually he found himself in the Crypts, and he realized that he could hear others there too. There were the voices of his brothers, but when he looked around he couldn't see them anywhere.
But through the wall came the most curious noise, as he could hear what seemed to be a feast going on. For just a moment he began to move himself close to the wall so that he could hear it better, but when he looked down, he saw the crow was now where his father was.
Suddenly, it started to fly towards him, and he suddenly woke up.
When Bran sat up, he saw that outside his window that it was still night. He decided to get up, out of his bed, seeing that Summer was still laying on the bed as though he were asleep.
From the window, when he looked around, he could see the stars were out tonight, whispering and calling out to him. He had half a mind to join with them, to reach out and try to grab one, wondering if perhaps that was where his father was now.
But after some time, Bran felt something brush against his leg, and saw that it was Summer, and he felt tired again.
The last thing he thought about before he drifted back off to sleep was his father.
Author Notes:
So my daily posting chapters streak is broken, as this chapter was not finished, and had been a bit of a nightmare. I had about 1k words in a few separate pieces scattered throughout the chapter, but piecing them all together was just too much.
Now that this chapter is done and written, there's only one more chapter left to finish here, so yeah.
It's back to Winterfell next, so there's that too.
I hope you all enjoyed reading this chapter, and I encourage any and all feedback.
And here's the part where I saw that I don't own ASOIAF again.