Finally I came around to write chapter 4!
It will be the last "Harrenhal" chapter before there will be a huge jump forward in time and I am introducing another POV and mention a new Marvel character here.
I know it is a bit on the shorter side and less action-packed but I needed to tie up the ends and the next chapters will make up for it. :)
So enjoy and let me know what you think!

Disclaimer: I don't own GOT/ ASOIAF and Marvel

Maryah

Adrenaline was still cursing through her veins, she had done it, she really had done it! Ridden at a tourney, beaten men at a tourney! Of course it would have been nice to hear people shout her name, her real name, but the praise for her alias "The Knight of the Laughing Tree" was satisfying enough.
From an early age, Maryah had learnend to work with what she had, take what she could, aim high but be reasonable and never let ambition or greed blind her. She could take a lot, she was resilient, that was one of the reason why she had agreed to marry Steve, back then still Steven Hill, in the first place. It had been a tactical decision from her side - she had met him before and known him to be fair and honorable and such a husband could not be worse than experiencing her family's contempt day after day. Also it had been quite obvious that given time Steve would gain a formidable reputaion in the Lannister army and improve his, and by extension her, station. With her cunning and cleverness, she had always known she could work from there given the chance, making them even more successful once they had the basics. It wasn't as if she had any Illusion about besting the Lannisters, but she had always hoped to gain influence in the Westerlands, one way or another. Her aim wasn't having power for power's sake (she wasn't like Cersei Lannister who had herself seen as the queen before Prince Rhaegar had married Elia Martell), but having power to make a change for the smallfolk. Systems had to be improved, justice had to be brought and she was planning to do that.

Most of her cons had worked out so far: Steven Hill had really become Ser Steven and had earned lands and a title, making her Lady Starshield of Brookbridge, an unimportant little castle. The "unimportant" part had turned out to be a blessing as they were mainly left in peace at the edge of the Westerlands. So Steve had trained her and his sister, made them strong fighters able to hold their own. Because of a rigorous change in system, they were currently improving the quality of the land, making less people starve. The woman was aware that a lot of people feared her or disliked her for her cold demeanour, but that was something she accepted if it helped on the long run. At least they liked her husband. That was the other part of the tactic: Good soldier - bad soldier.

Her biggest strategical achievement had been the acceptance through Tywin Lannister. It had taken time and it still was a bit of a surprise but it had worked.
Firstly she had advised Steve to keep his head down, be dutiful to his father and obedient to the Warden of the West - otherwise they would see him as a threat. Maryah was proud to think that her husband was one of the best commanders and best fighters in whole Westeros, dangerous and inspiring a loyalty in men that even fear and money couldn't. Therefore it had been important to show the Lannisters they were 100% supporting their course. Well, at least officially. Maryah always had a couple of emergency plans ready.
Now that they believed Ser Steven Starshield their loyal vasall, it had been crucial to show her own personal goodwill. When Maryah had been younger, she had made the mistake of presenting her cleverness too openly, so everyone had become aware of it. Playing stupid had therefore not been an option, so she had presented herself to Tywin Lannister as a woman who smartly backed the lions but also knew her limits and her place - exactly how the older man wanted his daughter Cersei to be who was clever but not clever enough to know when to stop.
The Starshields had made themselves so popular that Ser Kevan let Bobbi stay with them for longer periods of time and Tywin Lannister had trusted them with his little bastard daughter. Carol was a stain on his otherwise so "impeccable" reputation, an open secret nobody really talked about. She had been born at the foot of Casterly Rock by a common mother who had been cast away by Tywin as soon as she became pregnant. At least he had had the decency to make sure the child was fed and clothed by sending money down every other month. At some point, the mother had died from the pox and for some reason the big lion had actually bothered about his bastard offspring. Whether he felt guilty or whether it was political strategy or his weird sense of duty or whether he suddenly saw her as part of his "Lannister legacy", even the shrewd Maryah couldn't quite tell. Fact was that not long ago he had claimed her as Carol Hill and asked them (well, commanded rather, nobody in their right minds would refuse Tywin Lannister something like that) whether they could foster the little blonde lion cub. Obviously they had agreed. Both knew first hand how cruel the world could be and if they could get one kid out of the influence of Casterly Rock, the better.

Steve doted on Carol as if she was his second little sister and the girl had taken a liking to him right away (well, who wouldn't) whereas she rather defied Maryah's tries of ruling in her temprament. The older woman had been sure that the child hated her until Steve had told her in confidence that Carol just wanted to be like her - not afraid in this world anymore. So when they had been sure that she wasn't spying for Tywin, they had started to train her, too. No surprise, she showed the same talent for swordsmanship than most of her family, she was hard to beat down and always got up again.
"Higher, further, faster" was her motto.
Sometimes Maryah was struck by how much she ressembled her older brother: The golden hair, the same smirk, the same loose tongue. It was almost amusing how cocky a nine-year-old girl could be when she had done a job well, but Maryah was sometimes afraid that it might get her killed one day.
She didn't admit it often, but she had learned to genuinely care for the kid.

She also had learned to genuinely care for her husband, which was something else she hadn't seen coming. At first, she had accepted him as a good man but never as her master. At some point, she had started to trust him and they had become partners, good partners. They relied on each other and worked incredibly well together, better than she had ever thought possible. Steve listened to her opinion without her having to manipulate him, just because he appreciated her. They were friends, at least Maryah thought so, and having a true friend in this world was better than gold.
He had never asked anything of her that she wasn't willing to give, though to be fair, after they had faked the wedding night he never had asked anything of her, period. The didn't share the same quaters, which wasn't unusual, and he didn't seem to be concerned about heirs for now. At first Maryah had wondered whether there was somebody else, but she had her eyes and ears everywhere in the castle and she would have heard whispers. Also he wasn't the type for that. She had taken into account that maybe he wasn't interested in women, which wouldn't have her, but she hadn't heard reports about that either. Sometimes she secretly wished for more closeness between the two of them and it made her feel horrible that he would think that she was unhappy with this marriage. The truth was that she couldn't deal well with feelings, so the lady tended to shut them out and not express them. She was also horribly afraid of destroying the fragile and very valuable equilibrium the two of them had found. The propect of opening up just scared the seven hells out of her.

Maybe Harrenhal had been good for the two of them, at least they had had fun and made new aquaintances. James Barnes and Natalia Snow had been delightful and also the Stark-girl had been a lot nicer than she had initially thought. She would make a good Lady of Storm's End, though Maryah was relatively sure she was rather in love with the already married Rhaegar Targaryen. Well, a lot of women were, hopefiully it was just a short infatuation. If not, there would be trouble. So much trouble, from the North down to Dorne and the Starshields would be in the middle of it.

And there was a lot of trouble and the Starshields ended up being in the middle of it... ;)
That's gonna be the next part.