The Chronicles of Valyria,

Book 1 Resurrection

Chapter 5

Lord Eddard Stark was getting a little worried. It was well over half an hour since Aurora had entered the Great Sept, yet besides some noise shortly after she entered, not a sound has been heard from within since.

Suddenly the doors at the top of the stairs were violently kicked open and when he looked up he saw something he would never have imagined. Standing there at the top of the stairs was Aurora. She was covered in blood from head to toe, but that wasn't what surprised him and everyone else.

She was accompanied by two small children, one on her arm and the other besides her. In the other hand she held the ankle of a screaming, yelling, and rather fat, man. Giving a single tug on the ankle, even from down the stairs Eddard could hear the bone snap, she threw the man down the stairs where he remained silent and unmoving.

Motioning to one of his soldiers, Eddard said, "You there, check who it is."

"Don't bother Lord Stark." Aurora said from atop the stairs. "That would be 'His Holiness', the High Septon. And here you have his buddy the Most Devout." While she said this, she pulled a bloodied bundle of cloth from a net on her belt and threw it down next to the body of the High Septon.

The soldier he had spoken to earlier, pried the clothing away with the tip of his spear and revealed the two halves of a bald head. At that moment the High Septon regained consciousness and he started yelling for help.

"KEEP YOUR TONGUE SILENT OR I WILL RIP IT OUT YOU MONSTER!" Aurora roared from the top of the stairs, and the man immediately shut up while Aurora carefully descended the stairs. The two girls were oddly quiet, considering everything they had been through the last few days.

When she came down the stairs she snapped her fingers and pointed to one of the mounted soldiers besides Eddard, "You there, I need to borrow your horse." The man looked questioningly at Eddard, who immediately motioned for him to comply, he hadn't known her for that long, but he was sure Aurora was not happy at the moment, and it would be best not to antagonize her.

When the man had dismounted his horse, Aurora put Lissena in the saddle, before reaching down for Silvana and putting her behind her sister. Turning to Eddard again she said, "I'm taking these two to the Red Keep, make sure everyone stays out of that building. There are things going on there that cannot bear the light of day and we need to investigate this further before we allow anyone to step foot in that place.

Spread the word that any septon or septa is to be arrested on sight. We can sort the good ones out later." Eddard nodded curtly at her and turned to Roose Bolton and Rickard Karstark, who sat on their horses a few yards away.

After Eddard gave his orders, the two lords rode off to spread the word amongst their soldiers, and Aurora walked towards the Red Keep, with the two children on the horse next to her.

Not being able to contain his curiosity, Eddard walked up the stairs, followed by two of his house guards, and looked into the hole in the massive doors. The sound of retching came from next to him and he didn't need to ask what the cause was. The floor of the Great Sept was covered in bodies, few of which were still in one piece, and the middle ring was entirely filled with blood, in which a few lost arms and a leg were floating.

Swallowing past his own nausea, Eddard stepped inside and studied the closest corpse. The seven-pointed star on the forehead of the man spoke volumes. In the North, the Faith of the Seven was not as widespread as it was in the South, but he was still able to easily recognize the outfit of a member of the Faith Militant.

Shaking his head Eddard stepped out of the doors again and to the waiting soldiers and citizens who all looked up to him, he spoke, "It would seem that the Faith Militant is not as extinct as we were all led to believe. Please be on your guard around anyone who is hiding their face or wearing a hood. Any confrontation with, or sighting of, a member of the Faith Militant is to be reported immediately to the nearest patrol of soldiers."

Aurora was slowly making her way back to the Red Keep while simultaneously holding a telepathic conversation with Gabrielle, "What do you think we should do with them Gabby? We can't just let them be sent off to some orphanage, they have been through too much to be able to cope in such an environment."

'Sigh', "It's always the same with you. But what do you want to do with them, it's not like we know that many people who are willing to take in two little orphan girls who have seen way too much for their age, and will probably have nightmares for the rest of their days."

"Well, we do know two very lovely women who can't have children of their own, and I know one of them thinks they're very cute."

"Is there anything I can do to talk you out of this?"

"Do you even need to ask, of course there isn't. Hasn't 5,000 years of marriage told you anything about how stubborn I am, once my mind is set on something."

"Yea, Yea, I know. Fine, we'll keep them, but only if they want it themselves and if Rhaegar agrees. You know the rules, we cannot take in children unless we have been given permission by their legal guardian, which in this case would be the King."

"Thank you sweetie, I'll give you a proper thank you once we can find the time for it."

"You better come through on that promise, or I'll be the 'dragon-tamer' next time."

"Yes Love," Aurora closed their connection with a little shiver, she was stubborn, but if Gabrielle wanted something, it would happen one way or another. Turning her helmet to the two kids she said in a gentle tone, which was completely transformed into something very amusing, judging by their reactions, "I can't wait till you two meet my partner, you'll love her."

"Your partner?" Asked Lissena curiously, "Are you married?"

Aurora nodded her helmet and said, "Yea, we have been married for a while."

Silvana had paid more attention than her sister and had noticed something else, "What do you mean, we'll love her. Are you married to another woman?"

Aurora nodded her helmet and replied, "Yes, I am. Her name is Gabrielle."

"But in Westeros it is not allowed to be married to a girl if you are a girl yourself."

Aurora chuckled softly but the sound was echoed by her helmet and it sounded rather creepy. "We are not from Westeros. We come from the ruins of Valyria. Where we have lived for a very long time."

The two girls remained quiet for the remainder of the trip to the Red Keep but when they entered the keep, they both looked wide-eyed around them and said in unison, "Wow, this place is huge."

Aurora chuckled again softly under her breath until she stopped before the gates that led to the throne room. She picked the girls out of the saddle and put them on the ground, before handing the reigns of the horse to a stable boy and telling him who it belonged to.

Taking the girls by the hand she led them up the stairs and they entered the Great Keep. The girls were gaping at the many things that they saw all around them. The southern knights in their polished armor. Rugged northmen with thick beards, carrying big axes or great swords. The ladies of the court in their pretty dresses and giggling amongst each other while they were admiring the many knights who were strutting around like peacock's.

When they reached the throne room it was laden with people, lords, knights, men-at-arms and ladies of the court were all gathered in the great room and listening to Rhaegar who stood on the elevation on the other side of the throne room, before the Iron Throne, with his mother on his right and his daughter before him. Gabrielle had taken up a position in front of the elevation with the current six members of the Kingsguard on either side of her.

"My lords, my ladies, it is with great regret that I have to tell you that the losses this city and this country have endured are caused by only two men. One did this because of jealousy and the other did it because of a hunger for power.

Both men have been taken prisoner and are awaiting their trial. But there are more pressing matters to attend to. This city has suffered greatly and though we will likely never know the true number of people who died in the fires in Flea Bottom, we estimate that the Lannister betrayal alone, cost this city over a 120,000 lives.

To my shame I have to admit that this fire was able to spread so wildly because the alchemist's guild had placed caches of Wildfire all around this city." Rhaegar raised his hands to quiet the uproarious crowd and when the noise had died down again he continued.

"This was done on the orders of the man who sat on the Iron Throne. I will not call him my father ever again, because like I said to the Lords, Stark, Arryn and Tully, my father died in the dungeons of Duskendale and the thing that came back from there is nothing like the man I remembered.

At this very moment the Wildfire is removed from all known locations and I have soldiers searching every catacomb and tunnel there is to locate and remove all of it. It will be removed from this city and destroyed at sea, where it can do no harm.

The trials for all those involved in this war will commence two weeks from now, but our first order of business is to see to the needs of the people of this city. Much of the food stored in this city was destroyed in the fires, the riches have been plundered by the Lannisters, who are arriving as we speak and taken into custody, and great parts of the city have been destroyed.

We will need to rebuild all of this, if this city is to ever recover its former glory. In order to achieve this I have given orders to confiscate all riches of Casterly Rock and they will be used to rebuild this city. Further punishment will be decided on after the trials for all those involved. I thank you all for your attention, good day to all of you."

When he finished Rhaegar and his family stepped away from the throne and walked towards the door leading in the direction of Maegor's Holdfast, followed by Gabrielle and the Kingsguard. Picking the girls up and protecting them in her arms, Aurora made her way through the crowd and followed the others towards the Holdfast.

Once they were all in the hallway outside the doors, the others waited for Aurora to join them as Rhaegar had seen her in the crowd and was curious as to the two girls she had with her.

When Aurora had joined them she softly shook her head at Rhaegar's questioning look and motioned for him to keep walking.

Lyanna was waiting for them in a large sitting room in the Holdfast. It had been decided to keep her, and her pregnancy, away from the public until they were officially married before the city, which would happen the same day as Rhaegar's coronation, which was a day before the trials would start.

Once they had all sat down, Silvana and Lissena on either side of Aurora and clinging to her tightly, Rhaegar asked, "Would you mind telling us why it took you so long to get back here, why you are covered in blood, and who these two are, and why they are here?"

Aurora nodded softly and started her tale. "First things first," she pointed to the girl on her right and said, "This is Silvana, and her sister is Lissena. Girls, that is Gabrielle, my wife, the man next to her is King Rhaegar, though he has not been crowned yet. The women on the other side of him is Princess Lyanna Stark, Rhaegar's wife, and the last one is Queen Rhaella."

Silvana and Lissena went beet-red when they heard their names but they all gave them a gentle smile to put them at ease and Lyanna said, "Don't worry dears, you're amongst friends here, so no need to go kneeling or saying, 'your grace' in every sentence."

The girls nodded, still red-faced and Aurora continued with her story. "When I was walking back from the Dragonpit, I came past the Great Sept. Contrary to your orders, the doors were firmly shut and not a single septon or septa could be seen helping the people. Wounded and starving people were banging on and begging at the doors but were completely ignored.

I decided that it was high time those arrogant pricks were taught a lesson. So I found Eddard, and with his help and around 800 soldiers, I cleared the area of the Sept and broke down the door.

Soon after I entered I was attacked by five members of the Faith Militant, yes apparently they were never disbanded, just hidden, but I dealt with them easily enough. Making my way through the Sept I finely found the High Septon and his buddy the Most Devout.

They were in the topmost room of the Sept, about to do some unspeakable things to these two sweethearts here." At this Queen Rhaella was shocked and paled as she imagined what would have happened to the girls had Aurora come only a few minutes later. The reactions of Lyanna and Rhaegar were an entirely different matter.

Gabrielle scowled and muttered curses under her breath, but Rhaegar was furious. "Where are those bastards," he hissed. "I'll have them flayed alive."

Aurora grinned darkly and said, "Yea well it's a little late for that."

Before she could tell them what she did, Silvana spoke up, she nodded quickly and said, "They wanted to do odd things with us, but before they could, Aurora came in and chopped one of the fat men in two pieces."

Gabrielle slightly raised her eyebrows and to answer the unasked question, Aurora said, "I split the Most Devout from head to groin, and I threw the High Septon down the stairs, four floors."

"Hmpff," the Queen scoffed, "Serves them right, I never liked them anyway."

Rhaegar wholeheartedly agreed with his mother and Aurora continued. "When we came past a dining room I noticed that they both smelled at the air with a famished expression and they said that the septons had told them to fast, so they hadn't eaten since the day before the sacking."

Ignoring the sounds of anger and outrage of her companions, Aurora kept talking. "Once I had made sure they had both eaten their fill, we continued down the stairs until we came upon a balcony overlooking the interior of the Great Sept.

40 or so, members of the Faith Militant were blocking our exit, so I told the girls to wait for me on the balcony and went down to take care of those fanatics."

"On your own?" the Queen asked with a little disbelieve. "You went 40 to 1 and came out without a scratch?"

"Well, not exactly," Aurora replied with a grin. She showed them her left hand and said, "I broke a nail when I smashed in the face of one of them." She showed them her index finger and there was a very small piece broken off of the top of the nail.

Gabrielle shook her head and laughed softly at the Queen's gob smacked expression.

"Mother," Rhaegar began with a hint of amusement in his voice, "Aurora went toe to toe with Robert Baratheon at the Trident. She beat him down no less then eleven times, whilst being unarmed herself."

"Yea, she's really strong," Lissena added her opinion of the whole thing.

"Thanks sweetheart," Aurora said with a smile while hugging the girl tightly against her side.

"But anyway, to get on with the story, once I had taken care of the rabble, I told the girls to come down and I picked them up while I dragged the, miraculously still alive, High Septon out of the Sept and threw him down the steps, where he landed before the feet of Eddard's horse.

Adding the parts of the Most Devout's head, I told them that the Sept was off limits to everyone until we could mount a full investigation into these matters. Also I told them to arrest every septon and septa they came across, we can sort out the good from the bad later. After that I borrowed a horse and rode the kids here."

Rhaegar and the Queen nodded but Lyanna asked, "What I don't understand is why Silvana and Lissena where in the Great Sept in the first place. Shouldn't they have been with their parents?"

At her words both girls burst out in tears and buried their heads in Aurora's soft fur cloak. Looking at Lyanna with a stony expression, Aurora said, "I had left that out on purpose, Lyanna."

Said young woman turned red and slammed her hands over her mouth, "O I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to upset you."

The girls ignored her, or just didn't hear her over the sound of their own sobbing, and Aurora said, "Well the damage is done anyway, so I might as well just tell you this now.

Their brothers were killed in the sack and so was their mother. They never knew their sire, because when the father of their brothers died, their mother was forced to do certain things to keep the roof over their head and food on the table. And Silvana and Lissena are the result of that."

"Oh you poor things," the Queen said compassionately and she dropped to her knees before the couch on which they were seated and she continued, "Do you have any other family that could look after you?"

Silvana shook her head and said softly, "No, mother had no family left, as they all died of illness when she was young. And our brothers were too young to be married."

With a small sigh Rhaegar said, "There is no way we can let them stay in the keep, I have no doubt that there are hundreds, if not thousands of other orphans. We do not have the means to care for them all, and if we take in two, the others will demand the same."

Aurora nodded knowingly and replied, "We know, but we might have a solution."

Both Silvana and Lissena looked hopeful, as they knew enough to realize that they would most likely end up on the streets if they weren't taken in by anyone.

"Go on," Rhaegar said while motioning her to continue.

"Gabrielle and I could take them in." before anyone could object Aurora raised her hand to interrupt them and she continued. "I'm not just saying that. Their father must have been of Valerian descent, judging by their hair and eyes, and I have felt something within them that we have also felt with you, Rhaegar, and with your mother and your daughter.

It is not as strong as it is with us, it never could be as strong, but you all have small traces of dragon blood within your bodies. This means that when, not if, but when, we find any dragon eggs, you'll all be viable to hatch, raise and eventually, ride one."

The silence that fell in the room was almost deafening until Rhaella said, "Are you saying that you know how to hatch dragon eggs?"

At the identical nods she received in answer, Rhaella added, "It is a closely guarded secret, as far as I know, only I know about it, but on Dragonstone there is still a clutch of dragon eggs, left there by Aegon before he conquered the Seven Kingdoms. They are said to have been laid by Vhagar and sired by Balerion.

Many other heirlooms of our house, from when they were still living in Valyria, are said to be left there as well, but it has never been found as we no longer had the means to open it. I have searched for the entrance for many years but was never able find it. I read about it in a book but I can't remember where in the book or what it said exactly."

Rolling her shoulders, Aurora said with a grin, "Well then, what are we waiting for. We need to get there as soon as possible."

Rhaegar nodded thoughtfully but said, "As much as I would like to come with you, I cannot leave the city again. We are expecting the Lannister fleet to arrive tomorrow morning, and I need to be there to ensure that the peace is kept."

Rhaella nodded at his words and said, "I agree, my son. You, Lyanna and Rhaenys should stay here. Tomorrow, I'll go with them to find the entrance."

Rhaegar nodded but before he could say anything, Lissena spoke, "But what is going to happen with us?"

Aurora looked with a raised eyebrow at Rhaegar, as since they were orphans, they were technically under the crowns protection. With a single nod, he changed the lives of both girls forever.

"You sweethearts," Aurora said while looking down on the girls with a fond smile on her lips, "are coming with us, if you want to. Gabrielle and I will be your new parents, if you want us to be."

Both girls looked wide-eyed between Aurora and Gabrielle and when they finally realized they were all waiting for an answer, both girls nodded their heads frantically and hugged Aurora before going over to Gabrielle and hugging her as well.

"Now that that matter is solved, I think we should get some clean clothes for these two as they are covered in blood, as are you love." Gabrielle looked a little pointedly at Aurora, who looked down at herself and the girls and looked back up with a sheepish grin on her face.

"Yea that might be a good idea."

Rhaella spoke up next and said, "I'll have the servants bring new clothes for the girls, I'm sure there are some of my old dresses still laying around somewhere."

Gabrielle thanked her with a small nod before she and Aurora rose up and each took one of the girls in their arms. It had been a long and terrifying day for them and they were quickly being overtaken by sleep.

Taking their leave of the royal family, Aurora and Gabrielle were led to their chambers by one of the servants. They were led to the upper floor of the Holdfast where they were shown a large set of rooms that had been reserved for them.

Putting the children on the bed, where they quickly laid down and dozed off, the two adults began to explore their rooms. They had been given two bedrooms, a sitting room with balcony, and a modest bathroom. To their delight they found a large wooden tub in the bathroom, easily capable of holding at least two people, which was filled with lukewarm water.

Deciding to exploit the opportunity, they helped each other out of their armor and hung it on two mannequins that were removed from the bottom-less pouch on Gabrielle's belt.

When they were both dressed only in their small clothes, someone knocked on the door. They took two dressing gown's from a pair of hooks in the bathroom before making their way back to the door and opening it.

In the doorway stood Lyanna, followed by a pair of ladies-in-waiting, who both carried a pile of clothing. Lyanna looked them up and down and noted half out loud, "Hmm you're a lot less impressive when you're not wearing your armor."

Seeing as without their armor they both stood at 'only' 6 foot 4, they still towered over most others, but not by as much as when they wore their armor and were 7 feet tall.

"Well thanks for the compliment," Aurora said a little amusedly and to her enjoyment, she noticed a small blush appear on Lyanna's face.

She quickly regained control though and said, "I have come to bring you the invitation of my husband, and the Queen, to join us for the evening meal, and some clothes, as we didn't know if you have anything else to wear besides your armor."

The ladies-in-waiting made to enter the room but Gabrielle spoke up and said, "That won't be required. The girls are sleeping and we don't want to wake them, so please just hand us the clothes and we'll join you in an hour or so."

Both young women bowed and handed their piles of clothing to Aurora and Gabrielle, before curtsying and walking away. Lyanna inclined her head, before walking off after her ladies-in-waiting, leaving Aurora and Gabrielle behind.

They reentered the room and placed the clothes on the bed in the second bedroom. They sorted through them in a quick manner and separated them in two piles, one for them, and one for the twins. After laying out two dresses for themselves, and two for the girls, they went to the bathroom where they finished undressing and stepped into the wooden tub.

The water had cooled off but all it took was for Gabrielle to spread her hands under-water, and it quickly heated to a, for humans, scalding temperature. Enjoying the, for them, pleasantly warm water, Aurora and Gabrielle soon dozed off, with Gabrielle laying on top of Aurora.

Roughly half-an-hour later, Gabrielle was woken up by a small hand tracing the outline of her wings, and looking down at Aurora, she saw that her wife was also awake.

"Hey girls," Aurora said softly, so as not to startle the children.

The small hand was quickly withdrawn from Gabrielle's back and they could hear Silvana whisper, "See, I told you you'd wake them up."

Gabrielle rolled herself off of Aurora and both women sat up in the tub to look at the two girls. Noticing the blood drenched dresses both children were still wearing, Gabrielle said, "Come, join us in the bath, get out of those filthy clothes and let's get you two cleaned up."

The twins did as she said and soon the two were naked as well and they joined their new parents in the bathtub.

Aurora and Gabrielle both took up a piece of rose-scented soap and started to wash the silver blond hair of the girls. After their hair was cleaned the two women each took a clean piece of cloth and started to scrub the two girls. It was clear that it had been a very long time since either of the twins had had a proper bath, as it took quite some scrubbing to get all the grime and dirt removed from the girls' hands and feet.

When Aurora and Gabrielle were finally satisfied that the twins were clean, the girls were pink skinned from all the scrubbing and their hair was shining with a soft silver hue, as was that of Gabrielle.

When they were done, the two adults stood up and stepped out of the water before picking up the girls and lifting them out of the tub. They each took a towel and gently rubbed the girls dry before looking down at them with identical grins and Gabrielle said, "You two want to see something cool."

Both girls nodded a little tiredly, and in an identical move, Aurora and Gabrielle took a deep breath before letting it out through their nose. All the water that still clung to their bodies was instantly vaporized and small clouds of steam rose from their bodies.

"Wow," the girls said in unison, looking slack-jawed at their new parents.

Both Aurora and Gabrielle grinned at their girls' expressions and Aurora said, "We can do much more than that, but we need more space and privacy for that so we'll show you some other time."

The girls nodded enthusiastically and followed the adults to the bedroom where they saw the dresses that were laid out for them. Both girls gasped as they saw the dresses. Both were of a light grey color and were decorated with small pearls around the neck and at the end of the half-sleeves.

The dresses of Aurora and Gabrielle were of a much simpler design, both were black, with a red corset, full length sleeves and low cut necklines. Once they were all dressed, the girls had never felt more beautiful than they did now, Aurora and Gabrielle helped their new daughters with their hair. Putting it in a simple, yet elegant braid.

Exactly one hour after Lyanna had come to their door, they left their rooms and went to the dining room in the royal quarters.

When they arrived they found the others already present. The Queen was seated on one end of the table, while Rhaegar sat on a long end, with Lyanna and Rhaenys on either side of him. Judging by the layout of the table, they were meant to take the seats on the opposite end of where Rhaegar and his family were seated.

Once everyone had taken a seat, the girls in the middle and Aurora and Gabrielle on either side of them, the food was brought in and they enjoyed a simple dinner with good company and pleasant conversations.

At that moment, life was good.