Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to the Ice and Fire Novels, Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon TV shows. However, I decided to have a little play around with the characters. I do not earn any money from writing these stories, it is for my entertainment and is something I like to share.
Brienne I
For as long as Brienne could remember, she had wanted to be a knight, breaking the mould wasn't her aim, she just loved pretending to be a knight. She didn't really have that many feminine qualities, however she was one of the greatest swordsman or woman in all of Westeros. As a result of her loyalty to the Stark family, she had not only become a knight, but had landed the role of Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, something which made her incredibly proud. Or at least should have done. Her oaths had led her on this path to serving the current King who was a Stark, King Bran the Broken they called him as he was unable to walk. She had expected him to be like his siblings, yet he wasn't. He was distant, looking into the past, the present and the future, as much as he could with his greensight.
Initially, he had seemed like he would make a good King, especially after the mess the Lannister's had left Westeros in. the first questions she had about Bran were his small council appointments. Regardless of her feelings towards Ser Davos and his previous loyalty to Stannis Baratheon, he was the perfect person to be Master of Ships. Tyrion Lannister was sneaky, but he was probably the most experienced person in the whole of Westeros to take on the role of Hand of the King. Those appointments were perfectly reasonable. However, as much as she was proud of her role as Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, and who was she to question it, considering Bran knew everything, she did feel she wasn't the most qualified leader. Being the best swordsman wasn't enough, she had to lead the rest of the Kingsguard. They followed but she knew they gritted their teeth behind her back and sneered at being led by a woman, but most of all, they hated that she hadn't earned her time as a Kingsguard over the ones who had done the job for years and knew all of the boring administrative side of it.
The next appointment which was strange was Grand Maester Samwell. A role which normally took years and years of training and only the most experienced men made it to Grand Maester. Samwell had been rushed through and promoted before he should have even qualified for the role of a Maester, let alone Grand Maester. The final and most questionable role of all was Lord Bronn. A sellsword who was now the Master of Coin who only cared about killing, drinking and whores. She had no idea what possessed him to take on such an ill qualified man to be Master of Coin. Her only belief was that he was good at sweet-talking people out of their money, although Brienne was unsure that approach would work with the smallfolk.
Over the past almost two years since the long night, Kings Landing had been in a state of being rebuilt after the Dragon Queen had burned parts of the city and the Red Keep down, however nobody was ever truly comfortable. Drogon flew east and had settled on Dragonstone, leaving the place uninhabitable by humans for fear of being burned to death. Bran could have had the beast killed, but he wouldn't hear of it. He blamed the burning on the Queen herself, not the dragon, and thus had let him live. The state of unease grew when he flew north, presumably to the one last living Targaryen, or so the rumours were, which Brienne hadn't initially believed. The gossip in Kings Landing was the Dragon Queen was murdered by her nephew, a man called Prince Aegon who was the son of Prince Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna stark. Initially it had appeared to be strange tale as Brienne knew Jon Snow had killed Daenerys and as far as she was concerned he was Ned Stark's bastard. He had been sent to the wall as punishment for being a Queenslayer, even though the said Queen was destroying the capital city and he saved millions of lives. Up until Drogon had left and flown north, she had ignored the rumours as dangerous, idle gossip. However, when Drogon left, she did begin to question whether there might be some grain truth to them. The dragon hadn't killed Jon for murdering his mother, which was the strangest part about this, then he headed north, and by all accounts returned to Dragonstone with Jon for one day and flew back north again, with Jon riding him. Brienne had learned enough about dragons to know riders usually needed some Targaryen blood in the family, and sightings of Jon on Drogon was fuelling the rumours even further. This made Bran's position a little more delicate. Two of his small council could be counted on to lean towards Jon for loyalty, Tyrion only served Tyrion and would decide which was most likely to be the winning side. Only Bronn was truly loyal to Bran as he was easily bought. Brienne was loyal to the Starks and her position was loyalty to Bran, however she was originally tasked to protect Arya and Sansa, although it was probably more apt to suggest most people needed protecting from Arya if they were ever deemed an enemy of hers. Even Brienne couldn't beat her in a fight.
If the rumours about Jon were true, he was a threat to Bran, and possibly Sansa, although his close relationship with her suggested otherwise. He could easily take the throne of Westeros as he was a proven leader, which would explain why he'd been exiled, not for him killing the Queen. To Brienne, this was a time when Bran would have needed the small council more than ever, yet the opposite happened. All except herself, they had all been sent to different parts of the land. In the meantime a strange beauty had appeared as the Mistress of Whisperers. Brienne had all but been relegated to administrative duties, never being invited to small council meetings and being completely left out of the loop when it came to the matters of state and safety. How was she supposed to protect the King if the only person he would talk to was this Mistress of Whisperers called the Lady of Lys. Therefore when Sam returned from Storm's End, Brienne decided to speak with him. She knew he'd be loyal to Bran and would only reveal anything out of the ordinary if it seemed to threaten the King.
Despite Sam giving up his titles and lands, his mother had bestowed plenty of his father's wealth upon him and bought him a home in the area of Old Gate in Kings Landing. Although he did have quarters in the Red Keep, he kept his family in a house in the wealthiest area of the city. Old Gate was located near Rhaenys Hill on the western side of the city, near the Gold Road which headed towards Lannisport. For Brienne to go and see Sam, it meant one of the Mistress of Whisperers spies (or starlings as the Mistress called them) would spot her. Fortunately for Brienne, their son, Little Sam, who wasn't quite so little anymore at eight years old, was intent on becoming a member of the Kingsguard and worshipped Brienne. She had taken a liking to the child who was bright and quite useful with a sword. She had been training him with the idea of having him become one of her squires at the age of nine, should his parents permit. She hadn't spoken to them about this matter, and she decided to go visit them with this excuse in mind should anyone question her visit to see the Grand Maester who had only just returned.
As soon as she arrived, Brienne was greeted with the delicious smell of baking bread, something which always seemed to flood the house, not that she complained. Gilly was a fantastic cook who had turned down repeated requests from the Red Keep to be their head cook, instead she preferred teaching the smaller children in the Red Keep how to read. She knocked on the door, a young boy she recognised answered the door.
"Ser Brienne." Little Sam smiled. "Have we got a lesson today?"
"Not today I'm afraid. I've come to talk to your father. May I come in?" Brienne asked as little Sam opened the door and let her in. he showed her to Sam's solar, where she waited for him, determined to know if the rumours about Jon were true.
"Ser Brienne." came Sam's friendly voice from behind. "How can I help you today?" he asked.
"How private is this room?" Brienne asked, Sam closed the door and locked it.
"You won't hear a peep outside this door. Why?" Sam frowned.
"I need to ask you something." she said. "Who are Jon's parents?" Sam looked uncomfortable, which was enough for her, she shook her head. "Don't worry, I already know. He returned to Dragonstone and left to go back north. I assume Winterfell?"
Sam nodded. "He and Sansa are now wed."
That news surprised Brienne. "I would never have expected her to marry after what happened with Ramsey." she shook her head. "I suppose Jon was the only man left in the world she truly trusted."
"I don't think they had much choice." Sam corrected her. "Bran sent Tyrion north with the annulment, she realised Bran was going to marry her off to one of the southern Lords. She didn't want to and married Jon to prevent a wedding which would force the north back into the Seven Kingdoms. Before you ask, the bedding was confirmed by the Winterfell septon."
This revelation surprised Brienne even more. However Brienne was the last person to be able to judge a cousin marriage, after all, her one and only lover had fathered three children with his twin sister prior to her.
"Is it Jon or Aegon?" Brienne asked.
"As far as everyone is concerned he is Jon Snow, bastard of Ned Stark." Sam frowned. "How did you find out?"
"There are rumours among the smallfolk that the man who killed Daenerys was Rhaegar's trueborn son, Aegon. He's been seen riding Drogon. It has been said he rose from the dead. He is a threat to Bran. But Bran won't talk about it. Since this Mistress of Whisperers arrived, he has closed everyone out. There hasn't been a small council meeting for weeks. Tyrion is in the north, but at least you have returned." Brienne said.
"I've got to go to Dragonstone." Sam told her.
"What, when?" Brienne frowned.
"Soon, the next few days." he sighed.
"But you've only just got back from Storm's End. Why would Bran send you away so quickly?" she asked.
"He wants me to look for some books and he says when I find the information, I'll know and be able to act on it." Sam explained. "I couldn't go while Drogon was there."
Brienne frowned. "What could he possibly want?" she asked. "Why did he send you to Storm's End?"
"To offer Arya's hand in marriage." Sam told her, to which Brienne had to laugh.
"Arya wouldn't marry. What made Bran think she would. She's not even here to agree to it." she said.
"She was in Storm's End, but when she found out, she ran. We think she went north to Winterfell. Bronn is heading up there now I think." Sam said.
"None of it makes any sense." Brienne said.
"I might have an idea what it could be." Sam offered.
"Go on." Brienne raised an eyebrow.
"Dragons." Sam replied.
"What about them?" Brienne was confused.
"There are apparently some secrets on Dragonstone and I need to find out what they are. I'm beginning to think there might be dragon eggs there. If Bran could control a dragon, or find someone who has Targaryen blood, he might be able to get someone to fight for him." Sam suggested.
"Who?" Brienne asked.
"Gendry's great grandmother is Rhaelle Targaryen, daughter of Aegon the fifth." said Sam.
"I know that." Brienne said.
"Gendry agreed he'd side with Bran as long as Arya never had to marry against her will." Sam told her.
"Does he know about the potential dragon riding?" Brienne asked.
"I didn't know then. I only guessed after I got home. He wants me to look for the missing library of Maester Gerardys who was a Maester during the dance. A time when there were a lot of dragon eggs being hatched on Dragonstone. The exact location of where the dragon eggs were laid and how they were hatched has been lost to time. Bran's visions are often blocked when dragons are around so he can't see everything that happened on Dragonstone. If eggs were laid there, he wouldn't know where or how they were hatched. This would either be to sell them to the iron bank or to train dragon riders." Sam explained.
"Is he trying to build an army of dragon riders?" Brienne asked.
"I think he might be hoping for a living dragon who can bond with Gendry first. Drogon isn't a small dragon, any that hatch today are going to be smaller than him. He'd need lots of them to show force. He won't kill Drogon because I think he wants to breed them." Sam offered.
"Like a dragon version of the Kingsguard?" Brienne asked.
Sam nodded . "I think so."
"But that won't make his throne more secure unless he has heirs." Brienne frowned.
"The Lady of Lys says he can have children, as long as they're with her." Sam explained.
Brienne fell silent for a moment, realising the implications of Sam's words. "I wonder why he's trying to make marriage alliances if he thinks he's able to have children." she mused.
"The Lady of Lys mentioned only having girls would throw the realm into disarray." Sam explained. "He wants Jon and Sansa's firstborn son to be a ward in Kings Landing."
"That sound like a recipe for disaster. Why are they so bothered about having children? Unless..." Brienne looked up at Sam. "I think you might be right about dragon eggs. Maybe they want their children to be dragon riders. But why the rush? Why need them now? Is Sansa with child already? Or even the Lady of Lys?"
"I don't know." Sam shook his head. "I doubt Sansa would be yet, from what I can gather they only just got married. Maybe the Lady of Lys has Targaryen blood herself."
"What makes you think that?" Brienne frowned.
"That sapphire and emerald necklace she was wearing, does she always wear it?" Sam asked.
Brienne thought for a moment. Whatever the Mistress of Whisperers was wearing, the sapphire and emerald choker was always around her neck. "Yes, she always wears it. It's not a really a necklace, it's more like what is called a choker. Why?" she asked.
"It reminds me of the one the Lady Melisandre wore. The red woman who brought Jon back to life. Gilly swears the Lady of Lys is a witch." he added in hushed tones. "And the Targaryen's used blood magic to bond with their dragons. So if she's not a Targaryen, she's a witch."
"I am inclined to believe her." Brienne agreed thinking about the sapphire and emerald choker. "It's not as big as the ones the red priestesses wear, but it does look very similar." she nodded. "The red woman practised blood magic. I'm sure the King wouldn't be involved in anything like that." she shook her head.
"This is why I'm worried." Sam whispered. "I don't want Gilly to hear. He says he's sending me to Dragonstone but has insisted on Gilly and the babes stay here." he looked genuinely scared.
"I've got to search for Bronn, otherwise I'd protect them." Brienne sighed. "I suppose I could keep little Sam safe. I could take him as a squire, but it would be dangerous, especially around Lord Bronn. How long do you think you'll be gone for?" she asked.
"Who knows?" Sam shrugged. "If he's wanting me to search of eggs on Dragonstone then months maybe."
"As soon as I catch up with Bronn, I'll get him back to Kings Landing and take Gilly and the children north to Dragonstone." Brienne suggested. "I've got an idea. When I return from my trip to find Bronn, I will send a raven to Dragonstone requesting for little Sam to be my squire. If your reply is yes, then I will get them out of Kings Landing and take them north, if you say no, then I'll take them to Dragonstone, if you tell me you'll think about it, I'll do nothing." she offered.
Sam smiled. "I'd like that. I'd feel much better knowing Gilly and the babes were safe, or can at least be taken somewhere to safety. If I tell you to keep them here and then change my mind I can always send another raven."
Brienne nodded. "That is settled then."
"When are you leaving?" Sam asked.
"On the morrow, why?" Brienne replied.
"When are Bran and the Lady of Lys to be married?" Sam frowned. "He said you'd be there."
"Tonight at sundown. Why?" Brienne asked.
"He never told me when to come." Sam replied.
"Very strange." Brienne frowned. "Well I must get back, I can't be gone too long, I have to get things done before I go away. I shall see you at the Godswood later." she said before leaving.
As she started her return to the Red Keep, she saw the Goldcloaks making their way up Rhaenys Hill which was odd as the city watch rarely had need to come into this part of town. She looked back at them and saw them turn towards Sam's house.
"Fuck!" she said, but she was too far away to do anything. She had two choices, return to the Red Keep and find out what was going on or leave Kings Landing. After a few moments mulling over her choices she knew she had to stay. Someone responsible needed to be in Kings Landing to look after Gilly and the babes, there was no way she was going to leave Little Sam alone.
When Brienne returned to the Red Keep, she was summoned to see the King in the small council chambers. When she arrived, to her surprise Bronn was standing there.
"Your Grace." she'd bowed her head at the King. "Mistress Lys, Lord Bronn. I thought you were searching for Princess Arya." she frowned.
"I was, until they found the body of Salladhor Saan in Sharp's Point with his face cut off. His ship has gone, last seen sailing north. Ser Davos had been taken hostage as well as some of his crew." Bronn told her.
"You think Arya did all of that?" Brienne frowned.
"With help." the Lady of Lys replied. "My starlings tell me Ser Davos was seen talking to Salladhor Saan the day his ship left the harbour in the the Rowers Rest. A young woman fitting Arya's description was with them."
"Why would they have gone north?" Brienne asked.
"To Jon." Bran replied. "The Unsullied are one their way to Winterfell as we speak and I believe they might be trying to intervene."
"Are you sending an army?" Brienne asked.
"This is not our fight." Bran replied.
"Neither can we afford it." Bronn added.
"Am I now to stay here?" Brienne asked, hoping that was an option.
"For the time being." Bran nodded.
"Why were the goldcloaks going to the Grand Maester's house?" Brienne asked.
"To help Sam." Bronn grinned. "He's coming to the wedding tonight and they will be accompanying him to make sure he gets here on time. As Gilly and the kids are also invited, I thought I ought to make sure they weren't late. It can get busy on the streets. An armed escort always gets through the crowds quicker."
Brienne didn't believe a word that came out of Bronn's mouth, but she nodded, pretending she'd fell for it. Her understanding was Gilly and the kids were probably going to be forced to stay in the Red Keep while Sam was gone to ensure his loyalty. This meant the only other member of the small council who would be present in Kings Landing, other than herself would be the most untrustworthy man in the capital, although she was beginning to suspect Bran wasn't much better. As much as she hated the idea of what was happening elsewhere, this was the best place for her right now. She was in a position to look after Gilly and the babes, keep an eye on Bronn and find out as much as she could about what the King was really up to with the woman he was about to call his wife, as Brienne no longer trusted King Bran the Broken. Something didn't add up.
