AYLWARD

Aylward was nearly a mile ahead when he realized Amina was no longer behind him. He wheeled his courser around and doubled back. The Queen was lying face down in the dirt. Her loyal palfrey nosed at her insistently, despite its obvious exhaustion. The red blood was shocking against the grey and silver of her gown. He dropped from his horse and fell down next to her. Aylward pulled her skirts up around her waist, searching for her wound. But the blood came from between her legs, her white silk smallclothes the color of death.

By the time Amina came to, the knight had washed her off in the river and half-dressed her in a clean roughspun tunic. A moment passed as she looked at the pile of bloody clothes beside her, then her body contorted with terrible sobs that shook every bone in her body. "It isn't fair!" She wailed. "They took everything. Everything!" She leapt up, before Aylward could stop her. Her fingers tore at the tiara that was still knotted in her raven hair. With a hard, sharp tug she wrested it free. Chunks of hair that had been tangled around the bronze and iron swords went with it. She threw it into the Green Fork, watching as it sunk beneath the torrent. "They can bloody well have me too."

Amina was standing now, unmoving. Only her hard-labored breaths shook her body. Aylward didn't know what to say. How do you comfort a woman who's lost everything? He opened his mouth to speak, but she beat him to it. "Clean clothes," she realized, whirling toward him. "Peasant's clothes. You knew?" With every word she took another step toward him. "Did you know?" Her fists pounded against his chest. Aylward hardly felt the blows through his armor, but she hit hard enough to raise bruises on her own hands.

"The King only wanted me to be prepared," he said. "Not just for this, for everything. Robb was so careful. Every battle in the West, every time we rode out. He made me promise you'd be safe, no matter what happened to him."

"Robb would have rather I turn craven," Amina whispered. The bitterness in her voice softened by the sadness in her eyes. "My Robb. My dear sweet Robb." She dropped to her knees again. "Gods how stupid we were."

Aylward let his Queen cry for a long time before he spoke again. "I'll sink your bloody dress in the river where you threw your crown. With any luck the Freys will find it and think—"

"They'll think I was raped and killed," she finished. "Good. That's good."

The knight balled the ruined gown and threw it into the river. He dropped a stone in after to hold it down until they were well and gone. Aylward went to his saddlebag and removed the letter, holding it out to her. Amina took it, eyes glazing over as she looked at the seals. "We've gone the wrong way," Aylward told her regretfully. "We'll need to cross the river and double back, or else find a ship sailing to White Harbor, or even Eastwatch."

"I can't go to the Wall," Amina said suddenly. Her eyes flashed lilac, quick as lightning. "I can't see Jon. Not now." The knight frowned, but the Queen squared her shoulders. "I bring darkness wherever I go. I can't lose him too. The North is dead. It's been dying for months. The Ironborn, the Boltons, they'll fight each other and rip the kingdom apart. I cannot hope to enter that fight and win, not without an army behind me. The North can wait. I won't go to Jon and ask him to walk with me to his death." She looked over the river for a long moment. Her knight was quiet. "We're going to King's Landing."

"Your grace–"

"I am no queen," she said sharply, her eyes cold as ice.

"Amina. King's Landing is the lion's den. It's dangerous, even in the best of times."

"You are my sworn shield, are you not?" He nodded once, knowing he was walking into a trap. "Then you will go where I command. I need to see my sisters."


When Aylward returned to the inn on Eel Alley, where he'd left Amina, he was surprised to hear her voice. The days since they'd been forced to sell Myst had passed in near silence. It was as if Amina's voice died when she lost the last piece of her old life.

After days on the road, their horses had been near ruin. Their only options were to trade the horses or slow their pace considerably. He'd also been wary of riding into King's Landing on horses fit for nobility. A palfrey as fine as Myst was sure to attract attention. After much convincing, Amina had agreed, and Aylward sold the horses to a passing merchant.

The caravan was bound for Highgarden, and Aylward had promised a handsome payment for the horse at Old Oak. But Old Oak was leagues away, and Myst would fetch a hefty price on the road. Aylward was not hopeful Amina would see the horse again, but he'd had to try.

"High in the halls of the kings who are gone, Jenny would dance with her ghosts," Amina sung softly. Aylward leaned against the wall, listening to her voice through the door. "The ones she had lost and the ones she had found, and the ones who had loved her the most."

Aylward opened the door slowly, so as not to disturb her. "The ones who'd been gone for so very long, she couldn't remember their names." Amina's hair was wet and piled on top of her head, but even damp he could tell the scrubbing had worked. It was nearly light enough to be called gray, though the color clung too much to properly call it silver. "They spun her around on the damp old stones." Her haunted voice made the ballad even more heart wrenching. "Spun away all her—"

The floorboard creaked loudly under Aylward's foot, and Amina's voice cut off abruptly. Her hand reached instinctively for her knife belt, before realizing who he was. Aylward sheepishly offered the things Margaery had given him; red-gold dye and dresses in Redwyne blue and burgundy. "Margaery is on her way; you should have your hair dyed before she arrives."

Amina nodded and took the jar from his hands. She carefully opened the container and began applying the dye to her hair with an expert hand. He supposed she'd had years of practice. In a few hours, Amina Stark would be gone and Desmera Redwyne would stand in her place.

"The Prince of Dragonflies married the girl in that song," Amina murmured softly. It took Aylward a moment to realize she was speaking to him. "She was a commoner and Duncan gave up everything for her. Broke a betrothal, left his family, set aside the crown. If he hadn't, my grandfather would never have been king."

Aylward knew where this was going. If Jaehaerys II had never been king, Aerys wouldn't have been either. The entire history of the realm would have been forever altered. "It seems it runs in my blood to make foolish mistakes for love." Her fingers paused in her hair for a moment. "Tragic mistakes."

A soft knock on the door prevented Aylward from replying. He checked the dye thoroughly covered Amina's hair, before opening the door and letting Margaery Tyrell inside. The one time and future queen pushed the hood back from her head. She looked out of place in the timbered inn. But as her eyes fell on Amina, nothing else mattered. The brunette crossed to her friend and threw her arms around the other girl. "Oh, Mina, I thought you were dead."

Amina pressed her eyes closed and Aylward knew she was fighting to keep her composure. "I almost was," Amina whispered.

Margaery clutched Amina's hands and looked into her eyes. "I cannot imagine what you've been through. I am so sorry; I know how much they meant to you." Amina swallowed hard, and she nodded once. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"I need to see Sansa," Amina said firmly. "More than that, I need to know what's going on in that castle. Every advantage I've had is gone. I have to begin again."

The bite of her determination was sharp. She sounded like the queen who'd stood in front of a war council and given orders. Aylward supposed that was what her life was, one war after another. But he could not help her in this. This war would not be fought with swords.

Aylward worried that this was only a temporary balm. Amina was burying her grief under plots and disguises, but it couldn't last forever. Eventually the pain she ran from would catch up to her and she'd be forced to face it head on. Margaery watched Amina for a moment, as if the same thoughts were going through her head.

Margaery sighed softly. "Well, then I suppose I should teach you how to be Desmera Redwyne."


Margaery took them into the Red Keep the same way she'd slipped out of it, a hidden tunnel one of her ladies discovered. Amina walked carefully, adapting to the fashion of the Reach and allowing it to change the way she moved. Margaery quietly rattled off details that Desmera would know.

It worked in Amina's favor that Desmera's mother, Mina Tyrell, kept to the Arbor along with her daughter. Aylward only remembered meeting them once or twice in all the years he lived in Highgarden.

"What about Paxter?" Aylward asked suddenly, causing Margaery to stop. Amina took several steps forward before realizing the others weren't beside her. "Olenna knows, and I doubt we'll see much of the twins. But if Paxter hears his daughter is in the castle, won't he want to see her?"

"My uncle is far too busy buying his way into Cersei Lannister's favor to pay much attention to court gossip," Margaery said. Her face twisted into an expression that showed just how she felt about Paxter Redwyne. "Besides, every time a girl with red hair appears at court, someone mistakes her for Desmera."

Aylward knew that was true. Many hopped to marry into the Arbor's fortune. It was almost a game to trick lordlings into wooing a minor lord's red-haired daughter. Everyone would get a good laugh when it was revealed she wasn't Desmera Redwyne.

"Besides," Margaery added with a shrug. "Grandmother will make sure he doesn't notice."

With that, it was settled. When they walked through the door into the halls of the Red Keep, Amina rolled her shoulders, smoothed down her dress, and grinned. "I've been here for hours and you haven't even shown me the throne." A passing serving girl curtsied to the pair as she hurried by. "What a hostess you are!"

Margaery raised an eyebrow, shocked at her friend's sudden transformation. Aylward had been equally shocked the first time he'd seen her go in front of her bannermen. Amina had a talent for wearing masks, and until recently, he'd never seen them slip.

Amina grabbed Margaery's hand and tugged her down the hall. "Come on, let's hurry. I want to see the gardens before dusk!" And just like that, Amina Stark was gone. A bright smile passed over Margaery's face as she pulled Desmera Redwyne through an archway and out of view.