Hello my lovelies. Before we begin I want to announce that for those of you who don't know. I have posted a sneak peek to the fic I will be doing after this one I will be calling: The Ghost. simple scene we've seen before, but someone else is in another's place. Now enjoy the chapter! I think only four more until the long wait for the BIG one.


Edric

In the years past, Edric had seen only one other winter, and it was like a beautiful spring in Dorne. Never before has he ever seen so much snow or a storm such as what was happening. The winds were king and light, but the snow was thick and heavy. It began late in the night and more than two feet had fallen by the afternoon of the day that followed. The only ones who didn't mind it were the Northerners and the dragons since their bodies were like furnaces.

When Edric awoke that morning, he was chilled to the bone in his tent and would've frozen had it not been for the heavy cloak Lady Sansa had made for him, though he whenever he wore it, it felt like he had his two-year-old son Gerold on his shoulders. To make things worse to start his day, someone had mistaken the entrance of his tent for a wall and there was a large pile of shoveled snow leaking inside.

Things began to calm down as the day pressed on, but almost everyone had a shovel or something they could use to clear out the fallen snow. No one had any idea what to do with it when the piles began to turn into mountains. But then the Wildlings solved that issue by instructing everyone to use the snow to pack a layer of it outside of the wooden huts. Such a technique actually kept heat inside the structure and all of the horses needed all they could get since many were on the verge of sickness.

Many of the children got carried away and made snow castles to battle in a mighty of war of snowball fights. Everyone let them be since the sight of it was actually uplifting to the men to see that even though they would all be marching to war very soon, some could still find joy in their moments before then.

Edric had just escaped from a snowball massacre he got caught in the middle of, but one of his men was not so lucky. However, it did provide Edric with the opening to escape the company on his men and gain some privacy in a sense. All around him people were working, but no one was bothering him which is what he wanted, as selfish as it seemed.

Edric got out of the camp and into Winterfell to see if things were any better in terms of the bustling of people. But they were just as bad in the castle as they were in the camps. Everywhere was loud and there was hardly any room to relax. But through everything, Edric saw there was one place where no one entered or left which meant that it was empty and free of commotion. Edric made his way through the castle grounds and into a passage that led below ground. The light of outside vanished quickly as he went deeper and was replace by the light of candles. Edric found himself in a long hallway that extended far out into the darkness with no sign of it ending.

He walked slowly down the hallway, taking note to his surroundings and realizing he was in th fabled Crypts of Winterfell. As he passed many of the statues, he took a long look at each and every one of them. The further he went down the hallway, the larger a cold feeling in his heart formed. Something about this place made him feel that the statues were looking back at him, as if the ones they represented were judging him from the grave.

He stopped when he come upon a statue of the only woman he had seen so far. Her hand reached out and in it was a wilting winter rose. He then realized that this was Lyanna Stark, or rather Lyanna Targaryen. Being in the presence of her began to terrify him so much he wanted to leave, but he felt a desire to look deeper inside the crypt.

Leaving the statue of Lyanna, Edric walked past the statues of Rickard and Brandon Stark before finding himself looking at the statue of Eddard Stark. He was holding his family's greatsword, Ice, or at least a simple steel copy of it. The lifeless eyes of stone had a hypnotic effect when Edric looked deep into them. He felt that if he looked long enough, maybe Ned Stark would look back.

"Lord Dayne." A woman's voice said.

Edric's body jumped when he became startled and looked for who the voice belonged to.

"Lady Stark." Edric regained his posture and collected himself.

"Forgive me for startling you. I saw you come down here and was curious as to why."

Edric had a feeling of guilt rush over him when he realized he probably shouldn't be down here at all. It was no wonder that he felt the eyes of the dead judging his presence. Such a place was sacred to those who are of the House Stark. "I should be the one apologizing, my lady. I'm probably not welcome in a place such as this. But it was the only place that was quiet."

Sansa smiled at him, amused and sympathetic. "The tombs of my kin aren't just for those who share blood. Many come down here to pay their respects. You have nothing to be worry over." Ever since he had first arrived in Winterfell, Sansa has always had a noble stature but never shied away from showing kindness to those who were kind to her.

"I must disagree with you. Ever since I first came down here, I've had this strange feeling."

"Like the statues are watching?" Edric nodded to her, feeling relieved that he wasn't the first to think that. "My father once told me that when we are down here, the great Kings of Winter kept watch over us all, to keep us safe from the evils outside of the crypt."

Knowing that changed Edric's outlook on the mysterious presence he felt, so much that he didn't feel like an outsider in a sacred area any longer. "I've heard some stories of the crypt myself. My father once told me that a dragon lives somewhere down here, in a part that has been closed off for hundreds, if not, thousands of years."

Sansa giggled a little at such a bizarre story. "I don't know of any dragon lurking in the depths, but not far from here the tunnels come to a collapse. No one's bothered to have it uncovered ever since it happened. Is your father the one who made you so fascinated with the Starks?"

"Yes, it was. Truth be told, there was a time when I actually hated your family, or rather your father. But that was in my coming of age years when everything became emotional."

"I know what you mean." Sansa agreed. "What changed your mind?"

Edric looked back at the statue of Eddard Stark, taking one last look at what form his memory took. "I met your father in King's Landing."

"You did?"

"Well, when I say I 'met' him, I mean I only saw him."

"How did seeing him change your mind?"

Edric didn't immediately answer at first. He didn't mind telling Sansa the tale of what happened, but he knew he would feel sad when he would finish. "Growing up in Starfall, my family suffered a bit of a small humiliation from the other lords. At feasts I would always overhear someone mocking my uncle Arthur for being defeated by a savage from the north. I began to grow a hatred for a man I never met or even knew what he looked like. But the hate was all the same. When I was eleven, I began to squire for Beric Dondarrion after my mother passed away. For three years he taught me how to be a knight and how to be a lord. Then we heard of King Robert's injury and attended court to serve as we could. I finally was ready to see the man who the other lords boated about, I was finally going to see what kind of man was able to beat my uncle, the greatest of all the Sword of the Mornings. But then all the despise and anger I had so blindly built had vanished when I saw him, sitting on the Iron Throne in the stead of the King. In his eyes I could see a veil of determination he put over himself. But inside I could see he was sad. Not of court, or ruling, I didn't know what. I still don't. But I saw the kind of man who deserved to be on the throne. I man who didn't take joy in it, but responsibility."

Sansa had become fully intrigued at the tale he told, and knew a little of it herself. "Was that the day my father sent Lord Dondarrion to hunt the Mountain?"

"Yes, it was. But before we left the city, a raven came from my father in Starfall. He said I was to return and meet my bethrothed. He wanted me to prepare to inherit the title of Lord of Starfall. But it wasn't what I wanted. I replied to him telling that I was going to join Beric and a hundred men to find and kill Gregor Clegane before I returned. But the gods were cruel to us when he found us first, with a battalion of three hundred men. Only forty of us escaped, and that was when Beric died the first time. After he was resurrected, he formed the Brotherhood. In the beginning Beric told me I should go home, not get involved and be safe from the war. He told me he promised my father that he'd return me home safely, and he couldn't that if he was going to fight. But I refused. I wanted to fight with Beric and the others. To be hero to the smallfolk and repay the Lannister tenfold of the atrocities they committed. As we gathered more members, found ourselves in the company of three runaways from Harrenhal. Two boys and girl."

"Arya and Gendry." Edric grinned and nodded at her. "She told me all about her time with the Brotherhood and how they sold Gendry to a Red Woman of the Red God."

"I wasn't with them when it happened, I was at a tavern with some of the other men. The same tavern I met my wife, Neela."

"What was she doing there?"

"Working. She was a commoner when I first met her. And as embarrassing as it is to say, but I was at the age where all I cared about was fighting and girls. I found myself returning to her company many times. But then Beric ordered me to go home. He didn't say why, only that I had no place in the brotherhood any longer. I didn't want to leave, but then he begged me to. Before I left for home, I asked Neela to marry me and she said yes. I knew that if I asked my father, he would say no since I was a highborn and bethrotheed to some girl I never met, but I didn't want to leave her, I couldn't. We wed before we sailed back to Starfall, and in that time my daughter Ashara was on her way to joining us. When the ship docked and the people of Starfall came to greet us, I was ready to hear my father lose his head when he saw me and Neela together. But then I realized why Beric sent me back." Edric felt grief wrapping around his heart as he drew closer to his failure. "I learned that my father died while I was gone. He heard that Beric and his company were slain by the Mountain and thought I perished with them. He was driven mad with grief and then one day he didn't wake up from his sleep." Edric failed to contain a tear that fell from his eyes as his throat began to swell. "While I was playing a hero in the war, my father mourned for me day after day. Because of my foolishness, he suffered. Because of me, he died."

Edric's eyes fell to the ground, weighed by shame of his complete recklessness and old ambitions.

"You're not the only person to have ever chosen desire over duty."

"Probably, but I'm the only who's father was killed because I did."

"No, you're not."

Edric looked up at her, wondering what she meant and knew.

"My father tried to flee King's Landing with Arya and myself, but I didn't want to leave. I wanted to marry Joffrey and be Queen. So I told Cersei of what my father was planning and believed her when she promised he wouldn't be harmed. What happened after, the whole world knows."

Edric couldn't hold back a smirk when he realized the irony of their fates. "And here we both are. The question is, did we change enough for our fathers to be proud of who we are now?" Edric knew he was a far better than who he once was, but not enough. "I rule Starfall justly and always listen to counsel when given, but I don't feel it's enough to be what my father wanted."

"I think it is. You've learned from your failure and are doing your duty to your family. You may not have done what your father wanted, but you took charge of your own destiny. I think that's something any father would be proud of."

"How can you be sure?"

"I would be if my children did." Sansa gave him a little smile, enough to lift his spirits.

But before they could continue their time together, a new person appeared from the shadows, being Varys the Spider. "Pardon me, my lord and lady, but there seems to be a few men from King's Landing at the gates. Members of the Golden Company."

"What?" Sansa said. "What would they be doing here?"

"Let's go find out." Edric advised. The three of them left the company of the fallen Starks and the darkness of the crypt.


Sansa

Out in the courtyard were six men clad in golden tinted armor and navy-blue cloaks. They were surrounded by many Northmen with hands gripping the hilts to their swords still in scabbards. Jaime Lannister was among them, but turned his attention to Sansa when she approached.

"My lady," he said, "some of these men helped me escape King's Landing. But they will only speak to you or the King and Queen."

"Jon and Daenerys are resting right now. I'll deal with them." Sansa

"My name is Will Cole, we come on behalf of Jon Coddington and a handful of others to pledge ourselves to the rightful King and Queen of Westeros."

"Yes, my lady. He fought for Rhaegar in Robert's Rebellion and so did we, and we refuse to fight for another mad ruler." She wasn't sure whether or not to believe them. She knew that there were some loyalists from the rebellion who were exiled, but it could all be just a ploy by Cersei. But luckily for her and everyone else, there was someone who could answer that question.

Sansa turned to one of the guardsmen who stood near her. "Could you bring my brother Bran to me?"

"At once, my lady." The guard left swiftly while everyone stood in the falling snow, waiting.

"How many others are there?" Sansa inquired.

"We left ten men in King's Landing to clear out some of the Wildfire. They won't get much, but they'll get what they can. Then there's about one hundred and ninety led by Jon. They went to Dorne in hopes to steal some of the elephants we have. He may even come back with more loyal to the Targaryens."

"How many more?" Until she knew whether or not this was a lie or the truth, she had to poke at every detail this man could provide. If she dug enough out of him, he might slip on his words and expose him hiding his true intentions.

"I'm not sure, my lady. There's about five hundred stationed with the elephants so it might only be a handful or less."

Before she could continue, the guard returned, wheeling Bran in his chair next to Sansa. "Bran, these men say they're here to fight for us. Are they telling the truth?"

Bran didn't answer, he only gazed at the men of the Golden Company, looking worried. "Oh no."

"What is it?" Sansa asked.

"I've focusing so much on the North, I forgot to keep watch on the south. They're telling the truth, but Jon Coddington and his men won't be joining them. They're all dead."

"What?" Will asked, the rest of the men looking concerned and confused. "What are talking about?"

"Cersei learned of your plans before you left King's Landing. Jon and his men were ambushed at Hellgate Hall by thirty thousand sellswords from Essos."

"That's not possible," Varys declared, "my little birds would have sent word to me if such a thing happened."

"Your little birds are dead. Euron saw to that before he ferried fourteen different companies to Westeros." Varys looked grim and defeated. Never once had one of his spies been killed.

"Then Rolly and the others, their gone." Will and one of the other men looked grimmer than the other four.

"Rolly Duckfield is alive, and so are his men." The six sellswords all looked hopeful for a moment, but not much. "They've been discovered, but not reported to Cersei. They're sneaking Wildfire out from beneath the city as we speak."

"How-" Before Will could ask, Sansa intruded his question.

"The less you know, the better it will be."

Will nodded his head, but remained confused.

"What about the thirty thousand in Dorne?" Edric asked. "Are they going to attack the people?" He sounded more worried than anyone else and he had the right to be. The armies of Dorne were gone and there was no one to protect the castle. But if Cersei ordered it, she would be breaking the truce that was struck and every realm of Westeros would rise against her, including the Westerlands.

"They're waiting to hear if we win or lose against the dead. If we lose, they'll flee back to Essos. But I don't know what they're planning to do if we win."

"What about Cersei, what did she tell them?"

"Nothing. I think she knows that we can watch her."

"But Rolly and the others," Will interrupted, "if they've been discovered then why haven't they been turned in?"

"Don't worry, they'll remain unnoticed." Bran assured him.

"But how are they still alive? If someone knows what they're doing, then how hasn't the Queen's Hand learned of it yet?"

"The answer to that is on its way." Bran didn't say anything else after that. He remained silent and left everyone curious and confused. But the men from the Golden Company were more worried and saddened to learn of their leader's death.

"Thankyou, Bran." Sansa told him before facing the exiles. "If my brother says you are friends to us, then I welcome you into our armies. I will have someone take care you and find a place for you to stay."

"Thankyou, Lady Stark." The six men gave courteous bows before Sansa left their presence. Jaime Lannister and Varys followed her into the castle, desiring to discuss the matter further, while Edric took it upon himself to take care of the men.

"My lady," Varys said, "if the group of men in King's Landing have been discovered to be sneaking out the Wildfire, it won't be long until Qyburn learns of it and reports to Cersei."

"What are you suggesting we do?" Sansa asked, continuing through the hallways to her chambers. "from what we know, no one except for the Golden Company is aloud to enter or leave the city. And we can't provide any help until the dead are dealt with."

"Not to mention," Jaime said, "that if we try to and Cersei learns about it, she might just ignite the Wildfire and destroy the city. If she can't rule then no one can. But she has to be planning something. If the war against the dead is won, then it will be obvious to the world who the better rulers are. She has to know this if she's going to continue to fight."

"She must be hoping our loses are too many." Sansa stated.

"We could have less than ten thousand survivors and one dragon and we could still win against her." Aegon had less than three thousand men when he began his conquest, but he also had more than just one dragon.

"But if we lose all of the dragons, then we're lost." Sansa reminded.

"That's why only two will be facing the Night King and Viserion." Varys said.

Sansa didn't like that reasoning at much at it was strategically necessary for them all. Jon was the one who would have to deal with the Night King, and he accepted that he and the dragons with him might perish. That was the real reason he was having Daenerys only be support. He wanted her and their sons far away from the worst part of the battle.

"Whatever she's planning, we need to start a counter strategy." Sansa told them as they arrived at her door. "Ser Jaime, could see to this with the other leaders of the realms?"

"As you wish, my lady." Jaime bowed his head before taking his leave.

"Lord Varys, I'm sorry about what happened to your little birds."

"You had no part in it, my lady, therefore there is nothing you must apologize for. But thankyou for your sympathies nonetheless."

"We need to assume that more of your spies will be unable to listen to whispers of others. Find Lord Reed and gather some of his wargs. We can use them to keep watch on the south if anything changes."

"At once, my lady."

Varys departed and Sansa entered her room. Finally in the privacy of her chambers, she could gather her thoughts and think of what else had to be done now that there would be more opposition from the south.

She took a seat in her chair at her desk and relaxed for a moment, letting her thoughts drift to something positive. But she kept finding them to linger around Edric Dayne. She shook her head to rid herself of these feelings. "For goodness sake," she said to herself, "he's married and he has children." But thinking of him gave her hope that maybe there were more men like him. People of Valor that she once dreamed of before she realized the truth of how ugly the world was. But people like him seemed to make it look better than it was, something she was glad she could feel.


Remember what I said at the end of last chapter? SHOW ME THE MONEY!