Reign of the Fallen

A Game of Thrones Fanfiction

By Millie55

Cassius

Come morning, Forst Stryder had been dusted with summer snow. They were far enough north to face the chill of winter all seasons around, but they were nowhere near far enough to constantly suffer from the cold. It was days like these in which Lord Cassius had favored. Growing up, they were perfect for an early morning ride with his twin brother, or breakfast with his family. Today however, he was forced to relieve those memories, as his brother was gone and the rest of his family stood divided across Westeros. Cassius could not even remember the last time they had all be together.

Today, standing on the steps of their home to say goodbye to there father was as close as they could get it seemed. Beside him stood his brother Jonus. At times, some would thing that his brother was in fact the one who was his twin, not Zachariah. Jonas shared the same dark hair and bright eyes as most of the children had. Having his little brother of five years younger by his side made him less anxious to take on his father's lordship in his absence. He wouldn't have to do this completely alone, there was nothing against a little consultation. Right?

The wind tossed at his cape, causing the fur collar to tickle his neck. A hand raised to rub at the irritation as he watch Warne bring his father the horse he would be riding south. It was then his stomach dropped, this was happened, this was actuality happening. A heavy breath erupted up his throat, taking the air in a mist of fog. Time to grow up.

He did not wait to receive a hug goodbye from his father. Instead, he moved down the cold stone steps, slick with the slush of snow. He met the horses, a large hand reaching out to stroke it's mane. "Ride fast, run strong," he told the horse whose nose nuzzled him in expectation of a carrot or a hand full of oats. Cassius was disappointed that he did not have anything to give the steed, but was sure he would find much grass to graze upon as they moved further south.

Glancing back over his shoulder he watched as his father moved along his brother and sisters to say his farewells. He started with Jonus, their embrace brief but they exchanged words. From his distance, Cassius could not hear what was said. A part of him worried that they were speaking of his leadership. That his father was asking his brother to look out for him. That it was his brother Zach that was supposed to be the true heir of Fort Stryder, not Cassius.

His stomach twisted at the thought, threatening to send whatever breakfast he had managed to eat back up and down onto the leather of his boots. Mismatched eyes watched as he moved from one child to the next. It was strange looking at the family in which seemed so very small in the absence of Delilah and Zachariah. Including himself and Jonus, only four remained. The youngest two, stood beside Jonus. Stryder and Sofya. They would only be fourteen come their name day. They were still children in his eyes, yet they would be teaching young Stryder to fight soon. This skill seemed more important than ever now. Hell, he might even teach little Sofya a thing or two to ensure her safety if anything were to ever happen to them.

Soon his father stood before him, dark gray hair tied back and warm riding clothes worn to protect him from the winter's bite. For a moment, the mend just held the others stare, but then bodies came together in an embrace. Eyes shut, threatening to be burned by the heat of tears, but the eldest son did his best to remain strong. "Bring her home," Cassius told his father in regards to his sister. He would ride to her himself, but no one would listen. His father had connections in the south, this was the only way.

"I will," the promising words of his father were muffled into his furs, "perseverance is power."

"We will rise," Cassius countered to him and watched as his father's features fell into a stone-cold look. It was no secret that Cassius favored his mother's line of heritage. He was a man of the North, a Stryder - even if he did bare the name Gwhendel. Taking a step back from the horse, her gave his father the room to mouth the strong steed. It could take as many as six days and nights before he father to return to Fort Stryder. He did hope that with the horses they had chosen, and the small party of men to ride with him that it could take half that time. Being apart for extended periods of time did not feel right in the gut of the new Lord. They needed all the bodies they had if the events of the Twins effected the North in a negative fashion.

With the gallop of the horses and calls from the common people, Lord Marcus and his men took off out the gates, taking on the lands of the North to collect an army and their family. With their depart, the square began to clear, leaving the remaining members of House Gwhendel to stand alone on the steps of their home.

The summer sun was finding it's way into the sky now, warming all beneath it, including the snow that began to melt down into murky puddles. Puddles that splashed up to dirty the black riding boots Lord Cassius wore. Hands reached up to take the heavy cape from his shoulders in his hands. He then handed it off to his brother. He however did not move to retire into the castle with the rest of his family. Instead he took the streets, moving through crowds of common folk, smiling and nodding when they took notice of him, but mostly he kept his head down. Where he was headed, he wanted few to know about. It was not a place he favored to spend his time, but he had a message to deliver.

The building was small, but one of the nicer on the outskirts of the fort. It stood three stories tall, the velvet curtains preventing any from stealing a glance at any of the girls inside. Cassius stood outside for a moment, taking his last breath of fresh air before moving through the passage and into the whorehouse. The place reeked of sex and ale. In the rooms beyond, he could hear the forced moans of the whores that resides and worked in the brothel. How Zachariah spent much of his time in this place, he did not understand.

It took longer than he would have hoped to be met by the owner of the brothel. A young man, Xander was what he had known him as. His family had come North with his father when he had taken claim over Fort Stryder. They were not people Cassius generally trusted, but he had leverage over the man. That gave him a sense of security.

"Lord Cassius," Xander spoke as he pockets coin from a man on his way out the door, "should I have my girls ready for you?"

Shaking his head, he nodded towards the back room. "I have come to talk," he naked woman moved off towards their chambers, full breasts pressed against him in a teasing manner. Taunting him for their service. Cassius kept his head up. He couldn't stoop that low, not as the new lord. There, the room was almost as lavish as his parents room. Drapery of satin and silk dressed the walls. There was a grand desk where Xander would do his work and a bed of many pillows off to the side as when you worked as a brothel keep there was as much work as there was pleasure. That fact, was very clear as two women lay on the bed, one on top of the other. Kissing, humping, grinding and moaning. It was difficult for Cassius to keep his eyes off the women. One with hair as blonde as the summer sun and skin like gold, the other skin pale as eyes and hair as black as coal.

Noticing they had caught the Lord's attention, he watched as the women put on a little show for him. It was enough to make his pants grow tight. He was having hard time resisting now. He nearly choked on his need, as the women were sent from the room to give himself and Xander the room. Eyes glanced the women over, watching their curvaceous bodies jiggle and bounce with each hop of their step. It took Xander making a loud noise with the chair dragging across the floor in a near deafening screech.

"Now, if you did not come for my girls," the man spoke as he sat upon his table, "what brings the new Lord of Fort Stryder to such an establishment?"

Reaching into his pocket be pulled out an medallion his twin once wore. Simple bronze that hung low on his chest, right over his heart. "I come, as it would be what my brother would have wanted." Holding it out to the man he offered him a pained look, he had to have heard of their loss. Once back at Fort Stryder, the news had spread like wild fire. "My brother, he cared deeply for you. He would want you to have-"

"I don't know what you are talking about," Xander cut him off, obviously sweating with nervousness. To lay in bed with another man was seen as taboo among many and often was hidden from all if you had been part of such relations. Zachariah had been one of them. Cassius often caught his brother sneaking off to the brothel, not to lay with women, but Xander. At first, Cassius was angered by this, but soon came to understand that no matter who his brother had chosen to love, he would always be family.

"Yes, you do," Cassius pressed gently and placed the cool phoenix medallion into his palm. "He loved you, whether you choose to acknowledge that or not is your choice. All I know, is that you were the person he came to. Not one of your whores. Now that he is gone," he took a moment to sigh, he would never get used to hearing those words come out of his mouth, "he would want you to know how he truly felt and that is why I have come to give this to you."

Bright eyes watched as Xander took the bronze into his fist. Cassius could only assume he had seen it countless times before. The other man seemed to have spent more time with Zachariah than he had himself the last eight years.

"Thank you my lord," the man spoke, his body no longer tense with his need for defense, "how could I ever repay you?"

Cassius' eyes dropped to his boots for a moment, biting his lip as he thought to himself. What could this man possibly give him that he didn't already have. "I wouldn't mind getting to know that pretty little blonde you had in here," he winked as a coy smirk took his lips. Damn these whores, why did they have to be so tempting?

Judging by the look on the man's face, giving Cassius time with the blonde was something he could comply to. "Now, Ingrid just traveled all the way from the west, was headed for the Capitol when father convinced her to come our way. Something about the Northerners and their endowment so I hope you don't disappoint," he laughed to his Lord lightly as if they had been long time friends, "and treat her kindly, she has much left to learn."

A knock took the door frame of one of the chambers, and soon the pretty blond peeked her head out from behind the curtains in which replaced the door that had once been torn from it's hinges.

"Xander, my Lord," Ingrid greeted them, a playful smile taking her lips.

"Lord Cassius, he requests your company," Xander told her, and Cassius could feel his hand on his back, guiding him forward. "Take as long at you need my Lord." The two were then left alone, the curtains swaying behind him, their shadow dancing across the floor. The young lord held his breath, almost nervous with the thought of laying with the whore. It was not something he had ever considered before as his mother had raised him to cherish consummation as something saved for your bride. Yet, many men found their way to the beds of the brothel.

Hands took his, guiding him to the bed carefully. Could she feel the sweat on his palms? See the hesitation in his eyes?Heart pounding hard on his barrel chest, he almost pulled away. Instead he let Ingrid continue to guide him hesitantly.

"You are nervous," the young woman nodded as she lowered herself to her knees in front of him. Her golden ringlets blocked most of her beautiful body from his view. Pert nipples peaked out between strands, the flesh of her breast bouncing as her hands began to work at his pants.

"This is not a place I spend much of my time," Cassius told her, eyes watching each of her movements. Each touch of her hand, he was sure it was pure magic. "Keep my mind at ease, let me forget the place that rests beyond your door," he begged of her. Shoulders rolled back, then his neck fell to let his eyes stare at the ceiling. "Tell me of your life before-" his words were cut when the hot moisture of Ingrid's lips found the stiffness of his length. In his throat a soft sound of approval made itself known.

"My mother was a whore-" the whore sounded before her lips found him again.

"My father a blacksmith-"

Suck.

"Just got to Fort Stryder in the night, passed many on our journey-" her lips did not make it back to his cock this time. His hands had found her hair, holding her head back so he could look down at her.

"Who? Who were the men who crossed your path?" he asked curiously. He was almost hyper-vigilant now that Fort Stryder was under his rule. Now that the North was burning in the hellish aftermath of the massacre.

"Merchants, and travelers," she spoke out in an almost dreamy voice, "and the Warden of the North."

"The Starks have fallen, there is no way-"

"No, no," she told him near laughing, "Not the Starks. A handsome man, Roose Bolton and his son,what was his name? The Bastard?"

Any arousal Cassius had built up from having the woman suck and stroke at his length was long gone now. His body was overtaken with the worried thoughts that came with living under the rule of the Boltons. With their sigil a man cut flayed man, they were a house to be feared. Soon they would come to seek thought made his stomach sick. Could he kneel to them as the Lord of Forst Stryder, he wasn't so sure.

Picking up his breaches from around his ankles, Cassius tugged them up to his waist and fastened them in place. He had not a moment to waste now. Muttering out a number of apologies to the pretty blonde, along with promises of making it up to her, he stumbled through the curtains and briskly made the walk back to the castle. House Gwhendel would need to be ready.