A/N:

Many thanks again for all of my readers and reviewers! Just a heads up that things get a little political for a while. Um, yeah.

Allimba (Thank you and here it is!), Anon (Glad you don't mind the separation! And you're right...they are both in for some interesting times ahead. Oh, Stannis. He may make an appearance soon...), Slasher-Film (I hope Cass didn't make you too angry! and I hope you didn't mind waiting a week!), Guest (Ack, hope your heart's okay! haha, here's the next one!), Guest (So complicated! Poor Jaime. Poor Cass. But don't worry! here's the next one), (You'll get to see soon and thanks for the review!), and Guest (glad you love it!).

Disclaimer: I do not own GoT or ASOIAF. Boo.

The Red Keep was too big for her, even though she had been there for two years already. Her Septa had dismissed her early for whatever reason and she was wandering, lost, dazed. Cassana did not know how to get back to her room, and the men that usually watched her had gone to eat or train or something similar while she was with her Septa still.

So she wandered. Her small footsteps got her nowhere too fast, but she walked and walked down and up different towers. But mostly she went down. It was cold down below, and she was drawn to it. King's Landing got hot, and she escaped the heated light and found herself surrounded in darkness.

She was too young to be scared of real dangers, and the scary things her wet nurse told her about would not be found in the Red Keep with her brothers and guards so close by. And she could always scream if she had to. Robert said she was good at screaming.

Casssana soon realized she was too lost when the stairs stopped going down. The air was starting to smell funny—like that weird cheese Queen Cersei liked to eat—and water was even dripping on her. She squirmed through the darkness, fear starting to creep towards her, until she saw a small wooden door.

The latch to the door was already unlocked, and Cass went into the small room. It was illuminated with a dozen or so candles, each lighted recently it seemed. The wax hadn't even started to melt too much yet. But Cass didn't really notice that. All she saw was the giant head in the room—no not head, but skull. The giant skull sat there, a monster in the dark, and she started to back away, the scary stories coming back to her.

"Shhh."

She stiffened at the voice and the shadow of a man on the far side of the room, sitting on the ground with his head down. Cass didn't move towards him and the man didn't move either. "Who are you?"

"Little girls don't belong here."

She supposed he was right. This thing was strange, dark, and scary. She didn't belong here, but she was curious. "What's that?"

"A dragon," the man answered, still on the floor and not sharing his name.

"There are no more dragons. Dragons are dead." Cass walked over towards the skull, reaching up to the top to try and touch it, but her little arms could not reach. "Were they big? They look big."
The man grunted. "How should I know? Girl, you should leave. Someone's probably looking for you."

"I don't care." Cass kept reaching. Dragons were huge, and they were magical. Her Septa had her try and read stories about the dragons and their riders in some books, and they were always in songs too. "I wish dragons were still real."
"Your brother would not be sitting on that seat if they were. Come now." He stood up, and Cass saw a flash of blond hair illuminate as he walked past a candle and towards her. "If you're going to keep talking, I have no point in staying here. Let's go back before someone thinks you've been stolen."
Cass edged away. "I'm not supposed to go with strangers."

"You're not supposed to talk to strangers either, little girl, but here you are." He smirked at her and dragged up the end of his cape. "See? White."

She saw his green eyes then too and smiled. "You look just like the queen."

"I guess we should look alike. Come, Lady Cassana."

"You know who I am too!" She attempted to curtsy then, but Cass just bowed her head a bit while holding out her dress. It was clumsy, but the man laughed at her anyway, running his right hand through his hair. "Who are you?"

"Never mind that, Lady Cassana."

"I don't really like being called Lady Cassana." She pouted. "That's my mother."

He frowned then. "I hope that didn't make you sad. I don't want to deal with your crying."

She shrugged, "You're the one that looks sad. Why are you here? You're one of Robert's white guards. You should be around him all the time. That's what Robert says."

"Your brother rather not have me around all the time." The white guard as she called him grabbed her hand and started to lead her out through the wooden door. "And I was just thinking."

"We're all just thinking. That's what Stannis says. We always think."

"You'd be surprised, Cassana, at how wrong that is." He laughed at her confused face. "But I was just thinking of those dragons."

Cass scrunched her face. "You seem scared. Are you a knight?"

He hesitated at the question. The blond man shrugged his shoulders but said, "Yes."

"In the songs, the knights always kill the dragons. It's always the ending. So there's no reason to be scared, Ser."

"They only tell you the most recent songs, don't they? Better for a Baratheon, I suppose."

They were silent for a while. She liked how tightly the man was holding her hand, like he was really scared and she was protecting him from something. But Cass still struggled to grasp at his name. She stopped suddenly when she remembered what Queen Cersei used to be before she was draped in the gold and black cape of her own house. The man grumbled, being tugged back, but Cass said, "You're a lion."

"Yes."

"Are you Lord Tywin?"

"Tywin is not of the Kingsguard." The man sniffed. "He's my father."

"He's Cersei's father."

"Cersei is my sister, Cassana."

"Oh." She swallowed, embarrassed by her mistake. She hated making mistakes. Stannis, while he was here, always scolded her for them, and Renly would always laugh. Cass looked up and down. "You're not the Imp."

"No and be glad I'm not. He hates to be called that, and I don't think it's a nice thing for little girls to say either."

Cass bit her lip. "Sorry." And watched her footing as the man led her over the cracked steps. She had walked so far on her own, but slowly, the Red Keep was starting to look familiar to her again. As she crossed over another step, her tiny feet stumbled. The older man grabbed her from under the arms, holding her up.

"Watch it." He set her back down. "Clumsy little thing, aren't you?"

Cass ignored the question, her face feeling hot with embarrassment. "You're not Ser Barristan, are you? He's old and you don't seem so old."

He smirked at her again. "I thought you knew I was a lion."

"Yes, but that doesn't make sense. The only lion in the white cloaks is Ser Jaime but Ser Jaime is a bad man."

His smile faded. "Is that what your brother tells you?"

"That's what everyone says but everyone also says to judge people myself so I don't know. It's confusing. How old are you?"
The man didn't hesitate. "Nineteen."

"I'm almost five. Nineteen is old. I'll be married by then and have my own castle. Why aren't you…oh. I forgot white guards can't. That's sad. Is that why you're sad?"
"No, Cassana." He rubbed his eyes. "You talk too much."

"Maybe you don't talk enough." She was suddenly angry with the man, but that faded as he kept holding her hand, his white cape flapping now in the brightly lit torchlight.

The man took her other hand, turning her to the side so that they were face to face. He knelt down too so that Cass could see his eyes. They were so green, like the deep part of the sea where all the turtles were supposed to live. She bet her mother would have liked that. She was an Estermont. "Cassana, it's been…nice talking with you, but as a member of the Kingsguard, I think I'm supposed to at least warn you not to wander around the castle. You could get hurt."

"But you helped me. People will always help me."

The man grimaced. "Not all people are to be trusted, Cassana."
"I can trust you though? Even if some people call you a bad man, you're still nice. You picked me up. Can't I trust you?"

He hesitated, getting that sad look on his face again. But eventually, the man smiled and grabbed her hand. "You can trust me."

The banners had direwolves on them.

Cass never claimed to have green dreams or anything like that, and as she looked at the camp ahead, the grey and white banners flapping in the cold air, her heart felt like it was burning in her gut. Robb will not kill me. He will not mark me a traitor. Even though she was. She was a traitor. She was craven too. She…she released the Kingslayer from his camp, and who would answer for it besides her?

Cassana thought her brother would have gone after her, that he was here. She thought that her dream…the fire and shadow felt like Stannis. Stannis had come to the wolves.

But these aren't his banners.

Strangely, she didn't feel afraid. She walked forward, accepting it, almost hoping that Robb wouldn't try to console her, to ask her how Jaime took her. She didn't know how she would say it to him. He deserves my head. And even with that thought, she didn't regret releasing Jaime at all.

The towers weren't there or any of the other bannermen loyal to the King in the North from what she first saw. There were actually no banners besides the direwolf and a merman on a blue-green field. House Manderly. Her Septa lessons came back. White Harbor is his seat.

The guards stopped her at the gate, confused by a maiden traveling on her own. She did not fall in the mud as she did in the past when she approached Robb's camp. She stood tall, chin high. "I wish to speak to Robb Stark."

But Cass didn't at all. She didn't want to see Robb.

"Who are you?" The Stark man asked gently, an edge only slightly in his voice.

"Lady Cassana Baratheon…of Storm's End."

"…Lady Cassana?" The guard looked behind her, to the right and left. "Come with me."

Robb's men looked different, as did their tents. They were newer looking, less worn from traveling, and Cass was confused. How could an army crossover us?

At the main tent, the guard grabbed her wrist, dragging her in. "Lord Stark."

Lord Stark? What happened to king?

But she saw who he was talking to, saw the man sitting on his chair, his leg still braced, and Cass' stomach dropped even more. "…Ned?"

The guard ignored her. "She claims to be Cassana Baratheon, my lord. What should I do with her?"

Put me in chains. Ransom me. Send me away. The Lord of Winterfell was staring at her, grey eyes piercing. He had obviously been resting before. A book was still in his hands. "Leave us, Rickard."

Cass opened her mouth to breathe better. She was baffled by Ned's appearance in these tents and outside White Harbor especially. "You should be in Winterfell."

"You should be in Riverrun marrying my son."

Cass tinged. Eddard Stark was not happy with her. He knows what I did. "…Lord Stark…."

"I told you to call me, Ned, Cass. I still want you to."

"Still?" She paced, seeing him nod. "Ned, then. Ned, I don't know what you have heard."
"Different things. One is that Jaime Lannister managed to escape his cell while he was bound and locked inside. He somehow kidnapped you as well and dragged you away from my son's camp."

Cass continued pacing, "And the other?"

"That you freed and left with him."

She paused her walking and looked at him. "The simplest solutions are most often the right ones."

"I agree." Ned gestured for her to sit, and she did. "But most times are not all."

"…It is a little more complicated than that, but I do not wish to lie to you." She bit her lip. "I let Ser Jaime escape."

Ned made no visible reaction to her words, as if he were expecting them. "My son does not think so." He pushed a pile of papers on the desk, letters from Robb no doubt. "He thinks the Kingslayer took you. Some of his men are disagreeing and calling for your head."

"Maybe they should have it."

"Maybe," Ned said evenly, and Cass tried not to run. She sat in the chair and watched Ned Stark weigh her, judge her. "But as I stare at you now, I only see the girl who saved mine. And you said you did not wish to lie to me."

"And I won't. I meant to talk to Jaime before we got to Riverrun. We…were friends once." Are friends. We are. "I did not know what Hoster Tully wished to do with him."

"Hoster Tully would listen to Robb."

"But Robb listens to his mother who then listens to Hoster Tully." Cass explained her reasoning. "I did not want him to die without me speaking to him." I did not want to speak to him again after becoming a Stark.

"So you freed him?"

"No. He…got out. I had to take the keys from a guard and then Jaime took them from me."

"Then he did kidnap you, Cass."

Did he? No, she had gone willingly enough, like he said. "He reminded me that I was sold to the Starks, Ned. He reminded me that I still have brothers out their fighting."

Ned's face paled at this. He eased himself in the chair, sinking deeper, his grey eyes becoming duller as he looked at her. "Your brother is sailing for White Harbor."

I knew it. But she still didn't feel good about the statement. "Why?"

"To get you back from us. It seems that someone did believe Cersei's plot."

Fool, why did he not speak to Renly? "Then it's good that I am here. I can speak with him and tell him the truth."

"It's very good that you are here. I do not wish to fight with Stannis Baratheon, Cassana. I have no feud with him."

"When is he coming?"

"My scouts say three days." Ned didn't look well. His face seemed heartbroken almost, but about what, Cass was not sure of. She got up from her seat, feeling suddenly terrible over what she had just said to him before.

"Ned." She curtsied low in front of him, head declining. "I do not mean to betray your house. You can ransom me to Stannis."

"I have no intention of doing that. I want to treat with the man, not threaten him."

She smiled, but still kept her head low. "I…cared for your son."

"I know you did."

"I'm sorry, Ned. I'm so sorry. But…I…I have to watch over my house. I have to stay loyal to my brothers." The ring was in her hand again—gold and black. "It's what Robert would expect me to do."

"Cassana?"

Her head lifted up at his voice. He sounded too careful and that worried her.

"What is it?" She stood up and straightened out her dress, wiped the dirt from her face and hands.

"Renly is dead."

She would have asked who killed him if it wasn't already written over Ned Stark's face. Catelyn had left for Highgarden when Cass was gone, making much better time than her and Jaime ever could have with fresh horses and waterways. And she had written to Ned too. He gave Cass the letters. Catelyn wrote about the two Baratheon brothers fighting, about a dark shadow that looked like Stannis stabbing Renly in the chest.

"I'm sorry, Cassana."

Her dream hit her hard. The fire and shadow. The stag dying. Her screams for Robert, for Renly. Had she betrayed him? If she had left with him at King's Landing, would Stannis still have murdered him? Would he have stopped or would he have killed Cass too?

"I don't understand."

"It sounds strange." Ned folded the piece of paper. "But it is not like Catelyn to lie."

She shook her head, "I believe her, Ned. I just…" She sat down in her chair. "Two brothers dead and one has murdered the other." How can I look at Stannis again?

Though Renly would have done the same. Cass told herself that. Renly would have left her in the Red Keep to rot. He would have killed Stannis in battle if his advisors taught him right. We are all monsters inside.

It was a terrible thought, an awful, awful one, but she said it aloud to Ned. "At least now my house will not be splintered. And with Highgarden behind us too."

Ned shook his head. "Yes, Stannis gained some of the Stormlords, but the Tyrells have sided with Joffrey."

"They what? Why? What was promised to them?"

Ned seemed almost happy at his response. "Joffrey was."

"…Margaery." Knowing Renly, she was probably still a maiden too. Cass bristled with anger. She had never really liked the Tyrells much, and now she had reason as to why. "Fuck."

"My lady?"

"I'm sorry." She blushed. "I just thought that after Renly died…"

"Stannis is the one that killed him though."

"Even more reason why. With Stannis' fleet they could easily take King's Landing by way of Blackwater."

"They are using that fleet to come to you."

A waste of time, dear brother. But Cass nodded. "I'll have them turning in the other direction soon, Ned." A thought then clicked. "I'm sorry. But how is Catelyn? Did she make it out alright? And Sansa…if Margaery is to be queen, then she is no longer Joffrey's consort."

"From what I hear, Cat is already on her way back to Riverrun to join with Robb. Sansa is…she's a survivor. I have attempted to offer a ransom for her, but the Red Keep is not listening."

They will listen when we bang on the doors. Or if Jaime keeps his word. She was not sure how loyal the Kingslayer was feeling to her at the moment, however, and she was not about to admit her bargain with him to Ned Stark. "I am glad to hear they are okay."

"You look tired, Cass. I've already arranged to meet with Stannis when he arrives three days from now. You'll need to rest."

She did need to rest. Cass nodded her head and allowed some guard to show her to a new tent.

They did not have any clothes for her to wear nor did Cass feel comfortable having them go out to White Harbor and getting her more. Some chambermaids tried to clean her grey dress, but the bloodstains would not come out. It was dirty, almost black looking, and Cass was almost happier that way. I should dress in all black and gold.

Stannis' chain was silver. She placed it around her neck, removing her mother's ring and setting it back on her right ring finger. Her hands were calloused. Her fingernails had dirt and small pebbles wedged inside, and Cass tried to pull them out. She waited as some woman combed out her hair. She had the girl put her hair in ringlets. Robert said my mother always wore it down.

Cassana rode behind Ned Stark as they approached the new fleet of ships to the east of White Harbor's main port. Lord Manderly said he was too old to ride out with him, but Cass thought it had more to do with the stone, not the years, he carried. Cass was nervous. She shifted on the borrowed horse, swallowed, and patted down her hair. She had not seen her family in too long. He is still my brother. Renly was in the back of her mind. Renly is dead. And she would listen to Stannis before she condemned him for it. She would hear him out because he was her brother and the only family she had left.

When the ship docked, she immediately recognized the captain to be the Onion Knight. Cassana had last seen him with her brother when they had been in King's Landing years ago.

"That is Davos Seaworth." She whispered ahead to Ned. "He was a smuggler, but a good man. Do you see the bag around his neck?" Cass went on when Ned nodded. "My brother chopped off his fingers for smuggling, and now he is his loyal man."

"I've always respected your brother, Cass. He is an honorable man that does the act he calls judgment on. Who is that? I remember Lady Selyse differently."

So did she. Lady Selyse was not particularly attractive and tended to have a moustache. This woman leaving the ship was much different. She was bathed in red, red hair and red dress and even her eyes were a copper color. "I do not know."

The red woman came up to Lord Stark first. She seemed to radiate heat, and that had Cass edging back, remember the fire in the woods and her dream. The woman spoke with an eastern accent. "Hello, Lord Eddard Stark. It is good that you wish to treat with us. I have seen worse enemies in the flames."

Cass stayed behind, ignoring the lady and looking for her brother. "Where is Stannis?"
"Lady Cassana?" It was not the woman who asked, but Davos, coming up with some men. "Lady Cassana, is that you?"

"Onion Knight, did I not say she would be here?" The red woman smiled. "It is good to see you, my lady."

Cassana did not acknowledge the woman, "Ser Davos, it is good to see you too. My brother is here, isn't he?"

"Aye." Davos turned and more bannermen were coming down, Stannis Baratheon standing between them, marching. He was not horsed, and Eddard made the move for his men to dismount as well. Cass soon followed. The red woman was staring at her curiously. Who is she?

"Lord Stark." Stannis looked thinner, sterner. His face was clean shaven, which was not what she remembered, and his black hair was graying. He has been through a lot. Cass wondered if some of it came from killing their brother. Stannis' blue eyes froze when he noticed her, standing there freely. "Cassana?"

"Stannis." She wanted to run up to him and hug him, but the lady in red held her back. Cass only smiled, her knees wobbling from underneath her. It had been years since she had last seen him. And despite the anger she held days ago, she still missed him. She missed him so much. "Stannis, it…it's good to see you."

"Cass, you're alright. You're…with Ned Stark." He turned to the red woman. "You said she was a captive."

The red woman shook her head. "I said I saw her in the North, Your Grace. I told you our true enemies are there, but I did not say they were the Starks. The flames led me to believe that, but now, I am not certain."

"They aren't." Cass spoke up right away. "Stannis, we must talk with Lord Stark." We must help Robb. "Let me explain Cersei's lies."

The red woman's eyes narrowed on her. "She wants something from us."

Cass sniffed. "Is it strange for a sister to ask for favors from her older brother? Stannis, please. Let us talk. First with Ned, then on our own."

"No, the other way." The red woman said, her hair catching the light and looking almost ablaze. "Talk to you sister first, Your Grace, and then with Ned Stark."

Who is she to be giving commands to a supposed king? Cass bit her lip. "Whichever the order. It does not matter, Lady…"

"Melisandre."

"An exotic name." Cass forced a smile. "I am sure we have much to talk about." She looked to Ned Stark. "Do you mind this arrangement, my lord?"

The Lord of Winterfell seemed to know better than to argue. "The outcome will be the same. I can offer you a place to talk, Lord Stannis."

"King Stannis." Melisandre corrected.

Ned didn't flinch and kept his eye on Stannis. "It is your decision."

"We'll talk on my ship. Come, Cassana." Stannis turned around without looking at her, and Melisandre soon followed. Cass gave Ned a reassuring smile before Davos gave her an arm and helped her onto the boat.

A/N:

Thanks for reading everyone :D