Edaline was brought back to loathsome capital.
She was coldly surrendered by Euron Greyjoy to Queen Cercei herself.
He did not make eye contact with her. She took a small joy in that victory, hoping his sausage cock fell off one of those days.
They were left alone, the Mountain, the queen's hand and the queen all looking at Eda.
She wondered where the kingslayer was, it seemed he was always with his sister.
She was also slightly offended by any lack of guards or restrains.
She knew it was childish and stupid but she bet if they had her brother here - he would be surrounded by a whole platoon of men.
Clearly she was just a small soft girl who was harmless.
Actually that struck her as a particularly stupid misconception from the queen.
But Edaline didn't think the queen considered other women capable and smart, she had a strong suspicion Cercei considered herself capable and smart, in spite of being a woman, and that she was this way because she was a damned Lannister.
And this will be your downfall you stupid bitch, Edaline thought of her sister - Lady of Winterfell and the army that backed her, and for the first time, also thought fondly of Daenerys and her army and 3, no now 2 dragons.
She also flexed her fingers and reached for the tiny strings she felt before stretching from the Mountain. They were still tight but not too tight, and still she thought if she wanted to - could make him bend to her will.
Cercei didn't even look up at her.
"Lady Edaline, I hope your journey back to us was pleasant enough, Euron seems to be rather tight lipped about it - do not worry - no harm will come to you as long as you behave"
Like she was a bitch in a kennel.
Eda scowled but didn't say anything.
The queen handed her a quill and some parchment.
"Lady Edaline, I suggest you inform your brother, WARDEN of the north, Jon Snow, how you were abducted by pirates from your ship on your journey home, how the royal fleet intersected those criminals on other matters but found you and rescued you just in time, and as a sign of good faith and gratitude as well as the newfound peace between our families, you will spend some time in King's Landing while he and…Lady Targaryen conduct their affairs"
Edaline looked at the queen like the other woman grew two heads - did she think her brother a dimwit?
Ahh, so this was politics Tyrian was the master of.
She would spew this lie that everyone knew was a lie, and Jon to keep her safe, would acknowledge it and pretend to believe it.
How dull.
Without question she wrote what the queen asked. On a spur of the moment - she pricked her finger with the sharp end of her quill so several bright crimson flowers began to bloom on the small scroll. She quickly rolled it up.
She was thinking of her king, as hard as she could, aching for him - hoping against all hopes that the raven would touch down somewhere in the snow and that would be enough to at least send her lover a clue where to start looking.
It was a really awful plan but, it was the best she had at the moment.
"Now, I don't think I need to put you in a cell little dove do I?"
The queen finally looked up at her.
Edaline refuses to be stared down so she stared right back at her.
"Your grace, I am hardly in a position to go anywhere outside the castle am I, since even the dress I wear isn't mine."
She looked distastefully on the yellow satin thing which she supposed women in the South wore that Euron threw into her cabin right before she arrived.
"Your grace" both women turned to hear the quiet but strong toned voice of the older man in black besides the queen.
"Perhaps I could look after Lady Edaline during her stay with us?"
"Qyburn, Lady Edaline is a valuable guest for now and would hardly find the black cells suitable!"
The queen spoke with reproach but her eyes glinted unpleasantly.
"Oh I would dare no such thing my queen!"
Her hand, who Eda now knew was called Qyburn answered,
"I am simply offering to keep our young guest entertained and under my watchful eyes since I am afraid my help may be of limited use in battle strategies"
"Alright" said the queen impatiently.
"Make sure she isn't too broken when you are done" and with that, she stood up and walked out of the room, the Mountain followed her out, his steps could be heard several corridors away. "Clunk clunk"
They stood staring at each other from opposite darkened corners - neither one willing to leave the comforts of the shadows.
Edaline was observing the hand of the king with some curiosity.
As usual with most people, it was his inner darkness that stood out to her - but his was….peculiar.
Like the man from Bravos, it had a soothing quality to it, a rare thing she found in people - but more importantly, it lacked the typical swirling chaos most human beings that carried this much of it inside seemed to possess.
His was just as dark, just as strange and endless and deep as few people she met, but it was calm like ice water.
Calm, like her king was most of the time.
His darkness did not own him like it did with people like Cercei.
He owned it, used it and locked it back up like a tool as he needed to.
Edaline couldn't help by be a little impressed - this was a man who could have a lot more power if he wanted to, but for whatever reasons, he seemed content being at the edges of existence, watching.
Qyburn in turn was watching Edaline with increasing fascination.
She was beautiful, true - but no more so than the Targaryen girl, or even the queen herself,
Arguably less beautiful that some poorly behaved wenches who was unlucky enough to displease Littlefinger and be sold to Qyburn for research...materials.
No, what he noticed was Edaline's actions or to be precise alsoher certain inactions.
Like the drops of blood she purposefully marked her letter with - blood magic out in the open? presented as simple carelessness? He was old but not blind.
Or when the wight jumped out of that box.
As the rest of the humans also looked in terror (or in his case - professional fascination) she looked bored.
Like it was something expected, like to her - an unarmed slight girl of all but maybe 20, the snarling crawling chaos of dead sinew was no more a threat than a stink bug.
And that, that stood out to Qyburn more than the giant dragon that Danarys rode into court with.
He would not be the brilliant man he was today, where he was today - capable of doing the things he did - if he ignored subtle anomalies like this Edaline Stark.
"Your hand is bleeding my lady, may I help you with that? he offered his arm and she took it without argument.
A few minutes later they stepped into his…other, above grounds workshop and she gasped looking at the endless books and specimens as he gently took her tiny bleeding hand and wrapped a clean strip of linen around the cut.
She suddenly yanked her hand away.
"Who are you, you are not a Maester - where is your chain? Why do you have all this?"
He didn't feel the need to give elaborate explanations to her but he did tell her truthfully.
"I was one until I got expelled from the Citadel"
Edaline had a passionate dislike of "The Citadel" ever since Maester Luwin laughed when she asked if they ever took girls.
He kindly told her, if she wasn't of noble birth, perhaps she could have one day been a midwife.
What nonsense.
Edaline sent multiple ravens the summer she was 12, addressed "The Head of the Citadel" (she was unclear on their titles)
Explaining that women could and should be allowed to join their ranks.
She clearly did it enough that one day Maester Luwin called her and her father into a room in private and told them he himself received a letter, asking him to address the situation.
Her father and the embarrassed Maester did address it with her and clarified what her future as a noble lady was to be.
She never wrote them again and dissected her dead pigs alone.
"What did you do to get expelled?" Edaline asked - impressed in spite of herself.
"I experimented on those who were still living" he didn't feel the need to be dishonest with her here either.
"Well, were they going to die anyways?" she asked.
"Most of them" which wasn't a lie either - most of his subject at that time of his life were those who the citadel couldn't help, those that were there just waiting there to die.
Edaline Stark looked up at him with her strange obsidian eyes - her pretty face confused?
"So why was it a problem how they died at the end?"
Qyburn thought - he was wrong, a rather rare occurrence for him. Edaline Stark wasn't just beautiful - she was exceptionally beautiful