Casterly Rock, 298 AC
Waking up with the knock on his door by a servant, Aistan, the eldest son of Aylis and Stannis Baratheon, sits up in bed, yawns loudly and walks out of his bedroom, towards the great hall of Casterly Rock. He still remembers the first day he has come here with Tywin, how sad he had felt to leave his parents, but how impressed he has been when he has seen the Rock for the first time. He has never seen such big walls, and, as he was going through the lion door, he has never felt so insignificant. He has closed her eyes a second, and has prayed to come back to his parents. But Tywin has led him to the Great hall, where he is now, and eating breakfast with him. From there, he had seen the sun shining on the sea, making it sparkling as if it was made out of diamonds. And, then, he had fallen in love with the place.
He has not forgotten his parents, and reads one of their letters: he very rarely receives a common letter, rather one from them both. His father reminds him to listen carefully to Tywin, be obedient and good. His mother writes to him how much she misses him, and hopes he is well treated and well fed. Two different ways of dealing with the situation, he guesses. Although, he really enjoys living here, studying under the sun, having long conversations with Lord Tywin, learning how to fight and how to use swords, horseriding with the twins Martin and Willem, sons of Lord Kevan Lannister. They are older than him but he does not mind. He enjoys their company, they are nice and outgoing. Aistan quickly makes progress, and his relationship with Tywin is closer, even though he remains very respectful towards him.
King's Landing, 298 AC
Aylis knows she cannot spend her whole life in Winterfell, despite how happy she feels there. Stannis has not written, not at all, and she fears he is mad at her. After a few weeks in Winterfell, she decides it is time to get back home. She has spent wonderful days there; the twins have learnt new things and have grown up pretty much. As they get in the carriage, she notices how they stay close from Bran and Rickon, hugging them both, then the rest of the Stark children. They don't cry but their eyes shine a bit. She embraces all the Starks, and Jon, before getting in too, calling at Shireen. The young girl is definitely crying, and Aylis promises her they will see each other as soon as possible. Maybe they could come to Dragonstone, she proposes. But nothing seems to soothe the young girl's grief, not even cuddles from her mother and brothers. She keeps staring at the family watching them leave, and snuggles in her mother's arms when they have become too small to be recognizable. Aylis strokes her hair slowly, and stares at the landscape.
Stannis welcomes them when they end up reaching King's Landing. Aylis immediately knows something is wrong: he is pale, and looks severe, the smile he gives to them looks fake. He spends some moments with the children, Shireen telling him about the Starks, but he is not really focused on her, and quickly takes Aylis apart. He leads her in their room, and locks the door. Aylis frowns, worried:
"What is it?"
He looks at her:
"Jon is dying."
She needs a moment to realize he is talking about Jon Arryn, and not Jon Snow, Ned's bastard.
"Wh-what? Dying?" she stammers, shocked.
Stannis takes her hands and stares at her, whispers quietly, as if he was scared people might be listening to them:
"He is being poisoned"
Aylis gasps loudly and Stannis places a hand on her mouth:
"You need to be very careful, do you understand?" he groans, almost threatening, but, in his eyes, Aylis reads something she has never seen before. Fear.
"Who would do that?" she asks in a whisper.
"I will explain everything. Later", Stannis replies and quickly leaves her alone in their room, puzzled and scared.
She goes visit Jon and Lysa: Jon is coughing a lot and seems to ache a lot. Lysa stares at him, quite coldly, and Aylis has the terrible feeling to suspect her for his illness. She pretends to solace her, and she sits by Jon, holds his hand. He looks very confused, mumbles things she does not understand but, as she squeezes gently his hand, he turns to her, and his eyes suddenly shine and widen, but not with fear, rather with relief when he sees her. She smiles softly at him, and stands up, but he grabs her hand violently, almost hurting her. He stares at her, and, between wheezes, he says with a clear voice:
"The seed is strong! Remember, the seed is strong!"
Aylis does not understand what he means, but it looks very important to him, and he gives her a desperate look, so she smiles, to reassure him, to leave him in peace.
"I know, Lord Arryn. I know."
He lets her hand go, and lies back in bed, slightly smiling. Aylis leaves, watching Lysa taking care of him.
A few days later, Aylis is woken up in the middle of the night by Stannis. She startles and notices he's fully dressed. Half-asleep, she wimpers:
"What are you doing?"
"Dress up. We're leaving", he simply answers, throwing a dress at her.
She sits up and rubs her eyes:
"What's going on? It's the middle of the night"
"Don't ask questions and do what I'm telling you!" he almost shouts and Aylis flinches slightly. He sighs as she wraps her arms around herself and walks to her, cup her face and kisses her lengthily.
"I'll go wake the children up."
Still confused, Aylis dresses up and meets her husband out of the room. He comes back holding the twins, Shireen following sleepily. He motions them to remain silent and they walk to the port, similar to shadows. Before she knows it, Stannis takes Aylis on Fury and they sail to Dragonstone. Rocked by the waves, the children soon fall back asleep, and Aylis walks to her husband, taking the helm, focused on the sea. He looks so bad she herself feels awful, and she quickly joins him, wraps her arms around his waist, leaning her face on his back. Then she beseeches him:
"Talk to me…"
She feels his chest rising up slowly and a loud sigh escaping his lips.. It has been months since they have not been that close, since she saw Aistan leaving. She knows, in her heart, she will never forgive Stannis, except maybe if Aistan comes back to her. She has never likes the Lannisters, nor trusted them. But she would never imagine what Stannis would tell her now, in the middle of Blackwater Bay. His voice, then, soft and deep, says:
"Jon is dead, during the night, just before we leave. I have good reasons to believe he has been poisoned by Cersei and Ser Jaime."
Her arms wrap tighter around him, and she stammers:
"B-but, why?"
She has always known something was wrong with Cersei, and she has never liked Jaime either, his honeyed tone and his handsomeness. Too good to be true, according to her. She has never blamed him for killing Aerys, it has probably been one of the best things he has ever done, but there is something about him, about them, which makes her very ill at ease.
"Jon and I have been spending lot of time together. You have noticed this. We have been making inquiries about Robert's bastards and we have realized that Joffrey, Tommen and Myrcella are not Robert's children", Stannis says, very laconically.
Aylis, very surprised with his tone, moves away to face him and, a bit stupidly, asks:
"Who is their father then?"
Stannis raises an eyebrow, as if he couldn't believe she is serious. She startles a bit:
"Oh no…. How could they?... Stannis, do you realize how serious it is? It is treason towards Robert, and it means…" she does not finish her sentence and looks up at him. Her heart hammers in her chest. "It means you are the heir…" she whispers, as if afraid of her own words.
Her husband does not look puzzled by her reaction.
"Jon and I wanted to have enough proof, then annul Robert's wedding with Cersei and have him marrying someone else", he explains. "But now he is dead, Robert will never believe me if I tell him his children are not really his. I think Cersei has suspected Jon and me, that's why I am taking you all away from her."
Aylis nods slowly and stares at him, looking at him with different look now: when Robert will die, he should be the heir. But if no one proves that fact, he will have to remain in Dragonstone for the rest of his life. He remains as he has always been, jaw clenched, focused on what he is doing. When they get there, they put the children to bed, and go to sleep as well. Aylis fears that Cersei's revenge would be terrible, and barely sleeps that night, remembering Aistan is in Cersei's father's hands. What does the future hold for them all? This simple question brings tears to her eyes with anguish.