Dragonstone, 298 AC
Dismissing the servants with a wave of her hand, Aylis slowly slides her tunic off her shoulders, and gets in the fuming bathtub. Allard has left for a few weeks now, and there is no way they can know if his mission has succeeded or not. She closes her eyes and leans on the wood, sighing contented as the water warms her body up. Where is Aistan now? she wonders. What does he look like? Will she ever see him again? Or will the Lannisters send his head in a box? The simple thought of it makes her shiver violently, and a pain knots her stomach. She swallows hard and strokes her belly silently. Her eyes open again when she hears the door opening and closing again: Stannis is joining her. They always had this ritual, taking a bath together, a moment just for themselves. With the war, Stannis is very busy, focused on his strategy, and impatient to be done with it. The King is not war hungry: he does not take pleasure in doing it, or in fighting. But he cannot let the Lannisters, the people who have killed his brother, he is sure of this, rule over Westeros, when the throne should be his. Aylis knows he deeply respects Tywin, and wonders what will become of him, when, or rather if they win. They have the number, but the risk of losing is still there. The Tyrell bannermen have divided between the houses supporting Mace, and the ones supporting Olenna. Stannis has been so mad when he has learnt about this Aylis thought he was going to slap Loras. Mace Tyrell is a nice man, Aylis likes him, really. He is pretty fun and pleasant to be around, but he lacks authority and charisma. Willas, his heir, is gentle, sweet, educated. Both Aylis and Stannis think he will make a great Lord, when his father will pass away. Stannis also knows the Tyrells are so powerful he will have to reward them for their loyalty to him. But, tonight, he forgets about politics for a moment, and joins his wife in bath. He leans against her and she wraps her arms around him. He smiles silently: since Aistan has been kept prisoner, she has refused to share his bed. So the baths have turned more and more frustrating for him. He has never forced her, but they have argued, often, about this, as Stannis has felt it was a punishment towards him for sending Aistan to Casterly Rock. He understands she misses her son, he misses him too, but he does not feel guilty about this.
In the bathtub, they remain silent for some minutes, Aylis's hands running on his chest. She lays a kiss behind his ear and whispers:
"Any news about Aistan?..."
She would have been one of the first to be informed, but, still, maybe they have forgotten. She feels him shaking his head slowly and squeezing her hand. She bites her lip and holds back tears. Once she is sure her voice will not tremble anymore, she asks again:
"And the war?..."
"As soon as Aistan will be safe with us, we will leave for King's Landing. We will take the city."
"Stannis…. I received a letter from Riverrun… My father is dying. I… I need to go there and see him one last time, be here when he will leave this world. Cat and Robb will be with me. Could you wait?... I know you will need Robb's army…" she hesitantly says.
For a moment, Stannis remains silent, but she can feel how tense he turns. She hopes this has not angered him, but what can she do about it? She has to be by her father's side. She wants to see Edmure again and kiss Hoster before life abandons him. Stannis ends up nodding slightly and says:
"I will give you an escort. You cannot go there on your own, too dangerous."
She nods silently and lays a long kiss on his hair. Stannis smiles innerly, thinking about who he could send with her. Loras is needed in the army. Maybe Ser Horpe? The man is lustful for battles, and anyways Stannis will have to wait for them to come back to attack King's Landing. He will send Ser Horpe, he decides, and turns to Aylis, kisses her and stands up in the bathtub. The water has turned cold, and he holds his hand at her so she stands up too. She wraps arms around him as he wraps a towel around them both and their eyes meet for a second. She wants him, but feels unable to do whatsoever, as she knows her son is still in danger. She kisses him, nicely so he remembers she is still desirable, but not too much to not frustrate him. Stannis enjoys the kiss, but breaks it as he feels desire overwhelming him. They leave to their bedroom, and fall asleep.
In the middle of the night, Stannis is woken up by loud knocks on the door. Still taken in his sleep, he suddenly sits up, thinking they are attacked. He rushes to the door with Lightbringer. Behind the door, stands Davos.
"Your Grace. I am sorry to wake you up but… you should wake the Queen up, and follow me", the knight says. Stannis understands immediately, and rushes back on Aylis, wakes her up a bit brutally. They walk out and follow Davos, Stannis soon walking in front of him, holding Aylis's hand so tight in his she fears he is going to break her bones. In the Great Hall, Allard, Aistan and a young woman with a frightened look are sitting at the table. Aylis freezes when she sees Aistan: he has not changed that much, he still looks like the so young child she watched ride away. But he has grown up, very much, and is very tall for his age. He is strongly built, just like his father, and his dark hair is the same as before. His eyes shine when they lay on his parents, and he rushes on them, hugs them both tight. Aylis is unable to say whatsoever: she cries, and cries, unable to stop, overwhelmed by feelings. Stannis kisses her hair, then Aistan's, but is the first to notice the young woman. He looks at Allard:
"Who is this?" he asks the young man.
"Her name is Margot, your Grace. She…helped me taking your son back", he lies. He knows he should not do this, it is dangerous, but he also knows Stannis is not a man who forgives easily, and that Margot has served the Lannisters, after all. He looks at Margot and nods slightly, and the girl stands up and curtseys.
"Y-your Grace", she stammers a bit, impressed to be in the King's presence.
When she was in Casterly Rock, she did not care about who was king. The Lannisters were her employer, but she has not been particularly fond of them. Lord Tywin has never treated a servant badly, but they all knew about Joffrey's deviance and weirdness. She wonders, although, how Lord Tywin has reacted when he has learnt about Aistan's escape. Stannis offers them food and drinks, and Aylis takes Aistan to bed when they are done. She lies in bed with him, and stays awake all night long, stroking his hair gently, hardly believing he is home, at least.
At the Lannister's Army
The messenger looks down, his legs shaking uncontrollably. He can feel Tywin's icy look on him, and panic invades him so much he feels he is gonna throw up and piss himself, both at the same time. He dare glance at Tywin, who dismisses him with a nod. The man does not wait for more, and runs away. Tywin sighs and stares at Westeros' map spread on the table. Aistan has been his best luck to reason Stannis. And now, he's gone. He suddenly turns around and grabs a quill and ink: he orders his castellan to punish every member of the guard who was present on the evening when Aistan escaped. He writes him to torture them, because no one could have gotten into the castle without help from the inside. One or several of them are guilty, he is sure of this. When he is done, he sealed the letter and gives it to a messenger. He pours a glass of wine, and drinks it slowly, thinking, pondering over the war, the kingdom, and his children. Cersei and Jaime, together in King's Landing. He has received, like every Lord of the kingdom, the famous letter of Stannis, accusing them to have engendered Joffrey, Myrcella and Tommen. He has faked outrage, of course, but deep inside him, he knows. He knows it is true. He has always known. From their childhood, he has knows something has been abnormal between them. Joanna too, has known. Joanna… He whispers her name, as a prayer. He wishes, so much, she would still be here, at his side, to help him, to advise him. It is Joanna who saw them having pervert relationship, and has put them in rooms opposite to each other, one far east of the castle, the other far west. When she has died, Tywin has lost his power on them. He has tried to betroth Jaime, but his sister's influence was stronger. The sweet words she has whispered in his ear. Tywin could imagine them. Cersei has always been dangerous, he has always known. But he thinks he has taught her more about family and nobility. Does she even care about Jaime? He doubts it. Jaime is a prisoner of the Starks, since months now. Tywin has wanted to exchange him in favor of Aistan, but how could he, now? How could he get his son back? The old lion is far from being stupid. He knows he cannot win the war. He has not enough allies, the Dornishmen have not taken a side yet, and he knows they will not support him. Because, far away from here, in Essos, a young silver-haired woman is looking to avenge her family, and taking back the throne of her father. Tywin can remember the night his men has sacked King's Landing: he can see again the little body Ser Gregor has brought to him, and his sister, not much older, her chest red as if she has been painted, but he could have not ignored the traces of the knife which had bruised the innocent girl. He could never forget the look of Eddard Stark's face. But Ned is dead, and he, Tywin, is going on. At first, he has not cared about the deaths of those children, but, now, from time to time, they haunt them in his dreams, he hears the yells, the cries, the supplications, he sees the bloody faces, and they suddenly change into Jaime and Cersei. This is when he wakes up, in a sweat and his heart hammering in his chest. But he cannot regret what he has done: it needed to be done, depite what the honourable Ned Stark would say. A Targaryen alive would never stop wanting the throne. Proof with Daenerys. But Tywin must care about his family first: if Stannis, or he should say when Stannis will win the throne, nothing he could say will save Cersei. She has cheated on Robert, probably since the very beginning of their marriage, she has betrayed Robert by claiming children were his, she has poisoned the wine so he gets killed : she is guilty of too many crimes to get away with it. The only one he can save is Jaime. As for Tyrion, he truly hopes he will die in battle. His eyes wander again on the map, and he narrows them, determined to fight, until the war is truly lost, and that he sees Stannis sit on the Iron throne. The only hope he has, is that Stannis is less cruel than he is himself. If for him, if he was in Stannis's place, he would execute the whole family, and get rid of it once and for all.