Thanks to everyone who reviewed, I didn't really expect much interest for an AU to an AU!

A Snake in the Mists

A Snake and a Crown

Spring was coming, delicate hesitant timid, yet stepping ahead unmistakably. The children in the fishing village were the first one to feel it – they ran around dressed more lightly and far more frequently, their shouts were more exuberant, boasting with having caught fish that Alynna very well knew didn't come in such sizes. One day, when she made her usual walk around the island and they surrounded her, the news of her coming having spread through those mysterious channels smallfolk always had.

"Princess!" one of her favourites, a boy of five, a little younger than her own son, cried out. "Look what Father caught!"

Alynna gasped dramatically. The fish was quite big indeed and worthy of admiration and her reaction made the child beam. "Today, I'll be sitting next to you!" he announced and a quarrel immediately burst out. Everyone wanted to sit next to this princess who didn't behave like a princess. She carried some highborn food from the kitchens and baked the fish they offered almost as deftly as their own mothers. Some of the fishermen who weren't at sea this day would often wander to sit down with them.

"My father is a mariner," she had explained more than once. "We've been taught to cherish what sea gives us."

The household in the castle had long ago become accustomed to the smell of fish and smoke that clung to her long after their weekly feast was over.

Today, the children were even more boisterous than usual as they showed her the new, peculiar seashell the sea had spit over last night. Breathless joy was streaming through their hairs, streaming in their blood. Spring was renewal, energy, lifeblood. It was so for Alynna, too, although in her youth, it had been sharper.

Alynna took a seat on her very own rock, grimacing a little. The belly was already starting to make her feel uncomfortable. She could hardly wait for this babe to be born – and there would be five months until it happened. Seeing that the children were now running away barefoot, she took her shoes off and wiggled her toes experimentally in the socks before deciding that it was way too cold and put the shoes on again. Those closest to her laughed.

"Look!" someone cried out. "A raven!"

Alynna looked up and the direction from which the dark bird was coming told her that her time for rest was over. There was another game to be played.

The news hit her like a brick but she didn't lose time wondering how and why it was.

"How much do you think he knows?" she asked and the three men gave her a startled look.

"It might be a coincidence," Arthur said unconvincingly and Alynna gave him a scathing look.

"I'm sure it is," she said in a way showing that she didn't share this opinion.

In the renewed solar that Rhaegar enjoyed immensely now that the repairs in the castle had been finished, the mood became colder than the winter that was now going away. Alynna was right, of course. Everyone knew it. The King had not left the Red Keep in years and now he had suddenly decided to attend the tournament? There was some chance for a coincidence but it was a very small one indeed.

"So much waste of time and resources," Rhaegar said wearily, and Alynna gaped at him.

"What?"

He looked at her, stunned disbelief in his eyes. "He knows, Alynna. At least, he suspects which in his mind is the same thing as knowing. We cannot go on with the plan. Surely you can see this?"

She shook her head, horror shaking her. She could see no such thing at all.

Silently, Lewyn Martell came behind her, placing a hand on her shoulder and she noticed Rhaegar's brief look of discomfort. That was no behavior fitting for a Kingsguard – and she got the impression that people truly expected Kingsguard to leave their past behind. Lewyn was no better in this than keeping his vow of chastity. And it was hard to treat one simply as Kingsguard when they had been her pony decades ago. "Tread carefully," he warned softly but Alynna was in no mind for subtlety. All this time and effort – and Rhaegar was ready to give it up at the first obstacle?

"Don't you get it?" she asked, looking from face to face. "That's our chance! Out of King's Landing, he won't be this powerful. Varys won't be with him, right? So we only need to make a plan according to the architecture of Harrenhall. One dark night, and we can have him smuggled away in secret. At the time, people would have seen just how mad he is. They'll be relieved to see him removed from power! And before the word spread, our garrison here might trickle in King's Landing and lay a hand on the Red Keep…"

The plan was maturing in her mind even as she talked. Lewyn nodded thoughtfully and Rhaegar listened to her with great attention but at the end started pacing the room, shaking his head. "No," he said. "Too many unknowns. That'll be a terrible risk. We had everything planned out…"

"And our plans got intercepted," she said. "That's the risk of any plan involving more than one person. And that's the strength of short-term plans – or no plans at all. No one can catch a wind of them!"

The sun started setting – too early, as it always did at Dragonstone. Alynna still couldn't get used to it. Shadows started sneaking their way along the walls and dragon arches. At one point, one dragon looked as if he was breathing a dark flame. Alynna looked away, straight at Rhaegar who didn't look convinced.

"What do you think about that?" she turned to Arthur.

He didn't hesitate. "I remember being a child at Salt Shore," he said nostalgically and the three of them stared at him. Was this the moment? "There was this favourite game of ours… We went to the Hoof – that's a rock plunging straight to the sea, crowning a small patch of earth cutting in it," he explained for Rhaegar. "We drew a deep breath and we jumped. About a hundred feet in the air before we hit the water. It was the most wonderful feeling ever, flying in the air, embracing the sea."

Ah! Now, Alynna knew where he was headed and barely bit back her smile.

"Do you know what happened when one hesitated before they jumped?" Arthur smiled faintly. "They didn't jump at all."

When Rhaegar's hand ventured under the cover and reached for her belly, Alynna didn't push it away but she didn't take it and place it there herself either. Thinking that he could feel the babe was nice but his refusal to provide security for it was not such a great thing.

"You're still angry," Rhaegar said in the darkness.

"Why should I be?" Alynna asked. "It isn't as if you're throwing my year of efforts away just because of a little problem. Indeed, I'm happy. I mean, which woman wouldn't be?"

He could feel her shiver. Even with the spring coming, the nights were cold. He rose and went to stoke the fire.

"Thank you," Alynna murmured automatically.

He walked back to the bed but didn't climb in. Instead, he watched her intently. "You are scared, aren't you?" he asked, realization suddenly dawning. Her fire and intensity masked any worry all too well.

"I'm terrified," she replied. "Each month, each week we postpone dethroning your father is time that we can never get back. He's getting worse, people are suffering, faith in the dynasty is fading away, and my little girl smells Dornish. And now you refuse to take action. Yes, I'm scared."

She saw his face and regretted his words immediately. "No, don't utter a sound!" she warned. "I don't want to hear about this prophecy. If you have something new to tell me, then by any means do so. For instance, if you can tell me what this Prince Who Was Promised is supposed to do, I'm all ears. But until then, I think we'll be doing our duty best if we teach our children to be good rulers and good people – in this order. For that matter, I think we should pay more attention to keeping the Seven Kingdoms running smoothly and prosperously, to better be armed to meet such a threat."

Rhaegar sighed and climbed in bed. Alynna had already turned to her side ignoring him. The prophecy was one thing that this worldly-minded woman, this woman of today could never understand. She didn't even believe in the omen of the red comet. Nothing could convince her in the importance of what was Rhaegar's lifework. Yet another thing that would forever drive them apart.

"I still think we should have acted now," Errol Gargalen said as soon as he found himself alone with Alynna – well, almost alone since Ashara Dayne was arranging the flowers in a corner, so propriety was maintained. Alynna dearly wished to have most of those thrown out. To her, being with child was rarely painful, albeit uncomfortable – but morbid aversion to strong scents was painful indeed. Of course, since they had been provided by their hosts, there was nothing that she could do.

"Say it to him," Alynna replied, trying to keep her composure. What was Errol expecting that she could do? Surely he would not expect that she shared Rhaegar's revulsion to action? "The Seven know that he won't listen to me."

"Yes, that was my impression as well," Errol agreed and Alynna looked away, feeling incredibly humiliated. If he hadn't been anyone else but her cousin, her longlife friend, it wouldn't have been this worse. But he had seen Myles cherishing her, respecting her opinion, taking her advice. While Rhaegar did respect her and was ready to listen to her arguments almost every time she wanted to make them, he had been anxious and cross since their arrival. In her family's eyes, her situation looked worse than it was because they had her life with Myles to compare to what they saw now.

"Is this the reason you came to see me?" she asked bitterly. "To tell me just how powerless I am?"

"In fact, it wasn't," he said after a pause. "I wanted to give this to you. I hope you'll forgive me for being rude."

Alynna saw the star kisses in the small pot he produced out of nowhere, and beamed. She reached out and gently stroked the green leaves and the dark-purple petals rimmed in white. "Ah Errol, you haven't forgotten that I love star kisses!"

Their hands touched over the petals and Alynna held her breath when a flame rose and jumped between their fingers. The feeling was so strong that she looked down and was astounded that she didn't see anything but stars of flowers.

"If I was sure it could win me a smile like this, I would have given up on Salt Shore and become a gardener!"

The words hung between them. Their smiles faded. For years, Alynna had asked herself why he had distanced himself from her, what she had done to hurt or offend him and each time, she reached the same answer – it wasn't her fault. Only two years ago she had realized what it was – and he knew that she knew. A whirlwind of feelings threatened to sweep her. The pale hair, the chiseled face and purple eyes – they were so much like Rhaegar's and yet they now captivated her in a way her husband's never had. She had never felt this way around Errol before. Ever.

"I think I should go now," he said after a pause.

"I agree," she said tonelessly, looking away.

All smiles died.

The girl slowly rose, looking stunned and then looking around, as if trying to find help, or someone to tell her what she should do. The queen of love and beauty!

A scream rising in her throat, Alynna rose, groaning a little and pressing a hand to her belly to calm down the fierce kicks inside. Now, everyone had turned their heads to her, wondering what she would do. Perhaps they expected that she'd smile and pretend that nothing had happened, like an obedient wife should? Well, they would be disappointed! With a fierce swish of skirts, she turned around and left the box, her ladies hurrying behind her. The wind made her gown cling to her and she pushed her belly further away. Let everyone see!

Everywhere, this terrible silence held on.

Their solar was her first stop. Once inside, she grabbed her husband's inkwell and poured it over the book opened on the table. Then, under her ladies' wide eyes, she headed for Rhaegar's harp and cut the strings, one by one. Finally, she looked around, grabbed a heavy footstool and brought it upon the instrument, leaving a heavy indentation. Now, he isn't the only one who has worked hard today, she thought with satisfaction.

And then, at last, the scream made its way.

"Your Grace. May I have a word?"

His goodfather's face was carved in stone but he was the first person who clearly wanted to talk about what had taken place. Robert Baratheon was looking daggers at him, Eddard Stark was probably busy keeping his hotheaded brother away from him, Lyanna was somewhere away without having looked at him even once after this first initial look of stunned joy and disbelief in the very first moment of her crowining. Arthur and Lewyn hadn't said a word, his father had lost it more than he had thought was even possible… At least someone wanted to talk.

"We can go to the Tower of Ghosts," Carral Gargalen suggested. His voice was even and Rhaegar felt relieved that finally, he'd talk to someone who would listen to common sense. Everyone behaved as if he had thrown his wife, so obviously heavy with his child, out in the cold!

The walk to the ruins was a brief one, leading them to a place of pain and destruction that claimed Rhaegar's soul in a single strike. It was not like the dreadful and beautiful towers of Summerhall at all. A mound of fissures and stones in shades of black that nature could never produce. High above their heads, openings for embrasures had been made but they had long lost any shape thanks to the twisting of rubble. One of them actually resembled a narrowed eye.

They found no one on the first floor, save for a legion of mice and cockroaches that scurried away panicked as the warped door screeched like a dying soul to let the humans in.

" So?" Rhaegar asked and the echo reverberated against the walls, strangely softened by the layers of cobwebs pillowing them. "I guess you want to talk about what happened today."

Carral Gargalen nodded. "In fact, I want to hear what happened today," he said guardedly. "What could my daughter possibly have done to merit such an insult?"

Rhaegar sighed. So, that was how everyone perceived it? As a slight to Alynna? The thought of offending her had never entered his consideration.

"It wasn't about Alynna at all. I thought that you, of all people, would understand. She's my wife. My future queen. Whatever I do has nothing to do with her. She's already as highly placed as she can be. Crowns of flowers are nothing compared to the one she's going to wear one day."

Wasn't a Dornishman supposed to understand?

His goodfather's expression didn't change. If he wasn't before him so he could see his eyes, Rhaegar would think that Carral had not registered the meaning of his words at all. He just kept standing there, the perfect mariner, tall and muscled, just as stony-faced as before. And then, all of a sudden, there was a white, mind-blowing pain. Leaning against Rhaegar, eyes like burning coals, lips drawn in a snarl, his fingers gripping Rhaegar's like a vice, the head of Dornish fleet snapped, "I can see you'll be just as useless in real battle as you are in the game of thrones, little boy. I advise that you stay away from real fighting and leave it to people who know what they're doing. And remember, if you ever think of humiliating Alynna like this ever again, I will break this girly tiny hand of yours. And then, I'll break the other one, so you won't even be able to take a piss without someone's help. That's what you deserve…"

It wasn't that Rhaegar couldn't push the older man back. It was just that such situations were not part of his training or instincts. He knew arms, not fists and underhanded tactics that Carral Gargalen had learned in the Seven knew what lair. When he could think again, it was too late already. The grasp on his hand was such that he could only see a curtain of red pain.

All of a sudden, Carral released him and pushed him back with derision that suddenly made him come fully alert. This time, it was his time to give the surprise.

Carral didn't raise hand to touch his cheek, although the bruise would be a monster of one. "That's better," he conceded. "Is this what you're going to use on Alynna tonight? Because you might be forced to."

For the first time, Rhaegar realized that his wife's reaction might be one that could not be soothed with words or gestures.

At the end, it had been his belongings that she had taken her anger out on. His heart ached when he saw the remnants of his harp and he wondered if it could ever be repaired. But he had offended her without wanting to and the insult had turned out to be quite great indeed, so he supposed he could give her this little revenge.

"Are you sleeping?" he asked softly, looking at her closed eyes. He hadn't seen her the whole day – she had pleaded tiredness and not attended the feast – and he just didn't know if she had exhausted all of her rage.

"No," Alynna said and rose in bed.

"Stay down there," Rhaegar said. "Rest."

She rose and threw on a robe. Her hair was flowing down her shoulders, there were bruises of exhaustion around her eyes and lines of tension around her mouth. Her belly was bulging out and for the first time Rhaegar was struck by the fragility of this woman.

"I am sorry," he said softly because he was. He had always seen her as strong, full of life, above being hurt by other's actions, his own included.

"I suppose you are," she said. And then, noticing his face. "Someone I know?"

"Your father," he replied, removing his clothes. "I am truly sorry, Alynna. I just didn't think. I…"

"Oh, I was never in doubt that at the end, you'll find yourself a whore," Alynna said breezily. "I am not the kind that appeals to you."

She was now seated on a chest, watching out for his reaction, so he didn't voice his spontaneous indignation at her description of Lyanna.

"I didn't expect that you'd do it this way, though," Alynna said. The candlelight filled her eyes with tips of spears, hundreds of them. "Not with a child, no matter how much closer to your ideal of looks she is. And she isn't even a whore. That's why I didn't go on with the potion I briefly had in mind."

Rhaegar felt chilled. "Poison?" he asked, his voice rising. She would have dared…?

Alynna waved his suggestion dismissively, looking offended. "Please. I just had in mind something to do about her looks. But after all, what competition she is to me? Perhaps one day, when she grows up. But for now, it would be needless and cruel."

Guilt grasped him, along with horror. To think that he could have become a reason for Lyanna to suffer such a thing? He knew that Alynna wouldn't have done it, though. She was all talk, trying to make him suffer. She knew that he was in love. She had to know. She had loved once, perhaps.

"She's no competition to you, my princess," he confirmed. "Your place in my life is one that she could never reach for."

"So I thought," Alynna said lazily, watching him climb in bed.

"Are you coming?" he asked.

"Just a moment," she replied and rose.

He was leaning on his elbow, ready to blow the candle out, when she tugged at the cord of the bedcurtains and her hand covered his mouth the moment the coil fell on top of him and started unknotting in a chorus of hisses. Just a minute later, he was buried under a mass of crawling, slippery, cold bodies, his skin pierced by countless bites. Alynna held him down with the weight of her own body against his chest.

"Remember," she said softly. "Next time, they will be poisonous ones."