"Delphine of Lys. My, you surely exceed the stories." His eyes were doing another once over of her.

"Oh, where are my manners. Grand Maester Aldous." he presents with a practiced charisma, overflowing with courtesy and kind smiles. It puts her a little bit at ease.

That name...A connection. A faded remembrance of something, from another reality. She cannot quite connect the dots, but she knows that he is someone who pushed boundaries when it comes to pursuing his quests, and that we share some kind of relationship...non, affiliation.

"Lady Rachel has informed me that I might find you here. It's a pleasure to meet someone with your expertise on the subject."

I didn't know he was the grand maester here...although I suppose that makes sense.

"So" he begins enthusiastically, " I believe you will be working with me to uncover this little mystery."

"Yes," she recovers herself. "I am very impressed with your...collection." her hand sweeps over the rows of exotic ingredients. "I have never seen this much in one place."How on earth did he amass all of these? He smiles proudly, and as if reading her silent question,

"Well, being a grand maester has its perks." She watches and listens as he goes on identifying them, taken in by the way he speaks and his vast knowledge , and she can't help feeling as if she's been in the same situation before.

"Only a select few know of this room, which is why I'm surprised that I found you here." For the first time, there was uncertainty and slight suspicion in his voice., because only he could open the door.

"Oh, it was open. " she flashes her most charming smile, the one she knows will never fail her even if she was reanimated from the dead.

It works, and he lets it go, taking her elbow and guides her back to the other room where the rows of common and safe ingredients were.

"Come, why don't I show you the room where the making and testing is done." They enter another door, connected to the stock room.

Delphine smiles, trying her best to look like it's her first time being there, I've been using this place in the dead of the night whenever crucial. Though she has to admit that if it was her first time, she'd be engrossed by the best testing and potions room she has ever seen and by the way he exhibited the equipment.

"Naturally, this little project of ours is to be kept quiet. News of the Hand being murdered could cause unimaginable circumstances, so you understand the necessity of a little hush up."

If your definition of 'a little' means casually disposing of lives , then by all means, 'a little' it is then. She can still feel guilt for the unfortunate soldiers who payed for their lives just because they saw her.

"You will be introduced as you are, Delphine of Lys, but under the guise that you are here to help develop and expand the knowledge on potions. Even I have to admit that the Citadel is nothing compared to the potion masters from the east. You have been very hard to track down, and nobody has ever put a face to the name, so I know this will change things for you, if you're alright with it."

Is it worth it?

She thinks back on the dreams that she's been having ever since she could remember, and in that same second, she knows her answer. Yes, absolutely yes. Even if she knew it meant her thoroughness to keep her identity a secret would fizzle to nothing and her privacy next to nothing. If it meant a step closer to seeing you... she feels anxiety and impatience heaving in her lungs as her thoughts drift. The sight of Aldous waiting for a response pulls her back.

She nods, solidifying her decision. " I suppose this is more important than my personal concerns."

Besides, it's not like I really have a choice.

"Excellent." The grand maester is smiling too contentedly for her liking, and he excuses himself, plucking a potion from one of the shelves. "Now, pardon me, but unfortunately, I have to go back to the council meeting. "

"Your Grace, have you decided who the next Hand of the King will be?" the dreaded and long awaited council meeting with the King was in full swing.

Donald Baratheon's head wasn't functioning well that moment, the ale from yesternight still stewing inside his skull. Rachel eyes him with disdain. The Protector of the Realm finally appears for the small council, and he comes with a bloody hangover.

On second thought, she decides to be thankful of the hangover, because he wouldn't stop complaining of the dizziness and headache, and she took the opportunity to stare straight into Aldous' eyes ("perhaps the Grand Maester can visit his stock room and come up with a remedy, Your Grace", a slight narrowing of his eyes the only sign that it wasn't simply an act of consideration), creating the moment for him to meet the potioner without alerting suspicion from "the little fairies" and having them report to their master who fortunately did not catch the covert exchange.

The door swings open, and they all turn to see Aldous approach.

"I trust you were able to find what you were looking for." Rachel's voice was very casual, her eyes not even looking at him. What she really meant was Did you find her there.

"Of course. I wouldn't have come back if I didn't." All matters are taken care of. He sets a small flask near the king who immediately reaches for it and guzzles it down with a sigh.

Good. "Let's get back to business then."

"So, the new Hand..." Lord Felix reintroduces the unavoidable question.

The Lord of the Seven Kingdoms finally straightens in his seat,resting his chin on both knuckles, the potion pulling him back to sobriety enough to think about it clearly.

There was a sadness in his voice when he spoke.

"Well, to tell you the truth, I never imagined anyone else except Lord Ethan being the Hand." Amidst all the whoring, drinking, and lack of sense when it comes to running the kingdom, the one other thing they all agree on is that he has a heart, and that he too looked up to the former Hand.

"We all do, your Grace."

"Well, who do you recommend?" A pregnant silence ensues, the question more of a trick question than a real question, because even the King's recovering brain knows that no one can fill in the shoes of Lord Ethan.

After a while, he sighs, "Lady Rachel..." his eyes landed on her, staying there.

She gives him her full attention. "Your Grace."

She waits for his next words, her face an expressionless mask as he continues staring at her, giving way for just a fraction as understanding finally dawns. It takes a moment for the whole room to catch up and realize that he wasn't calling her attention, but identifying her.

Elation, pride, and pure pleasure on being chosen floods her, and though her face is unchanged, her heart is pumping with a sense of righteousness. To Rachel, it was the most sensible decision he has ever made so far, and it frankly surprised her.

It seems he's not completely useless after all, a part of his head must have evaded the general idiocy that exists there. It made her take one mental step back on the way she imagines torturing him: from breaking every bone to a less severe(for her at least) dislocation of every joint of his body instead.

There was no word of protest. Everybody knew she was capable, if not the only one capable enough, to take on the duties of being the Hand. But not everybody in the kingdom would agree.

Lord Felix decides to verbalize what was sitting on the back of everybody's mind.

"A wise decision, your Grace" And I do hate to admit, the only acceptable decision, " but it will surely cause a reaction, especially from the Lords who are less...compliant with a woman being chosen."

King Donnie runs his palms through his face, his earlier and darker mood starting to return. "I know that, but there is no one else I could think of. She has proven herself as Master of Coin."

"And the City's coffers have flowed like never before" she interjects, deliberately glaring at Felix.

"If they have a problem, they can address it directly to me...just like the last time, if you remember. A Lannister always pays her debts." Her voice drops on the last words, tainted with warning and challenge. Of course they remember, it would be impossible to forget when it cemented her credibility to be a part of the Small Council, and that this particular Lannister pays her debts a hundredfold.

"Yes. There. See? Case closed."

Felix inclines his head in acquiescence, albeit reluctantly.

"Finally. " A weight seems to physically come off the royal shoulders. "This damned thing is over." He mutters.

Lord Commander Gavin decides to air out his issue.

"Your grace, there is one more thing-"

"Seven hells, what is it now." Donnie has had enough of politics, his headache returning from eventually having to stand behind his decision against the unavoidable criticism for choosing a female Hand.

"The replacement for Ser Mandon of the Kingsguard."

"What, did he die too?"

"No your Grace, he was.. " hesitation. The Lord commander chose his words carefully"he is currently defective...permanently defective."

The king glares at him in impatience, waiting for an explanation.

"He lost everything below his right elbow during a fight."

"I wasn't aware that there was a fight requiring the Kingsguard."

"It was a duel, your Grace."

He scoffed."Nobody with a sane mind would challenge a kingsguard in a duel."

Usually, the kingsguard take pride in their armor, because it identifies them as the pinnacle of knighthood in all the seven kingdoms, even more so for the lord commander, but currently, he just wanted to tear the white cloak and armor off in shame. There was an awkward silence, the picture becoming clear.

"Wait, are you telling me that Ser Mandon challenged someone in a duel and lost not only his dignity as kingsguard but also his swordhand?" The way the commander's head hung was answer enough.

"Hah! Get the knight who did it , he seems to be more deserving of being in the Kingsguard."

"Pardon me, my king, but it's not a knight, and-"

"Then I will anoint him a knight myself, problem solved."

"Your grace..."

"Enough! This is making my head ache. I am the King, I appoint the people I want, Lady Lannister will be Hand, and whoever it is that booted Ser Mandon's ass will replace him in the Kingsguard, and that is final!"

Gavin nods in defeat, but also secretly thinks that it made sense and maybe it was, next to choosing who the next Hand would be, the best idea the king has ever had.

Cosima bumps into someone as she rounds off a corner from one of the general library's shelves, sending her spectacles clattering to the floor, followed by the books that jumped out of her hands.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." She can hear a male voice, her eyes squinting at a blurry black figure slowly coming into focus.

The man in black robes, dazed himself, awkwardly helps her up. When he takes a good look at her, he backtracks at once. "Cosi-Princess Cosima! I-forgive me, I wasn't looking where I was going." A stream of more stuttered apologies reach her ears and she waves her hand to say it's allright.

"Yeah, just, just hand me my-"

"Oh. Here."

"..thanks."She settles the spectacles on her nose, his face coming into view, his very nervous face, his very nervous familiar face.

She checks out the mop of brown hair, the clumsy way he holds himself as he shuffles from foot to foot, eyes downcast.

"Scott? Scott Tarly?"

He chances a glance at her, still a bundle of nerves. "Princess Cosima, I'm so sorry. It was my fault." A pair of arms around his shoulders surprises him, stopping the bumble of apologies from his mouth.

"Wow, you grew, and you're taller than me now!" He looked unsure of how to react with the situation, and she placates him with a smile.

"It's Cosima, Scott, it's still me."

"But, princess, I must-"

"Come on Tarly. Not you too. I'm Cosima first, and forced royalty second, alright?" She hated it, this is why it was difficult for her to make friends in the title conscious Capital, the only socially accepted friends she had being fellow highborn. Make that one socially accepted friend, she thinks sardonically, Allison being that person.

"But-" she glares at him. He clears his throat.

"Co-Cosima" he tries, the concept very foreign to him, and she knows, so she smiles encouragingly.

"See? Wasn't so hard. Much better, in my opinion."

He shrugs in a way that says I'm not so sure but I'll humor you. "I'm still very much new here, so my sense of direction is a bit non existent at the moment." he bends to pick up both of their books scattered on the floor.

"Arrived just a few days ago myself and I'm still adjusting." They make their way out of the library. "So, Scott Tarly, looking good in those black robes."

"Oh, it's just Scott now."

"The Order of Maesters?"

"Yeah, my father wanted me to be a knight, but, you probably know how that went," he looks down, both of them remembering their seven year old selves, him crying with his ass on the ground, and Cosima standing defiantly in front of Chad, a newly assigned page to one of the knights. Back then, she was just Cosima, the brave Dornish girl (much to his embarassment) who chased Chad away and later hid all his clothes when he was bathing in the river, naked and humiliated in front of the family he was serving as a page for, but now, she was a full fledged princess and the heir of Dorne.

"You are far more suited to study and explore things that really matter rather than join the brainless idiots who keep comparing whose sword is bigger and whose lance is longer." Scott looks at her, smiling and happy that someone else thinks so.

"Maester in training, huh?" she pinches his sleeve and makes him turn.

"Actually, it's Maester Scott. Fresh from the Citadel. The Grand Maester personally approved and requested for me here, something about a new endeavor and needing a selected roster. So I'm no longer an initiate." he beams proudly. "Although it doesn't really feel like it seeing as I'm still too young and green" his enthusiasm deflates.

Cosima tries to uplift his mood. "Well, look at you, Scott-no-longer-an-initiate." she playfully ribs him, inspecting the still few chains he wore.

"Oooh, this one's freshly forged, " he holds up a silver chain, "it's for medicine and healing. This one, also freshly forged, is for herb lore." He points out other chains, black for ravenry, another for history and heraldry, blabbing on while they approach one of the stone benches near the vicinity of the godswood, his manner finally relaxing, blurring the line of titles between them and redefining their past friendship.

He examines the books Cosima chose, two books about wine and wine making.

"Wine?" he holds a book up in question.

"Mhmm. Vintner extraordinaire, thank you very much." His face slackens, his mind catching on.

"By the gods, you're the one behind the new stock and variety of Dornish wine that everybody's talking about!"

She grins, giving a fancy bow. "Indeed I am, but the materials in the library are almost obsolete, the books on wine and ale are mostly common knowledge, and there's not many of them" she complains, her hands flailing around to make a point. "Well, there's two, those two, and I probably know most of what's written there, but I'm hoping there's something in them. I'm still exploring but I bet I could write an entire shelf about the subject, if all goes well."

"Maybe you should." he says in earnest, then scrunches his brows at the last two books at the bottom, then laughs a little. "Grumpkins and Snarks? Children's folktales? Really?"

Cosima snatches them from his hands, trying to hide her embarrassment, but then she sighs. "Allright, fine. I've been having these...dreams."

The ground painted white. The sky with a streak of red. The sun never rising from the horizon. A face weeping. Flashes of scenes. A dark figure always on the edge of her vision. Blue eyes staring at her. And she jerks awake, shivering, her body gone cold like she was laying on snow even though King's Landing had a warm climate.

"I'm trying to figure them out,"I can't ignore them any longer, it's becoming too much "but the library doesn't have anything on the...topic."

"The topic being grumpkins and snarks?"

"No. No, more like... weirwoods, dragons, white walkers, magic...that kind of stuff."

He was looking at her intently, his next words very deliberate. "You mean the higher mysteries?"

"Yes, but apparently, the closest reference that I can find are these children's books." she sighs, dropping them a little too harshly, her annoyance showing.

"You know, " his eyes gaze at the distance, contemplating something "I might be able to help with that."

Cosima's braids whip around as her head snaps to look at him, seeing a small smile on his lips.

"The grand maester has a more extensive and informative library, and I'm Scott-no-longer-an-initiate, remember?"

As they exit the chambers, Felix falls into step with the soon-to-be Lady Hand. She barely glances at him nor slows down in her steps.

"Your further protests will do no good, Lord Felix."

"Oh, I'm not here to protest. In fact, I'm here to congratulate you."

They stop to stand side by side at a platform overlooking the outer yard, both seemingly looking offhandedly mellow , a skill they both excelled at.

"You have a strange way of congratulating."

"Believe me, I have absolutely no problem with you being the Hand." Except for the fact that your insides have a darker shade and the vicious evil streak in your cold cold heart." But we both know there would be protests from the close minded pigheads who call themselves Lords." Inner Rachel nods, outer Rachel keeps staring at the gardens below as if she didn't hear him.

"Let them. I will...convince them otherwise."

"If only you were born a man, this matter of contention would not exist" he sighs dramatically while a half sneer half smile appears on her lips.

"Then you are a foolish Fairy if you think I need a cock between my legs to run the realms." she retorts, her hem swirling as she strides off to handle upcoming events.

Yes, and that is exactly what makes you dangerous. You don't need a cock and yet you can still fuck the kingdom however way you like it.

He watches until she is a red figure in the distance, hoping that there is more of Ethan Lannister in her than she normally shows.

The first thing Delphine does when she reaches the Hand's quarters which she'd been using is to open her leather journal, flipping the pages until she finds the one with 'Aldous' written on it.

AN

With the Sarah as Beth/Katja/Cosima/Alison/Rachel, Alison as Sarah, Helena as Sarah as Beth/Sarah, and Rachel as Sarah clone swaps, I'm still waiting for the Helena as Rachel/Alison. That would be gold