CHAPTER 11. RONIN

STORM'S END

Cassana pushed herself to fight through what she had been through; betrayal, rape, and her first failure as Queen and a commander of men. "Father did you ever lose a battle…" Cassana thinks back to when she is seven name days old. She is sitting on her father's lap and he had been telling her about the war with the Targaryens.

"Once…It was against Randyl Tarly…The only man to ever best me in battle…"

"If I ever go to war I will never lose…"

Robert laughs, "Oh my daughter…Everyone loses a battle…The thing is to learn from your mistakes…The ultimate goal is to win the war…"

Sleep doesn't come easy for Cassana as she is haunted by Hartagon. She often awakens in cold sweats and sometimes she feels as if someone is in her room. "He's dead dam you!" She says to herself, "I need to pull it together…People are counting on me…" Arya had been taken by Stannis Baratheon who is now calling himself King in her absence. He is holding Arya hostage until Robb Stark supports him as King. It takes a few weeks but Cassana is able to overcome her demons and push forward. She summons Brienne. "Tell me what has been happening…"

She sighs, "The Greyjoys attacked the North…"

Cassana shakes her head, "I see I will have to teach them the same lesson my father did…What else?"

"We didn't tell you but Edric is dead…"

"What!"

"Your Uncle Stannis believes he is the Prince that was Promised…He tricked Edric into coming to Dragonstone and his red woman sacrificed him to her god…"

"The remaining Stormlords have abandoned him…"

Cassana stands up, "Send out the Ravens to the Stormlords only and let them know that their Queen still lives…" She rushes out of the Solar. Edric's death is too much to bare. Later she is alone in her room drinking; wishing she could get drunk. There is a knock at the door, "Enter!" Both Brienne and Gendry enter.

"The Ravens have been sent off…"

"Do you know I have a condition that allows me to drink as much as wine as I want and not get drunk…The Maesters call it Alhorism…In the east they say it is gift of the gods and they call Invertyse..." She wipes a tear from her eye, "I tricked that bastard into drinking…I freed myself and burned his ship…That is how I escaped…"

"He raped you didn't he?" Brienne asks. Cassana bursts into tears, "If you can't say it you will never get over it and you will never be an effective Queen…"

"He…" Her voice shakes as she speaks, "…raped me."

"I hope that bastard burns in all seven hells…" Gendry says.

"He raped me!" Cassana says more confidently.

"And you freed yourself…"

"I freed myself and killed him along with all his men…" Cassana is offered milk of the poppy to help her sleep, but she refuses. Later she lies in bed staring at the ceiling. She gets up and leaves her room through a secret passageway. As a child Cassana had discovered and explored every secret passage in Storm's End. She is the one that leads to the kitchen and when she reaches the end of the passage Cassana feels a draft. The last time she was in the passage Cassana was shorter and younger, now she is taller and older. She feels the wall and pushes a stone, which reveals a flight of steps that go down.

"This is new…" She says to herself. Down the steps she goes with the torch she bought with her, they turn in and after sixteen steps they turn back in again. They go down five flights of sixteen steps to each level. When she reaches the bottom Cassana walks up the hall to a door. She eventually gets the door to open and finds a large cavern. The cavern has the sigil of House Durrandon the former Storm Kings of the Stormlands. Legends say that the Storm Kings had power over the storms.

There is a large book sitting on a stand just before a bridge that leads to the middle of the cavern. There is a body of water in the cavern with sharks swimming in the water. Cassana opens the book and reads a few pages then she flips all the way to last entry. "The last command of my King…King Argilac…Unable to wield the power of the sword Ronin. My King has bidden me hide the sword here in this cavern where it was forged. Orys Baratheon has killed my King and taken his daughter for himself…Perhaps the blood of the Storm Kings will live on through her line…One can only hope…The sword will only answer to one who has seen the sword in a vision…"

Cassana looks at the sword on the stand in the center of the small island. She remembers her time in Winterfell the vision she had after touching the weir-tree. "Can it be true?" She starts walking across the bridge. The sword has a slight curve to it with a flat round cross guard; there are glyphs of some kind etched into the blade. When she touches the sword the wind starts blowing and lightening starts to dance across the blade. Cassana's eyes start glowing the color of lightening.

All the knowledge of past Storm Kings and Queens passes through her mind; a bloodline that had been mixed with Baratheon and Targaryen blood; the latter twice over. She picks up the blade and with a thought ends the wind and lightening. Cassana walks back across the bridge and stops at the book. She is off two minds, destroy this ancient knowledge or leave it. She decides to leave it. Cassana goes to the top of the Lightening tower named so because it had been struck by lightening several times. She draws the sword Ronin and the clouds begin to gather, winds start to blow, the rain falls, the sky rumbles, and Lightening arcs across the sky. Her hair blows wildly in the wind and sparks of lightening flash off the edges. Cassana's eyes glow and she is the legend come to life once again.

The next day Cassana breaks her fast with Gendry, "Did you hear that storm last night…Came out of nowhere…Then it was gone…"

Cassana smiles, "I slept through the whole thing…"

"Nice Sword…" Brienne says.

"It's called Ronin…"

Over the next few days the Lords of the Stormlands come to Storm's End to see if the rumors of Cassana's return are true. Many of them had abandoned Stannis after he burned the statues of the seven and had Edric Baratheon sacrificed. The men who served as Cassana's Queen'sguard also returned and took up their duties.

"My Lords…Welcome one and all…You followed my father in the war against the Targaryens…Now I ask you to follow me once again…"

"And how will this time be different?" Lord Cole asks.

"Because this time I have a secret weapon…" Cassana stands up and the Great Hall is suddenly filled with wind as she draws her sword. Lightening arcs across the blade and everyone drops to one knee.

"Hail the Storm Queen!" They all shout in unison when the display of power is over.

Later they stand around a war table, "They call it the Red Wedding…" Lord Reginald Dondarrion says, "Walder Frey and Roose Bolton betrayed the Starks and murdered them after offering guests rights."

"First we shall deal with my uncle…Then we march on High Garden…" Cassana starts saying as she lays out her battle plan. Ser Davos is present and he is still alive. Stannis had sent him to see if Cassana is still alive. "Ser Davos…You are still my hand if you want the position…"

"I do Your Grace…"

"Then I command you to send a Raven to Stannis…Tell him the rumors of my return are all false…Then we shall catch him off guard…" Cassana has 61,378 men under her command. They set sail after the Raven is sent and sail to Dragonstone.

Stannis is under the impression that his niece is dead. He is trying to figure out a way to raise more troops. Because of Cassana the Stormlands still have an ample army, but because of his beliefs many of them refuse to support his claim to the throne. Stannis is in the map room when the skies turn dark and starts rumbling. The rains start to fall, "Where did this come from?"

Melisandre is with him, "This storm is not natural…" She says.

A bolt of lightening hits the main gates ripping apart the stone and melting the large metal doors. The bells start ringing as ships approach the island fortress. "What is happening?" Stannis asks.

"Ships Your Grace!" Ser Imry responds, "Ships baring the Baratheon royal sigil…"

Cassana leads the charge up the beach and through the ruined gates. Her sword flashes with lightening. She cuts a man in half down the middle and then she points her sword. A bolt of lightening flies from the blade and kills hundreds of archers at the top of the steps. The lightening ricochets from one archer to the next. When Cassana reaches the top of the steps all that is left are charmed steaming bodies. She puts Ronin away and draws her sword Fury from her back.

Cassana roars and she charges into battle with Brienne and Gendry at her side. The Queensguard are not far behind. The battle for Dragonstone doesn't last long as many of the men drop their weapons and surrender. "I don't want prisoners…" Cassana says to her new Royal Commander Gendry. "Especially if they worship the Lord of light…"

Gendry nods, "In the name of the Queen kill them…"

"No!" The prisoners all scream.

Cassana enters the Throne room of Dragonstone. The chair is carved from Dragonglass. She sits down and the men bring in her Uncle Stannis Baratheon. "Cassana…You're alive…" He is forced to his knees along with Melisandre.

"Yes I am…I am told you believe in the lord of light now…I am also told you like to make sacrifices to the lord of light…I too wish to make a sacrifice…"

"He is the Prince that was promised…" Melisandre says speaking up.

"Ah yes…the ancient legend of the Prince who will save all from the Long Night…" Cassana satnds up, "Well if my Uncle is the Prince the gods old and new…The gods of the east and even the lord of light will not allow him to die by fire…Don't you agree Priestess?"

"Cassana don't do this…"

That is when Shireen bursts into the Throne room, "Cass!"

When she rushes forward Ser Robar stops her, "Let her pass…She is my blood…"

"Your blood and yet you intend to murder her father…" Sylese says standing between two guards.

Shireen looks at Cassana, "Its not true is it…Please tell me you won't kill my father."

"Your father murdered my brother…"

"He was a bastard for god's sake!" Sylese yells.

Cassana reacts out of instinct standing up and in one motion draws her dagger and flings it across the Throne Room. With a light thud Sylese is struck in the chest, she falls down dead. "MOTHER!" Sylese yells, she looks Cassana, "How could you…how could you…You killed my mother…I hate you!" She says feebly punching at Cassana's legs.

Cassana takes a breath to calm down, then she looks at Ser Swann, "Ser Swann…take my cousin to her room…"

Shireen runs across the throne room and drops beside her mother's lifeless body, "Mother get up…" The Knight Ser Swann takes her away, "No leave me…Leave me!"

Cassana wipes a tear from her face and looks at Stannis, "Take him away…I will decide what to do with him later…"

"What of the red woman?" A soldier asks.

"Take her out to sea and tie a very heavy and big stone to her feet…I doubt her god will save her from a watery death…"

"You are making a mistake…I can help you…" They take Melisandre out to sea, but the ship bursts into flames, there are no survivors.

ARYA

Arya is glad to be free again, she had caused all kinds of problems for Stannis and his men. Once she escaped her room and killed three men. It got to a point that Arya had to be chained down at all times. Eventually she is summoned before Cassana. "I am glad you are alive…I didn't believe it when they said you were dead…"

"Thank you…I am sorry about your family…Know that intend to deal with our enemies…"

They are in the solar, "Promise me…When you fight the Boltons and the Freys I get to kill those rats…"

Cassana nods, "No one but you will touch Walder Frey and Roose Bolton…" Cassana sighs, "I know you have been talking with Shireen…How is she?"

"Angry…Why did you kill her mother?"

Cassana grunts, "We Baratheons are well known for our tempers…When she called Edric a Bastard all I saw was red…I went blank and before I knew the dagger was flying out of my hand…"

Arya shakes her head, "I got that angry when they killed Syrio…"

"Syrio was a good man…"

Arya scoots her chair closer, "I know you are angry, but you can't kill Shireen's father…"

She sighs, "I know…It is so frustrating…"

"When do we leave for the Capitol?"

"We are not going to the Capitol…Yet!" Later Cassana goes to see Shireen. she turns away from her holding a book on the Dance of Dragons. "I know you must hate me..."

"I do go away..."

"Edric was like a brother to you...He was a brother to me...a real brother...We had different mothers but the same father...I loved him same as I love you...Your father had my brother murdered..."

"It was that Red Woman she was controlling Father..."

Cassana nods, "I know..."

Shireen looks away, "If you know then why did you kill my mother..."

"You ever got so angry that you did or said something without thinking about it..." She nods her head yes, "...Well that is what happened. You are a Baratheon so you know what I'm talking about..."

Shireen sighs in a very adult manner and sets her book down. She looks at Cassana, "Are you going to kill my father as well?"

She sighs, "I am angry...but I am thinking clearly...No for your sake I'm not going to kill him..." She doesn't reply so Cassana stands up, "I hope you can forgive me one day...I love you Shireen..."