Disclaimer! I own nothing from game of thrones or the song featured below. I have no claim to anything except the original characters.

Chapter 9

It is before first light. Everything is quiet. The halls of the castle are empty, everyone is sound asleep at this hour. A small woman wearing an oversized cloak which hangs over half of her face, hurries down a corridor towards the guards chambers and quietly counts as she passes each closed door.

"One, two, three, four.." She stops abruptly as she reaches the seventh closed door and as quietly as she could manage, she gently pushed the door open. She stealthily stepped into the dark room, closing the door behind her.

"Ser Daavos," she whispered. There was no answer except for the occasional snore. She starts to panic slightly and whispers more loudly, "Ser Daavos!"

At the sound of her voice, he leapt from the bed suddenly and before Anna realised what was happening she was pushed up against the door with a knife against her throat.

"Who are you?" He demanded, pressing the blade more tightly against her neck.

Anna shut her eyes and quickly said, "I am Anna, Lady Everra's handmaiden, she sent me to get you!" She held her eyes tightly shut even after the pressure of the blade left her throat.

"Why has she sent for me?" He asked, sheathing his blade.

Anna raised her hand to her throat and began to rub it shakily. She replied warily, "We need your help for something."

The unlikely pair hurried out of the guards room and out of the corridor and made their way to the front courtyard, the hoods of their cloaks bouncing against their forehead.

They glance around quickly, making sure that no one can see them and hurried outside, the cold, winter air immediately hitting them. They stick close to the walls and Anna leads him past the blacksmith until they finally arrive at a corner where a bloodied corpse lays. The corpse is of a man, seemingly mid thirties, with a long bushy beard and brown hair. There are multiple stab wounds against his chest, and there are blood stains the front of his armour where a sigil of a black panther lays .

Ser Daavos makes a sound in his throat, disturbed at the sight. He glanced at Anna whose eyes were brimmed with tears and whose mouth had fallen open and she had unconsciously raised a hand to her mouth in horror at what she had done in her rage.

Ser Daavos took a step towards her, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. She turned to look at him and blinked, tears streaming down her face. He looked at her sympathetically and said, "We need to finish this Anna, so we can put this behind you."

She nodded, silent and wiped at her eyes. Davoos removed his hand from her shoulder and turned to look at the body and asked her again, "What did Lady Everra say we must do with it?"

Anna looked up at him, startled and wide eyed and cleared her throat, "Um she said we must wrap a cloth around his chest, she did not say why, and then we must carry him to an alley near a tavern, remove the cloth from his chest and burn it, but to leave the flaming cloth where the body originally lay and then she said you must choose one for the picking."

Ser Daavos nodded in understanding and looked into the girls eyes which were filled with confusion, "What does she mean by that? Choose one for the picking?" She questioned.

Daavos did not answer and instead held out a hand expectantly, "The cloth," he simply said, deciding to spare her from the truth.

It would be a long night for the both of them.

Everra rubbed at her eyes and petted Andromache who was sitting beside her in front of the fireplace and stared at the flames, enjoying the sight of the flickering orange and red.

She had slept very little, and when first light finally came she had slipped out of her nightshift and tugged on a simple yet elegant black dress and had tugged out a long black coat, tossing it onto her bed.

She had sat in front of the fire, waiting for the inevitable knock on her door. She continued to sit there on the stone floor until the sound of a hesitant knock came though her door.

"Just a moment!" She called out, rising to her feet.

She made her way towards the door and pulled it open unsurprised at the sight of an exhausted and worn out looking Daavos at the other side of her door.

He opened his mouth briefly at the sight of her and then closed it, seemingly undecided. Everra simply stepped out of the way, holding the door open for him. He quickly made his way in and she shut the door and then leaned against the wall, observing him all the while.

Once Daavos was safely in the confines of her chambers he let his curiosity, panic and suspicion grow and started to pace the floor, rambling, "My lady over these past few years you have asked me to kill, to kidnap, to threaten and to torture and I have done this without question because I knew I was doing it for you. But for the life of me, I can not seem to figure out what you have to gain from this-" He stopped pacing and turned to look at her for a moment, his eyes pleading for answers.

Everra stood there in silence for a few moments before answering, "Reassurance of loyalty."

Daavos gaped at her and slowly stared to look bewildered.

Everra sighed and thought that even though he was one of the few people she actually respected in this world, he could be awfully slow at some points.

"Anna," she clarified, " She was a loose end and I….. tightened it and secured it so it may never be lose again until I decide to cut it off," she finished coldly and stared at him, face unexpressive.

Davis stood there, mouth opened in disbelief, "Are you really so cold as to simply kill an innocent girl for no justifiable reason except to serve your purpose?"

Everra's answer was unhesitant, "Yes."

Davis shook his head and laughed bitterly, taking a step towards her, his voice rising, "My lady, you have done many things that would make most people cringe and run away in horror and fear. I have stuck by you because somehow I have always managed to find some sort of justifiable reason for your actions. But by the gods nothing can justify that," he paused and then gestured around the room, "Or this!"

He looked at her, frustrated at her lack of response. She stood there looking at him, waiting patiently for him to finish. Her eyes were cold and calculating as she looked at him and Daavos felt a surge of frustration and anger! So much anger he could swear at that moment he wanted to-

"We are going to let an innocent boy get crippled, thousands of men, women and children will die and you feel nothing! Nothing!" He laughed again but it was filled with bitterness and self pity.

After he had finally finished and is anger was slowly diminishing she spoke coldly but fiercely, "Everytime I have asked you to raise your sword to end a mans life, everytime I have asked you to risk your life for me, anything you have ever done for me whether it be to do an errand or kill a man you did off your own free will. I never forced you to do that. I never enslaved you, I never tortured you into submission. These horrible deeds I have asked of you, you chose to do them. You chose to stick by me all these years and if I remember correctly a few days ago I asked you whether or not you were completely sure to stick by me throughout this war and you looked at me completely baffled at my doubt and replied without hesitation yes, knowing full well what it meant," She paused for a moment and her eyes somehow became colder, "So yes, Daavos I am willing to kill an innocent girl to make sure that everything goes as planned. I would be willing to kill anyone."

She took a step towards him and looked him straight in the eye, her eyes cold with fury, "I do not need to justify anything I do to you. I do not care whether or not you think I am a monster because I am one. And you are a bloody fool for not figuring that out sooner. So, now that we have got that settled I am going to ask you one last time, are you in, or are you out?"

Daavos looked at her, feeling helpless. No matter what he did, he could not get through to her. No matter how hard he tried, she was right, he was a bloody fool. But for the life of him he could not leave her. Even when he wanted too, even when she wanted him too.

Then with all the willpower left within him, he nodded silently and closed his eyes, not bearing to look at her.

Knock Knock.

Everra's eyes darted towards the door slightly and she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, calming herself. When her eyes finally flickered open, they had lost their fury and had instead adapted to their usual coldness.

She spared Daavos one last glance and turned to open the door, revealing a solemn Maester Luwin.

"My lady I am sorry to inform you of the recent murder of one of your guards…"

Everra stood at the drunken man in front of her and could smell the mead from his breath even a distance away. He seemed to be approximately around the same age as the King and Lord Stark and had greasy, shoulder length hair, with random brown spots on his otherwise pale face. His teeth were a strong yellow and there were multiple gaps between them.

Everra turned to look at Maester Luwin, whom was standing nearby along with Lord Stark, had started to prepare for the kings hunt and Everra found herself eager for them to leave.

"Are you positive this is him?" She asked cooly, turning back to look at the shaking man in front of her.

"Quite sure my lady, all evidence seems to point to him. He was right next to the body and had a knife in his hands which we can presume if the weapon he used to kill Ser Davent."

Everra nodded and Lord Stark spoke, his voice careful, "My lady we are incredibly apologetic for the Knights death. We will prepare the body for the trip back to RedRun."

"That is most generous my lord, thank you."

Then she abruptly sprung forward and snapped the mans neck with a sickening yet familiar crack and watched emotionlessly as he fell to the ground.

She practically felt all the people behind her jump in surprise and suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. She turned back around to face them and causally wiped her hands the front of her dress, "Well now that has been taken care of if you will all excuse me, my lords, my lady, Maester." She curtsied and quickly brushed past them, her long cloak trailing behind her along with Andromache who stuck quite close to her side.

Once she was out of earshot Maester Luwin muttered loudly, "She seems to following in her fathers footsteps my lord, we must be careful."

Ned shook his head in disagreement, "No," he replied, "She's worse."

Everra ignored everyones fearful and weary glance at her and Andromache as she walked the path back to the castle. She felt rather tired and wished to take a nap and avoid everyone, she did not want to accidentally alter what was to happen with Bran. That was the most essential thing. The catalyst for the war.

As Everra made her way up the path, she was suddenly aware of someone calling her name.

"Lady Everra!" A familiar voice drawled out and Everra paused slightly and then whirled around. No one was there, at least no one she could see. As the noise got louder and louder she noticed that no one else seemed to hear it.

"Psst. By the corner," the voice whispered in her head and Everra turned to look at the corner where her eyes finally landed on the familiar old woman. Everra felt her eyes widen slightly and pushed through the crowd which quickly parted at the sight of her and Andromache.

When she finally arrived at the corner the old woman had disappeared and in her place instead was a sealed letter. Everra bent down to pick it up from the floor and clutched it in her hands. She made one futile attempt in searching for the old woman but was unsuccessful. Some things even she did not have power over.

Once Everra was safely in the confines of her chambers she ripped open the letter, her eyes scanning over its content. Her eyebrows rose high on her forehead as she reread and reread it.

'Out in the distance, in somewhere near yet not near, somewhere in the past but not in the distant past,a falcon was taken from the sky. Everyone was sad and bewildered as to what killed the falcon, especially the stags and the dire wolves. The Lions roared in relief, the roses kept on growing, the kraken kept away and the fish from the sea offered their sympathies but no answer could be found. Though there was someone, one with nothing to lose ad everything to gain as he made the falcon fall from the sky. Sometimes it is the person you least expect that ends up being your end.'

Everra sank to the floor and rubbed at her eyes. She was getting tired, too tired. It made her feel weak. She crumpled the paper in her hands and brought her hand to her face.

After a few moments of staying in that position she finally stood up and walked towards the dying fire and tossed the letter into it. She could not afford for anyone to find it.

Everra sat on the chair by the window and slowly began to rock back and forth as a familiar tune drifted into her head, it was a song her mother taught her.

Gods know I'm not dying

But I've been down

And the gods know

its the only way to feel now

with all the blood I lost with you

It drowns the love I thought I knew

Everra sat there for a long time, long after the hunting party had gone, long after the sun was well up in the sky and she sat there, waiting for the sound that would confirm it all.

Everra's eyes had started to droop and she felt herself losing focus until she heard the distant sound of a wolf howling. Not just any wolf. Summer, she realised. More importantly she realised, Bran.

When the realisation finally hit home, Everra found herself unsurprised at the lack of guilt she felt. Maybe it was because she had always known it would happen, maybe because she knew that it had to happen or maybe because she really was the emotionless monster people said she was.

What she did know however, was that there was no going back from this. This was it, any chance of preventing the war gone, with just one single shove from a certain Lannister.

Everra closed her eyes and finally allowed herself to fall asleep, trying to ignore the sound of Summer howling in the distance.

A/n, Okay guys so this chapter is really short, sorry about that. I was just rushing to upload something for you guys. I am so incredibly thankful for all of you support with your reviews and your favorting/following, it really means a lot. Please tell me your thoughts, I would really like to hear them even though I really dislike this chapter.