Chapter 25

Margaery

She was walking down the aiel of the great sept of Baelor, her father at her side. The sept was filled to the brim with people, lords, ladies, some she recognized and some she did not. They were all looking at her in her white dress as she approached the altar where the septon was standing waiting for her and beside him a man in elegant black and grey robes, his cloak dark grey with a wolf's head on it. His hair was long and dark she could not help but smile. The man she loves with her entire heart was standing there, waiting for her.

Her mother, grandmother, brothers and cousins were all standing in front, all looking at her with happy smiles. Everything was perfect just like she imagined it would be. As she and her father got to the altar, he let go of her hand and walked towards where the rest of her family were. There was a beaming smile on her face as she looked at her soon to be husband, her love. The ceremony started and the septon started chanting his words and soon the part she waited for so long came.

"Do you lady Margaery of House Tyrell take this man for your husband before all the gods and men as your witnesses?" the septon asked.

"I do," she said eagerly.

"Do you Joffrey of House Baratheon take this woman for your wife before all the gods and men as your witnesses?"

Margaery looked confused at the septon, her love wasn't Joffrey, he was not the one who she wanted to marry. Then she looked at the man beside her, his dark hair was gone replaced with golden blond curls of a Lannister, the dark clothes were gone and in their place were red and gold ones. She looked at the man's eyes but she could not find the gentle grey eyes she loved so much, in their stead were the emerald green, she looked at them for a long moment in shock. There was no gentleness in them, no kindness, just malles and cruelty.

"I do," Joffrey said.

"No, this is not how it is supposed to happen not like this," she said loudly. She started taking spets back to get away from Joffrey but he grabbed her arm and squeezed it tightly.

"You are mine now," Joffrey said with an evil grin on his face, malles filled eyes stared back at her.

It was in that desperate moment that she finally woke up, jumping from her bed. Her eyes darted around to room to see that it was still dark and that there was no one in there beside her.

Margaery laid back into her bed trying to relax. This dream started off as it did when she was back home at Highgarden, everything seemed the same until the end. Ever since Sansa told her about Joffrey's true nature she was even more scared than she was before. Sansa later told them that Joffrey too pretended to be a perfect prince when they first met but after her father got arrested he had shown who he truly was a monster.

She was starting to doubt if she can truly get control over him, her grandmother used to say that men could easily become stupid when you have a pretty face and were willing to open your legs for them, that if smart enough you could get them to do anything for you. But now it seemed like Joffrey would not be so easily persuaded by just that.

Her thoughts turned to the other man from her dream, the one she wanted to see. She wondered where he was now, was he safe or were the Lannisters and her grandmother still after him. None of this was supposed to happen, none of this would have happened if they just stayed at Highgarden, stayed out of this damn war.

Margaery curled up, her knees almost touching her face now. She tried to present herself as this strong woman, a perfect lady, a soon to be queen but she was screaming on the inside. Once she truly wanted nothing more than to be queen one day but then he came, a shy grey-eyed boy who stole her heart. Ever since her love for Jon blossomed she started wanting to be queen less and less until she wasn't really sure about it any longer. Renly gave her a way to have both but now she realized that she should have picked Jon.

Every detail she heard about Joffrey from the servants and Sansa made her blood run cold, he repeatedly beat Sansa, made her look at her fathers severed head, he attacked her little sister Arya while they were in the Riverlands and recently she heard that once while Joffrey was still a small boy he cut open a pregnant cat to see what was inside. He was nothing like the man she loved.

"Why did I do it?" she screamed on the inside.

She missed Jon, she missed his soft smile and the sight of his eyes glittering at the sight of her, she missed the warm feeling she had every time she was in his arms and the feeling of safety they brought. There was no safety in this place, everywhere you looked there were people who wanted nothing more than to harm you or to use you for their own gain, the queen being the former and according to what she heard lord Baelish was the latter.

She hated the man to came to her family with the offer, she still hated her grandmother and father so accepting it although she knew that her father probably had little choice in the matter, he was never the smartest man and did what her grandmother told him almost always with little objection.

"I did it to save him," she told herself repeatedly but as time went on she saw her mistake. She thought that he would be safe if she went with her grandmother's wishes and offered herself to the Lannisters but she failed to realize what Loras would do once she did so.

Loras loved Jon as much as he loved Garlan and Willas, sometimes it seemed even more. Now there was no doubt now how much he truly loves Jon and because of that, they were both in danger. There was still no word about Loras and Jon, something which made her grandmother more and more agitated. Yesterday she heard Olenna say that Randyll Tarly with all his martial prowess was nothing more than an incompetent bore who is not capable of finding one of the most well-known men in the kingdoms. Margaery was grateful that if they could not be found easily that means that they are safe.

Margaery sighed, she had to be strong, she will endure this, she had to for her sake, for the sake of her family if not for Olenna and her father then for the rest of them and for Jon. She owed Jon to try to bring peace, to get his sister out of this place. She was starting to realize that bringing peace would be harder than she thought, a few days ago while she was in the gardens with the king he made his opinion on the matter quite clear.

They were walking through the hedge maze making small talk with two of the kingsguard shadowing them. Once they reached the center Joffrey set down on one of the stone benches and offered her the place next to him.

"I'm grateful for your company lady Margaery, you don't know how much this means to me," Joffrey said with a smile.

Margaery giggled "Your grace, I just wanted to say the same thing, it seems our minds think alike."

"Indeed they do," Joffrey said.

"I have spoken with your uncle yesterday, his jokes made me laugh, he even offered to teach me a game from Volantis, he says he learned it from a cousin who sailed to the free city," Margaery said and watched as the prince's smile turned into a scornful expression.

"Do not pay the imp much attention, my lady, he might be my uncle but my mother always says that he can not be trusted and I'm inclined to agree with her. He is a spiteful little man who only cares about himself and would hurt you in a heartbeat if it suited him," Margaery pretended to be surprised and nodded her head, telling Joffrey that she will take his advice and be more careful around lord Tyrion in the future.

"While we are on the topic, is the queen alright, healthy?"

"Yes, why?" Joffrey asked, raising an eyebrow.

"She does seem… a bit forgive me for saying, she seems rather stressed recently," Margaery said trying to sound worried.

Joffrey looked at her and then turned his gaze towards the ground. "My mother has indeed been stressed out, there is nothing to forgive my lady. The events since my father's death have been hard on her and she is trying to cope with them."

"Your grace if there is anything I can do?"

Joffrey shook his head. "There is nothing you can do, she just needs time."

Margaery gave Joffrey a look of sympathy and put her hand over his knee, he turned his head to look at her.

"All will be well your grace."

After a brief moment, Joffrey replied "It will be once the Starks have been dealt with once and for all."

The way he said it unnerved Margaery but she refused to show it. "Isn't there a way to make peace, your grace?"

Joffrey stood up, now looking down at her with his emerald eyes, she could see the anger in them. "There will be no peace, the Starks are all traitors, first Ned Stark tries to overthrow me then his son declares himself king, there will be no mercy, punishment for treason is death," Margaery felt a shiver go down her spine due to the way he said the last part like he was wanting nothing more than to see to it personally.

Margaery looked at Joffrey with weary eyes "Forgive me your grace I just thought..."

"I know what you thought, women always want to find a peaceful way to solve problems but this problem can not be solved peacefully, treason like this can only be answered with a sword," Joffrey said and his voices softened slightly.

"As you say your grace," Margaery said bowing her head.

Joffrey looked at her. "Forgive the tone of my voice my lady, the recent events had not only been stressful for my mother but for me as well," Joffrey said trying to reassure her.

"There is nothing to forgive my king," Margaery said with a small smile and got up from the bench, looking up at the sky. "It's getting late your grace I think we should rejoin the others inside."

Now she wasn't so certain of her options, if Robb Stark continues to win the war then she will get a good chance at persuading Joffrey to ask for peace. Her family has given the Lannisters their troops but the Lannisters too had more troops at the beginning of the war and yet Robb Stark pushed them back all the way to Harenhall and beyond. Jon would most likely head to join his brother, Margaery just hoped that the gods would spare him and Loras from any bad fate that might befol them.

She will find a way to solve this, she didn't want any of her or Jons family to die in this war, the most terrible thought she could think of was that if Jon and Loras met Garlan on the battlefield would they stay their hand or would they fight.

Robar

We woke up around the same time as Loras and Grenn did, they proceeded to go break his feast with them, Loras telling him that Jon has decided to get some sleep and that he would join them once he wakes up. Robar felt relieved at that, Jon had not slept since that night at Summerhall, whenever he asked Jon what it was Jon just answered him by saying it was just another bad dream but by the way he screamed that night Robar could tell that it was much worse.

After the meal Loras and Grenn went to the yard to practice, just because they were in a friendly castle does not mean that the lessons can stop. He went back to see if Jon was up and about but once he saw that Jon was not, he went to his room. Robar stayed there for a short while resting on the bed before deciding to head to the castle library, he has not read a single book since they left Bitterbridge the first time when Renly was still alive, a tome about the history of the Stormlands or something similar would do nicely.

He asked one of the servants to point him to where the library was found and once there he started going through the shelves. The Blachhaven library was suitable but it palled in comparison to the one he found in Highgarden, that one overshadowed even the one back at his home of Runestone.

After finding a book he wanted he sat at one of the tables and started to read, it was not long after, maybe an hour that he heard some commotion in front of the door, A boy's voice was heard from the other side.

"Lord Philip is fighting Ser Loras lets go watch," the voice said excitedly. Robar could not help but smirk, it seems everywhere they go someone wants to test their metal against them. A reputation can do that to a man, if well known enough everyone would like to test their sword against you. Loras and Jon were famous in the south and he wasn't a joke either but he was far more well-known in the Vale and the Riverlands. He looked at the page of the book where he was now, he was done with it and wanted to continue reading but decided to go and see what this Philip Cole was made off.

Robar found the man to be serious, even gloomy, since the moment they met he felt that there was something off about him. He met plenty of serious people in his life, Stannis Baratheon being the most serious man he ever met. He met the wannabe king when he accompanied his father to the capitol for the celebration of princess Myrcellas birth. Philip reminded Robar of King Robert's younger brother a lot. Walking through the castle corridors it took him several minutes until he finally reached the exit to the yard. As he was at the large door, Philip brushed past him, a solemn book on his face.

Once outside he saw a group of people all with concerned looks on their faces, confused he approached his companions and Ser Tristan. "Has something happened?"

"I'm going to after him," Tristan said and left towards the keep. Once the steward left Grenn was the one who gave him the answer.

"Lorass tongue happened, that's whats."

Robar looked at his friend "What did you say?"

"It's not my fault, how was I supposed to know that he would explode after a taunt, I didn't know that his mother was dead," Loras said trying to defend himself but there was regret in his voice too.

"You need to be more careful, that tongue of yours will cost you if you continue," Robar said.

"It wasn't my fault," Loras said once more.

"It doesn't matter whose fault it is now, once Philip cools down you will apologies and we will leave this place tomorrow, we overstayed over welcome as it is," Jon said. No one said anything against it they just nodded.

Later around lunch hour, they found ser Tristan in the great hall having his meal at the high table. Jon and he walked to the table, Loras and Grenn being in the stables tending to their horses. They sat down next to the steward and asked the servant to bring them a meal. After a brief moment of silence, Jon spoke.

"Forgive us, ser Tristan, it was not our intention to stir up trouble when we arrived here, we will be out of your hair by tomorrow."

"It is not your fault, the boy is how he is, there nothing you can do to change it," Tristan said as he looked at his meal, more picking through it than eating. "I tried for years to make him realize that his mother's death was not his fault but he just won't listen. He has gotten it into his head that he is the reason for her death and there no way to talk him out of it."

Jon looked at Robar with an uncertain look in his eyes and then looked at the steward. "I don't mean to pry but what exactly happened to make him believe that?"

Tristan sighed "Years ago my wife and son were visiting her family at Cape Wrath. On their way back they were assaulted by bandits. She didn't take many men only half a dozen saying that it would be enough, that they won't be staying too long at that they would be back quickly. She was always confident, my wife. The guards were either killed by arrows or during the fighting, my wife took Philip and ran into the woods to find shelter, the whoresons went after them. Philip says that they almost found them because of his crying and that's when his mother made the decision to detract them by running. It was two days later when lord Swanns men found them, my sons sitting on the ground crying next to the lifeless body of his mother. The bastards caught her and then proceeded to rape her and kill her. Philip blames himself because he believes that he wasn't brave enough, that if he hadn't cried his mother would have lived," the man said, tears now forming in his eyes.

"He was just a child, he could not be blamed for what happened," Robar said.

"I know but tell that to him. I have tried and tried to tell him that but he just won't listen."

"He at least had a mother," Jon said, there was sadness in his voice. "I never met mine, I don't have any memories of her."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Tristan said. "Lady Ashara was a good woman, they say that she was the most beautiful woman in Westeros."

"My father never told me the identity of my mother, the only thing I know about her is that she was stubborn and that she was probably from Dorne if what I heard was true," Jon said and Robar left pity for his friend, it was one thing to never meet your mother but not even knowing her name was another. Robar wondered why didn't lord Stark tell Jon anything about her, was his honor so important to him that he would keep her name a secret from his son forever.

"If Ashara is truly your mother, then Edric would be your cousin. I do hope you find the truth someday Ser Jon, no one should walk the world not knowing about their parentage."

"Thank you, ser Tristan, I hope so as well," After a moment Robar spoke next.

"Did you love your wife?"

Tristan sighed "Our marriage was arranged at first, she was the second daughter to one of the lord Kellington, an excellent match for someone like me. It was awkward at first but slowly we got to know each other and eventually, we did fall in love. She was similar to me, smarter even but more confidant of herself," Tristan chuckled "Then again the Kellington sigil is a book after all. So yes I loved her and I love her still because I don't believe that there is another woman like her out there, at least not exactly like her."

Loras

He did regret what happened in the practice yard, it was not his intention to provoke Philip in such a way, it was all meant to be a jape but it turned into something much more. He truly didn't know about Philip's mother, then again he should have probably have known there was something there when they didn't meet her yesterday or this morning.

This journey with Jon had been an eyeopener for him in a way, he had seen how the small folk truly lived, he did go past or through villages before but he never gave them much attention until now. He also met people to whom life hadn't been as kind as it was to him, Bonifer lost his love, his brother lost an arm and now maybe even two of his sons. There was a village they passed while they were still searching for Jon where a child had died of disease and the mother went in the street. Grenn, who had lost his entire family, and now Cole, who lost his mother to bandits. It all made Loras realize just how good and privileged life he had until now, being the son of one of the most powerful families in the realm, with a caring father and loving mother and three siblings.

He never had to care about anything really, his family was always there, he had good friends, there was always food on the table, he had everything he ever wanted, his father never said no to him and his siblings. He took everything for granted until now that is.

After the incident in the yard, he knew that he would have to make amends with Philip but not now, for that he would have to wait at least few hours until the man is in condition to talk and not immediately try to take his head off. So he and Grenn parted from Jon and Robar, their two friends going inside the keep while they finished their practice session and then decided to go to the stables to tend to their horses, Bluebell was in a need of currying.

Once inside the stable, he asked the stableboy to give a curry comb and to give one to Grenn.

"Why do I need this?" Grenn asked.

"Haven't you ever groomed a horse?" Loras asked.

"No, what's the point?"

"Well for starters to remove the dirt and hair from it," Loras said taking his place next to Bluebell.

"So the horses like it?"

"It depends, brushing can be enjoyable for some horses while no so much for others, it all depends on the horse. Bluebell here likes it, she also likes getting her mane combed but she is not a fan of getting her hoofs picked, aren't you girl?" Loras said as he lightly tapped the horse on the side.

"You know a lot about horses," Grenn said as he took position next to his horse.

"Jousting is a half skill with a lance and half horsemanship. You cant be a great jouster by just being good at one of those, you have to be both."

"So you are an expert on horses too, it seems there more to you than just a pretty face and swordplay," Grenn said with a smirk.

"There much about me you don't know my poacher friend and at least I have a pretty face, unlike the ugly mug you have."

"Oh shut your mouth and get back to the horses," Grenn said. Loras just grinned and proceeded to slowly curry Bluebell, moving the comb in a circular motion starting from the neck. Grenn watched Loras and then started to mimic the motion. After a while, Loras looked over to Grenn to see how he was doing. "You need to go a bit slower you don't want her to twitch much."

Grenn just listened to him and nodded, slowing the motions down a bit.

"How did you learn all of this, did some highborn teacher taught you?"

"Actually it was my brother, he is the general expert on animals in Highgarden. Everything I know about horses I learned from him," Loras said and soon started to feel sadness at the memory of his brother. He remembered Willas teaching him and Jon about various breeds of horses that existed. Willas was the perfect older brother as long as Loras could remember until recently that is. He loved his siblings, but he could not understand how could they just stand around and let their grandmother take complete control of their actions, of their fates, to throw away someone they saw as a family just so they could get their hands on a crown, a bloody crown at that, the blood of innocent people on it.

Willas was always the reasonable one, he was fond of Jon as well, what Olenna did to sway him to her side way beyond Loras's comprehension. He saw Garlan, his other brother was always the dutiful soldier, an honorable knight but following Olenna's orders so blindly, that was too much even for Garlan. Olenna must have done something but what?

"Loras, Loras, Loras!" Grenn shouted and Loras blinked, realizing that he must have lost himself in thought.

"Yeah," Loras said looking from the brush to Grenn.

"You alright, you just froze there for a minute?"

"Yes I fine, just old memories."

Grenn shrugged "If you say so. I'm done with this side, I'm moving on the other."

"Fine, just remember to do it slowly, not too fast."

"I know, I know, you already said that," Grenn said as he moved to the other side of the horse.

"I repeated myself because during our time together I found that I have to tell you something at least twice before you learn," Loras said, a smirk on his lips once more. Grenn just gave him a glare and continued with the grooming. As much as he would have to admit it, Loras has come to appreciate Grenn, the former poacher was not a bad man, on the contrary he had a good heart but that didn't change the fact that he was still as thick as a log. As he finished this side of Bluebell a thought came to him. "Does your horse have a name?"

Grenn looked at him from behind his horse. "The man that gave it to me said his name was Ranger."

"Ranger?" Loras said raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, don't ask me why I don't know."

"Well, it is still better than Jons."

"What Jon's horse's name?"

"Winter," Loras answered.

"What the problem with that?"

"He is a Stark from the North, where it's almost always snowing, the Stark words are the winter is coming and he names his horse Winter."

"And you are a Tyrell from the Reach who names his horse Bluebell, a flower, they call you the Knight of the flowers, that's not much better."

Loras was surprised by the response a bit. "Since when are you able to come up with a smart response? It usually just swearwords."

"Ever since Robar started explaining the great houses to me, I might be a slow learner but I learn."

"And I thought you are just good for yelling and being thrown into the dirt every morning and evening."

"Get back to the damn horse would you," Grenn spat and Loras snickered.

Jon

The talk they had with Ser Tristan was enlightening but it also brought some feelings. Firstly he felt pity for the steward's son, no one should be raised without a mother by their side, something Jon knew well, that Philip blamed himself for the tragic death of his mother only made it worse. He was a child there was nothing he could do about what happened. The other thing was the mention of Ashara Dayne, it was not the first time Jon had heard that name, he had heard it before in court at Highgarden, the whispers that the courtiers said over the years about his parentage.

He knew about the story of his father and lady Ashara at the tourney at Harenhall, he knew that supposedly she threw herself off the highest tower at Starfall into the sea after the death of her newborn daughter. Jon did wonder if she was truly his mother and not just some whore his father took one night before a battle like lady Catelyn used to say when he was living in Winterfell. Knowing the identity of his mother was always one of the things Jon wanted most, if he could not be legitimized then at least he wanted to have that. His father never once said anything about his mother during his time at Winterfell or in his letters, the first real thing he heard about his mother was while he was in Kings Landing.

Maybe that's what the voice meant when it said to look for Ser Arthur, if Ashara was his mother that could make the famous knight his uncle. A spark of hope ignited within Jon, maybe, just maybe Arthur Dayne could be alive out there somewhere if not then there was still lord Vorion the current lord of Starfall, ser Arthurs older brother and Edric's father. If Arthur is truly dead then lord Vorion would be the one with answers he seeks. Maybe when they reach Drone they could make a detour to Starfall, yes it would make their journey to Robb longer but if he could meet with lord Dayne then he would be able to get answers and the Daynes are a powerful family and would make a welcome addition to Robbs cause.

But then Jon remembered about the infamous fight at the tower, where his father killed Ser Arthur and the other kingsguard knights. He knew his father was a good warrior even if he never showed it to him, always saying that when he fights he fights for real, not for show but every person he met who either knew or heard about Ser Arthur said that he was the best swordsman to ever live, that not even Ser Barristan or the Kingslayer could match him. Was his father really able to beat Arthur or was there more to it?

As Jon came out of his thoughts he looked at the window to see that it was almost nightfall, the sun was getting lower and lower and the sky started to turn red. Enough time had to have passed by now for Philip to be at least calm enough to talk. With that, he got up from his chair and walked out of the room, finding Loras outside his own door.

"I was just about to get you," Jon said.

"I was going to find Cole to apologize to him."

"Well, I coming with you."

"I don't need a nanny to hold my hand."

"I know but still I want to talk to him, he needs to know that what happened is not his fault."

"I know," Loras said lowering his gaze slightly, "But what can you say that his father didn't already?"

"I don't know exactly know yet but at least I have to try."

"Why?"

"Because Loras, it's the right thing to do," Jon said and Loras only gave a confirming nod.

The two of them searched the entire castle in hopes of finding the young Cole, they asked his father, guards and some of the servants but every time they got an answer to where he could be it turned out that they were too late and that he had already moved to somewhere else. It was finally that one of the guards said that he saw Philip entering the sept about an hour ago, so that's where they went.

They found their man in the sept, half-drunk sitting below the statue of the Mother with a wineskin in his hand. He looked miserable, a look on his face one of a man who was ready to give up on everything. As they stood at the entrance Cole lifted his head to look at them. His eyes were bloodshot as if he was crying for a long time.

"What do you want?" Cole asked in a disinterested tone.

"I came here to apologize, I didn't know what happened to your mother, but it was still wrong of me to say that. I'm sorry," Loras said sincerely.

At first, there was no response from Philip, he looked at them and then turned his gaze back to the floor of the sept, taking a sip from the wineskin. "No, you are not."

"What?" asked Loras.

"You are not sorry, you are just saying that because my father told you to do it."

"He didn't tell me to do anything, I came here on my own accord. I searched the castle to find you," Loras said.

Philip got up from the stone floor, his legs little shaky. "Why would you be sorry? You who had a perfect life, why would you be sorry for someone like me?"

"Like what?" Loras asked confused.

"A coward, a craven, a weakling!" Philip shouted. It was then that Jon moved past Loras, now standing right in front of Cole.

"You are not those things, there was nothing you could have done about what happened to your mother. You were a child, not even a squire yet if you tried something they would have killed you as well."

"But I'm the reason she died, she died because I was scared, because I could not hold my fear in. If I did my mother would still be alive, she would still be with my father," Philip said through tears.

"There was nothing you could have done, you need to let it go, you cant go through the rest of your life constantly blaming yourself for something you had no control over."

"And what do you know about losing a mother?" Philip shouted.

"I never knew mine!" Jon shouted back and he was a bit surprised by his reaction. Jon clenched his fists and sighed. "I never knew my mother, my father never told me a single thing about her. You on the other hand knew her, she raised you, you remember her, I can't say any of those things but you can. I know it hurts to lose someone you love but you can't blame yourself forever. When my father was killed, I blamed myself, I told myself if only I arrived there before that I could have saved him that I could have done something but a good friend made me realize that even if I went there I would have just joined my father and caused those who care about me and him even more pain. There is nothing we can do to bring them back but we can remember them as they were and honor that memory by living our lives as best as we can. You cant change the past but you can change the future, the only thing you need to do is stay strong and not give in to despair," Jon looked at Philips tearful eyes and put one hand on his shoulder "Your mother would not want you to live like that."

Cole just looked at Jon for a long moment, tears going down his cheeks. He didn't say a word he just walked past Jon and Loras leaving the wineskin on the floor of the sept.

AN: That was the next chapter, I hope the wait wasn't too long. The company will be moving on next and we will get to see more of the loyalists in the next chapter.

Response to the reviews from the previous chapter:

BioHazard82: As always thanks, man.

Lyra: No I don't intend for Joffrey to kill Jayne. About the loyalists finding Jon it would be a bit harder than they thought. About Robb, you will get the answer in the next chapter.

denolotdn: I'm glad you like Philip, I always intended to have this young traumatized character with survivor's guilt and it became him. As I said before Richard was the logical choice for me, he was friends with Rheagar and was with the prince during their last battle.

Terry1961: I'm glad you like it. Yes, we were partners but split because of the tonal shift he wanted.