A/N: I usually don't post chapter warnings, because Game of Thrones. Y'all should know it's not rainbows and unicorns and I don't like spoilers. But in case any of you forgot, this is a warning. No specifics. Just a general warning. There's nothing too graphic this chapter, but don't think it'll always be that way. Anything goes in the Game of Thrones.

Chapter 9: Knives in the Night

Elia

Being responsible for children was hard. It felt like Aegon was constantly hungry and poor Rhaenys was still desperate for my attention after our ordeal in King's Landing. I'd already ran out of new Disney songs to sing and had moved on to singing "You are my Sunshine" in different rhythms and styles. That was going to get old fast.

Having Oberyn around helped greatly, though. It had been shocking to see him ride in with his companions, but we got on like a house on fire (what an odd saying). It was like I'd known him all my life… which I guess I had. There was nothing but fondness and slight exasperation rising from that part of myself that I recognized as Elia Martell, and I couldn't help but see why.

I'd already liked him well enough on the show, but it was clear he loved his sister and he had a wicked sense of humor that I wanted to just soak in after the life or death experiences and subsequent stress I'd been through in the last few days. I felt more myself when I was with him than I ever had since landing in this strange world, which was odd considering this was the one person who knew Elia best.

He seemed not to notice anything was amiss.

But hey, I wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. He was a barrel of laughs, a comforting presence, and a phenomenal babysitter.

Gods was it nice to have a couple seconds to myself to just breathe. Don't get me wrong, I love children but… breast feeding, diapers, clinginess.

'Nuff said.

It was clear the kiddos were enamored with their uncle and it was a balm to my soul (souls? Nope. Not dwelling on that yet) to have someone next to me who I knew with 100% certainty cared for me, would not betray me, and would do anything and everything in his power to see us through any dangers or challenges that may present themselves on our journey.

Eddard, of course, would do his best, and he seemed to like me well enough so far, but he wasn't family.

Oberyn wasn't really my family either but…

Ugh.

Not thinking about it because I've done enough crying to last me a lifetime.

Anyway, Oberyn was great. I can already see him sizing up Rhaenys to decide what sharp object to place in her two year old hand. That's going to be something we need to talk about soon, but for now I'll just let him daydream to his heart's content. Least I could do after he rode all the way here to make sure we had a safe journey home.

Things are finally looking up.

I jinxed myself.

I was such a fool to think things were going well, even in the privacy of my own mind. This was Westeros. Game of Thrones. Was it the New Gods? The Old? There was definitely someone out there looking down at my optimism and laughing.

Laughing as my heart bled out and everything around me faded to black.

… I was going to slice their throat if I ever found out who.

Jaime

He watched — heart in his throat, and his stomach sour with guilt — while Prince Oberyn looked the bodies over.

Everything had gone to shit so quickly.

It'd been the middle of the night, nearing the end of the hour of the wolf, when he'd heard a noise coming from somewhere behind the tent.

The men on watch were at different ends of the camp, and the rest of the lot had made their beds at a respectable distance from Elia's little family to provide her with as much privacy as could be given in such circumstances…

…no one was meant to be stationed or sleeping behind the tent.

He'd readied his sword and made his way to the source of the disturbance and—

—blinding pain. For a moment the world went dark.

When he awoke it was to a pounding headache, a bleeding gash at the back of his head, and the sound of Elia's voice — cries choked and desperate.

The fabric of the tent had been ripped into, carving an illicit entrance into her temporary chambers. Jaime was quick to make use of it as well. He could not know how long he had been unconscious, or how much damage his attacker could have caused in the meantime. He could only hope — only pray to all of the Seven — that he would make it in time to stop the worst of it.

The scene he came upon had sent ice water down his spine.

Ned

He pulled the flap to the tent open and was greeted by blood on the purple fabrics on the ground, still glistening slightly in its freshness by the light of the candles. A body lay diagonally on the bed — decapitated — the head perched on the pillows with slackened mouth and unseeing eyes facing the ceiling. Ned turned away from the sight of bloody meat and bone protruding from its neck to find another body lying prone on the floor. Prince Oberyn was beside this one, crouched down, searching it, even as thick red fluid continued to puddle beneath it.

Standing almost in the shadows — and looking more like a boy than he'd ever seen him — Ser Jaime stood with a white-knuckle grip on his sword. Blade, armor, hair, and face were splattered in crimson. Haunted eyes singularly focused on the crying woman at his feet.

Elia.

He was moving towards her before conscious thought, but froze when he was finally close enough to see her properly. Her hair, those beautiful dark tresses that were constantly escaping her braids — that glistened like dragonglass when wet — now tumbled down her back and into her face in complete disarray and her features were smeared in red. She had a man's cloak draped over her, but peeking through the folds he could see parts of her nightdress and it was—

He looked away as quickly as he could, a vice grip starting to press upon his heart, and his eyes landed back on the headless man on her bed despite himself.

No.

NO. It was not—she—she was not—

Eddard swallowed thickly, and breathed deeply to keep himself from losing his dinner.

He returned his pained gaze back to Elia. She did not seem to be aware of anything or anyone around her. Her only focus was on the bundle in her arms — silver coated in red — and there was only one thought that kept running through his mind in an unending, self-flagellating circle:

I swore to protect them.

I promised her.

A/N:

Hello everyone! It's a short chapter this time. Sorry! Most of it was written about a year ago before I up and vanished. Please refer to my profile for more details and my very heartfelt thank yous to all of you wonderful people. Your support is more than I could ever wish or hope for.

As for the story, I warned everyone at the beginning that I had no real idea where all of this was going, and I still don't. I have some ideas but little in the way of a structured plot (help is always welcomed) and I've pretty much forgotten the little I knew of GoT, which wasn't much to begin with. It leaves me wondering, not for the first time, why this was the story I was going to go with for my first published fanfic. I still have no answers, but every intention of trying to work on and finish it. You all are too wonderful not to try.

Now, on to my backlog of Reviews, in no particular order:

Camsonius: Hey, I'm sorry, I feel like I just dropped off the face of the earth :( contact me if you're still up for chatting?

Still not sure what to do about the artwork. Maybe I'll just make a deviantart account dedicated to the story or something.

a guy1013: Lyanna's fate is still very much in the air, but it's getting close, so we'll both figure out what happens soon. Jon's fate is entwined with hers, so we'll see. And who do you mean by Wilhara? Do you mean Wylla, his wet-nurse?

DannyPhantom619: She truly is, and she was interesting to write :)

FrenchWhiteFox: I'm sorry! I left you with another cliffhanger! D:

And thank you!!! I love writing it because you enjoy reading it!

Immortal Potatoe: Thank you, once more!

r.quickert.9: :D

sciencetookourvibe: Yay! I'm glad you're liking it so far. I think this chapter hints at answers but raises more questions. Sorry! Elia's doing her best with the cards she's been dealt and Jaime probably does have a crush. I'd say he sees her as an older sister, but we know how he is about sisters... lol.

Guest 1: I'm so glad you love it! I'll do my best!

Guest 2: Thanks! Late update, but I'm trying! :D

XxPandoraMoonxX: This update was anything but soon, but I'll do my best to keep update times to less than a year from now on. Sorry about that! Glad you like it though!

jericho8030: You don't know how happy your comments made me! I'm so glad you think the story is being written well so far. It's my first real attempt at anything so it makes my heart swell to read your thoughts on it. Thanks!

Also, ironically I'm not a fan of first person POVs either lol. I really have no idea what drove me to write this fic, in this way, but I'm glad it seems everyone's enjoying it :P

The One That's Forgotten: Thank you so much! Especially since you're not that into self-inserts. I'm so glad you gave it a chance! I hope you'll like whatever I come up with next lol. Thanks for the well-wishes, and I hope you were able to see the pandemic through with health and happiness.

Sincerely,

NatNine

bakapervert: Thanks! I'm glad you think so!

RenegadeThaumaturgist: Thanks! There's definitely different challenges when it's a woman dropped into Westeros. It's bad enough most of us are spoiled by modern luxuries (and by most of us, I mean those of us with access to computers), but Westeros is especially unkind to women, so that's a whole other thing to contend with.

p6lishb6kser: Thanks! I'm definitely trying to write more!

OneWhoReadsTooMuch: Eliana will definitely try, she very much remembers his death, but who knows with Oberyn -- he's stubborn.

And yeah, hadn't really thought of how this would be explained to Rhaenys or Aegon / That's going to be a hard conversation. I'm not a Rhaegar and Luann's fan either. That's not a love story. It's madness, trickery, immaturity, and rape, in my opinion, whether there was supposedly consent or not.

Gaones Paran: Yay! Thanks! I'm trying my best to stay true to the characters.

Gs: In my opinion Lyanna was very much a child, but yes, she should be held at least partially accountable. Whether that will happen or not, who knows. Westeros doesn't always deal out justice fairly. In fact, it usually doesn't. We'll see. And I agree with you. Theirs was not a love story, but a toxic infatuation that sprung from the immaturity of youth and the selfishness of a man on the brink of madness.

I think I know how I want to deal with Arthur, but you'll just have to wait and see~

sammiemarie123: Thanks! Hope you... well enjoyed it seems a bit strong for this chapter, but I hope it lived up to expectations even if it's a bit short.

osterreicher97: Haha yes, I'm a fan of the man.

LunaLuna99999: Yay! I'm glad you're giving it a shot. I know SI's aren't everyone's cup of tea.

ReDish: I'm trying to continue it now, and hopefully I'll be able to keep it up for a long while. Hope you're still following :)

TOAA presence: Me too. It's hard but I'm trying :)

Alphagirl16: Hahaha well Lyanna's fate is still up in the air, but we're getting there, so soon enough the both of us will know what's happening with her and Jon. And as for Jaime, Ned, and Elia? I have more of an idea of where I want to go with that, but you'll have to wait and see~

alter321: También hablo español, así que si quieres, puedes hacer comentarios en este idioma :) Gracias por intentar hacerlo en inglés aunque no sea tu idioma natal. Aprecio el intento, y la verdad es que si no hubieras dicho nada, no hubiese sabido que no era tu idioma original.

En todo caso, gracias por el comentario!

arctic-kat: Yay! Me neither! Lol

RandoMando47: Too many paths, but I'll figure something out! Thanks for the follow!

Reader: So glad you liked it! Hope it doesn't disappoint!

Azai Jin: You're so sweet! Thanks for the comment! I'll definitely try to get some more chapters out now that my muse is finally flowing, even if it's just a trickle. I'm glad you like it to far and I hope it continues to bring enjoyment when you read it :)

demindp93: Used Google translate, and I think that meant you're still waiting for updates? Well here's one, even if it's short! It was such a pleasant surprise to get a comment in Russian! Very cool!

luther10120111: Thanks! And it's fun seeing your reactions to the different chapters lol. Tywin will definitely remember this.

If I missed anyone, please let me know! I assure you I read all the reviews. They are my lifeblood. So if anyone doesn't get a response, it's because I made a mistake when copying and pasting things.