En Route to Kings Landing, the Dornish Marches.
Ned Stark held the baby in his arms while the wet nurse, Wylla, was in a corner of their campsite placing a flat rug on the ground near a large boulder surrounded by patches of brown-green grass. The large crackling fire in the middle of the campsite was providing sufficient light and heat underneath the dark sky peppered with dots of light. He looked into the grey of the baby's eyes and mentally thanked the Old Gods that the child didn't seem to have any of Rhaegar's identifying features.
'At least he doesn't have the silver hair and lilac eyes,' Ned thought to himself as the baby whose hair was as dark as his own and Lyanna's, and who hardly cried in his arms, stared up at him, 'Lyanna, what happened? Why did you say his name was Aemon Targaryen? Were you and Rhaegar married? Then how about the Princess Elia? Why did you not tell me? Or Father? Or Brandon?' Ned knew there were so many questions to ask… questions that couldn't be investigated any longer or asked out loud. Not while Robert was the king. Ned didn't want any questions to be raised about the baby's birth through any investigations.
"My Lord," Ned looked up from the baby and his eyes focused on the dark-haired, bronze skinned woman walking towards him. Wylla, her name was, Ned recalled nodding his head. She then continued, "I will have to feed the child."
"Of… of course," Ned said, his face turning red, as he handed the baby to Wylla and then took a step back while the woman turned to walk towards the large boulder. Ned then stood watching as the woman sat down on the rug, leaned back against the surface of the boulder, and then began the process of shedding the left side of her blouse. The Lord of Winterfell quickly turned around, red faced with embarrassment, and then uttered, "I will be checking on the mounts."
"Of course, My lord," the woman replied.
Ned swore that she chuckled. But he didn't look back to make sure. Instead, he hastily walked towards the two horses, one of which was pulling a large cart with an intricately carved box that was covered with a grey and black cloak. The three mounts were tied to a tree, one of many that peppered the Dornish Marches, while a man was the head of one of the horses and feeding it an apple from Starfall.
"My Lord," Howland Reed, the last survivor of the battle to 'rescue' Lyanna, whispered as he looked back over his shoulder, and then back to the horse who just took the apple in his palm into its mouth. As the horse chewed, the Cranogman stroked the left side of the horse's head, "how is the child?"
"He is being fed," Ned whispered as he placed a hand on the horse as well, "why didn't she say anything, Howland?"
"I cannot answer that question," Howland replied, turning towards his friend and Lord, "all I know is that the Lyanna I met long ago would not have allowed herself to have been kidnapped nor raped."
"That was my first thought, that she would never allow herself to be taken against her will," Ned whispered as he and Howland walked over to the other horse, a Dornish bred steed, and continued, "but when Jon received the missive that called for my head; when that same missive relayed my father's and Brandon's death… I believed that Rhaegar fell to his family's madness." Ned shook his head while Howland fed the horse another apple from the satchel around his shoudler while nodding his head, "and now… so much blood has been shed for the foolish mistake of two people.
"You blame Lyanna," Howland said. Ned noticed it wasn't a question, rather it was a statement.
"I don't know," Ned sighed as he and Howland walked over to another large irregular shaped boulder across from Wylla who continued to feed the baby, "I do not want to but…" Ned shook his head before whispering, "she should have told us. She should have told me."
"That she should have," Howland agreed as he leaned forward while a cool breeze brushed past them. He closed his eyes and sighed. "We may never know why she never told anyone the truth. But if anyone finds out…" Howland looked towards the baby feeding on Wylla's left breast and then turned back towards Ned, "... about the baby. About Jon... then you know what will happen."
"Jon's life would be in danger, I know," Ned said looking at Jon who continued to feed. Ned then looked away and stared at the fire, "there's something else… something that has been bothering me."
"Other than why Lyanna never told any of us that she married Rhaegar?" Howland asked. Ned nodded his head before continuing.
"There's something else," Ned whispered, "during the battle on the Trident, I remember cutting through a Dornish spearman. One of many I killed that day, and… and then I felt something…"
"Something?" Howland asked.
"A tingling sensation in my spine as I pulled my sword out of the Dornishman's chest," Ned said while staring at the fire, "I thought there was someone behind me. So I turned and…" Ned then turned his head to Howland, "I saw a woman on the battlefield."
"A woman?" Howland asked with his eyebrows furrowed.
"She had dark hair, eyes that were brown in colours and... and when the light hit her eyes another way when she was turning her head with a look of surprise... I could have sworn they were violet. And... and her skin was the colour of Wylla," Ned said glancing at the woman feeding Jon before looking back at Howland, "it was strange. I have fought with women on the battlefield," and immediately Ned's thoughts went to the Mormont women as he continued to speak, "but this one seemed confused… as if she didn't know where she was fighting. I then heard Robert yell Rhaegar's name, and then the woman started running towards the two of them."
Howland listened as Ned told him that he grabbed the woman's arm after killing another Dornish Spearman. He told Howland how the woman's eyes widened after she turned her head to stare at back at him.
"She was very surprised," Ned repeated, this time in whisper. He then continued to say that the woman, wearing clothes that were strange, then turned her head towards the location where both Robert and Rhaegar were battling in the waters of the Trident. "She twisted her arm enough for me to lose my grip. But I managed to tear something off her sleeve before she ran."
"And then?"
"Then... there was still a battle to fight," Ned said thinking back to watching the woman run towards the fighting Robert and Rhaegar before pushing his mind and body back into the fight, "I went back to fighting. I wanted to go after the woman and get her out of the battlefield, but I had to protect myself and the man who would be King. She reminded me of Lyanna…" Ned had a faraway look in his eyes, "what she would have been like if she fought with us that day." Ned then shook his head, "by the time the battle was over, the woman was nowhere to be found, and Rhaegar's body was stolen away by Targaryen loyalists."
"Strange," Howland said.
"Yes," Ned replied.
"You said you tore off something from her sleeve?" Howland reminded him. He saw Ned reach down to the left side of his body, under his leather armour, before pulling out a black piece of cloth. He handed it to Howland, who took it into his hands and stared at the pattern; a circle that was hovering over a triangle.
"Interesting," Howland whispered with his eyes focused on the design, "very interesting."
Kings Landing, at that same time.
Thoros opened his flask and took a swig of the brownish liquid inside. He felt the contents burn as it went down his throat while using his sweat covered left arm to wipe the wetness away from his lips. Screwing the stopper onto the flask, and then dropping it onto his crumbled-up robe on the floor at the side of his feather bed once again, Thoros looked up at the ceiling in his room at one of Kings Landings many whorehouses and wondered about the last month. He was set to leave Kings Landing soon- the war was won, and he didn't want to be in the city. He was supposed to have preached to and converted the now deceased Mad King to the Lord of Light, but what can one do when they don't even believe their religious scriptures and the existence of their Lord. So, all Thoros would do now was drink and have sex with whores while wandering the country.
Blinking his eyes, Thoros turned his head towards the young brown-haired, doe eyed young woman sleeping next to him. For the last month, he had a girl a day during his stay in various Inns and whorehouses so that he could get his mind off what he had seen in the Throne room.
'I was there,' Thoros thought, his head turning back towards the ceiling, 'I saw the bodies. The Princess Elia was torn in half… Rhaegar's boy was simply a lumpy mass of flesh covered in Lannister cloaks, and the girl… the girl's face was mutilated beyond recognition. Her body was stabbed so many times that there were more holes than solid flesh.' Thoros gulped, pushing down the bile that threatened to leave his stomach, 'when the Lannister...' he remembered the gasps all around, followed by a few people vomiting at the sight of such a body, when Tywin Lannister uncovered Rhaenys' body, 'it was as if whatever pieces of flesh was holding her body together would tear apart.'
The anger and rage that went into killing Rhaenys was shocking to Thoros. And he never forgot Ned Stark's reaction. He couldn't forget the Lord of Winterfell's rage as he yelled at his new king… his brother by everything but blood. Thoros was there to witness Ned Stark walking away in rage after Robert denied the requests for Jamie Lannister and the Mountain to be punished for their crimes.
'Dragon Spawn, that's what he called the bodies of the two children,' Thoros thought to himself as he closed his eyes, 'war… it does things to people… it changes them. Now the question is, does it change for the better or worse. What will happen to Westeros without the dragons who ruled it for three hundred years.' Thoros sighed as he thought to himself, 'well, I would certain not mind staying in Westeros to see how this turns out. Besides, there are so many varieties of ale to try, and whores to fuck.'
Once Thoros closed his eyes, he found himself standing on the battlements of a castle. Confused, he looked up at the sky, at the grey clouds covering up against any sunlight while soft white pearls were slowly falling towards the ground.
'Not pearls,' Thoros thought as he held out his left hand. He watched as two, and then four, and then several more snowflakes landed in his gloved hand. It took less than a second for the snow to melt into water. He looked back up at the sky again, 'snow. Where am…'
Still looking up at the sky, his thoughts away upon hearing the familiar sounds of battle. He looked back down, and saw that where there was once an empty field, there was now thousands of men fighting creatures that he had only heard stories of since coming to Westeros. His eyes opened wide while putting his hands on the walls of the battlements and he leaned forward… he thought his eyes were deceiving him.
'Are… are those…' There was no mistake. Thoros could see barely held together skeletons wearing rusted helms and swinging rusted swords, he could see creatures running and fighting on two feet - some had parts of their bodies and clothes, with dried blood, ripped apart, others were missing either of their hands or arms, or half of their face. Among them he saw giant spiders, dead bears, dogs, wolves, and even direwolves. All fighting against the living. Thoros gasped before he looked around… this wasn't the first time he had such a vision while dreaming, but it was the first time it was so detailed. Thoros looked to his left, and saw the flapping banners of House Stark posted to the battlements. He then heard a crash and looked back out at the battle in front of him, he leaned forward and straight down the walls as the living retreated back into the castle- or rather, they were swamped by the dead. The dead flooded inside, leaving Thoros' heart racing as he reached for his sword.
Just then, as he was about to step towards a stairway on his left that would lead him to the battle at the lower sections of the castle, the sounds of battle faded away. Thoros turned and stared back out past the battlements and saw the snow continuing to fall… the ground already covered in several inches of the white powder.
'Winterfell. The dead battle the living.' Thoros thought to himself as he sheathed his sword. It was then he heard the sounds of distant flapping wings. He looked up and towards the South, from where the sound was coming. Thoros narrowed his eyes and four specks appeared in the horizon.
'What is….' His eyes widened when he heard a roar. The entire castle vibrated as the four specks got closer and closer - the roar was so strong the closer the specks got to him. His breath hitched when he finally saw three pairs of flapping wings- and then he saw them. He saw all three of them clearly. Three dragons. Three dragons roaring as they flew from the South. And then there was another roar as Thoros turned the other way; his jaw dropped when he saw a fourth dragon flying towards Winterfell from the North.
'Four dragons,' Thoros thought to himself excitedly, and with a tiny bit of dread at the same time, 'four dragons!' And then, just as they appeared, they vanished before his very eyes. 'The North, Winterfell, the dead, and the coming of dragons.'
Thoros' eyes snapped open. He remembered the battle and the dragons – one had scales of black and red, another one had scales of deep green and bronze, and the other alongside them had scales of silver and black. He then recalled the one coming from the North, it had cream coloured and gold scales. Thoros was sweating as the first rays of the sun came into his room while one thought above all else screamed out, 'Dragons are coming. Winter is coming; and the dead come along with it.'
Colorado Springs, Earth.
Rhea couldn't believe that she couldn't remember having seen before what she was seeing now. As the car drove out of Cheyenne Mountain, she stared out of the rear passenger side window. She was on her knees while Lainnie, who shimmied closer, held on to her waist so that she didn't fall over off the rear seat. But the older woman could see the look of wonder on Rhea's face, from the latter's reflection, while her palms were pressed against the window.
Rhea could see wisps of cloud in the bright blue sky before looking down to the green of the trees and grass that covered the ground as the car continued to go down the road.
Rhea looked back at Lainnie, and then back to the window, and said out loud what she had been thinking, "how can I forget everything?"
"You hit your head pretty badly," Lainnie said as she gently, while Rhea was still staring out the window, brushed back some of the latter's black hair and her fingers brushed on a scar on the little girl's scalp. It was the same place where the little girl was stabbed by the Mountain, "that's where you hit your head."
"Oh," Rhea whispered before she sat down on the seat. She took her hand to the scar, she felt the slight bump before a frown appeared on her face, "will I remember everything?"
"Hopefully," the Colonel said as he glanced at the rear-view mirror, and then back at the road, "the police are searching for any relatives you have in Canada. Your dad was pretty private, even back in High School… so It'll take some time."
"But," Lainie added, and her voice had Rhea looking up to her, "we'll be taking care of you until you get your memory back, or we find one of your relatives." Lainnie knew it was a lie, and she glanced at the rear-view mirror, her eyes locking with the Colonel's. She hated to lie about Rhaenys not having any other family, but it was agreed that the truth would be revealed to her on her seventh birthday – an age where everyone hoped that she would begin to be able to handle that information. In the meantime, the Dixon's knew their duty was to provide all the love and support they could provide to the little girl.
"And if my memory never comes back?" Rhea asked.
"Then I hope that you'll come to see me and Dave," Lainie said, her heart aching at the despondent look on Rhaenys' face, "as your parents."
"We can't take the place of your mom and dad," the Colonel said, "and our sons can't take the place of your brother. But I promise you that all of us will take care of you."
A small smile, a sad smile, appeared on Rhea's face as she looked back out the window. The Colonel and Lainie looked at each other before the former turned his eyes towards the road, and Lainie placed her hand gently on Rhea's right shoulder.
It would be several minutes of driving later that, Rhea, her face showing wonderment at the changes in her surrounding – from greenery all around her, to cars driving every which way on large wide roads, to passing a city and entering what Lainnie called "the Suburbs". Rhea watched as houses of various colours passed by her window. She saw adults walking, or running, or pushing an object making loud noises over grass; Rhea then saw children playing on the front lawns of several houses. Before long, the car she was in look a turn and then drove for a few minutes longer before coming to a stop.
Rhea stared at the home – a two story house with a garden in the front lawn, along with a driveway to the left where there were already two cars parked. She then stared at the cream and grey exterior of the home before focusing on the dark brown door. She then heard the driver side door open, and she watched as the Colonel stepped out, closed the door, and then walked over to open her door.
Once the rear door opened, Rhea feel the cool air rush into the car.
"Come on, Rhea," the Colonel held out his hand. Rhea reached out and placed her hand into his, his hand covered her small fingers, and then stepped out – actually she hopped out – onto the green grass of the lawn. Behind her, Lainie stepped out and walked over to Rhea's side. She then reached out with her hand, a hand that Rhea held in hers, and the both of them walked onto the pebble stone path that led from the driveway, and cut through the front lawn to the steps that led to the front porch.
Rhea looked up at the bushes in front of the porch and then she took in the scent of fresh flowers to her left. She stopped to look at the purple, red, and blue flowers that were growing. She liked the scent, but she couldn't remember what they were called. She looked up at Linnie who then knelt next to her, placing a hand on her back, while asking about the flowers.
The Colonel listened with a small smile on his face as Lainnie introduced the types of flowers growing from the bushes before telling Rhea that they had a small green house in the back yard.
"The boys should be back soon, how about right now I show you something nicer?"
Rhea nodded her head with a small smile on her face. She glanced at the purple flower, the Primrose, and mentally told herself that she liked the scent. She and Lainnie followed the Colonel up the stairs to the front door. Rhea watched the door open, before she was led in by the Colonel and his wife in her new home.
TBC.