Wife of the Wolf, Husband of the Sun.
Book 2
Chapter One-Hundred and Twenty-Two
Just as a note everyone, this chapter actually takes place before the wedding at Winterfell but I thought thematically it made better sense to be posted after it.
She had scrubbed a great many floors in her time.
When she had been a novice, there had been many a septa who had enjoyed standing over her and making sure that the stone that she had scrubbed was clean enough to meet their standards, looking back on it she supposed that they were taking some sort of pleasure in having one who had been a princess under their yolk. She had borne it as best she could.
And she had scrubbed many a floor since then, since she had taken her vows she had found herself in places that was stained with the fluids of humanity, the stains of life as old men and women came to the end of their time and in those final moments when she had been summoned to tend to them she had often scrubbed the floors of such places, often the family of those who were dying tried to stop her from doing so, telling her that it was beneath her dignity.
She had never seen it that way, she had seen it as part of her duties. The people were losing someone that they loved, a key fixture in their lives and the misery in the air in those places was so thick that she was certain that she could cut it with a knife, the least that she could do in that moment was make certain that the passage to whatever was waiting for them on the other side was as comfortable as she could make it.
But most of the time it had been her choice, a duty that she performed because she knew that it was right.
This was different.
Still, she did not voice a complaint as she was not certain what would happen to her if she did so. She just kept scrubbing the floors, dipping her horsehair scrub bush back into the bucket of soapy water. She should be thankful she supposed that it wasn't lye soap.
The heavy footsteps of one her sworn sisters made her look up from her work and she had to send a silent prayer up to the Crone for patience when she saw that it was Septa Noella, the woman was her holy sister of course and by the vows they had both spoken she was more her sister now than any of her sisters by blood should have been, but she could not say that she liked the older woman very much.
She certainly felt like a novice in that moment as the other Septa stared down at her from her great height, her narrow eyes filled with contempt. "Honestly, I have seen novices fresh from the lives of debauchery and avarice scrub floors better than this, what hope for our faith when such as you are lifted up to take holy orders and dare to call herself a septa."
Lyarra Stark did not rise to it, instead she simply smiled at her sworn sister and spoke softly, "I was named as a septa by the High Septon himself, dear sister. Do you think it is truly wise to question the judgement of his High Holiness?"
She knew that the other woman wanted to slap her, but it seemed that she didn't know how far she was able to take her treatment of Lyarra either and so instead the older woman simply glared down at her, trying to intimidate her no doubt but Lyarra was a Stark of King's Landing and she had been raised in King's Landing and it would take more than a harsh stare to cow her.
"Lord Sunglass wishes to see you."
"And it would be the height of rudeness for me to refuse an invitation from my most gracious and kind host," Lyarra said with her most perfect smile as she dropped her brush back into her bucket and rose to her feet, brushing down the front of her robes before she walked past Septa Noella, the older woman following after her as did the guard who had been assigned to watch her ever since she was brought here.
It had been unsettling to say the least; she had been inside her penitent cell within the Great Sept of Baelor and had just finished a piece of hardbread and a cup of water and was about to begin her prayers when the door to the cell was opened from the outside and armed men had taken her from the safety and peace of confinement to see that her world had been turned upside down.
Rhaenys had been brought out as well, the older girl had been crying and look as terrified on the outside as Lyarra had felt on the inside and she had wanted to go and hug her but the men who had taken them kept them apart from one another as they walked through the dark corridors and steep stairways of Baelor's great sept, she nearly tripped over her own feet but one of the men manged to catch her and despite her predicament she couldn't fight the instinct to thank him.
As they were taken to the ground level Rhaenys began to call out for help, Lyarra had held her tongue as the fact that the men had the key to both of their cells meant only one of two possibilities. The first was that the man who held the key to all the penitent cells at all times, a member of the most devout, had been killed and they key had been taken off of him or he had given it to them.
Either way, Lyarra had doubted that there was any help to be had.
Rhaenys had been smacked harshly for her outbursts and after that was silent and a glare from one of the men made it clear that if she made a noise then she would suffer much the same as her sworn sister had, and it turned out that her suspicions were correct when crossing the Hall of Lamps the High Septon was there to greet them.
"Sisters, do forgive me for the shock and fear that this must have caused you. Alas, I wanted this to be handled differently but certain friends of mine were short of patience and nothing I could say or do would convince them to wait any longer," the High Septon's eyes narrowed, and his mouth flattened into a heavy frown when he saw the red mark on Rhaenys's cheek. "Neither of them was to be harmed!"
At those words a man, Lyarra had been surprised at how young he had been, handsome and clean had stepped forward. "Forgive us, your High Holiness. Princess Rhaenys was distressed and began to shout, we needed to keep her quiet. You did ask that we see to the task quietly and with as much care to the order and normal running's of the Great Sept as possible, to see that they not be disrupted."
"Of course, and yet can we blame her? And to strike her, did your father tell you nothing of our plans?"
"Your High Holiness!" The outburst had been so sudden that it had taken both men by surprise, Lyarra had thought at the time that she would have found it funny if not for the creeping horror of her situation. "I must ask for an explanation for this, our confinement has been breached. The confinement that you ordered that all holy sisters and brothers take part in, what is the meaning of this?"
"Forgive me Septa Lyarra, I am afraid that there is no time for that." The old man shook his head and let out a heavy sigh, "Escort them to the ship, quickly and quietly. There must be no talk of this."
And with that they were taken from the sept, their mouths gagged with clean rags, under the cover of darkness and taken down to the docks where a ship was waiting for them, Lyarra did not have time to look to closely for anything to identify where it came from as she and Rhaenys were taken below deck, their gags removed and locked into a large cabin.
Lyarra didn't know how long the both of them were locked into that room, days seemed to blend into one another and neither of them were let out of the cabin until they had arrived at their destination.
Sweetport Sound was well named, at least. When they had come ashore in a large town in the shadow of Lord Sunglass's castle the air had been filled with the scents of sugar, honey, butter and baking treats that despite herself she could not help but feel her mouth water.
From the port they were brought up to the castle and it was there that they were separated, Lyarra was brought to the motherhouse built within the castle walls and her fellow Septas, aside from Noella, had been polite but distant, verging on cold. For the next few days, her life almost seemed normal. She had prayed, taken meals with the other Septas, slept in a cell that was much like the one in any motherhouse she had slept in, but when she was allowed to leave, she was followed by at least one guard.
It was a different guard every day, Lyarra looked over her shoulder to look at the man who was following her and she was certain that she had never seen this one before. She wondered if this was how Cersei Lannister felt when Lyarra's mother had her guarded by different men and tended by different servants every few days to make sure she did not turn any of them to her side.
This was the first time that she had been summoned to the main keep of the castle, it was also the first time that Lord Sunglass had expressed a desire to see her. She had been working on the assumption that she was just a useful hostage, but it seemed that now he might have found some other use for her.
She only prayed that Rhaenys was all right.
Septa Noella overtook her as they walked inside the main keep, leading her towards Lord Sunglass's solar. Both the septa and Lyarra's guard waited outside as she was called in; Lord Sunglass was sitting behind his oaken desk in the middle of the stone and sparsely decorated room. The only thing of note was the great stone face carved into the celling, the bearded and wise features a common depiction of the Father Above.
"Good septa, please come and sit down." Lord Sunglass said with a pleasant looking smile, as if he had invited her to stay the night in his castle and had not sanctioned her abduction.
Still, she knew how to pick her battles and so Lyarra stepped forward and sat down in the chair, before she was able to say anything Lord Sunglass spoke first. "I was hoping you would be able to help me, I am afraid that Princess Rhaenys is quite upset. She is not eating, and I fear that she is not sleeping either and I hope that as she is your friend you would speak to her, for her own sake if nothing else."
"I cannot blame Septa Rhaenys for being upset my Lord," Lyarra spoke, noting the title the other lord had called her fellow septa by and it seemed that her worst fears were being confirmed. "The way that we were both brought here was not exactly pleasant, for either of us. If you wish for her to eat and sleep, put us back on a ship for King's Landing and I am certain her appetite and desire for sleep will return."
The older man let out a heavy sigh and he rubbed a hand over his eyes, as if he was the one who was suffering. "I understand that you must be angry, and certainly I would understand if you felt betrayed by his high holiness, but I hope that in time you will understand. In truth, I think that you may be the only one of your family who can indeed understand?"
"And what do you mean by that?" Lyarra asked as she kept her hands folded in her lap, remembering all the lessons her mother had taught her on how to hide how she was truly feeling at all times.
"You are a Septa, my lady. You found the light of the Seven and followed it, you are proof that a seed of goodness can be found anywhere, no matter how lost or tempted away from the light," Lord Sunglass rose from behind his desk and looked out the window of his solar, continuing to speak without turning to look at her. "And I have heard that Queen Elia is very pious and dutiful, but she is wed to a man who-
"That man is the king my father, you would do well to remember that!" It came out sharper than she had meant it to, and it seemed that Lord Sunglass was surprised as well as when he turned to look at her there was shock in his eyes but only for a moment before it faded away and shook his head.
"Of course, I must not forget that Eddard Stark is your father, and you must of course feel love and loyalty for him but Septa, you must not forget what he is," He walked around his desk and placed his hands on her shoulders and looked down into her eyes. "He is a heathen, who prays to trees, it is well known that aside from his coronation he has never stepped foot in a sept again."
"And if that was the worst of his crimes then it might be ignored, there are many lords who were blessed in the light of the Seven when they were born who never step foot in a sept, but your father has done nothing as the corruption of the North has reached down through the Neck and turns more and more souls away from the true path and leads them to damnation, he may even have wanted this to happen."
"The king is meant to be the defender of the faith and he has done nothing to defend it, that cannot be forgiven. I will not forgive it; steps must be taken, and I am not alone in this." The old man sighed again. "I know that this must be hard for you to hear but look in your heart. You know that I am speaking the truth to you, and I have prayed enough to know my cause is righteous. You must know it as well; it is the gods to whom we must be loyal above all else. It is the gods whom we must love, more than anyone."
Lyarra swallowed, her fingers digging into the fabric of her robes. "May I please see Rhaenys?"
Lord Sunglass nodded and had Septa Noella take her to a bedchamber within one of the castle's towers, the door was unlocked, and the older woman shoved her inside before she locked it behind her.
Rhaenys was sitting in the middle of the large bed, her head bent down and the golden curls she had inherited from her lady mother cover her face from the side and her hands were pressed against her eyes and Rhaenys did not think she had ever seen a more miserable sight in her life. "Rhae?"
At her voice her friend pulled her hands away from her face and looked up at her, a sob burst out of her throat as she pushed herself off of the bed and threw her arms around her and Lyarra wrapped hers around Rhaenys and the both of them sank to the ground, Lyarra running her fingers through Rhaenys's curls.
They stayed like that for a while, she wasn't sure for how long for, but her knees had started to ache. She stood and helped Rhaenys to her feet and walked her over to the bed and both of them sat down and it was in that moment that Lyarra realised that her friend was not wearing her septa robes, she was wearing a gown that still covered all her flesh but that was not what truly caught her attention, it was the colours of it.
She didn't think she had ever seen Rhaenys wear Targaryen colours before, the older woman had been pledged to the faith from before Lyarra had been born and she had only ever seen her wear white or grey before she took her vows, as well as black when the court went into mourning. But to see the black together with the red disquited Lyarra, she knew what it meant.
Rhaenys seemed to notice how she was looking at her clothes as the other woman's face went paler than it had been. "I swear this was not my idea, they took my robes from me, and I asked them to give them back, but they would not. The only clothes would give me were in these colours and I tried not to wear them, I refused to wear them, but I was so cold. I'm sorry."
"Do not be sorry, you've done nothing wrong. Lord Sunglass calls himself a man of faith and yet he would strip a septa of her robes, he is a man of fair-weather faith and little honour."
Rhaenys nodded and rubbed at her eyes. "What do you think they mean to do to me? You still have your robes and they told me that you were taken to the motherhouse." She glanced down at her gown. "Do you think that mean for me to marry someone? They cannot make me do so, surely. I swore holy vows to take no man as a husband, I am sworn to the gods."
"I think it has been made clear that they care little for what vows we have sworn, Lord Sunglass believes himself sworn to a higher cause and in that he feels that he must do as he must and leave it for the gods to judge him when all is said and done," Lyarra glanced over at the door, wondering if someone was outside at that very moment listening to them. "And the High Septon allowed this to happen."
"The king won't stand for this; you are his daughter, and I was raised alongside all of you. When he hears about this, he'll call the banners, demand our return." That thought seemed to have cheered Rhaenys somewhat and Lyarra couldn't deny that it did much the same for her as well, but another thought struck her soon after that soured it somewhat.
"Yes, when he hears about this." Lyarra sighed and began to chew at her bottom lip, a habit she had thought that she had grown out of, but it seemed not. "But he will not even be halfway through the Riverlands yet, he must cross through the Neck and half the North to reach Winterfell and even then, we were taken under cover of darkness. It may not be until he returns to King's Landing he finds out and the High Septon could explain our absence by saying we've requested to stay in prayer, it could be months before he knows."
None of that was clearly what Rhaenys wanted to hear, as tears began to roll down her cheeks once again, but she was also clearly trying to stifle her sobs. Lyarra hugged her once again and held her close until the shaking in her shoulders stopped.
"Lord Sunglass told me that you weren't eating or sleeping." Lyarra spoke gently as she brushed the tears away, making sure to be gentle. For all that she looked like her mother, aside from her eyes, Rhaenys's skin could bruise so easily from even the gentlest touch which was probably a product of her Valyrian blood. "You need too, if not for your own sake, then do it for mine. I need to know that you are well."
Rhaenys sighed and nodded before she leaned close to her, Lyarra glanced over at the door before she leaned in and pressed her lips to Rhaenys. She had never grown tired of the sensation, the sweetness of the other woman's lips against her own and the warmth that flared in her heart every single time. For a moment everything was right in the world.
The sound of the key turning in the lock made them both pull away and Septa Noella walked in, her eyes narrowing at them both before she turned her full attention on to Lyarra. "I trust you have spoken to the Princess and made her see reason, sister?"
"I have spoken to our fellow septa sister; she will eat and sleep tonight. Could you ask that some food be brought to her?" The old woman's face looked like she had just sucked on a lemon, but she nodded sternly.
"Of course, but we must return to the motherhouse now sister." Lyarra nodded and rose from the bed and reached down to squeeze Rhaenys's hand before following Septa Noella out of the room.
That night, when she knelt to pray in her cell before bed, she thought of her family and all she loved best.
And all she would do to keep them safe.
End of Chapter One-Hundred and Twenty-Two