The next day, Meria and Robb were sitting in the shade of the Heart Tree in the Godswood. It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining in the sky and the girl had the impression that it was less cold than the day before, or maybe she was just getting used to the cold northern temperatures. The Godswood then was such a peaceful and quiet place, and she found it a relaxing place where one could reflect in peace. Robb had explained to her that the Heart Tree was the tree at the foot of which weddings were performed and that his parents had been married in the shade of a similar tree, albeit in Riverrun and not Winterfell.
"Does your mother believe in the Seven?" The young woman asked. In the South, the Old Gods had a far smaller following than in the North, and the belief in the Seven had spread more throughout the rest of Westeros except for the Iron Islands where men and women worshiped another deity. Even as a child, though devoted to the Seven, Meria had felt drawn to and intrigued by other religions, and her uncle Tyrion had procured a book for her that spoke of the gods of ancient Valyria, the deities that the Targaryens once worshiped, and it was in this way that she had discovered that Vhagar was the name of one of those deities. The thought that her mare was named after a goddess who was part of another religion had at first unsettled her a little and she had wondered if she should choose another name since the last thing she wanted to do was offend the Seven, but then she had finally remembered the reason she had chosen that name, namely because it was the name of the dragoness who had belonged to Queen Visenya, and she had decided not to change it, not to mention that Vhagar was now used to it, and she did not want to risk confusing her.
"Yes, my mother believes in the Seven and my father had a small Septo built where she can go to pray if she wishes." He affirmed, and she recalled the small holy place he had shown her within the confines of the castle, which was not that far from where they were at that moment.
"That was really kind of him." Replied the blonde. "My husband is not a particularly religious man, unlike myself, and I suppose it can be difficult for two spouses if one's faiths are different." She remarked, thinking for example of the Targaryens who believed in the Gods of ancient Valyria and had married women or men who believed in the Seven instead.
"My parents seem to handle it well." He replied. "I don't think I would have a problem either if my wife preferred to kneel at the foot of a statue rather than in front of a tree." He affirmed, tucking a curl behind her ear.
"It may be that you will marry a Northern woman, one who worships the Old Gods, just like you and the rest of your family." She asserted, striving to appear serene despite being displeased at the thought that the woman could never be her.
"We can escape together." He proposed. She shook her head.
"No, we cannot because I am already married and have a child." She replied, thinking of the newborn who was miles and miles away being cared for by Renly, Loras and a woman who was not her and for the umpteenth time in those days she wondered if once back in the capital she would find it difficult to breastfeed the baby again and if she still had milk, however, would he reject her breast?
"We can take the baby and then flee across the Narrow Sea." He replied promptly. "I could work as a knight, offering to protect some rich lord across the sea or some rich merchant and his family. Our home will not be as grand and sumptuous as Winterfell, however it will be our home, and we could even marry pretending to be other people." He observed. The blonde smiled sweetly as she caressed his cheek and looked into his eyes.
"Robb, it would be nice to marry you and live with you and Orys across the Narrow Sea. I suspect I would also be happier there than in a castle surrounded by servants but with a stepmother, who hates me." She said softly. "But do you realize that it will not be feasible at all that we will never be able to go to the capital to get the child and then escape, and even if we do, do you really think Lord Renly will not come looking for his wife and heir?" She continued, seriously, it was possible that Renly would let her go, that he wouldn't care if she ran off with another man. However, she doubted he would allow her to take the child with her because even if Renly remarried it was unlikely his new wife would give him a child, although in fact it was enough for her to do as she had done. But there was also the sad possibility that his new wife would not be as understanding and kind as she was and that he would reveal his homosexuality to everyone and the consequences would certainly be terrible because of the way Faith and so many people thought about homosexuality.
"You are right." He said with a sigh, taking on a sad expression and lowering his hand to her. Meria laid a hand on his shoulder.
"Fate is against us. If we had met a year and a half ago now we could be married and Orys would be called Torrhen or have another name Stark." She said, straining to use a calm tone of voice. The other turned to look at her.
"It may be that it would be a girl, and she would be called… Lyanna." He speculated. She gasped at hearing that name pronounced.
"Forgive me, but after all the pain your aunt has caused, even if perhaps unintentionally to my mother's family, I don't think I could have ever agreed to name my daughter after her. Instead, I think I could have proposed to name her Catelyn or Dyana after my mother or who knows Rhaenys after my cousin." He affirmed. Indeed, he did not know if he would ever dare give his eventual daughter a Targaryen name, lest she risk incurring the king's wrath.
"Rhaenys Stark has a nice ring to it." He commented. Their lips met for a kiss. They kissed for a few seconds, then Robb had her lie down on the grass and Meria laid her head on one of the tree roots. The boy began to caress her legs through the fabric of her dress.
"Robb, I remind you that this is a sacred place." She said when he stopped kissing her lips to kiss her neck instead. She loved the feel of his lips on her, however it didn't seem at all appropriate given where they were, however she instinctively lifted one leg, allowing her lover to slip between her thighs.
"I don't think the Old Gods will be offended and besides, we are at the foot of the Heart Tree, the tree under whose leaves people marry." He said in a whisper, and Meria's willpower slowly began to wane.
"Someone might see us." She said, despite her tone of voice not at all convinced, and with the fingers of her hand threaded through her lover's hair.
"Don't worry, Grey Wind is on guard." He replied and without stopping kissing her he crept his hand under the skirt of her dress and began to caress the skin of her thighs. "You didn't wear the shift." She commented with a little moan of approval. The blonde blushed slightly and their eyes met.
"I imagined you would jump on me and wished I was ready." She replied. She continued to be afraid that someone might feel the need to pray and discover them in intimate attitudes and that the Old Gods might be offended; however, it wasn't difficult to reason lucidly with Robb's lips and hands on her then she heard Grey Wind's barking followed by a clatter of footsteps. They pulled away from each other at lightning speed and just as quickly, she got up and adjusted her dress, and before she had time to think about what exactly to do, a man reached him. He was one of the Stark's servants, and he was visibly agitated.
"Robb, Brandon, your sibling has fallen from a tower." He exclaimed agitated.
"Fell? How is that possible? Bran was so good at climbing, I've seen him do it hundreds of times." The young man replied. Meria remained silent, not knowing what to say, so shocked was she.
"Is he alive?" She asked after regaining the use of speech.
"Yes, he is alive, but he is unconscious and Maester Luwyn believes we will only be able to know the severity of his condition after he wakes up." The man explained. The blonde nodded her head in assent and assumed a serious expression.
"I must go to him." Robb said and then quickly walked away. The man in the service of the Starks greeted Meria after which he followed his lord's son.
Jaime Lannister could not sleep that night because the memory of Brandon falling from the tower haunted him. The boy had chosen the wrong tower to climb that day because if he had not done so and seen him and Cersei together discovering their secret, nothing would have ever happened to him. After tossing and turning in bed the lion stood upright and left the room.
Only when he was near his daughter's bedroom did he realize where he was. Ser Tymor was standing by the door, ready to intervene to thwart a possible threat. The young man had a serious expression, yet Jaime sensed the knight was tense.
"Ser Tymor, is my daughter asleep?" He asked. He did not intend to wake Meria, but perhaps seeing her sleeping face would give him some serenity and make him forget the child's frightened one for a few minutes. Tymor turned to look at him and tried hard to keep a calm demeanor.
"Yes, Lady Meria is sleeping." He replied. His voice had not trembled as he spoke; however, he had not looked him in the eye, and the Kingslayer felt that something was wrong.
"Well, I wish to see my daughter. Don't worry, I don't intend to wake her, just watch her sleep." He said, advancing towards the door, however the young man stood in front of him preventing him from entering.
"Forgive me, but I don't want to risk you unwillingly disturbing my lady's sleep." He said. Jaime hesitated before replying.
"I do not intend to disturb my daughter's sleep and will only stay in her room for a few minutes and now married." He exclaimed. He was starting to get nervous, how dare that man prevent him from entering his daughter's room?
"Ser Jaime, I mean no disrespect, but Lady Meria was exhausted last night and also had a bad headache. I believe she is in great need of rest, and I would beg you not to disturb her." He said. This time the nervousness in his voice was clear. Jaime pushed him away from the door and into the room. Tymor tried again to wake him and the lion thought that if he continued to behave like that he would be the one to wake Meria.
"Out." He said in a low tone of voice, but stopped then walked towards the bed and lit the candle on top of the small table beside the bed and as the faint light from the flame began to illuminate the objects he gasped at the sight of the body lying in the bed. "Lily!" He shouted without bothering to keep his voice high as he wished to wake her. Her daughter's servant gasped and shifted into a sitting position. It took the young girl a few seconds to fully wake up and realize what was happening.
"Ser Jaime." She said, terrified and wide-eyed. She rose from the bed and knelt on the ground, prostrating herself at his feet. He stared at her in a way similar to the way Tywin stared at his second son. Tymor approached. He did not look as worried as Lily however he was by no means quiet, and the lion was beginning to understand the reasons behind his behavior.
"Where is my daughter?" He thundered angrily. It was obvious that the two of them knew the answer to the question, perhaps he could even believe that the servant was unaware of the whole affair. However, it was obvious from his behavior that Tymor on the other hand, was aware that his lady was not in her room and that was why he had attempted to prevent them from entering the room.
"Lady Meria needed to take a walk. The Brandon Stark incident upset her, and she could not sleep." The sworn shield replied. A convincing excuse, however, was still a question.
"Then why didn't you go with her? And why didn't you tell me right away?" He asked in an accusatory tone. "You are my daughter's sworn shield and your main job is to make sure nothing bad happens to her and yet, you allow her to wander alone around a castle she doesn't know and where anyone could harm her." He continued. "I wonder what Prince Doran and Prince Oberyn would think if they found out about this…" His words hid a clear threat. Tymor did not fear him, at least not as much as he feared Oberyn and Doran. Lord Tywin would have disapproved of the choice of a sworn shield who was loyal to the Martells and not the Lannisters, yet Jaime had never believed that Tymor or the Martells could pose a threat to his daughter, at least until that moment.
"Lady Meria did not want me to accompany her. I tried to convince her, but she wouldn't listen to reason. She can be very stubborn at times and when she sets her mind to something it can be difficult to change her mind." He replied in his defense.
"You must protect her from herself as well as from others." Jaime admonished him. "Now I will go and find my daughter and I advise you to pray that not a single hair on her head is harmed because otherwise I will have your head." He said in a threatening tone, pointing a finger at him, then turned to the servant girl who had been kneeling on the floor with her head bowed the whole time. "And what were you doing in your mistress' bed? I thought the servants who had accompanied us here slept outside the castle walls, why not you?" He asked in a stern tone.
"It is icy here. Lady Meria and I are not used to these temperatures, and so she proposed that I sleep with her. I tried to dissuade her, but she insisted, and in the end I thought there was no harm in it." She explained without lifting her head.
"Do you know where Meria is?" He asked, thinking that if Tymor had lied, it was likely that she would reveal the truth to him, considering how scared she was.
"I think she is with Robb Stark. She loves him." She replied. Jaime returned his attention to Tymor.
"I thought you said Meria went for a walk because she was upset about what happened to the fourth Stark child."
"Because she told me so." He replied. He did not know whether to believe him or not, it was possible that his daughter had lied to him or that Lily was wrong and had really gone for a walk. Furthermore, he had said that Meria was in love with Robb. The last time a Targaryen had teamed up with a Stark it had not ended well.
"When she returns, tell her that I wish to speak to her tomorrow." He said and then walked out of the room and quickly down the corridor. Needless to say, between the memory of Brandon falling from the tower and the thought that something bad might have happened to his daughter, he hardly slept a wink that night and when he finally fell asleep, his was a troubled sleep.
He did not know when the princess's labor had started, but he had the impression that it had been going on for hours. Robb Stark was standing in the corridor next to the king. Rhaegar Targaryen wore his long silver-blond hair tied back in a low ponytail and needed a shave. The marriage between Princess Visenya and the Heir of House Stark had been desired by the king whose second wife had failed to give him the Prince Promise he had so longed for. After Lyanna's death he could have remarried, perhaps to another Lady of the North who could represent the ice, but the king, despite various insistences, had wanted nothing to do with taking back his wife and when Jaime's sister, Cersei, as beautiful as she was ambitious, had tried to seduce him, it had ended badly. The king had banished Cersei from the court and although he had not stated the reasons behind his choice rumors of what may or may not have happened had spread like wildfire through the kingdom and eventually Lord Tywin had been forced to marry off his daughter to Prince Oberyn Martell who had a mistress and a host of illegitimate daughters, but who did not seem to care about the young girl's tarnished reputation. Cersei had not been enthusiastic about the union at least at first because if the birth of two children in the space of less than two years could be considered the sign of a successful marriage...
"How much longer?" Robb asked in a nervous tone. The king had a decidedly calmer air.
"The first son may take a long time to arrive." Replied the king. "His mother's first birth also took several hours." He added calmly.
"You speak as if he were an expert in childbirth." Replied the young man.
"I am no expert, I speak only from hearsay." Replied Rhaegar. "Now please calm down, getting worked up serves no purpose." He continued. Robb did not seem convinced, however he did not say a word and merely looked anxiously at the door.
The door opened and a woman came out of the room with the expression of someone who does not bring good news.
"The Maester wishes to speak with you." She announced.
"All right." The king agreed. The woman re-entered the room and the Maester appeared on the doorstep. The man approached the ruler and whispered something in his ear. Neither Jaime nor Robb heard his words. Rhaegar assumed a grave expression and stared at the door in a daze.
"The child." He said. The Maester said nothing and returned to the chamber. The princess's husband seemed, if possible , even more agitated.
"What did he whisper in your ear?" He asked, confused.
"He asked me to make a choice and I made it." He replied.
"A choice?! What do you mean?" The wolf asked nervously.
"The Promised Prince is too important and we cannot lose him." Affirmed the king. "A sacrifice is necessary." He continued.
"What are you talking about?!" Exclaimed the Stark then made to walk towards the door.
"Ser Jaime take the princess's husband away, we cannot allow him to interfere." The king ordered, and though reluctantly Jaime grabbed Robb and, ignoring his pleas, dragged him away. They were almost at the stairs when a scream was heard from the princess's room, a scream that was worse than the others and seemed to rip through the walls.
Perhaps it was the scream that woke him or perhaps it was the knocking at the door, either way when he opened his eyes and realized it had only been a dream and that there was a knock at the door he was relieved and thinking it was his squire he told the person to come in, but it was not his squire but Cersei. Her twin sister was visibly agitated.
"Good morning, sister." He said with a sigh, rising from the bed and starting to dress. Normally he would have been happy to see her in his room, but not at that juncture.
"How can you be so calm? The child saw us and is still alive." She said the tone full of contempt.
"If you get worked up people might start asking questions." He said, repeating the same words he had said to her after Jon Arryn's death. "Brandon has fallen into a deep sleep and they don't know if he will wake up; he may never wake up or die." He replied, straining to keep calm, believing that the twin was already nervous enough for the both of them.
"He might wake up and tell you what he saw, including that you threw him off the tower." She replied in a cold tone.
"No, actually it was an accident. He was nervous, I just tried to calm him down, but he lost his balance." He said because it was the truth he had not been the one to push the child, there was no need because he had fallen down himself. After realizing he had seen them he had approached them and while trying to calm him down he had thought of little Orys because Bran's hair had reminded him of Orys', despite the color being wrong.
"Do you think people will care? And even if they should believe it was an accident, the fact remains that he saw us!" She exclaimed, emphasizing the word visa.
"What do you want me to do?" He asked.
"The child must die." She replied. The tone of his voice was calm as if he were talking about ending the life of a squirrel and not that of a child. "Think of what would happen if he wakes up: it would be the end of us all. Think of Joffrey, Myrcella, Tommen and even Meria. What would your precious daughter say?" She asked with a piercing look.
If the truth were to come out then Stannis would become the heir and since he has no sons Renly would inherit the throne after him and then... He paused and the words of the seer who had predicted that one day Meria's son would become king resonated in him. He had never forgotten the seer's words, although after Rhaegar's death he had tried not to think about them any more, convinced that they were just the words, but what if the seer had been right?
A witch foretold to me that a war would break out and two brothers would vie for the throne while another man would sit on the throne and all would be convinced that he was the rightful ruler, but she also told me that I would have more than one son and that I should warn my eldest son of his half-brothers, but I suppose Orys need not worry about the half-brothers I might give him since I have become barren. After the birth of Orys his daughter had confided to him what a woman had revealed to her about the future. Meria did not believe the woman's words because she had been told she would no longer have children and Jaime did not know whether or not to believe the woman's words. On reflection, what if Joffrey was the half-brother the witch was referring to?