283 AC
Elia II
Rhaenys was tossing a small ball against the wall of her play room, her smile wide as ever. Elia had come to Rhaenys's room to watch her for a bit, as she could not go out of the Red Keep with the return of Winter, but she had to get out of her own room for her own sanity. Mata was looking after Aegon, and so Elia had been allowed to leave the little boy. Getting to spend time with her daughter would allow her to be away from her own thoughts. Elia could almost bring herself to smile as she saw the light catch her daughter's silver hair. For a moment, the girl looked every bit the Targaryen.
'Gods it shouldn't make me sick but it does,' Elia thought, and desperately wished for a hair die to make her elder child's hair anything but that ghastly silver blonde. Brown, Black, Red, Blue, even Vomit Green. She'd wish for anything just so it would stop being that monstrous burning silver, 'Please forgive me Mother, for how can I ask for your guidance when my daughter's appearance makes me sick.'
She should have seen it coming. She should have known this would collapse, that no matter how hard they tried, Rhaegar's gamble would fail, that they would be detected, and that their lives would be threatened by war. She ran her right hand over little Aegon's head, the black fuzz of a Dornishman bristling against her palm.
She remembered when she first suspected this might be a disaster. It had been at Harrenhal, on that final day, when Rheagar had given the title of love and beauty to Lyanna Stark. It had been hard for Elia to understand why Rhaegar had dishonored her so, but knowing him, she waited to hear his explanation.
It had been as surprising as she expected.
"She was the only undefeated knight."
Rhaegar shared with Elia that Lyanna Stark had been the Knight of the Laughing Tree. She had confessed her role in the tourney to him after his father sent him out to search, and he had agreed to keep it a secret. While Elia was a bit shocked at that, she asked what it had to do with her Lyanna being the only undefeated knight.
"Arthur and Barristen let me win."
That…explained everything. Rhaegar must have forced a confession from Arthur at one point, and the realization that he probably wasn't the greatest knight in the realm had somewhat shattered Rhaegar's confidence. It happened more than once during their marriage, where the Prince's mind would curl in on itself, and he would mix self pity with shame. He would usually then do some great gesture to prove to himself that he was greater than his shame. The first time had been when after an…incident during their first knight, he'd been so embarrassed he went and dug her a garden full of Dornish vegetables to make it up to her. It was kind of sweet, though at times it would go far beyond what was required. Rhaegar had apparently nearly boxed off Lucerys Velarion's ears when he'd heard the man insult Elia after her exhaustion from the first pregnancy.
It was just another one of those things with Rhaegar. He was a kind man, but the way he saw the world was so strange. Not just through prophecy and dreams, but his brain just seemed to take in information differently. It was why at times he would spend hours learning the exact spot for the exact pluck on his harp. Or times when he would simply read a passage from a book over and over and over, not even an important one, but something would just catch his eye, and he would focus beyond what he should.
But…after all of that at the Tourney, the whole affair should have been over. Rhaegar and Elia returned to the Red Keep, the Starks went off on their own, to Riverrun or for some reason to Casterly Rock, and most everyone just saw it as a minor trifle in their beloved prince. It would be forgotten about, and perhaps the next year would bear fruit for the overthrow of the Mad King. True, he'd insulted these houses…but more than likely they'd need Rhaegar once they remembered just how bad Aerys was once again.
That didn't happen, because Rhaegar had gone into the greatest melancholy she had ever seen when it began to get cold. It got colder, and colder, and soon, it was snowing again. Winter had come, and the new summer Rhaegar believed had signified the coming birth of his reign was gone. He had thrown himself into his room, and during the whole time, he would just sit there, and stare out the window, the freezing Blackwater Rush seeming to cause his whole body to petrify alongside it. More than once, she'd go to bed while he would be staring out that gods forsaken window, and she'd wake up in the morning to find him still there, still staring out it.
Yet…a dream came.
A strange dream.
A Mad Dream.
A Fire and Ice Dream.
'A dream that shall have us all killed.'
Rhaegar had not been able to explain it, only that it had meant they needed the third head of the dragon as soon as possible. And the third head would need to be cold, instead of warm. They used some spies to determine that Lyanna Stark was in Riverrun, and he, Arthur and Oswell had gone in secret, all to carefully and unknowingly whisk Lyanna away for one child. Then perhaps return her after it. Elia had continued to believe that Mata would be the better choice, but Rhaegar's mind had been made up, and he left that night.
'Still,' Elia remembered Rhaegar's eyes. The only lit in fire when he described the Song of Ice and Fire. Lyanna's name could have been for the old scullery maid for all it showed a heat in his belly, 'At least it wasn't to replace me as Queen.'
She would never be happy about it. But her husband was strange, and she could bring herself to have a bastard alongside her…
She felt her fingers biting into her knees.
She would have to bring herself to have a bastard alongside her family. She loved Oberyn, and had argued that it was fine for him to take in his bastard daughters. What right did she have to deny her hus…
She felt her teeth grind.
'I am upset,' she admitted, before groaning, and rubbing her forehead, 'Would I feel this way were I still strong enough to have a third child?' that was why Rheagar was looking elsewhere, 'Of course I would. Gods, I spent so much time mocking women for anger over their husband's bastards, when I didn't even consider if my own husband…'
She shook her head. There would be time for a confrontation with Rhaegar about infidelity later.
'Hopefully.'
Because there was a war now.
There was a war, and people were going to die.
Rhaenys stopped, and Elia was drawn from her head to her daughter. The girl bounced the ball again, and Elia noticed what caused her daughter to stop bouncing the ball. The sound against that part of the wall was different. Rhaenys looked at her Elia, and the princess nodded her head at the little girl, and she bounced it a third time. And once again, there was the sound. The sound of something hollow.
Elia got off of her chair, and slowly walked to the wall. She placed her hand on it, and looked down at the little girl next to her, eyes filled with stars as she watched her mother. Elia, finally feeling joy in interacting with her daughter, pushed at the wall with as much force as she could.
Despite her weak body, the wall moved. At first, just a small crack. She pushed again, and this time it came fully loose. She took a moment to stare at the opening, in the background of her mind the shrieks of excitement coming from her daughter filling the edges of her mind.
'A hidden passage,' she considered, 'I suppose, one that Maegor had commissioned,' the thought of the Targeryan who had been so vicious to earn the sobriquet of "the Cruel" caused a shiver up her spine, 'I haven't seen one of these before myself.'
It was strange. Until Mata had taken Aegon, she hadn't been planning on coming to Rhaenys. But with her sister here…she had been able to find something new.
'What a gift you are little Mata,' she thought, as she felt the girl at tugging at her dresses, 'You let me have time to be more than I truly am.'
"Rhaenys?" she turned to her daughter, a smile on her face, "What say you and I have a little adventure?"
"Yes Mama," the girl said, and Elia could not help but laugh. This caused the girl to giggle, and Elia quickly swept the girl into her arms, and pushed their way inside the wall. Elia looked around, and thought about closing the wall…but decided against it, "We can come back if it gets too scary?"
Rhaenys put on her bravest face, and nodded at Alia, who laughed. They slowly slide past the door, and Elia was shocked by just how much light was being let into this secret tunnel. It was only as wide as a man, and a thin one at that, but light was being let in from on high, as there were small holes at the top of the passageway that allowed light in. Elia could not help but consider the work and minds that had come up with such a design, and also could not help but wince at their fate.
"Come now," Elia said, slowly inching along the passageway, her daughter still in her arms, "Let's go a little further."
At only a little further, they made a turn, and suddenly the passageway had gotten wider. Elia, finally, was able to let down her little girl. They continued through the tunnels, until they found a small staircase that seemed to hug and circle around a tower. Elia, looked down for a moment, and saw how the staircase descended, and tried to locate this tower in her head. After a few moments of thought, she had.
'Would at least lead to somewhere near the shore,' she finally reached as an answer, before looking back, 'Best to be back, don't want our…protector to think something is amiss.'
It took only a few moments for Elia to return to her daughter's room, little Rhaeneys in tow. It took only a moment more for her to be able to pull back the door so the hidden passageway was closed. And then, looking at the suddenly far more visible door, she slowly grabbed a set of shelves that were meant for the girl's toys, and pushed it in front of the passageway. She stepped back, and then smiled as it closed.
"My Lady?"
Elia winced. It was an old voice outside. She hoped beyond hope that the kingsguard outside actually hadn't heard her moving around the furniture, but she might have to live with it. She walked over to the door, and suddenly realized from her exhaustion that she was feeling the weight of her activity. Still, she opened the door, and saw the familiar sight of a white hair on the face of a white armored knight.
"My lady," Gerold Hightower, the White Bull, the captain of the Kingsguard and one of the greatest knights of the age, bowed, and remained outside the door. Elia felt her muscles tense. He'd been assigned to specifically watch her since Rhaegar had left, "I heard some strange sounds, is everything well?"
"Yes Ser Hightower," Elia bowed to the old man, in his seventh decade of life, four of which he'd spent in the white cloak, "I was just playing with Rhaenys, and our ball fell behind the shelf," she motioned towards the shelf she had moved. For a moment, the Kingsguard stared at it, and for a second, she thought he might notice it, before he looked her straight in the eye.
"My Lady, you must assure yourself that when moving, to be careful. A fall might damage your health," he then turned around, and began to walk out the door. For a second, Elia thought about what he was saying.
"Why do you still follow him?"
The words had flown from her mouth like a raven from the rookery. For a moment, the knight just stood there, his eyes forward, before he turned back. His face was as cold as it had always been, only Ser Darry had been more cold of the knights of the Kingsguard. He was thinking, she could see, and for the moment, she wondered what his response was.
"For that is my oath," he said finally.
"But you took an oath to defend those who cannot defend the weak and the innocent, and Aerys," she began to shake, "I watched Rickard Stark burn, Ser Hightower. Not for any treason, but for following the command of his king."
"Brandon Stark threatened to murder Pri-"
"And Rickard obeyed his king and came here not with an army but prepared to speak honorably," she shot back, "As did Ser Arryn, Ser Mallister and Ser Royce," she could feel the tears building up in her face, "Why did they have to die, when it was their sons who broke the law, and my husband who drove them to it?"
"...," Hightower looked out the window, and seemed to again be thinking. He shook his head, and answered, "For that is the King's desire, and when Rickard Stark demanded Trial by Combat, it was…seen as the best way to ensure that their was a proper resolution-"
"A proper resolution!" Elia shrieked, and she could hear the beginnings of crying from behind her, "Aerys and his men burned a Lord Paramount alive. That was no Trial by Combat, that was a burning," she shook her head, "And the life choking from Brandon's lungs…even if he was a traitor, it was such a monstrous way to kill him," she remembered several of her ladies vomiting after the event, "I had to send Ashara Dayne away, back to her home. The stress may even kill the child in her womb, Ser Hightower."
"My Lady," Gerold said, "I offered to be the King's Champion. Doing so wou-"
"That was supposed to make it better?"
"Yes," Hightower admitted, "By the seven it would be judged to have been an honorable and just death of a guilty man," he looked down, "Instead of a tortuous execution of a man with no provided defense."
Elia stared at him for a moment.
SMACK
And then pulled her hand back as Gerold's Face did not move from the impact of the strike. He simply continued to stare at her, and Elia knew he had been preparing for it. She then spat in the White Bull's face, and once more he did not move. He reached his free hand up to his face, and wiped the spit from it, before returning his hand to his side.
"Dear Lady," he said, his facial features unmoving, "King Aerys ordered me to kill you today."
…
"What?" Elia was taken aback, nearly falling over herself at the knight, who remained placid as he had been before, "But I am the mother of his grandchildren."
"To all but the king, this is true," Hightower said, "He claims, however, that your children are not Targaryen, that your daughter smells Dornish, and your son has both the smell and the look," the White Bull continued as Elia just felt the need to sit down, "He was in his council, and for a moment, there was a suggestion from Lord Stauton that since Rhaegar was seen with Lyanna Stark, that it would be best to have her take your place, and disinherit you for producing bastards."
"But I have-"
"No, you have not," Gerold Hightower cut her off, "My family has dealt with Targaryen bastards. Twas a monstrous thing," the Dance of the Dragons sat in the back of Elia's mind, "And you have been nothing but loyal to your husband, so to murder you would be a gross injustice," he snorted out of his nose while closing his eyes, "Though, I wish you did not seek to stoke him in such a manner with your sister," he sighed, "We already have one knight with a paramor, and protecting your uncle is more than enough of a strain on us as it is."
"I was jus-"
"Listening to his dreams," Elia felt her jaw drop, "Targaryens have always had madnesses. Twas madness that drove Aegon to conquer. Was madness that drove the cruelty of Maegor," he pointed out the window, and the massive building on the nearby hill, "Was madness that made the Sept of Baelor," he then looked down at Elia again, "They were wrong when they said that there is a coin flipped when a Targaryen is born, my lady. Tis not a dragon born that is not mad. Dareon, Daemon, Jaehaerys, Brakespear and Egg. All dragons," he leaned forward, his nose only an inch from her own, "All men with madness that lead to death."
The knight then turned on his heels, and began to march out the door, not bothering to give her a second glance, "Once, the Hightowers were dismayed by the madness of these beasts that are our rulers," he didn't need to bring up the specifics, "But we've made our peace with it, as has every Kingsguard that has signed their name into that book," he reached behind him, and grabbed the handle, "So the best we can hope to do is to contain the madness. When there is an order to kill a princess, we do not do so."
"Then why do you let him rape his wife," she remembered the blood flowing from Rhaella's wounds, "Why let him burn a Lord Paramount. Why let him associate with the Alchemists, and their crazed fires?"
Gerold went straight. For several seconds, she could tell he was thinking to try and come up with an explanation that might explain it.
"...One must let a caged beast hunt," he finally said, but she could tell they were words of defeat, "Or else it might try to break free."
And the door closed. For a second, Elia just stared at the door.
Then she nearly screamed.
'You self serious fool!' she shouted inside her own head, 'There is a difference between a Maegor or an Aerys and a Baelor or…' her mind went to her husband, staring out the window on the falling snow, 'Or a Rhaegar,' she conceded, if only in her own mind.
'But more than that,' she felt her teeth grind, 'You are lying to yourself to think you are better than you are,' she seethed, 'If you were guarding a beast, you would put it down if truly saw it's monstrosity,' the image of Brandon Stark's face running out of air flashed across her mind, 'For wild beasts must be put down.'
She slowly walked over, and picked her girl up. She then marched to a chair, and sat down and began to rock. She was tired. Oh so tired.
'God's,' she thought, 'How…how did I get in this mess.'
She looked out the window, and she could see the sea. For a moment, she dreamed of getting on the nearest ship, and sailing home. To Sunspear, to Dorne.
To home.
To be in the warmth of her homeland. To watch her children play in the Water Gardens, and for Mata to happily be alongside her, fully part of the family To be away from these politics, away from this rotten castle, away from these false knights.
To be away from the dragons that were to ruin her life.
And to be away from the war, that she knew was coming.
She'd heard the rumors. More, she had heard the shrieks of Aerys. How he screamed about the unloyal Arryn, who had called his banners to support Robert Baratheon. How Gulltown had only held out for a day before Lord Marq Grafton had had his skull smashed in. How a ship had left the port that very night, and was already on its way to the Stormlands. How there were already sounds of the lords of the storms beginning to gather for battle.
And she'd heard bad things from the West. How Tywin Lannister had not handed over Eddard Stark. How there had been a strange gathering of lords in the West at Casterly Rock. Even…even though there were words of the banners of the North being called, and an army prepared to march south to meet with Jon Arryn's nights of the Vale.
It was all too much. The war wasn't just a dream.
It was a nightmare.
She stared down at her little girl who was looking up at her strangely. She then looked over at the hidden… "hidden" door behind the toy shelf. Her mind began to twist and turn. Doran had often said she had the greatest mind of their family. So she was going to have to try and use it now.
"So this is why Maegor had the architects killed?" Mata was following Elia, their movements only illuminated by a small torch the Princess had managed to smuggle up to Rhaenys room after supper, "A hidden stairwell all the way into the rooms of the royal family, I can see why it would be important to protect it."
Ellia had met with Mata during supper, and told her to meet her in Rhaenys room after dinner. Only a few hours later, with both of her children asleep, did Mata and Elia meet in the playroom. Elia, using her torch and the low level of guards, had shown Mata the opening. Together, they had moved it out of the way, and begun to go into the passageway once more. This time, without the little girl along with her, they had begun to go down the stairs, and were slowly inching further and further out of the Red Keep.
"Honestly, I do wonder if it only made things worse," Elia said absentmindedly, "Before, only the architects and Maegor knew there were secret passages in the Red Keep. After he killed them, everyone knew there were secret passages in this place."
'I am spending far too much time thinking about the minds of Mad Dragons,' she considered, before they continued further and further down the wall of the Red Keep. Finally, the stairs ended, and they looked at what looked like a small crevice. They stared at it for a moment, before Elia pushed her way through, and found herself looking out, a blast of sea air hitting her as she escaped the passageway. Beneath her was a small stone slab, only a yard across width and two yards length. And alongside that, was a boat, a small little dingy, with a pair of oars on the side, and a lantern on the very end of it.
"Wow," Mata said, stretching as she joined Elia out on the small little dock, "This is strange," she admitted, "Someone could…"
"My daughter's playroom…was once the bedroom of Alicent Hightower."
"...No," Mata looked down at the boat, her mind catching up with the history, "That would mean, was this where Blood and Cheese snuck in?"
Elia fell down to her knees. Mata was about to rush to her, but Elia raised a hand in the bastard girl's face, and made for her to be silent. For the next few minutes, she contemplated what this all meant. How was it possible that they'd only just discovered this passageway. The bouncing ball should in no way have been enough for them to discover this way, yet somehow, they'd gained more knowl…
"Someone wants us to know we have a way out," Elia considered, then had her eyes on the boat, "And to know that they have give us this way out."
"The boat?" Mata asked, and Elia nodded.
"Tis an offer of escape…but one that we shall only have because we were shown it," she looked down at the scrappy little thing, "Tis not enough to even make it a mile," she pointed at the lantern, "If one was to actually escape, they would need to light that lantern, and have another ship nearby come and pick them up."
"Who would offer that to us?" Mata rubbed her chin, "Twould need to be someone with many connections, and who," she looked at Elia, "The Spider mayhaps."
"Good sister, very good," Elia nodded. Varys, shaved head, soft voice, missing cock. The eunuch from across the narrow sea, who knew what he should not, "Of everyone in the Red Keep, I'd wager he'd be the one to set up something such as this," she looked around the jagged rocks that flanked this small little grotto, "Would not surprise me one of his birds wasn't listening to us at this moment," of course, it was far too dark to actually see anything out here, "Yes, this is most likely him."
"But…why?" Mata continued to rub her chin, "Varys is Aerys creature, but for some reason, he offers you an escape from the Red Keep?" the girl's eyes widened, "A trap mayhaps? To hand us over to Aerys for trying to flee?"
"No…," Elia shook her head, "If he wanted to trap us…he would already have guards here," she shook her head, "Aerys wants me dead now, and would be easy enough to claim I was sneaking out to escape, but instead he shows me this boat," she turned back, "Tis a trade most like. Escape from the Red keep, but one that would mean giving Varys something in return," she pushed her way back into the hole of the passageway, hand held high with the torch to allow Mata to see her way back in, "One I don't think we should make for the nonce."
"Not that I disagree dear sister," Mata said as she bounced off, "But why wait?"
"In case Rhaegar can return in victory," Elia said, "If he should return soon, mayhaps he can deal with Aerys, and we need not sell ourselves to the Spider," she then stared out at the small boat one last time, "No need when we still have that hope."
"Ah yes," Mata huffed, folding her arms, "That man who'd leave you for a long-faced pup will certainly save us."
"He'd save Rhaenys and Aegon," the admission hurt. The conversation with Gerold Hightower, for all his hypocrisy, had been revealing to her, "He thinks the world of them, so he will do what he can for them," she gave one last look out there, before turning back up the staircase, "I wish he felt the same for me, but I must take my victories where I can these days."
"Sister."
The climb back up to the Red Keep was long. Throughout it all, she kept her eyes open. There was still the chance that they might be caught after all. And besides, she'd rather not talk about anything for the nonce. She'd…she'd already had enough to think about this day. And this was just one more damn thing to add to the pile of things she had too much to think about.
As they reached the playroom one last time, they slowly entered it, looked around, and got out. They then, after putting out the torch, again hid the opening in the wall with the shelf. The work was hard, and yet it was important, so no one outside of their "friend" who showed them this passage would be able to find out what they'd found. After it was in place, Elia turned to Mata, and she could see the sweat covering the girl's brow in the moonlight. For a second, her eyes flicked up, and her heart caught itself in her throat. She then moved her head back down to Mata, and stared at her directly.
"You need to be ready to take the children here if things go wrong," she said, and that caused Mata to snap her head towards Elia.
"What about you?"
"I can handle myself," she looked down at her hands, before squeezing them tightly in frustration, "I am a princess of Dorne, so I have protections you don't, and I am not so easily threatened if my children are safe," she then placed a hand on Mata's shoulder, "but only do so at the last hour, when it seems like there is nothing that might else be available. Varys is not a man I trust, but he might still be what allows you to get out of here alive."
"Can we be sure twas Varys who showed us this?" Mata asked.
Elia sighed, and then raised her finger to the ceiling. Mata looked up, and gasped at a pair of small eyes staring down at her from above. As her eyes adjusted, Mata realized, as Elia had, that a small child was looking down on them, studying them as they sat there.
Then the head of the child disappeared into some other passageway. They sat there in silence, the moments ticking by. Varys had sent one final message, that he knew what they knew, and he wanted them to know that. Any further use of the passage would likely be considered signing up for whatever the Eunuch had planned. As they, sisters of a father but not a mother, sat there, the looked at one another, and admitted at the same time.
"I hate this place."