Elia Martell stood on the docks at the foot of the Red Keep, watching as the rowboat came ashore from the Dornish ship that had just arrived. Elia herself had been in King's Landing for nearly a moon, having been called back from Dragonstone with her two children. The letter had been from Rhaegar, and while it had contained no shortage of flowery language and confessions of love, honour and duty, she knew what it really meant. She was in the dragon's den, surrounded by men who served at the whim of madmen. Silently, she had wondered on the journey which one of the two the men escorting her truly served; the roaring father or the smiling son?
No matter who truly commanded the kingdoms, she still found herself a pawn, a tool in their games. With her return to the Red Keep neither her brothers nor her homeland would remain passive in this war. Where before they might have remained neutral, acting only in defence of her and her children, now that danger was present to force their hands. However, the danger was not from the rebels, no matter what was said. The danger to Elia and her children came from within, from the king on the throne who considered her an abomination, from the knights in white who followed his words, from the Northern girl who's stomach was full with her husband's child, and her husband herself who seemed all to enthused to place her and their issue in harm's way all to correct his own mistakes.
Rhaenys and Aegon were with her here today. She did not trust her children to be out of her sight for long, and especially not when she had left the relative closeness of the Red Keep to descend down to the docks. Her daughter seemed enthused to be out of the castle, looking around in the bright spring day and taking in the movements of countless dock workers and other smallfolk. Aegon was resting in the arms of one of his caretakers, a Dornish-woman from sunspear who had been a part of her retinue longer than anyone else in her service.
Well, almost anyone.
Standing in the rowboat as it was tethered to the dock, Elia smiled as one of her oldest and dearest friends stepped off of her island of wood. Ashara Dayne smiled at the princess, rushing forwards as fast as her bulging stomach would allow. Elia herself moved as well, all but running as the two women colided in a fierce embrace. Elia burried her head into Ashara's neck, allowing a few small tears of happiness to leak from her eyes as she held her best friend. Likewise, she felt some of her dress become damp as Ashara wept into her shoulder.
"I'm sorry, Ashara." She whispered, rubbing her friend's back as she shook. She had rarely seen her friend so fragile as she was now, but given her state, and the news that had spread like wildfire across the realm, she knew that the woman was entitled to more than a few tears.
Eventually, the two pulled back and Ashara wiped her eyes of the last of the tears that she would permit herself to shed in such a public place. Smiling now, though it was somewhat bitter, she looked over Elia's shoulder and let out an exagerated gasp.
"By the gods. Look how big Rhaenys has gotten."
The two made their way back to dry land, meeting her daughter who squealed as she was picked up and craddled by Ashara.
"How are you little princess." She cooed. "Have you been good for your mother?"
"Ya! Ya!" Rhaenys cheered. "I good fo' mama."
Ashara smiled and looked over at Elia.
"She is speaking so well." She praised, causing both Rhaenys and Elia to giggle."
"Ya-yes." Rhaenys said again. "Mama say I speak."
"You do, dear one." Elia said brushing her hand along the girl's cheek and prompting another burst of giggles.
"Come now." She said, weaving an arm through Ashara's as one of her household came to take Rhaenys. "We have your rooms already set up."
"You are as kind as the mother herself." Ashara said, leaning into her friend's side. "Boats have disagreed with me these last few moons."
The moon became somewhat somber amongst her other attendents. While it was not known who exactly was the father of Ashara Dayne's child, there were rumours and theories aplenty. Of course, Elia knew, having helped her friend spirit away to be with Lord Stark, and she was sure that Varys knew, given that the spider seemed to know everything. However, not even Arthur had been trusted with the knowledge of the father of the babe in Ashara's womb.
It seemed that that might change soon however. As soon as they reached the entrance to the Red Keep, they found a pair of white cloaks and a man in green.
Arthus Dayne stood at the entrance, accompanied by Jamie Lannister. Just behind the young lion, there was one of his normal guards. Elia recognised the man as Ser Robert, a man posted by Lord Tywing and Lord Kurt to ensure the safety of his eldest son.
"Ashara." Arthur said, stepping forwards but showing little of the familiarity that she knew the two had shared.
"Arthur." Ashara smiled, embracing her brother and ignoring the white cloak and armour that signaled his forswearing of all family and name.
The kingsguard's stoick face softened and he returned his sister's embrace in kind.
"It is good to see you again, little sister." He said, pulling back.
Ashara offered him a small smile before the stepped back herself and returned to Elia's side. Arthur's face hardened again a moment later when he glanced at Ser Jaime and Ser Robert.
"Uhum." He cleared his throat lightly. "The queen has assingned a set of chambers for you Lady Dayne, we are here to escort you and the princess and her children."
"Lead us on then, kingsguard." Elia said.
Part of her felt bad for ruining the tender moment between the two, but she had not yet forgiven Arthur for his role in her husband's elopement with Lyanna Stark, not to mention that she now had to live alongside the woman who had run off with her husband.
Arthur's face took on a pained look, and he tried to share a look with Ashara, but the beautiful Dornish woman only raised an eyebrow and gave him a look that Elia could not read. His shoulder's slumped slightly though and with a gesture he and Ser Jaime began to lead the small entourage into the keep. Elia followed behind the two knights, but kept her eyes from wandering to the man dressed in the colour of deep green.
Ser Robert of House Terra was an enigma to the entire keep, as was his entire house. Few believed the stories, but it seemed there were nothing but fanciful tales to be told of his home and his lord's seat. The Plataea, as it was called, was said to touch the clouds and be so massive that it could be seen from the mainland. Some tried to pry the truth from the members of the house who lived in the Red Keep, but so far, only one of them seemed at all approachable or amenable to answering questions, and she was near constantly in the presence of the queen, so any attempt to gather information had to be done in front of the queen of the seven kingdoms.
Elia, over the moon she had been in King's Landing, had not had much time with the queen herself. Rhaella had tried of course to make room and time for her, they had been close before the mess with Rhaegar, and their correspondence had kept them familiar with each other. However, with her absence and several requests from Rhaegar, Rhaella had taken Lyanna on as a member of her household in order to make her more welcome. Elia did not want to be bitter, and normally she was by no means a vengeful or petty person, but when she had first seen Lady, princess now, Lyanna sitting with her good-mother, being taught the basics of sewing like she was a child, and with her belly swelled greatly with her own soon to be child, she had stormed out of the room and right to Rhaenys and Aegon's chambers. She had relieved the nurse who had been setting her daughter down for a nap, and instead had done so herself, watching her daughter and son sleep for a while.
She had not known how long she had sat in the room, keeping eyes on her children and allowing herself to wallow in sorrow and self-pity in the face of her husband's second wife. She did not get the chance to spend her whole day in such a way though, as a knock on her door before it opened informed her she had company. Rhaella soon walked in, followed closely by Lady Jane of House Terra, who stayed close to the door as the queen came in to speak with the princess.
Elia was not one to let herself be overcome with emotion. Ever since childhood she had had to be the sensible one in order to balance out Oberyn's willful impulsiveness. Even so, seeing the sorrow and the sympathy in her good-mother's eyes, the woman who since the death of her own mother had in many ways stepped up to fill that void, she had allowed herself to break down. Her strength fled her now that she no longer needed it to reassure herself and her children. She wept softly, for even in the midst of despair she did not wish to wake her children with her sorrow.
Rhaella had held her, offered her comfort and understanding, and had worked with her in spending time together, but keeping a reasonable distance between herself, her children and Lyanna. The Northern girl had at first seemed oblivious to their actions, and where Rhaella would disappear every other day to sit with Elia and her children and discuss things together, over time, the girl seemed determined to aquaint herself with Elia.
She had made sure to keep their interactions limited and superficial, so as to make sure that there was as little reason as possible for them to spend time with each other, but it seemed neither Lyanna, nor Rhaegar now, were content to let her remain outside of their new family. Rhaegar had all but demanded her presence at an evening dinner, with Lyanna there seated across from her. It seemed Rhaegar was under the impression that as they were both his wives, they should be content, no ecstatic to share in his presence and attention, and to love each other as he expected they loved him.
Elia had been quick to disabuse her husband of that notion, and though she felt some guilt over her actions, she did not truly regret her words at that dinner.
"Lady Lyanna, I've heard much of you. Especially from Lord Robert and Lord Brandon at Harrenhal."
That had shut down any further attempts at conversation, and she could see Rhaegar's eyes harden as Lyanna's gathered unshed tears. The princess had gotten up from the table, incensed it seemed over her harsh words, and by the end of the week it seemed that the whole of the castle knew of it too. There seemed to be a divide in terms of opinions. Many of the people seemed to find it entertaining, after all, Lyanna was not a very beloved person, considering the war that she had inadvertantly caused. While many rightfully blamed Aerys' actions with Brandon and Rickard Stark for the armies that now marched across the lands, most also understood that had Lyanna only kept to her oaths and honour, none if the later events would have occured.
Other, more prominently those who were either loyal to Rhaegar or hoping to gain favour with the heir to the throne, seemed happy to paint the event as the actions of a scored wife, jealous of the new princess who bore the prince his children without the threat of death hanging over her head at every moment.
As it was, Elia shook herself free of those thoughts, walking in silence as Ser Arthur and Ser Jaime led them to the rooms that were meant for Ashara.
When they finally reached the hallway, Elia was pleased to see that the chambers set for her dearest friend were only just down the hall from her own, with large amenities that she knew Ashara would appreciate considering her condition.
Ser Arthur, Ser Jaime, if you would see my son and daughter to their chambers and allow us a moment to speak." Elia said, though it was not a request. The two white knights bowed before leaving the room, escorting her children and their nurse back to her rooms. As soon as the door was shut, she led Ashara down to the table that sat in the centre of the room.
"Ashara. How are you, truly?"
Her friend's face broke from the smiling facade that she had set up, crumbling into one of sorrow and heartache.
"I...I love him still Elia." She didn't say his name, though for the safety of her secret or from the pain of her loss, Elia wasn't sure. "I wanted to marry him, I would have. He was kind, and strong, and he didn't mind that I could defeat him in an argument. I'd never met a man like him before."
"I know." Elia said, hugging the woman. "I'm sorry, if I hadn't made you dance with him, this might never have happened."
"No, it is not your fault Elia. How could you have known? How could any of us have known?" Ashara scoffed bitterly. "If only she could have controlled herself. A woman like her, without care for consequence nor the lives of anyone but herself."
Elia tried to comfort her friend, and though she shared many of the same thoughts as her friend regarding that woman, she did not want her friend to become consumed by bitterness.
"Does he know?" Elia asked. That was the one thing she had never been told. Ashara had informed her soon after her return to Starfall, but she had no idea about how long her friend had been with child.
"I left before I knew." She whispered. "We spent one last night together, before I left back home and he ventured North. I found out only on the journey back."
"Oh Ashara." Elia whispered back, pulling the her friend into an even tighter embrace. "He... you know if he had known he would have come for you."
"I know." She said. "But what would that have accomplished? Honour demands that he settle his family's debts, and after what his sister has done, how can he renege on something so serious as a betrothal just to chase after a woman he dishonoured by laying with her before marriage?"
"He loves you."
"And look what happens when two people forsake their vows and honour to chase after the ones they love." She spat. "No, I won't be like them, I will not be the reason that he loses his honour, nor an army that could have him live to see the end of this war."
Ashara's voice was firm, and Elia looked on in wonder at her friend. There she sat, pregnant with the child of a rebel, more than that, she carried the child of the Lord of Winterfell. By all rights and any justice in the world she should be Lady Stark as well as Lady Dayne, and yet her friend had sacrificed her love, and the birthright of her child, so that its father might live to see another day with an army worth the name.
Granted, Ashara's actions had directly endangered her family, and by extension her children, but she could not bring herself to begrudge Ashara her choices. What she had done, she had done it all for love. A love that was lost to her now, with only the child in her belly as a reminder of the man with whom she had shared her body, her heart, and her soul.
The paternity of Ashara Dayne's child was an interesting piece of information. Shane put down the earpiece as he finished listening in on the princess' conversation with her friend. Bugging the entire castle had been a long an boring task, more for the size of the castle and the number of hidden passageways that ran through it. It had taken Shane and Robert weeks to get cameras and microphones set up throughout the tunnels and hallways. Meanwhile, Jane had taken time with her friendship with the queen to set up listening devices on many of the royal and highborn apartments.
The micro-recorder that he had just been listening to was one of the ones she had set up, and though the room had been empty for as long as they had been stationed in the castle, it was important that they maintain a ready ability to surveil any and all areas of the stronghold.
Typing quickly into the small datapad that their team used to keep track of any important information that needed to be jotted down, Shane checked the small watch he kept on his wrist. It was time for the day's lessons, and so with a nod he left Fireteams Hotel and India in the room, every one of them utilising various pieces of equipment to keep tabs on anyone important to the castle. The two other fireteams, beta and alpha respectively, were each tasked to maintain unseen servailance of the royal family and all its members, but with Elia Martell now in King's Landing, Fireteam India had joined in on their and Hotel's operations.
However, while the other spartans in the room were confined there during the day, when their comings and goings could be more easily noticed, Shane had a job to do today, one that he took great pride in.
On the last few months, there had been an effort by the captain to do some rudimentary genetic screening of the populous of Westeros. Already, Nearly one-hundred and fifty-thousand small folk had been tested by UNSC personel, though most had no idea of it. What screening was done was done in exchange for food and clothes, often presented as charity. hair, blood and other samples were surreptitiously collected, and ran through the Plataea's genetic protocols based on the necessary gene markers for Spartan enhancements. Surprisingly, there was a reasonable level of compatible candidates amongst the small folk, though it seemed that the higher one went up amongst the nobility, the fewer candidates there were. The Plataea's geneticists had offered the theory that due to the tradition of noble inbreeding and the scarcity of new blood being introduced into the gene-pool, there was a far lower chance of finding compatible matches for the spartan program amongst the nobility.
Either way, there was now a company of nearly five-dozen, drawn from across all corners of Westeros. Specifically, eighty percent of the candidates had been identified in the settlements of Oldtown, Lannisport, Gulltown, King's Landing and White Harbour, the five largest settlements on the continent, with others drawn from smaller settlements like Sunspear, Maidenpool and the like. There were several theories that there would be even more matches in the cities to the east, as the 'Free Cities' as they were called, were larger than even King's Landing and had far greater populations.
Any confirmation of those theories would have to wait however, as for now they their company, the beginnings of a native Spartan generation. Shane hefted a pack over his shoulder, securing it and leaving the room. There were several nods and gestures from the other two spartan fireteams to wish him well and good luck, after all, they knew just what it was that he was about to do. He returned the gestures, closing and barring the door behind him as only Jane, Robert and some steward who kept all the spare keys to all the rooms had any way of entering again.
Exiting the room, he walked into one of the other rooms that had been allotted to 'House Terra' to find that the twelve children recruited into the program from King's Landing were sitting on their respective bunks. The oldest of them was six, the youngest, four. The exact range of ages that were best suited to introduction to spartan training.
Amongst them, he could see that a few were crowded around Shiera. The young girl, who had the white hair and purple eyes of Valyrian descent, was one of the younger inductees, but was also one of the first and reminded Shane quite a bit of Jane from that first night. He remembered the girl, hair done up in a pair of pigtails a look of fear on her face, but she had done it either way, jumped out of a pelican in the dead of night, barely four years old and the bravest person he'd ever met.
Shiera seemed keen to live up to Jane's example. After all, Jane was a warrior all but unparalleled in the world, she held friendship with the queen of the seven kingdoms and was beautiful in a way that defied sense. She was a dream come true for the young peasant girl, especially since her parents had been more than happy to sell her to the UNSC for a few gold dragons. Shane of wondered whether their daughter's more stable future had been a factor in their decision, or if it had just been the sight of the two large men standing at their door looking for all the world like their could rip them in half without so much as a hint of effort. Shane wasn't unaware of just how intimidating spartans could be, and wondered briefly how many parents and caretakers he had unintentionally coerced with his frightening frame.
He shook himself of those thoughts in an instant. These kids would have a better life under the program than they could ever have amongst the locals here.
"Attention." He said, drawing the attention of the room. In an instant, the children were rushing to their bunks, doing the best impressions of military discipline that they could given their age. Shane nodded at the speed at which they rushed to attention.
"Today is an the day that you were brought here for. Today you are being given the opportunity to become Spartans."
The speech was a tricky one, not just because unlike with the first three companies, there was no Covenant to inspire vengence in the cendidates. Instead, the children here were given a different introduction, as were the other candidates from across the kingdoms.
"To be a Spartan is not an easy task-" He said. "-and to become one will require sacrifice and hard work, beyond anything you can imagine."
A few of the kids exchanged looks, confused about the speech.
"But if you succeed, you will be the best there is. You will be greater than any normal man or woman could ever be, and you will become a part of us. You will be UNSC, you will be Spartans, brothers and sisters in arms with all of us. Now, grab your assigned packs and follow me."
Together as one, the candidates for Delta company grabbed the packs they had been assigned and followed Shane as he marched them down the halls of the Red Keep. Soon enough they left the castle, and Shane marched them through King's Landing proper, down the dirt streets, past the shit-smelling slums and south towards the Kingswood. There they would be picked up by a pelican dropship and the candidates would get their chance to prove themselves as prospective spartans.
Another long chapter, and about three quarters of it was devoted to Elia and Ashara. One of the things I don't like about the R+L fans is that they just assume that Elia would be cool with it or that she knew. Also there's this idea that they are all in love and in a big polycule relationship where Elia and Lyanna are just as happy to jump each other as Rhaegar. I find that a gross oversimplification of Elia's character, as the only thing people use to justify her being ok with Rhaegar and Lyanna is that she is Dornish and that the Dornish have more lax views on sex and relationships.
First of all, it's a very reductive view of a culture, and by no means should we equate a stereotype of Dornish culture with the entire people. We see this in many ways, one of the most prominent being that Oberyn Martell was banished from Dorne after a duel he had over a paramour. While it is in the show Oberyn's history and lore videos on Robert's Rebellion also criticise Rhaegar, something I think he would not do if he knew that Elia approved of the kidnapping. In the end though, this is a nebulous area in asoiaf history and it's my perogative to fill it in a way that I think makes sense. I hope it's good for you.
Now I know that a lot of people have been asking me to let Ned marry Ashara but while I like them together, it simply wouldn't work. To be with Ashara, Ned would have to not only ignore the marriage that he has to uphold because of honour, but also forsake the army that would come with it. Honestly, the fact that they can't be together is a terrible consequence of Lyanna running away and now there's probably going to be a terrible precedent about following love over duty. I mean seriously, if it were known as it is in this story, the nobility would probably make it into a euphamism for being stupid. 'Hey, don't do that. You're pulling a 'Lyanna Stark' and it'll end badly.' As it is now, I added a bit of tragedy with Ashara's attitude.
Also, as hinted earlier we see the beginnings of the Spartan program in Westeros. Firstly we see the candidates from all across the seven kingdoms, The cities are obviously the best places to find candidates, but large towns and castles are also useful since large numbers of people flock to them. We also see that there are more Spartans than just Wolfpack in the Red Keep keeping an eye on the royal family.