Theon found himself unable to breathe. He was strapped on a cross, he was being tortured for shit he'd done and there was nothing anyone was doing to save him. He was alone… alone… alone…
Something slammed into his nose and threw him off his back and onto his ass. He quickly grabbed his nose and felt the blood trickling through his fingers.
"Good, you've snapped out of it" Yara's voice cut through the mess in his mind and he looked up.
His sister was looking down at him, rubbing her knuckle.
"You punched me" Theon accused.
"I did" Yara agreed.
"You made me bleed!"
"You'll heal."
Theon rushed to his feet and with a yell charged at his sister.
But Yara caught him, twisted him and slammed him on the floor.
"You abandoned me!" Theon accused; angry, shaken and betrayed.
"I warned you about what would happen. I told you to come with me. But did you listen? Did you think of anyone but yourself? What about your crew? Did they want to die with you?" Yara hissed in his ears. "You're the one who made stupid decisions, and not just one but many. So don't go blaming it all on me when you're the one with an over-inflated ego and sense of self-importance."
Yara pushed herself off of him and walked to the door. The door opened but she stopped at the frame.
"You are my brother and I love you. But make stupid dumbass mistakes and I will leave you to rot" she slammed the door behind her, leaving a sobbing Theon on the floor.
xxx Viewing Hall xxx
Upon her return to the viewing hall, Yara found everyone seated impatiently while the visions on the wall stagnated.
"Where's your blasted brother?" Olenna snapped impatiently.
"Did the visions stop when we stepped out?" Yara asked with a cheeky grin, "Guess we are more important than some in the audience."
With those words, she returned to her seat grinning.
Theon returned a moment later, red-eyed, nose swollen and head lowered. He took a seat near Varys, Gendry and Rhaegar this time.
With Theon's return, the visions started again.
[THE RIVERLANDS, NIGHT]
[BRIENNE sits, bound and thinking, her brow still furrowed.]
"Eat. What are you doing?"
"I'm dying."
"You can't die. You need to live to take revenge."
"With what?" Jaime scoffed angrily. Tyrion may have promised him vengeance, but there was nothing he could do. Without his sword hand, he was nothing.
"I don't care about revenge."
"You coward. A little misfortune and you're giving up."
"Misfor- misfortune?"
"She does understand that a knight who can't fight is as useless as a broken sword, right?" Renly whispered to Robert.
"I honestly have no idea what she's on about" Robert shrugged.
"You lost your hand."
"My sword hand. I was that hand."
"You have a taste- one taste of the real world where people have important things taken from them and you whine, cry, and quit. You sound like a bloody woman."
"Oh, so she isn't above insulting her own gender. How manly of her" Olenna said dryly.
"A swordsman without his sword hand is nothing. If she as a swordswoman does not understand it then she's as delusional as those idiots who think Tywin Lannister is about to let them live after what they did" Margaery added with a scoff.
[BRIENNE and JAIME sit in silence. JAIME reaches for the bread and takes a bite.]
"I know what you did for me. You told them Tarth was full of sapphires. It's called the Sapphire Isle because of the blue of its water. You knew that. Why did you help me?"
"Because you've earned his respect," Tyrion said calmly. "And he's not as bad as people make him out to be."
[KING'S LANDING, TYWIN'S CHAMBERS]
[LORD TYWIN LANNISTER writes while CERSEI looks on, impatiently.]
"You wanted to speak to me?"
"Yes, about Jaime."
"What about him?"
"I wanted to make sure we're doing everything we can to get him back."
"She did not just ask him that" Tyrion face-planted.
"She did" Jaime muttered, the incredulity of the statement breaking him temporarily out of his slump.
Tyrion looked up at his brother, but the slump was back by then.
"When Catelyn Stark took Tyrion prisoner, what did I do in response?"
"You started a war."
"And if I would start a war for that lecherous little stump,"
"Appreciate the love," Tyrion said dryly.
"What do you think I am doing for my oldest son and heir?"
"Whatever you can."
[TYWIN seals the letter he finished and starts another one.]
"Did it ever occur to you that I might be the one who deserves your confidence and your trust, not your sons? Not Jaime or Tyrion, but me. Years and years of lectures on family and legacy- the same lecture, really, just with tiny, tedious variations- did it ever occur to you that your daughter might be the only one listening to them? Living by them? That she might have the most to contribute to your legacy that you love so much more than your actual children?"
"And she said that too" Tyrion snorted.
"All right. Contribute."
"The Tyrells are a problem."
Even Myrcella had to snort at that. The same Tyrells who had come in to help. Margaery may have been there to only be Queen, but her family helped and her mother saw them as a threat.
"The Tyrells helped us defeat Stannis Baratheon. The Tyrells saved your life, your children's lives."
"Margaery has her claws in Joffrey. She knows how to manipulate him."
"Good. I wish you knew how to manipulate him. I don't distrust you because you're a woman. I distrust you because you're not as smart as you think you are. You've allowed that boy to ride roughshod over you and everyone else in this city."
[TYWIN goes back to writing.]
"Perhaps you should try stopping him from doing what he likes."
"It's the fact that she thinks father won't put Joffrey in his place and make him question his worth that makes her stupid!" Tyrion exclaimed, turning to his niece. "I don't think your mother is stupid because she is a woman, I think she's stupid because she overestimates her capabilities and makes messes worse. Has always done so."
Myrcella only shrugged. That wasn't the problem between them anyway.
[KING'S LANDING SHORELINE]
[SANSA STARK kneels at a rocky overlook, praying. MARGAERY approaches. MARGAERYturns to the guards]
"We'd like some privacy, please. If you wouldn't mind waiting back inside the keep. Or if you'd be kind enough to give me your names, I'll ask the king to speak with you himself."
A few people snorted.
[The two guards leave.]
"What did you pray for?"
"I can't tell you."
"Probably for Joffrey's death" Sansa answered Margaery on behalf of her future self.
"I guessed" Margaery said with a small smile.
"Why not? I'll tell you what I prayed for in the sept this morning. Let's see, for my family's health and happiness, for an end to the war, for a short winter. Boring and traditional, I'm afraid. And you?"
"I'm sorry, I just can't."
"My cousin Alanna was the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen. When I was 12, I was all elbows and knees and Alanna looked like a goddess sent to torture me. Pig-face, she called me."
"You?!" Arya sputtered out. "But you're so beautiful!"
Margaery chuckled.
"Thank you for the compliment," she said with a smile, "but I was not always as blessed as I am now. Once upon a time, I was all sticks and bones."
Arya stared at her wide-eyed. If Margaerys could go from sticks and bones, maybe she could too. That would show all those people back home who bullied her.
"I think it had something to do with my nose. Whenever she passed me in the halls, she'd oink. So I prayed that she'd catch a horrible skin disease. A week after that, she came down with porridge plague."
"Porridge plague" snorted Renly.
"That's not real I'm guessing" Sansa murmured a little embarrassed.
Margaery smiled at her apologetically.
"Porridge plague?"
"You don't have it in the North? Your skin starts to look like boiled oats and eventually your face slides off and you die in agony."
"But that's awful."
[MARGAERY nods and then laughs.]
"You're- I believed you! Porridge plague. I'm an idiot."
"You are" Arya nodded, wincing when her mother hit her on the back of her head.
"Don't say that. No, you're not."
"So what happened to Alanna?"
"Oh, she grew up to be the most beautiful woman and married a handsome lord and they have darling children and live in a castle by the sea. It's all terribly frustrating."
[They arrive at another overlook.]
"I'm sure she's jealous of you now. You'll be married here in the capital and she'll have to come watch and pretend to be happy that you're queen."
"Good" Margaery muttered with a triumphant smile. That would show Alanna.
Olenna could only shake her head. The one competition between the girls that she didn't want to foster. There was no need for it in the family. With everyone outside, that was a different matter.
[MARGAERY takes both of SANSA's hands.]
"You must see Highgarden. You'd love it there. I know you would. We have a great masquerade on the night of the harvest moon. You should see the costumes. People work on them for months."
"I- I don't think the queen would let me leave King's Landing."
"The Queen Regent, you mean. Once I marry Joffrey, I'll be queen. And if you were to marry Loras... Oh, your place would be at Highgarden, wouldn't it? We would be sisters, you and I."
"Or Willas. That would make you Lady of Highgarden" Margaerys suggested.
Sansa looked at her with genuine interest, before she thought about it. She turned to her parents, who were looking as thoughtful as her.
[CRASTER'S KEEP, NIGHT]
[A funeral pyre blazes in the night.]
"Didn't think a broke foot could kill a man."
"Unless there's a cut and the wound festers or if the bones are not set back right… it shouldn't" Varys murmured.
"You know a lot about healing" Gendry noted.
"Back in my performing days I had to tend to my own wounds, so I needed to know what I was doing" the Spider explained.
"It wasn't his foot that killed him. That bastard Craster starved him to death."
"That too" Varys noted with a sigh.
"Craster's got his daughters to feed. We can't just show up and steal all his food. We're brothers of the Night's Watch, not thieves."
"The day we leave, Craster will tap a barrel of our wine and sit down to a feast of ham and potatoes and laugh at us starving in the snow. He's a bloody wildling is all he is."
[CRASTER'S KEEP, LATER]
[CRASTER eats and JEOR writes.]
"So he feasts while his guests starve" Brandon the Elder said dryly.
"The man is taking full advantage of guest rights" Lyanna muttered in outrage. "He knows they would not harm him as long as they were guests under his roof and so he's taking out his dislike and insulting them freely."
"Wildlings" Brandon muttered in disgust.
"You have one son, don't you, Mormont? I had my ninety-ninth. You ever met a man with ninety-nine sons?"
"Ninety-ninth! He's served ninety-eight sons to the White Walkers" Catelyn said with disgust. She could not imagine doing something like that to her sons. She couldn't imagine what those women were feeling!
"Let us not forget that it is his daughters that give him those sons" Lyanna muttered in disgust.
[The Night's Watchmen return to warm themselves, including SAM, GRENN, DOLOROUS EDD, RAST, and KARL TANNER.]
"Them that's dying, why don't you cut their throats and be done with it? Hmm? Or leave them if you've not the stomach and I'll sort them myself."
Many were disgusted by the man's words. But a lot were reluctantly in agreement. With the state of affairs, it would be best for the rest if the ones not healing were left behind. Loathsome as the idea was, it might just be the only chance they got.
"Whose throat you gonna cut, old man?"
"Wait outside."
"It's cold outside and there's nothing to eat."
"My wives gave you bread."
"There's sawdust in the bread."
Brandon the Elder spat.
"You don't like it, you go out there and eat the snow."
"I'd rather eat what you've got hidden away."
[JEOR stands.]
"I told you to wait outside."
"Jeor has lost his men's respect and their obedience" Rickard muttered sadly. He knew what was coming next.
"He's sitting there drinking our wine, eating his fill while we die."
[CRASTER stands in rage.]
"I gave you crows enough. I've got to feed my women!"
"So you admit you've got a hidden larder, then? How else'd you make it through winter?"
"Enough! Out!"
"I am a godly man."
"You're a stingy bastard!"
[CRASTER grabs an axe from the wall and approaches KARL TANNER.]
"Bastard? Out with you, you little thief. And you! And you! Go sleep in the cold on empty bellies. I'll chop the hands off the next man who calls me bastard."
"The truth stings" Robb chuckled sharply.
Jon was frowning. He would love nothing else but for Craster to get what is desired, but not too long ago Jon was called a bastard as an insult. That sting was still in there.
"You are a bastard. A daughter-fucking, wildling bastard."
[CRASTER raises his axe and attacks KARL TANNER. KARL grabs his arm and stabs him in the belly. CRASTER gurgles and chokes."
"Gods" Ned muttered aghast. The guest's rights… broken! There was no going back from this.
"The gods will curse us for this. By all the laws-"
[KARL TANNER hits one of CRASTER's wives. He then picks her up from the ground, and she does not resist. He puts his knife to her throat.]
"There are no laws beyond the Wall. Now show us where he hides the food or you'll get the same as he did."
[JEOR draws his sword. KARL TANNER drops the woman and gets ready to face off with JEOR.]
"I shall have your head for this."
[RAST stabs JEOR from behind. JEOR's hands go weak, and he drops his sword. GRENN charges KARL TANNER, and they wrestle for control of the knife. Women and men shout as the fight escalates. JEOR turns to face RAST, grabs him by the throat, lifts and pins him against a post. SAM flees to the outside and picks up a sword amidst the chaos. CRASTER lies dead on the floor. JEOR continues to choke RAST, until he suddenly spits up a mouthful of blood, and collapses to the floor. RAST comes to him and savagely stabs JEOR again and again.]
"He was an honourable man" Ned said after a moment's silence passed.
"Who resorted to treating with Wildlings for protection. When it was them that the Watc was tasked with hunting" Renly said pointedly.
"And why do you think he had to do anything like that?" Ned threw back. "We send our criminals to them and other than that we ignore them. We abandoned them and they had to do anything they could to survive." Even if it meant… that."
"And we can all agree that it isn't the Wildlings that the Watch is supposed to watch out for" Stannis spoke loud enough for everyone to hear. "The legends are true, and so should anything related to it. The Wall stands to hold off the White Walkers. And as the years since the Long Night passed, people forgot that fact."
The reminder of the White Walkers sobered them up easily enough.
"We'll make sure the Wall is prepared this time" Robert spoke with conviction.
"Aye," Ned nods.
[THE MOUTH OF A CAVE]
[The Brotherhood enters single file, leading the hooded GENDRY, ARYA, and THE HOUND. They reach the main chamber and remove the hoods.]
"Sometimes it's jarring the change from one disaster to the other" Shireen muttered. And it was just that, one disaster after the other with little to smile about.
Stannis gives a nod.
"What is this place?"
"Somewhere neither wolves nor lions come prowling."
"You look like a bunch of swineherds."
"Some of us were swineherds. And some of us tanners and masons. That was before."
"You're still swineherds and tanners and masons. You think carrying a crooked spear makes you a soldier?"
"War turns even the simplest men into fighters" Ned muttered solemnly. Howland Reed came to mind. He was once a shy boy until war had made a warrior of him.
[BERIC DONDARRION enters.]
"No. Fighting in a war makes you a soldier."
"Oh he lives" Ned said with surprise.
"Who was he again?" Brandon the Elder asked.
"Ned sent him to bring the Mountain to justice" Lyanna answered.
"That feels so long ago" the man muttered.
"Beric Dondarrion? You've seen better days."
"And I won't see them again."
"Stark deserters. Baratheon deserters. You lot aren't fighting in a war. You're running from it."
"Big talk coming from a Lannister deserter" Tyrion snorted.
"Last I heard, you were King Joffrey's guard dog."
Tyrion snorts again.
"But here you are a thousand miles from home. Which of us is running?"
"Untie these ropes and we'll find out. What are you doing leading a mob of peasants?"
"Ned Stark ordered me to execute your brother in King Robert's name."
Ned smiled at that. There was always something refreshing about true loyalty and honour. Beric Dondarrion may not be his bannerman, but his loyalty to him was as strong as any of them. It warmed Ned's heart.
"Ned Stark is dead. King Robert is dead. My brother's alive. You're fighting for ghosts."
"That's what we are- ghosts waiting for you in the dark. You can't see us, but we see you. No matter whose cloak you wear- Lannister, Stark, Baratheon- you prey on the weak, the Brotherhood without Banners will hunt you down."
"That was cool" Bran whispered to Arya, who nodded to her brother.
"You found god? Is that it?"
"Aye. I've been reborn in the light of the one true god."
"Oh my gods" Stannis muttered. He knew those wordings too well by now. Beric Dondarrion was brought in by that blasted Red Priest.
"As have we all. As would any man who's seen the things we've seen."
"If you mean to murder me, then bloody well get on with it."
"You'll die soon enough, dog. But it won't be murder, only justice."
"And a kinder fate than you deserve. Lions you call yourselves. At the Mummer's Ford, girls of seven years were raped and babes still on the breast were cut in two while their mothers watched."
A chill ran down everyone's spines. That was all so… wrong.
"I wasn't at the Mummer's Ford. Dump your dead children at some other door."
"House Clegane was built upon dead children. I saw them lay Prince Aegon and Princess Rhaenys before the Iron Throne."
Rhaegar sobered up at the reminder, while Elia looked away from the view.
"Do you take me for my brother? Is being born Clegane a crime?"
"Murder is a crime."
"I never touched the Targaryen babes. I never saw them, never smelled them, never heard them bawling. You want to cut my throat, get on with it! But don't call me a murderer and pretend that you're not."
"You murdered Mycah. The butcher's boy. He was twelve years old. He was unarmed. And you rode him down. You slung him over your horse like he was some deer."
Arya stiffened at the reminder.
"Aye, he was a bleeder."
"How is he so calm about it?" Arya whispered with wide broken eyes. He killed Mycah and he's just so… calm about it…
"You don't deny killing this boy?"
"I was Joffrey's sworn shield. The boy attacked the prince."
"That's a lie! I hit Joffrey. Mycah just ran away."
"Then I should have killed you. Not my place to question princes."
It should have been her. She had been the one to ask Mycah to play with her, she was the one that attacked Joffrey, and it was Nymeria who bit the bastard. Mycah was innocent.
It is her fault.
It's all her fault.
"Hey-"
Arya turned to the gentle voice to see her aunt staring at her.
Lyanna stared at her niece and her niece stared back. Then she put an arm around her and brought her close.
"I know what you're thinking" she whispered. "And it's not your fault. It's Joffrey, it's Cersei, it's the Hound. But never you."
Arya leaned into her aunt and buried her face into her side.
Lyanna kissed the top of her head and looked up to see her brother and his wife stare at her. She smiled and nodded.
Lyanna knew what the girl was going through, and knew exactly the thoughts that would come to her the moment Mycah was mentioned. If it were her, she'd think the same. She already did. Her father and brother's deaths hung heavy on her shoulders, as did the reminder that a whole war followed it.
"You stand accused of murder. But no one here knows the truth of the charge, so it is not for us to judge you. Only the Lord of Light may do that now. I sentence you to trial by combat."
"Not another one" Renly groaned softly.
"So, who will it be? Should we find out if your fire god really loves you, priest? Or you, archer? What are you worth with a sword in your hand? Or is the little girl the bravest one here?"
"Aye. She might be. But it's me you'll fight."
"The man who passes the sentence must swing the sword" Bran repeated the words of his father to himself.
[ASTAPOR]
[A pair of great doors open. DAENERYS TARGARYEN, MISSANDEI, SER JORAH MORMONT, and SER BARRISTAN SELMY enter the large and bustling courtyard, populated by guards and townsfolk. Two guards move through the square, carrying a litter containing one of DAENERYS's dragons.]
"Absolute idiocy" Rhaegar muttered to himself. He dare not say it out loud. If not his son, more of these people would jump on him.
[KRAZNYS speaks Valyrian]
"The master says they are untested. He says you would be wise to blood them early. There are many small cities between here and there, cities ripe for sacking. Should you take captives, the masters will buy the healthy ones and for a good price."
"Say what you want but that man is a businessman for certain" Tyrion shook his head.
"A slaver" Daenerys corrected him sharply.
"A slaver yes, and slaves are traded over there, meaning it's a business. Hence, a businessman" the imp reasoned.
Daenerys rolled her eyes and looked away.
[They come to the massive field where the thousands of Unsullied stand at attention. KRASZYS and GREIZHEN stand before them.]
[KRAZNYS speaks Valyrian]
"And who knows? In ten years, some of the boys you send them may be Unsullied in their turn. Thus all shall prosper."
"Not the slaves," Myrcella said darkly.
"He doesn't care about them" Tommen whispered to his sister.
"He only cares about himself" Myrcella agreed.
[DAENERYS walks back to the woven crate containing her dragon. She opens the front and DROGON comes out, screeching.]
"The biggest one!" Rhaegar muttered outraged.
[DAENERYS holds onto the chain attached to the dragon's foot as it takes flight and hovers above her. She hands the chain to KRAZNYS, who struggles against the strength of the small dragon. He smiles greedily, and hands her the whip that represents command of the Unsullied.]
"He can't even hold it down," Shireen said with a smirk. There was no way the dragon would listen to him.
"Is it done, then? They belong to me?"
[KRAZNYS speaks Valyrian]
"The Master says it is done. You hold the whip. You have your army."
[DAENERYS turns slowly and walks to the unsullied. DROGON's unhappy screeching increases.]
[DAENERYS speaks Valyrian]
[The Unsullied come to attention. MISSANDEI is surprised that DAENERYS speaks Valyrian.]
But the people watching were not. For one, Daenerys mentioned that she spoke the language.
[KRAZNYS struggles against the dragon.]
[DAENERYS speaks Valyrian]
"Forward march!"
[The Unsullied march.]
[DAENERYS speaks Valyrian}
"Halt!"
[The Unsullied halt. KRAZNYS tries to control the dragon.]
[KRAZNYS speaks Valyrian]
"Tell the bitch her beast won't come."
[DAENERYS speaks Valyrian]
"A dragon is not a slave."
Daenerys lifted her chin with a proud smile.
"You speak Valyrian?"
"I am Daenerys Stormborn of the House Targaryen, of the blood of Old Valyria. Valyrian is my mother tongue."
[DAENERYS turns to the Unsullied and speaks Valyrian.]
"Unsullied! Slay the masters, slay the soldiers, slay every man who holds a whip, but harm no child. Strike the chains off every slave you see!"
"Yes!" Robb cheered. Finally, these abhorrent people were dying! Many more shared his sentiments but were not so vocal about it.
Daenerys watched with satisfied pride.
[An Unsullied pierces a slave master through the heart with his spear. KRAZNYS looks on in panic.]
"I am your master!"
[BARRISTAN draws his sword as the Unsullied follow DAENERYS's command. KRAZNYS screams]
"Kill her! Kill her! Kill her!"
"Dracarys."
[DROGON unleashes his fire breath, consuming KRAZNYS, who screams in agony as he burns. The Unsullied attack and quickly overwhelms the guards. DROGON flies free, spouting fire above the courtyard.]
Rhaegar watched with shock but a hint of pride. He turned to his sister to comment on a job well done, but his decision faltered when he noticed his sister glaring at him, challenging him to speak now.
Rhaegar did not.
He was aware that his earlier behaviour had pitted him against his sister. He would apologise, even if the behaviour was justified.
[ASTAPOR COURTYARD, LATER]
[The courtyard is filled with smoke and charred bodies. JORAH surveys the carnage and reaches DAENERYS. She walks forward to inspect the Unsullied, who are back in formation. She mounts a white horse and rides among them. She speaks to them in Valyrian]
"Unsullied! You have been slaves all your life. Today you are free. Any man who wishes to leave may leave, and no one will harm him. I give you my word. Will you fight for me? As free men?"
[One Unsullied begins tapping his spear rhythmically in the sand. Soon others join him, and more still until the sound becomes thunderous and unanimous. JORAH and BARRISTAN look on.]
"And now she has earned their respect, gratitude and loyalty" Oberyn muttered with an easy smile. Rhaegar's sister was an interesting woman.