The Brood of Tarth
Prologue
The storm did not relent.
Selwyn had known many in his life, he was a man of the stormlands and in the past he had laughed at when people from other corners of the realm bemoaned the weather, most of their storms would be consider light showers where he was from.
And Tarth was the worst of it, his fellow islanders on Greenstone might dispute him but Selwyn knew the truth. The sapphire waters they were well known for could become a frothing mess of madness.
As they were now.
Selwyn frowned as he looked up at the sky, six days.
It had been six days since the storm began and it was near as ferocious now as it had been at the start, if not worse. The castle servants called it an ill omen, the old storm gods were showing such a storm the likes of which that had once torn down all the castles of the Storm King, until Storm's End had managed to defy them.
And they only sent such storms in grief, for the daughter they had lost.
His lady wife had gone to her confinement seven days hence, and he knew that it was her war to fight just as no-one could expect her to fight his wars for him or for him to bring her with him to give him comfort on the campaign.
Still, it did not sit right with him that he could not be with his wife at the time of her greatest need. But, he comforted himself with the knowledge that Shaera had been through this before, three times, and each time she had recovered.
And their children had lived, three strong and beautiful children and now it was time for the fourth.
A sniffle drew his attention and, despite all his fears in that moment, he could not stop the smile from spreading across his face. "And what are you doing here little lady, you ought to be abed at this hour, and you most certainly should not be out in this weather."
"Neither should you," Alysanne said with a annoyed little huff that made Selwyn laugh, a girl of nine she was and yet she acted as if the entire world was filled with fool and she was the only one who could see it, she had her mother's pale blond hair and his blue eyes, where she got the sharp tongue he was not certain. "I couldn't sleep."
"Aye, neither could I." Selwyn said with a sigh as he walked over to his eldest daughter and picked her up and began to carry her inside of the castle. "Your mother shall be well, she has done this many times before, and she has the maester, Septa Roelle and three midwives with her."
"I know," Alysanne said but she did not look comforted by his words, looking down at the ground with an fearsome frown for one so young on her face. "But ladies die. When they go to the birthing bed, I mean. Sarah Fell's mother died when she went to the birthing bed, and the babe died as well."
Aye, so they had. Selwyn considered Jonthor Fell a friend and the man had never been the same after his wife had died, the man was a ghost of himself and he often stared off at something that no-one else could see.
For a few moments there was only silence aside from his own footsteps, when Alysanne sniffed again Selwyn knew he had to say something. "We are near the nursery now, how about we check on your sister before you go to sleep."
That seemed to cheer the girl a little, ever since Arianne had been born Alysanne had doted on the girl almost like the babe was her own. She had a brother as well, Galladon was born when she was five but after four years of being his older sister Alysanne had primly sated that 'brothers were much too unsatisfactory' and 'she would much rather have sisters from now on, father."
The feeling did seem to be somewhat shared, Alysanne liked to read and sew, she liked things to be silent and proper and spend time chatting with her companions as they did needlework, chewing on whatever delights their cook had prepared that day.
Galladon could not have been more different, the boy did not learn to walk as much as had simply learned to run. If the halls of the castle were quiet then they could always rely on him to fill it with noise and shouts, the boy's septa oft despaired of him considering all the clothes he had ruined by playing in the mud and or with whatever animal had caught his attention that day.
In truth, he supposed it was all for the good. Better for Alysanne to simply be annoyed by her little brother, than for her to resent him for displacing her as his heir. Selwyn and Shaera had both feared it, form the moment they had learned she was carrying another child.
But the girl did not seem to mind, and one of his most precious memories was the look on the girl's face when she was allowed to hold her brother for the first time. And the look on her face when the boy had broken out in a wail that was as loud as any storm.
Speaking of Galladon, the boy was in the nursey when they arrived standing on his tiptoes to look into the crib. Alysanne huffed and Selwyn put the girl down as she marched over to the younger boy. "Mother said you're not allowed in here until you learn to be quiet, and you certainly aren't allowed to bring that in here."
Galladon frowned, and his puppy let out a little bark. "Aegon wanted to see the baby," he said before he picked the dog up. "And she was awake when we came in."
So she was, the babe was staring up at the celling and seemed to be amusing herself by talking nonsense. It was still hard to believe that she had only been born a little over a year ago.
Selwyn smiled down at her for a moment before he turned his attention to his son and heir. "Galladon, your sister is right. You should not come in here alone, the babe needs her rest and Aegon certainly has no business in here. If you can not control the dog then I am going to have to take him away from you."
"No father!" Galladon quickly sprinted over to the pup and picked him up. "I'm sorry! I won't bring him in here again, I won't!"
"Very well," Selwyn said with a solemn nod. "I have your vow now, that is what makes a true man Galladon. A man is only as good as his vows, do no forget that."
Galladon nodded and looked up at him with wide eyes, the boy always seemed to like when Selwyn spoke to him like he was older than he was, Selwyn had like that from his own father as well when he was the boy's age.
The room was filled with peace then as Alysanne stared into the cradle and Galladon played quietly with his pup, Selwyn sat down on a chair and allowed his eyes to close so he could simply enjoy the silence and the presence of his children.
The knock sounded like thunder.
Arianne burst into tears and Alysanne did her best to comfort her while Galladon stared at the door with wide eyes, the pup whimpering in his arms. Selwyn swallowed and rose, walking over to the door to open it.
It was one of the midwives, Selwyn could not remember her name now if his life depended on it as all he could focus on was the blood that stained the front of her apron. "No."
"My lord," the old woman began with tears in her eyes and her voice trembling. "Lady Shaera wishes to see you, she...you must come, now. She asks that you bring Lady Alysanne and Lord Galladon as well."
Selwyn wanted to scream, but all he did was nod. He took Arianne from Alysanne and put her back into the cradle and entrusted his youngest daughter to the midwife's care before walking out the nursery, his older two children following behind him.
It was a long walk to his lady wife's chambers, behind him he could hear Galladon weeping and Alysanne trying to comfort him, even as Selwyn could hear the wetness in her voice.
When they walked into the chamber, Selwyn could smell death in the air. The other two midwives were weeping silently, Maester Pyvon was wringing his hands as he stood next the to bed and Septa Roelle was kneeling next to the bed, her hands clasped in front of her as she prayed silently, her eyes wet.
He would not look at the babe.
Shaera was in the middle of the bed, the blankets were stained with blood and she had never seemed so pale to him before. His lady wife was dying, and the thought was a knife to the heart.
All the same, she tried to smile. "My sweets." She whispered holding out her arms, and Galladon and Alysanne rushed to her, climbing on to the bed. A rebuke was at the tip of his tongue, to tell them to be careful, but he stopped himself. What did it matter now?
She was dying.
Shaera whimpered, but that did not stop her from wrapping her arms around their children and pressing a kiss to both of their heads. "My loves, my sweet loves. I-I don't know how to say this, I don't know what to say. I am going now, to the gods. And I will not being seeing you for a long time, until then you must care for each other, and your little sister. And the babe, promise me."
Both of the children were whimpering, but Shaera was staring at him as she spoke and he knew that the promise was for him as well. He said nothing, simply nodded.
Shaera breathed, and died.
As his children wept, Selwyn stepped close to the bed and picked the babe up. She was an ugly little thing in truth, but he had made a promise and he was going to keep it.
"Maester, tend to my child. Her name is Brienne."
End of Prologue
So, this is very much an AU as while always of these are the children of Selwyn it's implied by the way Brienne talks about them that she remembers Arianne and Alysanne dying when they were babies.
But, I decided to go full AU and make them older than Brienne because she deserves being the baby sibling with two older sisters and a big brother who loves her.
Anywho, I hope you enjoyed and please consider leaving a review, a follow and a favourite.
With warmest regards,
DiscordantSymphony
