(A/N: I posted this on Ao3 as a part 1 and part 2. I was able to post this one with both parts together! Enjoy!)
The first Witch of Harrenhall
Cassiopeia Hoare wiped the sweat off her brow that had formed due to the heat rolling off the unbelievable number of hearths lit and blazing around the main hall. She had coiled her long, curly flame-red hair up and pinned it to the top of her head to help her handle the heat. She was newly 16 name days old, the only child of her father's 2ndrock wife, and the only girl. An unexpected, late-in-life baby. One more cherished by her brothers than by her father. She normally wouldn't sit as close to the flame as she currently is, but she needed the light. Near endless rows of fireplaces lined the walls, with endless rows of tables and chairs filling the floors. It was almost Eerie; the emptiness and vastness of this place. Her, sitting by herself close to the fire, the best source of light since the sun had set, then the 8 men gathered by her father's new throne. Four of them being her brothers… Outside of these few, there was not another soul around.
A tome lay open in front of her, along with 3 sticks of White chalk, bundles of herbs, and two crystals were also in arms reach. Tools of her practice. Once her father learned she had been born with the gift of magic, he wasted no time in finding her wise women to teach her and bought or allowed her to forage any ingredients she needed.
She hadn't known then that her father was going to get every copper of it back in its weight in magical work. Litteral Blood, Sweat, and Tears. The entirety of this new 'Harrenhall' had been spelled, blessed, runed, and protected. There had been so much magic placed into this fortress that even brand new, it now felt like a living, breathing being…
She had been sure that this hall and its magic would outlast her father, Her, Hell maybe even outlast the Hightower in oldtown… Be right up there with the Wall and Winterfell. Now she wasn't so sure.
She turned her black eyes back to the dusty tome opened in front of her. Filled with protective spells, runes, sigils, rituals, and incantations. 'The magic shield' was the title. She had it opened to a page with a powerful sigil, a near perfect example of sacred geometry.
Powerful protection for a large building, or large area. The same sigil she and a few others had drawn under every tower in her father's newly built fortress. Her father's new castle was beyond a shadow of a doubt a true fortress. Tall walls, strong towers, able to not only to hold multiple army's inside, as well as feed them if their green houses and crop areas were well kept…
There was one big problem… one fatal flaw… One thing she and wise women she had worked with had overlooked.
This sigil didn't protect against Dragons and Dragon fire…
And the Targaryens were at their gates.
Her faith in her father's fortress and her belief in it lasting thought the ages was now being challenged. Both the magical and non-magical fortifications in all the towers inside these walls wouldn't be able to hold the Targaryen's dragons out forever.
It was a losing battle, and she knew it. But as her eyes turned to where her father and four brothers were standing with their advisors and commanders, she knew that there was no getting that point through to him.
"We could have made a deal with him… He doesn't want your castle or your land, he has been more then fair with the Stormlands, Riverlands, even the North…"
"HA! He doesn't want my castle. Bullshit!" Her father Screamed in that old, barking tone of his. "He arrived right after I completed it. JUST after. With his threats and his demands… Where is his castle? HUH? That Dragonstone? It's in the narrow sea. He has no castle, fortress, or anything to call his own on the mainland… Make no mistake. Even if he doesn't want this castle for himself, he wants it for one of his allies."
"THEN BECOME ONE OF HIS ALLIES. Keep our castle, and our lands, in the family." Her oldest brother commented. He saw the situation better than even her father did.
"And look weak? Infront of all the Riverlands we just conquered? To those traitors and turncoats?! Lord Tully himself and ALL his banners are standing outside our door, STANDING NEXT TO AEGON, that sister-fucking dragon lord. They have already turned their backs and chosen to side with him… Are we to kiss the ass of our backstabbers as well?..." Her second oldest brother. Captain of his own ship, a Reaver and pillager.
"That makes things even MORE complicated. These are supposed to be OUR bannermen." One of the commanders added in. "They have turned on us now, there is no exception of loyalty in the future. How are we to secure the banners now for future generations? And try as much as you like, but there is no mortal man that can out-wait a Dragon…"
"There is no ending here that doesn't end with us losing everything we've built… Unless we bend the knee…" Father's Maester, Eurion, added in.
"Those greedy vultures are just waiting to pick at our bones… I agree with father. We lock the gates, stay inside, and let them cool their heels. Let them know we are more than willing and able to wait them out. BUT… We'll keep the line of communication open. We'll hold out and wait until we reach a favorable deal. Once we come to terms, we are happy with, and our families castle and lands are assured to remain ours; We bend the knee… for a time." Her third oldest brother. A Knight; Clever and well-read.
But it was the eyes of her 4thand youngest brother that met hers. The two siblings were kinder than most Ironborn, smarter as well. He was 28 years old, over 10 years her senior. But he was more a father to her than any of the others. The one she could always go to, and one she understood the most. And she understood the look in his eye.
He wasn't just worried; He was terrified.
She returns a softer look to her brother, as she finally and hopelessly shut her book closed Infront of her. Because she felt what he felt as well…
Her father was a harsh and, yes, evil man… She knew, had seen this more than once. He was iron born through and through. He had taken the Riverlands and beyond by force. The drowned god knew no mercy, so nether did her father.
The black blood ran true through him, and to all his sons… He lived up to his house words whole heartedly; 'Black of eye, Black of flag, Black of heart.'
This castle itself was a testament to his cruelty; how many people had died making it? Their bodies and bones still in its walls… She shivered to herself despite being so close to flames.
Her father would not bend the knee… Not even to save his new castle or his family. She knew it, and her brothers knew it, even if two supported him in it.
And as her aged father screamed that it would be him and only him that would walk out with his guards and meisters to talk. None of his sons, none of his commanders, none of his advisors were to go with him or join the conversation… She knew that hopes of the conversation ending well were now gone.
Her father's pride would be the death of this family… That Father's choice today might be the end of their family.
And there was nothing she, or any of them, could do about it.
She stood next to her kind brother as they watched him and Aegon, the dragon rider, talk from the castle ramparts.
Her eyes tried to stay on the conversation, but growing disheartened the angrier and more obstinate her father got, the harder it was for her to watch. She let out a loud sigh, and turned to her brother to speak… Only to see his eyes locked on something or someone behind Aegon.
She turned and looked, seeing the person her brother was locked on. Because he was locked on him as well. A man, silvery blonde with pale skin standing next to a dark-skinned man with silver hair. A Valyrian lord, for sure. She looked back and forth between her brother and the unknown Valyrian with a curious look. Did her brother know him? Why did he pick him out of the crowd?... She was quite confused as she saw anger and rage on her brother's face.
"Mayhap you should stay in the far tower tonight, sister… Mayhap the next few nights." Her brother growled, suddenly.
"The tower closest to the waters of the gods eye?" She questioned.
"YES." He snapped as he suddenly grabbed her arm and started leading her off. "Let's move your things there now…"
Back on the ground, Quenton Qoherys the Master-at-Arms for King Aegon; first of his name, smirked widely as he saw the Hoare boy rush off with the fair red-headed lady he had just been leering at. He had caught him looking, and apparently didn't like that at all…
Lord Qoherys, however, very much liked what he saw…
"And who might you be, my pretty maid… Standing top of the castle wall, with fire in your hair, Dressed all in black?" He mummered softly under his breath, a smirk spreading across his lips.
"Who knows, Pretty maid?... Perhaps I'll meet you tonight..."
One moment, it was peaceful. Cassiopeia was sleeping sounding while curled up in her blankets. Her head resting on her pillow in her temporary room in the far tower, with a few of her belongings with her. Safe and content inside her dreams. As it should be for a young woman in the middle of the night. Safe, warm, secure.
The next moment was as if hell itself had been unleashed.
The ground shook violently, the tower started rocking itself violently back and forth. She was flung from side to side in her bed before being tossed like a rag doll onto the floor; only to be shaken around even more. At the same time sudden rises of sounds outside became a deafening roar of crashes, screams, and screeching of bending metal. Stones were falling and breaking, large walls started cracking under intense heat and pressure… Her windows suddenly lit up with a bright glow.
But not the blues and yellows of sunlight. No, this was angry oranges and reds of Dragon Fire…
Aegon Targaryen and the black dread were attacking Harrenhall...
As the first assault stopped, and the earth no longer quaked Cassiopeia could finally stand. She ran, panicking, straight to the windowsill of her room and looked out. She didn't know what she expected to see or why she even thought she'd see anything different… Maybe she just needed to see it with her own eyes, maybe it was morbid curiosity? It didn't matter there way...
What she saw was the main tower, aflame. The black dread, who she almost didn't see due to the Darkness of the smoke around him and the deepness of the night behind him covering him like some smokey, spectral cloak... But he was not hidden for long. He lit up again as he shot more of his dragon flame. He breathed it down onto the main tower top a second time as he stood over it, his evil red eyes even brighter in the orange and red glow…
Balerion's roar was the only thing that drowning out her own screams….
As the earth shook a second time, she refused to allow herself to be tossed around. She did her best to stay on her feet. Run even. Run down the stairs. Out the door… Run towards the dragon… To the main tower. To her father. To her brothers.
Because that is where she knew they were.
She didn't even have time to think. Once her feet started moving, they just kept running. If she had thought about it, and the fact that there was a dragon breathing fire at the very place she was running to, she might have run the other way… But all she could think of was getting to her family…
Even running as fast as she could she didn't get very far; every blast of Dragon fire shook the ground anew. She had been knocked down two more times and felt no closer to the main tower than she was moments ago. Although, the vastness of Harrenhall may have played a larger part in that, as well.
Two more towers were now melted or aflame, more guards were dead and burning, the woman and children were fleeing in numbers now, and the fires inside the walls were spreading at an impossible pace…
Still, she ran forward to the main tower…. She had to see if her father or brothers were alive. If there was even a small chance that they were, she needed to know.
As she was running, Guards, knights, women, and children also rushing in every direction. In that chaotic crowd she finally saw someone she knew… Stumbling forward looking like death itself with blood dripping from the left side of his head, left shoulder, and left arm was Meister Eurion. Her father's meister.
She screamed out "EURION!" as she changed course just enough to start heading towards him. He looked up to her with a dazed and confused look on his face.
"Young lady?" He questioned; the air almost knocked out of his lungs as she stopped right before him. "Young lady… WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?! Why are you here, why didn't you escape?!..."
"My Brothers, my father… I have to go see them…"
The pain and anger that showed in the meister's eyes cut through her like a knife.
"They are gone, Young lady."
"You don't know that!"
"THEY ARE GONE, you silly girl! They were in their beds at the top of main tower… They were the first to go, didn't stand a chance. They are gone! WHY DID YOU NOT RUN?! That was why your brother sent you to the far tower in the first place! You silly girl!" The meister cried, his voice cracking.
Clarity and grief washed over her… Realization hit her moments to late… The meister shook his head, grabbed her arm, and started leading her off with tears in his eyes. "RUN… Get out through the gate, hidden tunnel, or jump into the water of the god's eye, I don't care… Just run, you sweet, silly girl… I'll cover for you as best I can... JUST GO!"
He tossed her arm out of his, and not know what else to do or say, she did as she was told.
She turned and ran.
Meister Eurion limped and staggered his way into the meister's tower, and into his office. 'Healing tower' was called, but he's sure the name would be changed soon… EVERYTHING would change here soon…
He limped and bled as he ran over to his desk, frantically grabbing papers. Never before had he felt so helpless, useless… Powerless. Helpless to convince his Lord of the need to bend the knees. Useless and unable to save the four sons that he had helped raise and taught. Powerless to stop a Dragon and the king that rode him…
But here was still something he could do… one thing he could do to help save a part of the family he had served for decades.
He grabbed the birth announcements and wedding slips of the family and tossed them into the flame. He grabbed the family register and the census they had taken less than a few months ago and tossed it in as well…
He threw whatever papers and clues there were to find quickly into the flames… He nearly tossed the entire book of the families of the Riverlands and the new Harrenhall that he had just added too. But he knew that this book was not only his… he wanted to… He had tried… but instead he ended up opening the book and covering up her name as best as he could with the same ink and quill, he had used to write in it before.
No one need know that Harren the black had a second rock wife… No one needed to know that she had delivered onto this family a young girl, red of hair, that held magic…
No one need know at all… and as long and he and the others here kept their mouths shut, no one would know…
Yes, he may be old and useless and helpless and powerless… Especially against a Dragon king and his army. But he could do this much. He could do this and try to protect the young lady as much as he could…
He could only pray to the seven (maybe the drowned god as well) that it would be enough…
Why did she not run before?
She cursed herself now, as she heard the metal of enemies' solders and the screams and crying of her own people. Her kind brother had tried to give her a way out... She should have taken it...
She could no longer escape through the gate. The hidden tunnel she knew was near had collapsed, under the pressure of dragon's fire or dragon's foot. There was only one way she knew to get out now. Back to the far tower, and to hide... maybe find a way to escape to or through the god's eye.
So she ran back to the far tower. Sadly, there was no secret tunnel to be found there... She went to her room after she had looked and started grabbing as many of her tools as she could. Her books, her crystals, her alter items... Candles and Herbs she could find again, they were replaceable, but these were not. Once she had a full bag, she turned to leave... Only she couldn't.
The Valyarian man she had seen with Aegon's army just the night before stood in her doorway. Blocking the whole path with his frame. Looking at her with dark eyes and a sinister smile on his face...
"Well, Hello there, Pretty maid... I've been looking all over for you..."
It used to be called 'The far tower.'
The tower farthest from the center and closest to the gods' eyes.
But they renamed it after her. Or due to her, you could say.
She screamed, fought, and yelled that night. When he ripped her clothes and took her maidenhood.
She screamed and cried every night after that, when he'd entered her locked room.
She wept quiet, bitter tears as he was named the new lord of Harrenhall.
The title that was her father's and should have been her brother's.
Not that she could tell anyone that...
She wept and broke things when he named her "His little witch, the first witch of Harrenhall" and fashioned the whole tower her prison.
Using her just like her father did, for her magic, then worse.
Cursed and cried when he married the Tully girl, but still only came to her bed.
She weeped a river of tears, curled in a ball, each time she learned she was pregnant...
Even when he'd whisper at the same time about how happy he was, and how he awaited the pretty girls he would get from her...
Perfect wifes for his two trueborn sons, he'd say. Wifes with her magic and his blood running though their veins.
She wailed, cursed, cried and screamed every time she gave birth...
For more than one reason...
She wailed, spit, and clawed at him the one time she had birthed a boy. A sweet, little red-haired boy,
and he immediately cast the boy out. Telling the meister Eurion to never bring him back to his lands, ever.
She only had enough time to whisper to Eurion to name him Harren after his grandsire, before the child was spirted away.
She screamed, she cried, she cursed, she yelled until her voice went out... Day after day, month after month, year after year, for 8 years...
For 8 long years; until the time came and she was able to escape with her daughters.
In that time, it became known as 'The wailing tower' instead.
A/n: As a Song of ice and fire fan, I was always curious as to why they named it 'The wailing tower.' as we don't have an answer for that yet, I decided to take the opportunity to make a reason behind it. I promise things get better for young Lady Cassie (Cassiopeia) in the future, but sadly, we've yet to get to that part.