Lord Lyonel ask his son Harwin to entertain the idea of looking for a suitable partner. Is one week enough time for Harwin to find out if he's found his match for love?
I can't say enough but what the fuck is the Catching Dust movie about? I tried searching for the film on every virus-giving site, but nope. That sht ain't there. Ryan was so proud and chirpy on his Instagram post that he even went on to write " Yeehaa" at the end.
What kind of producers hold back a movie that was released at a film festival?
Don't they realise that it was our only chance to see some NSFW RYAN CORR? He's busy being a dad to another's kids on other shows and movies.
Also, the scenes in Bloom aren't enough. It's too little.
Ridiculous, I've also been waiting to see it because it has two of my favs (Ryan and Jai Courtney), all the actor hyped it up so much for it to not have it's moment to shine.
Harwin opened his eyes. The haze he'd fell in after sleeping through the night still clouded him even though he had been alert for a few minutes. Heavily he sat on the bed and scanned the room. He was alone, he didn't know for how long he had been. He stood and walked to near the lit fireplace and dipped his hand in the wash basin.
After cleaning his face and getting rid of the griminess he felt. He took of the pieces of leather that strapped his arm to his chest and slowly unfolded his arm from the bent position it had kept for two days. He opened and closed his fist and slowly rolled his shoulder back and forth. He felt some painful tugs but decided to ditch of the sling.
He turned on his heels when the door opened and in came Adrian, behind him Grayce had a marked worried frown. Outside, sunrise was rolling with such laziness that the sky was barely breaking it's even blue color with tints of orange. .
"I went to get Grayce. I'm sure she can speak with your brother to avoid having troubles with Gwayne Hightower" Adrian explained.
Grayce had taken to inspect her brother's state. Now that he had cleaned up and slept he looked like himself except for the dark circles under his eyes and the way he slouched slightly to his bad side.
"Where is Larys?"
"He also left to Lady Laena's burial in Driftmark. He is to arrive any time now"
"I believe you should leave immediately" Adrian spoke up "I can step forward on your release from the cells, but you must return to Harrenhal at once"
Harwin moved to sit at the bed, his decision to remove the sling that held his arm together at his chest quickly became a bad one, the weight of his arm hung painfully on his injured shoulder.
"We were going to be leaving today. I still believe we should wait for Larys. Perhaps he wishes to join us at Harrenhal for my father's burial" Grayce reasoned.
"If he wished to do so he wouldn't have gone to the burial of someone completely unrelated to him" Adrian fought.
"He is at the service of the King"
"Again, very clear with his loyalties lie. They're not with you, Grayce"
Grayce looked at Harwin with a beckoning frown begging intervention, but it quickly turned to concern.
Grayce took her time binding Harwin's arm back to his chest, his head swirled uncontrollably at the pain of his burnt skin and misplaced shoulder. In the background he could hear Adrian begging Grayce to make plans and leave at once, but before she could answer the door of the bedroom rattled by fast and purposeful knocks.
Harwin exchanged a look with Adrian. Adrian's hand grabbed first the helm of his sword before the other grabbed the handle of the door.
As the door slowly opened and the air and light filled the room, Harwin's eyes adjusted until he recognized the hunched silhouette of his brother, leaning over his cane and searching inside the room with his eyes. Just behind him, Gwayne Hightower hardened his stare at the man from the Vale.
"Why am I not surprised by this insubordination?" Gwayne spoke, not really wanting an answer from Adrian.
"Larys" Grayce was the first to take the lead "I'm sure this misunderstanding can be settled before we leave for Harrenhal"
"There was no misunderstanding, Lady Grayce. Your brother was commanded to leave King's Landing at once" Gwayne fought.
"He came bearing news about my father's death, he wouldn't have returned for a lesser reason" Grayce looked at Larys pleadingly.
With a sigh that everyone perceived as annoyance, Larys moved inside Adrian's tiny quarters, his cane thumping along.
"Though I appreciate your sense of duty, brother, I estimate you didn't take into account that I, as the Master of Whispers, would be aware of our father's passing and your visit to King's Landing not be needed"
"I didn't order for a raven to be sent, I though it extremely impersonal" Harwin defended.
"You are not my only source of information"
That phrase stuck out to Harwin, who now looked up at his brother with a marked angry frown as he strolled in front of him.
"However, the Lord Commander does recognize his error in not inquiring about your presence in the Red Keep that led to your rushed imprisonment"
"Good" Grayce let out a sigh of relief "then we are free to leave to Harrenhal" Grayce's eyes met Harwin's, finding that her brother was not looking at her or Larys, his eyes were fixated in something she couldn't pinpoint.
"The matter with Harwin is resolved, not so much the matter of Adrian's insubordination" Larys' focus now turned Adrian, who had stood in a corner near the door and watched the situation unfold, unaware that he would also be addressed.
"Adrian saw his Good Brother in a cell-" Grayce began to defend, but Gwayne Hightower was quick to take a step inside and turn to stand straight in front of Adrian.
"We will not dispute this. Adrian Redfort, as the Lord Commander of the City Watch, I cannot condone this kind of insubordination and I hereby dismiss you from your duties as Captain"
His articulate language did not mimic the way his hands ripped Adrian's golden cloak from his shoulder unceremoniously. The rip of fabric was heard and even though Adrian slightly flinched at the sound, his angry eyes did not leave Gwayne's figure, to the point that the Lord Commander couldn't hold it.
Grayce looked at Harwin with a worried frown, hoping her older brother could do anything for Adrian, she found him with eyes still fixated in front of him and with wide eyes depicting shock.
Gwayne Hightower quickly left the room leaving the torn golden cloak on the floor. Larys seemed slightly annoyed by the unorthodoxy. He glanced at the angry face of Adrian, the perplexed one of Grayce and the surprisingly shocked face of his brother.
"I do wish you face travels to Harrenhal" he said, hoping that would be a sufficient farewell.
"You're not coming with us to father's service?" Grayce asked with plenty of disappointment in her voice.
"I am not unfortunately, there is much to do"
Without anything else to say, Larys gave one last nod to the people in the room and promptly exited the room
Harwin stood heavily from the bed and with a grunt tried to straighten himself.
"We should leave, immediately" he ordered, looking at Grayce sternly to not give room for disagreement. After Grayce exited the room he looked at Adrian and sighed heavily.
"I am sorry, Adrian" he muttered, Adrian shook his head dismissing the apology.
"It might be a blessing in disguise, I don't know how long I would've lasted with Gwayne as the Lord Commander"
Harwin held a stare with Adrian, then rose his hand to his shoulder and gripped it.
"Adrian, find Princess Rhaenyra and put yourself to her service"
"The Princess did not return to King's Landing after Lady Laena's funeral"
"Perhaps she's retreated to Dragonstone. You should go, it's what you came to King's Landing in the first place"
Adrian scanned Harwin's eyes quickly, then gave him a quick nod.
"So long as you leave as soon as possible" Adrian had to withdraw his gaze from Harwin's as he tightened her lips "I'm afraid I haven't felt at ease for a few days, and I know this is going to sound like nonsense but Ayla and I share much more than just blood, so if I'm even now feeling uneasy and with a big lump in my throat, I can't imagine how she must feel. The sooner you return, the better"
Harwin held onto Adrian's words as he watched Grayce enter the carriage with her two small daughters and her husband, he had reunited with his two guards and they insisted on Harwin also riding inside a carriage instead of on horseback.
A chill crawled from his lower back upwards to his neck and he had to look behind him. At the top of the stairs that led to the courtyard, Larys stood and watched his two remaining siblings climbing the carriages. Harwin and him crossed quick looks, but instead of receiving a nod of goodbye or even a small smile from his older brother, Larys was met with Harwin's coldness in the way he quickly turned on his heels and walked straight into the carriage. The guards that had accompanied him closed the door of and climbed into their own horses.
From inside the of the carriage, Harwin stared at his brother, his eyes more focused on the top of his cane, how his thumb slowly stroked the side of it. Gwayne Hightower arrived and stood behind him, without leaving his stare at the leaving party, Larys talked over his shoulder at Gwayne. Harwin leaned back when the carriage began moving and searched into his pocket.
He rolled the beetle pin in between his fingers and closed his eyes. His hand fisted the pin. In the dim lighting of Adrian's room and in between the haze of his pain, Harwin first instinct had been to disregard what his eyes were seeing. As he thought about it more and more, specially with Larys' saying of having eyes and ears beyond Harwin's reports, now he couldn't deny it. The pin in Larys' cane was unmistakably the same one he now held on his hand, the same one the people who killed his father had.
Ayla stared out the window at the tall walls surrounding Harrenhal. The height of them didn't allow for the sun rays to hit the courtyard before midday. Most times it was hard to assess the time from inside the walls, but one thing was certain, the sun had just peaked from the horizon.
The scraping of the chairs pulled Ayla from the window and made her turn. The staff of Harrenhal had been called for a meeting before breakfast. Lord Edder was also cited and was waiting near the chair at the head of the table.
Ayla walked towards it and slowly sat down at the same chair Harwin had been now two days ago, telling everyone that he was leaving for King's Landing.
She glanced around the room, everyone looked restless and tired, she imagined she looked about the same judging by the lack of sleep since the fire. She linked her hands in front of her stomach and took a sigh before starting.
"It's safe to say that none of us expected Lord Harwin to take this long, let alone to suffer this attempt of a breach" She began "my father assures that we will be breached around midday, some tactics were put in place to delay the breach but can't hold for long. That gives us about five hours, if my husband does not return by then, we will have to abide to the Royal decree, at least momentarily. I do not intend to give up Harrenhal so easily"
Ayla spoke in a monotone tinted with a little annoyance that she had to say the words she was saying. If it were up to her, she would've taken matters into her own hands and waited Lord Simon's breach with a sword in hand. Her status didn't allow her for much bargaining room with her father, who had his priorities very clear. Those were to keep her and the children safe.
"When we are breached, if push comes to shove we will leave Harrenhal to be commanded by Lord Simon as it's Castellan. If Harwin hasn't returned by that point, I will instruct the marshal to head to King's Landing to retrieve him... In whatever state he's in"
Sadly, the thought of Harwin's passing either whilst traveling or in King's Landing was something that Ayla had met with by the hands of her father. Even though there was no indication of such a thing, Lord Edder preferred planning ahead assuming he was.
"Let us hope he's just delayed and we get to see him through this lapse of judgment" Lord Edder spoke, his fingers tapping on the table in front of him.
"Unless you've also lost your father in a fire and gotten injured whilst escaping said burning building, you're not allowed to say anything about his lapse of judgment, you can keep your comments to yourself" Ayla was quick to shot down her father sternly and with an angry glare. Out of her peripheral vision she saw the Marshal repress a smile at her comment.
Ayla did not felt like talking much to the staff of Harrenhal after her order to the Marshal, they all quietly stood from their seats and worked their hardest to continue with their day as if there wasn't an immediate threat quite literally banging at their door.
Her eyes met the spot just above the edge of the tall walls, in the exact spot the sun would take at midday, just when the sun rays hit the courtyard, they will be breached.
Harwin overlooked at the strapped horses in the tying poles outside the inn. On their way to Harrenhal, they had stopped to eat something and to feed Harwin's nieces.
Around the inn, the guards were exchanging some words with other traveling guards serving as custody. The look on one of his guards as he hurriedly approached him made Harwin curse under his breath fearing bad news.
"Lord Harwin" he gave a quick nod and shifted in his spot "whilst conversing with the inn's guards and stable boys, apparently they saw a large garrison of at least fifty men march through here yesterday. They said there were heading for Harrenhal"
"Lord Edder was expected to arrive after our own arrival, perhaps it was him" Harwin replied, unfazed with the information.
"They were flying Targaryen banners, my Lord"
Harwin pulled a frown and slowly peeled himself from the side of the carriage he had been leaning on.
"Targaryen banners? Are the stable boys certain they were headed to Harrenhal?"
"They were, they found it odd"
Harwin took a deep breath, feeling the tightness of his strapped arm against his chest.
"Get me a horse" he began walking to the stables, the guard took a few seconds to get out of his stupor at the request.
"My Lord, you're thinking of riding there?"
At the stables, the guard was quick to unstrap the hook that held his horse and watched as Harwin climbed on it with a grunt and one pull of his good hand on the horse's saddle.
"Stay here and keep an eye on my sister, I will send someone for you"
"My Lord, I don't think it's wise-"
The complaint got lost in the wind as Harwin nicked the side of the horse with his heel, prompting him forward.
The trek from the inn to the outskirts of Harrenhal and until he could see the imponent castle in the distance, his mind rushed with thoughts of confusion.
As he neared the main entrance he could see the smoke streaks of the campfires mixing with the clouds above, the smoke signaled the garrison of men on the side entrance of the castle. He chose to get off the horse and promptly off the main path, the trees to the Godswood gave him enough cover until he reached the outside walls f the castle. His reckless and angry stomping crushing leaves under his feet were the only thing to be heard all around. He stopped dead in his tracks when he heard a voice next to him.
"Who goes there?" Harwin's eyes snapped to the side to find a guard with his hand tightly gripping the handle of his sword. Harwin's shoulders slumped with a little relief "Lord Harwin" the guard sporting House Strong sigil on his chest was surprised to see his missing patron strolling the Godswood. With a quick exchange of looks and information, Harwin entered Harrenhal.
Inside, the main room in the King's Pyre were Ayla had once celebrated her marriage, now she waited for Lord Simon.
The sound of the side gate being breached was so loud that Ayla's insides had twisted in fear. In the main room, Ayla had gathered both of her sons to keep them close. Her father was confident that the strategy did not need him in the battlefield to be executed, so he remained with her. The Marshal also remained near her and the two boys, a small amount of men commanded by Lord Edder were posted near the doors and a few of them stood in front of Ayla and the family to protect them.
Outside, the garrison of men entering the side gate did not meet any resistance, Lord Simon seemed very content to finally be inside the castle walls and even had to repress a laugh at the five guards outside the main door to the King's Pyre.
Lord Simon walked to the front row, the men waited for his orders as they gathered in front of the main gate.
"Please step aside. We have prolonged this matter long enough" Lord Simon commanded to the guards with a shake of his hand.
The guards held their place and a murmur was heard amongst the forces. Lord Simon turned his head around and glanced, suddenly the men at the edge of the garrison cried out to alert the troops of the men wearing red plates sporting the four tower sigil of House Redfort.
From two sides of the castle the men poured into the courtyard. Having not heard the command from Lord Simon to attack, the garrison that Lord Simon had brought found itself caged between two rows of armed Redfort men and the entrance of the King's Pyre. No escape but to enter the castle or fight their way out.
The Lord shot daggers at the guards, beyond angry that he had walked right into a trap. The guards took a step to the side and the door opened to reveal the marshal, fully armored, gripping the handle of his sword.
"Just you"
Lord Simon's flared his nostrils in anger and took the steps to enter the tower. Behind him, one of his men walked and the Marshal did allow for two guards to pass as escorts, the rest were quickly cut inside the barrier of Redfort men and the doors were closed once more.
The stomping of the Lord gave him away even more than the tinkling of his armor. Before Ayla's eyes met the man, she gave a quick glance to her father and received an encouraging nod.
Lord Simon chuckled humorlessly at the sight of Lord Edder standing just a step before his daughter, menacingly staring down at him.
"Why am I not surprised?" He said, finally stopping his walk and standing in front of Ayla but several steps below "I see the full scheme now" he motioned with one hand to the two of them.
"Ah yes, that wonderful scheme where my husband is killed in a fire and what? House Redfort takes over Harrenhal? Your assumptions are insulting. My father is doing very well with his own family seat. The same can't be said of you"
The remark quickly sparked the plug in Lord Simon and his fists tightened at his sides.
"You will abide the Royal decree" he commanded, his tone of voice had lowered resembling his anger.
"I've already abided the Royal decree and dismissed you from your duties. This buffoonery was completely uncalled for"
Lord Simon climbed on the stairs so fast that Ayla jumped in her spot and froze.
"My buffoonery? You are the one who's chosen to play this little game of chicken. Now, you abide the Royal decree and accept my authority as the Castellan of Harrenhal or-"
Movement caught Lord Simon's eyes and when he directed his eyes to the source, Ayla saw his face blank from all anger and his eyes open wide. He took a step back and fumbled down the stairs as quickly as he had gotten up them.
Before Ayla could turn, the large frame of her husband appeared in front of her, blocking her view from Lord Simon.
"What is the purpose of this?" He asked, his voice low and raspy made him clear it after he finished his sentence.
"Ser Harwin" he began.
"It's Lord Harwin now, due to unfortunate circumstances" he corrected. Lord Simon chuckled in nervousness.
"Lord Harwin, I was under the impression that... Well" he shrugged, not wanting to admit his wrongness "after I heard about the fire I traveled to put myself forward at the service of the ruling Lord in the role of a Castellan. Seeing you alive, but injured, I put myself at your services"
"Even under the assumption of something more dire happening to me, my son is to be the Lord of Harrenhal and my wife to warden him until he comes of age"
"I was not aware of that" he excused, making Ayla shake her head in disbelief, something neither the Lord or Harwin saw.
"I'm pretty sure my wife would have made you aware of that, it's would be unlike her not to" Harwin countered "so that's the reason for-" he motioned with a wave of his hand to the outer courtyard where the forces awaited "this incursion, you wanting to be the Castellan of Harrenhal?"
"No" Lord Simon was quick to deny "the matter for the incursion was the disobedience of a Royal decree, and-"
"What Royal decree?" Harwin interrupted. Soon he was met with said parchment with the decorated borders. The same decorated borders he didn't want to admit he had seen before, let alone where. "This royal decree is outdated. I don't find it odd that my wife decided not to abide it"
"Still, I believe that in your state, you will benefit from my guidance" Lord Simon offered as his very last resort.
"I do not wish to suffer you presence for much longer, specially if the first impression I get out of you is you yelling at my wife"
The next thing that was heard in the room was the sound of the parchment being ripped once, then twice. Ayla watched Harwin hand over the ripped decree to Lord Simon.
"Please see that Lord Simon arrives to his seat safely" he commanded. Lord Simon looked at the ripped parchment in disbelief.
"You can't -" he began, but Harwin was not in the mood to entertain any more of it.
"I suggest you save your breath. I assume you will have a lot of explaining to do to whoever gave you that decree"
Ayla swallowed at the thought of Harwin's sudden enlightenment about the doings of his family.
She did not see Lord Simon leaving the room, her focus was quickly pulled to the sight of both Kylian and Kiran cling to their father's waist as they hugged him. Only then Ayla noticed that her own father had her arm gripped in his hand. At the time of Lord Simon's sudden climb on the stairs, Lord Edder had grabbed Ayla by the arm and had gotten ready to pull her away from harm.
Now that Lord Simon was out of sight, Lord Edder had released Ayla and mentioned that he would see the Lord's exit out of Harrenhal.
Ayla now stared at Harwin caress both of Kylian and Kiran's hair. The boys looked up at their father with adoration and nodded dutifully when asked of they had behaved in his absence. Ayla caught a glimpse of the head of the maids and asked for a bath to be drawn for Harwin and the Maester to await for him at his chamber.
Once free of the boy's embrace, Harwin's eyes found the nearest guard before he turned to his side to meet with Ayla.
"My sister is down the road in the inn, see that she makes her way to Harrenhal without trouble"
The guard nodded and only then, after taking care of everything immediate, he turned to his side and found Ayla staring up at him, in her eyes lingered the question if what she was seeing was real.
Harwin extended his arm to her and cupped her face, his fingers curling at her neck and pulling her in.
When Harwin pulled her into an embrace and rounded her shoulders with his good arm, Ayla felt like she could finally breath again. Though the state of her husband was not the best, the fact that his heart was beating fast against her ear was enough reassurance that he was alive and finally safe in his home.
Ayla felt Harwin's lips on her forehead, along with the tingling sensation his grown beard provided. She looked up and their lips found each other. Slowly, their lips melted together and Harwin sighed into it. Despite the need to keep his wife close, he retreated and led his lips back to her forehead.
"The Maesters awaits to check on you. You certainly didn't have that when you left" Ayla quickly posed her eyes on the spot of dried blood and swelling on the bridge of Harwin's nose.
His hand quickly found hers and he gave a twist of his lips.
"There's a lot to talk about" he muttered. Ayla certainly agreed on that and let herself be led by Harwin.
Once in their rooms and with Harwin's torso uncovered and being checked by the Maester, Ayla did have to leave his side for a few minutes.
"Have you been taking care of her?" Harwin glanced up at the Maesters, his height didn't allow him to be properly treated by the seemingly shrinking tendency of the Maester.
"We've taking care of the Lady as much as she's allowed us. Her and the babe are in good health. She's even reported movement"
"That's good to hear" he muttered, sighing and letting his rushing mind still.
At Ayla's return and with her hand quickly finding his, the maester related that Harwin's injured shoulder would need extra time to heal, given that he had suffered added injuries that had worsened his condition.
Once they were left alone ans Harwin had undressed and sunk into the tub with warm water, Ayla took care of untangling his hair, scrubbing and pampering him. In that time, Harwin's mind was clouded with thoughts of not only Larys' doings, but now also with Lord Simon's, which seemed more dangerous and closer than Larys' in King's Landing.
"The Maester tells me you're in good health" he mentioned, seeing that she had finished helping him and had taken a chair to sit next to the tub.
"Yes, I've also been feeling some kicks here and there" she said, looking briefly down at herself. Harwin extended his hand and Ayla took it, her thumb running over his knuckles.
"I'm guessing something happened in King's Landing" she risked "you have a certain somberness in your face"
Harwin, grunting at the discomfort he felt in his shoulder, leaned in and kissed Ayla's hand.
"What does your father know?"
Ayla opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it with a little frown.
"About us? About the incursion?" She inquired.
"About everything"
Ayla swallowed and sighed, gripping Harwin's hand harder.
"He knows everything"
"More than me?"
Ayla's eyes told him everything he needed to know, he was sure that there were things Ayla and her father shared that he wasn't aware of.
"Yes" she said finally, a little reluctantly as to what his reaction would be.
"Then we bring him in and I'll tell you everything"
Hello, I just wanted to quickly drop by and say sorry! March was a tough month, but I'm trying to get back to writing and probably will have next chapter of A match for love ready for Tuesday.
Thank you all for sticking by.
Also, totally unrelated, but I've gotten caught up just now to Better Call Saul and the actor for Chuck McGill is now my cannon for Lord Simon Strong.
A/N: sorry about the delay! I had a college thing due. Hope you like this next chapter! :)
MASTERLIST.
Ayla tightened her lips at the sight of the silent sisters prepping Lord Lyonel's body. The only thing that replayed in her mind was the last words she had said to him. A heavy tear fell from her eyes and other followed. She cursed at herself for letting her temper overcome her and say the things she had said to him, but before she could burst into sobs, she grasped at her stomach at a feeling she hadn't experienced for more than five years. A kick.
She stroked the spot where she felt it and then cleaned her tears.
"I'm fine" she whispered as if her babe could hear her then cleared her throat.
"My Lady" Ayla's head turned to Marya, one of the eldest personal attendants of the castle, she usually took care of staff and was a right hand to the Chamberlain "are you feeling unwell?" She asked, seeing that both of her hands rested on her stomach.
"I am good, Marya. I felt a kick"
"Oh, that is wonderful news, my Lady. Thank the Gods your babe is growing strong"
Ayla's eyes moved from Marya to Lord Lyonel's lifeless one on top of the prepping table, only after giving Marya a quick and thankful smile.
"My Lady, I'm sorry to bother you" Ayla looked at Marya again "but you are needed at the front gate"
Ayla gave one last look to the silent sisters, then with a sigh she and Marya exited the side room in the Sept. Ayla was seeing that all the arrangements for the service of Lord Lyonel were being met, and had sent for a messenger to give Jaena and her family the news. She was expecting the whole of House Strong to meet at Harrenhal after years of being apart and things had to be arranged.
She walked towards the gate with a lot on her mind. Guilt was the main one of them, pure guilt of having been so unwilling to consider Lord Lyonel's words in a different way. Now she had no choice but to live with the fact that one of the last things she had told his Good Father was that she didn't want to continue any kind of pleasantries with him.
Arriving at the gate, the Marshal stood next to the entrance of the long a dark hallway of the main gate, he grabbed a lit torch that hung from the holder of the hallway and motioned at Ayla to walk in front of him.
She didn't understand why she would need to go across the long and dark hallway to end at the main gate and outside of Harrenhal. As she walked the Marshal sighed.
"Pardon me if I'm speaking out of turn, but might I confide in you with a personal accounting, my Lady?"
"Of course" Ayla glanced next to her, the tall man resembled Harwin in build and style, only with a bushier beard and unseen hair under the helmet of his armor, the same one he was never seen without definitely inspired respect and a little fear in the castle.
"Lord Lyonel often spoke highly of your knowledge and brazenness during your last visit to Harrenhal" they halted their steps as the door cracked and slowly began to open "I sincerely hope you can resolve this issue" he finished with a sigh. Ayla's palms now began to sweat, wondering what could be on the other side of the door. When the doors were finally open and her eyes could adjust to the light, she focused on several carriages lined to the entrance.
When she saw the carriage door open, she almost laughed.
"Lord Simon" she saluted. Lord Simon Strong skipped down the three steps to the carriage and walked briskly to her.
"Lady Ayla" he saluted, then looked behind her to the dark hall "my most sincerest condolences for your loss"
"My loss?" She asked frowning. Behind her the marshal took a step to stand next to her and listen with interest.
"I am aware that there was a fire last night" Ayla's silence and twist of her eyebrows made the Lord continue with his words "I've also heard about the demise of Lord Lyonel, and since he's not with you, I assume your husband was also lost to the fire"
Ayla now fully glanced at the marshal, the confusion in his face was noticeable.
"And now it's my turn to assume that you've come to the service that's to be given in Lord Lyonel's honor, I'm afraid that you are a few days early, not even his daughter's Jaena and Grayce know these news, much less are on the way to the service"
"I am more than able to wait for such occasion, but I have traveled with a different purpose"
He searched into the pockets of his tunic and produced a long roll of parchment. He extended it to Ayla and looked quickly at the sigil of House Targaryen.
She undid the knot with the sigil and opened the long scroll. The parchment was adorned at the margins and was one that Ayla had rarely seen but did recognize. It was used for royal decrees.
She stopped reading after a few sentenced and folded the scroll back into itself.
"I am, by Royal decree, the Castellan of Harrenhal"
Ayla glanced at him and sighed in an annoyance she couldn't contain.
"You would be in the event of the death of the Lord of Harrenhal"
"The Lord of Harrenhal did"
"And the line of succession is very much taken care of"
"The role of Castellan does not abide to only the death of the Lord, but also his absence or inability to perform his duties"
"It's a tough road, becoming a Lord, but he will be a fine one under my tutelage. I am his mother and the warden of Harrenhal until he comes of age"
Lord Simon Strong laughed the only amused chuckle amongst them and the expecting guards.
"You cannot disregard the royal decree"
"I can abide to the Royal decree and proceed to dismiss you as the Castellan, as is the right of the rulling Lord. As previously stated you are not needed nor wanted in Harrenhal"
Lord Simon seemed to have had enough of the banter. He took a menacing step to Ayla, she was quickly protected by the marshal who positioned his body between Ayla and the Lord.
"You are taking Harrenhal hostage, you either let me in, or I will come back with a fleet of men appointed by the crown and take Harrenhal by force"
"You might as well because I will never yield my son's birthright to the people who tried to have me killed at my wedding"
"I did no such thing!" He defended too quickly, making Ayla chuckle out loud.
"Of course you did, you and Lord Mooton already tried to have me killed once, I best not find out you tried to harm me, my husband or my children or, I assure you, you will pay"
The marshal began to walk backwards, Ayla did not bother to speak her goodbyes to the Lord. The door closed behind her and the marshal walked quickly to catch up to her at the other side of the hall and into the yard.
"Is the back gate guarded?"
"It is, my Lady, I saw to that when we saw the carriages"
"Good, put all your efforts in that entrance. The front door is of no concern to be breached and the walls are definitely too high to climb"
"Mighty I ask what exactly is what you plan on doing? You've challenged the Lord to a hostile take over and you've confirmed it's just you and your children in the castle"
Ayla stared at the marshal shocked that he was questioning her.
"He knew before anyone else about the fire and the demise of Lord Lyonel, it's a three hour trip from the outskirts of the castle where he resides and the main gate. Harwin left less than an hour ago, the fire was put out six hours ago and it was demanded no raven to fly until the King knew of Lord Lyonel's demise. How does he know?"
The marshal dropped his shoulders at the question. He had heard the Lord and did thought it was suspicious, but the timing did not seem to add up. He couldn't have known instantaneously and six hours would not be enough time to load carriages and mobilize them along with the personnel the "Castellan" would need to perform his duties in the castle.
The marshal could account for suspicions of an attack on the life of Lord Lyonel, but there being a bigger plot he couldn't quite be convinced of just yet. But Ayla was very much convinced of that. Sadly, the only Strong man she trusted at the moment was her husband.
"We will barricade the back gate and the entrance to the Godswood. Then we will wait" she ordered.
"For what?"
"For my father"
Harwin landed on both of his feet just outside the courtyard gate. He pulled the hood of his cloak over his head and glanced at the two guards that had accompanied him.
"Take care of the horses, it should not be long until we make our way back"
He began to walk but was stoped by the quick steps of the guard catching up to him.
"My Lord, you should not walk in the castle unprotected, specially in your state"
"I can handle myself in the dark hallways of the castle. I will return shortly"
Harwin dismissed the worried words of the guards. If he had known at that point exactly how he looked like he would've understood their concerns. With the amount of milk of the poppy he had been given to have his wounds cleaned and the lack of sleep since his departure form King's Landing a day ago, he didn't look any better than a beggar of the street of silk.
Despite his crazed appearance and fuzzy mind, he made his way to the Tower of the Hand. Inside, his confusion only grew when Grayce, already with a red and puffy face from crying saw him stumble into the tower and ran towards him.
When their bodies collided he grunted in pain, but still held his sister close to him.
Harwin pulled back and held Grayce's face with his good hand.
"Grayce" he lamented, she cleaned her under eyes with her hand "father-"
"I know" she sobbed.
Harwin looked down at her and blinked a couple of times.
"You know..." Grayce nodded, her eyes filling with tears and letting them fall freely again "how?"
Grayce tried to pull her thoughts together to answer and she hummed before she spoke, taking a deep breath to speak evenly.
"Larys just told us"
"Larys? He asked again, Grayce nodded "when?"
"About an hour ago, he said he was going to a meeting to tell the King now"
Harwin swallowed a lump is his throat, then pulled Grayce to him again.
He tried to find what she would do next, since she would need to leave the Tower of the hand. After a short talk Grayce agreed with her husband to travel to Harrenhal to the service of Lord Lyonel. They would see to their future after that.
Harwin could not comprehend how Larys not already knew, but told Grayce and the King about the demise of their father. The burning suspicion he had needed to be watered down somehow. He found himself walking the hidden passages of the Keep until he reached the dormitories of Princess Rhaenyra.
The Princess entered the room a while later and after he made sure that they would be alone, he emerged from behind the heavy curtains. Rhaenyra was surprised to see him, specially in the injured state he was in, she was quick to walk to him and take his good hand in hers.
"Harwin, I am so very sorry about your father" she lamented, her mouth twisting at the nervousness.
"I've arrived barely an hour ago with the news only to find out that my brother already knows, not only that but he knows of my father's demise even after I strictly prohibited any raven to travel with the news"
The Princess dropped Harwin's hand and walked around the room, she sighed in annoyance after a few seconds and turned to him.
"When Lord Larys gave the news, he was very much eager to present my father with the fact that a new Lord Hand would have to be appointed. Even though my father also mentioned me, as soon as the Queen presented her father as a choice, the decision was made"
Harwin took the liberty to sit down, the pain was threatening to numb not only his side but his mind.
"Why are you here?" She asked, her eyes turning to worry over his state.
"I came bearing the news and to bring my sister to Harrenhal with me"
The Princess stared blankly at him, then her mind began to run full speed with unwanted conclusions.
"And your brother knew before anyone" Harwin swallowed and moved to adjust the straps of his binding. Only then the princess noticed his immobilized arm and leaned in to take a better look at him "he also said you couldn't be accounted for"
Harwin glanced at the Princess, wondering if she was indeed implying what she was.
"I do not know how Larys found out about the fire before I arrived. What I do know is that he is not capable of what you are implying. I know he is acquainted with the Queen, but still. Lary's would never"
Rhaenyra tightened her lips at the response, then gave a sigh folding her hands together in front of her.
"We will be leaving shortly, for Driftmark" their eyes met again when Rhaenyra's voice faltered "my cousin Laena also died last night, in childbirth. The whole of House Targaryen is going and the Queen's father will meet us there to take over the post of Hand. I'm certain your brother will accompany us and the castle will be void for you to walk around freely"
"I'm not planning on staying. I knew what I was facing when I came here but in this state I'm not willing to take much chances"
"It would do you well to suspend your beliefs in this matter. Many of us are capable of things beyond everyone's assumptions"
Harwin did not wish to breathe anymore into the accusations towards his brother, but when he saw the Royal family get on a ship from the window of one of the hidden passages, his feet carried him to Larys' room.
The room was neat, it had always been Larys' trait to have things a little too organized. At his desk, Harwin didn't find anything out of place other than parchment to write, quill and ink, wax, seals. He opened a few drawers to find more of the same, his eyes only squinting at the sight of a parchment with adorned margins.
With nothing else amiss and now with certainty that his brother had just been lucky enough to hear about his father before his arrival, he exited Larys' room.
As he walked, slouched on his bad shoulder and closer to the wall, he cut the corner and walked right in front of the very last person he wished to see.
With his chest hugged by his old plate of the Lord Commander, Gwayne Hightower looked right in his eyes until a glint of recognition hit him.
"I thought you were banished from King's Landing Strong, never to return to your whore of a Princess"
Harwin's blood boiled instantly, but Gwayne was quick to throw his head back and smash his forehead right to Harwin's nose. The hit made him stumble on his feet and fall to the ground with the added bad luck of landing the weight of his body on his already injured shoulder.
He grunted at the pain and his head swirled, the frustration of not being healed enough to fend for himself gave his grunt an added gravity. With his good hand he tried to leverage himself to stand up, the task being aided by two guards who grabbed him by each arm and pulled him to his feet, a grunt of pain catching to his throat.
Now face to face and held by two guards, Harwin and Gwayne stared at each other with both anger and superiority.
"Take him to the cells" he ordered "Pray to the Gods that someone knows that you are still here, otherwise I don't think you'll be alive by the time your Princess returns from Driftmark"
The guards proceeded to drag Harwin through the back hallways of the castle, empty of any onlookers. The pain he felt from his shoulder being gripped and dragged devoided him of any coherent thoughts other than the overwhelming pain.
He was thrown into a cell and left there, mending his wounds and taking heavy breaths until the flashes of them stopped running from his arm to the rest of his body. He hadn't even noticed the pain and the way his head still rattled because of the headbutt, but he could smell and taste the blood running down his nose.
He spent the whole day there, sitting and kicking himself for having put himself in that situation. Had he found a passageway near Larys' room he would've escaped easily. He knew the movements of the cells and as soon as the sun settled, more and more bodies began to fill them. He searched on the faces of the guards that came to lock up the prisoners. In none of them he found an old ally or someone he knew.
In the dead of night, as guards paraded more prisoners to the cells, he found himself fiddling with the beetle pin that he had gotten from the marshal of Harrenhal. The stone resembling the body of the beetle caught glimpses of the lit torches every now and then, until he suddenly heard:
"The firefly" Harwin lifted his eyes to the cell directly in front of him across the narrow hall. A beaten up and scraggly looking man looked at the beetle in his hand as he gripped the bars of his cell "the firefly will give you freedom"
Harwin shuffled closer and leaned over the bars.
"Have you seen this before?" He asked, now fully showing him the beetle.
"The firefly gives his sigil, gives freedom in exchange for a favor"
"And who is the firefly it, have you seen him?" The prisoner nodded slowly.
"Some cripple"
Harwin's attention was suddenly pulled when he heard a voice he recognized. He good arm grippes the bars and he pulled himself to his feet.
"Adrian!" He yelled, then rattled the bars together making a loud noise inside the closed chambers of the cells "Adrian!" He screamed again.
When Adrian reached the cell and their eyes met, Adrian's eyes widened at the surprise of seeing his Good Brother bloody, dirty, injured and caged.
"Harwin?" He had to ask, astounded at his finding.
"Adrian" he extended his hand and Adrian quickly took it "you have to release me"
A guard approached and pushed Adrian out of the way, gripping his armor, pulling him to the exit. The man from the Vale didn't let himself be manhandled and in one quick move freed himself from the grasp of the guard and produced a tiny dagger from his belt, one that ended up in between the legs of the guard rendering him completely immobile.
"Release him, now" he demanded, his jaw tight.
"I have orders from the Lord Commander" he answered with a shaky voice.
"I don't care whose orders you have, he is the Lord of Harrenhal, do you know how much trouble it would bring the Crown if anyone found out he's here? Release him, now" he demanded again.
Harwin had not thought of what the outcome of his imprisonment would be. He was sure that Grayce would question about his whereabouts if he didn't leave with them to Harrenhal. He didn't want to think what would Ayla do if she found out about bin locked up in a cell. War was the first thing that came to mind. He could clearly see Ayla calling upon her father and his army and March to King's Landing to release him. He knew Lord Edder wouldn't say no his daughters request.
Thankfully, the guard was much too scared about the well being of his manhood and did fumble for his keys when Adrian pressed the blade more between his legs. Harwin swing his arm around Adrian's frame and allowed him to carry him out of the dungeons and to safety, not before glancing at the prisoner across the narrow hall and thinking of his words.
After a day of being imprisoned, Harwin's energy had run to it's lowest levels, when Adrian's eyes met his, he only saw the same worried frown and eyes of his wife reflected in Adrian's stare.
Adrian laid him in his bed and glanced at the door, everything would have to be resolved tomorrow, for now, Adrian sat in a chair next to the bed and gripped the helm of his sword, determined to keep his guard up for the night.
Ayla looked over at her sons with a worried frown, one she always managed to retreat when either of them look at her. Their eyes also wandered around, the three of them haunted by a sound.
The first time she'd heard the noise was in the dead of night, she carefully climbed down the steps from the son's room where she was aiding Kiran get used to sleeping and walked to the front door of the Widow's Wail. At the door, the Marshal stood guard and looked in the distance.
"What is that noise?" She asked, her hands closing an overcoat over her sheer nightgown.
"The back entrance is attempted to be breached"
Ayla was informed that a garrison of men was attempting to breach the back gate, trying to break it open with a battering ram.
The biggest of Ayla's worries was the number of men waiting to breach, the marshal had counted fifty armed men.
"Will it hold?" She asked.
"Until dawn I am certain, let us hope for your father's arrival"
Ayla had had the idea of calling upon her father when Larys last words hadn't left her mind in the carriage. Kylian had seen her pinching on her lower lip, lost in thought.
"Father doesn't like it when you do that" she stopped, now looking at her son with his head buried in a book he'd brought but could only read when the carriage wasn't moving "are you nervous?"
"I'm thoughtful"
"What about?" Kylian closed the book and moved to sit closer to his mother, Ayla placed a hand at the top of his head and twirled his curls in her finger.
"About something that was said" Kylian held his stare, beckoning her to keep talking "words matter, I am sure you're aware"
"I guess" he replied with a shrug of his shoulders, Ayla smiled and leaned closer to her son.
"If I say 'when we get to Harrenhal we will revise some lessons' what am I saying?" Kylian stared at her blankly "what if I saw that we might revise some lessons?" Now Kylian smiled with complicity.
"That we might not"
"One is a certainty and one gives room for another option to take place, right my love?"
"Yes mother" he was quick to nod, Ayla smiled sweetly at Kylian and leaned over his head to kiss him.
"Could you get your father for me please?"
Kylian stood, but stopped and gave his mother a mischievous smirk.
"I could..." He teased. Ayla chuckled at his quick learning.
"Go and get your father for me, please"
"Yes mother" now Kylian answered and exited the carriage, Ayla stood from her seat and walked to the door of the carriage. The party had been halted for a quick lunch, but Ayla had remained in her carriage where she was comfortable. She saw Kylian run into the camp.
Harwin emerged from the lines, no sight of Kylian with him. At the sight of her husband in his riding leathers, she climbed down one of the steps and ended up at his same height.
Harwin's eyes first landed on her stomach. Both of his hand gripped her waist and his eyes met hers.
"Are you feeling well?" He asked with a little worry in his voice.
"I am. Fret not" Ayla rounded his shoulders, the height advantage she had on him and pressed what she could of her chest to his "I had a request, I hope it's not much trouble"
"Nothing coming from you will ever be trouble. Tell me" Ayla smiled and stole a quick kiss from her husband.
"I was wondering if you could send word to my father that we will be at Harrenhal. A regiment is due to train there and I wish to see him"
"Of couse my love. Whatever you want"
The anxiousness Ayla felt from the sound of the door being banged by the battering ram increased with the pass of time. Kylian and Kiran were aware of the breach but when their mother told them their grand-sire was on the way, their worries lessened.
Ayla spent the rest of the day looking at the main gate. Because Harrenhal was so big the garrison would be able to enter the main gate and not be seen by Lord Simon on the other side.
The relief Ayla felt was immesurable when she heard the guards on the watch tower scream "banners!" and the doors slowly opened.
The sight of her father with his armor and a red mantle over his shoulder and the men from the Vale slowly filing into the courtyard of Harrenhal released her chest from the tension she'd felt for hours.
Lord Edder was immediately approached by the marshal as he climbed off his horse. Ayla saw from the inside of the castle the marshal relay to him the information until he was cut off with one motion of Lord Edder's hand, walking towards the Widow's Wail.
For days, the loss of Lord Lyonel had struck her as if she had lost her own father. Now, seeing him alive and walking towards her made her break into tears. Her father rounded her and Ayla fisted the mantle of his shoulder as she hugged herself to him.
"Ayla my girl" he pulled back and cupped Ayla's face and made her look at him "Ayla, breath" she took a deep and faltering breath "I've been told about the breach, where is Lord Lyonel?"
That only made Ayla choke on her breath once more. Lord Edder soothed her by rubbing his hands over her shoulders.
"He died"
Even over her tears, Ayla had never seen her father frozen with shock. His shoulders squared and his hands remained still on her shoulders.
"How?" He asked after a full minute of being quiet.
"In a fire, two nights ago"
"And Harwin?"
"He's left for King's Landing to tell the King. He didn't wish to send a raven. And now Lord Simon comes with a royal decree to take over Harrenhal as it's Castellan" she complained.
"Do not worry about that"
"I tried to buy some time until you arrived"
"You did good, Ayla. I will take care of it. When is Harwin due to return?"
Ayla's mind slowly cleared as her father asked her questions, but she was still crying and taking intermittent breaths.
"He left after his father's death, at first light"
Lord Edder did not ask any more questions. He rubbed his hands on her shoulders again and leaned in to kiss her on the forehead. He didn't worry her with his thoughts of Harwin's absence and, even more important, his overdue return. If anything, a trip back and forth shouldn't have taken him a full day.
When he turned, both Kylian and Kiran were expectantly looking at his grandsire. Lord Edder smiled at them, the boys did not resemble the small children he had met five years ago. Even though it was know that the boys had more Strong resemblance, Lord Edder saw a lot of his own children in their factions.
"How grown you two are" he complimented, his hands running over their hair "what do you two know about siege tactics?"
"A lot" Kylian was the first to reply.
"Truly? We might put some to work, come" he placed his hands over their shoulders but the boys were quick to grab them in theirs.
"Not too close from trouble, father" Ayla pleaded. Lord Edder gave her a look over her shoulder and a quick wink.
Kylian and Kiran walked with their grand-sire to the yard and promptly marveled themselves at Lord Edder giving away commands.
Though the arrival of Lord Edder did bring her relief and security, now her focus shifted to her husband. She was counting on his presence even before her father's. Even if Lord Simon did manage to breach and take over Harrenhal, without Harwin to impose himself as Lord, her and the children would have to abide to the Royal decree.
In the children's room atop the Widow's Wail, her eyes remained on the horizon. She was interrupted by a knock on the door and the straightened over her wide chair to look at her father in the doorway.
"I've been told you are to stay away from any and all set of stairs" he scolded, walking towards her and taking a seat in a wide chair next to hers, sighing at the comfort.
"I like the height advantage. Despite this tragedy and my own fears, this babe is behaving like the others. We're good" she said, her hands soothing over her stomach up and down to the base of it, marveling at the size that she had accomplish after many years "I've been feeling as if I had lost you" tears piled up in a rush in her eyes, a hand appeared on top of hers and her stomach and Ayla held it tight "I cannot believe this happened. And now I have to live with the fact that I was horribly intolerant to Lord Lyonel" she complained "and I loved him like a father"
"I am sure he knew my girl. He knew you in your ways and I'm sure he didn't take your words, whichever they were, to heart"
With a sigh and a hand cleaning her tears, Ayla decided she shouldn't cry anymore and keep herself focused and strong.
"We will be breached" her father sentenced.
"Yes, we will. I am counting on it. Lord Simon thinks it's only me and the boys in the castle. He doesn't account for your presence and much less Harwin's. He believes him dead. Without this breach I cannot threaten him to stay away from us"
"Your husband does have to be here for that moment" Ayla sighed again and her eyes scanned the horizon, the sun descending slowly from its highest point in the sky and threatening to set quickly.
Warnings: we all know what happens at Harrenhal. Death, angst.
MASTERLIST.
We will not see each other again.
We will not see each other again.
We will not see each other again.
The carriage halted unexpectedly, Ayla grasped both the handle on the side of her carriage and her stomach. Her boys quickly bolted out of their seats and stood impatiently by the door, looking by the tiny windows at either side of it.
After a few seconds the doors opened, the boys jumped out of the carriage and into the courtyard of Harrenhal, Harwin entered shortly after, ducking his frame into the door and extending his hand to Ayla.
Ayla's frown was present in her face for most of the trip as Larys' last words ran wildly around her head. Her worry was noticeable by Harwin, who insisted they should see a Maester right away.
Harrenhal was a castle of hundred years of history, their walls had more tales to tell than most men. Ever since the construction by Harren the Black, the castle had passed through six house of varying nobility.
Ayla had only recently been acquainted with the effort that took to run Harrenhal, the castle was the biggest one in the Seven Kingdoms and certainly warranted a large amount of work to maintain it. The day to day upkeep of the castle amounted to almost a hundred workers between servants, cooks, gardeners, the people who worked at the stables, people who repaired things if they were broken and the list continued.
The property of Harrenhal had first passed through Ser Bywin Strong, then to Lord Lyonel who had done most of the repairs in Harrenhal for his four children to be safe when they were little.
The biggest and tallest Tower, the King's Pyre had gone through some maintenance for it to be habitable, but back when they traveled four years ago when Ayla's eyes landed on the tall, warped, burned monstrosity and mess of molten stone, she declared she would never sleep on it when they moved.
The promise had been kept, by the time theya arrived to Harrenhal at midday, the adjacent and connected Widow's Tower was already prepared for them. The lower rooms were going to the Harwin and Ayla's until she gave birth and the boys could finally have their own separate rooms just above theirs. Lord Lyonel settled at the King's Pyre without problem.
After their arrival and the reception of the boys by the maids who had very much spoiled them last time and were certainly going to do it again now, the Maester that residen in Harrenhal, Maester Tommen inspected Ayla. Alongside him was a young woman who reminded Ayla of herself, diving nose first into her studies even if they were unbecoming of a lady, much less a commoner.
"You are a little too tense my Lady, the babe is as hard as a rock"
"The path was a bit moved in some spots, I tried to balance it out to not move around the whole carriage"
"You have not bled because of it?" Ayla simply shook her head in denial. Blood and pregnancy were two things she was very scared to think in a same sentence "I will have you rest, drink lots of liquids and I will see you in an hour"
Harwin and Ayla walked out of the Maester's room, greeting some servants of their way.
"I'll take you to our room, might I insist you take the Maester's advice?" Harwin almost pleaded, his hand was holding Ayla's tightly, accentuating his point by giving her a kiss on the back of her hand.
"I will" she agreed, her mind still occupied by thoughts unrelated to her babe.
Their new quarters were spacious, warm, though a bit dark, the tall walls surrounding Harrenhal didn't allow for much light before sunset. The room was not meant for a prolonged stay because of the darkness. Harwin was quick to lead Ayla not to the bed, but to a lounge chair.
"If you're concerned about anything, Ayla, I wish to know it at once" he spoke, Ayla sat carefully on the lounge chair and Harwin's hands found her feet in between the fabric of her dress, his fingers began to work on the laces of her shoes.
"I am not concerned about the babe... It's just" she stopped herself, Harwin glanced from his work back to her, his hands finishing with the laces and pulling her sandals from her feet and then rubbed up and down at her calves "I've been thinking about what your brother said when we left" she admitted.
"What did he say?" His hands kept rubbing her legs as she spoke.
"He said we will not see each other again"
"Well, that is true, we might not" his hand began working on the laces of her other sandal.
"No, he didn't say we might not see each other again, he said we will not"
Harwin finished with her other sandal and provided the same massages to her legs.
"And?" He finally asked. Ayla slumped her shoulders with an exasperated sigh.
"He was certain we will not see each other again"
"That's because we might not"
"Not might, will" she corrected again. Harwin pulled both of her legs to her side and on top of the lounge sofa, then sat next to her.
"I don't understand your worries" he admitted.
"He is certain we will not see each other again, there wasn't a shred of doubt in his voice. In all of the years we have left in front of us, not once will we not see him again?"
"Will, might... They're just words, love"
"They are, and Larys takes good care of them in how he says them and who he speaks them to"
"So, what exactly is your problem with those words?"
Ayla wanted to scream. Had she expressed these words to Adrian, he would've been in such as high alert as she was. Sadly Adrian had remained in King's Landing and now she was alone with her knowledge of what Larys was capable of.
"Nevermind" she dismissed, leaning back in the lounge sofa and exhaling "I'm probably over thinking it"
"Probably" Harwin agreed, which made Ayla want to scream more. Though she didn't blame Harwin for not believing her. She hadn't worked hard enough to properly express all her knowledge to Harwin about the things she was certain Larys had taken a part of. The last years of her life had been consumed by raising her two boys, some grief, some work, enjoying her life with her family.
Harsh topics as her Good Brother's plots were not Ayla's priorities for many years.
"Do you need anything else love?" He asked, his hand checked for the pillows that laid beneath her, testing that they were firm and supporting her back properly.
"I might need a kiss" she teased, not able to contain a little smirk.
Harwin bit right into her bait and leaned in to kiss her lips carefully, tenderly. When he moved slightly to kiss her in another angle she sighed into the kiss. Harwin's insides tightened at her response and he pulled back with one final kiss to her forehead.
The door was knocked and both Harwin and Ayla tuned to see Lord Lyonel standing at the entrance.
"How is Ayla?"
As if she didn't have enough with Larys' use of words, she definitely spent a lot of time thinking over the first thing he had said, the thing about Lord Lyonel's wish to resign his post as Hand of the King and the supposed dark shadow that clouded his judgment.
Larys could've lied to her to get into her skin, or he could've been telling the truth. She assumed he had gotten such information from the Queen herself. Either way, Ayla was not going to hesitate to ask Lord Lyonel about it later.
"She just needs some rest and not put any undue stress on her back, the Maester's assume that once she's rested from the travel, she will be fine"
"I am glad to hear that" Ayla did not turn to acknowledge Lord Lyonel's presence, instead she just pressed her hand to Harwin's.
"You should go and check on the boys, see that they're settling well" Harwin nodded, then leaned in for a short kiss.
Ayla fell asleep on the lounge chair after spending all the previous night awake. With a lot of patience she put her sandals back on and exited her room, heading towards the courtyard.
Servants were coming and going from one Tower to the other carrying food, linens, wood for the fires that would keep them warm at night, in the distance she saw Harwin, Kylian and Kiran at the stables, Harwin held Kiran effortlessly on his arms as the boy brushed the mane of one of the horses that peaked through the half doors of the stables.
Ayla turned to the side when she heard footsteps next to her only to find Lord Lyonel standing near.
"How are you feeling?" He asked. Ayla looked down at herself with a quick smile.
"Better, resting after the travel did wonders"
"I am glad" he gave her a quick smile, both of them looked in front of them, Harwin had now switched Kiran for Kylian to pet the horse and brushing it's mane. "I will be staying for a week to help Harwin with any questions he may have about the maintenance of Harrenhal and other duties he needs to attend. I am certain he will find a great partner in you"
"I'm willing to help as much as I can" she agreed.
"If you are feeling up for it, we might entertain some of them now"
"Of course" she gave a quick nod and followed Lord Lyonel to the Tower he was residing in.
Once in the office, Lord Lyonel entertained some housekeeping issues, some future contracts that would need to be addressed, staff organisation, and some other issues.
Though Ayla was very much focused on the task at hand to later relate all the knowledge to Harwin, there was something that ran circles around her mind and decided this was the right time to address the issues.
"Do you have any questions so far?" He asked, his eyes trained on the accounting books in front of him.
"Did you truly present your resignation as Hand because of Harwin's accusations?"
Lord Lyonel lifted his head to her immediately, slowly he reclined back on the chair he was sitting, Ayla was already in this position and at the lack of immediate response she just cocked her eyebrow, forcing him to answer.
"I did, and the King denied it"
"And was it truly because you couldn't live under the blindness that affects the King?"
Lord Lyonel linked his hands at his front and held a stare with Ayla, who suddenly grew very angry.
"I considered my advise could not be trusted if I denied something so obvious. There's a very thin line between willful blindness and stupidity, and I'm not stupid"
"So I'm stupid then"
Lord Lyonel chuckled once before replying "no, you are far from stupid, Ayla. Though your blindness is the most willful of them all. I believe you are aware that the Princes are Harwin's sons and you're willing to look past it"
Ayla's insides twisted at the words of Lord Lyonel. She had to press a hand to the side of her stomach and take shallow breaths to counter them. With a small twist of her head and balled fists she moved to stand.
"I will not entertain this kind of conversation any further" she declared, finally standing up and smoothing her hand over her stomach "it's only business between you and me Lord Lyonel"
"Ayla" he began, also moving to stand up and stop her. Ayla quickly turned around and left the office.
Still with one balled fist and a hand pressed to her side, she walked out of the tower and into theirs.
Harwin was standing in a hallway and near an open door. Ayla walked to him, Harwin heard her footsteps and turned from the door to her. Ayla exchanged looks between him and the door. The inside was pitch black and Ayla didn't know where it led.
Her walk finished with her being surrounded by his arm and his other palm pressed against her stomach.
"How are you feeling?" He asked.
"I was better after resting. It helped relax me. What are you doing here?" She glanced again between him and the dark hallway.
A scream came from the dark pitch room and a few seconds later both Kiran and Kylian ran out of it, their faces red but laughing hysterically out of the adrenaline.
"I heard it!"
"It touched my hair!" Kylian exclaimed, his hand running through his hair.
"It did not!"
"Yes it did!"
As the boys fought, Ayla gave Harwin a questioning twist of eyebrows.
"What in the Gods name are you doing?"
"Father said the hallway is haunted with the spirit of falcons and dared us to go in"
"One touched my head, I felt it" Kylian said again, convinced.
Ayla ran her hand over her son's hair not feeling any spiderwebs on it, which would've been a better explanation than the spirits of falcons.
"Mother, go in"
Both Harwin and Ayla denied Kiran's request with a chuckle and a protective hand over her.
"Your mother will after she births your sibling"
"Even after I birth your sibling I will not go in the haunted hallway" she fought.
The boys didn't seem to want to leave much exploration for later. They jumped from one location to the other, the mewls, the barracks, the bear pit, the top of the molten Towers. After following them around Ayla and Harwin ended up in the Hallway of a hundred hearths.
Lord Lyonel had once before explained the importance and magnitude of the Great Council of 101. Even though Ayla had been at the chamber, it never failed to amaze her.
The walls rose higher than anything she'd ever seen. Though some of the columns had collapsed and there was daily maintenance to be had in the one hundred year of castle, the chamber was still imponent in it's own right. The walk to the elevated chair was a long one, the smooth slated floor made Ayla's shoes announce her footsteps as she walked alongside Harwin. The sounds of the boy's stomping as they chased around the room was the only noise that echoed through the chamber.
At the foot of the chair, Ayla could see the sigil of House Targaryen in the floor, the same one that had been placed when King Jaehaerys visited Harrenhal and hadn't been removed since. Behind the chair though, a House Strong banner was hung and moved slightly with the light winds.
When the boys grew tired of the chamber quickly enough, Harwin and Ayla followed them holding hands will her husband. At the yard they were intercepted by Lord Lyonel, Ayla was quick to tug her husband's hand to keep walking.
"Ayla, we should speak"
"We should not" she walked around him with Harwin at her heels.
"I wished to make a point with you, I didn't word it properly" he excused.
"You said my blindness was wilful for self gain, you have very much made your point with me" she slightly turned her head to look over her shoulder, her frame being half covered by Harwin's hand surrounding her waist. She kept walking and Harwin was quick to follow, giving a quick look to his father, then down to Ayla whose jaw was tight in anger.
That night, as Ayla silently drew circles around her stomach and waited for Harwin to finish getting dressed, she replayed the words Lord Lyonel had told her to make sure she wasn't making a mistake in what she heard. Remembering that scene only made her madder.
Harwin threw a tunic over his torso and removed the leather strap from his hair as he sat down next to her, his curls fell over his face and Ayla was quick to move them to the sides of his face. Harwin's hand landed on her side and his fingers moved over her.
"The relationship you've had with my father for the last ten years is not one that should be thrown away easily because of me"
"If for the last ten years your father has believed the things said about you, then it most certainly is reason for me to throw it away. I will not entertain friendships with people who think that you fathered bastards or that I used you as a step ladder to my own purposes"
Harwin understood that in her stubbornness, one heightened by her state, Ayla would not see reason. Previous instances had proven him right before. He simply crawled closer to her, his hands cradled her face and moved the loose strands out of her sleeping braid out of the way. Ayla smiled at the gesture.
"When my father leaves Harrenhal, it will be the last time any of us will hear or think about anything relating to this matter. We will finally be able to focus on receiving our child, I promise"
Ayla tightened her lips to avoid her chin to tremble. She nodded and gave a quick smile to Harwin's words. He leaned in and kissed her, his hands curling to the back of her neck and holding her still. He pulled back and kissed her forehead once, then leaned in a kissed the top of her stomach.
"I wish to take advantage of the Godswood as much as I can to ask for you, and our babe" Ayla nodded, then received one last kiss on her stomach before Harwin stood up, grabbed a leather jacket much like the ones he wore to ride and left the bedroom.
As he walked through the darkness of the front yard and towards the entrance of the Godswood, he glanced at the King's Pyre. The tower rose so high in the sky that the molten top of it was not visible in the night, no candlelight gave away the windowsills, everything was still and quiet outsides.
His footsteps led him to the Godswood where the Weirwood tree stood in contrast to all others. He sat on a tree stump that had been cut for that purpose and sighed, his mind instantly filling with thoughts of prayers.
What Harwin did not expect to hear in the dead of night was a word that would always mean tragedy in Harrenhal.
"Fire!"
Ayla stood by the doorway, her hand pressed at the sides of her aching stomach as he watched the Maester and his helpers bind Harwin's arm to his chest. He grunted in pain and Ayla's insides twisted at the pain of her husband as if it was hers.
"Lady Ayla, perhaps you should wait outside"
"Will he heal quickly?" She asked, not looking at the Maester but at her husband's red and burnt flesh, even when the Maester applied the ointment it didn't seem to help in his pain.
"It's to be seen, my Lady. Lord Harwin is very lucky the burning beam that fell on top of him only moved his shoulder out of place. I cannot attest to the degree of his burns yet"
Ayla stared at Harwin and her throat closed, not because of the pain he was surely in, but the immense grief that was so present in his features.
After he heard the screams of fire, he ran head first into the burning tower, only after glancing at the adjacent tower that didn't seem to be in the same condition. He screamed for help and barked orders at some of the guards that were standing near the gates to put his family to safety.
Inside the burning tower, he ran across and around several small fires that populated the hallways, the windows in them were not enough to evacuate the smoke and quickly he found himself blind, suffocated by the smoke, the heat of the fire, the smoke, his inability to see, to breath, it all became too much.
When he found his father's room at the brink of collapsing at the lack of oxygen, he put all of his strength into opening the door, hearing the desperation of his father pounding and calling for help on the other side.
He did managed to open the heavy door and round his father's shoulders with his arm, walking him out of the room, what he didn't manage was to get very far. The beam that fell on top of them had only managed to crush over Harwin's shoulder, but hit Lord Lyonel with force on the head.
With the heaviest of pains a son could bear, he still grabbed his father's limp body and carried it down the several flight of stairs and out of the Tower, only to notice in the clear air of the night that his father was dead.
Ayla thought the pain she must've felt that night as she watched Harwin cry over his father's lifeless body was the pain she would feel herself when her own father passed, a pain that turned to the deepest fear when she felt a tug in her stomach.
The maesters had managed to calm her down from her sudden anxiety with tea and oils she could inhale that would calm her down. The sight of her injured husband was not one that tranquilized her in the slightest, outside the chamber of the Maester her two grieving sons were not a better sight for her, all the while holding both of her hands to the base of her stomach and praying for the first time to the Gods to not increasing the tragedy any further and also take their child.
Over her own pain, fear and grief, she sat in a large bench with both of her sons to her sides and cuddled them to her chest as they cried.
Hours passed, her eyes darted from one side to the other, maesters, maids, helpers, nurses, the whole staff of the castle worked on either getting Harwin back to health or to suffocate the fire.
Once her sons had tired themselves and fallen asleep on each one of her thighs, a guard approached her with a quick boy.
"My Lady. The fire has been suffocated, and we asked to leave the Tower as it was, as per your orders"
Open seeing her husband, completely broken and wounded, Ayla had also been the one to bark orders. The first one had been to seal the castle, every single person was going to be grounded at Harrenhal until her next order. The next thing she had ordered was to detain anyone who looked a hair out of place. The guards that resided at Harrenhal knew everyone, so she guessed that wouldn't be hard to follow. The last thing she had commanded was for the tower to leave untouched.
"Two people were detained in the grounds. I believe Ser Harwin should make his way to the cells as soon as he is able"
"If they don't have a crystal clear reason to be here, do not be kind to them. I will have answers"
The guard processed Ayla's words with a confused frown, not sure if he should take the order of the Lady in front of him, something didn't sit well with him taking orders over the new Lord of Harrenhal.
"My husband will not make his way to the cells until he's come off of the milk of the poppy he's been given. I don't want to stall our findings. Time is of the essence"
"Right away my Lady" the guard finally agreed with one last nod, then turned and walked back the way he came from.
"Who is in a cell?" Her eyes darted down to Kylian, who lifted himself and laid on her side, his bloodshot blue eyes looking up at her.
Ayla debated for a few seconds before speaking.
"A fire does not start by its own, there hasn't been a fire in Harrenhal in years. It's a bit suspicious that it happened now. I'm just trying to get answers"
"When you do, will you tell me?"
Ayla led her lips atop the forehead of her son, then pressed her cheek to his forehead as she pulled him closer to her.
"I will, I promise"
With one hand, Harwin grasped the armrest of the chair and slowly sunk to it, when he sat down he let out a small grunt, then straightened himself on the chair as much as his wrapped arm and swollen flesh would allow him. Next to him, Ayla pressed a hand to his good shoulder and he gave a quick nod to her, lying that he was fine.
His eyes landed shortly on the front of Ayla's stomach, then leaned his forehead to it.
The scraping of wood in the floor pulled Harwin out of his comfortable place and his eyes now landing on the assortment of people sitting in the many chairs that surrounded the table. Harwin then watched Ayla sit in the adjacent chair next to him. The Maester, and the heads of staff of the castle were present like the steward, the woman that took care of the kitchens, the marshal that took care of the guards many duties both protecting the castle and the Lord of Harrenhal's detail.
"Are you feeling better today my Lord?" The Maester asked. Ayla's eyes now focused on Harwin as he spoke.
"The death of my father at the hands of last night's fire is something that-" he tightened his jaw, then cleared his throat and continued "it's a wound that will not heal rapidly, not even over my own injuries and the pass of time" his eyes followed Ayla's hand and how it reached over the table, he was quick to grab it and hold it tight.
"After much thought and debate, I've decided to go to King's Landing myself to tell him the news of my father's passing. He served the King for almost fifteen years, ten as a loyal Hand and should not be told such horrific news by raven"
"My Lord, you are very much injured to take the trip" the Marshall intervened. The safety of the Lord of Harrenhal was in his hands.
"I'll manage, I also wish to bring my sister Grayce with her family to Harrenhal if she so wishes, and if she wants to reside in Duskendale then I will also like to know personally and not by raven"
"My Lord, I must insist you at least do not ride alone"
Harwin felt Ayla's hand squeeze his once, when his eyes landed on hers, silently pleasing him to agree.
"I will take only two guards as escorts. I do wish to pass through King's Landing as inadvertantly as I can" the Marshall seemed pleased and nodded "in my absence I will not have a single order that my wife gives be disregarded. I can assure you that for the last five years everything that my father has worked in the distance for Harrenhal's benefit has been assisted by my Lady wife. She knows the castle's coming and going better than me and I'm trust her every judgement"
Harwin now looked at the members of staff in front of him to make sure that everyone had heard his order.
"At the same time, I assume you all know that Lady Ayla is to be treated most carefully, as our child does require a lot of her strength to grow"
Harwin glanced at the nods of acknowledgement throughout the table.
"And about the prisoners, my Lord?" The Marshall spoke again.
"Prisoners?" He asked, frowning. He saw how the Marshall exchanged looks between Harwin and Ayla.
"Lady Ayla ordered for the castle to be closed and any strangers to be apprehended. Some of them were travelers but two men didn't have any purpose to be in the castle, none that they could convey as their tongues had been cut out"
Harwin looked at Ayla wondering just how she had managed to give such commands in the midst of the chaos because of the fire.
"Can they write?" Ayla asked.
"I will do my best to find out, my Lady" the Marshall replied.
"We should also send for scouts to the nearest villages, there could be others who got away" the Marshall looked at Harwin and received a nod to the order.
"We did find this in their clothes" the Marshall extended his hand and left two pins on the table, Ayla took them and handed Harwin one of them "it could hold no meaning"
Ayla and Harwin exchanged looks, wondering if the other knew the object that they were holding, finding blank stares in each other's faces. Ayla inspected the pin as Harwin worked his travel arrangements. Ayla did not recognize the pin, it was some sort of bug made out of metal and a precious stone the casted a hue of orange at the light.
Harwin left Harrenhal not even six hours after the death of his father to bring the sad news about the Hand to King's Landing.
At the yard, Harwin held Ayla's hand as he dedicated a few words to their sons. Kylian ans Kiran nodded at their father's commands but were still shaken by the news of their Grand-sire's passing, their grief was heavy on them and didn't keep their heads up for long.
"We will be fine" Ayla assured, squeezing Harwin's hand. He pulled his hand to kiss Ayla's knuckles and then her forehead.
"Please take care of yourself. I will return as soon as I can"
"Try to not hurt yourself" Ayla mentioned, her eyes landing on Harwin's arm which was wrapped and bent to his chest. Harwin kissed her forehead again and pulled back, his hand slipped from hers and he began fo walk backwards to the horses, engraving the sight in front of him of his wife and two sons.
As Ayla watched Harwin be helped on the horse, both his sons hugged Ayla by her waist and stomach, their heads pressed against her. Ayla pressed her hands to both of her sons heads and ruffled their hair soothingly.
A sudden goosebump creeped through her whole back to the back of her head, perking her skin up in goosebumps.
When Harwin and the guards that accompanied him crossed the gate, Ayla looked down at herself and her two boys. With one deep breath, she straightened herself and watched the gates be closed.
Harwin's face dropped at the words. He knew the Princess's labors to be nearing, but Ayla and him hadn't had time to prepare the boys for what would happen after the birth. With the news of their little one growing within her, all focus had gone to her instead of the future and the Princess.
"Since when?"
"Since this morning" Luke replied.
"And you two were headed where?" Harwin tried to reign back the conversation to the matter at hand and not the labors of the Princess.
"To the dragon pit" Jace admitted "we were going to pick an egg for our sibling"
The boys and Harwin exchanged a few looks. Some pleading, some stern, in the end Harwin motioned with his head and followed the boy's directions to the dragon pit.
The dragon pit was a place he had rarely visited, even when he was under Rhaenyra's detail she usually made him wait outside. The dragon pit was awfully dark, damp and so hot that it made Harwin instantly start sweating under his armor. He followed the two princes to the underbelly of the dragon pit, he heard several grunts and growls from different beasts that quickly made his skin crawl.
He let them enter one of the chambers and waited outside for some dreadful minutes until the two Princes emerged, one of them holding an dragon egg to their chest.
"We need to warm it up quickly" Jace explained, holding the heavy egg on his hands, it was certainly too big for Luke to carry easily.
"Let's go to your mother's rooms and set it up there" Harwin took the boys out of the dragon pit and escorted them, not once offering to take the dragon egg and carry it himself, the boys wouldn't allow it and he thought it was something they had to do themselves, it would strengthen the bonds of the family in a much needed time.
Once they arrived at the chambers of the Princess, Harwin did took care of filling a closed pot with burning coals, the egg was placed inside of it by the boys with much care and then closed to keep it hot.
Harwin knew it was costum for the children with the blood of Old Valyria to be given a dragon egg. He was happy to know that he would never have to deal with raising both children and dragons, and consequently dragon riding children.
The Princes entertained themselves with their wooden dragons until Harwin heard the bells of the Keep, the same ones that rung under very specific circumstance, either very good like the birth of a royal family member, or very bad like the death of one.
Shortly after a group of maids came in to ready the bedroom to receive the Princess and the newborn, Harwin took that opportunity to walk to them and ask.
"How is the Princess?"
The maid looked up and down at him and then returned her eyes to her task.
"She did well, she had a healthy boy"
Harwin returned to the side of the two Princes after a short and thankful nod to the maids.
After almost an hour of waiting he began to worry, the Princess should already be in the quarters resting. At the thought of something going wrong his palms began to sweat and his heart pounded uncontrollably in his chest. His state only settled when the Princess walked through the doors, Ser Laenor behind her holding their tiny babe.
Harwin and the boys stood from their seats, his face turned into a relieved smile at Rhaenyra. The Princes hurriedly spoke to their mother about their hunt for the dragon egg and Harwin extended his hand to support her as she sat heavily on the couch.
Once his eyes were set on the bundle of blankets in Ser Laenor's his heart squeezed in his chest. The closeness of the Princess' children with his own always tugged at his heart strings, knowing that after the birth of one of the Princes, the birth of his own child followed.
He had the urge to ask to hold the new born, one the flowed from his lips before he could stop himself.
Whilst holding Prince Joffrey, ser Laenor took care of the Princes who were very much excited to also see their sibling. Being alone with the Princess and the new born Prince wasn't something he wasn't used to, though a silent worry flashed in their eyes.
After a light hearted joke on Harwin's part, the Princess did confide to him what had happened that morning.
"The Queen demanded to see him" she explained. Harwin swayed gently side to side whilst twisting his eyebrows at her "she wouldn't wait until I was rested, she demanded he would be brought to her immediately"
"That's low, even for her"
The Princess agreed with a short nod.
"Will one of the nurses carry him now?" He asked, not expecting the response from Rhaenyra.
"She demanded him immediately, I brought him myself as soon as I was rid of the afterbirth"
The face of disgust and anger didn't took long to take over Harwin's features. He tried to calm himself down with long and deep breaths, but soon he would need to put Prince Joffrey down to avoid the tension of his body to take over and make the little one uncomfortable.
"Shame I wasn't there, I would've never allowed for such a thing to be done to you" Harwin lamented.
Luckily, the maids entered and began helping the Princess out of her clothes to a more comfortable gown. Another one of the wet nurses took the little Prince out of Harwin's arms and before leaving, Harwin and the Princess exchanged thankful nods on the Princess' side and dutiful and accepting dismissal on Harwin's side.
Once rid of his duties for Lord Commander for the day and after being seen exiting the Princess' quarters, he feared words would begin to be spoken faster than he could reach the Tower of the Hand where Ayla often worked if not in the office of the Hand near the Small Council chamber.
Once in the Tower, Ayla was standing near the stacked books in the library holding a few scrolls.
"Oh, good thing you're here" she said when she saw Harwin walk to her "hand me that one, please" she motioned at one of the books and Harwin took it from the library, leaving the heavy tome in the desk "thank you love"
"The Princess gave birth" he mentioned, Ayla quickly straightened and one of her hands instinctively reached to touch the base of her rounding stomach.
"I thought I heard the bells. Did you see her?"
"I did, she had a boy"
Ayla lifted her hand at him, her eyes moved from him to the door behind him and two seconds later the door swung open, a quick sprint carried both of the Strong boys towards their mother.
"Mother, might we go to the dragon pit?" Kylian asked.
"Prince Jacaerys invited us" Kiran followed.
"And we will be careful"
"We promise" they pleaded.
Ayla's stomach always twisted at the thought of both of her little boys near a dragon, but with lips tight in concern she nodded at them. They skipped by the door screaming in happiness and Ayla threw a pleading look to Harwin.
"Go with them please" Harwin tranquilized Ayla with a quick kiss.
"We will need to speak later" he warned.
Ayla gave him nod and saw him walk out of the Tower of the Hand in pursuit of his sons.
At the sight of both the Strong boys and the Princes in the dragon pit, anyone would've had to look twice at the mess of brown curls that the four boys shared to difference them. Harwin always felt a pit on his stomach when he stared at the likeness between them. He understood the reasons for the rumors and the impotence he felt when he heard them knowing that he could only deny them was heavy on him. He could only guess how heavy they were on Ayla, who had retreated back to the office of the Tower of Hand and avoided speaking with people knowing that the sayings may affect her.
After the visit to the dragon pit and the interactions of the boys with the dragon that he would certainly not mention to his wife, Harwin walked around the Keep and saw the work of the last patrols, sending the night shifts, securing the guards in the Keep and making sure that the last things were taken care of. As he returned, he couldn't help himself from feeling watched.
The next day after the Princess' birth and with no sign of a future reveal to the masses, Harwin walked with a little more ease in the corridors of the Red Keep only to meet his sons crossing his path in the adjacent corridor.
"Where might you two be headed?" He called, the boys were carrying their wooden swords and chest plates were still attached to their bodies.
"We were training in the yard and Ser Criston had it cleared for the Princes" Kiran explained. Kylian gave his father a dismissing twist of his eyes that he often saw in his wife.
"Busy yourselves with something else then boys"
"Yes father" they answered dutifully, then resumed their walk to their quarters. Harwin pondered between going after them, but then his eyes landed on the path that led to the yard.
Harwin had agreed with the Princess' reasons for not wanting her sons to train with her brothers. The Princess' brothers often and her sons got along well enough, but Harwin had been present when they spoke to them and insinuated things about their heritage, their blood line, the "Baratheon blood" that tainted their hair.
Lately no one believed that the Velaryon boys had a Velaryon father, but the ones that jokingly addressed the rumors with a tint of malice were the Targaryen Princes, Aegon specially.
Harwin knew first hand that their mother had instructed them to no answer to such comments, but the immunity of having Criston Cole with them often turned the Targaryen Princes a bit nastier towards their nephews. Needless to say Harwin had not received such an instruction from the Princess and often looked after Jace and Luke from the distance to make sure that he could intervene and draw the boys away if they were being bothered.
His arrival to the yard was met with smiles from the Velaryon Princes. He found things around the yard to busy himself as he observed the training.
Quickly he observed the disparity in training. The Velaryon boys roamed around, looking at their older uncles be instructed, praised and corrected in their training. Harwin couldn't sit idle at the injustice.
Unfortunately, it was a day were everything went wrong. A smart quip between the two men he could handle, but Ser Criston quickly surpassed Harwin's limits when he grabbed Jacaerys by his chest plate and swung him around to face an opponent two times his size and age.
It wasn't the first time Harwin would interject in the training, quickly forgetting that he was just going to observe it from afar and not intervene much less coach the Prince against his opponent, he often forgot his place when it came to the Velaryon boys.
The fight between the two Princes turned into a verbal fight between the coaches. Though Harwin disregarded the quips of Ser Criston, there was one thing he absolutely would not stand.
"Most men would only show that kind of devotion for a cousin... Or a brother" Harwin's eyes lifted to the horizon and his jaw clenched at the words "or a son"
Harwin's hands let the swords he was holding fall to the ground, his hands tensed in tight fists and without thinking it twice, he turned around and punched Criston Cole in the face.
One punch could've been enough to write off the altercation as a warning, but Harwin didn't stop, he plumed his fists on Criston Cole's smug smile, but everytime he lifted his hand the smile, mocking him, was still there, and once on the floor he kept punching, his eyesight closed to only focus on him below his body and his fists landing heavily on his face, he didn't even feel his throat hurt at his heavy grunts fixed with rage, pure and unmistakable rage, the oy thought that crossed his mind was one command, kill Criston Cole.
Ayla placed her tiny niece in her crib, slowly so that the little one wouldn't be startled by the sudden movement or loss of touch.
Both her, the babe and the wet nurses that was taking care of her older niece jumped in their spots at the commotion outside the bedroom.
Ayla gave the wet nurse a quick instruction to stay with the two girls, then carefully opened the door and closed it behind her.
The yelling was unrecognizable from her position, it took her a few steps down the hall until she made the first words out.
"He is a Knight of the Kingsguard now, a defender of the crown."
"He assailed Prince Jacaerys, the future heir to the throne!"
Ayla was stopped in her tracks when she saw a metal bowl fly in front of her and clatter to the ground, the fruits that were on it rolled around aimlessly.
"You have laid us open to accusations of an uglier treachery"
"And what treachery is that?" She heard Harwin speak. Though Ayla and Harwin were much used to the talks of bastardy, the Hand had certainly not been exposed to them as often because of his lack of contact with the commoners. The Lords he associated with on the daily would never speak a word of illegitimacy in front of him.
"Don't play the fool with me, boy" Ayla finally reached the end of the corridor and the open space where they usually had their dinners. She peaked around the corner and saw both Lord Lyonel and Harwin facing away from her. "Your intimacy with the Princess Rhaenyra is an offense that would mean exile and death... For you, for her, for the children, hers and yours"
Ayla's stomach tightened at the words, her hands instinctively covered her rounding stomach, she swallowed but her throat still felt closed and dry at the anxiety of such a thought.
"It is rumor only spun by the Princess's rivals" Harwin seemed to have either calmed down or accept defeat, not wanting to keep fighting with his father
"People have eyes, boy. Yet His Grace the King, it seems, will not accept what his eyes see" Ayla's eyes moved around at the information, she couldn't believe that the King himself would doubt the Prince's origins. The love of a father couldn't be that strong.
"This flimsy shield alone stands between you and the headsman. The willful blindness of a father towards his child"
"I wish my father affected a similar blindness" Ayla had to take a step back and stay hidden in the corner of the corridor when she saw Harwin turn around, then a sound of wood scraping stone hit her. She leaned in again, seeing that Harwin had sat down at the table and hid his face on his hands.
"Have I not these many years?" Ayla frowned at his words. After all these years, after Harwin's marriage and his two children Lord Lyonel couldn't think still that he was the father of the Velaryon boys. "And yet today, you publicly assault a Knight of the Kingsguard in the, in the defense of your-"
"You have your honor and I have mine"
Ayla stared at the two men. Harwin was definitely defeated, with his head slumping between his shoulders and his hands holding it.
She was about to walk to them when the front door knocked again and promptly opened. Without a place to hide other than quickly turning back, she remained standing in the hallway hoping she wouldn't be seen.
A member of the King's Guard appeared holding his helmet to his side, he bowed quickly and addressed the Hand.
"The Queen requests your presence at once, my Lord Hand"
Ayla's stomach tightened again. She forced herself to have thoughts that would reassure her, convincing herself that the consequences would not be as dire as the Hand was painting them.
Harwin attempted to stand up, he was stopped by his father's hand on his shoulder.
"I will attempt to mitigate the consequences for you, but I assure you the outcome will not be one of your liking"
Even after his father left him, Harwin was so consumed in his thoughts he didn't notice Ayla approach him and seat near him. He replayed the moment in his head. At first he regretted not following his sons to their quarters when he saw them, then he regretted letting the situation get the worst of them.
With his head down and buried in his hands, he only noticed the presence of his wife when it was too late.
He heard the front door open and close, then the steps that carried his father in front of him. He was about to tell his father to get to talking, not knowing that Lord Lyonel and Ayla were exchanging looks.
"You will be removed from your post as the Lord Commander, effective immediately"
"And Ser Criston?" Ayla spoke with a harsh tone, standing from her seat and taking a step to stand between a seated Harwin and his father "what will the punishment for him be? Let me guess, absolutely nothing" she spat "not only and oath breaker but a murderer, the Queen's guard scurries away with so much as a slap on his wrist"
"Enough, Ayla" Lord Lyonel's tone of voice was one that made Ayla's insides twist, Harwin quickly shoot up from his seat. Lord Lyonel was definitely not in the mood for Ayla's clever words.
"You will also leave for Harrenhal at first light"
Even though she couldn't see him, Ayla felt Harwin tense behind her, he took a step to stand next to her as he spoke.
"Ayla cannot make such a trip in her condition"
"She can, and she will" Lord Lyonel sentenced.
Harwin straight his back, shocked at his father's words. He thought he held Ayla even higher than his own daughters. His willingness to risk her safety exposing her to such a trip proved otherwise.
"I will be fine, Harwin" she tried to soothe him with a hand on his bicep, though with his armor on Ayla doubted she could convey much comfort.
"I will have the maids pack your things"
Lord Lyonel and Harwin exchanged looks before he turned around and left the tower of the Hand, leaving Ayla and Harwin to deal with a very uncomfortable silence. Harwin turned around and let himself fall on the chair he was sitting on.
Ayla looked down at him, the heaviness he felt didn't allow him to keep his head held high, it slumped between his shoulders again as he leaned his forearms over his legs. Her lips tightened at the sight of him.
"Do you wish to be alone for a moment?" She offered, not knowing if he felt like being soothed of left alone with his thoughts.
His response of quickly moving and extending his hand to her made her suppress a smile, she ended up sitting in his lap, his arms rounded her and his face hid in the crook of her neck.
"You have done nothing wrong" she said after a few minutes of her hand running soothingly on the back of his head.
"I let myself be bested by the son of a steward" he complained.
"It's his job as the Queen's faithful lapdog to make you react to his offenses"
He sighed heavily, pressing his hand over Ayla's stomach.
"If anything happens to our child in this trip I will never forgive myself"
"Nothing will happen Harwin" Ayla assured. Her lips reached Harwin's forehead, he relaxed into her, his arms rounded her again.
They remained seated only a few more minutes, the did have to begin gather their things after all. The fact that they would have to scurry away before dawn didn't seat well with Ayla. Deserted, exiled is how they felt.
Upon walking into their quarters, Ayla was met with her two boys screaming at the maids for putting their stuff away. She quickly took over and asked the maids to leave them so she could talk to the boys.
She sat at their bed and both Kylian and Kiran stood in front of her.
"Why are you packing out things?" Kiran demanded his hands balled into fists as his side, he was rarely mad but he had been the one that had suffered the move from the Tower the most. Ayla only guessed that this new unexpected move was going to be tougher on him.
"We must leave for Harrenhal in the morning" both of her boys opened their eyes in shock, their mouths falling slightly agape.
"Why?" Kiran demanded again. Kylian, more knowledgeable, began linking information much like Ayla often did.
"Because we have overstayed in King's Landing, your father needs to start attending to his duties" she reasoned, her hands holding theirs.
"Is it because father punched Ser Criston?" Kylian wished to know. Ayla frowned, wondering how had Kylian already heard about the incident.
"It is not" she assured, lying bluntly to his son.
"Is it because what they say about Prince Jace and Luke?" Ayla's eyes scanned their eyes, her lips pressed tightly.
"Your father loves you, you know that right?" Both the boys nodded "and just like he's held you as soon as you were born, how he reads you to sleep, how he trains with you, how he's always been present, he's been the same for the Princes. He cares for them as much as he cares for you. Your father has too much love in his heart and he's chosen to spare some of it in the Princes, taking care of them as fiercely as he would take care of you"
Both Kylian and Kiran nodded absentmindedly, Ayla's words resonated with them heavily.
"Sadly there's people who think that your father's care and love is for misplaced reasons, and some people will do anything to convince the rest of their beliefs" the boys nodded again, their eyes finding the floor beneath them "we will be better in Harrenhal away from such poisonous gossip, I promise"
She cupped their cheeks and pressed a kiss to each of them.
"Our departure does not mean the end of your friendship with the Princes, if anything they have dragons to ride to Harrenhal and visit you" she tried to lighten the mood as she stood up, the boys did seem to like the idea and quickly began imagining the dragons flying atop the high Towers of Harrenhal.
Ayla walked from the bedroom finding Harwin standing just outside, she took his hand and walked back to their shared quarters, a maid scurried past them to finish packing the boy's things.
They sat at one of the tables, watching the maids gather Ayla's dresses, Harwin's armor, the children's several toys, medals of recognition, participations in tourneys.
As they watched the maids come and go, Harwin held onto Ayla's hand sitting across each other.
"I heard what you told the boys" his fingers caressed Ayla's knuckles "I don't know what I would've done or what to say to them in this situation. I thank the Gods every day that I found you"
He pulled her hand to his lips and kissed the back of it. Ayla found strength in her to give him a grateful smile. Even over their shared worry Harwin always managed to give her words of courage as much as Ayla also supported him.
The door was knocked and one of the maids, the closest one to the door opened it. Ayla and Harwin were surprised to see the Princess at the other side of it, Ayla had her enter the room and the maids dismissed for a moment so they could talk privately.
The Princess was quick to hold Ayla's hand as she spoke.
"I am truly sorry for this" she began "the joint training of my sons with my brothers was my father's idea to attempt and strengthen the bonds. If I knew the perils Cole was submitting my sons to, I would've never consented to his training of them"
Ayla could see that the Princess was very much apologetic, even though they were holding hands, Rhaenyra's eyes moved quickly to try and put her thoughts in order.
"I am very sorry that you were forced to react, and I'm very grateful for you always putting yourself forward and protecting my sons"
Only then she glanced at Harwin, who returned her a apathetic smile, not in the mood for anything more.
"I did attempt, at today's small council meeting, to mitigate the outcome of the situation. I did propose a marriage between Jace and my sister Haelena" Rhaenyra's eyes landed on Ayla, looking for some sort of approval on her part about the use of Ayla's previously mentioned strategy "I also offered my half-brother Aemond to have a pick of a dragon egg when Syrax brings forth a fresh clutch. I thought these offerings would be a good start to regain some trust and later I could offer to reinstate Harwin in the post of Lord Commander. Sadly I was later informed by the Hand that you would be leaving"
"It was very thoughtful of you, Rhaenyra" Ayla spoke, glancing shortly at Harwin "though our departure took all of us by surprise, we are slowly convincing ourselves that this is a good thing"
"We will also be leaving King's Landing" she declared, as Ayla's thoughts ran wildly, Rhaenyra kept talking "my husband also believes that we must flee the storm as it gathers, and perhaps raise our children away from..." she stopped herself and tightened her lips, not wanting to be caught saying something she shouldn't.
Ayla took a gamble that the Princess meant the Hightowers. She also held her tongue about the Princess' departure, if anything she shouldn't leave her father at the hands of the Queen now that his health was declining rapidly. The only comfort that Ayla held was that the Hand would still be in King's Landing to avoid the King's wishes to continue be respected.
Ayla stood by the stairs, her eyes followed the carriage being filled for their departure. The boys were already inside, probably continued the sleep they had to interrupt to get ready before dawn. The night was coming to an end by the look of the sun slowly painting the sky orange.
She grasped at a short blanket shed grabbed onto her shoulders, then jumped at the sound of a voice.
"I do wish you a good trip to Harrenhal, Lady Ayla"
She should've heard Larys with his cane walking towards her, but she had been so absorbed in her thoughts and the movement in the yard she had not noticed him.
"Ah yes, you must be absolutely heart broken about our departure" she muttered, not wanting to be caught being naughty with her Good Brother.
"Before you leave, as my father is accompanying you, I thought you should know that he presented his resignation as Hand of the King" Ayla's head whipped to the side rapidly, not hiding her confused frown as she met Larys' stare "he was quoted saying he cannot advise him under such a dark cloud. It seems he finally had accepted the truth as we all know it"
"We?" Ayla perked up.
"It pains me to think about it, but after all these years even my father refuses to live under the same blindness that affects the King"
"So he would rather distrust his own son than be wrong?"
"I would rather you also take the veil off your eyes and see the truth as plainly as it is presented"
"Luckily for Harwin I am not that weak-minded"
Ayla took a step to him, her hands gripping the blanket around her shoulder tight enough to paint her knuckles white.
"And if you think you have finally gotten rid of me by sending me to Harrenhal, then I assure you I was better controlled under your watch. In Harrenhal I will do whatever I please"
"I sincerely doubt that"
Ayla whipped her head around when she heard Harwin's heavy steps and the jingling of his belt against the holder of his sword.
Harwin danced his eyes between Larys and Ayla, taking his place next to her.
"I couldn't let you leave without saying my goodbyes. We will not see each other again after all" Larys began with a quick nod.
Ayla frowned and Harwin spoke up, also expressing his brother that he would miss him and his sister Grayce. The last phrase stuck to Ayla bitterly.
Larys was not the one to talk and when he did his words were chosen carefully.
When she finally climbed on the carriage and Harwin made sure that she was comfortable, he pressed a quick kiss to her forehead, then moved to kiss both of their sleeping sons in the adjacent benches of the carriage.
At the side corridor Larys had been joined as he watched his father and brother climb onto their horses and get ready to leave. Queen Alicent stood a little off to the side to avoid being seen with Larys. With her hands held in front of her she watched the carriage slowly pull from the yard and off to the gates.
"I am sure now King's Landing will be a little more at ease without your brother and the Princess taunting their transgressions without impunity" the Queen spoke.
"I will agree with you, your Grace. The Strongs will not be missed in King's Landing. Not a single one of them"
Warnings: things get spicy again, and also a little angsty.
MASTERLIST.
4 years later.
Ayla scribbled on a piece of parchment. Her eyes landed briefly at the Lord sitting in front of her.
"I'm afraid if you don't agree to these terms, you will be sanctioned, Lord Rogers. The blockade you've established to House Wylde can no longer stand"
"I wish to speak to the Hand about this. His sons killed my only one in a jousting competition in a heavy unsportsmanlike manner"
Ayla left the feather in the ink and moved from her seat to one of the drawers.
"The Hand has already sanctioned and signed your efforts in this blockade. You are to replenish the loss of stock the Wylde suffered and the food that went to waste because you blocked their path from the rest of the Stormlands. I thought you had come to see me to even further your generosity over House Wylde and offer a marriage between one of your daughters and one of his sons. For peace keeping sake"
Ayla had left a parchment signed and marked with the Hand's sigil, Lord Rogers had read it as she spoke.
"You do, after all, need a new heir to your House"
The Lord pondered, then folded the parchment on itself and placed it back on the desk.
"Do try to arrange this as soon as possible, the sanction is affected by interests if you stall"
The Lord didn't seemed convinced, but he would also never speak with the Hand. He accepted his rendition and left the office, albeit a little angry.
"Next" Ayla called, looking at the front door of the office of the Hand. Her jaw tightened when she saw Lord Everan walk in.
"Lady Ayla" he saluted, his hand took the chair and pulled it back to sit in front of her.
"Lord Connington" she addressed, eager to find out why would he need to speak with the Hand.
"I hear you are the one that needs to be addressed these days"
"The Hand is much too busy with other matters and leaves these ones to me" she explained shortly. "I hope I can be of service"
"I have no doubt you will be My Lady" Ayla stared shortly at his face. Even after all those years, seeing Lord Everan too much might confirm the suspicions she had from day one, the ones that the Princess Rhaenyra, despite their continued and growing close friendship, had never confirmed nor denied "I would like to arrange travel security, the lootings are becoming more and more common these days"
Ayla grabbed a clean piece of parchment and got ready to write.
"We are aware, where to?"
"The Stormlands, to my seat in Griffin's Roost, my entire party will be leaving, total of six" as Ayla wrote down the destination and her mind quickly began to swirl with questions.
"It can be arranged from the Red Keep until the Fellwood, I believe Baratheon forces could take the rest of the detail the rest of the way. I'll send a raven right away"
"I don't believe that would be necessary, I am in quite a hurry to leave on the morrow"
"Oh" she muttered "very well then, I'll arrange this with my husband as soon as possible"
"Ah yes, the Lord Commander" both Ayla and Lord Everan stood from their seats, Ayla held the piece of parchment she had just written "I believe I am in good hands then" she somehow didn't like the way Lord Everan pronounced the words. She smiled and motioned at the door.
"We will have to trust your past judgment Lord Everan, you did vouch for him when it was time to name a Lord Commander"
They smiled at each other, Ayla with a more condescending undertone and Lord Everan out of a little embarrassment.
After Ayla saw that there was no one outside the office of the Hand, she closed and locked it before heading to the office of the Lord Commander, an office she argued was more fit to the post rather than a desk in the barracks.
When she reached the office, she knocked and entered, her eyes meeting the broad of his back as he stored things away.
"You can leave it on the desk" he said, not turning to address her.
She left the folded parchment in his desk as she spoke "that's no way to talk to your Lady wife" she teased. Harwin spun on his heels and instantly gave her an apologetic twist of his eyebrows as he walked to her.
"I was expecting someone else, apologies my love" he kissed her on the forehead and rounded her waist with one of his arms, instantly trapping her "that is absolutely no way to speak to my bountiful lady wife" his large hand cupped fully one of her ass cheeks and he leaned in for a hungry kiss. Ayla chuckled and rounded his neck, pulling herself up on her tiptoes to kiss him properly. The door knocked again and Harwin replied over her lips.
"I'm busy"
"No he's not, come in" she countered, her hands now pushing his hand away from her ass and slipping from his grip.
One of the captains entered and without other words other than acknowledging the two of them by their tittles, left more parchments on the table.
Ayla waited until the captain left and closed the door behind him.
"This is of a bigger priority I'm afraid" she pointed at her piece of parchment and left it on top of the others
"I will get to it right away" his hand found hers and led it to his lips for a quick kiss "the Princess wishes to see us tonight" he said in a low voice.
Unwillingly Ayla connected the dots. Her mind wandered around with what the missing information could be until mid-day, at which point her thoughts switched quickly to wonder why were her children being scolded by the Septa.
She quickened her steps and when she neared them she called for their attention.
"Septa Noelle" the first ones to react to the words were her children, who quickly left the Septa's side and rushed over to hide behind her "what would be the matter?"
The Septa sighed in exasperation and held her hands together at her front.
"Lady Ayla, as you are aware, there's a new curricula supported by the Queen to teach the children the Faith of the Seven"
"I am aware"
"Your children I'm afraid do not posses the base knowledge to be with the other children in the lessons and will need to reinforce their knowledge with extra classes"
"I will see to that personally" she concluded, her hands searched and found her sons clammy and sweaty ones, specially Kiran's who was not used to being scolded so harshly.
"I'm afraid that the knowledge you might be able to teach them will not be enough, your children repeat words and sayings I'm certain they haven't heard from anywhere else but you, as I have often personally hear you curse at the Gods and besmirch their miracles and good graces"
"My dislike for the Gods is not unwarranted"
"Still, I believe that as a mother, you should-"
"Sadly I'm not taking any comments or suggestions about my parenting at this time Septa Noelle. With your permission"
Ayla turned on her heels and pressed a hand to each of her sons' shoulders, leading them away from the teaching room and from the Septa. The Strong boys ushered words to each other and Ayla kept a close eye on them until they reached the Tower of the Hand.
"I'm going to see if your aunt Grayce needs anything, you can either come with me or head down to the baracks, your uncle might be there finishing with his training" she offered. The boys didn't look up at her to reply or gave her any of their words. She crouched to meet their gaze and placed her hands at either side of their cheeks. "What is it my boys?"
"Are we in trouble?"
"Will you tell father?"
They asked, Ayla pulled their faces up by their chins and held their gaze to hers.
"You are not in trouble, and I will tell your father about this but not to scold you, but to protect you, as it is our job"
"Kylian said you hated the Gods" Kiran explained in a accusatorial tone.
"I do not care who did what, Kiran. But maybe next time we don't repeat things we hear at home, I have my reasons for having spoken those words, and most people often judge unknowingly. That's why we always hold out judgement until we have all the information, right my boys?"
Both of them nodded dutifully and somewhat remorseful, she kissed them each on the forehead, moving their curls away and then ordered them to the barracks.
In the Tower of the Hand now only one family resided. Ayla and Harwin had given their large quarters and adjacent room to Grayce after her marriage. Grayce's husband was a rather charming second son of the Lord of House Rykker who had attended the name day celebration of one of the Targaryen Princes. Far from being a good swordsman, Terren Rykker appeared to be the exact opposite of Ayla's brother Adrian. Leaning more to books, organization, straying from taverns and most importantly being a gentleman, Terren had approached Grayce and Adrian as they danced in the celebration for Prince Aegon's name day and asked to dance with Grayce.
That was the first time Terren had showed and proved his courage to win Grayce's favor. The second time was when he personally headed to the office of the Hand to ask for Grayce's hand.
Since their marriage, Grayce and Terren had welcomed two little girls, one of now two years old and the other one of three months old. Despite having interrupted their dance, Terren was blissfully unaware of the past that Adrian and Grayce shared. Ayla tried to make deaf ears and blind eyes to the fact that two dark haired parents had dark brown hair children that could either be attributed to their grand sire's heritage or...
Ayla tried not to think about the other option. Adrian did not show exceptional interest on the girls other than the occasional praise on their beauty and even then it wasn't enough of a reason for Ayla to doubt them.
Ayla made time almost every day to visit her nieces in the Tower of the Hand either to help with the girls or to talk with Grayce about the tribulations of being a mother, not to mention the two little girls had drawn Ayla and she very much enjoyed holding them, soothing them, feeding them and seeing them grow.
At night, when Ayla put her sons to bed, Ayla and Harwin walked to their bedroom and opened the side door behind a painting, entering the hidden passages and closing the entrance behind them.
Harwin knew the path like the back of his hand, so he just held Ayla's hand and guided her in the dark as they spoke.
"I'm sure tomorrow you will hear a thing or two about my insolence with the Septa and the words we said to each other today"
"What about?"
"About how my words affect the children's willingness to learn about the Gods. I can only imagine the things Kylian repeats. I got angry at her judgment of my work as a mother"
"As you should my love. I'll make deaf ears to any complaint"
"Perhaps you should look stunned-"
"I will not" Harwin interrupted, then held her hand tighter and pulled her to his side, their bodies meeting in the dark "we are a united front, you and I. I will never undermine you because you have never undermined me" Ayla felt a kiss at the top of her head and Harwin's steps came to a halt, making her stop as well "or do I have to remind you that I married you to always defend you in your insolences?"
Light peaked from the little creak between the wall and the hidden door long enough for Harwin to see Ayla's pleased smirk, then Harwin pushed and moved to let Ayla in first. She squinted her eyes at the harsh light from many candlelights lit all over the room. Ayla noticed the back of the Princess' head and how it moved before she stood up.
Ayla had gotten to know the Princess over their years of acquaintance and realized instantly that she had been crying and attempted to compose herself before turning to meet the couple. Ayla gave her a smile and extended her hands to her. The Princess quickly took them and hardened her features.
"Princess" she saluted. Rhaenyra nodded in their direction and headed to the table on the other side of the room. Ayla and the Princess sat across each other with the table to the side of them, Harwin had to stand behind Ayla pacing out of nervousness.
"As our lives have been linked through the years for some regrettable reasons, I wanted to speak with you before the morning" Ayla's back unconsciously straightened at the direction of the conversation "I am with child"
The only thing in Ayla's mind from that moment until she found herself laying in bed was just one phrase.
What a cunt.
From what she suspected; Lord Everan had been told the news of the Princess' state and had proceeded to pack his things and leave King's Landing before the announcement and posterior birth, that was presumably the reason why she had been crying before they entered the room.
Ayla had assured the Princess that, as always, they would disparage the rumors, deny them, and defend their honor as they had done the two previous times. The Princess seemed relieved and thankful for their words.
Upon looking at her husband as awake as her next to him. She turned to her side and sighed to call for his attention, even though she already had it.
"What do you think?" Harwin asked, his eyes not leaving the ceiling above them.
"I think of the children. They're definitely old enough now to make sense of words"
"Do you think we should prepare them?" He turned his head to her, Ayla gave him a twist of her lips.
"I believe we should, love"
Harwin sighed and pressed a hand to his eyes in frustration.
"What do you think they'll think of me?" Ayla moved to lean over him, one of her hands came to his neck and she kissed his forehead. Harwin's hand rounded her back and landed in between her shoulder blades, keeping her secured over him
"They'll think of you what they already think of you. That you are a dedicated father and a good man, and you saw two little boys and cared for them in the distance. That is the truth, anything else they should disregard"
Harwin squeezed Ayla's shoulder and she leaned back to look at him.
"When Grayce fell with child, both times, you were a little sensitive after the news, how are you about these ones?"
Ayla appreciated that Harwin still threaded carefully about the subject of children. After they had agreed to wait, even though Harwin had followed the advice and lately he rarely spilled inside of her, the fewer times he did had never resulted in not even a scare of being pregnant too early.
"I'm strangely hopeful" she admitted "the Princess said it herself, our lives have been linked over the years. The last time the Princess fell with child so did I shortly after" Ayla saw no ready reply on his part, he just stared at her "it's also been five years" she excused.
"You only need to ask"
"Do I now?" She teased, her body inching more and more until she laid on top of him with her legs at either side of him. Her mouth descended to his for a hot kiss, his big hands landed at her waist and inched lower and lower to her glutes. His fingers worked the fabric of her nightgown to scrunch it over her waist, slowly unveiling her long legs and quickly pulsating sex.
"What does my Lady wife want from me?" He teased. Ayla smiled over his lips and nipped at his lower lip with her teeth.
"I want you to put a babe in me" her teeth nipped at his lips again and Harwin's hand left Ayla's glutes momentarily "I want you to fill me with your seed and-" her sentence got caught in her throat and replaced with a gasp and a moan. Her hands fisted Harwin's shirt as Harwin's thick and hard cock slipped inside of her in a quick thrust.
Ayla's hips rocked back and Harwin's rocked upwards, their efforts meeting and resulting in heavy breaths and restraining grunts from Harwin and free and long moans of pleasure from Ayla. The sight of her full breasts bouncing under the soft silks of her nightgown and her head falling back at the pleasure drove Harwin mad.
His feet made leverage and he pounded upwards to Ayla's needy sex rapidly, as Ayla's hands left bruising scratches on his chest as she held on to whatever she could, Harwin's fingers dug into her waist pushing her down as he thrusted upwards.
Ayla's body trembled and she barely held herself up as the orgasm ripped through her, long and leaving her legs numb at the effort of keeping them bent at either side of her husband's unforgiving hips.
She felt her world turn as Harwin flipped her to the bed, now kneeling in between her legs and positioning his member to her pulsating middle. Without waiting for her to come down from her high, he slipped into her again and grabbed one of her legs, hooking his arm beneath it and pulling her leg up to meet his shoulder.
She felt the most open she'd ever felt, every inch of his cock touched a perfect spot, his soft grunts and sighs were music to her ears as much as her string of moans and wantonly mentions of his name. She felt free and relaxed on the bed and under the arms of her lover.
Under the spell of the peace and pleasure she felt in his arms and as her hands held onto his forearms as some kind of support she blurted out an I love you. The response from Harwin was to crash his lips with hers and make his hips snap faster, Ayla screamed in pleasure drowned by his lips, her back arched to meet his still clothed chest and Harwin's last efforts to make her wife reach other orgasm were quickly achieved when he kneeled back on his heels, placed both hands at her waist and pulled her off the bed, snapping his hips faster and faster until Ayla lost control of her body and Harwin of his, spilling his seed inside of her and her hips moving up and down on his cock, milking every last bit of him.
Ayla sat at the maester's chair as he poured his thoughts over the numbered days. She glanced at Harwin standing in the archway of the door with his arms crossed at his chest, his leg bounced in nervousness as he stared at the Maester.
"Today, you are four moons with child, my Lady"
Ayla wanted to reply with an angry 'I know', she didn't not need a reminder that it had taken her four months to conceive another child and then another four worrying and praying over it's health to see the pregnancy through. She held her tongue to allow the Maester to continue with his thoughts.
"In my experience and most recorded evidence over the years, there should not be a reason for this pregnancy to not come to full term after this month, the only reasons why it would be possible for you to loose the child would be of a physical nature" at the sight of Ayla's frown in wonder the Maester kept talking "direct hits to the midsection and back, a fall, horse riding. I beg for you carefulness"
"Of course" Ayla nodded, Harwin extended his hand to Ayla and she took it as she stood up.
"We will still have visits every two weeks, otherwise put a smile on your face, it'll do the babe well"
Ayla left the pleasantry of thanking the Maester to Harwin, she slipped past him and out the door, being met with Harwin later in a few strides to catch up with her.
"Put a smile on your face he says, luckily for him he'll never know what it's like to be ripped from the inside at the loss of a child" she spat angrily, her hand pressing at the base of her slowly rounding stomach "as if it were that easy"
When they reached the path that led to the office of the Hand at one side and the office of the Lord Commander in the opposite direction, only then Ayla stopped and looked up at Harwin.
"Oh, Harwin" she sighed, tendered at the sight of her husband running a hand over his eyes. She reached for him and rounded his shoulders with her arms. Harwin hugged her, his arms reached around her whole back and landed on her ribs, his face hid in her neck. Ayla rubbed his neck soothingly "I apologize if I'm a little pessimistic. I don't mean to bring you down with it" she pulled back and cupped his cheek, their foreheads meeting "you can be as happy and overjoyed and show it as much as you want"
"I want you to be it too"
Ayla kissed him tenderly.
"When we have our little one at arms I will be"
They shared another kiss, then before parting Harwin took Ayla's hands and kissed them.
As she walked to the office of the Hand, both kinds of thoughts battled in her mind. Ones about worried about seeing the pregnancy to it's end battled with the implications not seeing it to it's end knowing that she would never welcome another child if she did.
At the sight of her, Lord Lyonel asked firstly about their visit with the Maester. Ayla related that it seemed to be coming along well.
"Harwin was moved by the news, I'm still more on the frightful side"
"It's normal after what you've been through. But you should trust the words of the maesters"
Ayla kept her thoughts about the maesters to herself and changed the subject "how is the King?"
"Better, by the grace of the Gods. Though his health is on a spinning wheel, sometimes at the highest and sometimes at the lowest. For now I will not absent myself from the office of the Hand, but I will let you know when I would need you to take over"
Ayla nodded and stared at Lord Lyonel, writing and signing things over his desk.
"I'm afraid I won't be of much help today after the visit, but I'll be better tomorrow" Ayla confessed, she could hardly think if anything else other than her babe.
"Understandable. You should go and rest" Ayla took the dismissal with a nod and walked from the office of the hand.
Instead of going to the quarters of the Lord Commander where they now resided, she headed to the gardens.
At the sight of her, the Princess walked briskly, as if she wasn't carrying the extra weight of her big stomach with her child threatening to be born at any moment.
"I'll have a table set up for us and you can tell me everything" she said, holding Ayla's hands in hers.
Once they were sitting, Ayla barely touched any of the food, she just drank tea and watched the Princess eat to it's entirely a bowl of candied lemons.
"I just can't bring myself to be happy about it. I'm fearful that one of this days I will wake up and loose it" the Princess gave her a sympathetic twist of her eyebrows "and this time will be worst than the last because I am farther along and will be damaged irreversibly"
"It will not be, it's not a certainty and you shouldn't speak as if it's something that will happen inevitably" Rhaenyra's hands search for Ayla's as she spoke. "The Gods wouldn't be so cruel"
"They can and they have been with me. Otherwise I wouldn't have had to wait five years to conceive a child knowing how much I want it, how much we want it" Ayla stared at their held hands "truth be told, the news about your child gave me strength enough to ask Harwin to try again"
The Princess smiled widely tendered at Ayla's words. She reached for her and her hand landed on her stomach.
"I, Rhaenyra of House Targaryen, first of my name will personally seek the Gods in the clouds and far beyond and set them aflame with my dragon if they dare to take this child from you" she declared.
At night, as Ayla laid on the bed with a little more carefulness than she usually did, she was quickly enveloped by Harwin's arm around her middle and his lips came to her bump.
"How have you felt today?" He asked.
"Normal, thoughtful, though lacking appetite"
Harwin twisted his mouth in a scolding matter.
"I did eat, just haven't indulged much other than what was necessary"
Harwin pressed his hand over her bump and then a slow kiss, leaving his forehead on it.
Even over Ayla's distaste for the Gods, Harwin often prayed for the health of the babe to the Mother before going to bed. When he finished with his prayer he kissed her stomach again and lifted his eyes to hers.
"The Princess' labors are nearing. I do not wish for you to get into fights with people who speak ill of us"
"If they say them to my face I will" she quickly defended.
"Ayla, I'm begging you" she couldn't stand her husband's big and pleading eyes on her. She gave a defeated sigh and pressed her hand on top of his "If anything, point a finger at someone and I'll deal with it"
"You drain the fun out of everything" she complained.
"Just after the birth" he negotiated, his hand took hers and gave her a kiss "I'd missed seeing you like this" he admitted, his hand laying again on top of her stomach, his fingers rubbing lightly.
"I'd missed being like this" she followed "despite the pains that come with it, I very much like bearing your children"
"They are ours"
"Those two boys we have do not have a drop of my blood in them, your seed is much too strong"
"This one will"
Ayla turned her lips in a little scowl.
"I'd like my own personal army of Strong boys" Harwin smiled and kissed her stomach again.
The Princess closed her eyes and held both of her hands to the sides of her stomach, the chairs of the garden arrangements definitely did not help to make her comfortable during her pains.
"The pains have already started" she commented to Ayla. " The maesters predict the birth will happen this week"
"You will do well in it, Rhaenyra, it's nothing you haven't done two times before"
"That's not what I'm worried about, its the implications of the birth, they will show themselves even quicker than before"
"The Queen is surely going to bring up the matter to the King again" Ayla commented.
"She surely will" she lamented "and two times... It was excusable. Not it's undeniable"
Ayla pressed her lips tightly.
"What do think I should do to mitigate them?" the Princess asked, tilting her head to the side.
Ayla stared blankly at the Princess, her words stunned her and she didn't give her an answer quick enough making the Princess justify her request.
"My father has the Hand to advise him, by your own words the Queen has Larys Strong to advise her, who do I have? My husband is woefully blind to our troubles, the only other person whose advise I would trust I haven't seen in ten years" she complained "and you have been under the tutoring of the Hand for years as well, you must have learned"
"I have" Ayla wearily began. His hands held each other tightly "though I feel like I don't have all the information to properly advise you" Ayla saw the initial glint of disappointment in Rhaenyra's eyes, but she spoke quickly to revert it "the only advise I could give you would be to propose a marriage between your oldest, Prince Jacaerys, and your sister Haelena"
"They would never agree to such a thing"
"I beg to differ, out of his own accord the King will agree. The Queen might disagree at first, and the betrothal should be made official before the Queen's father becomes aware of it and he tries to dissuade her. I also believe that it's a good exit for your sister. Based on what you've told me, she's the only one of your half siblings with who you have a good relationship with. I believe she'll be better with your side of the family"
Rhaenyra pondered. It was expected of her to start making alliances with her sons, the boys had Targaryen blood and their options were limited to keep the bloodline pure.
She closed her eyes and pressed her hands at the base of her stomach.
"Perhaps we should head to your bedroom to rest" Ayla offered, seeing that the Princess was much too uncomfortable. As soon as her pains stopped, they walked arms linked to the Princess' quarters.
Harwin was walking down the corridor of the Keep when he saw the two Princes. He doubled back to double check if they were in fact Jace and Luke. He then rounded the castle figuring what their destination was and luckily came up in front of them. The boys halted at the interruption of their walk but relaxed when they realize it was only him.
"Where are you two headed without supervision?" He said sternly, the boys were far too familiarized with the Lord Commander to feel intimidated by him.
Warnings!: angst, so much of it, it all can't be sunshines and rainbows. Miscarriage, talks of infertility, descriptions of depresion.
MASTERLIST.
The last time had been the worst.
After Harwin's naming of the Lord Commander, he had had more work than what he had originally thought. More than ever he would need his wife support in that time, not only rearranging the mess the City Watch had succumbed into after years of being headless, but also de tribulations he had to go through with his now subordinates.
He didn't wanted to appear as authoritative by weeding out the supporters of Gwayne Hightower's claim, but Ayla assured that he wouldn't need to, most of them would leave by their own hands. Most of them did, the rest fell under Harwin's directives quite easily.
At the high of the promotion and rearranging of the City Watch, Ayla and Harwin welcomed their second child. Much like their first, the labor was quick, quiet and resulted in a baby boy, Kiran Strong.
Both parents were over the moon with their newest member, the same couldn't be said for Kylian, who neared his second name day and was really showing his true colors about no longer being the center of attention. Ayla and Harwin worked hard to give the little one attention and love, even over his tiny brother who didn't take much of Ayla's time at the moment, but still, Kylian ran around, screamed, threw fits at dinners and misbehaved for a while.
Despite the family dynamic having changed, Ayla continued in her role as the helper of the Hand, now adding the helped of the Lord Commander and, in her newest role, a confidant to the Princess.
Ayla did not know what had exactly happened between them, but it seemed as if both of their reservations and walls had broken down and they began to talk more frequently. After Kiran's birth, Ayla felt his emotions more at bay and did not easily perk up when she thought about the Princess and Harwin in the same room.
Though the relationship was only just beginning, Ayla wasn't a stranger to the things being said, but she strangely welcomed them. She welcomed everyone speculating that the Princess has picked her supposed lover, she welcomed the talks about the two of them being acquainted, she even welcomed the talked about her relationship with the Hand, how she could be conniving like her father. She had proved to herself she could be, why denying it?
Upon finding out that the Queen was, reportedly, very angry at Larys for not achieving the post for her brother, Gwayne Hightower, Ayla felt like she had everything under control even over the impending vendetta Larys was surely planning to get back at her. With the Princess' friendship, her husband as the Lord Commander and her Good Father as the Hand of the King, she felt protected and even noticed people began looking at her differently.
After a few years of peaceful leading on Harwin's side and even over tough parenting with her rapidly two growing boys, talks began about having another child.
Ayla found herself in the deepest spiral she'd ever experienced. After trying for a few months, she missed her first blood moon and was hopeful. The same day she told Harwin and were planning for a visit to the maesters, Ayla felt as if a lighting bolt had struck her and her knees weakened. If it hadn't been for Harwin's fast instincts to grab her, she would've fell to her knees. Her hands snuck into her dress and to her legs to find a streak of blood running down them.
The maesters explained she had been pregnant buy apparently the babe hadn't clung to her enough yet, so she had lost it.
Ayla was angry listening to the Maester speak, hot tears fell down her face and she tightened her jaw when Harwin spoke. He only asked if she was okay and if there was anything they could do to prevent a future loss. Ayla didn't care if she was fine and for a few days she'd grown angry at Harwin for preferring her over their child. The discomfort had resulted in Harwin being the recipient of Ayla's grief stricken wrath, she shouted at him the most incoherent thoughts he had heard from her, and when he attempted to hug her she struggled in his arms, pushing away at his arms to escape his grip, but in the end succumbed to sobbing in his arms.
It wasn't long until they found themselves bedding again but it was months until she lost her blood moon again and promptly found herself sobbing in pain in another pool of her blood.
There was no explanation to be had. It simply wasn't the time for a child, Harwin reasoned.
"The Gods will give us another child when it's time my love" Harwin stroked her hair as Ayla angrily looked to the side, arms crossed at her chest.
"Fuck the Gods" she'd uttered in pure hatred.
The last time had been the worst.
The last time, a full year after their last loss, Ayla missed her blood moon. She wasn't even hopeful at first, she spent most of her first month worrying about loosing the child again, when they arrived to the second moon, Harwin was the most positive out of the two and told Ayla she was with child for real this time. The maesters had given them many directives to avoid any unwanted consequences, so they ordered Ayla to stay in bed for the rest of her second and third month, they moved the bedroom downstairs to avoid her needing to use the stairs.
Still, one day before they had their visit to the Maester to confirm that she was three months pregnant and would be keeping the child, that morning she knew that something was not right the moment her back started hurting. When she attempted to get out of bed to call for a maid, her knees faltered as the too familiar lightning bolt struck her. She had held the base of her barely rounding stomach as if to try and keep her baby in to no avail.
She screamed both in pain and in anger to the maids that tried to help her and banished them out of the room at the scream to leave her alone. She only allowed for Harwin to cradle her in his chest when she noticed that his was also rumbling in sobs.
They staid at the foot of the bed, Ayla laying limp in Harwin's arms, barely with any strength to do anything. He called for a bath to be drawn, when the maesters heard to the loss they gave Ayla a cup of moon tea to rid her of anything that remained in her stomach, knowing that if something staid, it would cause her problems in the future and could even result in her death by infections.
After one week, she felt as physically fine, but her mind swirled heavily with unwanted thoughts. Harwin found it hard to look at her so defeated, not at all the Ayla he knew and loved. In fear of her words, Harwin avoided the subject of their lost child or talks about future children. In a private conversation with the maesters, they told her that Ayla should heal before trying again and gave him advise as to what he could do to not impregnate her when they bedded. He strongly hated those advises, but took them for the sake of the health of his wife.
Even though the maesters had told her that she was due to leave the bed, she remained there, melancholic, often crying, sleeping more than what she used to and when she didn't sleep, she stared blankly at a spot where the rocks connected in the wall, everytime it seemed more crooked to her, everytime she found a new twist that she could've sworn it wasn't there the last time.
The days passed, despite the directive of both their father and the maids that took care of them, the Strong boys of five and three snuck into their mother's bedroom, Kylian held a book to his chest and the other hand held his little brother's. Kiran was more adept to follow the rules and was afraid of being caught in forbidden territory, Kylian assured that besides being yelled at, they wouldn't receive any other punishment and walked to their mother's bed.
Ayla laid with her back to them, the boys crawled into the large bed and shuffled to her side. Kiran, a bit clumsily laid next to her mother and moved her, Kylian opened the book and searched for the page he was reading.
He began reciting the story Ayla must've told him about a thousand times. Willing to show them the other side of the family, Ayla often spoke about House Redfort and their meeting of King Jaehaerys I, or the Andal invasion. Admittedly, the Strong children admired the might of House Redfort in their fighting ways over the more knowledge drawn approach that House Strong followed, despite the might of their own father the strongest knight in the Seven Kingdoms and the Lord Commander.
Ayla woke up to the voice of his oldest reciting almost perfectly the words of the text. Even though he was a wild card, Kylian had learned how to read and write at an early age, Kiran seemed to be following his steps as he could already read a few words at the spry age of three.
She turned onto her back and looked at the scared faces of her boys, the both of them waiting for a scolding.
"What are you doing?" She asked, turning on her side one more time to face them, Kiran snuck into her chest and Ayla stroked his wild curls out of his face.
"Father says you're sick" Kylian explained.
"I am my boy, I'll be better soon" she bluntly lied, she figured she wouldn't be better for a long time. Still, she extended her hand to stroke his round cheeks.
"When I'm sick you read to me, so I'll read to you now" Kylian declared.
"That's a wonderful idea Kylian" she hugged Kiran to her chest and gave him a kiss on the cheek "and you little one, can be my snuggle pillow"
"Yes!" Kiran screamed in excitement, but Ayla quickly shushed him.
"No one knows you're here, you must keep quiet. Let's listen to your brother"
Kylian still had to work on his paused between comas and points, but he read perfectly all the words even the ones he was reading for the first time, he rehearsed them in his brain, then read them out loud and looked at Ayla for confirmation.
The sight of her two sons, each perfect in their own way, slowly healed her. Each a carbon copy of their father, with curly brown hair, blue eyes, plump lips, as they grew she did find that both of them had Ayla's eye shape and nose, Kylian definitely had her temper and her clever way with words. Kiran was more on the reserved side, but still let out his wild card persona around his big brother and specially if they played with swords in the Tower.
Kylian read for half an hour but stopped when the unmistakable sound of clinking armor reached them. The boys looked at each other in panic and Ayla beckoned them to hide beneath the blankets.
When Harwin entered the room and gave her a quick look, he was surprised to see that she was awake.
He had long forsaken to ask how she felt on most days, instead he always took out his armor, sat next to her and listened to her incessant angry rant about how much she hated the Gods, what she had done to anger them, why wouldn't they give her a child, and he only interjected when she began to blame and curse herself.
That day, Ayla had a little smile on her lips that he hadn't seen in months.
When he approached the bed, now ridden of his armor, he noticed the reason of her smile.
"How was your day?" She asked. Harwin looked between her and the two moving mountains below the blankets.
"Very tiring, I think I'll sleep for a few minutes"
"Come" Ayla beckoned. Harwin sat first, then laid atop his two hidden sons and heard them squeal at the weight.
"These new pillows are a little hard for me to sleep on"
"You should fluff them then" she offered, knowing that the two little ones were already trying to keep quiet under the blankets. When Harwin patted them on the sides and then tickled them, the boys screamed in laughter.
Harwin took the blankets and pull them to find the boys with red faces and disheveled hair, he gasped in surprise and danced his fingers over their most ticklish spots, the boys shrieked and laughed, writhing under their father and both Ayla and Harwin laughed.
When they calmed down, Harwin caged them in his arms and towered over them.
"Now, what did I say about your mother?"
"But we came to read to her so she gets better" Kylian defended.
"Still, what did I say about your mother?" He repeated, Kiran only munched at his forefinger in nervousness.
"That she needs to rest" Kylian repeated.
Harwin sighed heavily, he truly couldn't blame their sons, they missed Ayla maybe even more than he did. He moved and patted them on their legs.
"Now let's go, the maester have been looking for you to finish your lessons"
Ayla saw her three men move away from the bed. Kylian, as always, fought with his father about not wanting to go to the lessons. Ayla faintly heard "I like lessons with mother"
"Your mother will return to the lessons when she feels better" Harwin finished, then closed the door and summed the room into the unbearable silence Ayla was used to.
"When?" was the question Ayla asked herself all the time. The best Harwin had been able to answer was with "whenever you're ready"
Neither of them glossed over their loss, Harwin knew that Ayla had the worst passing because of the pain that accompanied said loss, and he wouldn't dare to beckon her to get better, instead he beckoned her to take her time, to talk it out, to let out her emotions until she felt better, and "when?" was something for her to determine.
Three days after the visit of her sons was the first time Ayla woke up without a heavy headache, without noticing the stupid crack on the wall but instead focused her eyes to the flowers that stood inside a vase. Harwin changed them every three days. The perfume of them was intense, Ayla leaned over them to smell them properly.
When she laid back in the bed and sighed, the door of the room opened. The maids readied a table with breakfast, one that in other occasions they would have to retrieve untouched. Ayla's mouth spoke before her mind could stop her.
"Can you draw a bath for me, Talya?" She asked from the bed. The maid stuttered but quickly agreed to the request.
Ayla heard the maids move the bath in, then fill it with water.
In any other occasion Ayla would've taken the bath by herself. Now, she needed the help of the maids as they scrubbed her gently, unraveled the knots of he long and knotted hair and even let her soak in the waters until she was ready.
Ayla could see the faint smile on all three of her handmaidens as they fixed her dress, or as they fluffed her hair, worked it in a half pony tail and framed her face with some loose pieces of them. As they finished with her hair Ayla sat at the breakfast table and ate. Only her favorite things were served and she had worked up an appetite.
"Can I ask you a favor Talya?" She asked, one of the maids poured more tea into her empty cup and Ayla gave her a quick and thankful nod.
"Of course my Lady"
"Ask the maesters if I'm able to climb stairs already. And if I am, prepare our bedroom upstairs, just like it was before"
"Right away my Lady" Talya left the work of her hair to another maid who continued. One of the maids who had remained standing next to the table worked up the nerve to talk to her.
"I'm very happy to see you up, Lady Ayla"
Ayla's eyes landed on the older woman, Hylda had been a handmaiden Ayla often sent away when she was to take over the overwatch of her sons, they'd raised the little ones together.
"Let's not overjoy ourselves upon this miracle, it might not last" she lamented "still, thank you Hylda"
"You're welcome, my Lady"
After a long breakfast, Ayla headed to the office in the Tower of the Hand and found her work, pilling up and waiting for her. Slowly she merged back into her routine, she looked at a few scrolls, then headed to the barracks in the middle of the Keep.
Upon entering and while Harwin wasn't there, she inspected on his written work, arranged a few scrolls she'd brought and wrote things down that were amiss. As soon as she heard him come in, she turned and pointed at the books.
"It's not good for anyone if the both of us stalls in our duties" she almost crumbled under his stare, Harwin also pulled himself to a composed stance and tried to make it seem like he wasn't happy that she was up.
"It will not happen again, my Lady wife"
Ayla pulled a little smile and they both walked into each other, Harwin pressed his hands to her shoulders and gave her a quick kiss to her forehead.
"I shall see you at the library with the children later?" He asked.
"Perhaps, I have a lot of work at the office of the Hand" Harwin pressed his hands cupping her jaw and pressed another kiss to her perked up nose.
"I shall see you later then, my love" he finished with another kiss to her forehead and pulled himself away from her.
"And thank you for the flowers" she mentioned, looking briefly over her shoulder about to cross the entrance of the tent.
"You're most welcome"
Ayla did found strength that day to sit next to her eldest and review the noble houses and later to help Kiran further his reading.
At night, Ayla laid on top of Harwin's chest. She had not wanted to be touched for a while, but now the heat of his body comforted her. Still, she could not sleep much.
In the middle of the night, she moved her head form Harwin's chest and gripped his forearm.
"Harwin" she asked. Harwin inhaled and opened his eyes, promptly closing them again.
"Yes my love" he mumbled.
"Do you think we are still on time to ask your father to go to Harrenhal with him?"
Harwin forced his eyes open. His hand closest to Ayla lifted to run the back of his hand on her cheek.
At the beginning of the year, several travels had been arranged and with most Lords and the Lord Commander to ensure guards to assit them in their travels. A visit to Harrenhal was due for trading and storing food for the upcoming winters, meetings with the Lords of the main houses in the Riverlands were to be held in Harrenhal and the Hand, still the Lord of Harrenhal, had to take care of them personally.
It had been with the help of Ayla that the Hand had been able to draft each trading and storage plan months in advance. For a while they had to just wait for the travel to take place.
At first, the whole of House Strong would travel, including Harwin's family. When Ayla fell with child, their plans had changed and neither Harwin or the children wanted to travel without her. Now that things had changed two weeks before the departure, Ayla felt eager to leave.
"I believe it can be arranged my love. If that is what you want"
Ayla nodded with lips tight, Harwin pulled her back to his chest again and his big hand cradled her against him.
"I need to be out of here for a few days. I feel like I'm suffocating" she said through a closed throat, keeping her tears at bay.
"Whatever you need, Ayla. Consider it done" he assured.
The first thing Harwin did in the morning, besides marveling at the strength of his recovering wife sitting next to him in the breakfast table, was head to the office of the Hand near the Small Council chamber. He knocked and entered immediately, crossing looks with him as soon as the door was opened.
"Ayla wishes to go to Harrenhal" he closed the door behind him, his eyes remained on his father.
"Oh" the Hand seemed both confused, disappointed and surprised all in one uttered word and a twist of his eyebrows. "Is she fit to travel?"
"I will talk to the maesters to confirm, but she has been physically able for a while. She's missing another kind of strength at the moment"
"If she's fit then it can still be arranged" he concluded, Harwin began to make plans in his mind before his father spoke again "I was hoping, if she staid, she might take care of things in my absence"
"You're putting a lot of your own responsabilities in her hands" Harwin spoke quickly before anticipating the obvious answer his father would give him.
"If you were taking care of yours and showing some interest in being Lord of Harrenhal, then I wouldn't have to travel to Harrenhal to begin with"
Harwin grunted in displeasure and opened the door again, not interested in continuing with the fight he had started.
A little over two weeks later, Ayla found herself at the balcony of her bedroom. The spot, guarded by a smooth stone railing, oversaw the main entrance to the ground of Harrenhal, the large stables were the horses and carriages of the Lords were stationed, and the kennel where they fed and cleaned them.
She had spent three days in Harrenhal already, one resting from the travels and two assisting his Good Father with the arrangements to be made. She still wasn't allowed to attend the meetings, but she was sure it would just be assessing what she had already wrote and rarely the Hand had given her something to redact again or to fix in numbers.
The children were the happiest Ayla had ever seen them. Maybe it was because of their missed lessons or maybe it was because in Harrenhal everyone loved them and fulfilled almost their every wish, threatening to spoil them irreversibly.
Now, the little ones played in the field, one hiding from his brother as the other seeked them.
She was soon enveloped by Harwin's arms caging her in the railing, his head fell to her shoulder to leave a quick kiss on the bare skin that her dress allowed her to show. One of his hands was held by hers and the other held a cup of wine.
"Don't indulge too much in this" she warned, Harwin had let his guard down at the arrival of Harrenhal devoid of responsabilities as Commander.
"I have had barely one cup" his lips ascended on her neck and he nuzzled at her earlobe with his nose "and how are you?"
"Better" she admitted "it's been good to be in a place that doesn't bring me nightmarish memories at every turn"
"We could move from the Tower of the Hand. I do have a room as Lord Commander near the first barracks in the Keep"
Ayla shook her head immediately "no, I wouldn't dare to take the kids out of the Tower, they're confortable there"
Ayla stared at the children, joined by some other boys as they ran around. A sudden squeeze at her lungs struck her and she took a deep breath.
"Do you think this is it for us?" She asked. Harwin straightened himself and pressed his chin at her shoulder.
"What is it for us my love?"
"Our family, just the four of us"
Harwin turned her around to make her face him.
"I do not think so, Ayla. You're still young to have many children. But now is not the time"
"The children are growing, they don't need me"
"Every single member of this family needs you, me, the children, my father, your brother" Harwin knew that his words meant nothing to Ayla. In her blind rage she would never see reason.
Ayla swallowed a lump in her throat, determined to not start crying she held herself against Harwin's chest, his arms rounded and held her tight to his chest, his lips now found her cheek.
They remained quiet, Ayla inconsolable and Harwin without words of comfort other than the ones she wouldn't accept. When Harwin lifted his eyes to the horizon and to the sky, he blinked as he was hit with an idea.
"Do you want to go to the Redfort?" He asked. Ayla chuckled in return and moved her hand to take the cup from his hand.
"You've truly have had enough of this" she took the cup of wine and leaned it to her lips.
"I mean it. Wouldn't you like to go and see your family?"
"My family is here" she countered.
"Your father" he corrected "you haven't seen him in four years"
"I know that very well. But your father will never allow it"
"My father is not the owner of any of us. We can go to the Redfort if we wish. It's only a day and a half away"
"You have already fought with your father I don't want-"
"You leave my father to me. I'll ask you again, do you want to go to the Redfort?"
Torn between her duty with the Hand and the need to see her family, Harwin did not need a verbal answer from her, her big eyes pleading him not to make her choose were enough of an answer.
Lord Lyonel took the news of the departure of the family better than Ayla had expected, maybe Harwin's words about responsability had resonated with him and he needed to let Ayla free from under his wing, if anything her instincts would have her flock right back under it as soon as she felt better. It was, after all, what she did best.
The arrival at the Redfort was the biggest any of the members of the family had expected. Ayla had not seen the maids, guards, maesters or servants of the Redfort in years. The children were ecstatic to meet their grand-sire and their little cousins. All closer in age, Kase and Elyana had three young boys and a two month old baby girl.
The children were not seen for the entire first day. Ayla poured her thoughts over Elyana about her troubles to conceive. Her father didn't give her any words of encouragement, only practical advise about enjoying her family as it was and, of course, maybe focus on her work and the alliance she had found in the Princess.
At night, seeing her husband sprawled on the bed ready to go to sleep sparked a need to be laying on his broad chest forever.
"Harwin" she called, his hand gripped at her waist and she looked up at him "would you like to go riding with me tomorrow?"
Harwin agreed in a hum, then spoke "on horse back?"
"What's the alternative?" Ayla chuckled at his question.
"Me on my back"
"Harwin!" she scolded scandalized. Even though she has probably heard every single word of courtship and some very descriptive ones about how he wanted to have her, he never ceased to amaze her. They chuckled and shared a quick kiss.
"This is where I fell in love with you" Harwin mentioned, his eyes on the sky above them, half of it covered by the leave of the big tree under which they sat. They enjoyed the warmth of the sun after having spent an hour under the waterfall and the tiny pond of the clearing where Ayla had taken him when he visited the Redfort the first time.
"You had known me for two days" she countered.
"You had also known me for two days and were more than eager to steal a kiss from me"
"I earned that kiss. I still believe you let me win because you wanted to kiss me as well"
"I most certainly did not" they laughed, Ayla tossed several of the fresh blueberries she had missed into her mouth.
After a few minutes of silence, Ayla cleared her throat and moved to sit next to Harwin but facing him, his arm laid atop her legs and landed on her waist.
"I know you've spoken with the maesters" she began "what have they told you?" Her nails fiddled with the skin of her fingers and Harwin held them to stop her from nipping at it.
"They told me that one year seemed to not be enough of a wait. That you might need more time to heal before we try for a babe again" Ayla's eyes remained on her hands as she listened. Harwin's fingers traced hers trying to convey as much reassurance as he could. "They also said that the loss of another child could damage you permanently. We ought to be careful"
Ayla squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath. She let it out shakily and cleared her throat.
"I see" she muttered.
"I would've liked if you had come with me. I'm sure you would've heard the other half of the things they told me" Ayla shook her head.
"I don't want to hear anything from them. I prefer to hear things from your when I'm ready to hear them. We've been through this together and I knew you would be gentler than them with your words"
The remained silent. Harwin didn't know what was going through Ayla's mind as she fiddled with his fingers instead of hers.
"Will you be okay with that?" She blurted out of nowhere. Harwin only frowned.
"Okay with what love?"
"With how things are. At the moment it's just us and our two children. And there may not be more. Are you okay with that?"
"One child or ten, Ayla, I would've been the happiest man on earth because I went in that journey with you. The love that I have for you and you for me is the reason our children exist. And I'm sure that in the future the Gods will give us another child to reward us for our growing love in the years to come"
Ayla just leaped from her sitting position to Harwin's arms, he cradled her to his chest and sat her between his legs. Ayla's arms rounded his waist and they remained there, holding each other, Ayla pressed her ear to his chest and Harwin kissed her on the top of the head.
"You are a lot more than just a mother, Ayla, albeit a perfect one to our two sons. You are the most intelligent and knowledgeable woman I've ever met. You're the perfect wife, the perfect Good Daughter to my father who is looking forward to leave Harrenhal to you over me"
Ayla was already moved by his words and her throat had started to close, threatening to cry. Instead she laughed.
"He does not"
"He very much does. And I'm very much looking forward to it"
Harwin's hands found her chin and pulled her face up to meet his gaze. His hand caressed her cheek, her forehead and lastly the bridge of her nose.
"When the time comes I will gladly leave you to be the Lady of Harrenhal. It'll be in the best hands it's ever been"
"And as the Lady of Harrenhal might I order you to start taking your lordly duties more seriously?"
"Only if the Lady of Harrenhal would be so kind to teach them to me. I might need a few special lessons"
Ayla chuckled and Harwin drowned the sound of them with his lips on hers. Slowly they moved over hers and his tongue raked over her lower lip. He stopped himself and moved his lips to give her a quick kiss on the forehead.
"Even though I still very much lust for you, I do require some patience" she lamented, knowing that Harwin had not touched her since she missed her blood moon and promptly lost their child, it had been four months total.
"You have all of it, my love. You have all of me, forever"
Harwin and Ayla sat next to each other, his hand was pressed tightly to the side of her stomach and they waited silently. After a few seconds their babe kicked on Harwin's hand and he lifted his eyes to her.
"You haven't had any dreams about this child?"
Harwin didn't know if Ayla was mocking him like his father, he waited with his eyes on hers until she moved her eyebrows beckoning him.
"No, I haven't yet. But I had it when Kylian was this big, maybe I'll have it now"
"I actually like knowing before hand" she admitted "what are you hoping for now?"
"A healthy child, and a healthy wife afterwards"
Ayla had to playfully twist her eyes at his words. Her hand rubbed over his knuckles and she sighed in tiredness.
The door of the room opened, Ayla and Harwin straightened themselves on the sofa and looked over at the door. A maid entered and left a case near bed in the opposite side to where they sat. After the maid left, Lord Edder walked into the room and only after they were alone, Ayla stood from her seat and walked across the big room.
Lord Edder was surprised to see her already in his room, but he didn't question it and hugged his daughter to his chest, as they hugged his hand cradled the base of her stomach.
"Ayla my girl" he gave her a quick kiss on her forehead and took a step back, looking up and down at her "you look beautiful" he pressed another kiss to her forehead and held both her hands in his "it is truly a blessing to see you with child again. I feared I wouldn't be able to come to receive my grandchild like I did with Kylian, but seeing you now will mend my heart"
Ayla smiled at her father. Even though it was the hour of the Wolf, his tiredness did nothing to accentuate the pass of time on him. He still looked the same as the day Ayla had left Harrenhal with her husband of a few hours.
Lord Edder saluted Harwin after he caught up with Ayla and basked in her state, if anything Harwin was a little too nervous about the conversation that they were about to have.
"I came to tell you about the summon"
"Ah yes, the King's summon. Very vague" he lamented. The three of them took a seat in the sofa where Ayla and Harwin had been sitting previously. She sat between her father and husband and turned to her father.
"Last month, the King decided that Prince Daemon would no longer be the Lord Commander of the City Watch. He proceeded to opening the post to the Captains of the city. Amongst them they voted and four names were voted the most. Harwin, Ser Gwayne Hightower, Jimmer Redwyne and Jalen Cargyll" she explained hoping that her father would follow her quick words and even quicker thoughts as they left her mouth. "I am certain Larys bought the loyalty of those voting Captains to win the Queen's favor by stating her brother as the Lord Commander"
Lord Edder gave a quick look to Harwin. He knew what Larys was capable of all too well. He wondered if that was the first time Ayla had accused Larys of anything out loud in front of Harwin. Given the quick twist of his eyebrows as Ayla exposed Larys on his plan, it probably had been. Lord Edder assumed Harwin was not yet bought on the levels of treachery his brother could achieve. Ayla had apparently done nothing to pit the brothers against each other, not too strongly at least.
"The Small Council is to make the decision
With most of them also vouching for Gwayne Hightower or bought to do so, I thought it was unfair to Harwin who is far superior in all aspects"
"So you mobilized the main Lords of the Seven Kingdoms because you didn't like Harwin's odds" Lord Edder concluded for her.
"I did no such thing. I simply stated this unfairness to the Hand and gave him a reasonable alternative, he just so happened to agree" she defended.
Harwin stared. He wondered if he would ever get to that point in his fatherhood when he would get to look at his own children with the same loving, proud, and amused expression Lord Edder looked at Ayla.
"You did" he concluded again with a little smile, he definitely appreciated the word usage on his daughter's behalf.
"I did" she admitted after a short time with her lips pressed tightly, wondering if the next thing she would hear would be a reprimand "the decision is why Harwin never replied to your proposal about Harrenhal" she explained next.
"Though I was very eager to leave, Ayla convinced me to stay until the vote was made" Harwin followed, Ayla nodded in agreement.
"Understandable. The Lord Commander of the City watch is a notable tittle"
He proceeded to stand up, the extend his hand to Ayla. She reluctantly took it and heavily stood up, feeling Harwin's hand on her lower back to help her.
"I shall take it from here"
"But Jason Lannister arrived two days ago and-"
"I said I will take it from here" he interrupted, motioning at Harwin to take over and make Ayla leave. She didn't seem happy to not be allowed to explain all the other things she'd learned in the month she had to wait for all the Lords to gather.
As they neared the door Ayla motioned at her father's things.
"You have not brought nearly enough luggage to account for my name day presents"
Lord Edder had to laugh at her words, the last he thought he would hear after such a serious conversation was a reproach about presents.
"I believe your husband accounts very well for your name day presents"
"He does, but you're still my father, and I'm still your favorite daughter"
"I have two daughters"
"Out of which I am the favorite one" she repeated.
He chuckled again as he opened the door, then said his goodbyes for the night. Harwin had to make sure that they wouldn't be seen in the short trek from Lord Edder's to to the nearest entrance to the hidden passages, much to Ayla's insistence on not being seen. At first Harwin hadn't taken her suspicions as true, but then Ayla made the point that Larys had known about her visits to the maesters the day they had found out about their pregnancy, twice. Harwin obliged and escorted her through the passages near to the room back to the side entrance of the Tower and safely into their room.
Later, after a short sleep when they all gathered for breakfast, Ayla saluted her father again with vigor as to not make anyone suspect that they had met before.
Ayla's name day had always been one of the biggest event in the Redfort even over her own sister Jessamine. She had been the suprise child and the first girl after four boys, it wasn't a secret that Lord Edder only had eyes for her ever since she was born.
Presently, Ayla wasn't the apple of Lord Edder's eyes only, but Harwin's as well. He had made sure she tasted her favorite meals that whole day, gifted her a precious jewelry set of matching necklace and earrings, and since he had a down day to be with her, he made sure to shower her with kisses that she glady accepted, basking in the attention with little embarrassment.
After lunch and the review of Lord Edder's dresses as gifts for her name day, him and Lord Lyonel headed to the main room where the deliberation would take place.
Rickon Stark for the north, Grover Tully for the Riverlands, Jason Lannister for the Westerlands. For the Reach, the Lord Lyonel Tyrell's mother and regent named a representative of House Tyrell and the captain of the Tyrell forces, one of the biggest ones in the Seven Kingdoms, was Lord Rodner Gardener. The Baratheons from the Stormlands had sent two of their own, Borros Baratheon, young in age, knighted but not experienced in warfare was said to have attended the summon only for his own personal amusement. Out of the two men from the Stormlands, Everan Connington was the more knowledgeable.
House Connington was a house of knights with great achievements and renowns. Everan, as the future Lord of Connington was said to be very intelligent, had excelled in his studies at young age and was already taking matters of his house from his father's hands. Borros and him were good friends and since Everan was already acquainted and resided at the Keep they only had to wait for Borros' arrival.
As for Dorne, a summon had been sent out of pure respect for the Dornish, they weren't expected to attend and in the end didn't.
Once all the Lords were gathered few pleasantries were shared and some words of resentment were thrown about the main houses who had sent envoys much like Lord Edder.
"I can speak for myself, lady Jeyne held a meeting similar to this one and the three generals of the Vale attended. We all know that after Lady Jeyne's attempted usurpation of her seat, she doesn't trust any members of her family"
"I am sure all Lords present have all required knowledge to participate in the task at hand" Lord Lyonel spoke up. All Lords took a seat and listened attentively to the Hand.
He explained the general situation and what would be required of all Lords. Needless to say that such meeting took them out of the monotony of rulling their respective Houses, they looked forward to the review of the candidates and were eager to start testing the young knights to crown a new Lord Commander.
As soon as the names were read and with them an archive of their achievements thus far, Lord Edder felt like he had to address the elephant in the room. As soon as Harwin was named one of the Lords made a snide remark about the preference for Lord Edder to his son in law, one he instantly put to bed.
"I have to say, I know very little of Ser Harwin, even though we are bonded through his marriage with my daughter. If anything I'm very eager to make this assessment of him. Perhaps his worthiness will be translated to other matters"
That got a chuckle our of everyone, Lord Lyonel inspected the faces of all Lords and even saw a little smirk on some of them. Every time he managed to underestimate his actions, Lord Edder surprised him.
The first meeting to have all Lords be acquainted with the candidates made Lord Edder notice that something was amiss. He related his thoughts to Ayla as soon as the meeting ended and they met in the gardens in a private seating arrangement, enjoying some tea and Ayla's favorite pastries.
"They are, sadly, still not as good as the ones in the Redfort" Ayla lamented over a piece of cheesecake.
"The blueberries are tastier there" he agreed, also taking a piece.
"How was the first meeting? What do you make of everyone?"
"It was-" a loud screech was heard through the gardens and Ayla lifted her eyes to the sky. Lord Edder had jumped a little in his seat, not expecting a dragon to fly atop them. Ayla seemed very much used to them. "It was good, I've made it clear that my alliance with the Strongs will not cloud my judgment or make up my mind before the tests"
"Test?" She asked, her eyes still followed the two dragons that chased each other. They weren't hard to figure out, only two dragonriders resided in the Keep, both the Princess and Ser Laenor.
"Yes, tests. The Lords were very much happy to have been called to make such a decision and have taken it very seriously. They wish to push the limits of te candidates in both physical and mental tests"
"Are you going to make them fight each other?" She wondered. Having Harwin hurt certainly didn't fit into the tribulations she knew he would have to pass.
"No, but we are going to oversee their trainings" Ayla nodded and leaned forward to refill her cup of tea "something surprised me though. No figure is there to vouch for the rulling house"
"The Hand protects the interest of the King" she mentioned.
"Still. The future regent should be more interested in this decision as well"
Ayla noticed the use of "future regent" as to give way for both Princess Rhaenyra and Prince Aegon to be rulers.
She sighed and looked to the side, the dragons now flew farther.
"It's better if the Princess is not there, it would be too obvious if she vouches for Harwin" she reasoned.
"Everyone does things to their own benefit very bluntly, Ayla. I think the Princess' input could be very valuable. She out of everyone in the Keep should start worrying about making good alliances and surround herself with the right people"
Ayla pondered, suddenly feeling a loss of appetite. She rubbed her rings against her skin and then aclasped her hands at her lap.
"If Harwin is picked as Lord Commander they would have to see each other anyway" Lord Edder reasoned.
Ayla found herself in a predicament. Her father already had too high expectations of her power, Ayla thought herself not so influential to the point of convincing the Princess to attend the meetings.
"I refuse to speak of this on my name day" she crossed her arms at her chest and looked away from her father, hearing his chuckle from next to her.
Thankfully, Harwin had made his way to them and sat down to join them. With only one look Harwin knew that Ayla appeared mad. Her anger went away as soon as her babe started kicking and both Harwin and her hand laid atop her stomach to feel it.
That night, with both families gathered they feasted in honor of her and Adrian. Even though she knew that Harwin tried her hardest to distract her from what was bothering her, her lips didn't found themselves in a smile in what remained of her name day.
The following morning, she dressed in one of the gowns her father had gifted her and found that it fitted her perfectly, with the soft materials of the Vale it fell off of her delicately and her curves filled every space.
She knew that early in the morning the Lords were going to the barracks. The one she could oversee from the Tower of the hand was the one she was the least interested in, Harwin's. She had to walk a trek to the others but was determined to do so.
The Lords did not know who she was and didn't mind the shadow an inconspicuous lady like her would draw.
Whilst walking with the Lords, she took into account what her father meant. The lack of the ruling House was noticeable. Everyone was free to talk about what would be good for the city watch in a city none of them resided in, they would only be able to account for technicalities. The opinions of how things ran currently and how the future Queen would want the Lord Commander to behave was missing.
Ayla walked determined. She hadn't had enough time to rehearse her words in her brain and account for different turns a conversation could take like she'd done with the Hand. Still, she knew she had one card to play that she hadn't dared to play with Harwin but would certainly play it now.
"I'd like to speak with the Princess"
The guard that was stationed outside of Princess Rhaenyra's door looked down at her. He hesitated if he should ask the purpose of her visit. At the same time it was known that Lady Ayla Strong was often the message bearer of the Hand, so he just took a step to the side and opened the door. He entered the room and left aa to wait outside. After a few minutes, two handmaidens carried the Princes out of the room, then the guard held the door open for her.
Ayla noticed that the Princess' quarters were much like her father's. The only distinct difference was the quality of the furnitures, the expensive ornaments and table arrangements and a play area for the Princes in the middle of the sofas.
The princess stood next to one of them and was already holding her hands together when Ayla entered, a sign of nervousness both shared.
"Your grace" Ayla saluted, she didn't look at her in the eyes until the Princess replied.
"Lady Ayla" when she lifted her eyes to her, the Princess motioned to the chairs on a round table at the side of the sofas "I reckon you prefer higher seating arrangements at this stage"
Ayla smiled and inadvertently pressed one of her hands to her stomach.
"I fear I'm at that stage" she replied. They walked silently and Ayla took her time sitting down, then pulling her dress to fall evenly to the side. She didn't know why but she felt a little uncomfortable when the Princess' eyes landed on her round stomach "I understand you flew yesterday from Driftmark" she began. From then on, her eyes landed on the Princess' and didn't left her violet ones.
"And how did you come to understand that?"
"You can leave the Keep inconspicuously if you do so by dragon" she reasoned "my point is that you aren't aware of what transpired yesterday, or what is happening now"
"You might enlighten me then"
"You do at least know about the choice for Lord Commander" she searched for the Princess' exact knowledge on the situation, knowing that she didn't have much time to convince her.
"I wasn't aware of that either" Ayla's frown was visible "I was told it was a matter for the Small Council" Ayla's frown became more pronounced. The Princess didn't know what else to say to the Lady in front of her to appease her.
"It was a matter for the Small Council, until the names of the candidates were drawn"
"Ah yes, I do know that Ser Harwin was picked. Deservingly so" she complimented.
"And he, deservedly so, should win the post. I believe that, sadly the Small Council was bought. I'm not afraid to admit to you that I did everything in my power for him to get fait grounds to this fight. Which is why now the main Lords of the Seven Kingdoms are gathered in King's Landing to choose"
Ayla saw the Princess' resolve falter. Her lips twitched and she had to hide it by looking down at her lap.
"All of them?"
"The Tully's, Lannisters, Stark" she named, looking at the Princess' reaction. "Some of them have sent envoys, like my father for the Vale, Lord Rodner Gardener and Lord Everan Connington"
The last name made the Princess blink rapidly, Ayla saw how she found strength in a deep breath to look back up and her and pretend that she was fine.
"So you would have me do... What exactly?"
"I don't want you to do anything" Ayla shrugged nonchalantly "I'm certain Harwin doesn't need any more of my help or yours to get the post. I just think it'll be beneficial for you and your House to attend the meetings as well. No one was going to cross that door and tell you this. I'm sure you'll be heavily advised against it. But if you're not willing to do it for Harwin and the care you have for him, at least do it for you"
"I do not have any care for your husband" she defended quickly. Ayla smiled for a second and moved to stand up.
"It's a good thing he's not here, he would be heartbroken to hear that after the nice friendship the two of you had. Though your lack of care for him might've eased his decision to leave"
That definitely got the Princess attention, her eyes snap quickly back to Ayla's and she muttered, only to raise her voice to repeat herself.
"Leave?"
"Yes, he decided that he had no place in King's Landing if it wasn't at your detail, so he was going to petition the Hand to send him to Harrenhal to start performing his duties there as Lord"
Ayla didn't need to say anything else, she wouldn't even have to make mention about how that's exactly what would end up happening if he didn't get chosen as Lord Commander.
"I've taken enough of your time, your grace. I'll take my leave" She bowed her head and didn't wait for the Princess' dismissal.
As she walked further and further from the hallway of the Princess' quarters she began feeling more physically at ease, but mentally shaken. If word got back to Harwin about her visit, she didn't know how he would react. Would he be happy that the Princess was by his side? Angry that Ayla had had the nerve to talk to the Princess of the Realm? Surprised that she'd had said nerve? Harwin's relationship with the Princess has always been a mystery to Ayla.
The party of Lords had made their way to the second set of barracks where they would find Jalen Cargyll's and Jimmer Redwyne.
As she neared the party, her father caught a glimpse of her and walked slower to seamlessly retreat from the group.
"How are things looking?" She asked, her hands turned her rings around her finger as she looked at Jalen Cargyll overlook and lead at the younger apprentices who were welding their first swords.
"We should not worry yet. This is what Harwin excels at. What have you done today?"
The phrase brought Ayla back to the lit up library atop the tower of the Redfort, the smell of books, and her favorite dessert after she did well at her lessons. Her father would climb up the tower and ask her the question. If she had had a tough day with her lesson she would use the same clever reply.
"My best" she smiled widely at the memory and her father chuckled.
"Your best had always been more than enough my girl" lord Edder pressed a quick kiss to her forehead and placed a hand to her shoulder "now make haste, we're about to go to the Tower of the Hand, don't be seen there"
She nodded and followed orders. Upon arriving to the Tower she found Kylian fresh out of his nap and running around the tower, shrieking in excitement when he saw his mother and ran full speed towards her.
Ayla passed time with him, playing with his wooden horses and blocks but keeping an eye in the barracks below.
It was noticeable the differences between Harwin's teaching style over the ones she'd personally seen. Upon his return to the Tower and with no mention about how he felt being watched and evaluated, Ayla doubted if she should tell him about her talk with the Princess. She decided she would wait and see the outcome. If the Princess arrived and word never got out of her involvement, she would congratulate herself for achieving both stunts.
The next meeting was held behind closed doors, there were assortments of food and plenty of drinks to avoid any of the staff from entering once the doors had been closed.
The Lords had devised a little game of strategy, they would simulate a siege and posterior war and ask the candidates their plan of defense or attack.
Given that most of the knights had lived a relative peaceful period of time under King Viserys' reign, the only knowledge most of them had was written books about the Conquest, books that they all should've read. When the first candidate began to lay out his plan, the doors opened.
"Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen" the voice of the King's guard posted at the door boomed in the room. Harwin had to look away from the door and kept his eyes to the floor with his hands clasped at his back, avoiding some of the complicit stares he knew the others were giving him.
All the Lords nodded and respectfully addressed the Princess by her tittle as they saluted.
"Your grace" Lord Lyonel began, finding quickly the words to convey the princess his thoughts "I assure you, the interests of your House are being as well represented by me as they can, your presence is not required if you have better things to do" he offered.
"But it's not forbidden, is it?" She played along, with her head held up high, it was hard to play the fool around the Princess and not expect a verbal argument to arise from it.
"It is not" Lord Lyonel conceded.
"I shall stay then. What good is any decision made now that can be overturned when I rule? Might as well all agree to the result from the start. Please -" she motioned at the painted table and gave way for the candidate to return to his strategy.
Lord Edder avoided the look on Lord Lyonel's face, but he knew they would cross words at any point.
Harwin was left for last, an advantage he knew how to use all too well. He'd left the other talk and looked at the Lord to gauge at their reactions.
When it was his turn, he used in his strategy something none of the others had used. Dragons.
When he began explaining the paths the troops would have to cover and take care of the dragon's blindspots in attack, he was stopped with exasperation by Gwayne Hightower.
"That's not allowed" Harwin frowned, then with fake ignorance turned to his father and asked.
"Is it?"
"It is allowed"
Gwayne Hightower huffed in annoyance and turned to the other Lords, Harwin followed his gaze expectantly.
"I think that's unfair"
"Your opinion has me careless, Gwayne" he replied curtly, busying himself with the pieces on the painted table and was ready to continue despite Gwayne's complaint.
"Also, all dragonriders are royals, are you going to put the Princess Rhaenyra, Princess Rhaenys, Prince Daemon, all of them in danger?" He continued.
"So, we should not use dragons to protect the house of the dragon, that's your point?" He asked, now exasperation clear in his voice.
The Lords were definitely enjoying the argument, if anything Lord Edder was sure that most of them were even looking forwards to things getting physical.
"My point is, your priorities are not straight"
"My priorities-" Harwin walked a menacing slow pace across the room to be face to face with Gwayne's deformed visage "are very well arranged. It is you who has forgotten whose rulling you're going to be under. In that case, I do look forward to you being Lord Commander and how in the Seven Hells you will manage to stop the Princess from climbing on her dragon to fight"
The two man stared at each other with hardened eyes. Harwin had the hand that was concealed from the Lords' view tight in a fist, both in anger and in preparation to punch Gwayne's face at any second.
"I believe that might be all for today" the Hand spoke, the Lords agreed and neither Gwayne or Harwin budged when their shoulders collided and Harwin walked past him to the exit.
Though the candidates were dismissed, the Lords still had a lot to talk about. Needless to say that Princess Rhaenyra had a better liking for the candidate that took into consideration the biggest strength of House Targaryen and the reason for their long uncontested stay in the Iron Throne, their dragons.
Harwin got back to his duties after the meeting, in the afternoon he found himself in the tent of the barracks with Ayla patiently sitting in one of the chairs and holding Kylian to her lap, the little one seemed eager to go outside to see the men fight or go to the stables and pet the horses.
As Ayla stared at Harwin and how he scribbled things in his books, she glanced at the other ones in a side shelf and began thinking.
Harwin carried Kylian over his broad shoulders around the training site and chuckled as his screams and screeches of excitement as the young man fought. Ayla on her part, stood in the corridor near the barracks where she always leaned over the stone edge to watch, tranquil and quiet until she jumped out of her skin and quickly turned around when she heard a voice.
"You were right" when her eyes landed on the Princess, she took a deep breath and tried to calm her startled and fast beating heart.
"What about?" She asked.
"The blind preference for Gwayne Hightower everyone seems to have, though your father does make a good job vouching for Ser Harwin"
"My father vouches for the best choice" she corrected. The Princess had to give her a little smile at her use of words "Would you care to know what I was thinking just now?" Ayla asked, finding an opening for her next play. The Princess just tilted her head to the side and gave her a curious frown "Harwin spends perhaps two hours a day book keeping his subordinate's developments, and every month he gives the Hand an update of said developments. I wonder if any of the other candidates are as diligent as he is"
In their next meeting, the Princess did bring up the matter of the book keeping that was being done currently.
"In the end, all of this his hypothetical is just that. I believe we can peak into the future by looking at the past, how are they handling their regiments now?"
Books and books were drawn from the tents of the three separate set of barracks. quickly, everyone came to the conclusion that there couldn't be a proper evaluation of the results if there was missing data, like in the case of Gwayne Hightower and Jimmer Redwyne. Both of them didn't fill up the books for even months at a time, and when they did, the handwriting was always conspicuously different every time.
At the end of the week, Ayla found herself again in the corridors of the throne room with her brother's arm thrown lazily over her shoulders. She felt sick, her stomach had been twisting in anxiousness all day. Luckily, everything was coming to and end in a few hours.
Harwin stood in the center of the room along with the other Captains, behind them a crown of people also waited for the presence of the King to crown the next Lord Commander.
"I will be very angry if he doesn't get this" Ayla muttered to her brother aware of any ears that might report to Larys.
"He will, don't worry" he assured. Ayla only huffed in annoyance. She thought she had done and had risked too much for it all to go to waste.
In the end, when the King came to the room and gave a short speech he uttered the name it was obvious from the beginning. Ser Harwin Strong.
Everyone undid themselves with compliments at Harwin's feasts. He got to talk with the other Lords one to one, lord Edder allowed himself to drop the pretended dislike he had for him and hugged him as he congratulated him for his efforts.
As the night neared it's end, Lord Edder sat next to Ayla and held her hand, her eyes stopped scanning around the feast room and landed on her father.
"You've done tremendously well my girl"
She denied with her head as a little smile crawled on her lips.
"I've only spoken words, and I spoke them because he deserved it"
Lord Edder had also scanned the room and his eyes had found the Princess, also now speaking to Harwin and certainly congratulating him.
"And you got the Princess"
"I suffered a massive loss of my ego for that" she complained.
"It is what the situations required of you" he reasoned, then quickly patted her hand "you're on a great path. I'm certain you will achieve a lot after this adventure if you play your cards right"
Ayla wanted to say that she didn't wanted to play any more cards, that she was very content with having his little family to take care of, but her curiosity got the best of her and she had to ask.
Hello, I'm a big fan of A match for love. Ayla is such a good character. I hope the. urgent situation didn't do further damage to her relationship with Lord Lyonel. That would be unfortunate. Could I be added to the taglist?
Hello! Thank you so much for reading. I love Ayla too 🥺, I'll add you for next Tuesday!
A/n: Hello, finally got around to making a banner and a masterlist !! You can find all updated chapters and even inspo gifs for the Strongs and the main Redforts. Thank you all for reading.
Ayla's eyes shifted around. The captains exchanged looks. The King had made a pause to let everyone digest the information.
"But first, who better to judge the work of a Lord Commander than the Captains that answer to him. Before the Small Council makes their decision, I shall like to know the opinions of the Captains. You will get to make a vote now of your selection for the next Lord Commander"
Ayla's eyes snapped to where Larys was standing, she noticed some of the Captains looked discreetly to the side. Larys knew about the vote and had had enough time to work the captains to make a choice of his liking.
As Ayla began counting votes that would surely go to Harwin, she found that he'd seen her and walked to her in the little time the Captains had to ponder at their choice.
"I'm stepping down as a choice"
Ayla's eyes couldn't have gone wider as she looked up at him.
"You're what?" She asked, her voice high pitched in surprise.
"We have plans"
"This is better than our plans. Harwin, Lord Commander of the City Watch has always been your ultimate goal" she tried to reason.
"Not anymore"
Ayla's shoulders slumped and she searched for his hand with hers.
"Harwin" she pressed the back of his hand to her stomach as she held it "Love, I understand that my father's proposal is tempting. Very. But he does not have the authority to make you general of anything. The King does have it to make you Lord Commander"
Harwin's eyes left hers and he lowered his head to the floor.
"We would have to stay here, were we have already agreed it's not good for us"
"It can be. If you're Lord Commander no one would dare to speak pests about you"
Harwin shook his head and sighed. Ayla knew that he was fighting against his own wishes. He'd told her plenty of times that this was what he wanted.
"I want this for you, Harwin" she extended her hand to cup his chin and pull his face up to make him look at her "your happiness is my own, I promise we will be fine if you achieve this. And if you don't, we can still leave. But first you have to try"
Harwin's eyes moved on hers, trying to gauge if her would've were true or if she was just saying what he wanted to hear.
"Do you promise?" Ayla nodded immediately after his words left his mouth, then took his gripped hand and pressed a kiss to be back of it.
"Do not be afraid to write your own name down. They have absolutely nothing against you"
"They have names, powerful ones"
"So do you" she assured. It was Harwin's turn to press a kiss to her hand and slowly leave it's grip. They were called back into their places and when Ayla was not in Harwin's line of sight, her eyes landed on Lord Lyonel.
The sly smile he gave him made her understand that was the reason she would be needed, to give Harwin enough strength to put himself as a choice.
Her mind quickly turned to counting. Out of the twenty five, Ayla was sure at least nine would vote for Harwin, including his vote to himself and Adrian's. Her eyes scanned the other possible strongest names. Right away she noticed Gwayne Hightower.
Gwayne had stepped into the role of Captain of the city watch as a compensation. Compensation about his deformed face at the hands of Daemon Targeryen, surely also compensation for Otto Hightower's dismissal as Hand. It was known that most Captains didn't fancy him, the ones that answered to him knew to not account for his presence at the barracks ever. Even in his supposed shifts he could be found drinking too much in taverns and disrespecting his marriage vows with whatever soul he fancied at the brothels.
One by one, the captains walked to a table at the side of the steps of the melted swords that led to the throne. The table had pieces of parchment, ink, a container with sand to dry the ink faster and a vase to hold the pieces of parchment. They wrote the names, placed them in the vase, and once it was full, the head of the King's guard Ser Harold read the names one by one.
Lord Lyonel accounted for the votes and made sure that they were being read properly.
Harwin gathered nine votes in total. Gwayne Hightower also received nine votes. Looks of weariness and annoyance crossed several faces when two other Captains were named. Jalen Cargyll was one of the ones that had five votes to his favor. Ayla knew the Cargyll's only because the twins Arryk and Eryk Cargyll occupied posts in the King's Guard. Jalen was an older cousin.
The other Captain was Jimmer Redwyne, getting the remaining four and making twenty five. Ayla didn't know what to think of him. The Redwyne's were very acquainted with the Hightowers. Ayla had to guess that the ones that were supposed to vote for Gwayne wanted to keep the vote within the allied Houses without necessarily voting him.
She scolded herself for thinking in black and green, in the end she couldn't be happy for Harwin's mentions and votes. All she though at the end of the count was how was Harwin going to beat three green captains in a mainly green council.
She made an effort to keep her eyes on him as he walked out, then blew him a kiss in the second he turned around to her. Harwin wasn't in the mood to celebrate his mentions either.
When Ayla made sure that he would return to his duties, she exited the throne room and walked with the people along the hallways until she found the one she was looking for, with the exact person she was looking to talk with.
"Must've been hard for you. All that time scrounging votes. Harwin inadvertently got as many as your protège Gwayne Hightower"
She caught up to Larys' shuffling figure, her hands protectingly over her midsection as she walked.
"My brother's mention was something to be expected from the lowlife that currently populates the City Watch"
Ayla had to smile humorlessly at the sure mention of her brother as a lowlife.
"The voting of the Captains was useless though, purely demagogic and cruel making those people think that they have any say in such matters. The decision will be made, as you've heard, in the Small Council, a place where you have no influence or even a right to be heard"
Ayla looked at him through her lashes. Her condescending stare as he leaned over his cane almost matched hers as she stood tall and looked at him from above.
"Harwin will be the next Lord Commander. I will not have to curry favors or make false promises to do make him get there. You can't say the same thing, can't you?"
Larys didn't dignify her with an answer.
At dinner that night, Harwin hid his discontent by sitting Kylian in his lap and feeding him instead of talking with anybody. Ayla's mind was focused on how she was going to manage getting Harwin to the post. The last thing she would do would be to accept defeat.
"Anyone would think that the two of you would be happier today" Lord Lyonel hadn't hidden his discontent at the couple's reaction to the vote. Ayla gave him an apologetic look, not staring for long at the very person that entered the list of people she needed to twist to Harwin's side.
"The only thing you've achieved with this popularity contest is bring disunion amongst the forces" Harwin complained, his eyes still trained on his son who was very much occupied dipping his hand in his oatmeal and licking his fingers to eat it.
"The vote was not my idea" Lord Lyonel excused.
Harwin decided to keep his words to himself, still letting out an angry puff of air through his nose. Ayla forced them out of him when they were alone in their room.
"Getting in fights with your father is not wise. He's maybe the only one to stick out for you in the Small Council"
Harwin sat at the edge of the bed as he took out his boots, they quickly clattered with too much force to the ground, putting his anger in evidence.
"You believe you've made a bad choice. You may even be mad at me for convincing you. If you don't want this, then go downstairs to tell your father and be done with all this bother"
Ayla exited the room, leaving Harwin with his angry thoughts, then headed to the room next and dismissed the handmaiden that took care of Kylian for the night.
She laid in the single bed, looking at her sleeping boy in his crib, then sighed in annoyance.
If Harwin wasn't going to be needing her help, why even bother wrecking her brain about the Council, about succeeding over Larys. Her annoyance over the situation made her realize just how much she took matters in her own hands. She thought bitterly that Princess Rhaenyra would never even lift a finger for Harwin.
Why would he even grant her so much of his devotion? The very first thing she'd done when she needed to stick up for him had been quick to dismiss him.
She kicked herself for even thinking such things, knowing that most of her feelings were moved by her pregnant state.
After two hours, Ayla laid still and sleepless. She only turned on her side when Harwin walked into the room quietly, she gave her back to him, then rolled her eyes when he pulled the covers off of her.
"You have a bed in the other bedroom" she said over her shoulder. Harwin sat at the edge of the bed and nudged her.
She scooted to the side and sighed in frustration. They had to lay back to chest and Harwin had wrapped his arms around Ayla's body.
"You can't be mad at me. You're all I have" he muttered, then his lips moved up and down her neck.
"I can be both things. If you don't want to be Lord Commander, then tell your father you wish to be out and that we're leaving for Harrenhal, as it was your initial plan"
He pressed his lips to her neck and sighed, his arms wrapped around her body and Ayla with a marked contradiction, melted into his body.
"I bet if I'd told you to do it for the Princess you would have"
"Ayla" he pulled himself over her and made her turn around "that's nonsense and you know it"
Deep down, Ayla knew that it wasn't nonsense. At the time it had crossed her mind to tell him to do it for the Princess knowing that it would surely say yes for her.
"I meant it, what I said about wanting this for you. Not everything has to be about me, I want you to achieve your own goals."
Harwin downed his lips to her forehead, then pressed his own to hers.
"It's no use fighting over this. It is known that I'm not going to be named"
"Why not?" Harwin chuckled and pressed his lips to her forehead again.
"You're wiser than me, you must know that no one on the Council supports me, the supposed lover of the Princess"
"One would think they would favor performance over fondness. You are the best Captain out of the four, objectively"
"They're not going to name me" he repeated.
Ayla's heart sank at his lack of confidence. The playing field was inclined against him. Now more than anytime she was going to have to use her dormant skills to level it back.
She spent two days watching intently at the members of the Small Council.
The small council was composed by the Hand, Maester Mellos, Lord Lyman Beesbury as master of coin, Lord Jasper Wylde as master of laws, Larys Strong as master of whispers, Lord Tyland Lannister as master of ships and Ser Harrold Westerling the Lord Commander of the King's Guard.
The known votes were only the ones the Hand and Larys would put forward. Lord Lyman Beesbury had his house seat in the Reach, near Oldtown. It could be presumed most of his kin knew about the rumors. Ayla thought that a man who had sworn featly to Princess Rhaenyra as the rightful heir to the throne would hold such convictions in keeping alliances with the blacks.
She had worked hard to find out what Lord Jasper Wylde's inclinations were. He had been heard in several occasions about the results of the Great Council where King Viserys was named heir to the throne. If such things were true, he wasn't leaning to the side that had forgone all tradition by making a woman heir.
As for Tyland Lannister it was known that he was as cunning as he was wealthy. He would always pick the winning, or the side that paid. Ayla was sure she wasn't in either of them.
As for Maester Mellos, he could be easily bought, if he wasn't already.
Ayla had spent a good amount of time looking at the written names in a piece of parchment. She tried to find a hole, a side door, something that wouldn't expose her in front of Larys.
Ayla spent two whole nights looking at the piece of paper and writing down alternatives, she even wished for the ravens to be instantaneous so she could write to her father and ask him for advice.
In the dead of night, the solution struck Ayla and made her skin perk up in goosebumps at the discovery. Almost at the same time, a hand landed on her shoulder and she had looked up, her startled eyes had met Harwin's tired ones, squinting to shield himself from the candlelight that glistened from the lit candle at his desk.
"Let's go to bed" he ordered. It wasn't the first time that he had woken up in the middle of the night and had to search for Ayla around the tower.
She obliged, but as she walked and was enveloped by Harwin's arm around her waist, she had to make a little joke.
"You might have to tire me a little" Harwin chuckled and was quick to palm her whole butt cheek with his big hand.
"Don't tempt me"
Despite being in bed, Ayla didn't close an eye. The solution had struck her, but she spent the entire night perfecting everything in her head. She knew she only had one shot at it.
Harwin had woken up and seen that she was already awake, then proceeded to scold her for missing sleep the last night. Truth was, even though she had been thinking, this pregnancy had brought her insomnia and she rarely slept through the night.
That day, Ayla gathered a few documents that would need the Hand's signature, grabbed her boy and headed to the Small Council chamber. She knew that Lord Lyonel was always the first one to arrive and would have him for herself for a few minutes. It was enough time.
As she walked slowly with Kylian walking to her side, she reviewed the plan in her head.
The Small Council chamber was always guarded by a member of the King's Guard, even if the King wasn't present. The guard at the post had seen her a few times and knew that she often delivered the Hand paperwork. He let her through the doors and Kylian gave away the surprise factor by shrieking loudly when he saw his grandsire, then hurried to him.
Lord Lyonel had expressed, from the second Kylian was born, that he was an exact replica of Harwin, and having him around always brought him joy and a little sadness at the memories of his first son's childhood.
Lord Lyonel sat at his usual seat and placed Kylian in his lap, his little hands instantly shot up at the marble holder that was placed in front of every chair.
Ayla handed him the documents and after a short explanation, he began reviewing them, knowing that if Ayla had written the replies he had little to worry about.
"Is it decision day, today?"
"It will most likely be" he replied, his eyes not leaving the parchments in front of him.
"And who is going to make the decision?"
"The Small Council" he handed the pieces of parchment just in time to see Ayla's twist of mouth and displeased twist of eyes.
She scanned if the documents were signed properly as Lord Lyonel have her a little chuckle.
"You don't like that decision" he concluded.
"I do not. I don't trust anyone in the Small Council with enough knowledge to judge who the next Lord Commander will be"
"And whose knowledge would you trust?"
Ayla gave a short shrug of her shoulder and moved her eyes, pretending to think the question.
"Other generals, or the likes of the Sea Snake. He's got more wars fought than most of you"
Lord Lyonel's reaction had been the one Ayla had hoped for, his eyes looked down and to the side, digesting her words. He did hid his reaction by looking at Kylian. She decided to crown the moment with her last words.
"I believe Harwin will be the best candidate for the post. Sadly the playing field is not tilted in his favor"
Lord Lyonel's eyes scanned the empty chairs next to him, imagining the people that occupied them.
The seed had been planted. Ayla's solution was; if the small council was the problem, remove the small council all together. The second part of her solution was finding out who could make the decision. Instantly she thought of the only person whose judgment she would trust. Her father.
Ayla received Kylian in her arms as soon as the members of the small council began to gather outside.
With one last goodbye, she tried to gauge if her words had began working anything within Lord Lyonel. If they had, he did not show it at the moment of Ayla's inspection of his face.
Up until the second everyone was sitting around the table and had addressed some minor issues of the realm, Lord Lyonel was convinced that the members could be impartial and speak plainly about the candidates in terms of achievements and performance instead of their characteristics as a person, something that had gone unspoken when it came to Prince Daemon.
Lord Lyonel listened intently at the parties discuss, in majority, the false praises of Ser Gwayne, amazed at the words.
He saw with his own eyes the tilted playing field that Ayla had spoken about, and when Larys dared to speak about the taint on the Strong name because of the accusations (as if he didn't share the same one) was what made Lord Lyonel direct his attention to the King.
"I have a thought about a different matter, your Grace, if you would allow me to voice it"
"Of course Lord Lyonel" the King seemed to be very much pleased to speak of something else other than the vile gossip that was being talked about amongst the Lords.
"But first, a question to the table. What are the duties a Lord Commander must fulfill in his role?"
Silence. Exchanged looks. Larys looked at his father with an interest in his next words, not expecting what they would mean for the future of his long crafted plans.
"I believe the table lacks knowledge of the duties tasks and skills the Lord Commander must have for the post. The City Watch answers to the master of laws but he does not posses the knowledge to know how such tasks of law are enforced. We will only resort to personal attacks, like we already have, and put aside what truly matters for the future of the City Watch"
"And what do you suggest?" The King asked with a marked frown as if it was his first time hearing such a thing.
"I suggest the decision for the next Commander be made by people of such knowledge"
Groans of protest and eye rolls were distributed all around.
"The Hand will be heard uninterrupted" the King demanded, silence reigned again as Lord Lyonel spoke.
"I believe it would be best to have this matter be resolved by other Generals and Captains of the Realm. It will not only be a fair assessment of the candidates, it'll be a weight off the shoulders of the Small Council to take part in more important matters. Not to mention the overall joy of the Lords and Ladies of the Red Keep and even across the Realm. To be heard and have their contribution in matters of the capital will bring joy to the vasal houses"
"It will take months between the summons and their arrival at the capital" Tyland Lannister protested.
Lord Lyonel knew the answer the King would give before he voiced it.
"It has taken years since Prince Daemon self exile to Pentos, it can wait another month for the Lord's arrival"
"We would also have to come to terms about which Lord to summon" now Lord Lyman Beesbury spoke up.
"One for each Kingdom and the most experienced at warfare will suffice" Lord Jasper Wylde seemed to be most inclined to Lord Lyonel's proposal.
The only ones to voice their disagreement was Tyland Lannister at his loudest, and Larys simply agreeing to the points Tyland made.
King Viserys had listened to every word of Lord Lyonel's proposition as if it was the greatest idea he'd ever heard. It was known that the King often favored topics that would result in more pleasing outcomes, often avoiding confrontation or unpleasant conversations.
Having heard all points of view and opinions, the King made his decision.
Ayla looked at her husband undress and get ready to enter the bed. She had spent the whole day worrying and bitting at her nails, waiting for Lord Lyonel to enter the Tower after a day's work and to tell her the news. He had not been at the Tower even after supper. Harwin had arrived after his day of work and had spent the day with her and Kylian in their room, playing with the little one with wooden toys, without a care in the world.
Once in bed, Harwin noticed her worried face and hovered over her. He gave her a quick kiss and she gave him a quick smile. He laid on his side and placed his hand over her stomach.
"You've been quiet today, I've seen you bitting your nails" his hand searched for hers and ran a thumb over her knuckles.
"Have you heard anything?" He gave her an inquisitive frown, Ayla gave her a twist of her eyebrows "about the post"
"Oh" he gave her a shake of his head "is that what you've been worried? I've told you, I'm not being named"
Ayla huffed in annoyance at his nonchalant approach opposing her more nervous one. She looked at Harwin briefly and twisted her lips to the side.
"I wanted to give you this" she lamented.
"You've given me enough my love, our children and your support and love it's all I need from you" he assured. His lips found hers for a quick kiss.
"Still, if I could give you this, why wouldn't I?"
Harwin gave her words a little more thought, then slowly frowned his eyebrows.
"Give me this... How?" He asked. Ayla shook her head dismissingly.
"I figured I could speak with your father, hopefully make the decision not be made by the Small Council, it is known that they don't fancy you"
"You spoke with my father-"
"I simply gave him my point of view of how a handfull of old Lords know absolutely nothing about training and leading a regiment, not enough to judge you or anyone about it" she excused quickly, not wanting her sudden confession to anger Harwin.
"And what did he say?" He asked, intrigued more than angry.
"To me, nothing. I was waiting to hear if the suggestion had taken"
"And who would make the decision if not them?"
"I suggested other generals. Like my father"
Other generals, unbiased opinions, performance assessment only, something Harwin clearly excelled against his opponents. He silently admitted it had been a good plan.
"It would be a shame to have this work out for that undeserving idiot" Harwin gave her an inquisitive frown "Larys' protège, Gwayne Hightower"
Harwin kept his opinion about Gwayne to himself.
"I guess we won't know until the decision has been made if your words worked or not"
Ayla gave him a quick nod and stared at the ceiling. She believed that if they had worked, the meeting of the Small Council would've been shorter than what it had been.
"Thank you" she turned her face to him "for believing in me enough to craft this whole plan in your head. Thank you for your efforts"
"It's what you deserve, I wanted to give you a true shot at it"
"Do you know what I don't deserve?" Both of them shared a smile as Harwin's arm rounded her waist and pulled her to lay sideways. She hugged herself to his chest and her leg climbed over his waist "I don't deserve you, not after how over treated you"
"You haven't treated me in any ill way" she assured "you deserve me, my love and so much more" their lips connected in a kiss. Slowly as they caressed their bodies, Harwin found himself nested between her legs, ready to truly thank her for her efforts.
Ayla scanned the littered desk with her eyes and decided where she should begin. The craft of her plans about Harwin's selection had taken time off of her duties to the Hand and she'd found herself with more scrolls and parchments papers to read than she expected.
She spent the whole day reading one by one accounting for changes of houses, births, deaths, marriages. She had grown tired of sitting at the desk and had resumed her reading as she paced around the table when the front door of the Tower flung open.
She left the scroll on the table, heard her name being called and then Harwin's figure appeared and hurried to her.
"What's -" her words got caught in her throat when Harwin's hands cupped her cheeks and pulled her for a kiss. His lips moved in short and quick succession over hers and Ayla had to press her hands at his chest to stop him and get answers.
"It worked" he said breathlessly, then chuckled over her lips and kissed her again "it worked Ayla"
"What worked?" She asked, Harwin pulled back and looked down at her, still holding her face on his hands.
"The King has just announced that the decision for Lord Commander will be made by Lords of the Seven Kingdoms"
Harwin hugged her and she exhaled, her body being held tightly to Harwin's armor. She hugged herself to his neck and finally let out a smile. She felt Harwin's lips on her bare shoulder, her neck and then her temple.
He left shortly after that, the news came at a little interruption in his duties and he needed to go back to them.
Ayla saw the Hand walk a few hours later and head straight to the office, were she now sat. He sat opposite her and only then she took in his state. He appeared to have been up all night, and she wondered if he had not returned to the Tower because the meeting had actually taken that long.
They exchanged looks, Ayla felt small under his scrutinizing gaze and wondered if all trust had been broken.
"I'm impressed, I thought the day would never come" before Ayla could open her mouth to deny the truth, he spoke again "I let your words play me because they were for a good cause. Truth is, I wish for Harwin to get this position more than anything, as a father I would've let my judgment and preference easily leak into my duties of choosing impartially. With your words, you gave me a way out and I used them to give my son an advantage. I am, again, impressed by you Ayla"
She didn't know what to say. To play into his words would be admitting that she'd used him and she would definitely never gloat about her conniving ways, they were the very thing she'd been fighting against her whole life being associated with her father.
"A good cause, like I said. I trust it won't happen again"
"Of course" she nodded dutifully. That was a promise she could keep, not using her influence over the Hand ever again.
Lord Lyonel motioned at the table and after a deep breath on Ayla's part, they resumed their work.
Warnings: Grayce and Jaena are 18 and 16 respectively. Mentions of minors marrying, mentions of teenage pregnancy.
Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6 / Part 7 / Part 8 / Part 9 / Part 10. / Part 11 / Part 12
The scene before Harwin was one he was very uncomfortable with. He tried to hide his nervousness under the steel gaze of his post as a guard, but he couldn't help his eyes to glance at the parties in front of him.
Early in the morning, Princess Rhaenyra's labors has started. Harwin had arrived at the Princess' door to stand guard shortly after that, and unexpectedly, she has asked for him to be present at the birth. Ser Laenor excused his presence and assured the wet nurses and the Maester that if the Princess felt better being guarded, then she certainly would be.
The birth of the Princess was unlike the birth of Kylian, the stark differences between both women made Harwin happy that he had to endure calm births on his wife's side.
Late at night, the Princess received a Prince, she named him Lucerys, both the parents agreed in calling him Luke for short. After the birth, the King arrived at the room to see his new grandson, along with him was the Queen, who was followed by her own wet nurse who held Prince Daeron. Behind all of them, followed the Queen's sworn protector, Criston Cole.
Harwin was not a stranger to Cole, his antiques, his doings, and certainly the way he had convinced everyone in the King's guard that Harwin was the true father of the Velaryon boys. Cole certainly did the Queen's bidding in that regard.
Prince Luke held the harrowing similarity of his older brother's dark hair.
"A drop of Baratheon blood" the King had said as he held the Prince. Both the Queen and the Princess exchanged looks. Cole watched the family from afar, just as much as Harwin was watching them, then turned his eyes to him to give him a knowing smile, one Harwin had to contain himself from not answering with violence.
As soon as he was dismissed by Ser Laenor, Harwin walked with heavy steps to the Tower of the Hand. He got rid of his armor before he approached the corridor of both his and Kylian's bedroom. The little one was known for being a light sleeper and more than once he'd woken up to the sound of Harwin's armor, when he checked on his son, like every night, Kylian had been wide awake and given him a smile of recognition. Harwin did not sleep most of the nights Kylian woke up because of him, but he liked exchanging hours of sleep with hours uninterrupted with his son.
Once he checked on Kylian and made sure he was asleep, he continued to the bedroom where Ayla slept. She looked behind her when Harwin entered the bed and slid closer to her, she turned around and embraced him. His arms rounded her waist and hers his shoulders, leaving Harwin in the comfort of her chest, his ear just above her beating heart.
"How was everything?" She asked in a little whisper. By the way he sighed, Harwin wasn't happy.
"The Princess had a boy" he replied. Ayla contained her own sigh of frustration, then placed her cheek on top is his forehead "what about you, my love?" His thumbs rubbed her ribs.
"Nothing yet"
Harwin allowed himself to twist his lips in a little smile at the news of Ayla's delay of two weeks in her blood moon.
Not one soul across the Seven Kingdoms would dare say that Ayla and Harwin hadn't tried their absolute most to conceive another child.
Though Kylian was a bit of a handful for Ayla, she had agreed with Harwin to have him be taken care of by the maids only for the duration of her next pregnancy and maybe a few months after the birth of their second child. The initial deal had been arranged for the upcoming month or two. The Gods hadn't been so kind.
Nine months, the whole pregnancy of Princess Rhaenyra, they had hoped to get pregnant. Month after month, they tried. Month after month, they were disappointed when Ayla's blood moons arrived. Harwin couldn't help himself from falling into the spiral of previous thoughts of not being able to conceive a child.
In the blink of an eye, Kylian grew in front of them with a quickness both of them hadn't anticipated. Before he turned one he was already walking around, he responded with smiles to all members of the Strong household, allowed himself to be carried by strangers, and had even stopped wanting to be fed out of Ayla, only looking for such closeness when he wouldn't fall asleep so easily.
Since Ayla still worked with the Hand, she could keep a watchful eye on the boy as he played around, babbled, shuffled from place to place and ate. If she had to reach the office of the Hand, she would take Kylian with her and take her time as her boy walked next to her at the pace his two legs would carry him.
Lord Lyonel was always delighted to see the boy walk and had even gone to lengths to gift him a horse in his first name day, one he would surely not ride for years. The keepers assured the horse was young and would still be in good shape to be ridden in the future.
On one of those trips, Lord Lyonel had looked at Kylian and said "my favorite grandson" to which Ayla replied.
"Not for long" she handed him a piece of scroll, already open. When he read it, he couldn't contain the gleam of happiness in his eyes.
Despite Grayce being the oldest of the two daughters, Jaena had had enough of her disappointment over her unrequited love for Adrian, she demanded her father to marry her and send her far away from King's Landing.
The request had broken Lord Lyonel's heart. He had always fancied himself a man of knowledge and wisdom, but even more a man of family. Having all his children under a same roof brought him a sense of belonging that he longed for ever since he left Harrenhal. Now, with Larys out of the Tower and Jaena leaving with her husband, the Tower felt empty.
Jaena married Layne Roote of Harroway, a town close to Harrenhal. Layne and Jaena had been acquainted in their youth and, as much as Ayla saw in the interactions before the wedding, Layne was much like Harwin and fed Jaena's wildest and best attributes.
The day of her departure though, it was Ayla's worst day in a long time. Never in her wildest imagination she thought she would be seeing her Good Sister and once closest friend leave in a carriage without as much as a short hug goodbye. A few months later, she'd written that she was with child for the first time.
Now, after Prince Luke had been introduced and, once again, word of doubt of his parentage resurfaced, Ayla more than anything needed family members close.
Everywhere she went she heard the whispers and gossips about the true father of the Princes. More than one person had named Harwin, the ever loyal and unwavering knight in her guard. Only the people who had seen Ayla and Harwin out in the Keep and had witnessed the couple in their demonstrations of affection doubted these allegations.
Ayla had never considered herself to be too drawn to gossip, but the parentage of the Princes was something that was beyond her. She had to know, not because she doubted Harwin, but because she needed to put a finger on the other responsible party in that issue.
Ayla had done a great effort to acquaint herself with the maids, the staff in the Keep were the invisible eyes and ears everyone used to get information, even Larys, who found out about Ayla's own pregnancy of Kylian, and now her second child, before anyone in her family knew.
Ayla, on the other hand, had never managed to find out who the father of the Princes was, the one person who might know was Harwin, but she would never dare ask him to reveal such information.
Every single person that found themselves putting the name of the Princes and Harwin's in a same sentence was instantly an acquaintance Ayla didn't want to keep. She found that many people shared that opinion and it came to a point where Ayla would prefer to be confined to the Tower of the Hand rather than socializing with that kind of people.
Pregnancy always heightened Ayla's state, her feelings and how she acted on them. One of the other reasons of her exile to the Tower was the fact that most times she attended the feasts, was out in social gatherings or venturing out in the corridors of the castle, she knew that people were talking about her the second she step into a room and everyone went quiet. It infuriated her to no end.
As much as Ayla fought aleatory people at feasts, Harwin fought commoners and guards that spoke the same lies in taverns across the city. Such provocations were always met with a deathly and warning glare. Anyone who dared bring his wife into the mix of the conversation got several broken bones at the hands of Harwin.
"We've turned quite volatile these last month" Ayla had spoken. Harwin stood still as she dabbed a piece of cloth to clean his split eyebrow.
Harwin appreciated the sentiment of unity Ayla always fomented between them. Deep down he knew his pregnant wife wasn't the one doing the most damage to the Strong name at the moment. Still, he indulged in a little joke.
"You're certainly doing the most of it"
Ayla gave him a fast look and a little smile, trying to find in his face if he was being serious or not, then moved the cloth to his split lip.
"Words might be more hurtful, at least your rage can be written off by the wine you've drank"
"I'm not that lucky" he complained, his face twisted when the cloth burn at his hot flesh. Ayla then moved to his bruised hands and tugged at his fingers. One of them seemed to be broken and Ayla wrapped it tight so he could heal.
Harwin let out a sigh, his eyes trained on her hands working on his.
"We're miserable here" he muttered. Ayla had to laugh at her husband's dramatic words.
"We are not miserable here. It'll come to pass" she assured.
"Not as fast as I would like. It may not even pass at all"
His eyes now landed on her figure, her nightgown hid the small bump in her lower stomach.
"I do not wish for you to go through anything harsh with this child"
"I'm not going though anything my love"
"Adrian says you've gotten in screaming matches in the gardens"
She rolled her eyes and shook her head.
"That's almost a daily occurrence, only heightened by the lies that people like to speak"
When Ayla finished and left the supplies in the table, she stood up and was instantly hugged by him. One of his arms rounded her thighs and the other gripped her waist. Ayla cupped his head and ruffled his hair out of the way.
"Harwin, it'll pass. It passed the last time, it'll pass this time. Let's not breathe more into them"
She placed a quick kiss on his forehead, then jumped in his arms when she was gripped from behind. She looked down at Kylian, who even though walked a little sloppily, he'd walked to them quietly enough to surprise Ayla by crashing to her leg. His blue eyes looked up at her and he chuckled amused.
Harwin's grief rinden face quickly changed when he saw his son, his hands now focused in picking up him from the ground and standing from the chair, he grabbed Ayla by the waist and the three of them walked upstairs.
Kylian and Harwin were not in a mood to sleep for different reasons. Ayla fell asleep hearing the giggles of her son as Harwin played with him, a simply game of covering and uncovering him with a blanket that moved Kylian to unstoppable giggles.
A month later, when Ayla began showing her second pregnancy and the rumors had quieted down because of it, Harwin was surprised by a summon to the Princess' quarters.
Once inside, the princess sent away the maids and the two princes. Harwin could not pinpoint what she could possibly need in the middle of the day, if anything the Princess spoke freely with him during his night shifts when they were alone.
"I believe it would be best to do without your service on my watch"
Harwin, with his hand gripping his helmet tightly, he let a little frown escape. When the Princess spoke plainly with him and told him that the rumors were only being fed by his presence and his actions in the tavern fights, which he regretted, she thought it would be best to put some distance.
Harwin had never felt more relieved. When he left the room, his shoulders slumped down in relief.
The second Ayla laid her eyes on him she knew that something had happened. Harwin had explained that he would no longer be in close proximity with the Princess and that he was relieved on one side, saddened on the other one. Harwin had seen the Princes grow up as much as his own son, pulling away from them wouldn't be that easy.
The distance the Princess had placed between them was not as fruitful as he had hoped.
Besides that, Harwin and his father were not in good terms. After many talks to Ayla about Harwin that had fallen of deaf ears, Lord Lyonel had taken the matter in his own hands. First he spoke of perception, then he spoke of the relationship itself and how him breathing the same air as the Princess fed such allegations. Thirdly and more hurtful, Lord Lyonel had told Harwin that Ayla did not deserve such treatment and if he really loved and care for his family, he would tell the Princess he was better off without being associated with her.
After the Princess laid him off, Harwin hadn't forgotten his father's harsh words and had even begun to doubt himself, doubt if he was being a good father and a good husband. There was only one person that could return him to some comfort about his work.
"Your father speaks harsh words in the hopes to shake you into consciousness of the gravity of this" Ayla spoke, her cheek smashed on his bare chest, enjoying the roughness of his palm on the side of her back, rounding at her ass cheek and pulling up again "he does not believe you're a bad father or a bad husband. I certainly don't think so either"
He pondered, doubting if maybe he should leave the conversations for later, when Ayla wasn't so spent and tired. She'd certainly outdone herself riding him that night.
"It's not about Rhaenyra" he spoke. Ayla shifted in his arms and pressed here chin to his chest, her eyes were closed but she still listened.
"What is not about Rhaenyra?"
"My closeness. It's about the Princes. They oy have her, they hear the word "father" and have no one to look across the room"
"You don't know that"
"But I do. As much as Laenor says he loves those children he spends half his time in the street of silk and the other half in Driftmark with his family and who knows who else"
"I don't think it's your job to fill that space though, Harwin" she finally opened her eyes to meet his. All this time, he'd hoped to be scolded by Ayla in the hopes of knowing that things were affecting her more than what she was letting on. Now that he actually was, he wished he had left the conversation for later.
"You're right, it's not"
"You only do because you have a big heart. No one can deny that. As much as you hate leaving those children to their luck, it's best to leave them to be taken care of by their parents, even if you think they're not capable of protecting them. They're not your responsibility"
He could only nod and fight the urge to say "yes my Lady" to acknowledge the order. Ayla pressed her head again to his chest and hugged herself closer to him. Her naked body had turned cold and she looked for Harwin's body heat. He pulled the sheets over the both of them and kissed the top of her head.
"Rhaenyra won't keep you away for long" she observed, muttering and fighting sleep.
Ayla's attempt to mitigate Harwin's grieve over the Princes had worked. Despite him being more attentive and caring to his own wife and son, Ayla didn't feel comfortable enough to leave the Tower.
Harwin began thinking that the Red Keep had become inhospitable for them, so much so that even Rhaenyra didn't even spend much time in it. Word was that Prince Daemon had married Laena Velaryon and the Princess frequented Driftmark more, leaving the Keep with free reign to speak of them as they pleased.
Harwin received a letter. As strange as it was for him to receive correspondance, the sender was not a stranger. Lord Edder wrote to him, not in the same amount he wrote to Ayla, but he still received a letter time again asking for Ayla's protection on his part. The letter he received that day wasn't of that subject.
In the tent, as he finished reading it, he clutched it and looked around, not believing the words he'd read.
He pondered, swaying Kylian to make him sleep. When he laid him in his bed, he ruffled his short hair and looked at him. Im that moment he though of him, how his future would be living in the Keep, if he would doubt his own father when he aged and heard the rumors.
Upon entering the bedroom and seeing Ayla smooth her hands over her stomach, he smiled at the sight of her. When she saw him come in, she turned to her side to show him her growing belly.
"It's growing faster than Kylian's" Harwin had observed and had said nothing, thinking it was only his imagination. When he saw Ayla, he knew he couldn't keep the contents of the letter hidden for much longer.
He searched for it in his desk and walked to the bed. She had already laid down and pulled some covers over her.
"I wish to speak with you about something" he called, then sat on the bed. Ayla moved to sit as well, her curious frown was quick to appear in her face "your father sent me this"
Ayla was already twisting her lips and extended her hand to the letter, writing a reply in her head to her father asking him to stop bothering Harwin.
When she began reading, her face changed little by little.
"He thinks it would be a good idea if I asked to be station and Harrenhal with him, help him train the soldiers of the region. I could climb fast to General"
Ayla's reaction wasn't the one Harwin had expected. He had hoped for her to jump out of happines in her spot at the thought of leaving King's Landing, to be with her father, closer to home. But no, she just handed him back the letter with a twist of her lips.
"What do you think?" She asked. Harwin scoffed and shook his head, moving to sit closed to her and place a hand to her waist.
"I think it's a Gods send. To have an opportunity to leave this place"
"I don't know" she muttered "feels to good to be true, there must be something"
Harwin cupped her cheek as he spoke "don't think about any ulterior motives, Ayla, just think of us. Wouldn't you like to live in Harrenhal, away from all this, to raise our kids freely?"
"Of course I would like that, that's all I want" she replied with a puff "don't go to your father right away, mhm? Let's wait a few days"
Harwin didn't know why she wouldn't just say yes, hoist Kylian on a horse and leave that very second. He indulged her in the time she needed to think it over.
The very next day, Ayla found herself in Adrian's room. Adrian inspected the letter until he just shrugged.
"What exactly are you afraid of?"
"I don't like the idea of leaving. The Princess left and now everyone is talking about her freely. So does Ser Laenor. Harwin is already being talked about since he left the Princess detail, if we also deserted it would be admitting guilt"
"I think it would be good for you, to leave" Adrian left the letter on top of his desk and looked at Ayla, sitting on his bed "it'll do you good. King's Landing has changed you"
"Changed me?"
"Yes. This very situation is an example. The Ayla I know, who protected everyone around her would've taken her family and gotten out of here. Now everything you think about is alliances, greens, blacks, Larys, perception. Forget about it, Ayla, and leave"
Ayla fiddled with her rings and thought about his words. He was right, Ayla always thought about doing things to protect others, now she didn't do them because of how people would see her.
"Maybe you're right" she admitted.
"Not maybe, I am right" he replied with a fake superiority to make her smile at a little joke. It worked, Ayla rolled her eyes at him with a smile.
"I know that if I leave, you won't come with me" Adrian pressed his lips in a thin line.
"It's a good thing you know me, it would've broken my heart having to tell you"
Ayla gave him a weak smile and fiddled further with her rings.
After speaking with her brother, she slowly fell in love more with the idea of leaving, specially after seeing her little boy around, thinking how happy he would be being raised by the two strongest men in all Westeros, both Harwin and her father.
Once clinging to Harwin's neck as they laid together and were ready to fall asleep, she looked up at him and held herself up on her arm.
"I think it would be good for us, to leave"
Harwin had forgotten that Ayla was still thinking about the letter as if it was a proposal and not a given fact. His fingers stroked her cheek as he smiled.
"My brother has made me realize that I haven't been the same ever since I came here. Though I'll miss the Capital, I know we will be better off in Harrenhal"
Harwin felt relieved that Ayla was okay with the move. Truthfully, he would've tired her with convictions until she agreed.
Now, all that was left was how Lord Lyonel would take the news. Ayla had left the conversation to be started by Harwin, since Harrenhal was their ancestral seat.
On the day that Ayla thought Harwin might bring up the conversation, Lord Lyonel had been brief in breaking his fast with them, but before he left he did say to Ayla "you might be interested in going to the throne room after supper"
She had been his second pair of eyes and ears in more than one occasion. When Lord Lyonel thought that something might be controversial or not accepted by the other Lords and commoners, he would plant a seed and Ayla would listen to the bloomings around the room, later she would relate the information and he would make a decision based on that.
The reason why she would be needed in the throne room wasn't such. Ayla was surprised to see the King, curious Lords filled every gap of the side corridors, and in the middle stood all 25 captains of the city watch. In the crowd was, of course, Harwin and her brother Adrian, who had recently been appointed Captain.
She observed the room, on the other side she could spot Larys, leaning on his cane as he spoke with a lord he couldn't pinpoint, two of them actually, next to the throne was the King and some of the members of the small Council, including Lord Lyonel in his role as hand.
Harwin, with his eyes trained in front of him, hadn't accounted for Ayla's presence.
Her questions were soon answered. When the King walked to the front of the Throne room, everyone went quiet.
"I am deeply grateful to the captains of the city watch for taking their time to be at this assembly today" he spoke, not really acknowledging the other Lords and commoners who, Ayla assumed, had attended the Throne room out of curiosity and not by the King's summons "as you're aware of, the City Watch stands, currently headless in command. It is my regret to inform you that Prince Daemon, as loved as he is by the majority of you, will not return to his place as the Commander"
Ayla's eyes quickly fell to the Hand, who had apparently seeing her as soon as she had found a place in the corridor. They exchanged knowing looks and Ayla's palms began to sweat at the realization.
"It is time to choose a new Lord Commander of the City Watch"
A/N: shor-ish chapter today because I want to get back to longer ones next tuestday. Been eager to write the next one. Enjoy :)
Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6 / Part 7 / Part 8 / Part 9 / Part 10. / Part 11
Ayla carefully placed Kylian in the cradle, the little one was full and fast asleep, he didn't even noticed the warm body of his mother leaving him. Once she made sure he wouldn't wake up, she exited the room and quickly looked for a handmaiden to look after him.
Decidedly she entered her bedroom just as Harwin was looking down at his scrolls and fiddling with the straps of his armor at the same time.
Harwin looked over his shoulder briefly to Ayla, finding a little smile on her. He motioned at his shoulder and she walked to him to help him undo the chest piece of his armor.
"Where's Kylian?" It was the first question he always asked if he saw her alone. If she was with her son, he would often direct his questions towards her day or her well being.
"He's just fallen asleep, he's being watched" Harwin held the chest piece as it fell off his chest, then grabbed it by the collar and pulled up "I reckon we have two hours"
His eyes fell on her face, the mischievous smirk already painted on it. He turned and hung the chest piece in the holder, his hands then moved to the belt that held his armored kilt over his trousers.
"Two hours, what for?"
As soon as his kilt was off his body and also hung in the armor holder. Ayla walked the step that separated and climbed on her tiptoes, tilting her head up for her nose to touch his.
"For you to do whatever you want with me"
Harwin's hands were on the low of her back by the time she finished her sentence. His hands teased the ribbons of her dress. Since she hadn't changed her mind about breastfeeding her son, she wore accessible dresses and only two ribbon pulls was what was needed for the dress to pool at her feet in an instant. An underskirt was all that dressed her.
When Harwin clasped her jaw and pulled her in for a kiss, she knew she was in for a good one. He grabbed her by the waist and turned her around, leading her to the bed.
Ayla's hands tried to work blind behind her on Harwin's strings of his trousers. When they were at the side of the bed Ayla managed to pull the strings and sneak her hand to find Harwin's ready member, begging for her touch.
One of his hands grabbed her by the neck again and pulled her to flush her back to his chest, his other hand snaked from her stomach and clasped at the ribbon in the front of her under skirt, pulling it and letting the skirt fall at her feet. Ayla's fingers wrapped as they could over his length and stroke him up and down, making Harwin let out a strangled moan right next to her ear.
His own fingers got lost between Ayla's folds, finding quickly her most sensitive spot and making her legs give in for a second at the sudden jolt of pleasure she had missed for over four long months.
Harwin's fingers began moving quickly over her bud, Ayla's head fell backwards to meet his chest, her moans reverberated in her throat and Harwin loved the way it felt under the grip he had on her neck. Even though Ayla wanted to keep stroking him, her hands left his member when Harwin's finger's quickened on her, making her hands grip his own between her legs and gripping her neck, holding herself for dear life as Harwin worked his fingers on her. The sounds in between her legs turned wetter, her moans louder and highed in pitch until her legs trembled and she fell forwards, her nails clawing at his forearm until Harwin rode off her orgasm with her fingers.
His hands grabbed her by the waist and guided her on the bed, Ayla crawled on the bed as she could, her breath still labored by her orgasm. Her on her fours and Harwin behind her had been a position they'd favored when she was with child, not knowing how good it could feel now that she was missing the extra weight.
He discarded his pants and knelt behind her, his hands cleared the hair that had fallen on her back to the side, leaving her back exposed and open for his heavy hands to roam freely, something that always drew moans of satisfaction in Ayla's side.
Ayla turned to the side, supporting his weight with one of her hands. Just has Harwin took his tunic off, Ayla's hand met with his lower stomach. The feeling of her nails raking over it and upwards to his chest made his cock twitch with need.
He leaned down and Ayla wrapped her fingers on the back of his head to bring him closer, their lips met in a needy kiss, with teeth scrapping each other's lips. Harwin guided the tip of his cock to Ayla's wet entrance. She gasped at the feeling interrupting the kiss and arched her back, waiting for the moment when she finally felt him filling her up again.
Harwin pushed in slowly, Ayla's eyebrows meet at the middle and Harwin couldn't drown the moan that came from her with his mouth, his own one was slightly agape as he entered her. His hands fisted Ayla's flesh, one at her thigh and the other one at her glute. The way he gripped must've been rough by the way her moan suddenly turned into a whimper. When he released her glute Ayla's lips found his as she shook her head, then moaned over his lips when his hand glided gently over the aching glute. He felt the skin perk up in goosebumps under his hand and pulled back from the kiss.
Kneeling tall behind her and now fully buried in Ayla's waiting walls, he began thrusting in and out, testing the water on how she could be feeling after the birth and how much she could take.
With his hands on her hips he thrusted in and out, his hands tightened on her waist and he began snapping faster. Ayla's arms faltered below her and she climbed down on her elbows. The reach of Harwin deepened and she feel down on the bed, her eyes rolled to the back of her head as Harwin pushed harder, his fingers gripped and threatened to bruise her waist. It made Ayla drown her moans over the sheets, then her toes curled and she cried out when she reached her climax, her voice quivered and Harwin's thrust stopped to let her recover.
She felt her legs hurt and Harwin sensed, by her mewl of complaint, the the position had run it's course. He pulled back and moved to lay her on the bed. His body engulfed hers and her legs wrapped around his middle, he found his home again between her walls and began thrusting again, with her eyes closed and limbs barely hanging onto him, Ayla only moaned in pure ecstasy, her eyes closed tightly.
When Harwin moved to grab her leg and pulled it up and over his shoulder, pressing her thigh to her stomach, Ayla came again with a loud cry, then held her breath as Harwin kept pounding into her. The sounds and feelings of her clenching walls hadn't been enough to bring him to his end, but he was certainly getting there.
He straightened again, sitting on his heels and lifting Ayla's hips, thrusting into her fast and hard, forgetting completely that he was supposed to be gentle in his return after the birth. By the way Ayla now grunted a string of yes and her hands held onto his forearms as he pounded she was taking him well.
She didn't seem to have much voice by the time Harwin reached his own climax. His fingers had dug painfully into Ayla's waist and spilled uncontrollably into her, not something he planned on doing when he first realized that she was ready to take him after the birth.
He collapsed carefully on top of Ayla's own trembling body and arched back, his forearms supported him and his fingers ran over her hairline, clearing it out of her wild hair. His lips descended into her breathless ones and kissed her so slowly she couldn't believe he was capable of such tenderness after he'd savagely ravaged her minutes ago.
The friction of his mouth on her lips and then down her neck, combined with his hands on her sides and one sneaking to rub at her bruised ass cheek made Ayla, already too overwhelmed to think straight, burst out in tears.
Harwin definitely wasn't expecting such an outburst and he feared he had hurt her in any way. Ayla tightened her grip on his body to keep him close and she could feel his hot breath on her cheeks and eyes as he kissed her forehead.
"Ayla, what's the matter love?"
"I'd missed it, having you like this" she muttered. Harwin ran his hands over her temples to clean her tears, then moved to slip out of her. "No, stay like this" she pleaded, a sob threatening at her throat.
"I'm going to turn us around, you can sleep on top of me. Is that okay love?" Ayla nodded and Harwin slipped a hand under her, then turned around. Ayla laid between his open legs and her head came to his chest, hands sneaking below him and pressing at his shoulder blades. Harwin's hands rubbed her back easing her.
He had to admit that he'd also missed having her like this. He'd missed his hands gliding up and down her back with no other purpose other than feeling her soft skin against his calloused hands, and he'd certainly missed ravaging her with absolutely no worries that she might out the sudden touch her stomach and say that she was too uncomfortable to continue.
As soon as he could put two thoughts together, Harwin worried that his seed would take. Soon after the birth Ayla had told him that she would definitely be happy bearing more children for him, but he though that her body could use some rest. Not even three moons had passed from Kylian's birth.
Ayla couldn't tell how long it had been since she'd first fallen asleep, but when she woke up again it was because of the cries of her son. Harwin wasn't below him like she remembered, but now swayed the boy around.
Sha called for him and laid in the bed with Kylian next to her to feed, Harwin assured the he would take care of him while she slept, and she fell asleep shortly after that.
The following weeks after Lord Edder's departure, the Princess Rhaenyra announced her second pregnancy.
After that, a feast was held for Prince Jacaerys first name day. Ayla and Harwin, as well as the rest of House Strong joined the festivities. It was the first time Harwin had done so as a nobleman, only after being pointed out by his father that he now had a partner to accompany him.
The first month after Kylian's birth, Ayla didn't leave him at the cares of the maids, the night of the party wasn't an exception and Ayla attended with her boy secured to her chest.
Strangely to Ayla, the Princess did approach to meet Kylian, but only when Harwin held him as he stood far away from her.
If Ayla held any feelings of protection towards Harwin, they only doubled when it was about her son. Harwin, a proud father, let his guard down quite often when he was around the Princess, and he allowed for her to touch Kylian's little head and hold his hand as she looked at him tenderly. He paid absolutely no mind at how people around him saw them, but Ayla did.
The closeness of the Princess to his guard was only giving people more things to talk about, the fact that Kylian and Prince Jacaerys held a likeness to each other only increased the whispers. And now, the Princess cooing over Harwin and his son, that would sit well with her.
Ayla hadn't noticed how tight she was clenching her fists until she forced herself out of her seat and grabbed her gown, the palms of her hand tingled and burnt with the release of pressure by her fingernails.
She made her way surrounding the crowd towards them and as she neared she heard the little wails and cries of Kylian, which Harwin also noticed and made him glance around the room, presumably looking for her.
When they locked eyes, Ayla tried to seem unfazed by how the Princess engaged in conversation with her husband, but her instincts got the better of her and she extended her hands, receiving Kylian and securing the blanket over him.
"Congratulations, Lady Ayla, it's a wonderful boy" the Princess praised. Ayla only gave her a tight lip smile and a glance to her husband.
"Thank you, your Grace" she replied curtly. She turned on her heels after giving Harwin a quick smile, one that she didn't think gave him much peace about her feelings.
Back at the Tower of the Hand, after feeding Kylian and not wanting to go back to the feast, she sat next to his crib and looked down at him, at his little chubby cheeks, his brown hair. She stroked his temple with a sad smile, dreading the moment when the boy would be associated with the young Prince Jacaerys and the accusations of bastardy. She was sure that time wouldn't take long to arrive.
"It was noticeable" Ayla lifted her eyes to Lord Lyonel, the both of them reviewed the scrolls on the desk, as they did almost every evening.
"My anger?" She asked, her hand cupped her son by the base of the straps that held him to her chest "it's beyond my control. If I can't keep my husband away from her, I will certainly keep my son"
"I believe you might want to keep Harwin away from the Princess as well"
Ayla hated to know exactly why Lord Lyonel would use her to break Harwin's hard earned trust with the Princess.
"I don't have any other reasons to do so other than my jealousy" she lamented.
"Maybe it's time to use that" he advised.
Ayla also knew that it was imperative to do so before the birth of the Princess' next child, hoping to shield the family from what everyone feared, another dark haired Targaryen.
Ayla tried with all her might to guard her feelings when she saw them out and about in the keep and in the gardens. The whispers and the way the other Ladies at court looked at her when she entered the room started to do a number on her feelings.
The only thing that sparked her anger was the Princess' return of her visits at the side of the barracks. She had, as much as Ayla knew, stopped visiting the barracks and taken a whole other route towards the dragon pit. Now seeing the Princess with her son and Harwin speaking to each other, she couldn't walk to the tent of the barracks as she intended to to deliver a message from the Hand.
Instead, she'd exhaled furiously and waited at the entrance of the castle, watching people come and go as she swayed side to side, trying to calm herself down with more effort than which she appeased Kylian in her arms, awake but for the moment calm.
Once Harwin crossed the doors and saw her, he immediately noticed that something was wrong.
"You should've gone to the tent, taken a seat as you waited"
"I wouldn't dare to interrupt your time with your Princess" she lifted the scroll to him and he took it in one swift motion, now clearly angry at the comment.
"My Princess?" He asked, walking a step to her and forcing her to look up at him.
"She certainly thinks you're her one and only knight, the only one in the Keep who would talk to her. One would think she would be busy enough with now two children to be fawning over a guard in her detail"
"Ayla" he called, warning her to stop talking.
Ayla sighed in frustration and motioned at the scrolls now crumpled in Harwin's fist.
"That's urgent" she called, then turned around and left him.
Not two hours later Harwin entered the bedroom and was determined to resolve Ayla's issues, whichever they were, that same afternoon.
He had to wait as Ayla gently swaddled Kylian side to side until she finally placed him in the crib, once she was sure that he wouldn't wake up, the both of them walked out of the bedroom. Not further away from the door, Harwin spoke.
"What is the matter with the Princess now, Ayla"
Her blood suddenly boiled.
"This is not a first time occurrence. I've tried to bite my tongue about the Princess' visits -"
"Rhaenyra does not visit me at the barracks"
"Oh certainly, the quickest path to the dragon pit is now through the serpent corridors of the barracks instead of cutting straight through the gardens?"
"I thought your own jealousy reasons with the Princess had been resolved"
"It's not jealousy, it's protection" Harwin showed surprise, not in his immutable facial expression, but by the way his shoulders straightened "the Princess may court around you as she pleases, I will even allow that. What I will not allow is for her to put my son in a position where one could look at the Prince and Kylian and draw a misconstrued conclusion. Specially if you're in the mix."
Ayla sometimes could not believe that Harwin would be so oblivious to foreign eyes. If the Princess didn't fancy Harwin, Ayla would believe she did most things on purpose to further besmirch his name. The way his shoulders relaxed with a sigh and how he looked down in repent made her understand that he truly had no idea his actions would make people arrive to such conclusion.
Ayla felt bad, just for a second, for saying things so harshly. Her fingers fiddled with a ring that Harwin had long gifted her, and next to it a ring he'd given her after Kylian was born.
"It's not you who I'm mad with. It's her" Harwin looked up at her, his head still tilted to the ground "she's the one who's supposed to be watching her back after such things have been the gossip of the whole town, not feed them in the way she does"
He remained silent, truly torn. He knew his wife was right, but he knew the troubles the Princess was facing. Stuck in a marriage with a man who did not fancy her as a wife and be forced to produce an heir with that man.
That night, after things had calmed down between them, sleep was not a thought Harwin was entertaining. Instead, he placed a hand on Ayla's thigh and moved her to wake up in a whisper. She turned around and looked at him. Clearly she hadn't been sleeping either "what am I to do?"
She turned fully on her side and placed a hand under her cheek.
"About the Princess?" She asked, trying to make sure they were in the same page, Harwin only looked at her to make her continue "you are to do as you please"
He instantly shook his head "I don't like that answer"
"And I don't like the thought of depriving the Princess of the only support she has. I shall only ask for you to be careful. Put some thought on how people will see you. If you wish to continue being Princess Rhaenyra's support I understand, but I will certainly keep Kylian away from her, and her children"
Harwin tightened his lips and gave her a short nod. In return Ayla placed her other hand in his cheek and rubbed his cheekbones with her thumb.
"We shall see how things turn out after the birth of her second child" he said, his eyes meeting Ayla's "if things turn worse, we might have to think of something else"
"In due time, we will"
Ayla didn't know, at the time, what he meant by having to think of something else. Sadly she wouldn't need to wait long to find an answer to her questions.
