Bran watched intently as the storms brewed around the castle.
' The storm bastion, it seems like something magical,' he thought.
'Just as its name implied, it seemed to stop approaching storms,' the boy thought curiously that the name suited it well.
"My lord" he heard.
And he saw the girl who had kept him from sleeping well the last few nights, the one to blame for him missing his wife so much.
Shireen Baratheon.
A Princess, the daughter of King Stannis.
The boy was about to lick his lips when he saw her approach him.
She was a bit shy.
Every time he came she looked at the ground.
But that made her even more beautiful, according to the boy.
The fifteen-year-old girl, blue-eyed, black-haired. She had had an illness that left her with gray psoriasis marks on the middle of her left cheek. Something that Sansa could certainly cure in the blink of an eye.
Still, the girl did not lose her attractiveness.
By the time she was fifteen, she had developed curves in all the right places, long legs, a narrow waist, bigger breasts than Meera, at least. She was wearing a purple dress, reaching down to her knees, with low heels.
"Princess" he greeted.
"Can't you sleep?" she asked.
She knew Bran left dinner a few hours ago and thought he was going to sleep.
The boy smiled.
"I'm not tired," he replied.
The woman looked down at this.
She felt uncomfortable, and excited talking to him.
Her stomach rumbled as she looked at him and she felt nervous.
She tried to smile as soon as she could.
Brandon Stark was attractive to her.
She knew he had a wife, but she didn't care, her mother told her it was a possibility that he could take her as a second wife.
The idea didn't appeal to her at first.
Then she met him and that changed quickly.
She still remembered her rescue.
Flying through the sky, summoning an ice tornado.
It was like a god coming down to rescue her.
A noble like the ones in the stories she was read as a child.
The girl remembered every grimace on his face as Melisandre attacked him.
The happiness of seeing how her mother hugged her when everything was over.
She made a strong decision and forgot her sorrow, and approached his side, so that they could both contemplate the storm.
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
Arya looked calmly at the storm queen, in front of them the bastard Gendry listened to the queen.
The plan was to legalize it.
Although they did not have the power to do so, not yet at least.
Arya understood the plan, while also knowing that it would cause problems in the future.
The storm lords would not accept a bastard, legalized or not, as their lord easily.
Gendry would have to earn his place.
But the boy was undecided.
He had not been trained to be a Lord.
He was a bastard.
A blacksmith.
Not a Lord.
The queen retired to her chambers shortly afterwards, leaving the young man alone.
Arya looked at him.
"You're still undecided," she said.
Gendry looked at her.
"What would happen if your father told you to marry a king to be queen?" he asked her.
Arya frowned.
"That won't happen," she said.
"It's the same, they're putting me in a place I know nothing about, I don't like it, I'm a blacksmith, not a Lord... is it so different for you?" he asked.
Arya looked at him curiously.
She noticed the man, he looked a lot like the King Robert her father told her about when she was a child.
He was tall, muscular, with short black hair and blue eyes, she could clearly see the features of Robert Baratheon.
She felt uneasy around the bastard.
Something was wrong when she was with him.
She felt uncomfortable, annoyed… Excited.
She tried to deny those feelings and focus on the boy.
He barely had a beard.
No, it's not that he didn't have any, he shaved badly, he still had some hair on his chin.
' Or it was on purpose, he left them there, because they fit him,' she thought.
Arya blinked at the thought.
She looked at Gendry uncomfortably, his eyes fixed on her.
"What is Essos like?" he asked her.
She blinked again.
"What?" she asked.
"Essos, I've never been there, and I presume I never will be there either... What is it like? " he said.
She smiled.
Amused at the change of attitude.
Gendry Baratheon's annoyance vanished in a second.
The girl closed her eyes and told him about her adventures on the other continent.
XXXXXXXXX
Rickon looked at his companion with amusement. She had arrived on the island a few days ago, having leveled up along the way, she was level 28 with 2 skill points.
Bear Island was a cold and beautiful land, a landscape with tall oaks and pines. The population was dedicated to fishing.
In several places in the North, there were female warriors, but Rickon thought they were nothing like the Mormonts, they were tough, accustomed to defending their lands when the men were away. The Mormont stronghold was a large log house surrounded by a mud palisade. Above the door was an engraving of a woman dressed in a bearskin, a child she was nursing in one arm and a battle axe in the other hand.
It was exactly like the Mormont women were, they had a strange charisma, they seemed like women of steel, the warriors of the free people, but at the same time, they were different, self-confident, not afraid to say something bad against their Lord or their king.
Without doubting themselves, getting what they want without fear, just with perseverance.
And one of the most self-assured, most charismatic, and toughest of the Mormont women stood before him.
Lyanna Mormont.
About thirteen years old like him, with black eyes, black hair, a self-confident attitude, and a look full of emotions.
"We'll give you eighty, Stark. Don't ask for more" she said.
"That will be enough, little bear" he mocked.
Lyanna looked at him with contained fury.
"I told you not to call me that, my mother does it now too, and my sisters" the Mormont complained annoyed.
Rickon smiled arrogantly at them.
"I call you whatever I want...I am your lord" he told her.
The Mormont clenched her fist.
"Eddard Stark is my lord, not you, pup," she said, annoyed.
Rickon raised an eyebrow.
"I'm his son, that makes me your lord too, little bear," he said with a provocative smile.
Lyanna's face was red and she turned to him.
"I'm a Mormont, I'm a warrior woman, not a bear," she said.
Rickon continued to smile.
"Defeat an enemy, and you can call yourself a warrior" he informed her smugly.
She frowned.
"It's not my fault, I wanted to go to war, Mother stopped me" she informed him.
Rickon raised an eyebrow.
"Father, mother, my brothers, and sisters… They all tried to stop me, and look at me now, little bear" he said.
The Mormont bit her lip.
"Well, I'll go too, and I'll kill all the enemies in the north," she said, leaving the place annoyed.
Rickon watched in amusement as she left.
There was something about the Mormont that attracted him.
Teasing her was so much fun.
She took things to heart.
His smile disappeared.
"Eighty won't be enough, but I can't do much more... Maybe go with the Reeds" he murmured.
His mind suddenly focused on the image of Lyanna Mormont.
He shook his head.
She was pretty, no doubt about it.
Her way of being also attracted him.
He shook his head again.
He needed to focus.
Prepare.
Taking Storm's End was a great achievement, defending it would be more problematic.
"I have to go soon"
XXXXXXXXX
Ned looked at the woman somewhat uncomfortably.
The woman in front of him had not changed much since her youth.
Ashara was tall, fair-skinned, with long dark hair, with a couple of gray strands, and violet eyes, she was still extremely beautiful.
Ned told her about the argument he had with Catelyn.
He could tell Ashara was nervous about everything.
"It's not an obligation, of course" he informed her.
"I understand the situation... In fact, I agree on many things, Ned" she said somewhat embarrassed.
Ned didn't understand why it was difficult.
A second wife.
He could never notice that Ashara's attitude was due to old feelings that appeared after so many years.
"On the other hand, both Rickon and Arya are single," he said to improve the situation.
Ashara denied.
"I know my brother, he would accept you or your heir, but he doesn't know your younger children, Ned... I think if you send him a letter explaining the situation, there will be no problems" she said.
"Does he know about you?" he asked.
"I told him when I returned from Essos in a letter. And Oberyn will no doubt tell him it's true," she said.
Ashara faked her death to protect the prince and princess, children of Elia Martell, not even her family knew the truth.
Ned sighed.
"What do you think?" He asked sincerely.
Ashara looked at him with a smile.
"What do you think, Stark? I've been waiting for you for more than nineteen years" she asked.
Ned was surprised.
"It's been a long time" he whispered.
His gaze was fixed on her, and hers on him.
"Many sacrifices, Elia, Brandon, Arthur, Lyanna" she murmured.
Ned nodded.
"Many" he admitted.
Ashara couldn't hold back any longer, she got up from her seat and walked over to him.
She kissed him.
She kissed him with as much force and passion that the Stark had never received.
Her frustrations.
Her wishes.
Her hope.
She put everything into the kiss.
Ned reciprocated.
He pushed her onto the table, without fear, just with passion.
He kept kissing her like there was no tomorrow.
When they recovered, they saw themselves, she lying on the table, with her legs around his waist, he with his hands under her skirt squeezing her thighs with desire.
They recovered quickly after that.
They felt like two children again, two children in love, who could not fulfill their wishes.
So far at least.
"I'll send a letter to your father," he told her.
She broke away and got up from the table.
"Yes... Do that" She sighed and walked away giving him a small kiss on the mouth before leaving.
Ned watched her leave, still excited.
"That was…Intense" he muttered.
' I must talk to Catelyn, ' He thought.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
Tywin listened to the preparations, in his hands was the report.
"balistas?" his daughter asked confused.
" Valyria moves through the free cities…There isn't much choice" he said.
He had heard of the mad king's daughter, fighting in Meeren with her dragons against the ships of the Yiti.
If she had just died it wouldn't be a problem.
"Robb Stark?" his daughter asked.
"Yes, information indicates that his wife is the daughter of the lord of Volantis, who is now part of Valyria, and the daughter of the mad king, no doubt has an alliance" he informed.
If the rumors were true.
Valyria supported Daenerys Targaryen to dominate the slave cities, if Robb Stark was allied with Valyria, he will be allied with Daenerys.
"Dragons… Annoying" he muttered.
"balistas have defeated dragons before," Jaime Lannister reported.
The old man nodded.
"We will prepare the rock and King's landing," he said.
"And the domain?" Tommen asked.
" Margaery is in the North, that indicates that there is a secret alliance, otherwise the Starks would have threatened or asked for a ransom," Cersei said, annoyed.
Tommen lowered his head.
"The Dominion betrayed us, Euron is already there to take care of them... The Martells are moving strangely, as soon as they betray us, I will finish them off, the same as the Tyrells, Baratheons, and Starks" he informed.
"The valley?" Cersei asked.
"No news from Pinky yet," he said.
[T/N: Pinky?]
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
Edric Dayne listened to his father.
"So we're going to go to war? We're going to support the Starks?" he asked confused.
His father had a letter in his hand.
"Ned and Ashara have always been very much in love, it's impossible for us to separate them if they're sure," said his father, somewhere between sad and amused.
"But war against the lions?" Edric asked uncomfortably.
He was not a coward.
But he was cautious.
"The lions are bastards, have you forgotten our princess, Elia? The Lions deserve what they get... The Starks and the Daynes have always been close, we are two of the few families where our blood, the blood of the first men, remains" he said.
Edric knew it.
The Daynes and Starks were among the few families who have had little contact with others outside their territories.
Traditions.
The blood of the first men was stronger in them than in others.
He had heard about Ned and Ashara all his life.
A tragic love story.
The Daynes were always in favor of commitment.
The blood of the first men was united in the two ancient families.
It would have been glorious.
Edric sighed.
"We must inform Prince Doran," he warned.
His father nodded.
"Will you send a letter?" he asked.
"No, in two weeks, we have to meet Doran for a personal meeting in Sunspear, I will tell him personally," he said.
"Better that there is no evidence that Tywin can use," said the boy.
The old man nodded.
Outside the office, both men couldn't see Darkstar listening behind the door.
' So an alliance by marriage with the Starks... Lord Tywin would like to know that ' he thought maliciously.
Without thinking anything else he left.
He was to send a letter to King's Landing.
[T/N: FUCKING HONORLESS COWARD!! ]
[T/N: Fuck Patreon, truly. You have probably read it in my note, but I got hacked or something, and my account was deactivated without warning.
I did not receive a warning or anything; there are over 300 chapters.
So here's the new deal, as I have probably said, I will be in mass releasing a fuck ton of chapters.
But, I will only be posting chapters here from now on.
If you wish to donate still, my Ko-fi is still up, and it's still the cheapest, with prices ranging from $1 to whatever you want. But don't feel obligated, as everything will end up here eventually.
ko-fi.com/puddinglord]