1st Day of the Seventh Moon, 281 AC – The Kingsroad, Harrenhal
---
Epigraph
"Fire does not spread because it is strong. Fire spreads because men feed it. One spark, and all the fields are ash — if no one stands to quench it."
— Jin Mu-Won
---
The Vanishing
The day began with laughter, the fields outside Harrenhal still heavy with the remnants of feasting. Knights rode, minstrels sang, smallfolk lingered to sell their wares. It should have ended quietly, as all tourneys do.
But Lyanna Stark was gone.
Her bed was empty, her horse missing. Some said she had ridden freely with Prince Rhaegar. Others swore she had been taken against her will. None agreed. All whispered.
Jin Mu-Won stood at the gates when the news broke. He felt it before the words came — the qi of the camp shifted, breaths quickened, pulses thundered. He closed his eyes briefly, his staff grounding him.
A storm had broken.
Ashara found him there, her violet eyes sharp. "Have you heard?"
"I have," Jin said softly. "And I feel what will follow."
Her lips pressed thin. "Robert Baratheon will not suffer this. Nor Brandon Stark. The realm itself may not."
Jin's voice deepened, his words slow and weighted. "Then we must ask: who will suffer most? Not the prince. Not the lords. But the women and children who cannot flee when armies march. I have seen it before. It is always the same."
Ashara looked at him long, as though memorizing his face. "Then do not let it happen again, Jin Mu-Won."
---
Brandon's Fury
By dusk, Brandon Stark stormed into the yard, his voice thunder. His men rode hard at his back, their banners snapping in the wind.
"Where is the prince?" he roared. "Where is Rhaegar?!"
Knights scattered, servants ducked. Jin stepped forward, calm as stone before the tide.
"Brandon Stark," he said, his voice carrying. "Anger burns, but anger blind will cut your own throat. Think before you demand blood."
Brandon whirled on him, eyes blazing. "And who are you, wanderer, to speak to me? My sister has been taken! I'll have her back or I'll have Rhaegar's head!"
Jin met his fury with unflinching calm. "I am one who has seen a thousand sisters lost because their brothers charged blind. You love her? Then shield her with thought, not fire. Rage is the easiest path — and the most costly."
For a moment, Brandon faltered, his breath unsteady. But pride was stronger. He spat on the ground. "Stand aside, stranger. Wolves do not beg advice from men without names."
He rode hard toward King's Landing, his men at his heels.
Jin watched him go, his staff heavy in his hand. He felt the tremor of fate in the air, the pull of blood yet to be spilled.
---
Elia's Confession
That night, Jin found Elia Martell in her chambers. She sat at her table, letters scattered, her hands trembling.
"Brandon will die," she whispered, her voice breaking. "He will ride to King's Landing and he will die. And my husband…" Her breath hitched. "My husband will not return to me."
Jin knelt before her, his voice long, resonant, each word meant to anchor. "You cannot carry this alone, Elia. You are not to blame for his choices, nor for the prince's folly. You are a woman bound in chains not of your making. If you break under their weight, who will shield your children? Who will shield those who look to you for strength?"
Tears welled in her eyes, spilling at last. "And who shields me, Jin Mu-Won?"
He lifted her hand gently, his palm warm, qi flowing faintly into her trembling frame, easing her breath, steadying her pulse. "I do. For as long as I stand, I will be a shield not only for smallfolk, but for you. For those whose strength falters. That is my vow."
She wept softly, but her breathing steadied, and for the first time, her shoulders eased beneath her burden.
---
Ashara's Anger
Later, by the lake, Ashara confronted him.
"You speak vows to my friend, to my kin, to strangers in the street. You promise to shield all — do you not see you'll be crushed under the weight of it?"
Jin's eyes lifted to the moonlit towers. His voice was calm, but longer than she'd ever heard it, deep with memory.
"I bore that weight once before. I stood against sects that sought to devour the world. I fought until my body broke, until death itself claimed me. And when I woke in this world, I thought — perhaps here, I can live without that burden. Perhaps here, I can be only a man. But the world does not wait. Storms gather, whether I wish them or not. And if no one stands, then all fall. So yes, Ashara Dayne, I will bear it again. Because better I break than they."
Ashara's eyes shone, her breath sharp. She looked at him long, then shook her head, her voice trembling though she masked it with a smirk. "You are either the noblest man I've ever met, or the greatest fool."
Jin smiled faintly. "Both, perhaps."
---
The Road Ahead
The next dawn, riders thundered past — messengers carrying news to every corner of the realm. Lyanna Stark gone. Brandon Stark riding to his doom. Lords whispering, blades sharpening.
Jin stood at the edge of the road, staff steady, his robes fluttering in the rising wind. His qi stirred stronger now, no longer just an ember but a flame rekindled. He could feel it — the storm he had foreseen was upon them.
Ashara joined him, her violet eyes fixed on the horizon. "It begins," she said softly.
"Yes," Jin murmured. His gaze was steady, resolute. "But it will not end as they think. So long as I breathe, I will not let this storm consume all."
And with the ruined towers of Harrenhal behind them, Jin Mu-Won and those beside him stepped into the first true shadows of rebellion.