A song of Ice and Fire 1. Prologue

Since we have to wait till march 2014 for a new episode on tv, I decided to create a little Ice and Fire for myself, and for you to enjoy.

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The salty sea wind made clouds float over Gulltown. They blocked the light of the moon and its stars. It was still very crowded on the central square, therefore today was not just another day. Today a feast started, a holiday celebrated every second full moon of summer. It was organized by royals and noblemen to keep the citizens of Westeros entertained in times of peace. There shall be seventeen days of festivities all over the continent. Footsteps banged through the streets of Gulltown to the square where they echoed between the high, majestic buildings that surrounded the center. From the windows of these buildings shone the light of candles. They didn't take away the blackness from the cloudy night, but just threw extra dark shadows over those who gathered on the square. In the middle of it there was a wooden stage where the residents of the city went and stood around. The stage was shaped like a rectangle and had large fire pits on all four of its corners. It would not be long before a speaker was to enter the stage. This was the feast of the speaker. Seventeen days of storytelling. Old legends shall be lectured and new myths will be created. The one who opens the feast as the first speaker will take eternal fame.

Slowly, it became quiet on the square. Everyone had found his or her spot and looked eagerly towards the stage, awaiting who would be the first to speak. Royals and nobles had the best spots. They watched from the windows of the buildings surrounding the square where they found no trouble with the many people on the ground and could easily see the stage. Speakers, often nobleman and priests because they were the ones who could read, stood with their families and friends next to the wooden rectangle. In just a few minutes one of their names would be called and then the speaker had to be able to quickly enter the stage. The rest of the square was packed, well into the adjacent streets. Here were hidden away the poor or nameless residents of Gulltown. Besides the wind, it was quiet, until the steps of the stairs next to the stage began to crack. A man in a golden cloak climbed up to the stage. Its hood covered the man his eyes. He was wearing leather gloves. In his right hand he held a curled bugle and in his left hand he was carrying a sealed letter. The name of a soon to be famous citizen was on there. When the man stood firm on the stage, he lifted the bugle and began to blow a melody. It fitted well with the dark night it was, despite of the full moon. To the rhythm of the heavy echoes caused by the blowing on the bugle, men with torches came out of the main building on the side of the square and slowly marched to the center. Everybody knew these were the best knights of Westeros, and that most of them came from King's Landing, the capital. These knights traveled around the continent to help during the festivities since there was no war going on. They ended up picking drunk men from the streets or separating men fighting over women. The golden cloaks which were also worn by the knights hid their armor. "As high as honor," whispered the knights. When the bugle call stopped, the whispering grew into screaming. The residents of Gulltown mysteriously screamed along with the motto of The Vale. "As high as honor. As high as honor." Everybody knew when to stop screaming, but the silence that followed became interrupted.

A young woman with wild, long, red hair ran onto the square out of the building were previously the knights came from. She was shaky, screamed and hoped through the crowd. The woman wore necklaces with strange symbols over an animal skin she hung around her long slender body. With her very large hands she held a newborn above her head.

People jumped all over the place to avoid the screaming creature. In a panic they jostled each other in front of streets that detracted from the square and its buildings whose heavy wooden doors already slammed shut. No one understood a word of what the young woman is saying, and her sentences were interrupted as suddenly as they had begun.

The fire pits shone their lights over the golden cloaks lying on the ground of the square. Besides a few knights the place looks abandoned. The knights stood around a body, which was the source of a little red river that flowed between the bricks of the streets of Gulltown. One of the knights held a quiet newborn.


	2. Chapter 1

I had placed a stool in front of the wall, but still only the tips of my fingers could touch the shelve I was reaching for. "Kith? Can you give me a hand, please?" I called to the other room. A burly man with a beard and broad shoulders walked into the kitchen. He grinned. "You look nothing like your mother, do you know that?" he said, while he grabbed a book from the high shelve and handed it to me. "She was as tall as I was, maybe even a little taller. You are at least a feet shorter than me." The thought of my mother made me shiver. I heard many stories about her. People where terrified of her, they often claimed she was a witch and that I am her witchy child. I was glad I looked nothing like her. "At least I am as tall as a normal woman. Besides, I'm young, I might still get a little taller," I said defensively. Kith shook his head. "You are not that young anymore." I let him watch me while I stepped of the stool. Lately, he had been looking at me like this a lot. He admired me. I liked it and it made me blush. "You know so much about my mother, and yet you do not know her name."

We sat down at the kitchen table. Kith let his arms rest on his lap, and looked down when he said: "Her name does not matter; you are what matters to me." Kith never dared to look me in my eyes when we talked about it. Our relationship that was not a relationship. He was a knight. He had sworn not to have a wife and not to father a child. And I knew he hated it. One time he told me about the night he saved my life. I do not remember anything about it of course, I was just a baby. But when my mother the witch ran through the crowd, screaming puzzling words before she got killed, Kith was the one that insisted on keeping me alive. He told me he fell in love with me with just one look in my eyes.

"Eleanor," Kith said, and he earnestly looked at me, "I do not know how to explain this to you. I am not here just to help you reach you book or to tell you stories about your mother." His words alarmed me. "Nor am I her to tell you how important you are to me." "Is there something wrong?" I asked. My eyes were big because I feared the words that might follow. Kith nodded, and after a pause he continued speaking. "Yes. A raven came. I have to leave Gulltown." "Why?" I cried out, "and when?" my hands were shaking. "There are people who are more in the need of protection by knights than you are. I leave Gulltown tomorrow morning, but I have to leave this house tonight." "That is not true. I am not wanted here. Without you, who knows what people out there will do to me? I need you!" "It is my duty as a knight to follow orders. Like I said, you are not that young anymore. We both knew a day would come where you would have to protect yourself. Today is that day," Kith raised from his seat. Irritated as he was by my words, he walked towards the entry door.

"Wait," I said. I didn't want this to be my last memory of the knight that had been so good to me for so many years. "If it was not for your vow, would you have married me?" I dared to ask. "Eleanor," Kith answered, while looking down to the floor again, "if it was not for my vow, I would have married you years ago and we would have had many children by now." An then Kith disappeared after a last kiss on the tip of my nose.


	3. Chapter 2

The cooking book that seemed so interesting just a couple of minutes ago was useless by now. What would I need a cooking book for when there was nobody to share my meal with? I already felt alone. Sure, Kith had left the house before, but always to come back after a few days. There were times he would not even care to say goodbye. He always returned, always, but this time I felt different about his departure. What if he was gone for good? Who was I without him? Eleanor, the witchy kid. With her short red hair and her ivory skin. It was only now that I realized that a lot of people knew what I was, but no one knew who I was. Eleanor Stone, a bastard child from The Vale. The bastard child of The Vale, I must say. Notoriously know for what I had caused: a war. And all that while I was just a baby, before I even knew what a war was.

My mother had had the worst timing in the history of bad timings. Obviously she did not even slightly over-think her deeds. Entering the most crowded square, screaming, dressed so mysteriously on the feast of legends and myths. Seven hells! No wonder people assumed that she was a witch. There sure where a lot of legends and myths about witches. And witches always had to die in the end. The dark night did not improve the situation. The citizens of Gulltown where scared, and they still are, because the man who fathered me was yet to be found. I caused a war. Knights caused a war while haunting for the poor man, they arrested and executed many innocents. The frightened residents of the port city started to oppose the army. What if their sons, their brothers, their father or friends were the next men to be suspected? Some fled the city. The mountains of The Vale gave them plenty hideouts. Mountain Clans arose. The clans sabotaged the vital trading routes and performed guerrilla attacks on the army. The war seemed endless, and now, nineteen years later, the end still appears to be far away. So far nobody is winning and nobody is losing, but many people find the dead. It all had gotten worse after Lord Jon Arryn was killed. From The Neck to the Bay of Crabs, The Vale of Arryn was in a state of total warfare. Nobody outside of the region really cared though, I believe that the war would have ended already if somebody did. Once the region was very important for merchants but they had found other ports and cities as trading locations. And King Joffrey must be happy that this war did not took place in King's Landing, so he sent knights every now and then but did nothing remarkable to solve the problem.

And then there was old Lysa Tully, Lady of the Vale. She was more concerned about her one sickly child then all of her citizens together. I did not blame her, since I probably would have done the same if I was her. I would make a terrible ruler, I must confess that.

And then it hit me. I knew were Kith was going. I bet he was on his way to The Eyrie, where the seat of Arryn is located, to protect Lady Tully and her son. The woman was very suspicious lady. After the unexpected dead of her husband, she started seeing enemies in every corner. At that point, we were again very the same. I never feel safe, except when Kith is with me. Lysa Tully must want to be protected by the best knights at all times. I had never thought of the woman in this way, and I slowly started to respect her. Kith had been right. She indeed needed his protection more than I needed it, or at least as much as I needed it.

So now I figured out what Kith was most likely up to, it was time to plan things for myself. A good nights rest for example. But after that? I locked the door and grabbed a candle before I walked upstairs. It had gotten pretty dark and I had not even noticed. I undressed myself and wanted to put on my nights clothing, but then I remembered… What for? Kith and I had always shared the bed because the house we lived in did not offer the space for two beds. It had two rooms downstairs, a kitchen and a little solar, and only one room upstairs that had a bed and a bath. We never felt like we had a lack of space, nor a lack of privacy in our house, but we both preferred to sleep with our clothes on. I blew out my candle and got in the bed. For the first time in my life I felt very cold in bed. Also, I realized that I did not had any friends to visit or a man to get married to. I already was nineteen! All the woman of my age had children by now. Kith was more right than ever. I was not that young anymore. I felt so old. I knew I could not stay where I was. A woman alone in this house, I would be raped and robbed, maybe even several times, by the end of the week. The thought made me get out of my bed again to block the entry door downstairs with the kitchen table. Nobody would get in tonight. I got back to bed and was already feeling a bit saver, I fell asleep with the fiction of Kith in a pillow I embraced.


	4. Chapter 3

The next morning I felt like I only had had a few minutes of sleep. Bugle calls woke me up. The noise seemed to come from the center of Gulltown. An execution, is that what they gathered us for? Most of the calls were for executions of 'one of my fathers' lately. But at this time of the day? Then I remembered. The knights are leaving for the Eyrie this morning. I did not bother going to the square to wave them goodbye and wish them good luck. I decided there would not be a goodbye, not today. I got out of bed and immediately felt cold when my naked body was not covered by thick blankets anymore. Slowly, and despite of the cold still half asleep, I walked towards a chest where I kept my clothes. I did not really own any dresses that were made to wear during traveling. I had not really traveled before at all. What I did know was that traveling could be tiring and that nights could be cold. There must be some inns along the way but surely they were not located on every mountain.

I chose the most comfortable dress I had. Not that I owned many. It was dark green of color, with a gold-green patterned corset. I really liked the dress and hoped it would not get too dirty along the way. I also hung a hooded woolen cloak around my shoulders to keep myself warm. After I got dressed I filled a leather bag with all sorts of things I found in the kitchen that were eatable. I even found a bucket with old water in the solar. I didn't like the taste of old water but if I wanted it fresh I had to get water from the well at the square. I did not want to go there right now, since it probably was very crowded there, so I used the old water and poured it in a jar to take it with me. The last thing I packed was the cooking book, I could not leave it behind. I know it sounds ridiculous, but it was the last thing Kith touched. I wanted to keep it.

I had trouble removing the kitchen table away from the door. How did I block the thing so easily last night? At least nobody got in. I cared for the little house, I had lived there for so long and when I finally made it outside it felt like I would never step a foot inside ever again. I still cared for the place, so I locked the door. All my memories are in there, and I do not want them to get out there and haunt my thoughts, I told myself. It sounded like a stupid saying but it made me smile. "Goodbye," I whispered, when I turned around and started walking towards the stables.

For the first time in my live I was going to steel something. When I was younger, about the age of ten I guess, I had a friend who told me he had stolen things before. I do not remember his name, but I remembered his stories. He told me that the first time you are about to steel something you get super nervous, but that feeling disappeared when you steel more often without getting caught. Which was the most dangerous thing that could happen to thieves, because it made them less cautious. And that eventually resulted in them getting caught. Well it was my first time but I was not nervous at all, so I was a little disappointed that his story was not true. Or that he just had not been that much of a baddie after all.

When I got to the stables there was no one to be seen. I had not seen as many people on the streets as usual either. Did people actually went to the square? It must be a habit for them then, it is stupid how submissive people can be. Did they forget that they were in rebellion when something interesting happened? I could hardly believe it myself, so I tried to be as quiet as possible. The straw crackled under my feet, and the horses were not so quiet themselves. They seemed restless. It is said that animals feel things before humans do, and I believed the stories. I wanted to get out of the stables as fast as possible. I picked the horse that looked the calmest. Not that there were many horses to pick from. I bet the knights got here before me and got the best ones. The horse I picked had a beautiful auburn color. I just hoped it did not belong to a little kid, making him or her cry when they found out their horse was gone. It was not until I stood next to the big animal that I realized there were not any saddles. There were bridles made of robes but that was about it. I had ridden a horse without a saddle before, I could make it work, but it was not my first choice. There did not seem to be many choices at anything at all today, so I quickly got the horse out of the stables and climbed on his back. The auburn horse was a beautiful stallion, but he was a bit old and a bit slow. I must have really looked like I was steeling the poor thing. Me, in a hurry, trying to ride a slow old horse without a saddle. Luckily there still was no one around.


End file.
