Chapter 106 – An Unexpectant Change

[298 AC]

"How about Allyria for a girl and Phenex for a son?", Rhaella asked softly, as she held onto Phenex' arm while they took a slow walk through the temple gardens.

Hearing that his love wanted to name their child after his mother in case it was a girl and himself if it was a boy, made the God of Volantis feel warm at heart. There was something incredibly powerful and intimate about names that captivated even a being like Phenex.

The thought of his mother's spirit living on through his child was something precious and beautiful, especially considering how much he missed the gentle woman who had raised him.

Leaning down and leaving a kiss on his Targaryen Queen's cheek, Phenex answered quietly: "I like the name for a girl, but we can't name a boy after myself."

"Why?", Rhaella asked with mild surprise, knowing how important names were for her godly husband.

"The name Phenex can only be received by my inheritor after my demise. It's a tradition older than time itself, my love. It would not feel right to break with it on a whim.", he explained patiently, before he continued softly, "Though we could name him Rhaegar, I know how much you miss your eldest son after all."

Stopping in her tracks, Rhaella looked up at Phenex with surprise and love before she stepped forward and leaned on his chest.

"I love you.", she whispered quietly as she continued with a sad smile, "But Rhaegar was a troubled child, always haunted by the circumstances of his birth. I don't want that for our child. I want our child to be free and unburdened – happy."

Gently brushing over her silvery hair with one of his hands, Phenex stilled for a moment before he answered: "Then how about Volarys?"

"Volarys?", Rhaella asked with a curious tone, as she looked up at him with her hauntingly beautiful purple eyes.

"It means 'to fly' in an ancient language.", Phenex explained with a small smile while leaving a kiss on her perfect little nose.

"I'd love that.", she whispered with bright eyes, her heart practically bursting with tender affection as she looked into the violet eyes of the man she knew to be the love of her life.

Feeling his arms wrap around her smaller frame a moment later, Rhaella closed her eyes in comfort as she laid her head to rest on his chest to savour this moment where she felt so incredibly safe and cared for.

…

[298 AC]

It was with horror that Catelyn Stark looked down at the corpse that had once been Tyrion Lannister, though could hardly be recognized as such due to the axe that had split his head.

The size of the body and the expensive leather embroidery he was clad in, were the only indicators that this had been the Queen's brother only minutes before.

It had been a member of the Mountain Clans that had killed her prisoner, who she had wanted to bring to the Vale where her sister ruled in an attempt to get justice for her son or at least to get the truth.

Now though, things had changed drastically, as with the death of the imp, Catelyn knew that a war between House Stark and House Lannister was all but inevitable, no matter the fact that she had not swung the axe that had taken Tyrion Lannister's life.

He had been her prisoner and as such his death would be considered her fault.

Had the small man died at the hands of the Mountain Clans any other day when he had not been her prisoner, it would have mattered little, but now Lady Stark knew that she was in dire straits.

"What now, my Lady?", Ser Rodrick, master-at-arms of Winterfell and loyal knight of House Stark, asked her tentatively, brows furrowed and teeth gritted, as he had apparently been injured in the ambush just now.

The man knew full well the significance of their prisoner's death, so he couldn't help but be apprehensive of their next steps. Still, he was a loyal follower and as such, it was not on him to make a decision but to carry out his Lady's orders to the best of his abilities.

Shaking off her daze and gritting her own teeth, Catly Stark answered: "We have no choice but to continue and reach the Eyrie as soon as possible. We have to get word to my husband of what happened here, fast! If the Queen gets the news first, I fear for the safety of my husband and daughters."

"What about the body?", the master-at-arms asked, knowing that they should not just leave it here.

"We take it with us and maybe it will help appease the anger of Tywin Lannister.", the Lady of Winterfell decided, though even she herself knew that such a thing was not possible.

Tywin Lannister was not known to be forgiving or merciful, and she had no doubt that the man had only gotten more ruthless as time had passed.

Regret filled Catelyn Stark's heart at once, as she thought about her rash act of taking the Queen's brother prisoner. When before her son had only been crippled and in danger because he had most likely seen something he should not have, she had now brought mortal danger to all of her children just because she had wanted to avenge the crimes committed against her beloved son.

Temperance, Catelyn Stark realised, was not a virtue without reason.

…

Reading the message sent from the Vale, Petyr Baelish couldn't help but grin deviously, a dark light shining in his eyes.

How long had he waited for this day? How much had he schemed and lied to get to this point? Finally, it was time for vengeance, to pay back the debt the Starks and Tullys owed him.

All the time he had spent manipulating Lysa and convincing her of his love, had finally paid off, as with this one message he could bring chaos to the Realm, and with time reap the benefits made available by this chaos.

Petyr knew that with Tyrion Lannister's death, war was all but certain, and with him being the first to know, he couldn't wait to bring this message to the Queen and her brotherly lover. From there he would just have to sit back and see House Stark and House Lannister burn each other to the ground.

He knew that no matter who won the ensuing war, the honorable Ned Stark would not live to see the end of this conflict. Or at least Petyr would make sure he would not.

…

Looking at the waves crashing against the shore of Dragonstone while standing in the council chamber of the castle and facing the open side of the room, Phenex' senses had already picked up on the happenings on the High Road leading into the Vale, as well as Lysa Arryn's betrayal of her sister.

Tyrion Lannister's death at the hands of the Mountain Clans had been somewhat surprising, as this was the first truly major deviation from the original timeline and a very significant one at that.

He had wondered how much his presence had changed the events happening in Westeros, even though he tried to minimize the impact he had on most events as best as he could. And some of the events had indeed played out almost exactly as he remembered: Bran's fall from the tower and even the incident at the inn at the crossroads for example.

This though marked the beginning of a totally different game of thrones, a game he knew could only end with the Red Temple as the winner.

Phenex knew that Jaime Lannister's reaction to his brother's death would be most violent and the Queen would certainly not stop him from enacting his revenge on Catelyn Stark's husband.

The only one that could warn and maybe save the honorable fool from an early grave now would be Varys, as the Spider had also gotten the news from the Vale thanks to his spies, though Phenex did not plan to let him succeed.

The Spider had already fulfilled his purpose of helping Melisandre get a seat on the small council and spread her influence at court, and now it was time for the treacherous eunuch to realize that nobody broke an oath sworn to a god without paying the price for such a betrayal.

Eddard Stark was much the same, as the man would never see the temple in a good light and at this point, it wasn't stubbornness that shaped his actions, but narrowmindedness.

All it would have taken was an offer for cooperation and Phenex would have ordered his Red Priestess to tell the Hand of the King the whole truth and ensure his safety, but he had realized that something like that was never going to happen.

Phenex had already given the man enough time to change his views and grasp the chances he had been given with Melisandre, but the Quiet Wolf seemingly could not learn from his mistakes.

'So be it.', Phenex thought to himself, as he stood by himself in the dark council chamber, his gaze turning to steel, 'Maybe the Young Wolf will be wiser in his choices.'