30

Summary:

A peek into the Vale.

Notes:

So Mya can be a bit annoying when it comes to Mychel Redfort but that is how she is most of the time in canon. I'm not going super deep when it comes to that relationship.

Edits: Changed Aegon's daughter by Mya's name from Valora to Velara. Another name change is Dalla's ermine which went from Shredder to Tassels. Random spelling and grammar mistakes across some chapters.

Notice: If you need to re-familiarize yourself with the OCs or any of the other background details of this story, there is now an appendix for helpful reference. The only spoilers are some far off pairings.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

The news of Lord Arryn's death brought a frenzy to the Vale. Neither Lord Nestor nor Myranda had allowed either household time to grieve. Not that Mya needed to mourn the late Hand of the King; she had never even met the man and she met everyone who visited the Eyrie.

Shortly after the grave gossip, word came that the Warden of the East's widow and heir were returning. Mya had heard many whispers that Nestor Royce should continue as regent for the sickly boy. Back in her youth Mya had once believed that the Royce had been the true ruler of the Vale. There were also some that spoke of the lord's ambition to marry Lady Lysa and that was the reason for Mya's frequent supply trips up the mountain, so that the lord might impress the woman with a grand welcome.

It was not the lady or the boy's return that excited Mya, but the possibility of seeing Mychel again. Lords and knights would soon come to visit their young lord and swear service, Mya hoped that Ser Lyn Corbray too would come. Mychel's squireship often kept him from her, she hadn't seen her lover in moons, so often was he at Heart's Home, Redfort or attending grand tourneys with the knight. The last time they were together they had made love. That visit had been much better than the previous.

Her mother disliked Mychel, more so at Mya's hopes for marriage. Mentions of her father always were brought up bitterly, but Mya could never match them with the big strong man that caught her without fail. Her father loved to throw her in the air as a young girl. She knew her father was also noble, she was a child of the mountain after all, a Stone. Even if Mya's father did leave without acknowledging Mya as his daughter and forgot about her mother, Mychel wasn't like that, he was sweet and gallant, and Mya wasn't like her mother. She knew her knight would marry her even against his father's wishes.

Thoughts of her lover were what entertained her during her many trips up and down the mountain. It was at the end of one of these mundane climbs that Mya was informed that she had been requested by some visitors. 

She sorted out her mules as quickly as possible and with a smile, it had to be Mychel. Mya left the rest of the work to Carrot and Ossy, she was never more grateful that she was the head mule handler and could command them around as she pleased.

Running across the grounds to the main keep, she ignored the looks of the sky-blue cloaked guards. Mya swiftly made her way to the Great Hall where her Mychel would be supping.

But he wasn't there. The messenger must have played some cruel jest on her? It was late so there weren't many still eating, Mya felt her heart sink in disappointment as she looked over everyone once more and the Redfort was nowhere in sight.

The only visitors seemed to be a group of three sitting away from everyone else, despite this they seemed to have the attention of most of the hall. 

Mya approached them hesitantly. As she neared, one of them looked up from where the trio's heads were huddled together, they waved her over. She had no idea what the three could want with her.

There were two men and a woman. They dressed finely even if their armor was scratched and dented, surcoats torn and generally slightly dirty. Mya was confident enough to say they were siblings. All three were large, even the woman looked near in height to Mya though more curvy. Mya wasn't even short, in fact she was taller than many knights and had more than three inches on Mychel.

Dropping onto the offered spot on the bench, Mya barely held back a huff just in case they were noble. She was still annoyed that they had gotten her hopes up, they should have been her sweet Mychel. "What did you need?"

The woman leaned forward on her armored elbows. She, like the larger man, wore plate, her's white and gold in contrast to his black and lightning blue. "You escort visitors to the Eyrie?"

Clenching her teeth, Mya bit her tongue at the woman's irritated tone. If anyone should be annoyed then it should be Mya, who was tricked into the conversation. "I escort almost everyone up and down the mountain. Do you need to make the climb?" That was the only reason anybody needed her excluding her lover.

"Then you would know who is here or there?" The taller man interrupted. He had black hair and bright blue eyes just like Mya.

Between the rumors from the staff and her climbs, she had a pretty good idea where most of the important lords and ladies of the Vale were when near the Gates of the Moon. "Suppose so. Is there someone you were looking for?"

"Lord Royce," the woman answered briskly. Despite being rude, she had the most unique eyes; they were purple, well partly. The eyes pulled Mya in as she tried to make sense of them, violet at the edge of her irises then indigo then blue around the pupil. 

"Lord Nestor is at the Eyrie preparing for Lady Lysa's return." Trying to impress the lady, Mya thought with amusement.

The man that spoke before corrected her, he was much more polite than the woman. "Pardon my sister, she meant Yohn Royce, Lord of Runestone."

"Oh." Mya thought over her recent accents before shaking her head. "He is not here."

The black haired man continued, "Would you happen to know if he will be here soon?"

Mya shook her head again. "He might come to see Lady Lysa when she arrives. Many lords are expected or so Lord Nester says."

Humming the man turned to his siblings. "Do we wait?"

Impatiently, the white cloaked woman scoffed. "And how long do we wait? He may not even show. And what of Aunt Bella? We can't just sit around and wait while the realm collapses."

"Then we should head back to the Kingsroad and try to sneak into the train. We could also set up at Darry, we'll be well informed and in a good place to take action. Two of us can get Bella." The armored knight didn't seem pleased with either option.

The third and quietest member of the trio finally spoke up and gave his input. "The Crossroads." He had the strangest hair she had ever seen, like snow atop a mountain of coal. The hairs came out his head black but turned the purest of whites barely an inch out of his scalp.

"The Crossroads," agreed the older, or simply larger, brother.

Seeing that they no longer needed her, Mya rose from the bench intent on leaving but was stopped by a call.

"Wait." The deep voice of the black haired man rumbled like an avalanche, like thunder. "We have a few more questions for you…" He trailed off awkwardly.

Reluctantly, Mya sat back down, she would rather be with the mules. "What?"

Over his black beard, Mya spotted a pink flush on the older man's face. He refused to look her in the eyes. "I don't quite know how to broach the subject…"

The quiet one saved his brother's dignity by interrupting disinterestedly. "He means to ask if you are still a maiden."

Choking, the darker haired brother snapped his head towards the younger. "Who straight up asks that of a woman unless you're courting? Which I should be very clear is not any of our intentions with you." He addressed the last bit to Mya frantically.

"Even if you were, I am already taken, I'm to marry a lord one day. He is one of the most promising swordsmen in the Vale, soon he'll be knighted and we can marry." Oh, how Mya longed for that day. They were only waiting until Mychel was no longer a squire and they could travel the realm as a tourney knight and his wife.

"You are already with Ser Mychel Redfort then?" The large man's voice was hollow.

Even having loved Mychel for months, the mention of them together still made her belly flutter. "Yes." She was very proud of them.

The woman stood up with a scowl. "So we wasted our time coming here. We fought the mountain clans for nothing. We could have spared Bella a month or even prevented her from being a whore in the first place." Snatching a spear and a helmet the female warrior stormed off revealing the red stripe on the edge of her snowy cloak.

"Apologies for her outburst, at times Velara can be every bit the tempest to Aethor's eye of the storm. It has been a strange and stressful fortnight for us." The elder brother ran a hand over his face and through coily black hair. "I mean this with good intentions when I say it would be in your best interest to cease your relationship with Redfort-"

"Mychel is in my best interest, he will be a knight and he is a lord. He is the best man I will ever find." Mya shot out of her seat and made for the stables, she didn't need to hear any slander of her beloved.

But the man followed her. "Loving him will only cause you pain."

She turned on her heels and wrapped a knock of the inky metal breastplate. "And stopping won't hurt?"

"It hurts more when it is love and not infatuation," he spoke pointedly.

Shoving the rude man away, she stomped a foot. "I love him." Mya started for the stables again but he was already chasing her.

"Name one flaw about him." The challenge was in the man's voice.

"We aren't married yet and he isn't here enough!" Mya provided two flaws, this asshole can't call her love infatuation now.

His exhale was loud and breathy, even over their loud marching footsteps. "Those aren't…" He growled in frustration. "Horton Redfort would never let a trueborn son of his to marry a bastard. You're not even acknowledged, everyone knows but you have no dowry, no connection to your father, no power. Horton could have the marriage annulled. Love hurts more when it is killed, slashed and gnawed at until the tether is severed. It hurts even more so the longer it is cultivated, when the roots are deeper; when they get so deep that when poisoned it can kill your heart too, when they are so tightly woven to you that they tear a chuck of you if uprooted." His words made her pause if only because they spoke of personal experience.

Mya could understand what he was trying to express but it was not a problem for her. "Mychel doesn't care what his father thinks. If Lord Redfort annuls our marriage then we will just get married again and again." She continued on, finally seeing the exit of the main keep.

"Would he give up everything he knows for you? His family? Will that not make him bitter? If you love him-" The man cut himself off before trying a different direction. "What if you could have a better man; a better swordsman, better lineage, a better flirt - well that one is debatable."

Gods! She was so tired of this man trying to interfere in her and Mychel's love, he had no right! Mya wheeled around when they were at the entrance to the stables and pushed him so hard he fell onto the dirt in surprise. "I don't care! I don't want a better man! I want Mychel!"

From the ground he looked completely defeated. His voice didn't carry any hope. "Would you believe me if I said I'm your son from the future?"

"No." Because that was ridiculous. Just because they both had black hair, blue eyes and were tall, did not mean they were related. He was most certainly not her child, any babes she had in the future would be Mychel's.

The guard doing a patrol nearby moved and held the man at swordpoint.

She entered the stables without another look. Mya huffed and made for Whitey, she liked to brush him herself, it calmed her.

The next day she learned that the group had departed the Gate of Moon early in the morn. A part of her felt relieved and another part ached with guilt and something else. Mya figured that despite the annoyance the man had been she still felt sorry they traveled the dangerous high road for nothing.

Three weeks later and she had almost forgotten about the trio. Lady Lysa had soon arrived and every day after more and more lords arrived seeking to travel up to the Eyrie. Mya and her poor mules were constantly going up and down the mountain and she'd been left with little time to spend with Mychel who had surprised her maybe seven days after Lady Arryn arrived.

It was so sweet to be reunited with him. She spent as much time as she could with her Mychel and with each passing day that time became more and more as the wave of lordly suitors waned.

Unfortunately one of those lords was Horton Redfort, who has had almost as many wives as he had sons, if he had his way Lady Lysa would make it break even. The presence of Mychel's father at the Eyrie had brought the black haired man back to mind. She feared that Lord Redfort might separate her and Mychel should they be discovered.

She was quite displeased by limiting her interactions with Mychel to stolen kisses in dark alcoves and a single quick rut in the stables. Lord Horton couldn't end what he didn't know had started though. Only four days into the Redfort lord's stay and Mya was already miserable. Mychel was so close yet she couldn't have him. 

On the fifth day as she was grumbling to herself and scowling at her supper, she was approached. Mya was momentarily reminded of the previous time she met a small party in the Gate of Moon's great hall. So she narrowed her eyes at the group. "What?"

They could not be more different than the last group though there were some similarities. This group doubled the previous one in number. Like last time two had black hair but two also had white locks and two more had almost certainly replaced their hair with the finest golden thread as no blonde could naturally be so rich and shiny. It was the similarities that made her suspicious: one had the exact same strange black-to-white hair as the youngest boy from the trio, one of the girls looked very well like she could be related to them too, and finally was the purple eye. The blonde girl had a single purple eye, Mya had never seen a purple eye until three weeks ago when she saw a pair of them, but now she'd seen another, as odd as it was to only see one.

The eldest gave her a charming smile. "I do apologize for interrupting your meal but I did not wish to dally before introducing you to your half-sister." He gently pushed forward a girl.

A few years younger, Mya's alleged sister was already more womanly than her, womanly was probably an understatement. She was pretty in ways that Mya was not and shorter. Her black hair fell in beautiful curls unlike Mya's which was generally messy, short and boyish. The girl's blue eyes sparkled as she took a seat and offered an almost flirty smirk. "Not everyday one meets a king's daughter."

Mya felt her lips pull into a grin then falter. "Officially I'm not the king's bastard. I haven't been recognized." People loved to remind her of that fact. "Everything would be better if I was." She might have been able to marry Mychel.

"Or worse. The queen might have had you killed." The white haired woman somehow made a smile sarcastic.

Her sister ignored the off hand comment and leaned forward only emphasizing the larger bust she had than Mya. "Acknowledged or not we are still pretty golden does." On cue she fluttered her big round eyes.

"How do I know you are my sister?" It wasn't that Mya completely disbelieved it but the girl looked like the dark haired man that hounded her about Mychel, if Mya and this girl were related then so too might the man and his siblings.

"I'm named Bella. For the battle, Battle of the Bells. My mother was apparently our father's favorite whore while he hid in the Peach as the Griffin Lord searched the town for him. I came nine moons later when the war was over and the Mad King was dead." The curvy girl shrugged. "I was to be a whore but apparently my maidenhead is worth more than a few dragons."

Mya frowned as she recalled her mother too had the Baratheon's favor, for a time. Were men's attentions as truly fleeting as her mother made them out to be? Would Mychel forget her as soon as he found a noble girl to bed and name as his wife? If a king was like that, why couldn't the fourth son of a lord be too? She shook her head. Mychel was good. "I gave mine away for free but Mychel and I will be married as soon as he is knighted."

She saw the others frown and reveal their disapproval. They held their tongues though so they weren't as bad as the trio had been, or so she thought.

One of them did speak up after a second. The youngest, hair as black as coal with a stripe of gold, bright green eyes and tan skin, she perked up in her seat. "You can't marry him! You can only marry Kepa and Mama!"

Seeing Mya's scowl, the white haired woman quickly abducted the little girl from her spot on the bench and slapped a hand over the small girl's mouth. Scowling, the elder woman gave a hollow apology. She seemed as cold as her breastplate.

It was the mismatched eyed blonde that gave Mya a sheepish smile. "Pardon Elaena, she is only six and likes to attach herself to women that remind her of our Muña. We haven't seen her in a month and El is just scared."

Mya frowned and looked at the grumbling little girl, reluctantly she accepted the apology. Why were people so against her and Mychel? She pointedly didn't respond and went back to eating.

Bella, her half-sister, propped her head on her arm and gave a smirk that reminded Mya all too much of Myranda. "So this Mychel…" At least her sister was supportive.

And so Mya told Bella all about her promising knight. If she got some petty pleasure from the others' annoyed faces then who could blame her, they disapproved of her love. She answered all Bella's inquisitive questions and repeated all the lovely things her Mychel had said to her.

When Bella began to pry for more naughty gossip, the blonde man interrupted. "I understand that you like this squire very much, but do you not think it would be wise to express some caution. While this lord sounds kind, many men have put on fronts to use women. Some dangle the promise of marriage but after they get what they want they do not fulfill their vows. My main concern is the boy's father, you sound like you know he will disapprove."

A rumble rolled in her throat, a thunder, but she held back from storming away like the previous time. She found this man more tactful than the last. "Once Mychel is knighted it doesn't matter what his father thinks, he'll become a tourney knight or a knight for hire and I his wife. We'll leave the Vale."

"I don't think that will be as easy as you dream." The man's green eyes held deep compassion. "The Vale is not a place one can travel alone or in pairs. We hired men to guard us as we crossed the mountains. The clans will attack you if they spot you and as good of a sword he may be, not even Aemon the Dragonknight could protect you from a party of clansmen alone. And not to be forgotten is Lord Redfort, he has both men and gold, I have little doubt he could retrieve a wayward son if he wishes."

With each word spoken Mya felt her dreams gain another crack as they came closer to shattering. Was there really no way for her to be with Mychel? Tears were beginning to pool in her eyes when she felt tiny arms wrap around her.

Elaena and her strange hair was pressed against her side, hugging Mya. "No tears! You'll marry a prince, he is way better than some knight!"

Mya found greater comfort from the embrace than the words. The tears never finished forming as Mya wiped the corners of her eyes with her fingers. She couldn't just give up on Mychel because it will be hard. Despite what the little girl might think Mya would never marry a prince, not to mention there were only two princes in Westeros and they were her half-brothers. Mychel was too good for her but she loved him and he loved her, they could marry if they fought for it. 

After a few minutes of silence and enough time for Mya to calm, the older blonde sighed. "I suppose we should introduce ourselves. Excluding Bella, we are all siblings. I am the eldest. Taelon." He offered her his hand to shake which she accepted.

The next one was the armored woman. "Rhaenyra." She offered a curt nod and a smirk, her black eyes were surprisingly rich with warmth.

"I'm Jaeanna." The younger blonde said as she wiggled her fingers in a mock wave. Her nails on that hand were emerald green while the left were purple like amethysts, all the nails seemingly required repainting and the colors were on the reverse hand to the matching eye. She was between Mya and Bella in age and easily the most beautiful girl or woman that Mya had ever seen.

A boy that had yet to talk came after her. He was the one with hair like Aethan, or was it Aemon, Arthur maybe, something with an A. On his lips danced a mischievous smirk that sang of trouble. "Oberyn. Most call me Obi."

"I'm Elaena, after my grandmuña!" The black haired girl practically shouted from Mya's side. She still hadn't released the Mya from her embrace.

Bella laughed at Mya's flinch, but Mya ignored her. "Is introducing me to Bella the only reason you five came here?"

It was Taelon who answered, he seemed to be the leader. "We had other tasks, one of which we were too late for but it isn't of great consequence. We were wondering if Lord Yohn Royce happened to be here or up at the Eyrie."

She was struck with a sense of suspicion, the other group had wanted to know about Lord Royce as well. Bronze Yohn had not yet arrived when the trio asked but if Mya recalled correctly she escorted him up the summit not long ago. "I brought him up a week ago with his son Robar."

"And would you be able to take us to the castle tomorrow?" Rhaenyra asked.

Mya nodded. "So long as you get approval."

Rising from the bench, Taelon dusted off his fine but slightly dirtied jerkin. "Of course, we best get to that then. It is getting late and we wouldn't wish to catch Lord Nestor in a foul mood. Thank you, Mya. I hope to see you in the morning." He left with Obi and a reluctant Elaena.

The rest of Mya's night was spent mostly talking with her half-sister before they both had to go to bed for an early climb up the mountain.

At dawn as she prepared the mules for another trek, Mya was approached by some guards and Nestor Royce himself, behind them was the group of six. It seemed they got Lord Nestor's approval or the man just wanted another go at courting the widowed lady of the Eyrie.

The little girl, Elaena, shared Taelon's mule as he didn't don armor. Thankfully she was still tired enough to fall back asleep. Mya disliked escorting children, especially Lord Robert, they always fused and squirmed on her mules leaving both beast and rider unsteady. Elaena and Robert Arryn could not be more different however: one a girl and the other a boy, one healthy and adorable while the other was sickly and disgusting, one sweet and the other a pest. Fortunately she only had to take Robert up once and he spent most of the climb with his face between his mother's breasts.

From the Gate of Moon to Stone, their time passed by peacefully, the path easy and surrounded by forest. She and Bella spent most of the time gossiping, though her sister had little energy after rising so early.

As they left Stone, Mya gave the advice she always offered to maiden climbers: don't lean, eyes on the path and don't look down.

Oberyn, the white haired boy, scoffed and looked off the cliffside anyway. "That is nothing. I've dived off a cliff from higher."

"Does Mother know of this?" Taelon's voice was quiet but stern as he cradled the youngest girl. He too looked down and seemed unperturbed.

While not the most tan of the siblings, Oberyn was still quite capable of paling. "Yes and no, she didn't say I couldn't. Plus Kepa and Muña were there with me. Everyone knows they take me diving."

Taelon hummed. "Father will likely be constrained to the secondary chambers again. Mother expects you to be jumping from twenty feet not fifty. If you attempt a hundred like Kepa then she might just kill him. I hope you aren't stupid enough to go jumping in Shipbreaker Bay."

"Of course not, I'm brave but not stupid. Who would be so idiotic to jump into waters with that name, it is far too rocky." The boy looked over his shoulder to glare at his older sibling.

She snorted, he acted brave but Mya had seen many courageous lords and knights go white and even soil themselves on the ascent, even more on the descent. "If this doesn't scare you then wait until we are near the top. The Eyrie is six hundred feet above Sky."

Smirking, Oberyn directed a cocky look Mya's way. "I've been higher."

Rhaenyra, who had been grumpily brooding, growled at the boy.

Mya doubted Oberyn's claim and she voiced as much. "There are not many drops higher."

"The Wall is said to have been higher at certain points and Casterly Rock is estimated to be about nineteen hundred feet with a cliff face almost as high. Neither place is the highest from which we have looked down from." Taelon did not clarify where such a place was, Mya would have liked to see what other heights there were, as she was a daughter of the mountain it is only reasonable she see her aunts and uncles.

As they neared the second waycastle, Snow, Elaena awoke and as soon as she did the girl looked down. If she wasn't whimpering then she was reaching out towards Mya or calling out for someone named Muña, sometimes she did all three at once.

Taelon held the girl close and prevented Elaena from unbalancing the mule. He offered Mya an apologetic smile in between attempts to sooth his little sister. "Pardon her, she isn't scared of heights so much as she is distrusting of rocks. She happened to witness a seaside cliff break and has trusted stone very little ever since."

She pitied the girl, more so for the stretches of the climb that had yet to come. "I'm a Stone, does she not trust me?"

"Elaena knows there are some stones that are sturdier than others, some unfailing and worth faith." Taelon then directed his words to the black haired six year old. "She knows that you will see us to the Eyrie safely."

Once more the girl reached for Mya with big glossy green eyes and a quivering lip. "Muña," she begged between whines. Fortunately for Elaena, the Spire of Snow was just ahead of them.

Inside the waycastle. They exchanged their tired mules for those well rested in the stables behind the timber fortress. The break allowed the young girl to ease her fears a bit. In the end, little Elaena shared Mya's mule and was much calmer for it.

The climb between Snow and Sky was steeper and more perilous than the past two sections but the young girl handled it better with Mya than her brother, though she did hold on extremely tight to Mya. Despite Elaena's fears she shuffled across the narrow yard wide stretch of path bravely.

Ironically enough it was Mya's own sister who put up the biggest fuss, almost refusing to cross. She was a Rivers and not a Stone. Bella had never left the Stoney Sept just as Mya had never left the mountains.

At Sky, Elaena refused to detach from her, reluctantly Mya allowed it. If the girl was one thing then it was: warm. Mya would be joining them at the Eyrie, she wouldn't waste a chance to see Mychel.

Only Bella and Lord Nestor chose to take the winch up.

Jaeanna seemed giddy to do the climb and said something about an uncle climbing over the Wall once. She talked of her uncle quite often and liked to emphasized that he was only a half-uncle.

The normally stoic Rhaenyra muttered curses against the Arryns, not because she was tired but because of the 'ridiculous' defenses of the keep. Something about the luxury castle being more of a luxurious deathtrap and more work than it was worth. There was also some promise to burn the Eyrie down or besiege it just to prove that it was a stupid idea. Thankfully Lord Nestor had taken the ride up in the basket and missed the threat against his liege.

They spent a moment as a group to warm up by the hearths in the Crescent Chamber before heading to the High Hall where Lady Lysa was being pampered by potential suitors. Both Mychel and Lord Yohn Royce were like to be there, not that they were suitors, Mychel was already Mya's after all.

Sadly she couldn't approach him as Lord Redfort was very likely in the very same room. So instead she led the way towards the Lord of Runestone. They didn't make it far.

Lady Lysa's shrill voice echoed in the hall. "Stop them!"

Before Mya realized it the entire occupancy of the High Hall turned their attention on Taelon and his siblings. Lords, knights and squires were quick to draw their sword and gain good will with their lady. Even Mychel had his blade unsheathed.

Hands raised in surrender, Taelon gave her and his family a confused look before looking to Lysa Arryn and her son on the greater of the two weirwood thrones. "Apologies for the interruption." He spoke sweetly and innocently, Mya didn't think he knew what he did wrong, she didn't either. He eyed the swords pointed at him and his family as the five were directed to move before the regent of the Vale. "Lady Arryn, may you inform us of the crime we have commited to warrant such a welcome."

"Do not play the fool in my home, Lannister!" Lysa commanded coldly. "You are here to steal my son's title, his birthright, on behalf of the Kingslayer." Many lords shouted out their agreement in anger, Mychel among them.

Taelon frowned. "I was not aware Jaime Lannister had a claim to such a title, nor am I even aware which title you speak of. And I must correct you, we are no Lannisters."

The lady clutched her suckling son closer to milking teats. "You have their hair and eyes, wear their colors and don their sigil and yet you are not a Lannister? Do not lie to me. The Vale's finest swords surround you. Admit your purpose here."

"I may have the blood of Lannisters but we are not one of them. Our mother was a bastard of House Lannister, I shall not hide that. But the lion at my breast is red and it bears not one, not two, but three tails. We came here not in the place of a Lannister but a Stark and we came not for you, your son, nor a title. We came to deliver a message to the lord of Runestone." The eldest sibling looked to the tall lord.

"You would have me believe that the Starks, my sister's family, would send lions to deliver a message, that she would not send word to me as well, that they would send a messenger rather than raven." The lady shook her head and seemed more and more unlikely to back down. "You carry no proof of your service to the Stark."

Rustling through his pockets, Taelon pulled a snow white square of cloth. He held it up to display a direwolf embroidered in silver. "Only this."

The regent's round eyes widened in surprise for but a moment. "One of those women could have created that in order to gain trust. The bond between the North and Vale is strong."

Jaeanna spoke up. "Lady Arryn, it was only happenstance that Lord Royce was here at the Eyrie, if he were not then we too would not be here."

From her throne, the widow looked down at her son before glaring at the five siblings. "No. You intended to be here, to steal the wardenship of the Vale from my son, Lord Jon Arryn's heir. The cloth was to get under our guard, you intended to kill my son, my Sweetrobin. Lord Tywin wanted to foster my boy, Jon wouldn't allow it. Now he steals my son's birthrights for the Kingslayer. He is known for his butchers, I will not let my son be killed as he did the Targaryen babes!"

The lords cheered and kept the swords on the siblings. None challenged their lady's judgment. Poor Elaena was practically rattling against her sister's armor.

Sickly Robert Arryn pulled his head from his mother's breast and looked down upon the family of lions. He still had a dribble of milk on his lip. "Can we make them fly?"

Mya saw the siblings pale. They knew what that meant.

"Yes, we can." The regent of the Vale turned towards the weirwood door at the halfway point in the hall. "Open the door."

Knights, lords and ladies alike scurried away like fightful mice as the household guards speared their way to the door. They removed the heavy bar, then opened the door. A great breeze blew in and cloaks bellowed. More than a few ladies had to hold their skirts down but Mya in her leathers needn't bother.

Over the howling wind, Bronze Yohn spoke. "Are you sure this is wise, my lady?" He was either ignored or drowned out by the sky's roars. Likely the former.

Lord Robert giggled. "Can you fly lions?"

Oberyn offered a grim smirk. "We have a few times."

The poor jest seemed to make the little lord displeased and he ignored the older, healthier boy.

Lysa, sensing her son's mood, launched her own barb. "Do you have wings that you aren't showing us, Lannister?"

"My father does, and I'm quite confident that I'll inherit them." The white haired boy's response satisfied the mother as much as the son.

Guards made for the five siblings and Mya couldn't believe what she was watching but before they could close in, Rhaenyra stepped forth. "I demand a trial by combat!"

Ser Vardis held a hand up signaling the blue cloaks to halt their action.

Lysa Arryn's lip curled in distaste. Reluctantly she accepted. "Choose your champion."

"I am our champion." Rhaenyra held her chin high even as snorts and laughs broke out in the room. Mya thought Rhaenyra looked stronger than most of the lords present. Her white armor was decorated with lions, dragons and suns, all in red. Atop her cloak was a white pelt of some large beast, its hairs too short to be a snowbear. Around her collar there was a thick crescent of longer hairs arching over her shoulders, dyed a bloody scarlet, it was a red mane.

Lyn Corbray, the knight Mychel squired for, was amused as every other lord and lady. "A woman cannot fight. I offer to best her champion, the gods bless the man with the just cause with a surrer sword, and mine is always sure."

Behind Rhaenyra, her siblings stifled a chuckle. The white haired lady herself seemed nothing but entertained by the Corbray's humility . "Would you like to test the truth of that statement? I'd be more than happy to slay you, it was your blade that took my great grand-uncle's life."

"As a knight, I made a vow before the gods to protect women, children and the innocent. I refuse to break such a sacred oath," Lyn offered as an excuse. Mya was becoming quickly disillusioned with the Cobray knight, she hoped Mychel learned little but swordsmanship from the handsome man.

Rhaenyra removed her palm from the pommel of her blade and raised her hands. The action made Mya's heart drop as she thought the woman might concede but she only shrugged. "My apologies, good knight. I forgot that women aren't your preferred opponent in the yard or in bed. You prefer to stab boys with the sword by your belt."

For but a second, the only sound in the hall was the whistle of the wind then Oberyn broke down in laughter. The younger white lion's chuckles started an avalanche of snickers, Mya's was the first to join in, though she stopped as soon as she noticed Mychel's unamused stare.

A ringing song ended the mirth, Lyn pointed his Valyrian steel blade at Rhaenyra. "You!" The knight snarled before he turned to the thrones. "Lady Lysa, I offer myself as your champion."

"Ah yes, nothing makes a man more willing to hit a woman than the truth, challenging them and being a cheating whore." Rhaenyra's voices had a pinch of levity, as if uncaring that she angered one of the best knights in the Vale.

They all awaited Lady Arryn's consent, but Lord Royce, Yohn, asked what they all wanted to know: "Is she allowed to fight or not?"

The lady looked to the maester for answer. Coleman gulped at the attention, the tension in the room clearly unnerving him. "T-there is no recorded precedent."

Crossing her arms over her white and red breastplate, Rhaenyra scowled. "Oh what brave and chivalrous men all of you are. So very gallant, all of you, truly. You clearly respect women too much to risk the incredibly unlikely event of seeing one dead despite it being her choice."

"May I point out that you were about to throw us out the Moon Door, women and children included, and only one person protested, but giving the woman a chance to escape death based on her own ability, no, that is suddenly morally abhorrent." Taelon's tone was more passionate than his earlier words. Mya noticed that he clutched his own blade along with its belt in a shaking hand. She wouldn't tell if he was angry or scared, perhaps both.

Maester Coleman, stuttered under the fierce stares of five pairs of lion eyes. "T-there is no legal precedent, it is up to the lord or regent to judge if she may fight or not."

Taelon's jaw was clenched tight, it was sharp and unhidden as he was clean shaven. "If the laws do not explicitly prohibit it then she must be allowed!"

"T-the choice between historical precedent and written law lies with the regent of the Vale." Coleman was quick to defer power back to Lysa, that was if one discounted the time wasted with his meekness.

"She may not fight." The widow raised her chin smugly.

Growling, the red-maned woman stomped her foot. "This is a sham of a trial!"

"Name a champion." Lysa spoke.

"If none shall champion for me then I must be able to defend myself," Rhaenyra pushed.

Shaking her head, Lady Arryn disagreed. "If there is no one willing to stand for you then you are surely guilty."

Rhaenyra huffed. "So be it. I name Lord Eddard Stark as my champion. We are on a mission for House Stark, killing us would be an attack on the North. Only if Lord Stark declines would you be safe to kill us. The only way Jaime Lannister could have a claim to anything in the Vale is if it was granted by Robert Baratheon. I hear the Starks and Baratheons are good friends and Lord Stark is to be made Hand of the King. I wouldn't anger him if you wanted his aid in overturning the removal of whatever the title was."

The plump woman pursed her already small lips and scrunched her face. For a moment it seemed Lady Lysa might put an end to all of this and let the family be. "Place them in a sky cell."

Each of the siblings gave a shout of horror. The sky cells were just a prolonged death. At least the guards were shutting the moon door.

"You can't! Elaena is barely six! She has a fear of heights!" Taelon lied, he had told her otherwise on the climb up. It was more a twist of the truth really, it was the closest thing to a lie that Mya could sense all throughout the trial. 

Young Lord Robert, shouted from his mother's lap. "Make them fly!"

"You're mad!" Oberyn yelled back. "We've committed no crime!"

While his brother drew everyone's attention, Mya noticed that Taelon was removing Rhaenyra's sword belt. He seemed to already have Oberyn's.

The middle sister was the next to loudly make a threat. "You are making an enemy of House Stark!"

"Your lady was the one to poison Jon Arryn! She plotted with Littlefinger and is having an affair with him. She is trying to frame the Lannisters; she even sent a package to Winterfell in the king's party. Send a raven to Winterfell!" Rhaenyra's words sent the hall into chaos.

In the sea of anger and furious men, three swords, a dagger and what appeared to be four coin purses were offered to Mya. Taelon's green eyes seemed hollow, the beautiful luster they had now absent, Mya's heart mourned that loss, they were very pretty eyes. He gave a sad nod then whispered: "Take care of Bella."

Over the bickering lords and ladies, Lady Lysa shouted. "I've changed my mind. Open the moon door!"

Robert was giddy in his mother's lap. "Fly! Fly! Fly!"

Little Elaena at the same age whimpered as she and her siblings were pushed in the direction of the open sky.

"The king would like this investigated, as would Lord Stark. As the honorable lords of the Vale, you too should seek the truth! Anyone who follows this woman's orders blindly would not only be a child-killing monster but traitors to the crown!" Taelon's words made the guards falter.

Jaeanna too tried to appeal to the lords and ladies. "If we were truly Lannisters, would it be wise to have us killed? It would be war! All because you went against the wishes of Robert Baratheon. You will lose."

Thankfully, Yohn Royce stepped in. "My lady, I'm sure their accusations are false and simply made out of desperation but whether these five are truly Lannisters or are close to the Starks then perhaps better holdings would be a wiser idea. As one of them mentioned, perhaps Lord Eddard could persuade His Grace to return the title of Warden of the East to young Robert."

"...Fine." Lysa conceded after a moment of deliberation and Mya felt the room collectively let out a sigh of relief. "Place them in a single room at the top of the Maiden's Tower." Five people in a single room was rather cruel but it was far better than a sky cell.

All four of the elder siblings hugged the crying Elaena in relief. That in itself earned a great deal of sympathy from the ladies of the court. Each of them sent a grateful glance at the lord of Runestone. Some blue cloaks gave them a moment before escorting them out the halls.

As they were directed away, Mya felt her stomach drop at the sound of Elaena's cries. "Muña, Muña, Muña!" Then they were muffled by the dialogue of the other occupants of the hall.

"What an annoying misbehaving little girl, screaming nonsense." Lysa muttered as she coddled Lord Robert. Mya found herself struggling to withstand the presence of the lady, she was just horrid, as was her son.

Maester Coleman leaned over. "...M-my lady. The girl was calling for her mother in High Valyrian."

The lady huffed. "It matters not, my Sweetrobin would never behave so wildly." No, the Arryn heir would be far worse, and have his tantrum while at his mother's nipple.

Awkwardly, Bella finally spoke to Mya. "If this is life as a highborn, then I think I'm glad to be a bastard." Mya almost agreed with the sentiment.

They didn't stay long at the castle, Bella being quite keen on leaving before anyone realized that she had arrived with the lions. Mya didn't even get to see Mychel again but she was just satisfied to be back on her mules and far away from Lady Lysa.

She shared her chambers at the Gate of Moon with Bella that night. Only then did Mya look at the swords and the purses. A single one of the little pouches held more gold than Mya had personally possessed in her life, the same was true for Bella though the girl had never had to deliver boxes of jewelry worth much even more than what lay on her bed.

"No wonder they got Tansy to let me leave the Peach so easily," her sister muttered to herself.

Mya looked at the blades. She understood giving someone you trusted your gold, Mya didn't doubt that the guards skim a gold dragon or two from the lions every so often, there were so many after all, who would notice after weeks of imprisonment. But the swords… The first one was nothing special and she almost didn't look at the other two. Those two were special, they had the same ripples as Lyn Corbray's Lady Forlorn, they were Valyrian steel. One was almost as black as the night sky on a new moon and the other was red as blood.

From over Mya's shoulder, Bella gasped at the sight. "We could marry any lord we wanted with one of those as our dowry."

Swallowing thickly, Mya eyed the blade in her hands. She had the key to marrying Mychel in her grasp but could she really just give it away?

Notes:

I intended to cover more in this chapter but it was getting long so I decided to end it here and continue in another chapter. We'll come back to Mya and the Vale soon.

The second half of this chapter was written, for the most part, in a single day so it may be better or worse. I did have the dialogue mostly finished beforehand though. I might continue writing a bit quicker if it isn't too bad.

So Aethor turned out to be a pretty perfect name, not only as a sort of Valyrian play on Arthur but aether is the region of the sky above the clouds which is quite fitting for a son of a dragon and a storm(Baratheon bastard). Then the 'Thor' bit in the name, God of Thunder. I absolutely love the surprise at realizing something turned out perfectly accidentally.

Completely irrelevant but it annoys me when writers say Lyanna named Jon as Jon. I doubt she has any fondness for Jon Arryn, or a strong connection with Jon or Jonnel Stark. The name Jon Targaryen is just revolting, a horrible, horrible name.

So in the event that I don't get another chapter of this up before Halloween, I'd like to mention that I will be posting a short little one-shot of the main fivesome around the holiday. It'll be a modern AU and humorous, no smut. In reality it is barely connected to Halloween but I thought I'd save it for the occasion.

I intend for my next update to be my Jon/Cersei fic but it might also be this if the writing process just flows better. Another WHAFSOH chapter is also possible but I haven't even started that.

The next chapter will be a multi-perspective chapter back in the north. It will have PoVs from Robb, Maester Aemon and Tyrion.

Upcoming Chapter POV Order:

Multi V

Mya II

Realm I

Jon V