"I call this Earthbending," Wylis replied, not sitting. "At first, it was just pebbles—barely a trick. But the more I practiced, the more control I gained. Honestly, I don't know where the limit is. One day, maybe I'll raise a whole castle from the ground. That'd be something."
"How?"
"I can't explain it—I just can. And it's not just this one thing. I have access to knowledge, medicine, shipbuilding, trade, building a castle, forging a sword, aiding childbirth, concocting poisons, knowledge that would make the Citadel kneel at my feet. But it all comes at a cost. Every time I tap into this knowledge, this gift, I trade away a piece of my lifespan. That day at Harrenhal, when I was poisoned? I almost didn't make it. To purge that venom, I gave up ten years of my life. Ten years, gone in a breath."
Lyanna was taking deep breaths, looking visibly shaken. The wind in the middle of that lake was as calming as it was numbing. She stared at him for some time, piecing together what she knew. What she'd seen. He had changed a lot from the Wylis she knew at first.
She recollected what Qyburn had said. That Wylis came up with knowledge that even a man like him coveted. She asked Wylis so many times how he knew it all. Each time he tried to change the topic.
"H-How many years have you lost in total?"
"Thirteen, maybe a touch beyond. Not more than fifteen," Wylis replied, a hint of weight in his voice as he approached the end of his tale. "But I also found a way to regain the lost years. A way… That… I don't want to hurt you, Lyanna; that was never my intention. I'll speak it true and without flourish: I gain back a year of my life with each child I father."
"What?!" Lyanna jumped to her feet, excitement written on her face. "So, with Magnus, you actually—wait, hold on. How did you even learn about this in the first place?"
There it was. Her expressions changed to seriousness, and receiving Wylis' hard glance, she realized where Wylis was leading to. What he meant by hurting her. She fell back onto that seat, her eyes shaking. Wylis was her first, her first love as well, and her ideal husband. She had already imagined a beautiful life with him.
And before it began, she felt a deep crack form in it.
Wylis quickly sat down on his knees before her, yet eclipsing her frame, still needing her to look up. He held both her hands in his warmly and with complete honesty, looked into her eyes. "Lyanna… I owe you the truth, no matter how hard it lands. I won't hide anything. While I was out chasing down bandits, I crossed paths with a woman, Wenda, a swordswoman. We rode together, and during that time, it happened. There were no feelings, no love—just a simple need, something my mind urged me toward. With her… I found out that I can regain my lost years."
He felt her hands clench within his grasp. He gripped them tightly. He could hear her hardening breath. He knew it was hard to accept. No woman in the world could accept the man she loves taking another woman to bed. As would he hate such a thing happening to him.
"You can hate me for this, Lyanna. But I swear on my life, I don't love any of them. They may earn a corner in my mind, but my heart belongs to you." He said it, as cringy as it sounded. At that moment, it was all accepted.
"Who else?" Lyanna asked in a whisper, passing through her clenched teeth. "You said each child. Who else?"
"Genna Lannister."
"What?!"
Lyanna gazed at him in shock. Finding it hard to believe, knowing it likely happened before he became a knight. "Lord Tywin's sister?"
Wylis nodded, hiding nothing from her. "She was just as desperate as I was. After losing ten years to the poison, I was terrified something else would happen. While I was staying in Lannisport, she came to my chambers and… unashamedly asked me to put a babe in her. I saw it as a mere transaction; she received a babe, and I received a year of life."
Lyanna drank in a deep breath and sternly eyed him again. "And?"
"Queen Rhaella, but she chose to take the Moon Tea," Wylis revealed, as he was planning to do it again in the future.
"You fucked the Queen?!" Lyanna almost shouted, pressing a hand to her mouth. "What? H-How… Gods! What happened in the last few months?"
Wylis sighed and told her the entire story. From the moment he arrived at the Red Keep. How he was made a "jester" by the King, and how he was forced to fight the three Kingsguards. He even told her about his betrothal with Ashara and their subsequent physical relationship. But he broke the betrothal. He revealed what the King did to Rhaella, and that night he escaped. The night he saw the scars on the Queen's body.
"I-I… I don't know if I should be impressed or enraged. Who else?" She asked.
"A brothel owner named Chataya. I fled King's Landing through a hidden passage that opened right into her establishment. That… That's all. Wenda, Genna, and Chataya—they carry my… babe."
There was silence for a while. Lyanna looked towards the sky, at the lake, and at the bridge she was sitting on. It felt like a miracle and a bad dream at the same time.
"Anything else that I should know?"
"I can… I can make sure any child born to me is gifted in strength, mind, beauty, and health—beyond what this world has seen."
"And how many do you plan to have?"
That was a question Wylis didn't know how to answer. He had grand plans, and he needed to use the Shop for that. He needed knowledge and skills to become a lord and build a fief strong enough to survive centuries.
"I can't answer that, Lyanna. I don't know how many I'll need. When I was in the King's Court, the Mad King often threatened to burn me alive with Wildfire. I was terrified. I started searching for a way to survive it. Eventually, I found one, complete immunity to fire. But it would have come at a cost, sixty years of my life. There are even greater abilities. The ability to read minds, for instance, but that one would demand one hundred and seven years. More than I've even got left."
Lyanna gulped. It all sounded like a mummer's tale. But, having seen Wylis move earth, she made herself believe him. "How many years do you have left?"
"Sixty-one years, five months. Magnus added another year the second he opened his eyes."
"Then, if the Mad King had tried to burn you—"
Wylis gave a solemn nod. "Even if I had saved myself from the flames, I'd only have five months left to live."
Some worry flashed on her face. She started to shuffle through all he'd said in her mind. Remembering every detail. It was a fact that he was going to sleep with women in the future. It was a fact that he was going to sire children. Learning that one babe meant one year, she knew she alone couldn't help him.
But that didn't stop her heart from feeling wounded. She felt no shame in accepting that she was a selfish woman. She was possessive of what she liked. And Wylis was the most cherished person in her life. She didn't want to share him with anyone. She didn't want to be sidelined. She didn't want to lose his attention.
"Wylis…" She spoke. "If… If we get married. What will we be? Us? How will—"
"Nothing changes," he interrupted and replied without hesitation. "Lyanna, you're the one I cherish above all. I won't pretend otherwise—I love you. I'll stay true to my vows as your husband and as the father of our children. Magnus, our firstborn, will carry forward everything I build. Other women might pass through my mind, but only you have a place in my heart. You'll be Lady Kaiser—let no one forget it."
A faint smile curved on her lips. She looked at his face and caressed it with her hand. "It feels strange, this—us. But I do love you. I can't think of waking beside anyone else, not ever. And the thought of another's hands on me makes my skin crawl. And… I feel, even if we did it like rabbits, I'd still fall short of what you need."
Wylis quickly held her face in his palm gently, shaking his head. "Don't say it like you're to blame. What I have with you—this friendship, this love, this bond—I wouldn't trade it for any lord's promise. I doubt I'll ever trust anyone as much as I trust you. You're the only one who knows all my secrets, and I swear, I won't hide a thing from you. Every woman who carries my child, you'll hear her name from me… If you choose to. Still… I can't help but think you're a fool, Lyanna, falling for a stableboy who can offer you nothing."
"Aye, I guess I am a fool, but I suppose the fat cock helped convince me."
"..."
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