Aemon Targaryen
King's Tower
Aemon sat down, picked up the jar of ale, and poured himself a cup. He gave Shireen a look, and she nodded. He poured her one, too.
"Well, have you thought about the fate of your mother?" Aemon asked after Shireen sat down.
"I think I do. My father's punishment is for him to live with his choice. I wish my mother to feel the same and for her to go to the Silent Sisters. So she can live with her choices and see what becomes of me." Shireen replied, there was tremble in her voice, yet she knew she stood frem in her decision.
"Very well, it is your choice, and I hope you can close this chapter of your life in the future." He said, taking her hand. "I hope so, too. How are you feeling about tomorrow?" She asked him.
"I don't know. I will be looking at the men who killed me. Although some did their duty, I know I broke my vow. I wanted to save my sister from the Boltons. Although I knew deep down, I knew that we wouldn't have survived against what was coming with them in charge in the North. So maybe some part of me wanted to save her and destroy the Boltons. If I had heard of Arya when your father gave me the offer, I would have taken it without thinking. Yet then I had made my vows, and I was the last of the Starks as far as I knew. Arya, Sansa, Bran, and Rickon were all gone at that point. I only know Arya is alive somewhere in Bravoos, and Rickon and Bran might be alive." He said with a sigh.
"Hmm, I am the last of my kin. The last trueborn Baratheon after my father, so I know how you feel. My father might be alive, but will die at the Wall." Shireen added, her face falling.
Aemon's left hand curled up into a fist. How could they have done it? He would never understand it or forgive. He thought with rage as he looked at Shireen. Then he took Shireen's hands in his own and stroked her gently. "You are alone, I'm here, and perhaps one of Robert's natural sons is still alive." He added.
Shireen's face seemed to brighten a little. "Perhaps Edric is still alive. Ser Davos saved him, from my father. He wanted to do to Edric what he did to me."
Aemon sighed then at Shireen's words. "What was the world fallen to when kin slay kin, and the ancient old custom of guest rights are broken, all in the name of power? The more I hear of what has happened in the South and what happened in the North. I feel more and more obliged to take up the mantle of King. Some I have had it since birth. I don't want it because it was my birthright, but to set things right and prepare the world for what is coming."
"You will. You have already started. You let the wildlings past the Wall, made friends with people you were told to despise, and rose from a bastard to the rank of lord commander. You protect the weak and save Alys Karstark and me. You are the King, we need you not because of your blood but because of who you are." Shireen said firmly and squeezed his hand.
"Well, thank you. What does a King need? A Queen, I know the council spoke of it. Shireen Baratheon, will you be my queen? Be my Rhaenys to my Aegon? Rule the realm beside me and set things right." He asked, his voice as steady as possible while his heart raced through his chest.
Shireen smiled at him, and a small blush grew upon her face, yet her pretty blue eyes sparkled in delight. "I will, Aemon Targaryen. I will marry you and set this world we live in to rights. To defeat the evil that's coming from the North and the evil of men that has grown in the South."
He stood up, went to her, embraced her, and kissed her. This feels right in every way. Aemon thought as he felt Shireen's warm lips on his own.
They broke the kiss breathlessly and stared at each other. "When will we be wed?" Shireen asked as another blush crept up on her cheeks. "Oh, eager are we?"
"Of course, I haven't felt this happy in ages, and truly protected or seen," Shireen replied, smiling.
"Hmm, I'm happy too. I would love to make you my wife as soon as possible." He then chuckled and let out a contented sigh afterward.
"What is it?" Shireen looked at him, confused. "It's nothing. For me, it's been three days since I was still Lord Commander, to live and die at my post, father no children, and hold no lands, but now. I will marry a pretty maiden and am the rightful King of the Seven Kingdoms." Aemon replied with a chuckle and kissed her again. The happiness of it all filled him.
"But to answer your question about when we will marry, we met, and everything changed for us here at Wall. So we could marry in front of a hearth tree as soon we have some make a maiden cloak ready for you, maybe out of Baratheon banner. Although I technically already stole you." He added in delight. "Stole?" Shireen asked with a raised brow.
"Well, the Freefolk have a way of claiming a wife. They steal a woman from a clan or family and take them to their own camp. I did take you from your father, and then you slept in my chambers. So, in the Freefolk way, we are already wed." He added with a chuckle.
Shireen chuckled and closed in on him. "I don't mind." She said before kissing him. "So you agree, we will wed soon, here at the wall?" He asked, smiling.
"We will, Aemon." She said, and this time she gave him the kiss. "Good, and I vow I will always try to make you happy." He said as she pulled even closer. "So will I," Shireen whispered.
The following day, beyond the Wall.
Aemon breathed in deep, and the fresh northern air filled his lungs. He looked at the gathering, men and women from all corners of life. High and low, Freefolk, and of the Seven Kingdoms.
"We are here today to dispense justice against the guilty. Yet I will not say I did not break my oath. I vowed to not side in the wars in the South, yet I did. I did it for my family to go fight against the family that slaughtered mine. A family that would never be able to hold North together is what is coming. So, I wanted to set things right for the greater good and the turmoil in my heart. Yet, all the same, I broke my vows, even if it was for the right reasons." He proclaimed and paused, and he looked around the gathered crowd.
"Yet I wasn't killed with honor. There was no trial or hearing of my case. I was slain in the chaos when the attack on Wun Wun and Val occurred by a foolish knight of Stannis Baratheon. Now I know, my murder was planned, the letter was altered, yet no less true." He said with an icy look to the gathered.
"Commander Eddison Tollet was able to find out the truth. Many of the conspirators died in the struggle after my death. Yet, not all that we are here for today. I know of some of the men who killed me. I did see some who didn't want to do it. Yet it doesn't take away the crime," He said. He looked at Bowen Marsh, Othel Yawick, whose faces was gaunt and regretful. "Yet others." His face went to Wick Whittlestick. "You betrayed the watch when you brought those savages past the Wall and broke oath when you wanted to march South to save your whore of a sister." Wick raged.
Edd let the man rage for a moment until he punched Wick in the gut. "Hold your mouth, you traitor," Edd said with a growl.
"Some of the Watch wanted me dead, and yet here I stand. I, Jon Stark, was legitimized as heir by my brother's will and released from my vows by him. Yet I'm also released as my death released of my vows all the same. So, for the crimes of killing me without a trial and planning treason and murder. I Sentence you: Wick Whittlesick, Bowen Marsh, Ohtell Yarwyck, and Allar Deem, you to die by hanging until you die." He proclaimed.
"If you have any last words, now is the time." He asked as he looked at the first of the lot in the row of sentences: Bowen Marsh. "I'm sorry for killing you in the way I did. It was wrong; you broke vows, and I did my duty. May you have good fortune in the wars to come." He nodded at the man and walked on to Wick.
"You are a traitor, and would kill again if I could. You betrayed the watch." Wick growled. "So are you after you killed me." He added with a growl before walking on to Othell.
"My mother still lives at White Harbor. Tell I kept my vows, but I die making a mistake. I regret how you died. You let us, and you deserved a better death than knives in the dark." Othell said, his breath shaking. "I regret it too." He said and walked on to Allar Deem.
"You are a bastard, and someone like you doesn't deserve to lead. First, an imp screws me over after I followed orders from the goddam Queen. Now a bastard will hang me for keeping my vows, for slaying some who let raiders and rapers of the lands of Kingdoms." Allar growled out.
"Well, tell you now, you will still serve the realm after your death. Sadly, the other traitors cannot, as Ghost, and those loyal to me already got them after my death." He added with a smirk before walking over to the lever. That held the trapdoors closed. He looked at Shireen, and she gave him a nod.
Aemon breathed in deeply as he put his hand on the lever. Maester Aemon's word ego in the head. Kill the boy, Jon Snow; winter is almost upon us. Kill the boy and let the man be born. He would let Jon Snow die and let Aemon Targaryen, the man and King, be born.
He pulled the lever, and the trapdoors fell open. He hard snaps, the doomed men fell, and almost immediately, their heads became purple. They started to struggle, dangling above the ground. Their breaths ragged as the rope choked them. He kept looking at them as he ground his teeth upon one another.
Soon, their eyes began to redden as if their veins were about to pop. Their heads were purple, and after a few more moments, the hanged men gave a few more death throes. Then they were just still, slowly swaying without struggle.
"Edd put them into chains and then put them into crates after they turn. Make sure the crates are reinforced so we can't have them escaping. We're going to need them for the future. Also, bring out the bodies from it, as it seems they won't be on the other side of the Wall. Put them in chains as well. The one who tried to kill the Lord Commander Mormont must have been turned, already before he crossed the Wall." He said after it was done.
"It shall be done," Edd said with a nod, and then he looked toward Ser Allister, gave a nod. Looking at the man hanging with disgust. What seeing weights and the others does to a man. The way he looks at me, Aemon had noticed Ser Allister looking at him of late. With that knowing look, as if he knew the truth of his birth or suspected it.
He shook his head; it was not the time to think on that now, as he turned to Shireen and waved her forward. Took her hand as he arrived. He gave her a warm smile before returning to gather the crowd. "As you all know, two days ago, I was burned together with the woman who stands beside me." He felt Shireen's hand squeeze him tighter as he began. "Yet, unlike me, she had not passed from this life. She was burned alive to bring back the dragons from stone. Yet no reward is worth burning an innocent alive!" He roared in fury. Across the Wall is the mighty roar of Nightwing ego.
"So today, we pass judgment on those complicit in the act." Then, five people were brought forward. Melisandre was chanting like a lunatic. "Lord of Light brought back the dragons. He brought them for our savior, not this pretender."
Aemon walked over to her and gave her a hard slap that made the witch buckle and blood spill from her lip. That left people gasping, yet it shut her up. "If she starts again, gag her." He ordered.
His rage-filled gaze turned toward the soldiers who had tied Shireen to the pyre. Three of the four soldiers just stared at the ground, their shame for all to see. Yet one held his gaze upright. "I follow my King's orders and followed my faith." The soldier proclaimed and was rewarded with a punch.
"Show regret, or you will join your witch on the pyre." He said after he grabbed the man by his neck. "Never." The man hissed. "Then burn," Aemon snarled back, walking back to Shireen before glancing toward the broken queen.
"Princess Shireen, will you please proclaim the punishment for this bunch of traitors?" He asked. Shireen stood a little taller as she spoke. "For the priestess Melisandre, she will be burned at the stake, as she has done to many and tried to do to me. The man who showed no regret will be put on the pyre beside her." The man looked hatefully, yet with pride at Shireen.
Then Shireen turned to the other three men. "For you three. I see your shame as I saw my father's shame, in his eyes. You will have a chance to repent, you will live your days out Night Watch, and live with the sins you have committed. Perhaps in the wars to come, you can be redeemed." Shireen proclaimed. The three men kneeled and thanked Shireen.
"Haha, you can't burn me. I'm a servant of the Lord of Light, and he will protect me from the flames." Melisandre hissed. "I doubt that without that neckless," Aemon said with a grin, and he saw the witch's face become pale as milk.
"As for you, you brought the witch that tore our family apart into our home. You allowed me to burn, only regretting after flames began to engulf me. Just like father, you will not be granted the end of quick death. You will live the days of your life out with Silent Sisters to help those in need. All the will living with the choices you have made." Shireen said as she held an icy gaze at Selyse Florent.
The woman did not say anything; she just nodded weakly.
"Put the witch and on the pyre, then put him with her." He ordered all the while, the witch screamed, chanting and begging the Lord of Light to save her. After the unrepentant soldier was chained to the post.
He walked over to the old hag that had been, to his disgust, the beautiful Melisandre, "If your lord told you to burn innocents alive. Your lord is evil, then he, or whatever it is, is no better than what we are fighting against." He growled at the witch. Then he grabbed the necklace and yanked it from her neck. The red ruby burned bright and hot, yet it didn't burn his hand.
Then, gasped from all around as the women began to grow old. She aged into an old hag. "Ah, look, the great priestess of the Lord of Light. Nothing more than lies and deceit." He said with a growl. He walked over to Shireen.
"Now it's up to you. The one who passes the sentence should swing the sword." He said, taking a torch from Tormund and giving it to her. Shireen took a deep breath and walked over to the pyre.
Shireen gave them both a last opportunity to speak, and neither the soldier nor the old hag gave them anything more than curses. She gave him one last look, and he gave her a nod. Then she lit the pyre.
Shireen walked back to him as the flames slowly rose, and the soldier and Melisandre began to chant, crying out for the Lord of Light to save them. Yet as the flames began to lick, their feet and the chants became more desperate and more erratic. Then, as their clothes and hair lit a flame, the chants turned to screams. The Lord of Light did not save them as the flames fully engulfed them.
He squeezed Shireen's hand. As the screams slowly ended, Melisandre was no more.
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