A Lion's Pride, a Stag's Fury

Chapter 2: Elia I

Disclaimer: I own nothing! Everything belongs to George RR Martin and HBO! Enjoy!

"The King will hear you now," ser Lewyn said.

Elia followed after him. Her well-known uncle led her inside the solar where, alongside her Mad good-father, Ser Jaime Lannister and Rhaegar had just ceased studying a map.

The Rebellion had turned out to be more dangerous than initially expected. As a result, her dear husband had finally returned home. He had not come to her or their children. Not once. He had not even attempted to explain his actions, to apologize for his unkingly behavior. No. He had only looked at her from afar with such calmness as if it was the most natural and reasonable thing to leave someone's family for a child.

Elia might be from Dorne, but that did not mean that she shared her people's customs. She had never accepted the idea of having lovers, like her brother, Oberyn. She believed in the purity of a wedding, in the oaths a man exchanges with a woman. The idea of surrendering her body to a man who was not her husband seemed disgusting. Dirty.

As it turned out, Rhaegar was a mystery to her. Her once sweet and loving prince had betrayed her by dirtying himself. Because the truth was Lyanna Stark was still a child. Even if she had willingly joined Rhaegar in his madness- as Elia suspected-, she held no blame. She was a girl, a naive, northern girl who had no knowledge of how harsh the southern world could be. All the responsibility, all the blame lay with the Prince of Dragonstone.

Elia would have probably forgiven her husband in time if his fault had been lying with another woman. But no. He had most probably raped a child. And as if that had not been enough, he had caused a war. The Starks' horrible murder in front of her very eyes had been a turning point for her. Whatever feelings she had still held for the Targaryens had eradicated. She could still hear Lord Rickard's terrible screams of pain. It had been torture. Sadistic. Mad. Cruel. Torture. She would never forget. She would never forgive. And she would never feel an ounce of guilt for what she was going to do.

A fortnight before, a raven had arrived with a secret message for her. Grandmaester Pycelle had found her in the Nursery where she had been watching her little Rhaenys play with baby Aegon. He had sent the maids out and shut the door firmly.

In front of her very astonished eyes, he had looked around the room as if searching for intruders. And then he had transformed into a slightly taller man with a straight back and a broad chest as well as clear, intelligent eyes. He had looked nothing like himself. Or at least, nothing like what he was supposed to be. She would never have guessed that he had been deceiving all of them.

Without speaking a single word of explanation, he had approached her, smirking slightly, and put two parchments in her hands. Then, as if nothing had been out of the ordinary, he had hunchbacked once again and stuttered:

"It would be wi...wise, my P...princess, to b...burn everything."

And he had left the room.

For a few moments, she had remained frozen in shock. Only her little girl's laughter had brought her back to reality. She had immediately sat near her son's crib and taken a quick look at the first parchment. She had been shocked to discover that it had been full of symbols with no meaning.

Had she been no witness to the Grandmaester's transformation, she would have thrown the piece away, believing it a joke. But, no. He would not have trusted her of all people without having a grave reason. So, she had taken a peek through the second parchment.

It had made her speechless. The parchment had contained a code, translating the peculiar symbols.

Suddenly, she had felt frightened. Someone had gone through all this secrecy under the nose of the Mad King.