Winter's Fire → Game of Thrones

xiii. Visits

What was the world like before men came and ruined it? What was it like in the times of the Children of the Forest? The historians say there were mammoths and giants, and creatures that surely we do not know of. They say that the Children of the Forest lived peaceful lives and cared for the earth as well as each other. Men do not do that.

There was a great battle between the First Men and the Children of the Forest, but eventually it came to an end and there was peace. At what cost did that come? Surely it was men who killed the Children of the Forest. It was us who killed them off one by one. We took their homes, we took their land, and we took their lives.

Next came the Andals with their other gods and their superior weapons that were made of steel and iron, not bronze. I suspect there was a battle with them as well, and that is why most of the South believes in the Seven. They probably killed Children of the Forest as well. Once again, homes were taken, lands were taken, and lives were taken.

When the Targaryens conquered, House Stark and all of the North bent the knee. That was because of the dragons and the disaster they could cause. Lord Stark did not want to risk that, so he bent the knee. Only the Dornish, who by that time had blood of the Rhoynar - a race of people who were slaves before the Fall of Valyria - were able to keep them out. They took homes, and lands, and lives.

It shows that we never learn from history, and that all men are the same. We continue to take people's homes, and their lands, and their lives. We destroy all that we touch, and whether it dies quickly or takes years does not matter. Eventually men destroy everything, and I doubt that will ever stop. Not unless we all die, but that will never happen. Men do not accept death so easily. We get angry and fight. Then we take more homes, more lands, and more lives.

All of these thoughts were brought on by the fact that as I looked at my neck in my mirror, I knew I could have died. I have no lands to take or a home, but I do have my life. Viserys could have killed me, and I could have killed him. People do this to each other. It is men and women alike who kill and steal both homes and lands.

The bruises on my neck were purple and there was no way that I could hide them, no matter how hard I tried. They were from where Viserys had pressed his fingers into my neck, and I hated looking at them. They even looked painful, and it hurt to even lightly touch them. If I took a deep breath that hurt a little bit as well, so I tried not to do that.

Some people regard bruises as pretty or interesting, but not me. They are ugly, and in this case they show that I could have died because I was weak. I had to play dead in order to protect myself. Then I could not even fight fair, and had to use what was a clear advantage. I was angrier than Viserys at that point, and I kept hitting him. I felt guilty about it, but it was mixed with the feeling of weakness too.

A knock sounded on the door right before it opened. I turned away from the mirror and stood tall, trying to make myself seem confident. Something in me drained away my ability to pretend today, so I am just going to try harder. I will not let anyone see me break. Not again. I do not need to seem even weaker.

Alios walked in with a small smile on his face, but there was worry in it. He knew about the fight then. Illyrio must have told him yesterday, or perhaps even today. Either way, he knew and I was not going to be able to lie about how I got the bruises. I originally planned to say that I fought one of the guards and another pulled me off by the throat.

"How are you?" He asked quietly, as if I was dying or something.

"Fine," I lied, struggling to meet his eyes.

"That was a trick question," Alios scoffed, walking over to me. "I can see the bruises on your neck, and Illyrio told me that you and Viserys fought. Show me your hands." I held my hands up and Alios inspected my bruised knuckles. "You are not fine. I would hate to see the damage done to Viserys."