Tallulah Waters was the daughter of Anicia Waters, the most desired and well known whore in all of Kings Landing.
Tallulah did not know who her father was though. All she had knew whas that she witnessed growing up in Little fingers pleasure house...
Over the last month, Tallulah had been dragged across the burning landscape of the free cities and to her final destination. The Red Temple of Asshai. Inside the slaves, prostitutes, priests, and soldiers all worked under the rule of their god. R'hllor, the Lord of Light. She had thought nothing could have been worse than their journey there. Through the starvation, beatings and nightly rapes, she was cried for death, but it never came. The only thought that could bring her peace was hoping that Arya had escaped any potential cruelty and that Sandor was in a deep drunken sleep somewhere back in Westeros.
When they had eventually reached the Red Temple, she had been subject to a new level of pain. They had started by shaving her head, cutting her scalp with little care for the pain, before blasting her with scalding water. That had been where things took a strange turn. The servants there was been puzzled by her skin, the water was hot enough to burn any man, yet she shows no mark. So each morning they would blast her with hotter and hotter water. She could feel the burn and slight pain from the water, but still, her skin remained unmarked.
The more the servants tried, the more angered they became and the more deprived their torture came. For the first fortnight, they did not feed her one crumb and her only contact with another living soul was her daily thimble of water and beatings. The next week, they began to question her. They wanted to know who were parents had been, what she had been doing with her life so far and which God she followed.
"I follow no god" she would hiss each day.
Finally, after a month in the tortuous temple, they allowed her out of her small cell. Now she was forced to pick fruits in the scorching heat with no water. She had only tried to eat the fruit once, but after they had found out and beaten her more bloody than ever before, she never again tried to eat from the temples fruit.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"Do yourself a favor. Tell them what they want to hear, you'll hurt less for it" one of the soldiers told her one morning when he came to fetch her for the usual morning questioning.
"You're a Westerosi" she gasped at hearing him speak in the common tongue.
"Perhaps once, I've been since a bane. I am just another servant to the Lord Of Light now".
"A God who demands such blood and pain from his followers is no God, but only a monster".
Suddenly the soldiers grabbed onto her soldiers and pushed her back into the wall. "Do you wish for death, is that it?"
"I wish for nothing. I seek freedom" she hissed back, unwilling to show him any fear.
The man stared at her in almost wonder. For the cycle of the past moon he had watched her face unimaginable torture and pain, and not once did she allow herself to show pain, to show weakness. Tallulah was also studying him, entranced by the darkness of his eyes and the way the intense muscles in his jaw would clench and release.
"Freedom is what you seek? Well, you may want to start being a bit smarter" he whispered into her ear before using his shield to push her back on their path.
Over the next week, Tallulah found herself in close proximity with the solider on more and more occasions. During this time, she learned his name, Malan, and his position within the Temple. For Malan was indeed a trained and deadly warrior, Commander of the Fiery Hands, an army 1000 men strong with one sole purpose, to protect their Lord and his those who followed his rule.
"If you Lord is so wise and mighty, why does he require such carnage from those who follow him. Why not protect them and nurture those loyal to him" she asked him one morning after yet another painful questioning.
"Our Lord is wise and mighty, he is what brings light and warmth to our world. It is he who pushes back the long nights and the bitter fingers of winter. I assume you know the prophecy of Azor Ahai?"
"Yes, yes, a story told to children about the legendary hero who will use his flaming sword to battle against the darkness and save the world" she sighed and stepped into her small cell.
Malan quickly reached out for her arm and pulled her back to him. "Not just any flaming sword, Lightbringer, it is this weapon wielded by the reborn that will save this world. You may not believe or trust in our Lord of Light and just because those who think they speak for him are cruel, the night is long and full of terrors, and one day it may never end".
"So what, the cruelty I face daily is down to madmen who call themselves high priest, but your Lord is actually one of light and life. Look at me Malan, do I look like I am full of light?"
"I see a woman who has a greater purpose in this world. I see a woman, that despite being surrounded by darkness, still holds a light in her eyes, a thirst of life and powers even she does not understand".
"And how will I ever understand them whilst locked up in here?"
"You know how. It's just whether you're ego will let you act upon it".
