snow and stars| jon snow

xxiv: love and duty

  She stood in all her regality there, glowing. At first, Jon couldn't tell if it was just him, but by the way everyone else was looking, there was something different about her. Her skin seemed to absorb light and reflect it at the same time, making her look like something that was certainly not human. Jon was starting to believe that siren prank she played on him.

   Her bare feet padded on the stone floor as she approached, and no one moved at all. She stood right in front of her seat, so close to Jon that he could smell her. He could feel the bond humming off of her skin and into his, and all he wanted to do was take her in his arms. "How are you awake?"

She turned towards him slowly, still hovering over her seat while the rest stood in awe, watching the reborn woman interact with her King. "Idalia and Neoma have decided that I am far from done here." She sat down gracefully, not wasting a second to give Jon a quick kiss on the lips. He chased her face forward, and she smiled at him before turning her eyes to the rest of the shocked people at the table.

"How..." Ser Davos trailed off, looking at her with a strange look on his face. It was calculating, but considering how the man could barely do math, it was more of a confused expression. "How..."

"Lord Martell," Andromeda spoke over his concerns. "Is currently in the keep, correct?" She put a hand over her almost healed gash.

"Yes, Your Grace." Gendry answered, trying to let his shock of seeing the Queen alive not get in the way of what she was asking of them. He was still just as shocked as the next one, but no one was quite as surprised as Jon. He stared holes into the side of her face and she didn't tremble or waver at all under the intensity of it, just kept looking on. But her hand moved slightly to her right, taking his hand into hers gently. She still looked forward.

"How many survived?"

"Two thousand three hundred and seventy two, Your Grace." Ser Davos said, slightly nervous about it being so small. She had lost almost half of her people, which she was clearly bothered by.

"Oh," she cleared her throat. Losing almost half of five thousand men, women, and children was devastating. Even the ones that weren't fighting died, and that broke her heart. And they died all because of the power hungry man sitting in the cells of Ilta. She nodded her head slowly, automatically looking for Pandora, but not seeing her. She would never see her again. Andromeda's eyes locked with Odda's who's eyes were worn from shock and sadness. There was no glow to the woman's eyes like there used to be, and that made Andromeda even sadder.

"And what's left of my small council?" The Queen asked to herself, almost chuckling. It seemed that everyone died, and even her trio was knocked down to two. The trio that ruled Ilta together, the trio that held each other together, was completely torn apart forever. Now, it would be eternally Odda and Andromeda, just the two.

Odda was grieving, and she couldn't give less of a damn that there were a number of powerful people around the table. She started to feel her eyes watering after she heard the question, and her lips wobbled. Still, she answered. "Just you and I, Your Grace." Odda couldn't hold Andromeda's gaze, a gaze that was cool yet upset. She was sad, she was so sad, but she had no energy left to do it. She had nothing left in her but that last push for revenge. When Odda began to sob, she silently stood and embraced her friend tightly, the last addition to the legendary trio and the last of her truest friends.

Andromeda had her eyes closed, facing towards the table. "Shh," She hushed, stroking the slightly taller woman's hair. "Everyone will get what they deserve," her voice had turned hard, her eyes opening to a small narrowing. She had her cold and unforgiving eyes set on the back window, looking at nothing and everything. "She's at peace now."