What IF

Chapter 16

The Dragon Princess

Siblings the voice whispered.

'Did you hear that?' Rhaenerya asked.

'Aye I did' Robb responded. Arya remained silent; she looked scared, her violent orbs displaying her fear. Her hands were glowing brightly, a power that only Rhae had seen her use from time to time to heal scratches that Ghost would succumb to

'Who are you?' Rhaenys called out. She tried to hide the fear from her voice; she was the oldest so she needed to be the one who protected her baby siblings.

You will find out soon enough big sister. My ascension shall come when the foolish Stag is lured into my pit.

'Huh' Robb said as he brushed his silver curls aside.

The entity chuckled.

Don't worry big brother, I will be with you in the future, for now I shall take my place as Queen in the lands of always winter. I just have to get rid of the king.

'Who are you?' Arya asked with tears in her eyes, Rhaenys held her hand and she felt the trembling warmth of her hand.

I am your sister from another life, one of suffering and pain but I shall be reborn and I will see you in the future.

The light grew aggressively brighter to the point where it felt like it was blinding.

'Let's go' Robb shouted and the three of them started to scurry out the cave.

They were so preoccupied by their attempts to hurry back inside that they didn't realize they had run into Uncle Robb.

'Whoa' he said as he laughed and held the three frightened toddlers in place. He was dressed in his night wear and the glow of the moon reflected on his brown beard.

His smile immediately disappeared when he saw the frightened faces of the children, particularly the tear stricken Arya.

At that moment Rhae cursed her soft little sister.

'What's wrong?' his voice was filled with concern that Rhae wanted to tell him what she saw and judging by the looks of her siblings, they wanted to divulge as well.

But Rhae knew better, if she told him then he would tell Father and then father would go down the caves and he would see that awful light, she couldn't let that happen. Father needed to stay away from the caves where it was safe.

'We snuck out to play and Arya fell on the ground and started crying' Rhae lied. 'Please don't tell father, he would be mad at us.'

Uncle Robb gave Arya a pained smile before wiping away her tears and giving her a soft kiss to the forehead.

'I am not a tattler, your secrets are safe with me Rhaenerya, just make sure you play during the day okay?' he asked for confirmation and the three of them nodded eagerly. Uncle Robb then walked them to their chambers and the unsullied guards gasped in surprise when they realized that they had escaped.

She knew that word of this would reach their parents but that was a problem for tomorrow. Right now she was tucking in her brother and sister.

'What happened today, we never speak of it, agreed?' she asked.

The two of them shook their heads in agreement. Rhae smiled and blew out the lamp in their chambers before scurrying off to her room.

When she finally fell asleep, she was plagued with the thoughts of winter.

The Scrappy Wolf

It was late in the evening and Queen Cersei's wine was now fazing Rickon.