𝓐𝓮𝓶𝓸𝓷𝓭 𝓣𝓪𝓻𝓰𝓪𝓻𝔂𝓮𝓷
It'd been a few days since our run-in with those men at White Harbour and the food in the packs we'd stolen quickly dwindled.

The small fire we'd managed crackled between us as I laid on my back and watched the sun fall over the trees, accepting that this might be my last peaceful moment in a long time.

My eye flutters shut and I hold my favour close over my heart, brushing the tip of my fingers over our initials that Elaena had stitched in red fabric.

What I'd give to go back to our simpler times. If I'd known all the trouble we'd face, I'd have swept her away in search of our lost dragon just as we'd always imagined.

"If you need your rest I can take watch first. You've let me get plenty of sleep the past few days-"

"You aren't fit to defend us, little lord."

"Then teach me."

I snort, sitting up and tucking the satin cloth in my pocket, "That sword of yours hasn't seen a drop of blood, Lord Strong."

From beside me, the young lord unsheathes his sword but I yawn, stretching my arms behind my head to get comfortable.

Hearing his footsteps approach he kicks my arms out from under my head, and it falls thumping against the grass.

"Seven hells! What is wrong with you!?" I snap, getting to my feet.

"You take me for a worthless child, I'm no fool, Uncle. So, train me." Lucerys holds up his sword, steadying it beneath my chin.

I glance toward my own sword knelt against the rocks but it's a distraction, sweeping my leg beneath his and sending him crashing to the ground along with his weapon.

Getting to his knees I contain the laughter but don't bother hiding the satisfaction on my face.

"There's your first lesson, don't trust your opponent. The eye is just as easily capable of lies as the tongue." I smirk, going for my own sword.

"That was a cheap shot," Lucerys scoffs, his fists clenched in anger.

"And if someone has intentions of murdering you, they'll take those cheap shots!"

The young lord rolls his eyes at me, adjusting his grip on his sword before swinging it directly at my head.

Ducking just in time Luke mumbles to himself out of frustration, taking another swing but this time I'm armed.

Our swords clash just as he's about to take a jab at my chest and to my surprise there's strength behind his blow.

Perhaps Lord Strong had carried more of his father's traits than just his curly brown hair. His brother had grown into a decent swordsman, what was to say I couldn't mold him as Cole molded me?

Going a bit easier on him I slow my swings, giving him a proper chance to react instead of beating him into the sand as Jace did on Dragonstone.

Putting all his strength into another swing he has to use both his hands to follow through making it easy to sidestep him.

Without time to recover he unwittingly drives his sword into the dirt and with a soft push from my foot, he falls back forced to let go of his sword, stumbling into the bushes.

This time however I can't help myself, my booming laughter echoing through the hills as I take in the sight of him struggling to get out of the bushel of thorns.

"Is this your idea of training?! How am I supposed to get any better with you making a fool out of me?!"

I'd be lying if I said watching Luke in such discomfort wasn't my bit of revenge. What were a few thorns and bruises to the loss of an eye?

"Maybe it'll drive you not to do such foolish things. Now get up."

Lucerys bites his tongue yanking his sword from the dirt, more determined than before.

"This time don't leave yourself so open by throwing all your weight into the sword. Now, again." I prompt, urging him up with my sword.

Fighting one another just like that, I quite enjoy knocking Lucerys on his ass for hours only until my body tires of it and the full moon is high in the night sky.

Almost against his will, I convince Lucerys to get his rest.

It didn't matter how worn down and exhausted I'd become, I wouldn't waste a single moment of daylight when we could be getting closer and closer to Winterfell... to Elaena.

I'm not convinced he's asleep until he rolls over, facing away from me and his breathing slows.

Taking a deep breath of my own I discard my eyepatch rubbing at my aching temples at the dark thoughts that clawed at the edges of my mind.

Most of the day I could distract myself but it was when my surroundings grew quiet all my worst nightmares came to play.

If I'd just listened to her... if we'd all just listened to her.

This was the second instance my actions have sent Elaena running into the arms of another man, and should the Stark lord dare to touch her, or even entertain a single sinful thought about my wife I'd tear him to pieces with no remorse.

We were meant for one another there simply was no other for her or for me and I'd do absolutely anything to get back to her... before it's too late.

The mere thought of her with another ate at me every second of every day.

What if she falls in love with him?

He could be consoling her in her chambers at this very moment, holding her as she wept from the nightmares that surely plagued her after the betrayal she was convinced I'd committed.

No.

I had to believe her heart wouldn't stray. We'd endured so much and I'd keep hold of that hope that this wouldn't be the end of us, I wouldn't allow it.

These thoughts manage to keep my mind running ragged all night long and before I know it the sun is rising and we're back on the road headed North.

"We're running low on food. Maybe we should stop at the next town? Find another inn?" Lucerys chirps from atop his horse beside me and though I know he only wants to help, the lack of sleep has already begun to set in.

"It's too much of a risk. Is the blood already on your hands not enough?" I snap at him, massaging the bridge of my nose where a dull headache drummed at the center of my head.

I don't mean it as harshly as he takes it and when I remind him of those two men he looks away, his face falling in despair.

For some bewildering unknown reason,  a small sting of guilt gnawed at my insides.

If I'd been honest that blood was on my hands. Maybe it had been possible to escape without taking their lives but I wanted no loose ends.

Just as dead men didn't carry bounties on their heads, they couldn't hold grudges either.

In lieu of an apology, I slow my horse to fall in step with his but avoid his questioning eyes, "In a few miles we can stop to hunt. Set up a few traps by the river while we rest the horses."

Mumbling in response I can hardly hear him, "I've never... I don't know how-"

"That was assumed, Lord Strong. I mean to teach you,"

It'd taken a bit but he'd grown used to my nickname for him, no longer flinching when I said it but smiling a bit with acceptance.

When I'd first called them that it was spit with venom, looking down on them for being the product of my sister's infidelities but how could I love Elaena so deeply, so wholeheartedly when in reality she'd been brought into this world under the same circumstances?

"Did my grandfather teach you to hunt?" He asks, the pretty image of Viserys still intact.

Snorting I shake my head, "When we were children I was dragged from the castle every year on his name-day hunts but even then he never did his own tracking, his own fighting. By that time he'd already grown too weak and had just gone for the sport."

Unlike Aegon, my curiosity led me to Cole. I didn't want to drown in my cups, I wanted knowledge and the power that came with it.

"The older I became the more I followed the knights and hunters as they set traps for the beasts and even delivered the final blow to a prize boar or two."

All my life has been working towards being the strong man that Elaena needs, that my children would need. The weight of the world sat on my shoulders and when Elaena was by my side carrying it with me I felt I could do anything... but without her?

"Did Prince Daemon not teach you any survival skills? He seems to have left you unequip to protect yourself."

"It was always Jace that was interested in hunting and swordsmanship. I found interest in philosophies, histories."

"Hmph." I don't have a witty response for him this time. It seemed we had even more in common than I'd realized and an idea strikes me.

"In your journey of philosophy and history have you ever read of a dragon called the bleeding star?" I glance over my shoulder, hoping Elaena might have mentioned it. However, Lucerys scrunches up his face as he wracks his mind, and then it hits him.

"A dragon? Hm..." Pondering to himself I wait impatiently, grinding my teeth.

"What?" I urge, eliciting him to flinch.

"I was always under the impression those stories were referring to a person, not a dragon."

The bleeding star had flown so far,
The air had turned to ash.
The walls of stone would stand no more,
But the song will never end.

The blood pays the debt...

If the song was about a person and not a dragon... who in the seven hells was it about?

Chuckling to myself I bite at my lip, "Wait until Elaena hears about this,"

Lucerys cocks his head to the side in confusion, "Elaena?"

Just hearing her name warmed the entirety of my tired cold body.

Elaena.

Her lips, that captivating smile that could bring any soul back from the pits of the seven hells...

We're coming for you, my song.

"It's our dream. Well, one of them. Since we were children we've had plans to find this 'bleeding star' and claim it as our own. But if it's a person? Hm."

If we'd interpreted the song incorrectly this entire time this would open up a world of possibilities. What if this prophecy we'd stumbled upon had been long fulfilled and it was all for nothing?

My deep thoughts are cut short when we stumble upon a fallen tree blocking the road.

Bringing the horses as far as we can bring them I hold out my arm to stop Luke from going any closer.

"It must've fallen from the storm," Lucerys thinks aloud but being the untrusting man I am, I jump down from my horse.

Taking a closer look for myself, Luke means to join me but I shake my head, holding up a finger to stop him and to my surprise he listens, nodding in understanding.

I can't help the bit of pride that wells in my chest when I notice he goes for the hilt of his sword just as I do, almost as if he's eager to jump to my defense if need be.

With a few more cautious steps I glanced around into the surrounding brush that blocked out most of the sunlight shining through the trees.

Crouching to take a better look at the snapping point of the trunk my gut twists.

The tree hadn't fallen, it'd been cut.

I try to keep completely still, my body going rigid as I use all effort to avoid making any noise.

I carefully draw my sword from its sheath, and Luke's voice cries out to warn me but it's too late.

"Aemond! It's an ambush!"

Crazed, I'm jumping through the bushes to get to him but we're outnumbered.

With three to our two, one of them goes for Lucerys and our horses while the others set their sights on me.

"Go! Strong! Get out of here!" I shout over the chaos but he doesn't listen, swinging his sword at his attacker from atop his horse.

We had not come this far to be killed off by a pack of thieves.

Growling in frustration I clash my sword with the one nearest to me. I bend backward to avoid another's attack and almost fall back but use the moment to draw my dagger from my hip.

Once I get an opening I reel back, sending my dagger soaring through the air and piercing one of the men straight in the eye.

Watching his body fall lifeless beside his comrade, the man's face contorts in an angry horror but when he looks at me I'm merely entertained by the sport.

My lips twitch into a grin as he charges me with a roar but I simply sidestep him, narrowly avoiding his attack and continuing on to Luke.

One of them brings his sword down over and over again but Lucerys holds strong not budging under his attacks as he grits his teeth.

Coming to his aid I yank the dagger free from my victim's skull just as Lucerys pulls back his leg to jam his foot into his assailant's stomach sending him backward straight through the steel of my blade.

Now that he has a free moment Luke jumps from his horse, zeroing in on something behind me, and reacts before I have a chance to recognize the threat.

Just as I taught him, he gracefully fakes out the thief, disarming him and though the man holds up his hands in surrender Luke strikes him through the heart without a second thought or a bit of guilt.

Between the both of us, we're glancing around in a bit of shock still on our guard in case there's more hiding in the brush but they never come.

Slowly, I lower my sword wiping the blood from its sharp edge with the hem of my tunic but Lucerys stands frozen, staring in a daze at the corpse before him, "Well done, Lord Strong. Your sister will be proud,"

"I killed him... we should've questioned him, taken him hostage-"

I shake my head, my patience wearing thin. "You didn't hesitate and because of that, I'm still standing here. It was us or them."

I should've expected this, he shared a similar heart to that of his sister.

In his way of ending the conversation, he brushes past me taking a closer look at the men.

As he crouches down to inspect more closely, he raises a thick eyebrow in question.

Lucerys retrieves a rolled-up parchment from the man's possession and presents the wax seal for me to examine more closely.

Taking a step closer I see it and the cold blood in my veins comes to a boil.

It was the Stark sigil that was pressed into the sealed letter.

Time stops and I snatch it from his hand, ripping it open to read it for myself.

𝐀𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐆𝐀𝐑𝐘𝐄𝐍
-
𝙏𝘼𝙆𝙀 𝘼𝙇𝙄𝙑𝙀

"That son of a bitch," My face contorts in anger as I crumple up the paper in my hands.

The parchment said little but the intent was clear.

Cregan Stark had taken it upon himself to find me.
They must've been made aware of our debacle in White Harbour and still, Lucerys had yet to be recognized.

Elaena would still think the very worst of me and with her husband conveniently out of the picture, the warden of the north would act as her savior, doing his damndest to bring me to justice.

"It seems the Lord of Winterfell wants my head. Hmph."

Grinding my teeth I rip up the parchment, watching the pieces fall onto the dead bodies of his men below.

"If it's me he wants, then I'll grant his wish," I grumble, already making my way back to the horses.

My wife was no castle deemed to be conquered or acquired, she was my entire heart, the air I breathed, the mother of my child, and if he lays a single finger on her...

"What about the bodies? Won't someone find them and-"

I wave a dismissive hand at him, not bothering on a second look at our handiwork.

"Oh, I'm planning on it, Lord Strong. I want them to know I'm coming for him and my wife."

It seemed Cregan Stark hadn't learned his lesson the first time, or perhaps I hadn't made myself clear.

Sheathing my sword he continues, "They're just going to keep sending more men and we still haven't eaten-"

"THERE'S NO TIME."

I don't mean to snap at him but it's true. Every moment we stood here was another moment wasted, another moment Elaena was consumed by heartbreak that I couldn't mend from all these miles away.

The little lord cocks his head to the side to examine me,  "You're afraid they'll fall in love, aren't you?"

My nostrils flare and I take a deep breath. I'm hardly eager to be vulnerable with him about the feelings I harbored for his sister.

Hanging my head I tilt up my chin to look at him.

"The only answer I have for a question like that is that I'm afraid of a great many things, Lucerys. Most of them being that I lose her...one way or the other." Using my hands to speak I bring one to my chest and realize I'm shaking.

"You're not the only one who desires to go home! Rhaena mourns me too!"

"She's carrying our son."

Watching me, Lucerys sheaths his sword taken aback at first then he begins shaking his head with a grin, "I knew it. I'd told Jacaerys but he didn't want to believe it."

"You've known? You've all fucking known?" I stare at him bewildered as he celebrates and I've never felt more foolish in my life.

"Well it's hard to ignore the constant affections we have to bare on a normal basis-" 

Throwing my head back with a laugh I climb atop my horse. "Ha! Is your cousin repulsed by your Strong genes?"

When I mention Rhaena his pale cheeks flush red, following suit to get back on the road.

"It was those same Strong genes that saved your life just now!"

"Keep telling yourself that, Lord Strong." Usually, he grimaced when I called him that, but this time he smiles even if it's only a bit.

***