Breaker, Broken | Jorah Mormont

Chapter 1

(She would rather deal with a cruel girl than see blood anywhere.)

Maybe if she'd been stronger, everyone's fates might've been different.

"How will we find her?" she asked her companion quietly, turning away as they neared the docks, the light of day bright enough that it might reveal her face prematurely. "If she is already speaking with Master Kraznys, we won't be able to get near her."

"Then we will wait until she finishes her bargaining," said the man with her. "They won't leave just yet, Princess. We have time to find them as they move."

"She will be doubtful of you," the woman warned. "Of your intentions. Me, well, she doesn't even know I survived. I don't imagine she's been expecting a sister nor do I expect she wants one. I've dreamed of this day. She most likely hasn't."

"Perhaps we will both induce skepticism. But my intentions are good and true; I will spread no lies when I pledge myself to her. As for you, your eyes are unique, Princess. If she was led to her dragons by a dream, she will understand who you are. She will accept you and be thankful for any piece of home she can have."

She accepted his hand to climb out onto the docks. "I wonder how much Viserys told her about me. It still breaks my heart knowing that he won't be here. He won't be anywhere, my sweet little brother."

"The news I heard concerning your brother's death was upsetting," said the man. "He became a vicious man, Princess, not at all the little boy you once knew. I am sure you have heard that it was him who wed her to Khal Drogo."

"Grief and anger are a terrible mixture," she murmured solemnly. "And for Targaryens, well... we seem to be prone to madness."

We couldn't be trusted to hold the throne anymore.

Her father had hardly been that to her. He was her King, her sire. His paranoia drove every choice, all decisions concerning her and her brother. It ruined them. It destroyed their family.

She was the third girl born that year to one of the Great Houses. First came Lyanna Stark, then Lysa Tully, and lastly her, the first daughter of King Aerys Targaryen and his sister-wife Queen Rhaella, named Saera after their mother, the late Queen Shaera.

The realm was overjoyed. It was thought that a fine double-match could be made to suit the Hand of the King. Her elder brother Rhaegar would wed Cersei Lannister, while Saera would be betrothed to Jamie Lannister, only five years her elder.

Aerys refused to entertain the idea.

Word already floated through the Red Keep that Tywin Lannister was the true ruler of the Seven Kingdoms– the only one that held them together. The only reason the unreliable Aerys was still in power.

Many presumed that the only alternative Aerys would consider was wedding Saera to her elder brother, Rhaegar. Both he and his wife refused. She, because of her suffering at his hands. He, because he insisted that everyone was out to get him, that he needed men loyal to him, that he needed insurance. His children needed to be used to acquire strong allies. They'd be wed to whoever proved most beneficial to him.

Rhaegar was used to bring the Dornish closer, while her match remained undecided. Aerys could have married her to Eddard Stark or Stannis Baratheon, both only a few years older, or even the barely-younger Edmure Tully, had he not expressed severe distrust for their fathers.

Many times, Saera had wondered what any of those marriages might have been like. Eddard Stark was an honorable man; she saw it herself. He would have made a fine husband, she could have been happy. Stannis Baratheon was anything but warm, yet he would have protected her and possibly let her do what she pleased, which would have been fine too. Edmure Tully was said to be foolish, though she was certain he would have made her laugh. Jamie Lannister she'd known all her life, and while he was incredibly handsome, she never thought he paid her much attention. Like Stannis, he might've given her the freedom to make herself happy.