Different Paths to Destiny [Game of Thrones]

30: King and Queen

" he was a king to me
and I was the queen to be
'til the walls come crumbling down "

As I headed into the great hall, Aylward pulled me aside, blue eyes steely. "There's been news from King's Landing." His hand stayed on my arm, but he didn't say anything else.

"Aylward, what is it?" I couldn't remember ever seeing him like this. He was always so composed; the stoic knight, as I liked to tease. "What's wrong?"

He swallowed, searching for words. "The Sept of Baelor was destroyed in an explosion. It isn't certain how it happened, but-"

"There was a wildfire cache underneath," I mumbled, remembering what Tyrion had told my sister and me. "No one moved it after Aerys, no one knew."

"Someone knew." There was a brief pause as we both considered that. There was only one woman I could imagine being crazy enough to attempt something like that.

"Was-" I broke off for a moment, knowing the answer to my question before I even asked it. "Was anyone killed?"

Aylward nodded once. "The Faith was holding a trial." He looked away, but his fingers tightened on my arm. The last I'd heard from the capital, both Tyrells had been locked away for their supposed crimes. "Margaery and Loras were inside."

I wrapped my arms around him, crushing my face against his chest. I didn't attempt to hold back my tears, and though I didn't look up, I could feel Aylward shaking too. He'd known the Tyrells long before he took up with Renly. We'd both lost friends. "The way I left things with Margaery-" The words caught in my throat.

"We all make mistakes," he whispered, fingers brushing through my hair to calm me down, while I rubbed his back. I couldn't remember a time we'd ever been so affectionate towards each other. But it didn't seem strange; we'd been fighting together for years now.

When I stepped back, Aylward was composed again, as if the moment of vulnerability could be so easily forgotten. I dragged my hands across my cheeks, wiping away my tears. "I should be getting inside. Will you find Daemon and Archibald, please?" That was why we worked so well together. We'd be there for each other always, but we also knew when the other needed time to process alone.

OoOoO

I sat between Sansa and Jon in the great hall. The room was packed. Northern lords stood beside Dornishmen. The Darrys talked to the Free Folk. Aylward and Davos sat beside the Knights of the Vale, but not close enough to look like they belonged with them. Almost every part of Westeros was represented in this room. In theory it was amazing. In practice, it was chaos.

"You can't expect the Knights of the Vale to side with Wildling invaders!" Yohn Royce protested.

"We didn't invade, we were invited," Tormund reminded him.

"I say let the Wildlings in," Daemon Sand, a member of my Queensguard, spoke up. "They're the only ones here who know what the Seven Hells is coming from beyond that wall." Archibald Yronwood, another of my guard, nodded his agreement. No one was about to argue with Archibald, he was almost seven feet tall.

"If you won't have them, we'll take them south with the Queen," Lyman Darry offered, looking at me. I nodded at the most recent addition to my Queensguard. The room erupted in discussion once more. Tormund and I shared an amused look.

Jon stood. "The Free Folk, Northerners, Knights of the Vale, and Amina's forces fought together. And they fought bravely. We won because of all of you. My father used to say we find our true friends on the battlefield."

"The battle is over," Lord Cerwyn spoke up. "Winter has come, if the Maesters are correct, it'll be the coldest one in a thousand years. We should ride home and wait out the storms."