You could hear everything from the room you were sitting in. The screams of the soldiers as their lives were ended by the sea, the clang of metal against metal as they fought to survive. The door was locked, as it always was, and the room was dark except for the eery green illumination from the wildfire burning outside. It should have scared you to be alone, but in all honesty, it seemed better than the rest of the last six months you'd spent locked away in your chambers.
You had been kept prisoner here since your Father's execution, becoming the new plaything for the men of King's Landing. You had been visited by almost every knight who had been posted at the Red Keep as well as many different Lords. The king told you that this was your punishment for being born to a family of traitors, and it seemed that your sister Sansa's punishment was to marry him, though you were thankful as it kept her a lot safer than you were. Her husband to be visited you quite often though, using you before leaving you naked and locked in just as every other man had. You didn't have clothes, they had taken them from you when they left you here, it just seemed easier for the men who were to have you.
At this point, you were starving. Normally a serving woman would've brought you food by now, but since they found out about Stannis Baratheon's fleet heading their way they seemed to have forgotten you, or so you thought. You were huddled in the corner, the sounds of the explosions scaring you away from the windows where you had been watching the fighting, silently hoping that your sister would be kept safe if the King's forces were to fall. Gods, you hoped they would fall.
Soon, it started to grow quite quiet. You stayed where you were, hearing the crackle of the wildfire and not much else, until someone tried to open the door to the chambers you were in. You made yourself as small as possible as tears ran down your face, and you cried out when the door flew off of its hinges, landing flat on the floor. After the large crash, the room fell silent again.
"Y/N Stark?" the deep voice called to you, making you flinch back into the wall. You knew what these men would do to you, what they would do to any woman they found. "Sansa told us we would find you here," he added pausing to let you think. "We are on your side in this war, you're safe now," he finished and you slowly opened your eyes to see Stannis Baratheon standing in front of your naked form. He quickly pulled the sheets off of the bed and moved to wrap them around you, though you flinched when he moved closer and he hesitated. "Here," he spoke reaching them out towards you, "Cover yourself up, your father would have killed me if I had you walking through the halls as bare as the day you were born," he told you with a small smile as you reached out to take them from him and wrap them around your shivering body. As he reached to help you up you flinched away again and he pulled away. "I'm sorry they have done this to you," he uttered as you struggled to stand by yourself.
"Where is Sansa?" you asked him, pulling the sheets tighter around you as you leaned unsteadily against the cold stone wall.
"She is with a friend of mine, Ser Davos, he'll keep her safe," he started, his hands still held up as though he was surrendering to you. "I will take you to her now if you want," he added and you nodded quickly. You needed to see her. As you followed him down the hallways towards Sansa you saw his soldiers watching you and you pulled the sheet around you tighter, moving quicker to walk beside him, hoping he would keep his promise of safety to you.
"Y/N," you heard Sansa cry as she ran to you, pausing when you stepped back away from her. "What did they do to you?" she added as tears welled in her eyes looking at your bruised face. You could tell that she felt terrible, she had been having tea and being a lady with the other women whilst you were beaten and raped under the same roof. She couldn't have done anything, you had come to terms with that a long time ago, but that didn't stop the guilt from creeping into her mind.
"I'm fine," you told her, but you could barely believe the lie yourself as you gave her a small smile. She quickly reached out, pulling you into an uncomfortable hug. Bbefore coming to King's Landing you would have held her tightly in your grip, but now it was different, you were rigid when she held you and didn't even move to put your arms around her.
"Come Y/N, we'll find you some clothes and a place to rest," Stannis spoke, seemingly noticing how uncomfortable you felt in your sisters embrace. You nodded and quickly detached Sansa from you, seeing her now tear-stained, yet relieved face.
"We can go home to Mother and the boys" she told you softly, "and we'll find Arya and we'll all be okay," she continued, nodding as she spoke. "I should go and find Jeyne, I'll need help packing up my chambers," she added as she was quickly hustled away by the older man, who you assumed was Ser Davos.
After a few moments of walking beside Stannis in silence, you finally spoke up. "We won't be going back to Winterfell will we?" you asked him and he remained silent. "You are still fighting against Robb, you won't let us go for free," you spoke again and he chuckled.
"You're a smart girl," he uttered, nodding slightly. "Yes, I'm still at war with your brother and I doubt you'll be going home any time soon. Robb has no claim to the Throne and I need insurance that he won't try and take it by force," he told you.
"You mean like your brother did with the Mad King?" you asked with a raised eyebrow and he laughed again.
"Maybe you are too smart for your own good," he chuckled and you smirked at him before realising that this was the first time you had been genuinely happy in almost half a year. Your face fell as you recognised that you were happy and you felt guilty, how could you be happy when you stood in the city where your Father was murdered?
"Is Joffrey dead?" you asked Stannis bluntly and the smile automatically fell from his face.
"Yes," he told you with a small pause. "I put a sword through him myself," he informed you and you started to smile again, making him raise an eyebrow in your direction.
"I'm sorry if it seems insensitive, but he killed my Father and he-" you trailed off, realising you were about to tell him of the disgusting things he had done to you in the chambers where you had been found.
He stopped walking, causing you to stop and look at him. "And he took things form you that you will never get back. He deserved to die, and you shouldn't feel guilty about being relieved by his death," he told you and you nodded eyes filled with tears as you gripped the covers to you. "Now come, these chambers must have something you can wear," he told you as he held open the door for you to enter before him.
You riffled through the trunks to find something to wear, pulling out a simple gown in a size that was slightly too big for you and deciding it would have to do, Stannis stood guard at the door as you changed, making sure no one would walk in on you changing.
*Time skip*
That evening, you were sitting beside Sansa at a table in the Great Hall. Stannis had thrown a large feast to celebrate his win at the battle of Blackwater and everyone was in great festivities, even yourself. You had struggled to hide your bruises with your hair to no avail and had decided on allowing them to be seen, to see what the old king had done to you. Stannis made sure to look over at the two of you ever so often, worried that you would become overwhelmed around so many men, but you seemed to be doing fine, until he turned to look at you again, only to find you standing beside him.
"Can I sit here?" you questioned and he quickly nodded as you sat in the seat beside him, "One of your guards was talking with Sansa. I thought I would give them some privacy, and you seemed rather bored," you explained to him and he smiled at you.
"After you've been to one celebration you have been to them all, and I have been to far too many in my time," he told you causing you to chuckle lightly as he smiled over at you.
"Father used to say that war celebrations were ridiculous, that murder was never something to be celebrated," you said aloud and Stannis watched you curiously as you thought.
"Do you agree?" he questioned you as you sat up straighter, putting off your answer.
"I did" you started, pausing to think again, "Or I thought I did, but now I'm not so sure. I think Joffrey's death should be an annual celebration. But his soldiers were only doing what they were told, just as your's were," you finished and he made a hum of appreciation.
"We don't throw these feasts for us though do we?" he thought aloud, "We do it for the soldiers who survived, the ones who protect us where they don't have to," he added causing you to snort a little.
"They fight because they would be considered cowards if they didn't, don't get all soppy thinking they care about us Lords and Ladies any more than we care about them," you grunted bluntly. "Not one of these men would have helped me, it's more likely they would have done exactly the same if they had found me before you did," your words were bitter but your voice seemed emotionless, detached even as you told him the blunt truth. "I'm assuming they did it to every other lady they could get their hands on" you added and he frowned deeply realising that you were once more speaking words of wisdom beyond your years, speaking about things you shouldn't have to know. You were hardly even 20 and you had been used by men twice your age because of your Father's need to do what was right and your Brother's need to seek petty revenge.
"I can't begin to think of what you've been through, but I want you to know that I won't let it happen again" he told you as he turned to face you fully. "I promise," he added holding out a hand to shake on it, only when you took his hand in yours did he notice you hadn't flinched away from him and he gave you a small appreciative smile.
*Time skip*
You had been living in King's Landing, with Stannis as the new King, for a few months now. Robb had stood down and sworn to Stannis when he realised that he had protected you and Sansa, especially when he found how comfortable you were with him now. Stannis had decided to have him on his small council but when Sansa returned to Winterfell with your Mother you had decided to stay in the city. Soon after they returned to Winterfell, you received a raven telling you that Arya had found her way back with the help of The Hound, a man you had always been fond of when you first came to King's Landing, you had asked him to look out for Arya when he told you he had seen her in the city and he had done just that.
With Stannis you felt safe, you had ever since he had made his promise to you at the feast, and you felt genuinely cared for when he linked your arm with his or kissed your cheek, and though you had never been overly physical you knew he would make sure you were okay with anything he did and would never hurt you. Which was the reason you felt yourself falling for him. You had grown close in your time together and he had confessed his love for you and you had quickly insured him that you returned his feelings. He had even asked for Robb's blessing to marry you, though he told you that you didn't have to go through with the bedding ceremony if you didn't want to, that he would never make you do anything you didn't want to do and you loved him for that.
*Time Skip*
You were not married in the Sept of Baelor as most royals were, it held to many bad memories for you and your family and Stannis worried it would be emotionally overwhelming for you on the day. You were married instead in the gardens of the Red Keep, a place which you had looked upon and been comforted by at the darkest times of your life. It was beautiful, the whole ceremony was surrounded by brightly coloured flowers and your loved ones and you told him it was perfect once you were finally alone.
The feast was small, you both hated large celebrations and would prefer something intimate, so it was just your close family and friends who got to dine with you. And, of course, there was no bedding ceremony, though you did share your bed that night. Stannis was understanding of your limits when he made love to you and told you how much he loved you through out, managing to calm your tense nerves. You had thanked him profusely afterwards and he simply shook it off, telling you that he would do anything to keep you happy and safe in his arms.
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