Chapter 28
When morning came Daemon was rudely awakened by a maid they entered their room and without so much as by your leave began opening the curtains and stroking the fire. The room they were sleeping in was supposed to be Maenera's and by the lack of outrage on the maid's face she didn't realize that there were more people in the room that were supposed to be. He didn't move nor did he made a sound, just waited to see how long will it take for the maid to notice. He realized that Viserys opened his eyes and with amusement in his eyes he settled to watch the maid as well. As expected the maid finally turned and startled when she saw them watching. She let out a shout and dropped the pocker from her hands, the object letting a loud bang when dropping on the ground.
The noise woke Maenera up and she quickly lifted her head and started looking around the room. It seemed that the noise had not alerted only his sister but their guards as well, because they burst into the chamber, rumpled with their tunics undone but with swords in their hands. Ser Harwin and ser Harold surveyed the room looking for possible attackers only to find an amused King and Prince a disgruntled Princess and a terrified maid. Ser Harold after assuring himself there was no danger he shook his head, put his sword away and started dragging Ser Harwin with him out of the door. The maid seemed to be frozen in her place, no sound or movement coming from her. That seemed to amuse him and Viserys even more. When he began snickering the maid broke from the spell and started to apologize.
"I-I-I am sorry your Graces. I beg pardon. I didn't know that-that...." His sister took pity on the poor girl.
"It is alright. I assume you were sent to wake me up?"
"Yes Princess. My lady sent me to help you this morning and to tell you that breakfast will be held in the family wing."
"I do not need any help this morning. My brothers and I will be there for breakfast. You are dismissed. " The maid quickly curtsey and run from the room. His sister got up from the bed and started getting ready. His brother following her suit. Daemon wasn't so eager to get out of the warm blankets just yet.
"Lady Stark sent her? Do you think that maids were sent to our rooms as well?" Asked Viserys.
"Doubtful. She wasn't sent by the young lady Stark she was sent by the old crone. She wouldn't dare to bother you, but she will bother me." Responded Maenera.
"Why does she hate you?" Asked Daemon.
"Me personally? Nothing. My mother and grandmother on the other hand..."
"What did they do?"
"She was freshly wedded when my grandmother fell pregnant. The new Lady Stark and her husband Benjen, decided that she was a stain on their honor and that she was a bad omen on their new marriage. As I told you before, they sent her on Bear Island and declared her dead in the family book."
"Such hatred only for that?" It had to be more, the remarks and accusations the old lady Stark made were meant to be cutting. He doubted that it was only for this offence alone.
"No, grandmother gave birth to my mother, the years began to pass, my mother growing up without problems. Grandmother was flourishing on Bear Island, learning the use of plants and such. She became so good that people began calling her a witch. When the word reached Lady Stark's ears, she accused my grandmother of cursing her, because she could not bear a child."
"And did she?"
"No, grandmother was not powerful enough to cast spells, she was just good at using the plant and making tinctures. No one believed her ramblings and accusations. Years passed again and she still did not quicken with child she began to dispare. So she came to my mother and grandmother and begged them to lift the curse. They assured her that it was no curse but she would not budge. So my mother, she was only ten at the time I think. Gave her a tincture with her blood in it and told her that there was a price."
"Your mother was a witch?"
"A weak one, but her blood was still potent enough. The lady didn't care about consequences, not many do until their time to pay is up. She used it and with each child she bore, her husband began to weaken. One day the she woke up beside a corpse. She had grandmother killed. She is still accusing us, my line that we killed her husband."
"Well, the price of stupidity." Said Daemon.
"People would do a lot of things in their desperation for a child." Said Viserys quietly. Daemon felt a little bad. After all didn't Viserys did the same with Aemma. Sacrificing her for a babe.
"We are expected. Let us go." Said his sister closing the subject.
They were indeed expected. The whole Stark family were in their seats just waiting for them to arrive. There were three seats, so obviously the maid gave her report that they were found together. The smirk on his face hadn't lessen even with his brother begging him without words to behave himself. He will if the Old crone keeps her mouth shut.
"Glad to see that you could join us from breakfast your Graces." Said lord Stark and Viserys nodded and took his seat followed by the rest of them. The breakfast was a tense affair. The glares that the crone was sending his sister were obvious, and so was Maenera's blatantly ingnorance. He expected someone will break the silence sooner or later. He expected his brother to be the one to do so, but it seemed that he decided to ignore all of them. The tension build up and Daemon's smirk began to look more daranged with every minute pass.
"Please refrain yourself while you are under our roof, Princess." The old crone practically spat the last word." It is uncouth for a lady to fall into bed with two men." Well it seemed that it was Daemon's moment to shine.
"I don't remember any of us falling into the bed. Do you brother?" Asked Daemon and he could see the exasperation on Viserys face." I remember clearly that we laid down quite peacefully, there was no falling involved." Daemon said and he could see the face of the woman redden.
"That is not what I meant, my Prince. I only meant..."
"Oh I know what you were insinuating, my Lady." Daemon's eyes began to harden." You were implying that we fucked our sister."
"Gods be good, Daemon!" Said Viserys.
"Let me asked you a question, Lady Locke. Did somebody found us in the throws of passion, perhaps? Or at least naked? No? Then have the decency of not accusing us, a recently widowed man, a three and ten girl and a married man of doing anything uncouth."
"I did not meant to acuse the King or yourself Prince Daemon of anything improper." Said the Lady.
"No just my little sister. A child of ten and three. Please abstain in the future, your commentary is beginning to become a bothersome problem." Said Daemon glaring at the woman. He could feel the grateful gaze of his sister upon his person.
"Let's make some plans for tomorrow shall we?" Said Viserys trying to move the subject along.
"Yes, let's do that." Agreed Lord Stark.
"As we were saying yesterday we didn't came here as executioners. We would like to hold a trial." Viserys began discussing with Stark.
"At Dreadford?"
"Ideally. But it is almost a week and half by horse. We cannot take our dragons as we would like house Stark to be involved."
"We could meet on neutral territory." Said his sister.
"What do you mean?" Asked Daemon.
"The road to Dreadford is too long, and we are expected in the capital. The same can be said if we summon Lord Bolton here to answer for his crimes. We could sent out ravens today and we could meet at Hornwood."
"It is true that Hornwood is in the middle." Said lord Stark.
"There is an added bonus as well. Lord Hornwood is a vassal for Lord Bolton. If we get there first we could speak with him and his household about the rumors circulating."
"What would be the reason for Lord Bolton summons to Horneood?"
"The truth. We can say in the letter that disturbing rumors had reached the King and the Lord Paramount and he is summoned to Hornwood to shed light upon them." Daemon responded.
"If he feels threatened, he could come with an army." The Lord Stark cautioned.
"And if he dares to attack his armies will burn."
"There will be innocent people, just following their Lord's command." Interjected the current lady Stark.
" That is why we do not acuse him directly. We summon him and his household to shed some light upon some unspecified rumors. He got away with the practice for a long time, he will have no reason to suspect he was discovered now." Responded Maenera.
"It is a good plan. With the wildling attacks that have been taking place all over the North, Lord Bolton will probably think the summons is about that problem." Said Bernard Stark.
"If this is settled we should sent the ravens today and leave tomorrow at first light." Daemon said.
"We will be camping along the roads I assume?" Maenera asked.
"If the traveling conditions do not agree with you Princess, I am sure your brothers will not have anything against you ramaning here in Winterfell." The young Lady Stark said sympathetic. As she understood the plight of traveling through the North. And maybe she did. She was a northwoman after all.
"I have no problem with that. I was just about to after my home for some place to rest. It is after all between the Stark territory and the Hornwood one. I thing all of us will be grateful for a bed after two days of riding."
"Princess..." Lord Stark began and Daemon could see that he was trying to soften a blow. "After you left a lot of the servants abandoned their posts. With no Lord or Lady to serve they didn't consider that they should stay and take care of the place anymore."
"Hmm... That is troublesome. Where did all the gold I sent to upkeep my home go then?" A question none of them could answer." The keep is still standing I asume. Even with it abandoned it is better to sleep inside than on the hard ground in the woods. " His sister tried not to sound hurt that her home was abandoned, but she didn't quite managed. It was clear that she didn't expect it.
"Sister..." Viserys began but Maenera was already standing up from her chair.
"Please excuse me, it seems that the meal is not agreeing with me." She said and turned on her heels and left the room. Daemon felt bad for her. He put himself in his situation. To leave for a few years and when he came back to find the Red Keep was an abandoned desolate place. It got to hurt.
"I believe that the plans for the next days are done, if you will excuse me I need to find my sister. " Daemon said and left the rooms as well leaving Viserys to deal with the Starks.
He tried to look for her in their chambers first but she wasn't there, then after some directions from the servants he passed by, he found the Godswood. Maenera was sitting by the Heart Tree with her bare feet in the hot pool that was in front of the tree. She was upset. Not really angry, not really sad mayhaps melancholic. Nobody could acuse Daemon of interpreting emotions correctly. What was clear was that his sister was not happy. He sat next to her, taking of his boots and submerging his feet in the water as well. It felt nice. The woods were peaceful and the water hot, his sister beside him. He sat in silence waiting for her to talk first.
"I don't know what I was expecting exactly. I received missives when I was in Kingslanding that the servants began leaving the keep. I sent more money thinking that maybe they didn't think that they were payed enough. The missives still said that the servants were leaving until one day the missives stoped. I wanted then to go back, to see what has happened but by then a lot of time had passed and Aemma's death was approaching. And I was afraid of what I would find. Nothing was left for me there anyway, just some servants and the ghosts of my family. I didn't even try to look in the visions to scared to see what was left of my home. I was a coward."
"You were not a coward. You were a child. You still are. I do not blame you for not wanting to return to an empty house full of ghosts."
"It was just so hard to go back. I was alone in the mansion in Kingslanding as well, but i would see you in the streets sometime, or flying above on Caraxes and that made me not want to go back North, where all the memories were."
He didn't really know how to respond to that. She was a child that left her home to warn her brother only to be spurned, then when she tried to go back home she was hit with a wave of visions that made her stay. Then as the years passed she became frightened to return home always finding a motive to stay. And now there they were finding out that her home has been left to ruin.
"I still sent money, every month I would sent pouches of gold. I didn't know if someone was still there or not, it just made me feel better. Made me feel like I hadn't abandoned the home father made for mother and I."
"Father wouldn't have wanted for you to waste away alone in the North. He would have preferred if you were with us. "
"You don't know that."
"I do. Father wasn't perfect, all of us know that, but he loved his children. He wouldn't have wanted for any of us to be alone. "
"I still feel bad for abandoning the keep."
"We will see what the damage is when we arrive. When we get back to Kingslanding we can send some servants to take care of the reparations and the upkeep from now on. There are a lot of peasants in Kingslanding that woud sell their soul to have the opportunity to serve in a household."
"Thank you Daemon." She said and let her head fall on his shoulder. They stayed like that. In silence with their feet in the pool.