(Skyreach)
(One Week Later)
Robb had just slipped out of the bed that he shared with the girls and snuck towards the door, he slipped outside and into the corridors, he still had a limp though the maester had told him there wouldn't be any permanent damage and while that gave him a certain amount of relief it did not give him comfort in his current situation.
He was being kept in the dark about something big and he needed to know what, while he had very much enjoyed his time here... especially with the girls he wanted to see his family again, he wanted to know the full circumstances of his injury and he wants to know why he can't stop thinking about his brother Jon. He couldn't help but feel as if he were in danger or perhaps something else, regardless he needed to know.
Robb limped through the stone corridors placing his hand against the wall for balance, at night most of the guards were stationed in particular areas, which were usually the entrances to not disturb the ruling family, at least that's how it was in the North and while Dornish culture may be vastly different Robb was sure that their want for privacy would be the same. And it seemed as if he were right as he had yet to encounter a guard, as the hour was late the servants seemed to be asleep as well so this was the perfect opportunity to find out what in the hell was going on.
Robb walked gently against the stone floor, he'd decided to neglect to put his boots on to make less sound, but it seemed it was all for nought as he managed to reach his destination with no obstacles. Right now he was outside of Lord Fowlers Solar, one thing he had managed to notice since he'd been here was the unnatural amount of correspondence the man was getting. Robb even felt bad for the old Maester as he was running back and forth through the keep multiple times a day delivering and retrieving messages.
Perhaps if Robb was able to get his hands on some of the correspondence he might have a better idea of what was going on and who those people were that stalked the corridors during the day. Robb limped over to the door to the solar and tried to open it only to find it wouldn't budge 'I shouldn't be surprised it is his solar' he thought to himself "I guess it's the hard way " he said to himself as he limped down the hallway, a few rooms over he found a door that was opened, it seemed to be a storage room of some kind but that wasn't important.
The window at the end of the room was what Robb was looking for, he limped over to it putting his hands on the edge as he looked out, there was a small lip on the outside that led around the building. Robb first looked around into the courtyard that the windows overlooked to see if there was anyone there, once he was sure there wasn't he climbed out onto the ledge of the window with a bit of effort, with his limp this would be a bit difficult.
With a slight wince, he managed to get his legs over the side and hold his back against the wall, very carefully and extremely slowly he shimmied towards the Lords solar, while he wasn't completely useless at climbing he had nowhere near his brother's proficiency nor his fearlessness of heights. His foot slipped and it unbalanced him making him lean forward, his arms started flailing and he was almost sure he'd fall off until he thrust with his groin forcing himself back against the wall 'Looks like spending so much time with the twins is a good thing' he thought with a slight chuckle.
He then finished shimming to the window to the solar, luckily it was still open as I'm sure Lord Fowler didn't expect someone to come in this way, especially in the middle of his castle. Robb fell into the room with a painful groan as he lost his balance. After muttering a curse he pushed himself off the floor using the wall to help himself up. He looked around and saw that the candles and torches were all out, not wanting to raise suspicion he kept it that way. Luckily the full moon was out tonight so it would give him enough light if he stood by the window, Robb limped over to his desk and started looking on top of it and through it, he started reading the different letters that were left out. However a lot of it was useless, just other lords sending complaints though Robb noted it was interesting that a lot of the Lords were concerned with the state of the Prince's pass and even offered to send reinforcements to help bolster Skyreach, but based on a half written reply on the table Lord Fowler declined.
Robb frowned 'If there is a war going on why would Lord Fowler refuse to properly defend one of the most strategic locations in Dorne' he thought to himself as he put the letter down "There has to be more here" Robb said to himself as he started looking through all of the drawers.
*
"Look here Robb" he heard his Father say as he ushered him over to his Desk. Robb walked over to him where his father told him to look down.
"Every Lord will have a compartment like this or at least similar though it won't be in the same place, this is where all the important Correspondence will be" His father told him.
*
Robb grabbed his head as he was assaulted by the memory, he nearly fell over as his head throbbed with pain. He breathed heavily as he sat down in the seat behind Lord Fowler's desk 'I suppose I should be grateful that memories are coming back, but I was hoping they'd be more recent' he thought to himself before leaning down and checking the drawers again, he traced his fingers across the insides of the drawers looking for any seems or perhaps levers but he didn't find any. When he reached the last drawer he found a small hole at the bottom, he lifted it up and underneath was what he was looking for.
Inside were dozens of letters as well as a necklace that was in the shape of a circle with a triangle in the middle which was just like the symbol the weird priests wore. However in the centre of the necklace was a black stone that seemed to pulsate, Robb reached out for it but as he did his instincts screamed out for him to stop and he started to feel nauseous as his hand got closer.
He abruptly pulled his hand back just before he touched the necklace, he grabbed a quill from the desk and moved the necklace out of the way before grabbing the letters. Reading through them they seemed to all be exclusively from Prince Doran Martell and they were quite disturbing, to say the least.
*
Lord Fowler
Take control of the Army from Beric Dayne, and make sure Dorne loses the battle. The King's army needs to emerge into Dorne through the Prince's pass and take Starfall. Put Daeron Targaryen on the front he needs to die.
*
Robb frowned as he read the letter 'I thought there were only two Targaryens left and neither of them is called Daeron... who is he' he thought to himself as he read through more of the letters 'Why would Doran be against Dorne?' He thought to himself as he kept reading them. His heart dropped when he started coming to the recent letters.
*
Lord Fowler
If it is indeed Robb Stark that you have recovered then I shall inform the nearby priests, they shall have the necessary ingredients to fracture his mind and start the awakening. He has the Old blood so he can be used though it is useless while he remains asleep.
*
Robb dropped the letter as he started breathing heavily once more, this whole time it was they who were responsible for his fractured memories 'But how the only times he'd eaten was with...'
*
"Try this one next Robb!"
"Nooo try mine first"
*
Robb clenched his fists as he realised how they were dosing him, the twins were the ones doing it. He needed to get out of here and back home something sinister was at work here and Robb didn't know what, but with Doran seemingly plotting against his realm and taking a special interest in himself, as well as whatever this 'Awakening' was.
Robb placed the letters back into the compartment and moved everything back to where it was 'I need to get the fuck out of here' he thought to himself.
———————————————————
(Astapor)
Sansa walked through the lavishly designed corridors of the Good Masters palace, she had been quite distraught of late... things had not been going well, not for them though, for them, they had been going according to plan but for the masters and the rich, they had not been going well at all.
While Rhaenys had continually assured Sansa that this was the way things needed to be she couldn't help but think that perhaps there might've been a better way. Myrcella calls her naive and makes fun of her for it, she'd often say 'For someone who grew up in Winterfell you are a summer child' while laughing.
'Perhaps they are right, I should leave these dealings to them' Sansa thought to herself as she entered the Great Hall where the Good Masters sat. The Great Hall was designed so that thirteen seats were on a raised upper dais overlooking the hall, the richest and the most powerful of the Good Masters had the honour of taking these seats. However, the first thing Rhaenys did when she came into power was destroy the entire dais and place the thirteen seats around a circular table where she would hold her meetings.
Right now she was sitting around the table with Myrcella and Margaery at her sides, and her sister Arya was sitting away from them talking with Thoros. She was glad Thoros was here as he often shared the same opinions as Sansa believing Rhaenys solution to be much too harsh, though it didn't seem their opinions mattered in the end. Asha sat a few seats away from Myrcella though she didn't seem to be paying attention to the meeting and had her feet up on the table while she carved an apple with her knife.
Rhaenys looked up at Sansa when she came in and smiled "Please come and join us Sansa, we're just about to begin the meeting" she stated as she gestured to the seat next to Myrcella. As she walked around she saw that opposite Rhaenys were people who she assumed were residents of Astapor. Another thing Rhaenys had done was to allow the slaves to elect a number of leaders, eventually, they would rule the city in Rhaenys name. They were selected based on the different districts there were as well as leaders of the craftsman, leaders of the merchants and even a leader for the budding army as Rhaenys had ordered the unsullied to start training a large amount of the ex-slaves to form their own fighting force, though thankfully they were all volunteers.
Margaery and Myrcella as the two most educated had been teaching them all they needed to know about leading their faction as charisma can only carry you so far and Rhaenys would not accept incompetence. As Sansa sat down Rhaenys looked over to the leaders of Astapor "Tell me have the Masters been cooperating and teaching?" She asked in a cold tone that sent a shiver down Sansa's spine.
Eldad the leader of the craftsman stood up "While most have been cooperative there have been a few who refuse to teach or teach them incorrectly" he stated with a small amount of anger in his voice. Before Rhaenys freed him Eldad was used by the Good Masters to look after the livestock. One of the Good Masters had a prized pig that had gotten sick under his care and so Eldad naturally got the blame and so they fed his family to the pigs.
Rhaenys frowned at his words but Myrcella was the one who spoke "They were warned of the consequences... take their family and place them in the brothel, if they still resist then make them watch" she said coldly.
Sansa felt her stomach turn at her words and even went to voice her opinion until Asha grabbed her arm. Sansa spun and looked at her and saw her shaking her head "You won't help" she whispered to her and as much as Sansa wished to dispute it she was right nothing she could say would make them change their minds or make them more lenient.
A venomous smile formed on Eldads face as he sat back down, it was clear he was going to enjoy doing this to the masters. At this point a woman stood up, she was one of the leaders of the districts and she seemed to have a look of concern on her face "We have been having some issues in the harbour..." she said hesitantly.
Rhaenys looked at her with interest "Speak and tell me what it is" She asked making the woman jump slightly.
"Some of the ex-slaves have been supporting the masters, there has even been talk of possible escape to Yunkai" she explained
Sansa could see the fire in Rhaenys eyes at the woman's words, she didn't know if it was her imagination or whether the room was getting hotter "So this is how they treat the freedom that was given to them" Rhaenys said with an emotionless tone "Very well, if they wish to live in the old world then they can die in it..." she stated.
Sansa couldn't help herself anymore and she stood up "Surely you can't mean it" she said with her voice full of emotion.
Rhaenys looked at her with a blank expression "Think Sansa the only ones who would support the masters after being freed are those who were bribed and those who were broken, they have no place in the new world" She explained.
Sansa found herself unable to speak but she felt like she needed to say something "Surely they deserve a chance!" She said desperately.
It wasn't Rhaenys who spoke this time but Margaery "They were given freedom Sansa and this was what they chose to do with their freedom, they betrayed us" she said and while it made sense Sansa still couldn't stomach it.
Rhaenys turned to look back at the woman "Crucify the traitors, but make sure to dress them in the master's clothing as I'm sure they'd want" she commanded, the woman nodded and sat down.
Sansa was going to speak again but Rhaenys spoke before she could "Sansa will you please go and find Arianne, she is looking after Jaehaerys and Alysanne at the moment and I want to make sure they're okay" she asked with a smile. Not seeing what else she could do here Sansa nodded before getting up and leaving, in truth she knew why Rhaenys was acting so cold and uncaring towards any slave owners as she had been one herself for a long time. She also couldn't help but miss Daeron, his presence here would've done a lot in curbing Rhaenys impulses.
'Please come home soon Daeron'
(AN: So things are going well for Rhaenys for Robb not so much as he's caught in the Grand Dornish conspiracy... just kidding there is a conspiracy but it isn't that)
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