Chapter Text
"Is that the Titan, mommy?" Little Rhaenys asked when the tall sillouette of the Titan of Braavos was visible from the deck of the ship.
"Yes, my dear, and we will pass under his legs."
Rhaenys' eyes opened like plates as she tried to see over the railing. Jaime picked her up so she could see better.
In his time in King's Landing he hadn't known the little girl too well. After all Elia, Rhaegar and their children han been the majority of the time at Dragonstone. But in the last days he had got to known the Martell princess pretty well. She had taken their escape from King's Landing with a lot of grace and Jaime had only heard her cry once in their entire time at sea, and that was when she was alone in her cabin and he guarded the door. He had seen her with Rhaenys and Aegon and it reminded him of how his own mother treated him. The strange bunch had won over the love of the crew and the captain had given them their second best room and reserved the only fresh fruit for the princess to eat. Jaime never left their side and little by little Elia started talking more with him, first about the weather, then about her brothers and finally how she felt about their entire current situation. He also had gotten along with little Rhaenys, which reminded him of his own brother Tyrion, always so curious and wanting to know all.
Jaime wondered if he would see his family again. He had chosen his duty as a Kingsguard over his family and he knew his father would be very displeased, but his father's opinion was of little matter compared to what Cersei would think. He loved his twin sister more than anything, maybe in a way that only the Targaryens would find acceptable. They had shared loving kisses and embraces and Cersei had told him she would only ever love him but he had noticed how she had acted in court around Rhaegar and he suspected maybe her love wasn't just for him. That's what he told himself every time he thought about her in the ship that would take him and Elia Martell to Braavos.
He had chosen to protect prince Aegon, to do his duty and to fulfill the last promise he had made to Rhaegar Targaryen.
So now he held Rhaegar's daughter in his arms, while protecting his widow who was carrying the true king of the Seven Kingdoms, asleep in her arms.
"Repeat me Your Grace, what are we ought to do once we set foot in the city?" He asked to Elia.
"Varys said we could trust the Sealord. We should head to his palace as soon as we get there. I don't know if he will be waiting for us though. I still don't know how much Varys planned ahead or if we're just navigating in the fog."
"I never trusted the Spider my lady, and I'm surprised you do now. He was the one that filled King Aerys with made up fears and threats. Are you sure we should do as he says?" Jaime had seen the bald man whisper in Aerys' ear and see how the king found more reasons to distrust everyone each time. "Maybe we could try to find our own allies. Isn't your good sister from Essos?"
"I knew Mellario very little. I'm sure Doran would do everything in his power to help me but I won't put that burden on the people of Dorne. They lack the strength to face the rest of the Seven Kingdoms on their own."
"Maybe not raise their spears for us, but at least find some refugee in one of the free cities, a place to rest for a while and for the children to grow." The words made Jaime realize it would be long before he returned to Westeros again. Aegon couldn't go back if he was just a babe, so they would have to wait until he was old enough to be in front of an army.
"Put me down Ser Jaime" asked Rhaenys suddenly uneasy in his arms. He set her on the floor and she starting running around the deck, excited that they were finally arriving afters so many days at sea.
Jaime had always assumed he would marry some western highborn lady and have kids that would inherit the Rock. Then he joined the Kingsguard and that though abandoned his head. But now if he and Elia were going to be the only adults in the children's lives he might find in the princess and the prince some sort of replacement. Although he wasn't sure if he had to keep the celibacy vows now that he was the only one left of the Kingsguard.
Lewyn, Barristan and Jonothor probably all died next to Rhaegar. And Arthur Dayne, The White Bull and Whent had gone missing even before Rhaegar came back to lead the royal forces. Maybe those three were alive, but Jaime had no idea how to find them, and in his mind he was a little scared that they would question why he abandoned Aerys the true king to defend an infant child.
Only Jaime had been left to see Aerys fall down a rabbit hole of madness where every edict and order was crazier than the last. And he had seen the fear and ferociousness in Elia's eyes that night they escaped. If he had to chose between the two again, he would still chose to protect her and the children. The old king was probably dead by now most likely by his own father's sword. Is that how you treat you friends father?
The ship finally passed under the Titan's legs and the port of Braavos was visible to Jaime's eyes. The city was a mix of islands and canals with a few big buildings sprawled across a sea of smaller houses.
"I've taken your opinion into account Ser Jaime and maybe you are right. We should learn more things before we head to see the Sealord. We don't even know what Robert Baratheon did to the city. We will stay at some inn and we will ask around for news of home first."
"Seems wise to me Your Grace." He smiled at the princess to make her feel better but in his head he wished they had a better plan.
The baby wouldn't stop crying and Lyanna was starting to lose her patience. She understood Jon was as tired as she was of being stuck in the cabin, it was dark and smelly and the swinging from the ocean waves had Lyanna feeling sick since they departed Starfall. It was almost as if Jon could feel her mood and cried because she couldn't do it herself.
She hadn't let out a single tear since Rhaegar left her at the tower. She would not weep for him, not even when Arthur told her of his death. She had to be strong for Jon and she didn't want Arthur Dayne to see her as just a little lost girl who was too scared to act.
Lyanna Stark had felt lost for so long in the last year. When she accepted Rhaegar's invitation to leave everything behind she had been lost in a family that wanted to sell her like a brood mare. But when she found herself in Rhaegar's embrace she too felt lost there. He treated her kindly but there was no passion between them. It was almost like an exchange. She wouldn't have to deal with Robert Baratheon but Rhaegar still wanted her only for what her womb could produce. Was that the fate of all women? Have child after child, become a mother and nothing else?
When Rhaegar left he mentioned in passing that something had happened to her brother and father, that they had been imprisoned. She hoped they were still alive and that Ned had managed to get them out of the black cells where Aerys was keeping them. Her family would miss her terribly, probably thinking she was dead. It pained her knowing that her brothers would always protect her but she had to protect Jon and not even Ned would be able to calm Robert, so she had to disappear too.
All her life she had wanted to leave Winterfell and get to know Essos and beyond. But she never imagined it would be escaping and shamed. Lyanna wasn't going pretend, not even to herself. She knew she was the other woman, the paramour that had brought shame to her house, to her family and also to the Princess of Dorne. Lyanna could still remember the pregnant woman's face when Rhaegar handed her the crown of blue roses. Every smile died in that moment but Lyanna still took the crown. In that moment she had been selfish. In her more desperate moment she wished to believe it had been Rhaegar's fault for looking at other women, not realizing she had taken part in it too.
It was only after the war started that she realized she was just a guilty as Rhaegar and that her freedom from Robert had come at a greater price than the one she was willing to pay. She didn't even love the Targaryen prince, it was not that kind of song. She wasn't Jenny of Oldstones and Rhaegar wasn't Duncan the man that left everything for his love. Rhaegar left her in that tower and went to fight her own brother even when she asked him not to. It was the only thing that Lyanna had asked of him.
"Please spare my family. They only want me to be safe." She had said with tears in her eyes, the last ones she had shed.
He had looked at her with those violet eyes and she hadn't found a single trace of love or care for her. In that moment she knew he wouldn't listen to her.
Rhaegar left with the dawn and the stress from it induced Lyanna into labor. A day later Jon had been born.
Lyanna played in her head that scene with Rhaegar every day since she had found out he was dead. She wondered if it had been Ice the one that dealt the final blow. In her mind Ned screamed her name and rode hastefully to Dorne to save her. She wanted her family to at least known she was alive and then she could abandon them to protect Jon. If only she could send a letter to let them know.
"If I could, I would just disappear with you and leave everything behind. But I'm afraid Arthur Dayne won't let us do that. And maybe we need his protection. I don't want to end up a whore in some Pentoshi brothel just to keep you fed. For now we have to stick together with him." She said to Jon. Speaking aloud to him was calming, the only conversation she allowed herself to have besides asking Arthur to bring food.
In that moment the Sword of the Morning entered the cabin "My lady I need to talk to you." He sat in the bed next to her "As you know this ship is headed to Pentos first and then it goes to Braavos. My sister paid passage for us to go to any of the two cities so if anyone was following they wouldn't know in which city we got off."
"I know all of these Ser, we spoke about it on the first day."
"The thing is, the ship will arrive shortly to Pentos but we still haven't decided in which city we will stay."
"Do you have any friends in any of these cities?"
"I do not."
"Then it's all the same is it not?"
"If it was up to me to decide, I would choose Braavos. Pentos is too close to King's Landing. If one of the magisters finds out our identity it would be too easy to send you back to Robert's in a ship. In Braavos people will care less about who you are, since the city is a constant influx on travelers. We will go more easily unnoticed there."
"It seems you have decided then. Braavos it is." Lyanna didn't know much about the Free Cities but what Arthur was saying made a lot of sense. "I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't act like I didn't care. It's just that everything that isn't home just feels so much like the same to me now. But I trust your judgement Ser, we will be safer in Braavos."
"I will go tell the captain." Said Arthur l, leaving her alone in the cabin again.
"You heard that my love? We are going to Braavos. Your uncle Benjen always wanted to be a water dancer. Imagine if he saw me now."