Chapter Text
Selwyin Tarth was reading a story to his daughter the night everything changed.
It had been a rough year between his wife’s death giving birth and the loss of his small twin daughters too, but Galladon and Brienne had understood his pain and did everything they could to help him, even though they were just kids.
The boy was the eldest, he was ten but decisively more mature than his age: he still held that playful spark in his eyes, even after the loss of his mother and sisters Galladon could show joy at the smallest things in life, like spending time with his father, doing nothing but watching him work, talking to the people of the island and solving conflict between them.
Brienne, on the other hand, was only six, and the loss had been harder on her: there were nights when she missed her mother the most and she would cry on and on, asking him if she did something to upset her mom and that was why she wouldn’t come home.
The sense of despair and void hit harder on those nights, so Selwyn did the only thing he knew to ease her pain and his own: he hold her tight and whispered shooting nonsenses into her hair, kissing her forhead.
His little warrior was so brave, just like her brother: she had always been refusing to learn to act like a proper lady, giving seven hells to her Septa, but after his wife’s death Brienne had quieted down a little, had finally started to listen to Roelle and wear dresses instead of breeches like her brother without complaining too much. He knew she did it only to earn his approval, and he made sure to show her she got it as much as possible, he even allowed her to take lessons with a sword side by side with Galladon, ignoring the Septa’s complains. Brienne had to learn to be a lady, of course, but he would never try and change her into something she was not, taming her wild spirit, if she wanted to learn how to wield a sword well then he would hire the best teacher he could find.
That night Brienne had asked him to read her a bedtime story “from one of your big old books, dada” she had said with her impossibly blue eyes staring at him, and he had agreed because he could not deny her anything when she had that look on her face.
The Eventar had then picked a special book, his wife’s favourite: it was a precious and unique collection of farytales, protected by a lock that only a special key could open.
He was telling his daughter the story of this princess who got lost in a snowstorm and her horse brought her to a magnificent palace, when one of the guards rushed in, interrupting him.
-My lord! Pirates at the gates of our home! –
Selwyn narrowed his eyes as he stood up quickly:
-Call every man in the palace, we must hold them off. –
-I’m afraid we can’t, my lord they outnumber us, and they are already breaking in, you must flee and we will try to buy you some time. –
Selwyn nodded, then called for Roelle, as soon as the other man had left the room.
-Take my daughter and bring her to the small beach behind the castle: there is a boat there, please take it and bring her to saefty. –
-What will you do? – the woman asked with sincere concearn in her eyes.
-I’ll go and take Galladon from his room before the pirates get to him, we will meet again in Storm’s End, I have a friend there that will surely help us.-
Brienne was frightened by the screams that she could hear outside of the door, so she grabbed a handful of his shirt and tugged:
-Dada, I don’t want to go. –
He crouched to meet her eyes: - I know you don’t, but you must leave right now with Roelle. Brienne I know that I’ve asked you a lot lately, but right know I need you to be brave, braver than you’ve ever been. – she nodded and he took off a necklace with a thin, silver chain and a sword pendant – wear this, so you won’t feel alone on the boat; I’ll grab your brother and we will be right behind you. – he said, kissing her forehead and leaving the room in a hurry.
Brienne couldn’t understand why her father wanted her to walk with Septa Roelle out to the beach in the middle of the night when she was so tired all she wanted to do was sleep in her comfy bed, however if he said he wanted her to, then she must go.
Still she wanted to know how the story he was reading her ended, so she grabbed the book on her way out.
Septa Roelle dragged her frantically through the rooms, hastily ordering her to drop the book because it was too heavy and is slowed them down, but she wasn’t going to listen to that; they finally reached the room the older woman was looking for, and there they met a young boy who seemed to be waiting for them: he was holding a sword with his right hand and was breathing heavily; upon seeing the two women entering he hurriedly put his free hand on a brick and the wall behind him moved, revealing a dark staircase.
Brienne was too afraid to take another step toward that darkness, that looked so much like the mouth of one of those creatures she read about in her books, but the shouting voices and the screams were getting closer, so Septa Roelle simply forced her to move: right before the wall moved back to its place her precious book slip out of her grasp and fell onto the floor.
She begged for the woman to stop, open the wall again and let her take the book, but Septa Roelle simply ignored her.
They finally reached the beach her father was talking about, then they jumped into one of the two small boats there, and set sail for the mainland.
They spent the night in silence, Septa Roelle wrapped Brienne up in a blanket to shield her from the cold, and then ordered her to sleep, but she could sense that somwthing was amiss: they were moving away from the island, her father was not there and she was still cold despite the blanket.
When it started to dawn and they could see the coast of the mainland getting closer, Septa Roelle noticed that they were being followed by a small group of pirates: they no doubtly belonged to the same crew that assaulted Tarth the night before.
They were getting closer, so when the small boat Brienne and her Septa were on reached the shore, they hurriedly get off and started running.
-The railway is this way, child. – Septa Roelle said, grabbing her hand – let’s prey the gods grant us mercy and there is a train passing by that we can catch. –
Brienne could feel the ground trembling slightly under her feet, and then a loud whistle broke through the quiet of the morning.
-Just a little faster, Brienne, the train is getting closer. –
In the meantime the pirates had reach the shore too, and had started to chase them, a group of armed men getting closer and closer: their cruel laughs and wild screams were almost as loud as the sound of the train approaching on the railway.
Brienne tought she had never been this scared in her whole life.
-When I say so, we must jump. – her Septa said, squeezing her hand.
The little girl nodded, and a second later the woman urged her to do so.
They tried to jump onto an open wagon: Septa Roelle managed to reach it, but Brienne couldn’t jump that high, her hand slipped from the woman’s grasp, and the impact with the side of the railroad car sent her flying in the low bushes near the railway.
The last thing she heard was a loud bang before her eyelids fluttered close, dragging her down into the darkness.