Chapter Text
Brienne
295 AC
Isle of Tarth
“I thought I’d find you here.” Selwyn Tarth called from behind as he approached his daughter. Brienne tore her gaze from the view of the far line of Westeros that sat across the Straits of Tarth to look back to her father as he dismounted his horse. She wiped the tears from her eyes and stood straighter along the cliff edge.
“I won’t apologize, Father. He insulted my honor.” Brienne replied; her brow scowled at him – warning him if he should challenge her words.
“There is no need, Brienne. Ser Wagstaff’s broken bones will heal but I doubt his pride will.” Selwyn smiled sadly at her and joined her on the cliffs looking out to Westeros. “I feel that I am failing you daughter.”
“Why should you feel as such? Is it not I who failed you by not being a boy?” Brienne retorted, her face burning red, “Why don’t you have any more children? You have a new lady in your court every year!”
“I cannot bear it” Selwyn winced and looked at his daughter with a sad smile, then looked to their home – the castle Evenfall further down the coast in the distance “After your brother drowned and your sisters died in their cradles…
Brienne remembered their deaths, the grief of her father and the sadness that had taken her mother. That was why she had trained to become a knight though she knew she would be not accepted by the likes of men such as Ser Wagstaff but she did not make a fine later herself as she was not beautiful and ridiculed by the other women.
“I have hoped to find a man who would accept you as a woman and a…warrior, but it seems my search has been for naught” Selwyn shook his head and placed a single hand on his daughter’s shoulder, “I’ll leave it to you to find a man who meets your fancy.”
“T-thank you, Father” Brienne replied and looked away from him to hide her blush. There had been only one man who had been courteous to her, but that man was Lord Renly Baratheon and despite it being several years now since he had visited Tarth she still found herself dreaming of him. It had been a small thing his affection to her, but it had meant so much to Brienne that it still burned like a torch in her soul. She knew her chances of pairing with Renly were small and distant, but perhaps if she lived up to the ideal of knighthood, she would have her chance like in the old stories. “Besides you, brother, and Ser Goodwin I doubt I will meet any other man who treats me fairly.”
“The Seven have a strange way of surprising us all, Brienne.” Selwyn smiled and embraced his daughter, “You are young still and will find that out for yourself – more than once I bet.”
Father and daughter then turned to remount their horses when an ear-splitting roar sounded high above them, they looked up in shock to see a shocking sight: a star was falling! For several fearful seconds it looked like the falling star was headed straight toward them but much to their relief it appeared it was not – instead it impacted further away from Evenfall down the beach. Brienne and Selwyn shielded their eyes and ears as the object impacted the ground – even as far away as they were the ground tembled beneath them. Brienne was first to look and see that the impact had caused a great plume of sand, smoke, rock and seawater to shoot up grabbing for the sky before It all fell back down. Again, Brienne was the first to act as she raced to mount her horse – the animal was frightened from the sound but years of knowing the sight and smell of Brienne appeared to calm it down quickly.
“Come, Father! Let us see it up close!” Brienne called and rode off before Selwyn could say anything to stop her. Brienne had spent years combing the cliffside and beaches around Evenfall therefore it did not take her long to find a winding path down to the beach below them. Approaching the impact point of the falling star she could see where the beach had turned to glass from the force and heat of the impact -each step that took her closer crunched the glass. She had never seen a falling star land before, very few people had, and did not know what to expect once she got close enough through the steam and smoke. It was said that falling stars were made of metal and rock – that House Dayne in Dorne had a sky-metal sword called Dawn – she had seen mines and ore bound in stone so perhaps it would be similar to that. When she caught sight of the fallen star her breath caught in her throat.
It wasn’t just made out of rock and metal ore – it was completely made out of metal! The surface of the fallen star was ruined and pockmarked with damage – she did not doubt that its entry onto the surface of Tegon had been brutal but as she peered closer Brienne thought she could make out an intricate surface between the ruined parts. Had this thing been made of crafted metal? The ground sizzled around the fallen star or whatever it truly was – still very hot she could feel the heat in the ground beneath her boots
Just as she was struggling to understand what she was looking at the fallen star cracked open – and out came strange clear liquid which was surprising but what was even more surprising was the baby that came out with it. When the baby came in contact with the hot ground it began to wail – a sound that pierced Brienne through her heart to hear. She sprinted the last few feet to the crying baby and scooped it up in her arms, biting down the pain of her hands as they brushed against the scorched earth. No sooner than the baby – a he, she could see that quite clearly – was in her arms she ran back the way she had come putting distance between her and the fallen star.
“You-you’re alright now, little one. Sshh, Ssshhh” Brienne did her best to sound calming and reassuring as she looked down at the baby boy. She more hoped than knew it would work – she had very little experience with children! Was this the best way to hold him in her arms? Would he be scared of her face? Perhaps more amazing than the sight of the fallen star or the babe’s sudden appearance from within it, and much to Brienne’s relief, the baby calmed down in her arms. Its wails subsiding at her words, almost as if he understood her. The baby slowly opened its eyes and she let herself gasp softly as she stared into the grey of them. There was something about the baby’s eyes, she had the impression of steel for some reason.
“Brienne! What-what do you have there? A baby?” Selwyn had finally caught up with his daughter, his face a look of shock as he dismounted and stepped closer to make sure his daughter was alright and then inspect the little child.
“A babe from the sky. What does this mean, Father?” Brienne asked, tearing her eyes from the child’s look up at her father. Lord Tarth’s face looked deeply puzzled and awed in equal measure – he did not reply immediately to her question only speaking after perhaps a minute or Brienne thought more.
“I don’t know. I don’t know at all. This seems like it is a story from the age of the First Men.” Selwyn hesitantly reached forward and placed a hand on the baby’s forehead. It seemed to study him as he did so.
“We…we should keep him, Father. We can’t abandon him – it just wouldn’t be right.” Brienne said, Selwyn opened his mouth to say something but whatever he was about to say was cut off by a sudden wrenching sound. Father and daughter looked back toward the fallen star, the smoke had cleared finally, to see that it was slowly disintegrating before their eyes – crumbling apart into broken metal that was being washed away with each wave of sea water than came in. It would be all gone in a matter of minutes.
“Well, we cannot say he came from the stars.” Selwyn shook his head, “Every House from here to the Wall would say we are mad.” He paused in thought for several moments and then gave Brienne an apprising look, “Perhaps we should say he is your bastard?”
“Father! No, that would never work.” Brienne’s face beat red in anger and embarrassment, “I have not even had the figure of being with child- “
“Calm yourself, Brienne. I was jesting.” Selwyn shook his head, “No, it would be better to say he is my bastard instead.”
“As I said you have had a great many ladies in your court these past years” Brienne snorted and looked at the baby again, “He needs a name.” She looked into his eyes again. There was steel behind them but also something else she couldn’t put her finger on, “He looks like a little conqueror. Perhaps…Aegon?”
“Hah. Aegon Storm, the Little Conqueror? Eh? Not a bad name.” Selwyn nodded his head in approval, “The names of the dragon-kings are not in great popularity across Westeros, but Aegon has special meaning to the Seven Kingdoms…and to us. Be Aegon a conqueror or an egg.”
Brienne thought to ask her father more on what he had meant by an Aegon having a special meaning to ‘us’ but decided to put that question aside for now. Instead she let her father take her horse and held onto little Aegon as they walked down the beach toward Evenfall. It would be nice to have a brother again, this time she would teach him the ways of the sword, shield, and knighthood.