Epilogue

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The Great Sept of Baelor was quiet, empty. The Sept's inhabitants had long since departed to rest, so late it was in the night. A figure, hooded and unseen, slid between the Sept's great doors. Their eyes raked the interior for any movement, and finding none, they moved toward the slab of stone in the middle of the room.

Upon it lay the body of the late King, Joffrey Baratheon.

The figure stopped beside the cadaver, eyes raking it from head to toe. The snick of a blade coming unsheathed was the only sound the echoed against the stone. Then, with a fervent vitriol the figure began to cut away at the flesh of the dead King's neck, severing tendons and muscle, slicing through bone. It didn't need to the be a clean cut - it just had to get the job done.

Once beheaded, the King's head was tossed into a potato sack over the figure's back. The job was done, but they hesitated. They let the sack drop to the floor and took their blade again, this time moving lower. The king's cock came off much easier than his head had.

Now they took their leave, carrying the sack outside and onto the streets. It was silent, hardly a soul in sight as the figure made their way toward the slums and came to a halt. They lingered before the remains of the dingy Fleabottom ruins. It had once been a quaint little abode, but now it was ashes. Not a single wall still stood, so horribly it had been burned. That was where the figure erected the pike, on which Joffrey's head was mounted and his mouth was stuffed.

Come the morning, the people of Kingslanding would see their king for what he was. Carrion for the crows. As it should be.

The figure fled to the docks  an area once bustling with ships, it was now bordering on abandoned. A rowboat sat just offshore in wait for the stranger, who took to the open ocean to a ship that lingered just off the coast.

The ship was dark; it was already avoiding watchful eyes.

The stranger climbed on board, pulling themselves on deck with a swift leap. They peered around and approached the only dim light aboard. The stranger's silent footsteps took them to the doors of the captain's cabin.

The strangers straightened their tunic, and entered. 

Sharp eyes found the stranger the moment they entered, followed by the sharp end of a sword being jabbed in their direction.

The Captain of the ship held a cutlass to the stranger's chest. The edge glinted fiercely in the candlelight.

The stranger wordlessly lifted a hand to their cowl, and tugged it away.

Familiar silver tresses fell past the stranger's shoulders - the stranger who also had Lyon's sea foam eyes.

Toren stepped from the shadows and nearly fell to his knees. His Lady, blood and flesh and unburnt, standing before him. From across the room he thought he heard Vio whisper the woman's name, but Lyon didn't acknowledge the sound of her name. She stared back at them, the stranger behind Lyon's eyes, as if waiting for them to move first.

Toren spoke first. "There was a body. I saw it. It was you."

"It was the barely identifiable remains of a young girl who had the misfortune of resembling me." Lyon's voice said, but her eyes flicked toward Vio. Relief fell upon Lyon's face when, instead of flinching at the confession, Vio stepped around her companions and wrapped Lyon in her arms.

"I thought you were dead." Vio murmured.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't tell you. Please understand, I couldn't. Not until everything was settled and done."

Vio drew away. "Lyon, what did you do?"

"You faked your death." Jerro said, his brows shooting up. "To what end, my Lady?"

Lyon took a couple steps toward the center of the room. There, upon a table of various cartography tools, sat a map sprawling the continents of Westeros and Essos. Lyon thoughtfully trailed the width of the Narrow Sea with a finger.

"Joffrey had a plan to kill my mother and I, and he would have succeeded. However, fate has other plans." Lyon plucked the silver ornamental ship signifying their position from the map, and dropped it upon the harbors of Slaver's Bay. "We're going to Meereen. I think it high time I pay the Mother of Dragons a visit."

"She could be mad. Like her father." Toren said. He watched her closer. Lyon sat before them now, but it had been a stranger in his Lady's shoes up until then.

"Funny you say that, considering she and I happen to have that in common." Lyon stilled, gauging the room. Toren stared at her blankly. When only silence followed, she continued. "Alora was Aerys Targaryen's concubine. When she became pregnant shortly before the king was assassinated, she fled. When the baby was born, by the will of the Gods or whatever you believe, Ned Stark came to care for that child. So now, you must know what it was that kept me from perishing in that fire."

"You're a Targaryen." Toren breathed.

Lyon leaned back in her chair. "I'm sorry to have kept it from you, but you must know I couldn't risk telling a soul."

"You have the blood of the dragon." Toren said, his hand running restlessly through his hair. "You're Daenerys Targaryen's elder sister- you have a claim to the Iron Throne."

"I have no desire for the Iron Throne, Toren. I do, however, have a desire to aid in Daenerys' cause. 'The Breaker of Chains' is quite the name, and I intend to see if she lives up to it."

"So we sail to Slaver's Bay." Vio said, a finality in her voice that Toren hadn't heard before. When he found Vio's eyes, her gaze was hard as it bore into him.

Lyon's lips quirked in the ghost of a smile. "Soon. We must replenish our stores. We sail to Pentos. From there we sail to Mereen." Lyon rose from her chair and strode to the door, but she stopped when she neared Toren, grasping his shoulder as her voice dropped low. "And I will hear no more talk about claiming the throne."

Toren nodded and begrudgingly voiced his understanding before he met her eyes. When he finally looked into her eyes, they were not Lyon's.

They were the eyes of the Dragon.

- - -

Thoughts? Comments? Sorry for last chapter's cliffhanger but Lyon's story is far from over! Thanks again to all of yall who comment and read, I deeply appreciate it and hope you're all excited for the story to continue in book 3 😁

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