KINGDOM FALL
— 2. The Brotherhood Without Banners

That night, Annalys laid awake in bed as Robb laid sound asleep beside her. She turned her head, looking out the window to find it to be near first light. She sighed, cautiously lifting Robb's arm from being wrapped around her before getting up.

She quickly walked over to where her clothes laid on the ground, quickly placing them on. She immediately grabbed her bow and sword, just before she walked out of the room.

Once heading out of the castle without anyone seeing, Annalys stole a horse from the stables before riding away on her horse.

     By noon, Annalys soon arrived close to the Brotherhood Without Banner's hideout. However, her path was blocked by a group of men on horses, led by a woman with red hair.

"Stop," The unknown woman commanded the men, causing the men and their horses to come to a complete stop. She looked ahead once seeing Annalys, a small smile growing on her face, "Annalys Stark. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Annalys frowned, confused as to how the woman knew her, "Who are you?" She asked, clearly not knowing who the woman was.

"Melisandre, but most people call me the Red Woman," She introduced herself, climbing off her horse as Annalys did the same.

Annalys cautiously walked closer to the woman, realizing she was the Red Priestess who was said to be one of Stannis Baratheon's advisors. Just who she wanted to talk with.

"You're pledged to Stannis Baratheon," Annalys stated and Melisandre simply nodded her head in response, staring at Annalys in fascination as if she noticed something about Annalys that no one else did, "I was actually hoping to have a chat with him. Perhaps you can send him a message?"

"Depends what it is," Melisandre responded, much to Annalys' annoyance.

"I was hoping for an alliance," Annalys informed Melisandre, crossing her arms over her chest, "Between the Kingdom of the North and the rightful the heir to the Iron Throne. If Stannis agrees to allow the North to remain an independent kingdom, I can make sure he can take King's Landing without failing like last time," She paused, smirking slightly as she mentioned Stannis' failure at Blackwater Bay.

"There's something else, isn't there?" Melisandre questioned as she moved closer to Annalys, noticing that she was holding something back.

"If Stannis and my husband were to become  allies with one another, I'd like another favor. One that needs to happen as soon as possible," She informed Melisandre, a small smirk on her face.

Melisandre continued to move closer to Annalys until she was directly in front of her. Melisandre stared into Annalys' eyes with such fascination that it slightly scared Annalys.

Before Annalys could react, Melisandre grabbed ahold of Annalys' face with one hand, staring into the girl's eyes, "Interesting," She muttered under her breath, looking almost shocked as she continued to stare deeply into Annalys' eyes, "I see a darkness in you, along with light. They battle one another constantly, torn between doing what is right and doing what you truly yearn to do. But in that darkness inside you, there are eyes staring back me. Brown eyes, green eyes, and blue eyes. Eyes you'll shut forever. I see the bodies of thousands, laying across an open field, all killed by your hand. I see a war on the verge of starting. One ensued by a decision you will make in the near future. You will make Kings rise and fall, Annalys Stark," She suddenly paused, a look of disbelief on her face as she realized who was standing before her, "That's impossible."

"What in the seven hells are you going on about?" Annalys asked, annoyance laced in her tone of voice as she had no clue what the woman spoke of.

If she had listened that day, it would have saved Annalys so much trouble.

Melisandre continued to stare at Annalys in shock. She couldn't be. She couldn't be the prince who was promised. Stannis was.

"We will meet again, Annalys Stark," She managed to speak up, her eyes still wide as she turned away from her before leaving.

Annalys frowned, a confused look on her face as Melisandre rode off with her men. She became even more confused as the men brought a horse-drawn cart with them, one that had a black-haired boy riding on it. She locked eyes with the boy, feeling as if she somehow knew him.

Annalys shook herself out of her thoughts and walked back to her horse. She climbed on before riding in the direction of where she knew the Brotherhood without Banners were.

__

Once arriving, Annalys found the Brotherhood without Banners standing before her. One of the men stood beside Arya, pointing a bow at Annalys. Arya looked much older than the last time Annalys had seen her. After all, it had been more than three years.

Annalys' face and hair were hidden behind her cloak and hood, meaning the men couldn't see who she was, "That's about far enough," The unknown man spoke up, pointing his notched arrow directly at Annalys.

Annalys smiled, slowly removing her cloak, "My lords," She politely greeted the men, despite knowing they were anything but lords, "I come here on behalf of King Robb Stark."

Thoros of Myr smiled slightly at the sight of Annalys, immediately recognizing the girl to be the famous Annalys Stark by the bow strapped to her back and her long golden hair, "Anguy, lower your bow," He spoke up as he looked up at Annalys, "This is Annalys Stark, Queen in the North."

The entire group seemed shocked, all but Thoros and Arya. Arya slowly walked closer to Annalys as she climbed off her horse. Annalys went into the bag she carried, taking two large cloth bags filled with Gold Dragons. Once she turned to face the men, Arya immediately leaped into Annalys' arms, hugging her tightly.

Out of the entire Stark family, Arya had been the one Annalys seemed to know the least. She had been Annalys and Jon's secret messenger, but they didn't speak much after that. Even Rickon knew Annalys better than Arya did.

However, Arya felt safe in Annalys' prescence after more than two years on her own without any family. Annalys was Robb's wife, which made her Arya's sister by marriage and also her queen. Arya immediately knew she could trust her.

Annalys smiled, hugging Arya back before turning toward the leaders of the Brotherhood Without Banners, "I've come here to discuss two matters," She informed the men in a calm tone, "I received a raven, claiming two of my husband's men are planning to betray him. Lord Walder Frey and Lord Roose Bolton. They are supposedly conspiring behind my husband's back with my grandfather," She paused, immediately noticing how the men looked interested in what she had to say after hearing the mention of Tywin.

After all, the purpose of their army was to stand against the Lannisters. More specifically, Tywin.

"There's a battle soon to occur in the Riverlands," Annalys informed the men in a calm tone, "I don't know when, but I know it'll be coming very soon. I ask that you stand beside me against Lord Frey and Lord Bolton when they decide to attack. I will give you gold to pay for any armor, weapons, or food your men may need. All I ask for is your help when the time comes to defend my kingdom."

Thoros nodded, moving closer to Annalys, "You're doing all this behind your husband's back. Why?" He asked her curiously, "Why are you keeping this from him? Why not warn him about what is coming?"

"Because he is impulsive and I fear he'll get himself killed," Annalys confessed in a calm tone, "He doesn't want to lose any more men, but he doesn't understand it's necessary if we want to live." She paused, giving the men a pleading look, "Now, do we have a deal?"

Annalys held out the two heavy bags filled with gold, which Thoros immediately took, "It would seem so. I will alert Beric." He agreed without hesitation, "Take the King's sister with you, as a measure of good will. We will be ready to fight with you when the time comes, Queen Annalys. You have my word."

"Good," Annalys responded in a calm tone, "Because if we survive this, I will be more than willing to help you kill the Mountain and Tywin Lannister once and for all," She explained, not daring to mention the rest of the Lannisters.

She refused to. She didn't want them dead and she would do everything within her power to make sure her entire family lived. All but Tywin and Joffrey.

___

    A day had passed and Annalys was still riding through the Riverlands with Arya. The young Stark girl didn't say much, which made Annalys feel uneasy. Did Arya want to go back? Of course, Annalys couldn't understand why she wouldn't want to go back but she had to remember, Annalys herself didn't want to go back to her own family.

"Are you scared?" Annalys found herself asking Arya, breaking the silence between them.

"No," Arya replied, but Annalys knew she was lying, "Do they know I'm coming?"

"No," Annalys admitted, causing Arya to sigh in defeat, "But they'll be happy to see you. We've had some hard times lately. Surely, your return will shine some light in our darkness."

"What was it that you told Thoros about?" Arya asked in concern, "What did you mean by Lord Bolton and Lord Frey siding against Robb?"

"You mustn't speak of it," Annalys insisted, feeling stupid for forgetting that Arya had heard the entire conversation, "Robb can't know."

"Why not!" Arya complained loudly, a look of disbelief on her face, "Not knowing could get him killed."

"Aye, but he has a bigger risk of dying if he does know," Annalys argued back in a stern tone, "Your brother can be impulsive. Very. He'll try to wage war against the Freysand the Boltons and that's the last thing we need. With what I'm planning, the Freys and Boltons will be dead within a fortnight and we will be on our way. But you must promise me that you won't tell anyone of my plan," She paused, waiting for Arya to respond, "Promise me, Arya!"

Arya sighed in defeat, just before she finally responded, "I promise." She hesitantly replied, knowing she had no other choice.

Perhaps Annalys was right. If Robb knew what was going to happen, he would make an impulsive decision. Robb was the type to act first and think later. He was a tactician and only thought of the short term. Annalys, however, was a strategist, like her grandfather, most of the time.

She knew she had to think up a plan on what to do after defeating the Freys and Boltons and that was what she did. If she and Robb wanted to take Casterly Rock, they would have to take King's Landing soon after. They would need Stannis' forces for that. Stannis would become king and Joffrey would be killed. Before the armies could reach Cersei, Jaime, Myrcella, and Tommen, Annalys planned to help them escape to Essos. She knew she would most likely be arrested for it, but she didn't care, as long as her family was safe.

____

  At Riverrun's castle, Robb was a nervous wreck. He was worried, restless, and most of all, fearful. He didn't think anything of it when he woke up to find Annalys not laying beside him.

He figured she had gone to fetch herself breakfast. However, he became concerned when he made it to the dining hall to find her nowhere in sight. He asked around and no one seemed to know where she was.

Her armor, sword, and bow were gone, along with one of the horses. Robb became concerned once learning that.

Had she been taken? Did she leave on her own? Where was she?

"Your Grace, there is still no sign of her," One of his men spoke up as they walked toward him.

Robb whipped himself around to face the man, a furious look on his face, "How can she be gone?" He shouted at them angrily, "How could the Queen disappear and no one notice?"

Just then, Catelyn came running over, causing the entire group to turn to her, "Robb! Robb!" She shouted out worriedly, "Some men have said that they spotted her riding in the direction of the castle, along with a young girl."

"A young girl?" Robb questioned in confusion, but wasted no time following his mother where a group of men were standing near the castle gates.

Robb and Catelyn pushed through the crowds, only to look ahead to see Annalys riding out of the woods on horseback with Arya in back of her.

With wide eyes, Robb and Catelyn ran out of the castle gates and toward Annalys' horse. Annalys forced her horse to come to a stop, she and Arya climbing off the horse at the same exact time that Robb and Catelyn reached them.

Catelyn practically cried with joy at the sight of Arya while Robb wasted no time hugging his wife, "I thought you were gone," Robb whispered to her softly, sighing in relief.

"Mother," Arya cried as Catelyn tightly hugged her youngest daughter.

Catelyn continued to hold Arya close, seeing as though it had been nearly three years since she had last seen her youngest daughter, "You're safe now," She whispered to Arya softly, tears streaming down her cheeks as she turned to Annalys, "How did you find her?"

Annalys turned to Arya, both of them exchanging a look with each other, "The Brotherhood Without Banners found me after I fled Harrenhall," Arya informed the group, but decided to lie about the rest to help Annalys out, "Annalys had heard whisperings about it and decided to come see for herself. She didn't want to get your hopes up in case it wasn't true so she went herself. The Brotherhood Without Banners was planning to hand me over to you anyway but wanted to gold in return. Annalys got there first."

Annalys was shocked by Arya lying for her but decided to go along with it. She smiled slightly, nodding as a way to confirm what Arya had said.

"Thank you," Catelyn found herself saying to Annalys, thankful that she had gone through all that just to save Arya. She had doubts about Annalys, but that right there proved just how loyal Annalys was to them.

Annalys remained silent, glancing between Robb and Catelyn. She still felt uneasy. If her plan didn't work, they were all fucked. She got the Brotherhood Without Banners on their side, but there was only two hundred of them.

Stannis, however, could take her proposition two different ways. He could either decide to agree with Annalys' terms or wage war against Robb and it would all be Annalys' fault. Annalys just hoped it wasn't the latter.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

"You will make kings rise and fall." 

Which kings do you think Melisandre speaks of? Cuz there's a lot kings that come to power in GOT😂

Which Kings do you think Annalys will make rise and which do you think she'll make fall?