Alyarra Stark had never felt such a sense of utter doom as staggering as she did when she learned that King's Landing had fallen to Rhaenyra and Daemon. It was a possibility all along, she knew that but still nobody was prepared for it. She was not prepared to hear her handmaiden say those words.

She was not sure what it meant, or what would happen then.

Was the war over?

Was Aegon dead? Alicent? Helaena? The kids? Sweet Maelor?

Alyarra was worried out of her mind as she rushed down the Harrenhal corridors and into it's Great Hall, but Aemond was not there. Alyarra was hyperventilating as she then rushed to the courtyard where she assumed Aemond was.

Her mind was reeling, she was so worried for everyone, so scared for her own self and for her son. Was she now a traitor to the Crown? If they imprisoned her, would she be executed?

Alyarra happened upon the doors that led to the courtyard, they were closed with three guards standing in front of them.

"Why are they closed?" Alyarra asked the men, who remained silent in their stance. She then heard screaming and crying coming from outside and she felt her heart drop. "Open the doors!" She ordered desperately.

One of the guards turned to her with a hardened expression on his face. "The Prince Regent ordered for all doors and entrances to the castle be locked and guarded." He said stoicly, a statement which made Alyarra confused and even more paranoid than before. Would the Blacks come for them?

"Where is the Prince Regent?" She questioned the guard, who simply looked away from Alyarra and retook his stance guarding the doors. She could still hear screaming and crying coming from outside, and with each second that passed she grew more desperate and worried. "What is happening?!" She asked frantically, only for the guards to say nothing in return.

Alyarra found herself trembling, shaking, at the thought of the Blacks coming for them. They would come for Aemond and for his child, she was sure. "Open the doors." Alyarra said shakily.

Silence. "Open the fucking doors now! Tis an order!" She frantically screamed, losing every single bit of self control she had in her body. The uncertainty was eating her alive, she needed to find Aemond— needed him to tell her that all would be okay.

"We only take orders from the Prince Regent, and his were loud and clear. No one goes in or out until he says otherwise." One of the other guards answered sternly. Alyarra looked between the three men and took a deep breath, trying to build the courage to stand up to them.

"Open the doors!" She ordered once more, but they would not even turn to her. They remained unmoving, which only made her spiral deeper into desperation. "I... I will pay you each fifty golden dragons if you open the doors..." She offered the guards, a statement that made each of them turn to her.

One of them, the biggest of the three, raised a brow at the woman before him. "How could we know you truly will pay us?" He asked her.

"There has never been a Stark who forgot an oath. Believe me." She answered quickly, a statement that garnered a chuckle from the guards. "Fifty five golden dragons each." He countered and instantly she nodded her head in agreement.

The big guard nodded to the other two guards, and they both stood aside, opening the doors for her dubiously. She held her breath as the courtyard doors were opened for her, but as she walked outside— she instantly wished that she had not pressed the guards so much.

She felt her heart stop as she looked around the yard with wide, fearful eyes. The scene was one that Alyarra would never forget, one that would hunt her for the rest of her life. Aemond stood tall with his back facing her, wearing his war armor— in his hand he held his favorite sword. Next to her husband stood Criston Cole, watching as Aemond brought his sword down upon a boy, a child.

Alyarra let out a loud piercing scream as the sword sliced off the boy's head, and she fell to her knees as she screamed in agony— her hands flying to cover her mouth in utter shock as the head of the boy rolled on the ground and landed right next to a stack of severed heads. About three feet tall.

Aemond turned to the screaming woman, his one eye widening in shock as it landed upon his wife kneeling on the floor— her face contorted in utter horror at the scene before her. "Who let her through?!" Aemond yelled in utter rage, looking around the courtyard angrily.

She was trembling, shaking— her eyes glued to the stack of heads in front of her. It was a massacre, a massacre which happened by the hands of her own husband, by the hands of the father of her son. Aemond stalked right past his wife and towards the three guards that were supposed to be guarding the doors, making her cry out in even more horror and fear. "No!"

She watched as Aemond decapitated the three of them easily, all in the span of seconds. She screamed in horror, she felt the air going out of her body as she watched merciless murder unfold in front of her— a horrific scene brought upon by the man she thought she loved.

Aemond turned to Alyarra, his face and body covered in blood— the blood of innocent people. "How could you?!" She cried as he stood there unmoving. He had nothing to say, in his mind this was all warranted. "Go inside, Alyarra." Aemond told her slowly.

"Why?!" She cried, her eyes looking around the bloodied courtyard— children, men, women... all murdered by her own husband. "Why, Aemond?!"

"GO INSIDE! NOW!" His voice was a loud, uncontrolled roar fueled with rage. It made her flinch back, it made her fearful of him. She never feared Aemond, but the hate in his eye made her shudder. How did they get there? Why would he do this? Alyarra blinked away the tears, she tried speaking up but her words were lost— there was a lump in her throat.

Her breathing was shaky as she nodded slowly, running inside the Harrenhal castle at once. Loud sobs escaped her body as she made haste towards their chambers. She wanted to go home, she wanted to be back in Winterfell where she felt safe. She wanted her brother, wanted to go back in time and never marry Aemond.

She burst into her chambers and fell to her knees instantly, loud screams leaving her body as her mind flashed back to the scene she had just witnessed. Lucy was startled and instantly rushed to Alyarra's side, "What is wrong, my lady?!" Lucy asked hastily.

"We're going to die! We're all going to die!" Alyarra cried like a mad woman. She was scared for her life, for her son. She just wanted her brother, she wanted to be back home but her brother had left her to die... Alyarra could not trust anyone.

The young Lucy took Alyarra in her arms and hugged her tightly, rubbing her back, trying to calm her down. "It's okay... it's okay..." Lucy whispered in a comforting manner.

After a few minutes of crying in Lucy's arms, the young girl whispered, "I am scared too."

Alyarra looked up at Lucy with solemn, devastated eyes— and in that moment, instead of Lucy, she saw Catherryn.

Before Alyarra could respond, the door to the apartments opened and then slammed shut loudly, making her flinch. She looked up to see Aemond standing there in all of his murdering glory— bloodied, stained red with the blood of innocent people. "Out." He stated sternly, his one eye narrowing on Lucy— who feared him greatly, so she stood up as quickly as she could and hastily fled the chambers.

Alyarra remained on the floor, her gaze darting away from Aemond and towards the corner of the room. It hurt her to look at him, hurt to see what he had become— hurt to see the evidence of his crimes. "It was necessar-" She cut him off.

"Why?! Why would you kill all of those people?!" She asked, her hands flying to her her face as she cried into them. Aemond watched her for a few seconds, taking small calming breaths and then moving to shed his bloody armor. He had no idea what to say to make it better. He knew how opposed Alyarra was to violence.

"They were Strongs, they surrended the castle to my cunt uncle. They were traitors." He responded, as if that would make it all better.

She scoffed, looking up at him as she stood up from her kneeling stance. "They were innocent people! Children, Aemond! Old people and boys! What could a boy do to threaten us?!" She asked frantically, and she could see the flare of his nostrils indicating that he was losing his patience.

"This is war, Alyarra! What could I fucking do?! We've lost King's Landing! My mother is there, my sister! My entire family! Do you think now is the time to show mercy to our adversaries?!" He asked angrily, stalking to her.

"That family that you just murdered is not your enemy! Those little boys were not your enemies! They were children! What if it were Baelon?! Our unborn child?" She asked, pushing him backwards whenever he tried to grab unto her to try and calm her down.

"It might as well be him, if we do not win this war it will be him! Do you think Baelon will be showed mercy? That you will?!" Aemond asked with a dark cynical chuckle escaping his lips. "If that whore wins, we are all as good as dead."

Alyarra was not dumb, she knew that he spoke the truth— that if the war was lost, they would all be executed. "That does not give you a reason to murder an entire house, Aemond. Innocents... boys..." She said.

Alyarra was perplexed, heartbroken at the scene she had witnessed. How could he do that? How could Aemond look down at a child and bring his sword to him? How could he have such little regard for human life? Was he really just as bad as everyone said? Was he really just a ruthless murdering kinslayer?

Aemond stepped towards her, reaching for her hands. She sniffed and looked up at him, looking at the blood still staining his features. "Why?" She whispered, shaking her head as if in disbelief. Aemond remained silent, unsure of what he could say to make it better.

He was angry so he killed everyone, every last Strong he could find in that godforsaken castle. That was the truth of it.

"They deserve it." The words killed her.

"You... you're killing me, Aemond. I don't know if I can do this anymore." She cried softly, looking up at her husband with soft and pleading eyes. He was confused, unsure of what she was getting at.

She continued, "I want to go home... I can mot be here anymore... I want to go back to Winterfell..." Alyarra cried.

Aemond's gaze went from compassionate to furious in a manner of seconds. "Because of Cregan?" He questioned her, his tone full of disdain as the name rolled off his tongue.

"Because of you! What you have done! What you will continue to do! I want to be back home! I want to be safe and away from here! Baelon and I... we do not belong here." She explained, grabbing unto him and shaking him to get him to see what she was saying— trying to get him to understand her.

"You are my wife, Alyarra. Baelon is my heir, there is no place better for the two of you than by my side." Aemond said in a stoic manner, though the anger was clearly bubbling back to the surface. "And what happens when they inevitably come for us?! We'll all die, Aemond. Please let me go back to the North!" She begged.

"Why would you want to go back to a place where you are not wanted?! Your brother abandoned you! He doesn't care for you or Baelon! What makes you think he will take you back?" Aemond asked cruelly, narrowing his eye down on his wife.

Alyarra fell silent at those words, tears spilling from her eyes as she shook her head. "He..." She had nothing to say.

"I am the one that can protect you, the one that cares. Your brother left you... I stayed." Aemond pressed, taking his wife in his arms and pulling her closer.

Alyarra remained unmoving for a few seconds and then said, "This war is as good as lost, Aemond. They have King's Landing, your family, your brother... they have more dragons, more allies..." She trailed, looking up at him with a defeated expression.

If Aegon wasn't dead yet, they would surely kill him soon.

"My brother has not been captured." Aemond stated, making her frown. "It is not over until I say it is."

-

No matter how hard Alyarra had begged, no matter how hard she pleaded, Aemond did not listen to her. He confined her to their chambers in Harrenhal for weeks on end, in his mind that was the right thing to do. He was protecting her and Baelon. He spent most of his days at the Great Hall, plotting to retake King's Landing— or in his apartments trying to make Alyarra feel better.

Nothing worked, no matter how hard he tried to show her that he was still the man that she fell in love with— she wanted to go back home, wanted to be away from him.

"The maester says your check up went perfectly, the pregnancy is coming along well, my lovely." Aemond would say one day as he came back into their chambers, finding Alyarra breastfeeding Baelon.

"Mm..." She gave him a tight lipped smile, watching as he shed his clothing. "Has Baelon been good today?" Aemond asked, trying to make conversation with his wife.

"Fussy." Alyarra answered as Baelon detached from her breast and began to cry loudly. She sighed as she covered her chest up, handing him over to Aemond, who gently craddled him in his arms. "Such a good boy, my future King." Aemond cooed, making Alyarra roll her eyes gently.

"Do you reckon he would be a good brother?" Aemond asked sweetly, and Alyarra could almost not believe how good he was at acting like nothing was wrong. How he could act as if they weren't constantly waiting for Rhaenyra and Daemon to fall upon them and kill them all?

"I reckon we will have a daughter next, won't that be lovely?" Aemond asked as he looked down at his baby boy, a small smile playing on his lips.

Alyarra watched him intently, lacking an answer. If they had a daughter, would she meet the same fate as Alyarra? Would Alyarra be condemned to watch her daughter be put through hell and have to watch without being able to save her? Would Aemond put her through the same emotional torture?

"I asked you a question..." He said slowly, his eye narrowing on his silent wife. Alyarra looked up at him and gave him one nod, "Would be swell, husband." Her tone was sharp and precise, no kindness in it whatsoever.

He was trying his best to be a good husband, trying his best to make her happy— but Alyarra seemed more miserable with each passing day. Aemond had no idea what to do anymore. A soft knock happened upon their chamber's doors making Aemond frown as it was already late at night.

He handed Baelon over to Alyarra and nodded to the bedchamber, "Go." He ordered her sternly, unsheathing his sword as he walked towards the door. Alyarra gulped hard and went inside their bedchamber, letting Baelon down in his craddle gently and then she peeked her head back into the parlor, where Aemond was standing in fromt of the door.

It was clear he did not want to open it, it was as if he feared what awaited for him outside. But he ultimately swung the door open, only to find one of his young squires standing there— looking terrified. Aemond rolled his one eye and sheathed his sword, eyeing the young boy. "What is the meaning of this late visit?" He asked, anger apparent on his voice.

"I-I... um... the Hand sent me, your grace... The... He said... Ser Criston said..." The boy was trembling as he spoke, clearly frightened by the man he stood in front of.

"Speak plainly! You come to interrupt my night with stutters?!" Aemond growled through gritted teeth, making the squire jump back in fear.

"The Battle by the Lakeshore has been lost, your grace..." The squire said dubiously, looking everywhere but at Aemond. "What?" Aemond asked slowly.

"It was lost... we were defeated." All Aemond felt was anger when those words left the young squire's mouth, and in a fit of rage he lunged towards the boy— hands wrapping around his neck to strangle him as if the lost war were his fault.

Alyarra gasped when she saw her husband attack the innocent boy and she basically sprinted towards Aemond and the poor boy. "Aemond! Stop! Stop it! Tis not his fault!" She cried as she tried prying him off the wailing squire.

Aemond was relentless though, his hands squuezing the life out of the young innocent. Loud screams followed, "Aemond please! Please stop! Don't do this!" Alyarra cried as she clawed at Aemond's arms, trying to get him away from the boy. "Please... please..." She begged.

He finally stopped, but only because Alyarra's screams and sobs made him think she was the one being attacked. As soon as his hands released the squire, he scrambled away from the Prince Regent and down the corridor— not once turning back. Aemond could care less for the squire, he moved to his wife— who was sobbing uncontrollably.

She had no idea how many murders she would have to witness at the hand of Aemond, she had no idea how much she could take. She hurried back inside their chambers, and he followed her hastily— trying to grab her but she snatched her arms away from him. "Why?! Why?! Just why?!" She asked over and over again.

And once more, like most times whenever she questioned him— silence followed.

-

Uncertainty. It was the only thing that Alyarra felt in the following days. Uncertainty and a devastating sense of doom. The days were long, and she barely even saw Aemond— and when she did see him, he was more irritable than usual. It all came to ahead one week after the Green's defeat in the Battle by the Lakeshore.

Alyarra was bouncing Baelon on her leg, a small smile on her face as the baby boy giggled and clapped his hands for his mother when Aemond came in the chambers— he was completely distraught and enraged. He took off the crown off his head and flung it across the room, making his child burst out in tears at the sudden sound.

"Aemond, what the fuck is wrong with you?!" Alyarra asked in a loud shriek, hugging Baelon close to her chest to try and comfort him.

Aemond took one deep breath, the sound of his crying child only working to send him farther over the edge. "Maelor is dead. My grandsire is dea-" She cut him off with a gasp, one of her hands flying to cover her mouth at the news. "Maelor?!"

"I do not understand what happened... We... Criston wants to depart the castle, he wants to join forces with Ormund and Daeron..." Aemond said with a scoff, as if the idea was ridiculous to him. She was breathing heavily, her mind drifting to poor and sweet Maelor. They should have brought the children here, they shouldn't have left them in King's Landing.

She looked to Aemond with tear filled eyes, "And what do you want to do?" She mumbled, she could tell that he was not complacent with that idea.

"I want to attack the capital. I want to take back what is mine." He stated with much conviction.

Alyarra shook her head, "Why is this war even keeping on, Aemond?! Your brother is nowhere to be found... we are outnumbered... maybe we should just..."

"Should just what?! Let them come here and kill us all?!" He asked, clearly enraged at the proposition. "You will get yourself killed!" She shot back angrily.

Aemond began to pace the floor like a mad man, his mind reeling with all sorts of thoughts and plans of what he should do next. He felt the pressure of the world on his shoulders. He had to keep his wife and son safe; that was his only priority . The only thing he wanted. Alyarra watched him while she gently patted Baelon's back to calm his crying.

"I am going to the Riverlands, I am going to take my revenge on every single traitor house. I am sure that Rhaenyra will come after me, and when she does... I will kill her and my cunt miserable pathetic uncle." Aemond stated, and without another word— he was out of the room.

Alyarra swallowed, rushing to stand up and follow after him. "Aemond wait!" She called in the corridor.

He turned around to her standing in the door to their chambers with their child, her eyes pleading with him. "Please do not go... please do not leave us..." She begged him, and he felt his heart drop when he heard those words.

Aemond remained unmoving for just a second, then he went back towards Alyarra. He brought her into his arms, kissing her forehead in a loving manner as his arms wrapped around her. "I promise you, this will be over soon." He said softly in an attempt to calm her down.

"You sound so sure..." She whispered.

Aemond gulped as he pulled away, leaning down to kiss Baelon on his forehead. "I am sure."

She nodded, though she scarcely believed what he was saying. "I love you. I will be back soon." He said, and then turned to leave his family in Harrenhal while he went to terrorize the Riverlands.

-

It was nighttime when it happened.

Alyarra was trying to find sleep, but Baelon was crying all through the night. Alyarra would craddle him close to her chest, rocking back and forth, trying to calm him down.

Then she heard shouting and screams.

Alyarra frowned, quickly standing up from her bed with Baelon craddled closely to her own body. She moved hastily to the parlor, pressing her ear to the door. 'Move!' 'I will smite you all!' It was a women's voice screaming, and in response to her were grunts and screams of denial. Alyarra was in shock, she locked the door to the apartments and then stumbled backwards.

Baelon cried louder, "Baelon please!" Alyarra shushed him, fearing he might attract people to their chambers. 'You will all be beheaded for your transgressions against the Queen Rhaenyra!' The woman kept screaming, and with each word she sounded closer to the apartments.

Alyarra gasped, realizing the castle was being seized by the Blacks. She covered her mouth with her hand as she sobbed, realizing that they had come to kill her and Baelon. Alyarra rushed into the bathchamber, locking the door behind herself and getting in the tub— they had nowhere else to hide. She craddled Baelon close to her chest, rocking back and forth to try and calm the crying boy.

"Father please protect us.... please put your hand over us." She prayed quietly.

"Here!" She heard somebody scream, and then loud thuds could be heard coming from the door of the chambers. They were trying to get inside. Alyarra whimpered, crying quietly while she prayed. The thuds on the door were getting louder, making her whimper and cry louder. She couldn't control herself, she knew they were going to die. And then a loud thud and rustling came. They were in the apartments.

"Check everywhere! They must be here!" The woman was ordering people around, and Alyarra shut her eyes as she held on to Baelon for dear life. She knew it was a matter of seconds before they burst inside and found her. Would they kill her? Would they claim her a traitor?

The door burst open, making her whimper in fear. Then a woman appeared in the doorway donned in armor, her eyes skimmed the room, and when they landed on Alyarra a smirk graced her lips.

"Please do not hurt us! Please! I am with child! Please, he's just a baby..." Alyarra cried as she pleaded with the woman in front of her.

"Lucerys Velaryon twas just a baby as well, Lady Stark." The woman snarled, moving towards the tub and grabbing Alyarra's arm. She yanked her up and out of the tub. "The name is Sabitha Frey and I would love to murder your little boy in honor of tiny Lucerys Velaryon."

Sabitha sighed and shook her head. "I will not though. If only I could..." She then turned to one of her men.

"Go tell Cregan we've got her."