The ground on the field outside King's Landing was still stirred up from where the Knight of the Vale had stood. Imprints from horseshoes and footprints from boots were scattered all over. There was a line in the dirt from where they had stopped. Where they had waited while Robin Arryn parlayed with the king. When he could have stopped it all and taken the crown for himself.

As Meera rode over the field she thought about Robin, and about Tyrek. She remembered them as immature and childish boys. Boys who had wrestled with each other on the floor of a tavern. It wasn't that long time ago but it felt like forever. Both of those boys were now married. Both had gone to battle. And both were irrevocably changed.

What had happened to those boys had to be the king's doing. Meera knew it. He had hurt them for the purpose of his games. He had wrecked them for his own amusement. He had broken them just because he could.

Meera left her horse in the stable outside the gates and made her way into the city. She was going to the castle. She didn't think the king would help her, but she had to ask. For her father's sake, because he still believed in him. And for those boys' sake, she had to try to find out what the king had done to them.

The capital was a city again, instead of a graveyard. The gates were patched up and reinforced. The streets were once again bustling with people. The sounds of the city were back: chattering, laughter, crying, screaming. The smells were back as well: fresh fish from the harbor, fried food from market stalls, sewage from the latrines, mud from the streets.

But the city was still broken. Temporary roofs and walls had been installed in the ruins. Beggars sat by the walls asking for scraps. Meera got out the last food she had brought from the tavern and gave it to a little girl in tattered clothing and dirty braids. Burn marks were still visible on walls and piles of bricks laid on the sides of the road. The city was patched up but the scars would never heal.

The only thing building that seemed whole was the Red Keep. The castle shone in a way it hadn't last time Meera was there. The pale red walls appeared to be without holes and cracks. It was as big and magnificent as ever, with towers reaching almost up to the clouds.

The Stark banner hung from the balcony of the throne room. Meera smiled when she looked at that balcony, remembering what she and Gendry had engaged in on it. She could still feel it. His lips against hers. His body so close. How everything else had seized to exist at that moment. It was still their balcony, no matter which banner hung from it.

There would be another banner. One day. And another kiss on that balcony. One day.

***

Meera was shown into the throne room by Tyrion Lannister, the hand of the king, after announcing her arrival at the gates. The room looked so different than the last time she was there, with Gendry. It was decorated with silvery grey curtains and carpet. All the columns lining the aisle leading to the throne had been reerected. She liked how it looked last time better.

Behind the throne hung another huge Stark banner, this one had a grey wolf on it. So many details to show that the king was of House Stark, when in fact he was no Stark at all. He was someone, or something else. Meera had no doubt about this anymore.

The king sat in his wheelchair, which had been outfitted to resemble a throne, at the end of the aisle. He didn't acknowledge Meera's presence in any way when she walked in. His eyes just stared emptily into the distance.

"Lady Reed is here to see you, Your Majesty" Tyrion announced to the king.

Something happened to those empty eyes at that moment. A spark, a jolt, an emotion. His eyes suddenly went dark and hateful.

Then the King looked right at Meera like her presence amused him.

"Meera, what are you doing here?" he asked.

She walked the rest of the way up the aisle to face him. Tyrion followed and situated himself next to the king.

"I need your help," she said, despite knowing he wouldn't grant it. "My home is under attack by the Freys and we need the crown to defend us."

"The Freys no longer follow the crown, they have chosen to form their own kingdom," he answered like she didn't already know this.

"But my father's lands are in the middle of their kingdom! And my father does still follows the crown. He still believes in you, because his son died for you. You owe it to my father, and to Jojen, to help us."

"Your brother died willingly."

"My brother didn't know what he died for. He didn't know what you are, what you would be. But I do."

Meera looked over at Tyrion, to see his reaction to this statement. She was surprised to see a look of sympathy like he already knew what she talked about. He was trapped in the king's games too.

"Regardless, I can't help you. I can't walk into another kingdom with my armies."

"They took a part of your kingdom! Of course, you can!"

Another look right at her. With those dark, hateful eyes. Eyes that didn't belong to the boy she had once loved.

"I could," he said in the same monotone voice as always. "I have the armies now since I tricked my poor cousin to give them to me. But I won't. Because I don't want to. I don't want to help you, Meera."

At least he was honest about it, he didn't even try to make excuses anymore.

"Why not?" she replied. "I know you don't care about me. I don't care about you either. But surely you care about the kingdom."

"I do. And that's why I won't help you."

Always with the helpful responses.

"I don't understand."

"You don't need to understand."

He always said that. But she was still determined to understand. One day she would understand. She would know what it was all for.

"If you won't help me then I will find someone else who will."

His eyes turned dark again, dark with hatred and despise. He looked scary. He didn't look like Bran anymore at all.

"You can't do that Meera. You can't ask anyone for help," he said.

The King got quiet for a moment and his gaze fixated at Meera, staring at her with his dark hateful eyes. And what could be interpreted as a smile grazed his lips.

"You can't ask him for help," he continued, still seemingly smiling.

Meera was caught off guard. She hadn't expected that. She hadn't expected him to know who she would go to. She hadn't expected him to know about Gendry.

She didn't want the King to know. What they had was theirs, not his. He couldn't ruin it, he couldn't take it from them, she wouldn't let him.

"Who do you mean?" she asked in a nervous tone.

"The bastard lord. I saw you with him. I know you will go to him. And I won't let you."

So he did know. Meera inhaled, trying to refocus, trying not to let him get to her.

"How would you stop me?" she asked.

"I would proclaim him a traitor to the crown if he marches to the Neck. Because it would be against my orders," the king replied. "I would behead him. Just like I did with Paxter Redwyne."

She couldn't let that happen. She couldn't let Gendry risk his life. She couldn't let the king hurt him. But she knew he could.

"Then why don't you proclaim your uncle Edmure Tully a traitor too then?" she replied. "Because he's supporting the Frey troops who are attacking my home. Or your cousin Robin Arryn? He marched on the capital, he was about to take you down."

"Because they have the right to defend their own families. I can't go against that, it would set the whole kingdom in motion. A man always has the right to defend or fight for his wife's family."

"It's true," Tyrion added. "We must honor that right. If we didn't let men defend their families the whole kingdom might rise against us. We need to let that right stand."

Like the kingdom rising against them would be a bad thing... But that right was important, and she could see why they wouldn't go against it.

And suddenly she knew exactly what to do. It was so easy. It was what she wanted to do. It was what she had to do.

"If you won't help me I have no more business here. I will go home to my father and help him fight." Meera concluded. "Goodbye, Bran. I hope I never see you again."

And she turned around. She left. But she wasn't going home. She was going somewhere else.

Meera gave the balcony one last look as she walked out of the room. It made her smile. And it made her even more certain about what she was about to do. It was right, it was good, it was easy.

After she had exited the throne room Meera stopped and exhaled. Relieved to not have to talk to him again. Determined to not let him win. Excited about her decision.

"So you know too?" a voice behind her suddenly asked.

She turned around and Tyrion Lannister was standing there. He must have followed her out of the throne room.

"Know what?" she asked.

"That he's... not Bran Stark," Tyrion replied. "He's something else. He's not good."

She nodded. There was no reason denying it if Tyrion already knew.

"I've known for a while. Since we came back from the North," she said. "He even told me to my face. But I didn't want to believe it. And I couldn't say anything. Because of my father... it would crush him. Because then my brother died for nothing. So you know too?"

"Since.. whatever happened with Tyrek and Robin. And Poor Lord Redwyne. I wasn't part of it and I still don't understand it. And I certainly don't support whatever he is doing. He is wrecking the kingdom. Turning everyone against each other."

They sat down on a bench in the hall outside the throne room together. It was empty, so they felt safe talking about this.

"Why do you stay then?" Meera asked. "Why are you still his hand?"

Tyrion smiled slightly at her like he asked this question to himself every day.

"Where would I go?" he replied. "All I can do is to stay here and try to keep an eye on things. Even if I don't seem to be able to change anything."

"You could go home to your family, to Casterly Rock."

Tyrion shook his head with a look of sadness.

"I can't. Tyrek wouldn't let me in. He doesn't speak to me anymore. I've tried to send letters to him and Maester Tarly has tried to send a letter to his sister, Tyrek's wife, but they won't respond. They blame me for what happened to him. And I guess that's what the king wanted to achieve, he wanted to alienate me from my only family to make sure I have no power in this kingdom."

" Tyrek lost his leg and almost all of his armies. Can you blame him for not trusting you anymore?"

"No, I don't blame him at all. He should be mad at me. He walked into a trap because of me. He would have been dead if it wasn't for Lord Arryn. I blame the king."

"And Robin, what happened to him? What was the king's purpose there?"

"I know what the purpose was. The king needed to disarm Lord Arryn since having one lord possess more manpower than the rest of the lords combined is dangerous. But what exactly the king did to achieve that is unclear... the boy just walked away and left his armies behind."

"The king must have told Robin something... something no one should know. You know he knows things? Things that have happened and that will happen."

"I've figured as much. He does always seem to know what will happen, and what has happened. He's never surprised, except today..."

"What do you mean?"

"When he saw you... he looked surprised. I've never seen him surprised before. He always seems to know who is coming and what they want. But he didn't know you were coming."

She nodded and thought for a moment. Maybe this meant something. Maybe this was important. Maybe it was the key to everything.

"I was with him up North. I was in that cave with him. Maybe... maybe that did something. Maybe he can't see me like he sees other people."

"If that's the case... then this kingdom will need you, Lady Reed."

Meera got up from where she was sitting. Her decision on what to do seemed even more clear now. And she wanted to tell her brother about it.

"Is there still a godswood here in King's Landing?" she asked.

"It burned," Tyrion replied. "But the remnants still stand. It's in the courtyard of the castle."

He stretched out his hand towards her as she was leaving.

"I wish you luck. Lady Reed," he said as he took her hand. "I hope you can save your home."

"Good luck to you too, Lord Lannister," she replied. "I hope your family forgives you one day."

Meera went down the stairs towards the godswood. Just as Tyrion had said it was burnt now. Just black branches twisted by flames. The white trunk of the heart tree was completely charred and the face that was carved on it looked deformed. All around laid leaves in shades of black.

But the trees were still there. The gods were still there.

Meera put her hand on the trunk of the heart tree, staining her hand black from soot.

She felt the gods. She felt love. She felt her brother. She knew what Jojen had meant now and she would do what he had told her.

It was easy. It was right. It was good.

She would continue her journey south. She would step into the storm. She would let it carry her away. Forever. And she would do it happily.