Trigger Warning:
Violence, Murder and Death,...

｡･::･ﾟ★,｡･::･ﾟ☆ - ☆｡･::･ﾟ★,｡･::･ﾟ☆
   𝘛𝘢𝘺𝘭𝘰𝘳 𝘚𝘸𝘪𝘧𝘵 - 𝘝𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦 𝘚𝘩𝘪𝘵
｡･::･ﾟ★,｡･::･ﾟ☆ - ☆｡･::･ﾟ★,｡･::･ﾟ☆

Three endless weeks passed before it was finally time. It had been the worst weeks of her life. She had done her best by keeping her children away from Brandon and she herself had stayed out of the way as much as possible.

But when they were together in public, Aruna tried to keep up the appearance of a happy marriage. She was not only pretending to the residents and the family, but above all to herself.

But that day was the last one Aruna could endure in this marriage. She could no longer maintain her mask and could not endure another day of violence.

She was wearing only her nightgown when she went to his chambers after a long time, which had once been her own. Aruna regretted hesitating for so long and even now her stomach was acting up and she would rather be in her own bed right now.

She did not knock on the door, but simply stepped into the room. Surprised, Brandon looked at her. He was still awake and seemed to be working at his desk. "What are you doing here Aruna?"

"I missed you so much." She repeated his words he had said when he had first abused her three weeks ago, but Brandon didn't seem to take the hint and stood up with a smile. "I'm glad to see you here." Joyfully, he came to her and kissed her.

"What are you writing about?" she immediately deflected, not wanting to kiss him under any conditions.

"Don't worry your pretty little head about a man's work." He retorted. Maybe he meant well and wanted to be considerate, but Aruna was not a stupid woman and felt he treated her lowly.

"You are right." She continued to play her part and stroked his arm admiringly. "You should relax now." She placed her hands on his bare chest, since he only wore his pants, and pushed him towards the bed. Brandon played along perfectly and Aruna inwardly exhaled as he lay down on the bed and allowed her to sit on him.

He hated it when she was in control and when she was the dominant of the two, but today he didn't resist. Aruna would have loved to laugh.

"I have written to the south. To your old friend the Queen." He then told her. His hands wandered over Aruna's almost naked body as he did so.

"Alicent?" asked Aruna again. She hadn't heard from her since Driftmark and there was no letter from her brother either. "What is your request?"

"I want a connection to the crown and the only way I can achieve a solid alliance is through marriage." Brandon said it so lightly, as if it were something commonplace, and sadly it was. People got married all the time, but for Aruna to marry Edith off right now was impossible. "Prince Aegon is promised to his sister, but that can be resolved. If necessary, there is also the cripple with one eye."

Shocked, she looked at the man below her. His words made her angry and she didn't even know what to say.

"Cripple is perhaps the wrong word. What does he look like now? You were there-"

"I am against this marriage." The lady interrupted him firmly, shaking her head.

"I see. He is not eye candy, then we ask for the hand of the eldest." Decided Brandon, and at that he did not understand Aruna's point of view. He seemed very happy with his decision but Aruna wanted to slap him for it. "No you don't understand me. I don't want Edith to get married."

Brandon sat up, his grip on her hips tightening and his mood worsening. "She'll have to, though. She can't stay here forever and she'll be queen someday. Just be happy if it works out."

His words made no sense. Rhaenyra was the true heir to the throne and after her would come her sons. So Prince Aegon would never be king and Edith would never be queen. The ideas Brandon had were pipe dreams.

"Edith hasn't even bled yet. She's far too young!" protested Aruna as she put her hands on his to loosen his grip, but she couldn't manage it. Edith was and would always be her little girl. She was still a child after all and far from ready for marriage and children of her own!

"She'll grow into her new role just like you." He replied, looking at her angrily. "You don't want her to end up like you, an old virgin, until I found you."

Old virgin? Aruna had neither been old nor a virgin at her wedding! She wanted to protest immediately, after all, she had only been 18 name days at her wedding with him, but Brandon, as so often, did not let her get a word in edgewise.

"I will not tolerate any rejoinders. I'll send the letter tomorrow with a raven to the capital. and Edith after it." He decided. Brandon lay back on his back and folded his arms behind his head. Aruna was still sitting on him and was against his decision and she would do anything to stop Edith's marriage.

She wanted to give her daughter a chance to choose her own husband and delay everything as long as possible. Edith was not a horse to be taken to the slaughter just because you didn't want her anymore.

Aruna loved her children more than her life and she would not let her daughter be sent alone to the treacherous capital by a psychopathic man.

The Lady had nothing against Alicent's children. On the contrary, she had liked them very much and had spent a lot of time with them in the past, but in Driftmark Alicent had shown her true colours and Aruna knew that her children could not have inherited only the good genes from Viserys.

What if her children were just as devious as their mother the queen?

"Those were crazy years, don't you think?" She wanted to beat him, destroy him, and just hurt him. A thousand voices in her head screamed at her to run away with the children or finally do something, but instead she sat motionless on him, trying to beguile him. "I want to finally make peace."

"Peace?" repeated Brandon as he looked up at her and stroked her hips. "Were we never at peace?"

Aruna wondered if he was really as stupid as he made himself out to be. Immediately she lost her fake smile and looked at him emotionlessly. "You ruined my life, Brandon Stark. And I will not let you ruin my children's as well." She finally admitted. For so long she'd blamed herself alone, but he'd been involved in everything too. He had turned her head for a good future and lured her north.

"What are you talking about?" Understanding, Brandon shook his head and tried to sit up, but Aruna pushed him back onto the bed.

"Maybe I would have continued to tolerate you if it hadn't been for the last few weeks. Yes maybe I would have kept putting up with your abuse, but you beat my daughter and made her wound get infected and now you want to sell her like cattle!" The dark-haired woman explained to him. He tried to fight her and sit up and Aruna had to use all her strength to keep him under her. "You deserve nothing but the same pain you caused me!"

"Aruna! What the hell are you talking about? What are you trying to do?" Brandon looked so helpless with his eyes wide open and only almost did Aruna get pity on him. But she would not give him that.

The woman then lashed out and slapped him hard on the cheek. Startled, she realised how satisfying it felt and hit him again. She had never hit anyone before, not even an animal, but taking her anger out on Brandon now felt good, even if her own body hurt badly from his recent abuse yesterday, but the euphoria was better at that moment.

That seemed to have gotten Brandon over the shock and he immediately tried to fight back against his wife. Firmly he squeezed her wrists and pushed her off him with rough force, only to lean over her. "Are you out of your mind, bitch?"

Brandon slapped her cheek, squeezing her arms so hard they almost went numb. The woman had had enough of his games and finally wanted retribution for her suffering. She fought back with kicks and somehow managed to hit him in his most sensitive spot and Brandon suddenly went quiet.

"You're going to wish I was just crazy." She hissed at him and spat in disgust as Brandon writhed in pain. She took this golden opportunity and overpowered him, sitting back down on top of him to pin him.

"Oh did I hurt you?" she asked playing pity and looking down at him. His gaze was blank as he looked up at her, clutching his aching penis. "Of course that hurt! What the fuck? Stop this bullshit right now."

One last time she looked at him, examining his face, which had once been so beautiful. The years and all the alcohol hadn't done him any good and his inner hatred certainly hadn't.

Forbidding herself to feel sorry for him and back down, she slapped him again as hard as she could, trying to regain her composure. "This is revenge." She shuffled exhaustedly. Aruna was at the end of her tether.

"Revenge? You hurt me!" he hissed angrily at her and grabbed her neck with his hands.

A startled sound left her mouth and her eyes widened in fear. Inwardly she knew this was now her end. She had hesitated too long and now had to pay the price with her life. Aruna would never see her children again. Couldn't see her friends again, or her family, or Daemon.

She was already black-eyed and dizzy as she could barely breathe, but the thought of her dearest people in this world gave her new strength and she reached helplessly for a pillow and pressed it as hard as she could to his face.

Now it was him who recoiled in fright and his hands automatically loosened a little around her neck, letting Aruna catch her breath, which she desperately needed.

Firmly she continued to press the pillow on his face while Brandon tried to fight back. He was making sounds she didn't understand and the whole situation made her cry desperately. Aruna was terrified and saw no other way out but to kill her husband.

His struggling and helpless sounds became less and less until they stopped completely.

The woman began to tremble and held the pillow fearfully for a few more minutes before carefully pulling it away and immediately looking into Brandon's lifeless eyes.

She had known the consequences. Had known what would happen, but she was still shocked to see him now dead beneath her.

Aruna got up as quickly as she could and ran to the other end of the room to be as far away from him as possible. She slid down the wall onto the floor sobbing, and she had to press her hands over her mouth to keep from making any loud sounds.

Still crying, she looked at her hands, then at the bed with the lifeless body, then back at her hands.

"What have I done?"

Aruna had never killed anyone before. She hadn't known she was capable of it, but now she was sitting here in front of her dead husband. She was terrified of what she had done and she was afraid of herself.

And at the same time it had felt so good and she now felt free.

Aruna felt nauseous and she had to force herself not to gag and vomit.

Quickly she stood up to cover up what she had done. She had come this far without being caught, she couldn't allow herself to be caught now and die herself.

As she walked back towards Brandon she walked past his desk and couldn't just keep walking because she was far too curious. She found some letters to some lords and landowners that were of no interest to her until she found a letter addressed to her.

She had to read the few sentences several times until she understood the context. It seemed to be an older letter, because it was hidden among many others. In the few sentences he blamed himself for not having behaved differently when she arrived again and Aruna almost thought she was reading an apology. He also wrote that he could no longer stand the quarrels with his wife and that they were draining his strength.

Aruna couldn't help herself and started laughing, even though there was no reason for it, but it all sounded ridiculous to her and the letter played right into her hands.

After a long search, she finally found the letter he had written before her arrival. The letter for the queen. It was not a real letter but rather notes about what he wanted to write. His words and objections were well thought out and Aruna was almost certain that Alicent would have considered the engagement. Even if it was just to get Aruna on their side.

She took the quill and dipped it in the ink and carefully rewrote Brandon's words to herself so that the letter looked freshly written. She then tucked The Notes for Alicent's letter into the nightgown to take with her. Then she placed the inkpot on the bedside table and put the letter and quill in his still warm hands and placed the pillow under his head.

But when she saw him lying there like that, she began to think.

Forgotten was the pain and the disgust with herself, now she only wanted to save herself and that would only work if everything looked real. Everyone would immediately blame her and she had to prevent that.

Searching, she looked around the room and her eyes fell on Brandon's wall of weapons. Aruna reached for Brandon's favourite little dagger, which she had used once before to cover something up.

On their wedding night, she had cut her foot with it to simulate her fake virgin blood on the white bed sheet when Brandon was briefly out of the room. Now she stood bent over him with narrowed eyes and had to gather her courage.

The screams and the voices in her head just wouldn't stop and her stomach was still rebelling.

Then she took his hand and cut his veins with the dagger. Immediately blood spurted from the wound and ran down Brandon's arm and also a little on the supposed suicide note. At least she put the dagger in his hand and made it all look like a self-murder before taking the candle and running as fast as she could to her own chambers without being seen.

Nia was already waiting for the Lady and her eyes widened as Aruna entered the room. "What have you done?"

The maid knew exactly what the woman had done. After all, they had plotted together and Nia had started a small fire in the service kitchen, distracting the servants and guards so that no one would notice Aruna entering and leaving the heir's rooms.

"Take off that nightgown immediately!" demanded Nia, pointing to the bloody nightgown. Aruna immediately took it off and threw it into the fireplace to destroy it.

She was still shaking all over and the tears did not stop running down her cheeks. Nia immediately took Aruna in her arms and led her to the bathtub. The dark-haired girl stood beside her and did everything her maid asked of her. "You have blood on your arms, Aruna. We need to wash that off quickly and-"

"Nia." Aruna interrupted her in a daze. The tub was far too big for the small woman. Aruna was glad that Nia had already prepared the bath and was now taking such good care of her, but Aruna just couldn't forget what she had just done. "I killed my husband."

New tears came again and her body jerked through her whimpers and shuffles.

"I know. It was the right thing to do, believe me." The maid tried to talk her into it, stroking her back soothingly.

Nia didn't think Aruna's decision was good or bad. She didn't agree with the way Brandon had treated her. Nia was still suspicious of the northerners after all these years and had never warmed to them. Inwardly, like Aruna, Nia was also relieved at the passing of the heir.

Not much longer and the two women could finally leave here.

Aruna pointed to the note she had dropped while undressing and immediately Nia picked it up and wanted to give it to her, but Aruna shook her head. " Read it." Sceptically, the maid looked from the lady to the notes and read through them carefully so as not to miss any important details. "He was going to sell Lady Edith to the capital? For rations and the crown?"

Slowly, the dark-haired one nodded as single tears ran down her cheeks. "I couldn't let that happen." She replied, washing her face and hands clean.

"I don't know what I would have done in your place." Nia, like Aruna, was in shock and Brandon's notes made her angry too. She could not understand how a man - a husband and father - could be so heartless.

A soft knock on the door then interrupted the conversation of the two women. Their eyes widened and they looked at each other in shock. When the knock came a second time, Aruna's heart stopped beating for a moment because she thought she had been caught.

Slowly Nia opened the door and exhaled in relief when she saw the little lady. Edith walked past the maid into her mother's chambers, wearing only a nightgown and a cloak over it.

"What are you doing here Edith?" Aruna wanted to know. She tried not to show any sign of her shock and her actions.

"I couldn't sleep and then I heard you were awake too." Edith's big blue eyes looked first at Nia and then at Aruna. "Can I sleep here?"

"Of course, my darling." Aruna grabbed a towel, got out of the tub and started to dry herself. Nia immediately attended to the tub and emptied it. After all, no one was supposed to know that Aruna was still bathing at this hour. That would only mean questions and the women could not afford that.

Aruna put on a completely new nightgown, after all, her old one had been burnt a few minutes ago. In the meantime, Edith was already making herself comfortable in the bed.

"Nia." Aruna said, stopping her maid from going out. "Thank you."

"Happy to help." Replied Nia and said goodbye for the night. Aruna was really glad to have found such a loyal maid and good friend in her, since she knew she could trust the other southerner with anything.

"Why are you still awake?" Edith wanted to know and looked curiously at her mother when Nia had disappeared.

For a moment Aruna thought about telling her daughter everything. But she wanted to protect Edith from all evil for as long as possible. She wanted a good childhood for her children and she had made sure of that today, even if she hadn't realised it all yet.

"I couldn't sleep either. Nia made me a bath to warm up." Aruna hated lying, especially hated having to lie to Edith, but she had no other option. "But this has to be our secret! You know how mad Lady Meyra can get if you bathe too often."

Edith had to chuckle at the thought of her angry grandmother. "I won't tell anyone!" she promised immediately, kissing Aruna's cheek as she lay down in bed with her.

Either way. Edith was now also one who was in the loop and had to lie for Aruna, even if the young girl had no idea what for yet.

***
Her first murder... but brandon is finally gone! O.o
What are your thoughts?