5 William Tully
4 people were standing side by side in contemplation in front of a large bed made of a wooden frame and covered with wolf fur sheets...
They were all staring with sadness and for some of them guilt at the 2 lifeless bodies lying there above the sheets.
One of the two corpses was that of a beautiful young woman barely 20 name days; she wasn't more than 1,55 meters tall, had freckles filling the entirety of her cheekbones, a triangular chin, small light blue eyes, thin lips, long straight blond hair that reached her elbows, a not very developed chest and an overall rather frail physique, which, given the context, could explain a lot about what happened since her white nightgown was soaked with blood at the place in contact with her crotch and the body next to her was that of her stillborn child, judging by the umbilical cord that was still connecting them.
(What she looks like)
Of the 4 people in front of the bed, the one furthest to the right took a step forward and finally broke the heavy silence that had settled in the room; he was an old man of average height probably in his early 50 name days dressed in a grey robe and with a heavy chain around his neck, "I shall now go to notify your father." He stated in a shaky voice while bowing out of respect and without looking at the ones he was addressing himself because of the culpability and shame he was feeling for not having been able to save not only the mother but also the child.
No one answered him and except for Minisa, the only woman in the remaining group of 3, nobody spared him a glance before he left the room…
The red-haired woman then looked successively to the man on her right and then to the man on her left with a pessimistic look, 'I hope Brynden and Hoster won't come to wild conclusions about Maester Kym.' She worried as she suspected that at least her husband was asking himself if there was a connection between the death of their two sons in infancy and this event.
(What Minisa looks like)
"I think it would be best if we left Brynden alone to mourn." She whispered to her husband Hoster, the imposing man to her right while clutching his left arm to make him understand that her good-brother's desire for solitude was more of a certainty than an intuition for her.
Seeing his brother's blank stare directed at his son's small, pale, inanimate body, Hoster reluctantly listened to his wife, thinking that he wouldn't be of any help by telling Brynden that he knew what he was going through...
"Yes, you're right." He replied softly to Minisa as he left the room with her.
Finally alone, Brynden heaved a big sigh of relief as if the presence of his relatives was suffocating him...
***
[Brynden's POV]
***
My relationship with Bethany was complicated from the start, the main reason behind that being that the only motivation I had for agreeing to this marriage was to improve the position of my house by uniting it with hers.
Getting to know her didn't change what I already knew, that is there would be no love between us. She was certainly rather beautiful, jovial, kind and devoid of the hypocrisy for which most of the nobles of the Reach were known although she came from there but that wasn't enough to get the heart of an aromantic like me.
No matter what she did to win my affections it had no effect and although in a way I applauded her stubbornness because it was one of the only traits we shared, I found it irritating that she thought that all it took was for her to make efforts so that I would fall in love with her.
Concerning Bethany's death, honestly I won't shed a tear for her and that because in spite of myself, the hatred I felt for this marriage had partly turned into an annoyance towards her...
Why? Because 'duty' and 'family' were 2 of the 3 words of my house and it wasn't there just for show for the better and in this case, for the worse. Bethany was my wife and as such I had the duty to be a good husband, so even if I didn't enjoy spending time with her, I did it to avoid making her unhappy and even if I didn't enjoy touching her, I did it to ensure that I would have a descendant, which brought us to the current situation.
My son's death compared to Bethany's had a much more tragic dimension in my eyes since although I was reluctant to marry and even more if it was only for profit, becoming a father was something I was looking forward to...
I remember when Bethany told me she was pregnant; she managed to make me smile genuinely for the first time since I knew her and from that day on I couldn't wait for our child to come out of her womb...
If I knew what was going to happen beforehand I would have been much more patient.
In any case, this experience confirmed me something essential; marriage wasn't for me...
And since I didn't want to spawn a bastard for obvious reasons, becoming a father was also something I had to give up I guess.
"Guah..." I thought I heard baby gibberish but I ignored it because there was no chance that it was what it seemed to be and given my current state of mind it wouldn't be surprising if I was hallucinating.
"Guah guah..." Now it was an even more audible gibberish so I felt compelled to check if I was going mad and when I looked at my son, I could have sworn I saw his mouth move, but I couldn't be sure because it was too dark in the room due to the fact that it was night.
To make sure I wasn't dreaming, I grabbed one of the candles from the shelf at the back of the room and approached it of my son's corpse...
The first thing that struck me was that his skin was no longer livid pale but pinkish beige, the second was that I could feel warmth coming from him when I put one of my fingers on his forehead, and what happened after that was beyond comment.
"Guah guah." It was now a certainty, my son's mouth had just moved and although at that moment it wasn't enough for me to realize that he was alive because of the shock, the fact that right after that he tried to reach my finger on his forehead by frantically moving his little arms in its direction did.
"By the seven!" I took one of the sheets from the bed and wrapped it around my son so that he doesn't get cold during my absence, after that I left without him to head to my father's room, surely Maester Kym was still there.
***
3 hours later
***
Everyone's reaction to the news of my son's survival was pretty much what I had anticipated; Minisa cried of joy and acted as if nothing had happened, my father and Hoster didn't openly raise any questions either and welcomed the new member of our family with open arms...
As for what Maester Kym thought about it, well, that was the problematic part because I knew that contrary to everyone else he wasn't going to pretend he had forget he had witnessed my son coming out of Bethany's womb dead.
We were currently in the great hall of the castle, sitting opposite each other at the banquet table and while my son, not far from us, was silently sucking the breast of a young lactating peasant girl who had been brought here especially so that he wouldn't starve, Kym was trying to convince me to kill him without having the guts to tell it directly...
"You saw him like I did, he wasn't breathing, his skin was cold and pale, he was..." I interrupted Kym to prevent him from saying too much by waving my hand at him before getting up from the table.
"It would be better to continue this discussion elsewhere Maester Kym." I said to him coldly while designating the peasant girl with my gaze before heading with him into the corridors of the castle.
***
5 minutes later
***
I was walking back to the main hall, wiping the blood off my hands with a rag to avoid scaring the young peasant girl when I would return.
Family, duty, honor...
No need to be a genius to notice that in the words of my house 'family' came before the other two, so it wasn't really a wonder that when I had to choose between my son and the maester who saw me grow up I chose the former.
Knowing Kym's character, it would be naive on my part to think that I could do anything but kill him, choosing another option was too much of a risk to take...
If instead of what I've done I had let Kym stay in the service of our house my son would be in constant danger and if I had discharged him who knows what kind of maester the citadel would send in his place if he choose to inform them of what he knew…
Some lords make the mistake of thinking that maesters are docile servants, but not me, I knew that for some of them their convictions were more important than loyalty and since the idea that my son was an abomination who had to be killed at all costs seemed to be part of the ones of Kym and that I didn't had absolute faith in his loyalty the outcome of this problem was predictable.
Arrived in front of the young peasant girl, I made her understand that her presence wasn't necessary anymore for the moment, "There is one silver stag on the table." I told her while holding out my arms.
"Thank you M'Lord." She answered with a smile that was reaching her ears before giving me my son with care.
"You're really lucky M'Lord. I've never saw a child so quiet." She added before bowing, taking the promised coin and leaving the way she had come.
'Indeed.' I said to myself with a stunned expression as I realized that until then I hadn't heard him cry.
'Well, whatever, it's not like it's a bad thing.' I relativized while trying to find the best position to carry my son.
Noticing that he was awake as his little eyes seemed to be staring intensively at my face, I had an idea…
"I haven't given you a name yet… What do you think of William?" I asked while waiting for a reaction which would go or not in this direction.
"Guah guah…" These words weren't as understandable as a yes or a no, but the happy look on my son's face seemed to mean that he liked this name.
"Very well, then you will be William Tully, son of…" I couldn't finish my sentence because strangely, William's mood changed drastically after I said his complete name…
"OUAH!!! OUAH!!!" Perhaps I had misjudged the fact that he was the silent type given the intensity of his crying right now.
