A Tale of Blood and Monsters Ch. 20

She's confused, when she wakes up again. But then it starts to come back to her. She was laying in bed, almost certainly dying. Childbirth had not been kind to her, and despite being strong in spirit, it seemed that she had a noblewoman's frailty after all. The birthing had been undeniably rough, even with two handmaidens there to help her. At the very least though, her daughter had been born, healthy and hale. That, Lyanna Stark had been overjoyed by.

Only for a man she would never have expected to see, the man she'd been directing so much of her hatred towards, to show up at her bedside. Why would the Emperor of New Valyria be there? She'd been half-convinced he was a hallucination, but if he was, it was a group hallucination, because her handmaidens could see him as well. See him, but not stop him. He'd brushed them aside quite easily, but then Lyanna didn't blame the other two women for that. He was certainly an imposing figure, and his presence in the tower meant he'd already dealt with Arthur and Gerold, ostensibly.

Regardless, they'd spoke… and she'd grown weaker for it. The blood flowed so much more freely as the rage in her heart for the part the Emperor played in her beloved's death filled every inch of her. Perhaps Vali did not do much in the grand scheme of things, and certainly Lyanna laid a fair share of the blame at the feet of Robert Baratheon as well. After all, the man she was supposed to marry had killed the man she'd chosen to marry.

But it helped, perhaps just a little, to imagine that without Vali's participation, without his intervention, the rebellion might have been more easily quelled without any further loss of life. Deep down inside, Lyanna knew she was fooling herself, but some small part of her liked to think that without Vali's rout of the Tyrell Armies at Storm's End, perhaps Rhaegar could have done something, anything to bring Robert and her brother to the table.

If only the Reach had been able to capture Robert's brothers, then maybe Rhaegar could have forced the young Baratheon to bend the knee while also finding a way to finally dispose of his mad father. Lyanna recognized that Aerys was a problem, how could she not when the man had killed her father and eldest brother. But Rhaegar had plans, he was going to save the Seven Kingdoms from Aerys' madness, he was going to make things right again.

In Lyanna's eyes, Robert and the Valyrian Emperor had conspired together to make sure that never came to pass.

Regardless, she'd never expected to wake up again. It was startling, because the last thing she remembered was being miraculously healed by… Vali's blood? And then his hands had been on his head and he'd twisted, and there'd been a sharp pain before everything had gone dark. Frankly, it'd felt like he was tearing her head right from his shoulders. It'd certainly felt like death, to say the least.

Yet now here she was? Lyanna sits up and swings her legs out of the bed she finds herself in, marveling at how her body has seemingly recovered from the trauma of childbirth. Looking down at herself, aside from the plumpness of her tits, she doesn't even look like she was pregnant anymore. Brow furrowing, the young she-wolf carefully leverages herself to her feet, stumbling not because of weakness, but because of lack thereof. It's been months since she could walk normally, months since she had an energetic spring in her step.

And yet, here she is, suddenly able to stride around the room, not only that, but skip and even dance a little bit. It feels wondrous, it feels heavenly, it-

"Having fun, my dear?"

In an instant, Lyanna is as far from the owner of that voice as she can possibly get, keeping her eyes on the Emperor of New Valyria, while at the same time hunting for a weapon, any weapon that she can get her hands on and use on him. The man is currently without armor and without his sword, so she has a real shot, especially since she's feeling surprisingly good right now.

He IS holding a wine goblet in his hand though, filled halfway up with red wine… or is it. As Lyanna finally notices the crystal goblet, she blinks, her nostrils flaring and her breath catching as… the most amazing scent hits her nose. It's absolutely glorious, and it takes her a long moment to separate the awe-inspiring note of the smell from the actual smell itself. There's a copper tang in the air, or at least in her nostrils. She shouldn't be quite so well-acquainted with the smell of blood, perhaps, but then, she did lay in a pool of her own blood for far too long. One might say it's a recent intimacy that she's developed with the horrid red substance.

"This is for you, my dear."

Lyanna snarls, baring her teeth and growling at her captor, as a proper she-wolf should. Was he looking to commit the crime they accused her husband of? He'd kidnapped her, stolen her from the tower, somehow healed her… and now… what? He would rape her? He'd find her quite the fight, if he tried.

"I don't want anything from you. Go away."

It sounds more petulant then righteous, even to her ears, but she doesn't know what else to say, truth be told. Still, to punctuate her statement, she grabs the hefty-looking candlestick at the side of her bed, hoisting it up defensively. Vali looks more amused than afraid though, even as he shrugs his shoulders.

"My dear, if you do not consume this within the next twenty-four hours… you WILL die. And for good this time. At the very least, I assumed you would want to stick around, if only to curb my more… violent impulses and protect your family from me."

Lyanna's eyes widen at that, and the young she-wolf snarls again.

"M-My daughter! What have you done with her?"

The Valyrian Emperor has the gall to look taken aback and affronted, even going so far as to place his free hand upon his chest, fingers splayed open.

"Me? I've done nothing to your daughter, Lyanna. She's safe. She's with your brother, of course. They should both be well on their way back North now, and if they aren't yet, they soon will be."

Lyanna blinks at that. Ned? Ned had her child? How had that happened? No, more importantly, how was she going to get back to her? To know that, she needed to know where she was, first of all.

"A-And where are we?"

It didn't look like any part of the Tower of Joy she'd seen, and in the months, she'd been hidden away there, Lyanna Stark had explored every single corner of her prison. It wasn't like she'd had anything better to do, in the end…

Even still, Vali's answer shocks her, nonetheless.

"We're in Pentos, my dear. Once my business with you is concluded, I'll be departing for Dragonstone."

She can't help herself; she's always been a curious one, always been easily distracted by both words and actions. Brow furrowing, Lyanna licks her lips and repeats that final statement.

"Dragonstone? What's on Dragonstone?"

Vali chuckles.

"That's a good question, my dear. There's quite a lot on Dragonstone for me, at the moment. And all of it belongs to me, now that your continent's little rebellion is over. Dragonstone was what Robert, your brother, and Jon Arryn promised me for my assistance in the war."

In an instant, Lyanna's fury is reignited and she snarls as she instinctively lobs the candlestick at the Emperor's head. He easily steps aside, dodging it, but she's already moving, coming back around the bed and charging him, ready to claw his damn eyes out! However, before she can even get within range, she's stopped. Not by him, not physically… but by the scent of the blood in the wine goblet in his hands as it gets stronger with proximity. Her nostrils flare and her pupils dilate as she realizes that there's nothing more in the world she wants then to drink from the goblet.

"W-What… what have you done to me?"

Vali hums, seemingly unperturbed by her attack or her proximity.

"I saved you my dear. Or rather… I've given you the opportunity to save yourself. You were fated to die back there, in that tower. You and your beloved ignited a war that killed thousands, and perhaps it was only karma that you both suffer horrible fates for it. But I've never really been one to bow to fate, never really put much stock in karma. In my time, I've found that we make our own destiny, more often than not."

He pauses for a moment, but while Lyanna IS listening, she's also focused on the goblet, her eyes zeroed in on it. Now that she's this close, it's harder to think, harder to process his words, harder to even contemplate her own state of mind. She wants it. She wants the blood. By the Seven, she wants that blood.

"Its quite simple, my dear. As of this moment, you are a dead woman walking. If you do not drink from the goblet, you will pass away and this time, for good. If you do drink from the goblet, you will be reborn. Stronger, faster, more powerful than you ever were before. You would be stronger than even the greatest Knight back in Westeros. You'd have all of the physical power you've always desired. But more importantly…"

He smiles as Lyanna leans in; eyes still fixed on the goblet of blood.

"You'd have a chance to perhaps see your daughter again later on. To provide her with a mother, too, rather than leaving her all alone in the world, her parents both dead and gone and her none the wiser. Isn't that a nice thought?"

She'd like to say it was the last offer that truly got her, but in all honesty, the first part was insanely enticing as well. All her life, Lyanna had felt trapped in a society she wasn't made for, mentally. It wasn't that she wasn't a woman, but that she had no desire to be a lady. She'd always preferred the boys' activities to that of the girls', and she'd done everything in her power to live her life how she wanted. Perhaps that was why she'd been so betrayed when her father had betrothed her to Robert. Perhaps that was why she'd run off with Rhaegar and ignited a war that, as the Emperor put it, had killed thousands.

Regardless, in the end Lyanna snatches the goblet from Vali's hand, encountering no resistance from the Valyrian Emperor… and she drinks. The blood hits the back of her throat as she gulps it down, the copper tangy taste somehow utterly sublime, even as little rivulets of the red liquid trail down from either corner of her mouth as she gulps and gulps and gulps.

And then she feels it. The rush of power, the feeling of immense strength. She becomes something wholly other in that moment, and she's very aware that she's no longer human, that she's… that she's been transformed. A growl erupts from the newly made hybrid's throat, and she can feel her teeth elongating, her eyes shifting as the world suddenly becomes so much more vibrant.

With this power, she could do anything. With this power, she could BE anything. With this power… she could have her revenge. With a snarl, Lyanna launches herself at the Valyrian Emperor, grabbing him and slamming him into the nearest wall with such strength and speed that it's hard for even her mind, which is still processing everything that's happened, to fully keep up.

And yet, she now holds him in her grasp, at her mercy. She smiles and can feel her sharpened teeth in her maw as she does so. But even as she contemplates what to do with him, even as she digs her strengthened fingers into his clothing and then into his flesh itself… he doesn't seem even slightly perturbed or upset or afraid. He's not even grimacing in pain as her digits bite into his skin.

The reason why becomes utterly apparent a moment later, when his eyes transform as well and his own lips curl into a wicked smile that reveals rows of sharpened incisors. He's just like her… no, she discovers a moment later, he's MORE than her. When Vali turns the tables on her, leaving her the one pressed back against the wall, his lips crashing against hers, Lyanna's eyes widen and she moves to fight him for all of a moment… before kissing him right back.

It just feels right, the kissing. Part of her knows it's a betrayal, but Rhaegar is dead. Rhaegar is dead and she is alive, and Vali… Vali smells almost as amazing as the blood she just drank. His rich musk fills her nostrils, assaulting her newly enhanced sense of smell, and the young she-wolf, who is now more wolf-like than ever before, just can't get enough of it.

When he goes for her dress, she lets him and responds in kind, aiming not to tear his flesh from his bones any longer, but to rip his fine clothes off of his even finer figure. He doesn't protest the loss of what have to be extremely expensive garments, but then to be fair, he's the Emperor of Essos, of New Valyria… he probably has fortunes that even a Lord Paramount's daughter such as herself couldn't hope to dream of.

Regardless, their clothes, or what's left of them, quickly go flying as they continue to kiss each other quite hungrily. This doesn't mean Lyanna has forgiven him though, nor is she quite ready to capitulate. She wants what's about to happen for herself, for her own selfish desires, and she makes that known by biting down hard on his lower lip, enough to draw blood. For a moment, he's surprised… but then he's all over her, twice as aggressive as before, four times as rough.

She fights him every step of the way from that point on. Yes, she wants it, but she's not going to just give it up easily. She learned her lesson on that, the last time she gave her maidenhood away, it led to a fucking war that killed innocent people. Even still, even as she makes Vali work for it, the Valyrian Emperor shows why he didn't mind giving her this gift, this strength, this power.

Put bluntly… he's stronger. She might be powerful now, but he's more powerful. She fights him and wrestles with him as he takes her to the bed and lays her down to have his way with her. In her struggling, she ends up on her front, trying to crawl away, only for him to pin her down and thrust into her from behind, like he didn't need to fuck her on her back to be content. Instead, he plows her in a way Lyanna had only ever understood whores to take cock, though even her understanding of that was rather lax.

Still, there's something desirable to being pinned down and taken like this. She continues to writhe and wriggle beneath him, fighting back as is her want, but at the same time, her cunt clenches and squeezes rhythmically along the length of his cock, and even as the Emperor humps into her from above like some crazed animal, she's pushing her hips back into him, reveling in the sheer brutality of their fucking, thoroughly enjoying how it feels to be rutted so savagely, like they're little more than common beasts.

Even Rhaegar, her beloved, had always treated her like she was glass and could break at the slightest touch. But then to be fair, given how her body had failed her in childbirth, maybe he'd been right to do so. Maybe they'd all been right to see her as nothing more than a young lady to be protected. The difference between her strength and stamina now compared to what she'd had before was… massive.

Still, all good things come to an end. Vali empties his balls inside of her without even asking permission, and when he loosens his hold on her, she responds by kicking him away, sending him flying across the room where he lands against the wall, she'd held him up against a bit earlier. Rather than getting angry however, he just laughs. Which he probably has ever right to, after all, he'd just spent his seed in her womb… he'd gotten what he wanted from her.

Scowling angrily, mad at both herself and him, Lyanna sits up, placing a hand on her abdomen.

"So then, you think to use me as your broodmare? Is that why you brought me back, why you empowered me? Am I to be the mother of monsters?"

Vali snorts derisively, even as he pushes off the wall, only to appear before her in an instant, cradling her face almost tenderly in his hands. She can just barely track his speed with her new eyes, but not fast enough to draw away before he has ahold of her.

"… You think too highly of yourself, my sweet. Do you think you're the first? Do you think you're the only one? How exactly do you imagine I conquered Essos? Ah, but I see where this is coming from. Rhaegar told you about his silly little prophecy, didn't he? He filled your head with such nonsense. And yet, instead of the son he was sure you would be able to give him, you gave him a girl… that was my fault, I should admit. Or rather, I believe it was the meddling of the Almighty One that made your child female."

Even Lyanna has heard of this Almighty One, and her eyes widen at Vali's admission. But before she can even begin to feel anger for the apparent interference in Rhaegar's plans, Vali gives her a smirk.

"Shall I show you what the future would have held, if not for my intervention? Shall I show you what would have become of yours and Rhaegar's son, if not for the Almighty One's decision to make your babe a daughter instead?"

He doesn't actually wait for a yes or anything like that… he dives right in, and Lyanna learns exactly what the future of the world, of her world, would have been without an Emperor Vali of New Valyria playing his games.

-x-X-x-

I leave Lyanna in her bed, sobbing at the revelations I've given her, along with a compulsion not to leave Pentos or kill any of it's residents. She'll be fine, I'm sure. It's not like I WANTED to end the story where I did, to be fair. Not like I wanted the last thing she saw of the other world, of 'canon', to be her son betrayed and killed by his brothers in the Night's Watch after a life of dismissal and loneliness.

… That was just the final season that had aired before I'd been inserted into this body, all those thousands of years ago. Even if I was fairly certain that Jon Snow was due to be brought back at the start of the next season by Melisandre… I didn't have to tell Lyanna that, now did I? A wicked grin spreads across my face from ear to ear as I mount Elijah and direct him to take off and begin flying across the Narrow Sea, to Dragonstone.

It was time to reunite with a certain Princess, and at the same time, bag a Queen.

-x-X-x-

If you'd like to read more of my work not seen on this website, check out Hentai-Foundry.com and QuestionableQuesting.com! I'm known as 'Cambrian' on those websites.

If you'd like to contribute to funding my writing at all, check me out on P atreon.com/Cambrian

Thanks for reading!