ALICE OF WESTEROS SACRIFICE - I

ALICE OF WESTEROS SACRIFICE - I

The first Alice was a gallant one.
Sword in hand, she entered Wonderland...

She was taller and more stalwart than any other maiden in all of Westeros. And, being the only child of a veteran warrior, she had been raised like a boy: taught to ride horses, swing swords, fight hand to hand. Brienne kept her flaxen hair short, and her freckled cheeks were rosy with sunshine.
She never married, for could there be somewhere a gentleman who would wed such an amazon?
She was born and raised on one of the Stormlands' vassal islands, coming over to the mainland to seek her fortune. Lord Renly Baratheon, her dark-eyed liege,  impressed by Brienne's prowess, made her one of his foremost warriors and the ensign of his company: the only lady knight so far in the Stormlands' history. Though the flaxen-haired lady knight felt her heart beat for Renly: the young lord was as pleased with Loras Tyrell as Loras was with him. Yet the lady ensign didn't feel the slightest twinge of jealousy. 
She stayed behind as Renly left for his sweetheart's birthplace, and stayed always faithful to her duty, until Storm's End fell to the hosts of the cold-hearted Stannis Baratheon in the absence of his younger brother. As she set off for the Reach and Highgarden, to call her lord to arms, Brienne saw villages razed, the godswood ablaze, the faith of the Lord of Light imposed with fire and sword.
The dark-bearded Lord Renly didn't hesitate, neither golden-haired and hazel-eyed Loras. Hailing their liege lord as their king, the warriors returned to their homeland, their hearts ablaze with confidence.
They encamped before the fortress as soon as they arrived, then lit a campfire for the leaders to gather around. Every warrior, even the lady ensign, hasted to quench his thirst and have a rest after the exhausting march from the Reach to the Stormlands.
That night, a tall and lean figure stabbed Renly Baratheon in the back and ran a sharp longsword through his chest. All evidence pointed at Brienne, even though her blade was free from blood stains. His mind clouded by sorrow and anger, Loras Tyrell at first accused the fair-haired lady knight of a heinous crime.
During the chaos that was the storming of the Baratheons' native seat, a tall and blond warrior in a blood-stained breastplate fled up north, into the darkest woods. Her blue eyes sparkled with confidence: she was sure that young Tyrell would recognize her innocence.
Ever since, tales have been told of a lady knight scouring the woods of that region, taking special delight in slaughtering troops led by Stannis Baratheon. She leaves a trail of crimson blood and slain soldiers in her path. Aside from her wake of blood and slain Baratheonian soldiers, there is no other sign of her existence.
She exists. She is still alive, still thirsty for revenge.