A SACRIFICE OF ICE AND FIRE

And here's this year's Valentine's gift!! A Westerosi gallery of tragedies worth the pain.


This is the Alice of Human Sacrifice Westeros filk (War of the Usurper/Robert's Rebellion-era) I had been promising you for ages.


Ships/pairings: Lyaegar, Lannincest.
Warning: Pretty graphic story (especially the Elia part). Discretion is advised.

Once upon a time, in a certain place, there was a little dream.
No one knew who had dreamt that dream, and no one cared at all.
This made the little dream think:
I do not want to disappear. How can I make people dream of me?
And thus, the dream thought and thought, and at last had an idea:
"I will make people come to me, leading them astray,
and let them create worlds of their own..."


A SACRIFICE OF ICE AND FIRE

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Story the First: The Lost Swordswoman

The first Alice was a maiden righteous, bold, and free,
clasping in her left hand the hilt of a trusty sword.
She cut down the unfair and set right everything gone wrong,
wayward was her scarlet path, far from wedding a lord.

This Alice got lost somewhere far away,
disappeared, a fallen woman, into sin thus lead astray...
They found her bereft of life, within the Tower of Joy...
She lay in blood and wilted roses, with her newborn boy.

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Story the Second: The Star-Crossed Prince

The second Alice was a clever prince, so frail and shy,
strumming the strings of his heart and harp to many a song...
Singing and imagining that prophecies were true,
he created an insane world where nothing was wrong.

This Alice loved and picked a winter rose so blue...
he was slain by the stormlord for having made his bride untrue...
Crushed his breastplate and his chest, the lungs and heart within...
Once beloved, now he's hated, due to his last sin.

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Story the Third: The Broken Princess

The third Alice was sweet, with skin warm and dark as gold,
the friendliest, loveliest one born on the coast of Dorne...
She wedded the poet prince and dwelled within his court,
giving him two children; when he left, she felt no scorn.

This Alice was the princess of all the land...
She suffered a gruesome fate at a traitor's harsh command...
As she struggles for her life, she sees her children die...
then, her maidenhead once lost, she yields with one last sigh.

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Story the Fourth: The Wilful Twins

Following the woodland paths no one's trod before...
Crossing at the ford that still runs scarlet with gore...
Though you have been invited to the Royal Keep...
In my heart you will always dwell...

The fourth Alice were twins with green eyes and golden hair,
so wilful and curious, like any other child...
crossing many thresholds as their lives go on and on...
yet now they're no children and life is no longer mild.

The older sister's headstrong... and...
the younger brother's insecure...
They think they are the closest to their wonderland, for sure...
From their wildest dreaming they will never, e'er awake,
trapped forever in the lives they lead for their hearts' sake...

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Who will be the next Alice?

ON MY WESTEROS FIC: INSPIRATION SONG LYRICS

Alice of Human Sacrifice/Hitobashira Alice

“Hitobashira Arisu”, Englished as “Alice of Human Sacrifice”, is a Vocaloid song written by Yugami-P (both melody and lyrics). The narrative lyrics tell a four-part story with an introduction. Part of the lyrics, translated by the author of the fic herself, have been incorporated into the narrative, as the introduction and the opening of every chapter.

The lyrics resemble the typical “allegorical kunstmärchen (literary fairy tale)” in that they allow more than one interpretation of characters and scenarios.

Full lyrics, translated by the author of the fic

Once upon a time, there was a little dream.

It was such a little dream, that it is still unknown who dreamt it.

The little dream didn’t want to pine away in the shade, completely unnoticed.

So the little dream thought, and thought, and came up with a great idea.

“I should let humans come to me, and have them create their own worlds!”

The first Alice was a gallant one.

Sword in hand, she entered Wonderland…

Slashing all her enemies whatever it may take,

leaving a crimson pathway of blood in her wake.

This Alice was lost in the dark wood,

and there, like the sinner she was, she disappeared for good.

Aside from the trail of blood that’s seen through the mist,

there is no more evidence that she really does exist.

The second Alice was a gentlemanly one.

Singing a song, he entered Wonderland…

He filled up his inner void with all that’s bright and fair,

and a new world of his own was due to spring up there.

This Alice loved picking the roses brightly red.

Slain by a cross-eyed madman, who wished to see him dead.

Crimson roses blossomed from the wound in his chest,

and, even after death, he is beloved and he’s blessed.

The third Alice was a beautiful young girl,

the fairest and dearest one to enter Wonderland…

She charmed many people to her every beck and call,

and thus rose a sweet kingdom that would rise above them all.

This Alice was the Queen of Wonderland,

troubled by a hectic dream that never would be banned.

She feared that her good looks would soon fade away in vain,

ironically, while she had reached the peak of her reign.

Following the little red pathway through the wood…

Resting by the rose trees, that will sure do us good…

Then came an invitation to the royal court…

What was that, but the Ace of Hearts?

The fourth Alice was a couple of siblings.

Out of curiosity, they entered Wonderland...

On through many gateways, past many scenes and lives.

They’re together the latest Alice who arrives.

The brave and plucky little sis, the clever wicked older bro,

they were the closest ones to come where the story should go…

Both of them, however, from their dream will not awake.

Now they’re trapped in Wonderland for tragedy’s own sake.

The author has previously written three Vocaloid fusion fics (ut supra) that cast the Vocaloids (the Kagamine siblings in leading roles) as characters in lesser known fairy tales, before writing an reverse of her classical fusion fandom: non-Vocaloid characters to a Vocaloid song. Thus, the fusion fic “Alice of Westeros Sacrifice” doubles as a song fic.

ALICE OF WESTEROS SACRIFICE - INTRO

ALICE OF WESTEROS SACRIFICE

A WESTEROS (ICE AND FIRE/GAME OF THRONES) FIC

By Sandra Dermark

(I do not own Westeros or “Alice of Human Sacrifice”)

Once upon a time, there was a little dream.

It was such a little dream, that it is still unknown who dreamt it.

The little dream didn’t want to pine away in the shade, completely unnoticed.

So the little dream thought, and thought, and came up with a great idea.

“I should let humans come to me, and have them create their own worlds!”

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.

ALICE OF WESTEROS SACRIFICE - II

ALICE OF WESTEROS SACRIFICE - II

The second Alice was a gentlemanly one.

Singing a song, he entered Wonderland...

The ruler of those lands was in love with the beauties and charms of life. From the clifftop tower where he was born and raised, Renly Baratheon delighted in the warm colours of the sun setting behind the woods, the glitter of sunlight on the waves, the soft spring flowers, and the falling of the autumn leaves. From beyond the woods, from the fertile Reach, came Loras, his good friend, to whose sister Margaery he was betrothed. Renly was as pleased with Loras as Loras was with Renly.
Now Margaery wasn't that homely to say the least, but it wasn't for her that Renly's young heart beat in such a febrile way. It was hazel-eyed Loras, with his cascades of golden locks and soft cheeks of peach-fuzz, that Renly loved. He had recently left his birthplace to live on the Tyrells' stately chateau, surrounded by the high ramparts and beautiful gardens that gave the estate such a wonderful name. The lady of Highgarden loved him like she loved her own children, and she hoped that Renly and Margaery, having tied the knot, could give her hopeful grandchildren. 

The young dark-haired lord, whose cheeks and upper lip had started, unlike those of his beloved, to be decked with little strands of raven hair, still saw her as a friend, remaining steadfast in his feelings for Loras. Though their religion forbade such a relationship, it did not inflict any punishment. The young men kissed under trellises of golden roses, they shook peach blossoms on each other's heads... they slept in the same bed, in the same bedchamber, tickling each other under green coversheets embroidered with golden roses. They loved each other passionately all spring and summer long (and though Renly had wed the auburn and green-eyed Margaery in midsummer). But autumn had to come, the rainbows had to fade away, and such love had to pay its due.

Leaden clouds darkened the skies, the golden roses started to wither, and many other flowers had pined away. Cold winds from the east made the leaves fall, and warriors from the Stormlands visited Highgarden. Their leader was a tall and freckled lady knight with short, fair hair and steel-blue eyes.

The Stormlanders wanted their lord to be their king and deliverer. For Stannis Baratheon, Renly's stern and cold-hearted older brother, had left the harsh island fortress he ruled to claim his ancestral lands at Storm's End, where he had imposed a foreign religion by fire and sword. If left unchecked, the flames of war could smite the peaceful Reach.

The farewell knew no equal. Though Renly merely loved her as a good friend, he kissed his young consort and dried up her unchecked tears. Westward did the Stormland host ride: dark-eyed Renly before his ranks, soft-cheeked Loras Tyrell by his right side, fair-haired Brienne carrying the standard of the golden stag to the left. When they arrived, Stannis had already taken Storm's End, and burned the sacred godswood to the ground. The heroes could do nothing but encamp by the ramparts and await the garrison's surrender.

From the window in the chamber that once was his brother's, Stannis watched the enemy lay siege to the Baratheons' ancestral seat. That evening, two young men lay huddled together by the campfire. The dark-eyed, clean-shaven conqueror recognized young Renly and Loras Tyrell.

Having converted to another religion, Stannis couldn't forgive his younger brother's sins. Defying nature by making love to his own gender! Such a notorious deed should not be left unpunished!

Restraining the rage that surged within him, Stannis Baratheon announced that he would make a sortie into the enemy camp on his own. The sharp longsword at his side remained sheathed, but his firm hand was on the hilt.

Half-drunk on sweet Reach fruit wine, two young warriors lay half-asleep in the middle of the Renlyian encampment. One of them was raven-haired and bearded, while the other had golden locks and downy cheeks. A tall and dark figure, wielding a longsword, stepped silently by the campfire. A flash of moonlight reflected on the blade. Renly felt a sharp, stabbing pain in his back, piercing his vital organs, and then the tip of the sharp steel sprung up in the middle of his chest. The young lord didn't have time to look over his shoulder and recognize his clean-shaven and lean older brother as the one who had run him through the chest with his sword, for the blade had pierced his heart: with one last sigh, dark-haired Renly ceased to breathe and shut his eyes forever. The blood that surged from his pierced heart spread like the scattering petals of crimson roses.

When Loras woke up, he burst into tears that couldn't be restrained. The news of his beloved's death had spread through the encampment like wildfire. And the rage of the Stormlanders couldn't be more justified.

They rushed forth to avenge their liege lord, the hazel-eyed Loras himself slaying the enemy's lieutenants with his own sword in a fit of grieving rage, but to no avail: most of the Renlyian officers had already defected to the enemy side or been taken prisoner. "I can't avenge him if I'm dead", the young Tyrell thought, as his ranks deserted him:  the stronghold on the cliff did not fall at the end of the day. But the slayer of Renly had already left. And a teary-eyed Loras had fled the Stormlands, returning home to the Reach on his own, with the lifeless form of his beloved. 

I won't delve on how fair Brienne, to convince Loras of her innocence, fled the camp during the siege. What is worth of mention is that the lifeless form of Renly Baratheon was brought to the peaceful Reach, then earthed beneath the rose trees where he had so frequently kissed his darling, as Highgarden was draped in black. 

When spring came, the roses at his grave bloomed neither golden nor blood red, but the colour of copper. And the memory of his untimely death would linger within the hearts of the Tyrells, as long as the Reach existed.
The most experienced veterans in Westeros say that a rider on a white steed, wearing an antlered helmet and a shining breastplate, led the cavalry charge on the frontline at Blackwater. The battle was lost, but the charge would never be forgotten. The veteran soldiers say it was Renly Baratheon, whose death may not have been what happened in real life. Only a few people, the Tyrells of Highgarden, know the truth: the leader of the charge was Loras Tyrell, dressed in Renly's suit of armour and riding his liege lord's steed.

ALICE OF WESTEROS SACRIFICE - III

ALICE OF WESTEROS SACRIFICE - III

The third Alice was a beautiful young girl,
the fairest and dearest one to enter Wonderland...

She had come from the Northern hinterland, from a province called "Winterfall" or something like that... Winterfell. The daughter of the late chancellor and a rebel dowager, her hair was the reddish brown colour of mahogany, and her eyes were as blue and pure as summer skies. Her name was Sansa Stark. 
She had chosen to stay at court because her own native shire looked cold and bleak in comparison. And because the newly-crowned boy king had (ostensibly) yielded his heart to her modest provincial charms. Thus, Sansa still lived in the Red Keep with her betrothed and his tangled family. Indeed, Joffrey I, with his downy cheeks, his golden locks, and those piercing emerald eyes, was the best party in the land and the dream of all its maidens. And she, out of them all, was his bride! The courtiers in their elegant robes were always at their beck and call... but, to tell you the truth, the one who actually ruled Westeros from the Red Keep was Queen Mother Cersei, regent by widowhood, as beautiful as her eldest son and heir, whose good looks he had inherited. The Golden Lioness was the one to arrange the betrothal, and to live the life of her daughter-in-law. She had set up a trap for the young girl, ensuring the Keep would be the gilded cage from which she never should escape.
Looking up at the night sky from her tower bedchamber, Sansa thought of her own mother, of her older brother and younger sister, of the harsh granite halls where they used to play, and suddenly burst into tears. She couldn't return to Winterfell. And she was no longer a child.

ALICE OF WESTEROS SACRIFICE - IV

ALICE OF WESTEROS SACRIFICE - IV

The fourth Alice was a couple of siblings.
Out of curiosity, they entered Wonderland...

They were both in the garden of their guardians' estate when their adventure started. They were both lilywhite, with soft hair the colour of platinum and periwinkle eyes.
The young siblings were foreigners and orphans of war. Their memories of early childhood, before the great debacle, were too vague and violent, and far behind them.
Viserys, the eldest, was a thoughtful and reserved youth, recently come of age. He was always distant, tense, as if longed for more than he already had.
Daenerys, by contrast, was a lively and upbeat girl, with a bright outlook on everything that happened around her.
He was reading the chronicles of a great war that had taken place centuries before. She didn't care to remember the names of all those lords of yore, whether slayers or slain. Restless, she would pull her brother's sleeves as a prank, at which point he'd get annoyed and wish her away without a word, but with a piercing glare.
Then, hopping past them came a white rabbit carrying an envelope. The young girl set off in its pursuit.
"Dany! Would you...?" No answer came. He decided to follow her down the rabbit hole.
They landed in a hall full of windows and doors, one of them made of swords and thorns, the other decorated with art nouveau-style copper roses, the third one golden and baroque, with a lion's head for a knocker and a direwolf's for a knob. The envelope lay on the table in the middle, the one with a thorn leg, an art nouveau rose leg and a baroque leg.
"Look, Visy! The letter!"
The seal was shaped like a heart and like a stag's antlers at the same time. Both siblings opened the letter at unison:

Thou art herefore invited

to an endless evening of pleasure

by

Queen Cersei Sansa Lannister

at her court of the Red Keep.

Thou shalt be duly rewarded.

PS. RSVP.

They didn't know which way to go, but they could only open the door of iron and briars, and found themselves in the middle of the glistening fir woods. There, they heard the locals speak of a bloodthirsty lady knight, who wouldn't hesitate to slay anyone in her path to avenge the death of her liege lord. At the end of the woods, Visy and Dany stopped to rest at a chateau draped in black, with a beautiful garden full of spring flowers. Another couple of siblings, an auburn-haired maiden and a golden-haired youth dressed in black, met them by the tree that yielded copper roses. They told the fair-haired travellers the tale of a young ruler fond of beauty and love, yet slain because of his passions, and of the lady knight with eyes of blue and flaxen hair, banished to the woods by the owner of the rose garden for having been unable to protect their liege. They were given directions to get to the Red Keep, but they were warned that they wouldn't be that welcome at court.
The beautiful gardens gave way to a vast, endless grassland. A detachment of dark riders crossed their path. They escorted Dany and Visy to their camp, to introduce them to their leader. The stalwart warlord was dark-skinned, with a long raven braid. And he was wealthy enough to produce at least a golden crown for the Queen to accept the upstarts. But not for free.
So, Viserys saw his chance. He introduced Dany to the warlord and vice versa. "My sister in exchange for the golden crown". The fiancés didn't even know each other.
And periwinkle-eyed Visy got his golden crown indeed: the riders poured molten gold on his head, scalding him and stripping him of his platinum locks. While his little sister, not to be alone, married the warlord and became, after his untimely death, the leader of all the riders.
One day, the army she led would be vast enough to put the Queen's ranks to rout.





But who would become the next Alice?