Lady of the Wall

"Get the damned thing out of my sight!"

"But, my king, do you not want to see your daughter?"

"I have a daughter already…and a son! I need not see another child."

The lowly maid looked down at the small, newborn baby. Not even 2 days old yet, and the poor child had nowhere to go, for her mother had died during labor. She looked up at the king with the sleeping infant in her arms.

"But what shall I do with her?" She whimpered quietly.

"She is a bastard child! Why should I care…" He bellowed down at her. Things were complicated enough; the great king did not need the struggles of a bastard child he conceived with a whore. With the woman dead, it would be easy to cover up his affair from his real wife; who only a year earlier gave birth to his other daughter, but now with this child, everyone would know. The petite maid still knelt before him, holding his daughter close. With a calming sigh he spoke to her,

"Take her away. Get her out of the kingdom, no one must know of this."

"Yes, your grace." The maid replied quietly. She stood up to leave, but paused and said,

"Would you name your child, your grace?"

The king thought for a moment. Why should he name her? After all, he wasn't even claiming the child as his own.

"I shall keep her first name with my own lineage…she is one of mine after all..."

The king thought a moment longer, thinking to find a suiting title.

"Dimeria. Yes, that will do. Now take her away from here." He ordered the maid.

She turned without another word taking the peacefully sleeping child with her. She walked into the night, swiftly and silently. She kept reminding herself of her quest.

No one must know.

She found a merchant traveling through the night and paid him what little she had to take her to the next town. Where would she take Dimeria? She couldn't just pawn her off to any family; she didn't want to do that to such an innocent life. The next day she traveled even further. Still, the thought swam through her mind.

No one must know.

Doing all she could, she cared for Dimeria, bastard daughter of the king. She would have given her life for her and she almost thought she would have to, when a man found her outside of a pub as she was holding the infant and begging for food.

"What brought you to such a low state, my lady?" The middle-aged man asked. He had kind eyes, noble and wise. Tears gathered in the young maid's eyes, as she recalled her journey to keep baby Dimeria safe.

"Please, kind sir. Will you please help me? I cannot keep caring for her; I have no provisions! Please take her and raise her." She begged of him.

"Woman, I am a guard from the Night's Watch. I have come to recruit convicts to The Wall. I cannot care for your infant."

"No, you don't understand! She is not mine, I was told to take her away…none must know of her where I come from. But I can no longer watch over her, I have given all of my life for this child…but I have nothing left!"

"Quiet, quiet my lady!" The man sighed in frustration. He gazed at the woman and the child. Something inside him, a whispering voice in his mind, told him to assist the woman and child. Without help, both would soon die. He grabbed a small purse filled with gold coins and bent near the maid.

"Take this, and go back to your home. I will take the child."

Gratitude flooded her heart and she began crying joyous praises for the kind man. She handed Dimeria over to him and kissed her on the forehead. Before she left though, the guard stopped her and said:

"If I am to take this child, you must tell me where she is from; who is she?"

The thought passed through her mind once more.

No one must know.

But she had no other choice. With a deep breath she spoke to the man,

"Her name is Dimeria. She was born in King's Landing." She paused, afraid to say the next words.

"She is the bastard daughter of King Aerys Targaryen."

"My lord, this is dangerous…we cannot keep a baby at the wall!"

The guard was traveling back with a small caravan of convicts back to The Wall. His partner, Jeor Mormont, was becoming ever so restless at the sight of the babe in his commanders arms. The journey back to the wall was long and taxing on their own, Jeor was less than satisfied at the prospect of having to keep someone else alive. His commander was adamant, though. They would keep Dimeria alive and that was the end of the discussion. Still, Jeor tried one last time to persuade him to abandon the child.

"Jeor, as I have said before, she is coming with us."

"Fine. Then can you tell me why?" Jeor asked solemnly.

The commander inhaled deeply. The fear in the young maid's eyes as she told him her secret came back to him. The poor child, currently sleeping in his arms had no idea how much trouble she had stirred up just from being brought into the world. Horrible things would certainly happen if the people were to discover whom she belonged to, who she really was in birthright.

"Sir?"

Jeor interrupted the commander's thoughts. He decided to put it as simply as he could.

"I am Aemon Targaryen, I have the right to raise this child…for she is my niece."

The words almost seemed foreign to poor Jeor. "Niece? But how?"

"My dear Jeor! You are young, but not that young. I expected you to already know how…" Aemon said to him. He shifted baby Dimeria in his arms as a hearty laugh escaped his lips. A warm flush found its way onto Jeor's cheeks as his commander continued laughing at his expense.

"I know how it happened, my lord." Jeor said through gritted teeth. "But why? Why are you caring for her? Is it not your brother's job to parent his own children?"

"You ask too many questions, Jeor." Aemon said, suddenly silencing his snickering.

"Maybe I wouldn't have to if you answered some of them for me." Jeor muttered more to himself than to Aemon. Stifling a perturbed sigh, Aemon decided to tell Jeor a slight truth. He could trust him, he knew he could; and besides, Jeor would be next in command some day, there were things he would have to be informed about.

"I suppose the correct term for Dimeria would be that she's my bastard niece." Aemon quickly glanced at Jeor to see his reaction, for he made the comment rather nonchalantly, just to get a genuine response out of him. Things suddenly clicked into place for Jeor then, like the stars were finally in perfect alignment. The pieces of his mind finally fit into their proper places and he widened his eyes in amazement. Now he knew. The poor child would be subject to abuse, poverty, and ridicule if people knew who she was. Even if the king decided to keep the girl as a ward, she would never lead happy life. One could only imagine how the stepmother would react to the product of her husband's infidelity, no one would want that for a child.

"But my lord, The Night's Watch? Her life will be as much forfeit there as it is in King's Landing."

"No. We will raise her so that she is accustomed to it. She will no nothing of the outside world, and they will know nothing of her…until it is safe at least."

"We?!" Jeor gawked at his sudden inclusion in the plan.

"I'm afraid so. I am not getting any younger, Jeor. You will soon be Lord Commander of The Wall and I will need your assistance with this little one. If she is to survive the harsh cold of the north and all that goes with it, we will need to raise her to be real northerner; a real wolf. She shall be a warrior no less than any of the ones we already have, and you are going to help with achieving that."

Aemon said with finality, that not even the boisterous Jeor could argue with. If he had learned anything at The Wall, it was to follow orders when they were given; and that was what he was going to do. He looked at Dimeria and shifted uncomfortably on his horse. Aemon noticed and quickly consoled him.

"It will not be so hard. I may call you young, but you are not, and I know that. You will do well as Lord Commander one day."

Jeor smiled at the sincere comment and felt some of his tension melt away. He would do what was right and look after Dimeria. After all, how difficult could it really be?