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I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions on them, so you can read up to 20 chapters ahead as a bonus.
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123 AC, King's Landing
She supposed she was only happy to see the burden that Harry was bearing finally disappear. After all, it seemed that they had averted an apocalypse in this world. She sincerely hoped that it wouldn't be a trend everywhere they went.
From the moment that Helaena Targaryen opened her eyes, she knew that the world was different, that things had changed. She could feel it in the tapestry within her mind, where the chaos in the distance became clearer, as certain places and events that she had been blind to, or at least were relatively obscure to her sight, suddenly became clearer.
However, it was more than that. She could feel the very nature of the world shifting, being different with every breath she took, and its people becoming… more. It was strange to say it, but it felt as if everyone, her included, had a greater say in their own power than ever before, as if some weight that had been stifling them was gone. It was not hard to come to the conclusion that the Potters had been responsible, that they had resolved whatever issues plagued Lord Harry, ones that endangered the world, and Helaena smiled at the thought, though it was tainted with melancholy, as she knew what would likely come next.
Without even calling for a servant, Helaena stood up and decided to dress herself, choosing to wear a simpler dress rather than anything that would be overly complicated. She quickly looked at Mary's, her maid's, thread and chuckled.
It seemed that she was too busy having a tryst with a hedge knight that would, unfortunately, soon leave her in a few moons for a tourney in the Riverlands. Helaena would need to ensure that the woman would drink some moon tea, as this tryst would end with Mary with a child, which would cause Helaena's mother to send her away. Instead, after dealing with her heartbreak, Mary would meet a baker who had come from Duskendale, who would treasure her as they grew old together.
Helaena smiled at that. Theirs was a truly beautiful story. She found herself often enjoying them, seeing other people's stories in the tapestry of the world, and perhaps giving them a small push that would help them, if she could. She sometimes marvelled at the power she held, at the fact that a single gesture could change things so much…
Still, she left her chambers, likely looking less put together than usual, yet she did not care as she felt the urge to simply walk around the castle. It was a wonderful day. She could feel her very being feeling more relaxed, and even then, the world itself was brighter. She saw people walking around unburdened, likely some part of them knowing that the world had fundamentally changed, yet unable to know exactly what it was.
They were all celebrating without realising why that was, and Helaena found herself being swept up in it, nonetheless, perhaps because it would distract her from the melancholy she felt at what such a victory meant for her and the Potters.
Still, as she walked around in the corridors of the castle, she ordered a few flowers to be sent to various ladies, which would begin a courtship with some lordlings in the Crownlands and the Riverlands. As she continued, she realised that a letter to a steward of the Red Keep would eventually lead to Sabitha Vypen accidentally meeting her brother, Aemond, and her wit would earn her his attention, something that had surprised her greatly; this had not been in any of Aemond's threads before.
Truly, things have changed greatly, even the tapestry. Perhaps, it had not changed, but seemed clearer, with fewer paths restricted, and thus, with greater outcomes. It was subtle, but she could notice it.
Still, she marvelled at looking around the world, seeing paths that had been obscure to her, seeing new stories unfurl before her eyes, looking at the lords and ladies of the realm, at wealthy and powerful creatures, who had no idea of the danger that passed them, of the darkness that they nearly avoided, of the sorcerer and sorceress who had likely braved horrors to save them.
Without even meaning to, Helaena found herself walking towards the Godswood. She was not sure if it was out of habit, but the small forest held a presence that it had lacked greatly, a fragment of power, of light, that had been far more subtle earlier, enhancing the calming presence that this place radiated.
She moved instinctively towards the Heart Tree, feeling it was the source of this great change. There was certainly something very different in it, and before she could attempt to figure out what that was, a familiar voice spoke up behind her: "Beautiful, isn't it?"
The young princess's eyes widened, and a great smile grew on her face as she turned in a very un-princess-like manner, "Lord Harry, Lady Daphne, you came."
As she turned, she saw both sorcerers smiling at her kindly. They looked less tense than they had before, less burdened, and that fact alone reassured her far more than anything else. Lord Harry was smiling widely as he had when they first met on Dragonstone, "Of course, we did. So, what do you think?"
Helaena paused and asked, "Do you mean the Weirwood Tree?"
"I mean everything… You should have noticed it by now." Lord Harry spoke with a raised eyebrow, as if he were teaching her another lesson.
And she did notice it; it was certainly evident to her that the world had changed irrevocably, but in what exact way, she was not sure. Though, before any of this, even if she was reassured by the Potters' expressions, she needed to have her suspicions confirmed fully, "I have… Is it done then?"
Lord Harry smiled at her, "It is. Things should be safe now, or at least, as safe as they're ever going to be, all things considered."
That did not exactly explain much. The last time Lord Harry had spoken with her, in his menagerie, a beautiful space filled with magical creatures, including these wonderful unicorns, who deserved better than to share their names with horned goats in Skagos.
The sorcerer had seemed so lost then; his image as an invulnerable creature with powers that were far beyond her was gone, for a moment, and she had seen a glimpse of the man beneath it all. He had shared a mistake that he had made, of an impossible situation that he thought he simply could not win, for no matter what path he took, it would have ended in tragedy.
And as much as she wanted to deny it, Helaena had been afraid. She had seen many great and terrible things, but it was the worried look on Lord Harry's face that haunted her still. She had so much faith in him, and now that he faced enemies, not as a whim but with her world, her children's world, at risk, threats that she could not even glimpse within her tapestry. There was a difference in that, and while she could do nothing but have faith in him. After all, what else could she do against gods and demons, against Elder Dragons and Outsiders, all of whom threatened to rip her world apart, and all of whom were beyond her sight.
She had only her faith in the Potters, and now, that faith was rewarded, given his conversation. Helaena then tried to find the words to show just how much this meant to her, just how glad she was it was finally over, that her children would be safe, that her family would be safe. And yet, words seemed so insufficient to show the depth of her gratitude. And so, she could only come up with two words, "Thank you."
Both Potters' smiles softened before Lord Harry clapped his hands, "So, you didn't tell me what you think. It's some of my best work, you know."
Lady Daphne gently hit her husband with her elbow, which he exaggerated greatly. "Don't worry about him. He's being clever."
"Oi, I was not clever," the sorcerer complained. "Oh, wait, I was. But not in a bad way." The blonde woman gave him an unimpressed look and grumbled, "I don't see you changing the rules of creation of an entire world and not wanting to show off your work."
The woman gave him another dry look, and the man practically slumped while correcting himself, "Fine… Our work."
Helaena found herself giggling at the byplay, feeling more at ease, though she felt some pity for Lord Harry's pleading look, "I noticed that the tapestry is… fuller than before. There are more strands that did not exist before."
The sorcerer seemed almost giddy at the change in conversation, "Oh, that would be the lack of the Outsiders influencing this realm. Fate has always been occluded by the chaos they represented; their mere presence almost crippling the concept. Do you remember what I taught you in your first lesson about your threads?"
Helaena looked back and remembered these words clearly: "You said that time is infinitely more complex than a tapestry, that what I was seeing was just what I could see on the surface."
The sorcerer nodded, "That was a good analogy at the time, but maybe a bit too simplistic now that you're a bit more knowledgeable, but it stands. Now, something that had occluded your sight is gone, hopefully forever. You're welcome for that, by the way."
Helaena giggled faintly at that, though she asked him, "How did you stop the Outsiders?"
Lady Daphne turned to her husband with a raised eyebrow, "Why don't you tell Helaena how you stopped the Outsiders, huh, Harry?"
She swore that she saw Lord Harry almost pouting when he answered, "I cut the world in half, and sent their half back into the void."
Helaena choked at that and gave him an incredulous look, "You cut the world in half?"
"Hey," the sorcerer answered, protesting, "I put it back together. And it's even better than before. Magic should start becoming less chaotic, without the need for sacrificial magic to give it structure, and that's without even talking about the seed of a framework that I designed for divine beings and the changes to the Old Gods. So, don't you make me sound like some sort of hack, Daph."
The golden-haired sorceress slowly turned towards her husband and spoke up, "You did what?"
"I had the opportunity and thought, why not? I noticed that magic was raw and actively likely to be in a chaotic form, resisting most forms of trying to structure it. With magic spreading, it felt like a nice thing to do to ensure that people would learn to use it more easily. It would probably lead to fewer disasters and fewer people being persecuted. We've. Both have seen what's in the Citadel. And besides, it will take years until any form of reach change manifests itself."
Helaena nodded to herself. That did sound like a good idea. Magic was often said to be a sword without a hilt, but the Potters had taught her otherwise when it came to controlling her dreams and had shown her how to make sense of the strings that chaotically moved across her mind and turn it into a beautiful tapestry. They had shown her the dangers of her magicks posed to herself and her own mind, and she supposed that anyone who learned any sort of magic faced similar dangers.
Even Rhaena's control over fire was not nearly as close to the displays that Lord Harry had shown her casually. It tended to lash out, to wish to propagate, and the girl had to actively attempt to shape it every time she used it. She had assumed that it was a matter of skill, and a part of it was, but to think that the nature of magic in this world was to be chaotic… the sayings and the persecution of mages in the past could be somewhat understood, even if it were horrific. Some of the things that she had seen in the Citadel… were ones that she wished she could forget. She was glad that she had paved the way to their destruction, even if she was tempted to just take Dreamfyre and burn the entire place to ashes.
However, Lady Daphne's expression did not change as she spoke up slowly, which made her scarier for some reason: "No, husband. I'm talking about divine beings…"
"Oh, that…" the sorcerer answered while gulping somewhat nervously.
"Yes, that," his wife repeated, clearly unimpressed.
The sorcerer shrugged, though pointedly looked away, "Gods have been a fundamental part of this realm for thousands of years, and while they had far more influence than they should have over the world, depriving inhabitants of their gods completely felt… cruel. So, while closing the door, I left a window open."
"What kind of window?"
"Dreams… A way to communicate with their faithful, and maybe even affect them indirectly, if their faith is strong enough. How that happens will depend on how the world stabilises after the shift in its edict, which I made now, but something like the War in Heaven shouldn't be possible, not anymore, and if someone slipped their leash, the Old Gods should stop them, as the guardians of this realm."
Lady Daphne relaxed at that, obviously seeing the wisdom in Harry's scheme, not that Helaena understood its implications fully, "And why did you not tell me?"
The sorcerer who had fought against gods and nightmarish creatures looked to the side in embarrassment and muttered, "I forgot."
"You forgot?" his wife repeated incredulously.
"Hey, there's a lot that happened, okay? I had to make sure that the fragment of Light was fully subsumed by this realm and reinforced its edicts well enough through the Old Gods. There's also the fact that I needed to make sure that it's coupled enough with this realm to make the idea of taking it away a pyrrhic victory at best in case the Elder Dragons try something later, so I wasn't focused on divine stuff, at least as long as they didn't fight a war that would kill everyone in this realm."
The golden-haired woman snorted in amusement and shook her head, "That's fair."
Helaena looked at the married couple and smiled despite herself. It was truly nice to see them joke around, as they had in their manse so long ago, instead of the tense sense of responsibility and purpose that they held after that, both in seeking to undo the curse that plagued Lady Daphne, or to save their world from horrors that they would have inevitably faced either way.
This was likely a selfish thought, but she was happy for it all, even Lord Harry's mistake. He might have hastened things by much, but the horrors of Sothoryos, R'hllor's death and the divine war that would follow, even the Long Night, would have occurred in the future nonetheless, though perhaps hundreds, or even thousands, of years away. It might have been close, but she knew that the world was far better because of Lord Harry and Lady Daphne coming to their shores. Even personally, the civil war, her fate and that of her children, had all been averted because of them, and she couldn't help but feel glad that they had come, that they had shared these single beautiful years with her and her family.
Despite her best efforts, tears started to gather in her eyes, which brought the Potters' attention to her: "Helaena, dear, are you alright?"
The young princess did her best to wipe away the tears and tried to keep her voice steady as she answered, "I suppose that I am happy, relieved. You have saved this world from terrible threats, healed Lady Daphne's curse… You are finished, and I know what would come next: that you would leave, and that saddens me."
Lady Daphne gave her a gentle look, her blue eyes softening. "Oh, my dear, we will need to leave eventually, but given the changes to this realm, we will need to ensure that everything goes well."
She gave her husband a meaningful look, which pushed him to act, with a bright smile on his face, "Ah, yes. We'll need to see how magic stabilises across the world and that no one tries to undo what we did while things are still raw. It certainly would be a shame for us to do all of this, for it to be a waste of effort, wouldn't it? And besides, there are still so many interesting sights to see in this world, though hopefully we won't find anything hidden apocalypse or disaster, which I would like to see."
As she said this, Helaena felt a thread illuminate in her tapestry, one that she followed and saw glimpses of her, Lord Harry, and Lady Daphne, exploring some markets in the far east, walking into a dark city filled with mist, and walking around in a strange forest with dark trees. And once more, her eyes began to sting as tears started to appear, and she practically jumped into their arms, and they embraced her while rubbing her back in a way that comforted her greatly. Perhaps her fears were unfounded, for while their path would one day diverge, their threads had not yet come to an end, and she could see now that there was still time left for them to walk together.
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Of the Evolution of the Higher Mysteries Across the Known World
By Archmaester Brynden of King's Landing
For centuries, Maesters of the many Citadels of the Seven Kingdoms have spent a great amount of effort to solve the mystery of the Higher Mysteries and their sudden prevalence across the Known World. While nowadays, magic remains a great part of the world, one that we could not imagine living without, in the old days, it was quite rare and often seen as a curse of a sort.
Of course, we could not trust the accounts of magicks prior to the separation of the Citadel, for it was demonised in many texts thanks to the clear bias of the Citadel of Oldtown before its dissolution. Alas, even when looking at the use of magic after this event, magic remained a somewhat chaotic force of nature, with most of its safe use being a magic that one was born with, or natural magicks. The use of spells had not become prevalent until Baelor the Seer, who was able to create the first rudimentary spell-casting system, though it remained in a journal hidden by the royal family, its skills unused until its discovery by Daenerys Targaryen of Dorne centuries later.
Given the observations noted by one of the greatest magical geniuses in history, magic was fundamentally different in his days, and his work in giving it structure, while genius, could not compete with the systems that we discovered over the years. And so, we must accept an undeniable truth: that magic had become more structured, more friendly to its user over time, and this may shed some light on the actions of the Citadel of Oldtown when it came to magic-users, given the dangers that such abilities may pose for the inhabitants of the world.
However, with such a structure came many methods of shaping magic that evolved with the presence of magic, each one built on logic and experimentation. However, there exists a single system that is beyond our comprehension, even mine, as Archmaester of the Higher Mysteries of the great Citadel of King's Landing. In recent years, there has been the appearance of some sort of faith-based magicks, which still baffles me to this day. It was not limited to a single Faith, but it had first appeared in a Septon of the Seven Who Are One, a few decades ago, who founded the Warriors of the Seven.
Political connotations aside, with the sudden influx of faithful across the world, the magicks displayed, both as the ability to heal, to enhance their physical strength and speed, to create great barriers to protect one another, and even release destroying bursts of light, all of which are cast without any understanding of the Higher Mysteries. Even after speaking with a few of them, they claim that their gods had spoken to them through their dreams and blessed them because of their faith.
These warriors of Faith, or Paladins, have begun to spread across the world with different faiths. For one, a few sailors who worshipped the Merling King began to gain magicks related to storms and water, while those who followed older, lesser-known sky cults spoke of blessings tied to winds and so on, their powers growing in tandem with their devotion. It is a troubling development, for such power is not born of understanding, but of belief alone, and if faith may grant such abilities without study or restraint, then the future of the Higher Mysteries may lie not in knowledge, but in faith, something that would threaten the fragile balance of powers that we have built as the use of the Arcane grew since the Second Doom of Valyria.
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AN: I'm not really sure about this chapter. I wrote it in a bit of a hurry since I had a few things come up suddenly. The idea was to show a bit of how the world changed through Helaena's eyes, as well as the consequences of Harry's edicts and what he really did with them in the first place, including setting up a framework for pseudo-Paladins to appear in the future. I thought it was a neat way to get the Gods to still retain a form of influence over the world without any active interference, where any conflict between them would be pretty much them pushing their mortal worshippers to fight with each other, instead of any eldritch shenanigans.
Also, when Harry relinquished the fragment of Light into the song of the world, he made it part of the world itself. This meant that the Elder Dragons, even if they went through the protections, would need to undo the world to gain access to it, which defeats the purpose of what they wanted to do with it in the first place. Also, the Old Gods, which are now the defenders of the realm, could be strengthened by the Light if they need it against an enemy, which makes them very effective for their duty. As usual, please let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions.
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If you want to support me, check out my patréon at https://www.patréon.com/athassprkr
I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions on them, so you can read up to 20 chapters ahead as a bonus.
Thank you guys for your support in these hard times.