Chapter Text
Ayden Strong is the mirror of his mother Rhea. He has her amber eyes, brown hair, and spine of steel. At fourteen namedays he is growing from a boy into a young man. Despite his looks from his mother he also shares features with his father and half brothers. His brown hair is curly, he is tall and broad, and like all of the Strongs Harrenhal sings to him. Like all Strongs he has a scars on both of his hands. And like all Strongs his blood has been willingly shed in the godswood to help temper the darkness that was sealed into its stones decades ago with blood and old, dark magic. Ayden has his parents even tempers and devotion to the Old Gods. And Ayden will forever be known as Royce as he goes to Runestone with his mother to be his Regent after the death of her beloved elder brother Yoren.
Willa Strong is ten namedays and the apple of all her brother’s eyes. Willa wants to be a healer and follows after Alys like a little puppy. Alys who loves their mother and all of her family with a ferocity the sometimes echoes much like the rage in Harrenhal. Willa with her hazel green eyes and wild tangle of curls. Who climbs the weirwood trees and vows that she will never be a proper Andal lady. Who trains with a bow and knows most of the plants in the Riverlands and all their uses.
The twins come next. Eight namedays past are Erik and Hugo Strong. With the Strong curls and Royce amber eyes. Menaces to all who cross their paths the boys are identical but opposites in every other way aside from their devotion to their mother. Erik is Harwin’s shadow. Both are big and will grow to be giants. Erik is always in the training yard around the cousins and weapons. One day he will grow to be Breakbones come again. Hugh however is quiet unless he wishes to speak. He is always watching and reading with his nose in any tomb or manuscript he can pilfer from the Maester or the library. Hugh takes after Larys. Hugh who vows that he will always protect his family even if it is from the shadows and not on the battlefield.
And the youngest is Yorwyck who at three namedays is a terror who puts the twins to shame. Always screeching and running away from his nursemaids. Who speaks more Old Tongue than common as a way to confuse and frustrate all of those around him. Like all of the children the Old Tongue is spoken to them from the cradle. Yorwyck has just made it his mission to torture all those who annoy him, which seems to be everyone who breathes.
These children are Rhea’s blood. But Harwin, Larys, and Alys are also hers. They are her heart and soul. Her legacy and life’s greatest work. And she will do anything to protect them. For them to prosper and live. Even if it means facing off against the man who broke her sixteen years prior.