R'hllor, the Lord of Light. My father was a fanatic, it's true, but my family have worshiped and served the lord of light since we came over from Valyria. If there is one truth in this world it's that fire is one of the strongest forces we know. I may not believe as my father believed but I know that there's something in the flames and something in the dark that watches us when we think no one is looking.
Most people would find my tastes odd as I do not care for the fancy foods that most Lords and Ladies eat. My favorite food is actually roasted snake. This comes from a time when I was thirteen years old and starving. As I tried to hunt other small game creatures in the desert, a snake lashed out from behind a rock. I was able to kill it and feed myself and another boy from the company that night. It was enough to keep us alive long enough to get to the next town.
I was born in the year Thirty-six years prior to Gregory of house Daerys, second of his name, and Lalandra of Royce. I was not the first born son as some might expect. I was not even the second born son. I was the sixth child to be born to my family as the third born son. I was also the last child that my mother would ever bear.
When I was four years old, my older sister Charlotta caught grayscale. I was told that the Maesters had been unable to cure her affliction as it had been reported too late. I was young when she was locked up in a small, dark room but I can still remember the way that her cries echoed through the keep. I can even remember the way her screams woke us through the nights as she quickly was driven to insanity from the ailment. At least that's what I thought growing up. What I found out years later was worse. It wasn't until long after she was gone that notes on the subject were found in my father's hand. To grasp the severity of what happened you must understand that my father had thought of himself as some sort of religious healer and prophet. He was also looking in to the fire - that's my only decent childhood memories of the man. He had taken to trying to treat Charlotta by himself and his treatments were not pleasant. He pealed chunks of flesh from her skin, cutting into her as though at a butchers. Afterwards he would burn the sections of flesh that had been revealed which left her in agony. Her crying and screams were pushed off as part of the affliction but it was really the way that my father treated her. At the time I thought nothing of how quickly she died from the so called 'madness' that overtook her when in reality she died from wounds that were inflicted upon her from our father in his religious tirade.
It was this tirade which led him to sending me and my other sister, Diana, away from the family when I was just six years old. I was told that she went to study with the fire priestesses on a far away land while I was sent off into another form of servitude. In reality, my father had traded off two of his children in order to have some of his debts forgiven. I very much doubt that he ever intended for either of us to live and return, or at least it was never something he expected. Where my sister was taught to heal, or so I supposed, I was taught to kill. From the time I landed on the strange shore I was wiped into the shape of a great fighter. I was beat and trained; I was shoved into one fight after another with many other boys just like me. As I survived I learned how to handle myself in battle more and more. I quickly rose through the ranks until I became one of their best soldier at the time. Unfortunately, all conquests must end.
The militaristic empire that had been build collapsed when I was fifteen. I was left to sell my skills with a sword for a year until I could earn enough money to make it back to the Eyrie. Shortly after my sixteenth name day I returned home to find a shadow of the woman I remember as my mother, that my two brother's had died, and that my only other sister who was not traded off to some religious cult had been traded off in marriage. When I returned my father seemed to be somehow both ecstatic and furious at the same time. In returning home, I became not only the heir over night that his flames said he would have, but I had become something to be jealous over. My father tested me again and again for a month straight to see if I would fall under anyone's sword. I did not.
This ability to survive his onslaught seemed to make me worthy in his eyes at least. He brought in a few woman to be my bride. Unfortunately this also seemed to spur some of his worst qualities. One week after they arrived, my father had finally gone too far with my mother. In one of his attempts to teach her to be strong and to endure the pain of burning, she was boiled alive in one of our springs. I suspect it was because he wanted to re-marry one of the young woman he had brought for my choosing. His eyes had turned to Galiana and the others at that point. I did not know much of how this part of the world worked but I knew what he had planned was not something that should be done. I challenged him to single combat. He died by my sword the same as any other man despite his assurance that the flames would protect him. This, along with tales of what I endured in the far off land, is what gave me the title of Bloodstained.
My marriage to Galiana followed so fast that I barely even remember washing the blood off my hands. Despite being inexperienced at just over sixteen years of age I consummated our marriage. Since then I have gained more family. Galiana gave birth to our first son before I turned seventeen. Once he was safely delivered, I gifted her with her own bedchamber with the finest door and lock that could be had. It would be her right to decide if she wanted to be in my bed at night or not. At seventeen and fifteen respectfully, neither of us really knew how to raise children. As we were so young, we trusted in the advice of others and relied heavily on servants. I picked back up learning the history of the lands and the families along with keeping up my skills with a sword as another year passed. Galiana and I continued to leave moderately separated lives while she learned to be a mother and I learned how to be a Lord.
After a short peaceful time, Galiana quickly swelled with yet another child. This child was born with white hair. It was not my child though she proclaimed that it was. She looked nothing like anyone in my family, nor as far as I could tell, anyone in hers at the time either. To this day, in respect for my wife, I have not publicly denounce the child so that Elinvynia caries my family name. She continued to insist that she was faithful; I have let the subject die down and have not brought it up in years. Only a short passed until Galiana gave birth once more. It was another boy. This time not only had I been more active in monitoring Galiana and becoming part of her daily (not just nightly) life, the child looked like the father that stared back at me from the family portraits.
I suppose the realities that I was a true father finally started to sink in when I saw him. I had known, logically, that I was supposed to have been one but as the first few children had come while I was so young that it hadn't quite sunk in. The point was quickly driven in when Galiana gave birth a year later to my first daughter. I finally started to take up more time with my three children, taking part in their lessons.
Life continued on peacefully as I settled in how to not only be a Lord but a father as well. I continued to train, of course because it was all I felt that I was truly good at, but I only raised my sword in defense of my family and never for someone else's profit. I also learned that I had gained a weak point in what would normally be considered flawless form. The weakness came in the form of my family, specifically in my wife. What truly frightened me was how attached I had gotten to Galiana. When she had a difficult labor with our youngest child we had a very serious conversation about our proclivities. After trying to abstain from the bedchamber we discovered that was not the easiest of tasks. Neither of us enjoyed the time. So instead it was decided that our maester would just give her regular doses of Moon Tea and if she did manage to get pregnant regardless of that, we hoped that the next birth would be easier. Thankfully to this day she has not gotten pregnant again.
The war with Dorne, or those in charge of the region, rose up five years ago. At first I abstained from it as it seemed that the other kingdoms would be able to take care of the problem. As three years went by and it still was not done I took a look at all the casualties that had been suffered. At that point I called the banner houses as well as the troops that I had personally trained and rose to war. We spent a year and a half defeating the Dornish forces. In the past month the crown has risen another house from the area to prominence and we have started the return trip home. Unfortunately it has been decided that all the noble families will make camp together and send most of our troops home. Something to help reestablish the peace, I suppose. It will no doubt help the Crown reevaluate the loyalties of those under their command.
I underwent a strenuous, inhumane form of training when my father sold me off. I had to train my strength, reactivity, dexterity, constitution, pain tolerance, and battle instincts or I would be killed. Out of the original thousands of boys who were recruited, I was among the one hundred to survive until all of the leaders all died off. Since then I have continued practicing and training my body because it was all I knew how to do well. Currently I hold the title in Westeros as the paramount swordsman.
When I was a child I was thrown into a situation where I either stubbornly clung to life or I died. My will power and determination helped me survive the company that I'd been sold to. It is also one of the main reasons why I was able to continue my physical training and swordsman ship despite the temptations that faced me upon my return.
As a Great Lord, I have gained a Status that most respect. I may not be the richest or the most influential in politics but I have been known to produce some of the finest men in my guard. When I arrived back at Westeros, my skills with battle strategy had been tried and tested since I was twelve years old. During that age I rose through the ranks of the company that I was bound to in order to command the recruits under me. I know how to move men around to their best effect but my best traits still lay in my own physical skills.
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