Of Atonement and Paradoxes

A/N: Before we begin, I have three important announcements to make:

1. I am going to be extra busy this week. So, I decided to break down the major points of my outlines for the next few, initially, long chapters and divide them into shorter versions than what I originally had in mind. Apologies if the shorter length leaves you impatient but this way, I should be able to at least update every other day instead of maybe just managing to post the next chapter on the coming weekend. So, if all goes well, I think it will be worth it.

2. It pleases me to announce that, after spending a lot of time and several thousands of words improving my outlines and future plans, I will be posting a spin-off story for this tale in the near future, specifically, in a related but separate branch to my Game of Thrones thread. Long story short, think of it as a World of Ice and Fire-esque companion tale that will mainly cover my new fanon version for the origins of the gods we will eventually see in the story and my take on how life on Planetos began in this alternate reality. In a way, it's a fun thought exercise of mine where I took most of the religions from this world that would be relevant to my future plans in some way, be it because of the deities involved or because of the societies their religious adherents come from, and base part of their orgins on the far more detailed and intricate lore from the World of Warcraft franchise, all the while mixing it with pre-established lore from the A Song of Ice and Fire books and from the show. Technically, you won't actually need to read the companion tale I am planning to do because I intend to be as self explanatory as organically possible when we get to their involvement but much of the additional context will be added there, so it would explain quite a bit when the time comes if you had been checking out that spin-off as well. Plus, I will aim to make it fascinating. Right now, the workable title is A Mythology of Ice and Fire but that may change before I post it

3. For those of you that want me to write some additional smut for the story sometime soon, I hear you. Just need to take care of a few things first but we will get there sooner than I originally had in mind now that I found a way to incorporate another idea into my outlines during a slot of my timeline that works well enough. More on that later.

Well then, as always read, enjoy, and review!

When Sansa Stark entered the Great Hall along with her highborn companions, the first thing she noticed was how silent the room got they arrived. Lord Rodrick seemed to have been discussing something important with his veteran Master-at-Arms, Ser Royland Degore, along with Rodrick's little sister, Talia Forrester, but the second their heads turned to look at Gwyn Whitehill, they froze and started to stare.

The Lady of Winterfell on exile had gotten better at reading people ever since she became a prisoner in all but name on King's Landing years earlier and, based on what she could gather, she suspected the Lord of Ironrath's instinctive reaction was similar to the one she got when first learning the identity of their new guest; one of distaste, forged by old grievances. However, he ended up taking a deep breath and moved forward to greet them, his sister and loyal guard walking beside him as he did so.

"Gwyn," Rodrik said with a polite nod. "It has been a long time."

The blonde woman sighed. "That it has. About a year now since my efforts to end the war between our Houses with my betrothal to Asher ended in that siege. I am so sorry Rodrick. I swear, I really did try my best to prevent my father from escalating things."

"It clearly wasn't enough," Ser Royland said, gruffly.

The Whitehill woman closed her eyes for a moment, her expression remorseful. "I know. House Forrester and the people of Ironrath have suffered immensely at my family's hands since the Red Wedding. Gregor's **** at the Twins, Lord Ethan's senseless **** by Ramsay Bolton at my father's prompting, the mistreatment of your people under my brother Gryff's short-lived occupation, the flaying of your brother-in-law, Arthur...I wanted the bloodshed to end so I gambled on a peaceful resolution but I lost. And my father stopped listening to me after that, which is why I was unable to do anything about the siege."

She opened her eyes again and swallowed hard, visibly shaken. Then, she undoubtedly caught the undivided attention of everyone present when she got down on her knees and looked at Lord Rodrik straight in the eye from her position.

"I know my family doesn't deserve your forgiveness, so I won't ask for it," She continued, her lower lip quivering. "But I want you to know, I truly am sorry."

The room was permeated by a cloud of absolute silence for a long moment, during which Sansa noticed that Asher seemed beyond tense, as if trying to decide whether to say something or not. But the ruler of Ironrath was unlikely to have noticed since he only had eyes for Gwyn. Eventually, he decided to get down to one knee himself, presumably so that he could speak with her at eye-level.

"I won't pretend that, even with the birth of my firstborn son, this hasn't been the worst year of my life," He declared. "However, I also can't deny that the one most directly to blame for all our latest woes has already paid for it with his head. And you are right, Gwyn, you did try your hardest to stop this war from escalating, which is more than I can say from Lord Glover; who stayed at Deepwood Motte and refused to intervene in the war between the Houses sworn to him."

Then he sighed and told his sister Talia to go fetch them some bread, presumably to invoke the guest rights. "I always did have a soft spot for you, which is why I didn't object when you said you wanted to marry my brother, as I still thought that the betrothal might work to our favor back then. That said, after everything my bannermen had have to endure under the siege, from hunger and disease to occasional skirmishes and sheer terror, I suggest you don't wander around during your stay at Ironrath. I can't guarantee some of them won't take a look at another Whitehill in our midst and try to kill you in their grief. But for now, know that I appreciate your apology."

At that, the youngest Forrester in the room returned with the requested food and offered them to Gwyn with a sad smile. The blonde inhaled sharply and then took a bite to complete the ceremonial exchange.

"Thank you," She said in a small voice.

Rodrik offered her his hand and she took it as they got back on their feet. Sansa took a moment to tilt her head in Asher's direction and could plainly read the expression of relief he had on his face.

"Hmm," Sansa thought as she had been pondering what she had learned from these last interactions and the inherent sincerity from all the parties involved. "It seems Asher was not exactly against the idea of marrying her as well. Interesting. I am going to have to ask for more details later."

Suddenly, one of the guards that had escorted them cleared his throat rather loudly. "Forgive me, my Lords, I understand you have much to say to each other now that she is here but I really must stress that you listen to the servant that worked at Castle Cerwyn. The message is most important."

Suddenly, everyone looked at the short, black-haired man, who had remained silent the entire way until then. He hurriedly bowed to the Lord of Ironrath when he turned to address the scarred survivor.

"Very well then," Rodrik said. "May, I ask who are you and what message do you have for us?"

The young man took a deep breath. " My name is Gaven, my Lord. I am...was, a stableboy working for House Cerwyn. That is how I had access to a fresh and fast horse when I decided to make the journey to Ironrath."

Then he turned to look at the Lady of Winterfell in exile and swallowed. "I am afraid Lord Cerwyn has agreed to support Ramsay Bolton in his campaign against you."

Iron Bank's Headquarters: Free City of Braavos

Jon Stark looked outside the window from Tycho Nestoris' room within the Iron Bank, waiting for his return as he contemplated whether or not to implement his craziest idea yet.

He scratched his chin as he narrowed his eyes almost imperceptibly. The high ranking official had told him that the crown owed the Iron Bank over 23 million golden dragons. That was a tremendously heavy chain around the neck of the Lannisters, especially now that he had learned that their gold mines had run out. So, between breaking the North and the Riverlands away from their government and establishing alliances with the Vale and the Reach, with even the potential that those negotiations culminate in their domains joining his kingdom, there was a high chance the Lannister regime could collapse before long under its own weight. And that wasn't even counting their growing conflict with the Faith Militant or his plans to conquer the Iron Islands as soon as he could prepare his campaign, thereby potentially snatching another kingdom from them.

And yet...he couldn't let go of his seemingly counter-intuitive idea: to refill the Lannister gold mines.

The young king's eyes grew unfocused as he looked outside the window, concentrating more on his thoughts more than the sight before him. It sounded mad at first glance, true. They had killed his father, plunged the continent into a bloody war, allied with the Freys to **** his brother, backed the usurpers living in his ancestral home, and were likely responsible for more atrocities, directly or indirectly, than he would ever really know.

But then, Jon looked at the potential benefits of such a wish and it made him feel conflicted. For one, he couldn't stop thinking about what Tycho had said about how likely it may be that the pieces could fall in such a way that he may very well end up in the Iron Throne before long, or at least, inheriting the mantel of the Seven Kingdoms for all intents and purposes. He didn't particularly like that idea but he also realized that it would be the best way to unify Westeros against the Army of the Dead. Maybe even beyond too, now that Braavos would become his ally after their treaty is signed.

And that made the idea something he couldn't ignore. His ideal goal of not only saving humanity from the Night King's forces but helping reforge their bonds of brotherhood through their common enemy would become abundantly easier if he could claim all the lands south of the Wall.

However, there would be complications aside from the obvious military concerns. And one of the most significant ones would be that, the debt to the Iron Bank that he would inherit if he succeeded in being crowned king of the Seven Kingdoms would actually be over twice as high as the amount of money they would be initially giving him. After all, they were quite clear that even if the final sum would be 50 million golden dragons, they would start with a 10 million offer. That meant that if he took the Iron Throne too early, he wouldn't be able to take advantage of his tremendous financial aid to truly improve things for his subjects.

"But," The secret god said slowly, "if the current holders of the debt would suddenly discover an abundance of gold inside their territories that they would have apparently missed, they would be able to reduce the debt considerably in the months to come," He realized."I would just need to conquer the Westerlands and King's Landing last so that they can have the time to mine the precious metal."

He also realized that this would have the effect of revitalizing the Lannister army, which would no doubt bring them into an open war with the Faith Militant. And, from a pragmatic point of view, that would be more convenient than not for the young king because he suspected that army of zealots would become a major problem for his people due to their predominant worship of the Old Gods, if the fanatics in charge were to grow too much in power. And that was to say nothing of how they would react to his plans for incestuous, polygamous marriages.

"Yes..." Jon sighed, his tone resigned. "My rule would be far more stable if those two forces weaken each other in battle by the time I am ready to take over the capital."

And there was one last factor. He realized it was a bit vindictive of him but, to be honest with himself, he did not want House Lannister to fall with a whimper if he had no part in it now that he was king. He wanted to oversee the efforts to bring them to justice and for that, he needed them to be alive by the time he was ready to act. Besides, it would be far more impressive if he managed to lead his forces to victory over a renovated Lannister host, rather than a far more broken foe. Now that would be a major victory for his regime, and for the singers to retell as the morale among my troops and the confidence in his rule rose.

So, with all of that in mind, Jon made his decision before he could change his mind.

Taking a deep breath he took some time to formulate the precise wording on his head. By the time he was done, he knew that a small but not insignificant earthquake had broken the lower levels of Casterly Rock and seemingly bring forth many tons of gold of previously undetected gold from deep underground, while making sure there were no lives lost by the effects of the tremor. And much further north, Sansa's enchanted necklace suddenly gained an additional effect: the ability to detect when other people in her immediate vicinity had the capacity to use magic, this time interpreted by a momentary ice-cold shift in the temperature.

"All right," The young king muttered to himself as he exhaled. "It's done. I really hope this long term investment pays off."

As if on cue, Jon turned back when he heard the sound of the door opening again and saw Tycho Nestoris returning with a woman he could only assume was the high priestess he had been hearing so much about.

Jon raised an eyebrow. She seemed older than him but she still appeared somewhat younger than he would have expected for someone in the role of High Priestess of a religion. Then again, he hasn't heard much at all from her faith so who is he to talk?

The woman was carrying a scroll in her hands and while it seemed to have been cleaned up recently, it was clearly a very old parchment. She gazed at him with eyes that shone with hope before bowing deeply.

"King Jon, my name is Shallan Ravad, High Priestess of the Temple of the Moonsingers in Braavos," She told him. "And I believe you are the candidate that one of our old prophecies referred to when one of my distant predecessors was struck by a very detailed vision...back in the mines of Old Valyria, in the days before the Doom."

A/N: Hoped you liked it. If you have any questions about my announcements or the chapter itself, feel free to leave a comment and I will reply as soon as I can. Until next time!