My throne was uncomfortable and cold, but I sat on it anyway. In a minute or two, my guards would lead in Jaime Lannister and his uncle, Kevan Lannister. They were both on their way to Casterly Rock and would no doubt want to rest here for the night or maybe a few days.

Kevan Lannister, although cunning and intelligent, was not as cruel as his older brother, Tywin. From what I have been told, however, he would rather follow Tywin Lannister's order than come up with his own. Those who were followers and not leaders, although they could be dangerous, were often more of a danger to themselves rather than others.

Thea, Clarice, Finlay and Magnus all entered the room and took their respectable seats. Finlay took his seat to my right and Clarice sat on my right. Next to Finlay was Magnus and Thea sat next to her older sister. The sad thing was that this is all that is left of House Ellwood, apart from our cousins that are in King's Landing.

The large, wooden doors with runes on them swung open. Four guards escorted Kevan and Jaime into our wall, which had stone walls and floors with large windows that could only be reached with a ladder and torches that sat in between the windows. Both men seemed calm and relaxed, which was stupid of them. You could almost smell the Lannister arrogance.

My siblings stayed seated as I stood up and went to greet our guests. Both men were wearing armor and they both had their swords at their sides. As I walked over to them, I watched them to check to see whether or not this was another attempt on the lives of House Ellwood.

"You must be Allister Ellwood," Jaime Lannister stated. "We did not meet when you were visiting King's Landing. This is my uncle, Kevan Lannister."

Jaime had green, piercing eyes and blonde-brown hair. He was handsome and tall, but you could see his arrogance in his eyes, but he also had a smile that cut like a knife and when I looked back at Clarice I could see that she liked the eldest Lannister.

Kevan Lannister was an older man with white hair that was slowly balding. He had wrinkles already, unlike his older brother Tywin. His grey-green eyes shone with intelligence that he rarely had to use if the rumors were true.

"Welcome to Nightwell," I said, politely. "You may stay as long as you like. However, there are rules that even those who live in the castles are expected to follow. There is a floor below the dungeons and no one is to go there. I have not been there myself. The second rule is that if you attack one of the castle inhabitants in anyway, you will answer to the justice that I see fit."

"Of course," Jaime Lannister agreed. "It's only fair that we abide by the castle rules. Do you ever want to go and see what is beneath the dungeons, my lord?"

"All the time," I replied. "However, no one has been down there for at least two hundred years."

"That is an even better reason to explore it," Kevan Lannister said.

"I am sure that you two must be tired from riding," Finlay stated, walking over. "Allister here would spend all day standing here and absent-mindedly answering your questions while thinking about life. I will be happy to show you to your chambers."

I gave Finlay a grateful look as he walked off to show our guests to their chambers. Although he had attempted to embarrass me, he was right. I would have stood there and absent-mindedly answered any questions while thinking about things.

Another thing had stuck in my mind and that was that no one had been under the dungeons in over 200 years, or so we were told. I didn't believe that at all, but when I was young, that was what we had been told and I had not questioned much then. What was in there? Why was no one allowed down there?

There was one person who could tell me what was down there and that was Maester Stevron. He had advised my father and my uncle. Maester Stevron spent a lot of time in the library, so that is where I was going to start my search.

When I walked into the library, I thankfully found him reading a large, leather-bound book. He was only a young man, in about his mid-twenties, as he had served my father just before he died. Despite his young age, Maester Stevron was actually quite wise.

"My Lord, what brings you to the library?" Maester Stevron asked me.

Even though I liked to read and think, I did not spend much time in the library, nor did I have an interest in becoming a Maester or something of the sort. It just was not what I wanted to do, even though I was unsure of what I actually wanted to do right now.

The Nightwell Library was just smaller than the one in the Red Keep, which was the biggest library in all of Westeros. It held many books and if you could use magic, you could get into the next room, which held all of our spell books. Really, that made it the biggest library in Westeros, but no one could know about the spells unless they could be trusted.

"What is on the floor under the dungeons?" I asked, getting straight to the point.

All of the colour drained from Maester Stevron's face after my question. He looked up at me in a dazed sort of shock. After a minute, he pulled himself together and took a deep breath, pulling himself out of his shock and something that now looked like fear.

I watched, intrigued and confused, as Maester Stevron went to find a certain book. He returned with a small book that looked like a journal. As if he had read it many times, Maester Stevron turned the pages until he got to the one he wanted. He read over it and then shut the book, a look of sadness glinting in his eyes.

"That is your father's journal from the year he died," Maester Stevron informed me. "He stated that if you were to ask to go down there, that I should let you. When he was still alive, he told me that you had a good heart and would survive. You have to find out what is down there for yourself, sorry."

"What does he mean by survive?" I asked, curiously.

"Your mother indirectly killed your father," Maester Stevron muttered. "She went down there, despite all of the castle staff and inhabitants telling her not to. I do not know why he died, but she admitted that she did it. No one could know, so we let her rule and re-marry your uncle. Everything will be explained, but I do so hope no one has to die this time. Take a few weapons with you. I usually do not condone any kind of violence, but I cannot tell you what you will see down there and seems like dark stuff."

***

Just in case I did not return alive, I had said my goodbyes to my siblings and Maester Stevron. As I walked down the stairs, passing the dungeons, I drew my sword Dusk. It seemed to glow as I reached the door at the bottom of the stairs.

No one alive knew what was behind this door, to my knowledge. For all I know, I could die or go crazy or get trapped down here for the rest of my life. It would all be because of one stupid mistake that was made because I was curious.

I took a deep breath, pressed my palm to the door and let it swing open. Slowly and carefully, I walked in and summoned a ball of flame. The door slammed shut and locked behind me, which made me even more nervous.

As I walked through what looked like an endless hallway, I found parts of skeletons and I could smell the overwhelming scent of rotten flesh and rotting bones. That was not the worst part. The thing that disturbed me the most was the fact that I could hear things, but I could not see them.

"Allister," a female voice whispered. "Go back while you still can. Do not come any closer. It is too much for you. Please."

The voice was my mother's, but she was dead. I had seen her lifeless body. I was the unlucky one who found her. Although, it was better that I did than the others. They were, after all, my uncle's children and not my father's.

Something jumped out at me and I panicked, so I swung my sword through it. My sword cut through a body, so when I looked down, I was prepared to feel sick. What I saw stunned me. I had cut an already dead body in half. How had it jumped at me then?

When I heard sobbing, I started to walk faster, but ended up jogging. After a few minutes of running, I could see the end of the hall, but I could also see someone on their knees. They were hunched over, but looked incredibly familiar.

I froze in my spot when I was about five metres away from the person. It was my mother, but she was dead. She was sobbing and although I wanted to help her, I could not move. Part of me, the sensible part, knew better than to move and my shock was just helping.

She looked up at me and I could see that her eyes were red and puffy from crying. Everything that I remember about my mother was the same, the way her hair fell in neat curls down her back, the way that her eyes shone like emeralds. It hurt to look at her, especially since when I had last seen her, she was dead.

"You pretended to be dead," I half-whispered, taking a few steps towards my mother. "I saw your dead, lifeless body, but it was all some kind of cruel, twisted joke. Now you stand in front of me and have the audacity to cry. This is not right, Mother."

"I am dead, Allister," Mother insisted. "I did a bad thing and now I am stuck down here until another soul can take my place. You can no longer leave, Allister. I told you to go back! You are so stupid and foolish that your curiosity drove you forward and you let it!"

Although I had loved my mother, the way she was screaming at me right now brought back memories of when I was young. She was always screaming at me. Not Finlay or Thea or Clarice or Magnus. Just me. Always me.

"Curiosity killed the cat but satisfaction brought it back," I replied, coldly.

Mother looked at me, furiously. She tried to slap me, but instead I went flying and slammed against the wall. When I turned around, to get back up, her eyes were blazing with fury. I pushed myself to my feet, brushed off the dust and picked up my sword again, then sheathed it.

Now the bitch was not weeping. Growing up with her as my only actual parent was torture. I was never listened to and if I were to kill myself, she would not have cared. The worst part was that she had raised my siblings to hate me too.

"Allister, do you know why I am here?" Mother asked me.

"You killed my father," I said, maintaining the coldness in my voice. "For that, you are being punished."

"You always were so foolish. I am here because of the way I killed your father. There was a man down here and he was like me. He had fallen for the trap that many had fallen for before. You have a decision to make within a minute and it will not be an easy one."

"What is it? I am sure I know what I am doing."

"I was offered to choose between the lives of your uncle and your father. As I was married to your father, duty called me to choose him, but love drove me to save your uncle. You know who I chose and who I let die. Now it is your turn."

Mother shut her eyes and a wind blew through the hallway, which was impossible. It seemed to carry a voice that was whispering. Clearly it was, as Mother seemed to be hearing something other than the wind.

"Your choice is going to be a difficult one for you. You can choose either Hunter Baratheon or Valyria Stark. Your minute has begun."

Two strange images appeared in front of me. One was showing me Hunter and the other was showing me Valyria Stark. Hunter was walking in the Red Keep and Valyria was in her room, packing. They both started to paw at their throats, as if someone was strangling them.

"Stop! Do not hurt them!"

"Choose."

I could not choose. Although I knew them both, I was closer with Hunter. However, Valyria Stark had a little sister that looked up to her and a twin brother who relied on her, as well as a lover. Choosing either one would mean someone would die and my soul would be stuck down here when I passed.

No, I would not choose. There must be another way. Everything has a loophole if you are smart enough to find it. There was always a way out. There had to be. Two innocent people, both who are clearly the people spoken of in the prophecy, could not die because of me.

"Ten, nine, eight."

Their faces were turning blue and they were starting to weaken. Hunter was reaching for his dagger, but an invisible force was stopping him. Valyria's direwolves were jumping for her, but kept hitting some invisible barrier.

"If you do not choose, they will both die. Four, three, two..."

What if I chose to have myself killed? I would die, but save two innocent people because I would never choose. Valyria and Hunter understood me. I could never betray them and I could never get them killed. Maybe they would not do the same thing for me, but that did not matter.

"Take me! Please, save them both and take me! It is me that you want anyway!"

Mother and the images both rippled, then disappeared. I started to shake, afraid that I had killed both Hunter and Valyria. Although, if I had of, then I probably would have been shown it. That would be one part of my punishment.

Another wind, this time chilling, rushed through the hallway. In front of me, an old man appeared. His eyes shone with madness and anger and he had a long beard that almost touched the floor. When he grinned, you could see that he had a full set of pearly white, razor-sharp teeth.

"You beat me!" He hissed. "Someone beat me!" The man started to laugh and cheer. "Go home, young warrior. You have broken the curse and have freed thousands of souls! You are truly one of the four from the prophecy. Please, go while you still can. I cannot keep the door open for much longer. Run!"

The man frightened me, so I jumped back and started running as fast as I could...

***

As I sat in my chambers, thinking, there was a knock on my door. Finlay called me for dinner, then just walked off. However, I was not hungry and I am so tired from today's events. I wish to just think about what happened today and to get all of my thoughts and feelings out of my head.

I still remember walking into the Great Hall and finding my mother hanging from one of the chandeliers. She was still choking. She still had a minute of life left, but I did not help her. Even if I tried, I would not have been fast enough. At least, that's what I tell myself.

When my uncle found out that she was dead, he blamed me. He kicked me and punched me and was about to kill me if one of the guards had not stopped him. Finlay just watched and laughed as the life was being beat out of me. It was horrible.

Tywin Lannister heard what happened and offered to take me in, but I wanted my title and I was afraid that it would be given to Finlay instead. He had always been told that he was better-suited for ruling than me, but I was wiser. I was wiser and kinder and that is what House Ellwood needs, but that is just another lie that I tell myself and I know it.

We had found my mother's suicide letter. She said that I was so much of a monster that she could not deal with it anymore and was going to kill herself. I cried when the note was found, but not out of grief for my dead mother, but because the blame had been put on me for no reason. Again.

For most of my life I have been trying to hide my feelings and have succeeded. It is truly amazing what storms your face can hide, what terrible wrecks and writhe and heave beneath, without one ripple on the surface.

Although I hid it, I just kept trying to make it go away, but how do you kill a feelings? Every man has his secret sorrows that the world knows not; and often times we call a man cold when he is only sad, I suppose.

That was when I got angry and threw a book across my room. I do not know why I suddenly became so angry, but I did and it was done. Nothing could take back my anger.

Everything was so fucking stupid! I was always the one to blame! Oh, look, there is a storm outside, it must be Allister's fault!

I just wanted to be loved or cared or appreciated! Instead I get treated like I am the lowest scum in the world! Once, just once, I wanted someone to tell me that they cared for me or appreciated the fact that I was keeping them alive! Some kind of love! Any kind of love!

All of my life, I have been screamed at, beaten and abused, but what if I deserved it? What if I deserved the punishment because I am a terrible person? It's all my fault and deep down... I know it.

As I sunk to the floor and started to cry, I told myself that I am being stupid. Someone out there needs me and if I really am one of the four from the prophecy, I can do better than this. I am still Lord Ellwood of Nightwell and that was something. I was at the top now and everyone else was nothing to me or six-feet-under...

___________________________________________________________

Hey guys,

So, that was an Allister chapter and next will be in Hunter's P.O.V and will go from after Valyria's ship sailed away. I enjoyed coming up with and writing a real backstory for Hunter. It kind of explains why he's so quiet and distant and why he's so determined to do the right thing and be kind.

Anyway, let's keep this short so I can start writing some more or so I can sleep. 

Have a good week guys :)