Hanna Arryn

The City of Berne had originally been the idea of James Lovie and he had begun contracts with the Dwarves of the Kingdom of Karak Izor to assist in its construction, but following his death this project would become a source of obsession for Jame's son the new king James Lovie II. of whom saw Berne as another site for the people of Lucerne to retreat into after the Orcs had taken control of the Valley. As the Valley of Lucerne burned with the fires of James Lovie II's madness it was the city of Berne that continued to move along in its construction, and this only would become derailed when William Lovie III's Takeover of Lucerne led to Sean Lovie arriving in Berne with a group of Circle of Magi led by Kieth Schwartz.

As the leader of the True Sons of Lucerne Sean went about furthering the control of himself over the people of Berne. It didn't matter to him that they believed him King, and this alone would have made him untouchable, he just secretly wanted the violence. He cared nothing about the actual war, or winning it. He simply wanted to destory the world that he felt had ruined him.With Sean's arrival in the city, Berne was no longer under the control of House Arryn but was now under the control of the newly created goverment of Sean Lovie self-entitled the True Sons of Lucerne. The rule of the True Sons of Lucerne was pure madness, and the peaceful and growth oreanted nature of House Arryn was replaced by a madness enduced chaotic nature which led to violence in the streets. Murderers all around. Sean Lovie is said to have exectuted a person a day towards the later days of his reign in Berne, and if murder was all he did then that was one thing but he in fact made a sport of trying new things and his raping, and sexual deviancy became out of control while in Berne.

Murder of Allison Arryn

As the assembled nobles and Ezio watched as Sean Lovie stabbed Allison Arryn over and over again the silence of the room was broken by the sceams of Ella Arryn of whom walked into the room as Sean stood there defiling her body. Ella Arryn attempted to run to the girl that had become her daughter when she was stopped by several of the gaurds in the room, and upon hearing the commotion Sean got up from her body and walked over to the distraught Ella Arryn of whom was searching the room for anyone who might help. As Sean walked over to her Byron Arryn stood completely frozen, and when his vassal in Benjamin Krinner whispered to him that this was the time to intervene, Byron thought for a moment before seeing the body of Allison and becoming frightened. Instead of telling Benjamin Krinner that yes they should intervene he just allowed Sean Lovie to walk over to his wife with a dagger covered in the blood of his niece. By this point Ella Arryn was screaming uncontrollably, and Sean's loyalists led by Aiden Nighting II., and Eldon Estermont II. would begin to flood into the room from outside to assist. Sean walked up to her and pushed her to the ground before he stabbed her in the arm with the dagger. Standing over her body there was shock and screaming in the room as the Stormcrow gaurds that he had brought in would go about rounding these panicked nobles up and getting them out of the room.

Sean Lovie then stood back up, and still covered in blood walked himself over to his throne, and gestered at the girl before to continue what she was doing. He just remained staring at the dead body of Allison Arryn with a look that many in the room saw as some sort of regret. If he realized the extent of what he had done in that moment is unknown, but as Ezio was ushered out of the room he pushed the girl aside and walked into a backroom followed by several of his loyalists. Ezio walking into the next room found himself walking into the middle of a commotion as Byron Arryn was being held to the ground by Trailen Dorin while his son and nearly a half a dozen House Dorin and vassal men surrounded the panicked gaurdsmen of the Lord. Ezio watched on as Trailen Dorin accused him of treason, and made sure that Byron understood his rule was at an end, and Byron in this pathetic form would begin to weep causing Trailen to punch him in the face before walking away with his men,

Look at the world father. You were born into this land, and you have told me hundreds upon hundreds of times how much you used to love it. Look at everything you have done to it. You destroyed a city for no reason, killed hundreds of good men out of fear. Is this how you want to be remembered father. Is this the world you want to leave behind? I know you were a good person once. I have all the evidence laid out in front of me as to why you are the villain of this world, but I don't fully believe it. Don't end it all here, and be remembered as a monster..

I watched the doors open and close for more time then I would like to admit, but when faced with the choice of that or watching Sean being serviced by that poor girl I had little real options. He just sat there with little emotions on his face, but everyonce in a while I would see a flash of hate as he scanned the room and must have saw someone he hated. Man after man entered the room as they brought their grievences to their "king". I had seen bad king before. I had seen evil kings before. I had seen more kings then most had, and seeing Sean Lovie listening to his people's desires while the poor girl serviced him sexually was the most disturbing moment of any of my experiences with kings. A man entered the room with his young wife on his arm, and followed by who must have been their two children. The man and his family bowed before their king and prepared to get the kings justice on whatever matter pained them. "Your Grace I come to you pleading for food for my family. We have not eaten with any real substance for days and I fear my youngest is not long for this world without assistence." The man wept as he spoke, and his wife comforted the little boy clinging to her leg. I wanted to reach out to them. I wanted to give them some of the food that he wasted every night on his parties, but I knew this wasn't within my grasp. Without showing any signs of noticing the family they remained bowed for nearly a minute in silence until one of the Stormcrow men beside Sean stepped forward and spoke. "Your grace wishes you nothing but the best of the food but there is nothing to spare. The false king of the east has blockaded us, and you shall have to find what food you can on..." Sean's interuption was shocking as this was one of the first times he had spoken during the hours we had been doing this. "I have some advice for you. You smallfolk should travel outside the main gates and be killed." "Your Gace?" "Did I stutter?" The man remained with his mouth open clearly unable to speak from shock. "Perhaps you do not love your king and laugh at my stuttering. Do you laugh at me?" "No your grace, but..." "But what? You are a smallfolk, and barely capable of the coversation that you have shown today. Your problems are the problems of a leaf flying in the wind. Go now and die, for that is all you smallfolk are good for." A few Stormblown men moved in and grabbed the family tearing them apart from eachother and took them out of the room where it seemed obvious they were going to be executed outside the gates in Sean's horrible excesses.  In that moment I moved my hand to my side, and feeling under the cloak I felt the dagger I had safely hidden there. Looking around I saw the dishonorable Daesyn of Harad nearbye and I knew I could stab him and take his sword. With a sword I could butcher every Stormblown in this room until I finally reached the real false king and ended this madness. As I seriously considered ending all this I heard a commotion at the door and watched it slowly open revealing Allison Arryn. I watched as Allison entered the room with a skip to her step. Her smile was always one that I knew she had manufactured in her mind, but today as she entered I noticed a genuine nature to her eyes. As she approached the mad prince he barely even moved his eyes from the poor women that was on her knees pleasing him, and I saw the sadness momentarily come to her eyes as some piece of her must have realized how wrong this was. In that moment I came back to thinking about killing Sean. Looking around at the four men that had entered alongside Allison I have no doubt I would be able to still easily kill them all if I was able to still reach Daesyn's neck. The room had maybe four people beyond the Stormblown that would defend him and I could have killed them with ease. Perhaps it was cowerdess. Perhaps it was something elce entirely, but before I could further examine the situation she blurted out to Sean who was still being assisted by the poor women I might add. "Your Grace I have finally honored you with a child." The moment she said it he looked up from the girl, who stopped immediately servicing him. As she waited with that extatic look on her face the entire room went silent. Everyone stopped what they were doing which seemingly most importantly to Sean was the women that had been at his knees. Perhaps it was that she had stopped that caused the rage. Maybe it was the fact that deep down he understood that he shouldn't father anything. Whatever it was he simply got up walked over to Allison who still had a look of pure happiness and pushed her to the ground before taking out his knife and stabbing her repeatadly in the stomach. He kept stabbing her and she screamed in a terrible blood curdling scream that seemed to shake the foundations of the room in its terrror. Stabbing her over and over again the Stormblown would move quickly as commotion begin with Dailin Dorin storming towards the scene but being grabbed and taken out of the room by the Stormblown, his son followed closely behind and I watched how his hand moved closer and closer to his sword before they disapeared outside the doors. As I went for my own dagger some Stormblown fool crashed into me from behind and I mentally slapped myself for being so foolish as to be caught unaware. Knocked to the ground the man kneeled on top of me for a moment and told me to remain calm. As I looked up I could see Sean still stabbing poor Allison and I wanted to pull myself free, but felt helpless in my sadness. The man grabbed me by my shoulders and as he picked me up I shook from a new screaming voice, and looking over I saw Ella Arryn who had barged her way into the room. Screaming at the top of her lungs she ran towards the bloody mess that was once her beloved Allison Arryn and as she tried to reach her she was grabbed by Daesyn of whom held her watching as Sean defiled Allison's corpse. I wanted to throw up. I wanted it to stop. I had seen horror before. I have killed hundreds if not more in my lifetime, and yet this all just seemed to much. I looked over and noticed for the first time that Lord Byron Arryn was still in the room. Being whispered to by a very irate Benjamin Krinner he stood pathetically still as his wife screamed at Sean. The fear all over Byron's face was a shocking thing to behold, as he was the most powerful man in this city outside of Sean, and yet he did nothing with that power. A disrespected figure in this city was Byron before, but after this display it was clear that if anyone survived they would not disrespect him, they would hate him. Then to my right a door slammed open and stepped through were two stormblown men by the color of their armor. I recegnized the one man as Godfrey Toelis, but the other man was unknown to me. Seeing the scene in front of them the one man went to his sword, but before he could pull the sword from his scabbard without a word Godfrey knocked him in the back of the head causing him to fall to the ground. Godfrey roared for his men to put the other man in a cell, and without a word two Stormblown grabbed the man and rushed him out of the room. I continued to watch the man as the Stormblown holding my shoulders somewhat relented watching the show Godfrey was making. "What have you done Sean!" I turned towards Sean seeing that he was still stabbing his knife into the belly of Allison of which by this point was more of a hole then it was an actually belly, but at the roar of Godfrey he stopped and begin walking towards Godfrey completely covered in blood, but followed closely behind by two of his lackeys in Eldon Estermont II., and Aiden Nighting II. of whom formed a protective guard on both his sides. "I have done whatever the fuck I want to you bastard." Without warning Sean ran full sprint towards Godfrey crashing into him full speed and knocking the sword out of Godfrey's hand. Before Godfrey could pull out another weapon Sean stabbed him through the neck killing the man and then standing up and shaking himself off like he had something on him he wanted off. "Does anyone else have anything to fucking say to me." Sean picked up Godfrey's sword and begin waving it around his head screaming. His screams in this moment were interrupted by Ella of whom broke free from Daesyn and went to Allison's body with cradling her broken niece in her arms screaming out in pain. Daesyn attempted to get her back but was restrained by the Stormblown men of whom knocked him to the ground holding him there. As if not noticing her screaming he begin slashing away at Godfrey with the sword, and it said something terrible about the situation that outside of Ella's sobbing the room was utterly silent. Finally Sean must have grown tired of this and stood up covered in the blood of Godfrey, and Allison and stepped towards Ella. Benjamin Krinner kept speaking to Lord Byron and by this point I had been moved close enough to hear what he was saying. He begged his Lord commander to do something. Told him of his men, and their ability to stop this madness. As he begged him there was nothing back. He stood waiting for his Lord to say something but instead of that Byron just stood there. Hating him in that moment I looked back over to Sean and Ella and saw Sean still staring at her as she screamed and yelled at him. Staring at her for a moment longer he stabbed her in the arm without any warning. "That's the same dagger I just killed her with. You see I've given you a piece of her. Who else in this entire world would be so giving that they would be able to give you the gift that I just gave you." She started screaming again, and it only stopped when he slapped her across the face. "Now your going to get up, and leave this room. Your going to leave this room, and hang yourself. Your going to hang yourself outside the doors of your room, and your going to make sure that no one moves you. Your eyes question me why you would do something like this? Well Ella Arryn your going to do this because I'm going to give you one last gift. I'm going to stop ignoring the fact that my brother's heir is in the hands of that half noble niece of yours. I'm going to rip that baby from her arms and I'm going to bash it apart with a rock. When I'm done with that I'm going to kill Hanna. I'm going to kill Spencer. I'm going to kill them All. I will give them the peace that you want for them. I do it all for you. I'm a very generous King."

Death of Ella Arryn

With those last words Trailen gently rested her down on the ground, and she slowly bled out. Before she finally succumbed she asked to speak to Hanna Arryn of whom walked to her, and in this moment everyone assembled expected her to apologize or to atleast see some of the errors of her ways, but instead she looked up at Hanna and spit blood in her face before finally dying. With this Trailen quickly got up and made the girls perfectly aware that they needed to get the hell out of her. The girls told him that this was the Arryn estate in Berne and they had no where to go, and as the group panicked Benjamin Krinner walked in behind them and told the group that they would come stay with him in the Krinner Estate. The girls quickly followed behind him, but Amber stopped them and said she had to get Thomas. Benjamin went to her and told her that Sean had already sent someone to her room to get the child and that it was too late. Amber didn't accept this and ran off from the group towards her room where she prayed that she wasn't too late.

Amber Captured

When she opened the door to the room she found a body laying face down on the ground coughing and bleeding out, and she stepped past the body to the room where Thomas should have been, and when she walked in his room she found the body of her maid lying dead beside his bed, and beside her another man's body, but no signs of little Thomas. She fell to her knees and cried, but before she could cry for long a man wrapped his hand around her and covered her mouth at the same time before pulling her into the closet. As he did this he whispered for her to be quiet, before she heard other men enter the room all armed from what she could see through the door. These men begin screaming out to try and lure her out, and in this moment she looked at the man and whispered to him whether he had saved Thomas. When the man nodded his head, she told him to keep him safe from harm and the put her hand to the door. Before she opened the door she asked the man what the name was of the man that had saved her son, and he quietly told her that it was Ezio Ederiz. And with that Amber Heard said one last thank you before she pulled the handle and opened the door and walked into the room thus allowing the men to take her. The men would harshly pull her through the hallways that made up the Heard Estate, and from here they took her to the throne room of Sean Lovie where he was at that moment stabbing his knife into the body of Allison Arryn. Seeing this she cried out, and this caused Sean to notice her, and he looked over at her with a look of pure enjoyment. He cleared out the room including his gaurds of whom he ordered to place her in a cage to the right of his throne, which he had brought in. With Amber now in a cage he sat himself beside the cage, and stared at her, before speaking to her for the first time in years.

Saving Thomas Lovie

With Amber Heard now taken in by Sean Lovie, Ezio made his way out of the closet and went to the window and proceeded to raise young Thomas Heard from the basket that he had him sitting in outside the window. Ezio picked up the young boy and told the young boy that he needed to be strong for his mother, as Thomas had heard everything that had happened to his mother but couldn't speak or help because Ezio had roped his mouth shut so that he wouldn't scream. Thomas blamed himself and Ezio took the moment to make sure that Thomas understood that nothing he could have done would have saved his mother from being taken. But that didn't meant that he couldn't help, because she wasn't dead and thus there was always hope. He gave the child one last pat on the shoulder before strapping the child to his back and then jumping out the window and climbing across the roof towards the only safe place he knew of in this hell hole. Ezio made his way to the home of Alistair, and it was here that he hid Thomas while he prepared to save the city. Thomas would remain hidden with Alistair's men inside his small enclave of the city, and through this Thomas would become a member of the rebellion as he sharpened swords, and did whatever else he could do to help the men of the rebellion in doing what he hoped would free his mother from Sean Lovie.

Fall of Hardyng Hold

As the rebellion within Berne begin to spread it was Jasper Hardyng that would be responsible for the hiding and protection of many who resisted Sean Lovie by bringing them into the strong point that was the Hardyng Estates, and he did this to the point that they were running low on food they were caring for so many people inside their Berne estate. Sean Lovie would following the capture of Amber Heard go on a hunt for traitors within Berne and had his spies and soldiers (mainly the Stormblown) begin mobilizing themselves to assault any strong point that may have formed, and it was during this search that they came to discover that a flow of people had been entering the House Hardyng estate. Gustov Hardyng III. would betray his family when he revealed what was happening within Hardyng Hold and with knowledge of what they were doing the Stormblown sent some two hundred men to attack the unprepared estate. The betrayal of Gustov Hardyng had begun when Jasper Hardyng had become disgusted with what the True Sons of Lucerne were becoming and in this disgust he was pushed into rebellion by his sister Ina of whom begin to take a leadership role over Gustov which begin to cause bitterness and eventually betrayal from Gustov. During the night the Stormblown swept inside Hardyng Hold breaking the defences without difficulty as they were not prepared and under the command of Baldwin Bisset would be kind to the people within taking all within the estate to the Berne prisons except for Lord Jasper Hardyng and his sister Ina Hardyng II. who were brought personally to the throne of Sean Lovie. Jasper would following the fall of the House Hardyng estate be taken alongside his sister to Sean Lovie and it was there where Jasper confronted Sean Lovie and in response would be forced to witness Sean rape Ina in front of him and then he would be tortured attempting to find out other rebels but he resisted and did not give any names which infuriated Sean causing Sean to beat him to death. Ina Hardyng would following the execution of her brother Lord Jasper Hardyng be placed into one of the cages that adorned the throne room of Sean Lovie and during her time imprisoned there she was brutally raped many times but eventually resisted Sean on the wrong day and in response he brutally killed her causing Amber Heard II. to break emotionally.

Harrold Hardyng had been at the outer gatehouse when he learned of the sacking of his family estate and the deaths of his father and aunt and learning this he would attempt to enter the throne of Sean but he survived after Benjamin Krinner knocked him on the head and brought himself the Krinner fortress where he would be when the Battle of Krinner took place.

With the valley clear of Bill, and Sean Lovie, William went about attempting to gain control by eliminating those that were loyal to his father, but most of all he declared war on his father's supporters and very soon after doing this he came to understand that Sean Lovie had taken control of the city of Berne which he didn't even know existed. Under Alistair Bedregen the loyalists loyal to William were sending word to William outside Berne for the first bit of the control by Sean and thus for this early time they knew many of those loyal to Sean or at least to afraid to resist Sean. With this knowledge William rallied the Order of the Red Dragon, alongside a large force of House Lovie and sent this large force to besiege Berne. When his forces arrived there he they saw that Berne was a death trap, and that while they could feasibly attack the city the casualties would be horrendous and on top of that they might not even succeed. Knowing this William ordered them to dig in, and make sure no assistance came from land, and they were forced to live off the small parcel of land within Berne, and to burn through their internal supplies. With the front door shut for the moment William went about his plan to take control of Berne which would revolve around building a tunnel from Lucerne into the rear of Berne and fighting inside from that direction, while also hoping to starve out the defenders so that they would surrender. As William devised his plan where they would complete the underway in its route to Berne and thus they would break in behind the defenses and take the city from within, the Order of the Red Dragon begin having difficulties holding the main entrance as the Orcs in the region were a constant problem. Knowing they needed to be somewhat quick with their siege they were in trouble as unfortunately the tunneling behind Berne would take some time, and so he needed to block the front of Berne without having his army sitting there for the four years the underway would take to complete.

In order to do this William sent emissaries from the Order of the Green Dragon to meet with the Kingdom of Quel'Thalas whose forest extended close to the boundaries of Berne and thus would be able to assist in blocking them in if they so chose to do. The Order of the Green Dragon was sent and led by Demi Hill of whom was accompanied by Franklin Brent and his wife Karyl Reyne who led a force of some six hundred House Brent forces to act as guards for the mission. When his emissaries arrived they were greeted by Legolas, and Alleria Windrunner of whom were accompanied by nearly three hundred Sindar Elves, and they would greet them with friendship and take them to Darnassus. In Darnassus they would be treated to a beautiful feast and Alleria took Franklin and his wife around the capital before they would have the meeting later that night. Seeing the size and beauty of Darnassus, and the kindness of the Windrunner siblings Franklin would have a very high opinion of the Sindar Elves, and he took this opinion into the meeting that night. At the meeting they found that Quel'Thalas was willing to do this in return for an alliance with them which Demi Hill was quick to give them, as William was more then willing to make an alliance with the Elves. Legalos would lead a force of some eight hundred men to a forward forest that they would fortify and from there they would be able to adequately block the Orcs from being able to interfere in any real way. So with the front door closed his forces returned to Lucerne while a small contingent remained along with a larger force of the Elves of Quel'Thalas. As they were leaving Alleria Windrunner also said that she would be joining them with some two hundred heavily trained and equipped Sentinels at the main Lucerne camp, and this was once again quickly accepted by Demi Hill.

Meeting Ezio Ederiz

See Also : Ezio Ederiz

As things were happening outside the city and making the siege move positively inside the city there was chaos as Sean Lovie lost his mind and was the source of madness and chaos for the citizens. Ezio after saving the life of Thomas Lovie and watching Allison Arryn die would decide to move aggressively to allow William into the city, and thus would make his way to the western tower and prepare to send a message to the Lucernians sieging the city. Ezio enclosed in the message the entirety that he knew about the defenses of Berne, and a message that the city was ready to be joined with William's forces. He had hoped that if he gave as much information that William would still attack even if he didn't believe Ezio, but he also understood the distinct possiblity that William wouldn't believe him and would just continue to siege the city. Ezio waited at the tower for some time alongside the rebels that he had gained control of, and waited patiently for a response. He got his anwser when a Lucernian messenger approached the tower, and sent a letter up to Ezio. In the letter William told Ezio that he needed to come down from the tower so that they could discuss this, and that no harm would come to him if he did this. For all Ezio knew William had become his fathers son since the last time he had seen him, and thus suffering from the same madness as his brother, but he knew he had to do something so he trusted the devil he didn't know over the mad man that he did. Ezio gave command of the tower over to his top man in the form of Martin Arryn of whom had snuck his way into the tower and convinsed the men to join the rebellion.

When Ezio got to the bottom of the tower he was grabbed by some five men all clad in golden armor, and these men escorted him to the Lucernians camp. One of the men idetified himself as James Junnsworth and told Ezio that if he planned to harm the king he would be doing it over all of their bodies. When he arrived at the camp he immediatly knew which one William was when he saw the golden haired boy walking up to him in his magnificant armor. Restrained by the men around him he saw how little he was trusted by the arranged forces, but he wasn't bitter as he could understand their fear. He spoke as best he could and told William of what was happening inside the fortress, and that every day they delayed the citizens inside were being killed in ever increasing numbers. As the conversation continued Ezio accompanied William inside his tent with Jasper, Leven, Marcel Lovie II., and Draco Highmore and then spoke openly of the murder of Allison, the rapes, and for Andrew the most horrifying news that Amber Heard was captured and now held in a cage beside Sean's throne. Ezio would at this point tell William about much of the things he had done for his father, and would make William understand that he had done all he could to help him after he had learned how brilliant and how much potential William had. Leven would suggest that during their initial attempts to clear the gatehouse that much of what Ezio suggested he did made sense as to why they found it so easy in certain places to get what they wanted.

Infiltrating the Tower

With Ezio done telling him what was happening William told him he needed some time to think and that while he trusted him, he needed to plan on the best way forward. Ezio told him that he had control of the first tower, and thus he could get some of William's men inside that tower if that would make him feel better about the whole thing. William liked this plan, and it was then that he asked whether or not Hanna Arryn, and her sister Aria were safe inside the city, and Ezio told him that House Arryn was now in hiding in the city outside of Byron Arryn who was being forced to sit and watch Allison's body be violated by Sean Lovie. Andrew was thankful that Hanna was fine, and because of this he told Ezio that he would have his anwser in an hour. With that William called in his commanders and they discussed their options about how to move forward. After talking for some time it became clear that they needed to gather more troops, and especially Andrew wanted to have some of his up and coming leadership involved so that they would feel important to him. He planned to travel to Forks where he would meet with these leaders and make them aware of their involvement and then they would launch the attack. He got Ezio back in the tent, and he told him that he needed to allow his men to take control of the first tower, and that this would amount to his test of loyalty. Ezio agreed without hesitation and left with Jasper, and Leven to make the arrangements of which Franklin Brent would volunteer to command the first forces into the tower. Emmett was left in command of the siege while William was gone alongside the commanders, and this would be the situation that was left as William left for Forks. Franklin Brent would lead a force of men alongside his friend Dexter Hill, and several others of whom they would enter the first tower using massive ropes hung down by the loyalist Arryn rebels within the tower.

Meeting in Forks

Discovery of Betrayal

It was at this point that Edric Nighting would arrive in Forks where he had made the decision to turn against his family and reveal the plans of his family. Edric Nighting had several weeks before this begin hearing talk from his father and older brother that they planned to rise against House Scott and murder the Scotts in the city before taking control of Tree Hill itself. He would watch his brother in secret as his brother James Nighting II. followed Brooke Scott watching her movements, and watching her himself he discovered that she was the mistress of William Lovie III. through listening in on a conversation between Brooke and Haley Scott. Learning of this relationship between William and Brooke the loyal Edric Nighting would depart Tree Hill by horse with his friend Hanzal Grightling heading towards Forks where they had heard William Lovie III. was meeting with his wife and the leadership of Forks. Arriving at Forks the two would quickly gain an audience with the king of whom was surrounded at the time by Charlie Swan, Leven Martell, and Bella Swan, and seeing how influential the group was Edric would immediately tell the king what he knew which horrified the group of whom had already rallied their forces and was planning to move out the next day to Berne. Realizing the main forces still needed to go to Berne he would command Jasper Hale to lead a secondary force to Tree Hill in order to defend the Scott's once the Nighting's moved against them, and after discussing it was decided that Jasper would move south through the province of Rosten where he would summon a force from that province's lord in House Elric alongside Northern Tree Hill's lordn in House Guntbold and then lead them southward to Tree Hill.

Following the breaking up of the meeting Jasper, Leven, and Bella would follow William back to his tent where Jasper would convince William to take him with him to Berne and instead send Leven to Tree Hill. Making up excuses about why she needed to go instead of him Leven was left shocked by what Jasper did and thus limply accepted this change of plans, and with a kiss to her forward she and William would say goodnight and following this Jasper and Leven left the tent. Leaving the tent Leven would follow Jasper trying to get him to explain himself, but he refused until she became quite agitated leading to an argument between the long time friends. Fighting loudly forced Jasper to take the argument into his tent where he would reveal that he did not trust her abilities to protect William considering how in love with him she was, and following this she would punch him in the face before returning to her own tent. The next day William, Jasper and the larger force from Forks would leave the city leaving Leven and a few hundred men at arms and knights to move south towards Castle Elric where she would go to defend the mistress of her beloved.

Sneaking Inside

When William Lovie arrived back at Berne flanked by the forces of House Swan, Scarlet, Crane, Starke, Martell, Skane, and many of their vassals he entered the command tent and prepared alongside his commanders the method by which they would do this. Ezio told them that the only real way into the valley of Berne was to take control of the towers defending the passes, and this was possible since they controlled the first tower. From the first tower they would attack the second tower, and then the third, and fourth control towers which would allow them to bring the entire army into the Valley where the defenders would be unprepared for their entry. Once this was achieved they must take control of the fifth tower which was inside the City of Berne itself and was connected through a long tunnel which could be locked from the inside meaning if they failed to take it before they were noticed it would be shut and they would have to attack the main walls.

With this plan in place William Lovie would send the forces of House Scarlet led by Darion, and Saiden Scarlet to enter the First Tower where they would push their full forces and they alone would be responsible for working alongside the rebels in order to take control of the towers. They would be assisted by the Order of the Golden Dragon of whom was forced to follow William Lovie of whom was going to assist here alongside Edward Cullen and several members of the Order of the Blue Dragon, as well Orival Crane would convince William to let him join the forces attacking the towers. Entering the tower and joining the Arryn loyalists, and Franklin Brent and his forces that had initially taken control of the tower from the rebels and had held it while the main forces gathered. At that final moment Robb, and Jon Starke joined the assault group and this would force William to also take Wilheim alongside with him as Wilheim now wouldn't take no for an answer.

The Battle

With the main force now preparing to enter the first pass into Berne they only needed to see the response from the second tower to know when to move in, and they would get that call the first night as they would be signaled by a flag hanging from the wall set out by the tower forces. The Tower forces would wait until night, and that night as they moved forward the few guards meant to make sure such infiltration of the towers were not possible were rebels and thus they allowed the tower forces to infiltrate the towers, and within they found the mercenary forces of Sean Lovie in the form of the Stormblown. The fight for the tower was swift as with most of their forces asleep the few on sentry duty found themselves being attacked by a huge number of troops flooding into the tower. As the Stormblown moved to raise the alarm they found the alarm room locked, and when they finally broke inside they found inside several rebels of whom killed the Stormblown that tried to enter the room. With the tower taken Orival Crane would raise the flag thus giving the main force the safe call to enter the first pass. Torgon Skane alongside the other commanders would move their forces alongside the Elves and reached the very edge of the first pass as the attack move forward, and during this they also moved forward with the siege machines that everyone hoped they would have no need of using. At the third tower they would basically be allowed in as the rebels had taken complete control over this tower, and the few members of the Stormblown that were present inside the tower were barely able to get out of their beds before they were killed by the vengeful rebels and the incoming Lucernians.

The fourth tower was the true test of the attack as while it was held by the forces of House Krinner who was a member of the rebellion the tower held the largest contingent of the Stormblown outside of the city itself. Robb Starke, and Wilheim Martell alongside Robb Starke would lead a contingent of forces east of the tower to cut off any kind of relief once the main attack went forward, and with that the main assault could begin on the fourth tower. As the Lucernians made their way into the tunnels approaching the fourth tower they were spotted by a Stormblown soldier of whom alerted the rest of the force to a betrayal, and with this becoming clear the forces of House Krinner would assemble under the command of Danzal, and Benjamin Krinner of whom defended the tunnel route heading towards the fifth tower so that none of the Stormblown could warn their comrades, and inside the tower House Krinner under the command of Oskar Kinner the defenders would block the gate into the alarm room thus preventing for a time the forces of the Stormblown from gaining entry to the alarm. A fierce battle would commense between the defenders in House Krinner and the Stormblown. As the forces of Lucerne attempted to enter the fight they were forced to attack through defended barriers quickly set up by the forces of the Stormblown in order to resist the attackers. During the fighting here Darion Scarlet would become famous for defeating the Stormblown second in command in single combat after they entered the last room of the tower and it was held by the Stormblown second in command. With his death the rest of the Stormblown slowly surrendered, and with that the flag was raised and the main army understood that the way into the valley was clear.

The Final Tower

As the main army moved into the valley silently in the darkness of the night the tower forces moved into the tunnels approaching the fifth and final tower. Ezio had told them that they had to get to the other end without being stopped or else the way would be blocked and there would be no way in except a truly viscous fight for the valley. As they entered the tunnel and were only two minutes away everyone including the main force heard a massive horn go off, and the rebels told William that someone had set off one of the alarms of the towers. With this all sense of stealth went out the window and the tower force charged into the tunnel in the hopes of reaching the gate controls before it was shut. As they ran down the tunnel they watched as the massive portcullis gate was slowly shutting, and then suddenly as they were getting closer it slowed and then stopped and they could hear the cries of battle at the other side, and as they reached it they entered a brutal battle between members of House Arryn and the Stormblown who were trying to shut the gate. With the entry of the Lucernians the battle went away from them, but the Stormblown survivors were able to retreat in good form and make their way towards the Berne Keep where they would blow the alarm horn again and the Stormblown throughout Berne would retreat to the keep alongside those still loyal to Sean Lovie although that number was very slight now that House Arryn was in full rebellion. With the stormblown in full retreat the defenders that were on the wall moved completely into the rebellion allowing the main force to enter through the front gate, as the rebels opened the gate letting them inside. The rebels, and the tower forces would move throughout the city, and kill or capture anyone still flying the colors of the Stormblown and as well as this making sure that everyone knew that the city was Lucernian again and they had nothing to fear.

Battle of Krinner

Main Article : Battle of Krinner

As the Lucerne forces took the final tower before the wall there were some who suspected something was wrong, but all orders were that everyone stayed inside so no one was allowed to leave the inner fortress to investigate, and in order to occupy the forces he had at alert (and in order to further make sure the defenses failed as was hinted at by Sean Lovie during the final duel with William) Sean would command that they attack the House Krinner estate of which was the site of the retreating nobles of Berne. While the commoners and the vast majority of the population had fled into the deeper sections of the city, and to the walls where the more Lucernian houses guarded it was the nobles that fled into the estate of House Krinner. Other then the nobles and politically far more important then that was the fact that Alistair Bedregen had retreated into the Keep alongside Thomas Lovie of whom was the true target of Sean Lovie this late in the fight. News reached them late that Alistair had gone there following the attempt on his life and Thomas and when it became clear this was where he was Sean would send basically everyone available including most of the defenses of the tunnel in order to try and kill Thomas. The estate itself was a sort of mini castle that was built into a large cave deep in the northern section of the city and was defensible from one large tower that covered the entire entrance, and from the ramparts built into the gatehouse.

It was this spot that the forces of the Stormblown, and the other True Sons loyalist houses would move towards in heavy numbers in order to try and complete the commands of Sean Lovie. Some three hundred Stormblown (including many of their most elite members, and two of their top three commander) alongside some four hundred more True Sons loyalist (of which only the fifty from House Ignirt would actually take part in the battle while the rest simply miled about faking interest in the siege. House Ingirt would be this only truly loyalist element due to the fact that Lord Beren Ingirt's daughter Lia Ingirt, and heir Harren Ingirt were captives of the prince and he was basically blackmailed into supporting Sean Lovie's forces out of fear for his two children. The forces of the True Sons would charge out from the shadows and attack without even a call for surrender, as they were commanded to destroy them and thus no surrender was neccessary or warrented. Charging the walls they suffered accurate and deadly archer fire from the large tower that surveyed the courtyard, and the archers on the ramparts. During this charge Lord Beren Ingirt would fall with an arrow to the neck and with his death the forces of House Ingirt fell under the command of Beren's brother Brandon Ingirt of whom would silently slip away with most of the relief forces moving them towards the prison where they would take part in the taking of the prison. With no cover the Stormblown and others got to the walls much diminished but still with high strength, and once at the gate they bashed at it with quickly made battering rams and climbed the sides of the wall to get to the ramparts, while hoisting a large ladder against the tower.

Taking of the Prison

Hunting a Beast

It would be Forder Braxton, and his son Markus Braxton that would be sent to Berne by James Lovie II. to represent the dealings of the Circle of Magi and a believed loyalist faction, although Bill Lovie had no intention of ever assisting Sean as he wanted William to gain victory, but this was not known by Fordor of whom arrived in Berne to find the city in Chaos and surrounded by the Lucernians. Traveling into the city through Magi he would meet with Sean Lovie and at this point he would join the upper tier of the leadership of the True Sons of Lucerne executing several loyalists alongside his son, but it would be only a few weeks before the city came under assault by the Lucernians. During the battle Fordor and Markus would wander the city of Berne killing at random as was their command by James Lovie if/and when the city fell, and reaching the prisons hoping to kill as many valuable hostages as he could before leaving Forder would be shocked to find Morrigan his old Circle of Magi partner waiting in the gallows before the prison entrance surrounded by the dead bodies of the Stormblown mercenaries guarding the prison.

Confused why Morrigan was resisting him he told her he was only doing the work of James Lovie, and at this she would retort saying that so was she and then launched a killing spell at Markus, but it was deflected killing the two guards accompanying them, and then fighting Forder, and Markus who barely managed to resist her strength. As the three fought Forder, and Markus were no match for the more powerful Morrigan and Forder dropped his wand surrendering, but after surrendering he expected to be allowed to leave but Morrigan instead slew young Markus and then prepared to kill Forder but he unleashed a Magi blast at her and was able to escape through hidden tunnels.

Duel with Sean Lovie

As he entered the room Sean remained silent but the look on his face told Andrew that Sean had a plan and whatever happened this plan was something he believed could work. Amber Heard never thought she was going to survive to see William again, and the sight of him caused her to leap up and this led to great pain as the chain around her neck kept her stationary. Laughing at what had happened to Amber through the fact that she was crying and holding her neck the situation turned as William charged forward only stopped by Sean holding his sword to Amber`s neck.

Look at the world father. You were born into this land, and you have told me hundreds upon hundreds of times how much you used to love it. Look at everything you have done to it. You destroyed a city for no reason, killed hundreds of good men out of fear. Is this how you want to be remembered father. Is this the world you want to leave behind? I know you were a good person once. I have all the evidence laid out in front of me as to why you are the villain of this world, but I don't fully believe it. Don't end it all here, and be remembered as a monster..

``Really brother. If I were you I would take a couple of steps backwards.`` Everyone stopped as he held the sword to Amber`s neck. I held my hands out to make sure he knew I was willing to atleast talk this out. As I did I noticed the windows in the corner of my eye which I noticed had archers in them. ``Thats right you listen to me now.`` Everyone just stood in place and I hated having him control even an ounce of anything in this world. ``Now that I have your attention tell everyone to leave. This is between me, you, and the bird.`` I looked behind me at Jasper and his eyes told me there was no way he was going to leave, but I knew he had to if I wanted to try and find a way into his mind and to somehow save Amber. Knowing about the windows I had to hope that there was some kind of back entrance into the throne room, and from there perhaps they could infiltrate the windows and gain the upper hand. Moving closer to the men I whispered to the group so lowly that poor Emmett with his poor hearing was forced to come nearly to kissing level. "We need to do what he says.``Seeing the rejection in their eyes I stopped it immediatly. ``There are windows all along this room, and I need you to get in them so that we can get a handle on this. Emmett, and Edward I can`t tell you what to do. If you want to go with Jasper and the windows then so be it. I would prefer if you saved as many innocents as you could. The rest of you wait in the last room and give those poor souls a cleaner end....they deserve better then to be piled in the corner like garbage. If I should fall.``Edward stepped forward``If I should fall you all must make sure under no circumstances does he leave this room. He cannot be allowed to survive this no matter what happens. Now go. We have little time.``Relunctantly they begin filtering out of the room to the sound of laughter from Sean behind me. ``Yes Sean you have us exactly where you want us, now tell me what you want.`` His laughter was the first thing that happened before he grabbed a key from behind his back and undid the chain around Amber`s neck. Pulling her farther away it took everything in me to not move forward and attack him on the spot. ``I don`t want anything brother. You see that`s the trick. You had the same repository of books that I did, and let me tell you something about the villians in a story. Sometimes the villians want something. They want gold to build a mighty castle. Or maybe they want a women." He swayed as he spoke flayling his arms about like a mad man. " In the end brother It doesn`t matter what they want, it just matters that they want something. You see its important that they want something because for this reason these villians you see, they can be bargained with. They can lose.`` Knowing where he was going I interupted him. ``And let me guess. Your the kind that wants nothing.`` Standing up taller before he spoke he pulled Amber closer to him, and I could see the tears flowing from her eyes. I tried my best to comfort her with my eyes, and her eyes followed suit with mine, and I could tell I had calmed her down. He pushed her to the ground holding the sword so close to her neck I could see a bit of blood fall before raising his face to me again with a twisted look to his face. ``I don`t mean to interupt your longing towards the Arryn whore. " He stared at me clearly trying to make sure that I got the message. "Good. Now that I have your attention again I'll tell you the secret." He looked so excited to say it, as if its was some secret. "I'm not the villian brother. That honor is for you.`` ``In what twisted world do you live where your not the villian. You are the same man who sits on a throne covered in the innocents that hes killed. Your the same evil that tried to molest his own sister, and now dares to threaten such a innocent as Amber Heard.`` "Its all a matter of perception." He pulled Amber back up to stand in front of him, and he begin to pet her hair causing a whelp from her. It took every piece of my control not to burst forward and kill him where he stood for touching a hair on her head. Controlling my increasing rage I spoke to the monster standing before me. "And what perception is that?" ``The perseption that comes from knowing the anwser to this question." He stopped and stared at Amber before looking back at me. "What makes her innocent my brother. Is her innocene borne from the fact that she opened her legs for you whenever you pleased...`` ``How dare you...`` "It is an honest question. I want you to tell me how this girl. This piece of meat. I want you to tell me right here, and right now what makes her innocent. " "She hasn't harmed anyone. She hasn't done a thing in this world other then be a good person." "And that makes her innocent, does it?" "Yes it does." "Your a fool." "You wish to brandish words around like a bunch of fish wives then do it your way. Or do you want to finally become a man and face what you've done." ``I get this moment brother. You forgot through your youth, that unlike you the rest of us out here in the world have things happen to them. Your the villian along with this whore because of what you have allowed to happen. One does not blame the virus for infecting its victom. You blame the monster who created the virus, and you my brother are the reason I am the way that I am.`` ``You want to find a way to escape the person that you are you need to find someone who cares for even a moment for whether or not you live or die.`` ``There it is right there. Don`t you see. It was that uncaring neglect. Outright hatred at times that left me utterly alone.`` ``You don`t get to blame becoming a monster on the fact that you and I weren`t best friends.`` ``I have the sword. I have the damsel. Those mean I get to say, and do whatever the fuck I want to do. Do you understand what I`ve done. Do you have any idea the scope of the things I`ve caused.` ...Continued

Death is the End

Grabbing Sean by the shoulders he found his brother crying, and Sean grasped onto Williams arms as if to try and hold onto him. There was no resistance, and as William held the sword to his chest he held a moment and looked into Sean`s eyes waiting for his last words. Sean in that moment would tell William that Bill still lived and had gone west to France, and would begin to start an apology when William stabbed him through the chest and covered his mouth with his hand. Looking behind him at the lifeless body of Amber he would proceed to be overcome with rage and strangle Sean as the last of his life left him. Getting up he walked back over to Amber, and ignored the sounds of crashing as his men attempted to break there way through the gate, and the windows. Kneeling beside Amber he ripped some cloth from his tunic and covered her wound not wanting her to be seen like this. As he wiped her wound her arm would move up and grasp onto his, and her final grasp for life would continue and it gave the two former lovers one last chance to talk to each other.

The Rise of Lucerne I saw the destruction of the world, and knew I had to stop it. There was nothing left to do but become bigger then everyone else. The Empire was never going to be the beacon the world needed it to be. Westros was on fire. The Bretonians had reached for the stars and been burned. And the old shadow of Numeron was fading far too quickly. It was left to us in Lucerne to change the fate of all those who wished to reject darkness. We were the last hope for a world who had long since given up on believing.

I could almost feel her leave me as there was a lifelessness to her eyes, and when I did I gently let her down to the ground. I left a kiss on her lips before closing her eyes and taking a moment to stare at the girl I had loved first in my life. She was the innocence of youth. The kind of person who is always the victim of monsters like my brother and that sad fact just left me more angry then any other death I had seen in my life. I had seen good men die in battle, but to look down at Amber and realize that she was just innocent, and had still died hurt me deeply. Hearing a sound come from Sean I gave one last kiss to her lips before letting her go, and turning around to find my brother. He had moved himself into the corner and was shaking while holding onto a large flag. As I went towards him I couldn't make out what he was saying, but to be frank it was not going to matter what he said. Sometimes men are just guilty and words cannot escape that fact. Reaching Sean I grabbed him by the shoulders and turned him to face me, while I took out a knife and held it to his throat. Turning him had revealed what the noise was as his face was covered in tears, and the sight of the sword made him pull himself towards it. ``Please William. Kill me now. I cannot live the things in my mind anymore.`` ``You murder someone as innocent as Amber and you dare to look for pity now.`` ``No pity brother. I want mercy.`` ``You do not deserve mercy. The things you have done are beyond imagining.`` ``Then punish me William.`` At these words I threw the dagger away and a look of sadness went to his face, before being quickly replaced by understanding when I pulled out my sword and aimed it towards his chest. ``No punishment in the world would ever be far enough to be justice. You deserve so much worse then I could ever give you.`` ``You are right brother.`` Sean begin to shake, and I swear I saw somesort of cloud come from his body towards the roof above us, and as it did he looked up at the roof of the room and a look of peace went over his face that just horrified me. I didnt want him to feel peace while she lay dead. He didnt deserve to feel anything even close to that. The things he had done were too much. ``I think its gone.`` ``No more talk.`` ``Perhaps just one more thing brother.`` ``Say your last words and be done with it.`` ``Our father went west. He went into the ruins of France.`` ``I will find him and give him the true death I will soon give you.`` ``I hope that you do William. I hope that you avenge everyone who has been hurt by him.`` I felt such overpowering rage as I looked at him that my eyes must have been showing it as he looked at me with a realization that it was over and he closed his eyes. ``Goodbye Will...`` Before he got the words out I stabbed him through the chest piercing his armor between the plates and he let out a sigh before going limp in my arms. I let him down with a loud bang as his body hit the floor, and leaving behind his body I went towards Amber wanting to just hold her one last time. Kneeling at her body I pulled her closer and held her tight to me. As I held her in my arms crying into her hair I felt her arms clasp themselves around mine and I looked into her face hoping beyond hope that she would live. I held her face with my hand and begged her to wake. My other hand held her wound with everything I could trying to somehow stop it. I pleaded with her, and I watched as her eyes flickered open. I hugged her tight knowing in my heart that I would want to always remember the feel of her life, as she was perfection, and it was a tradgedy that it had taken all of this for me to realize that. ``William... ``It`s alright my love. Just rest my sweet, Edward will come and...he will...he`ll find a way...``I hadn`t realized that I was crying until I couldn`t see from my eyes anymore, and I felt her hand wipe across my cheek clearing me of the physical signs of my sadness. ``William I love you...Thomas is your son.`` I didn`t understand. She had left, and no one had ever said a word. How many lies had been told to keep this from me. ``It was my doing. Don`t blame anyone but me for keeping it from you.`` "They all lied about where you had went...I loved you with everything in myself. I would have protected you from everything.`` Her eyes closed as the pain must have overwhelmed her. Looking at her shoulder the blood was smeared all across my hand as it was too large a wound for me to keep from gushing. ``I thought I could protect you. He told me he would kill you...he held a knife to your throat and bid me to leave. I`m so sorry William. I`m so sorry you never got to see him grow.``She stopped and coughed out blood, and I knew she was going quickly. The shoulder just kept bleeding through and I couldn't even bear to look at it knowing there was just nothing to fix this. ``You must promise me that you will protect Thomas from everything. Protect him the way I never could.`` ``He lives Amber. You saved him. My brother would have killed everything to have killed any son of mine.`` I kissed her on the lips gently carressing her hair before looking into her eyes again. ``I tried my...`` Her eyes closed and her arm went slack for a moment before I shook her gently and she opened her eyes again. ``It doesn`t hurt anymore. You have to promise me William. Promise me.`` ``I promise you Amber I shall protect him. I shall love him, and cherish him as the son that he is. He shall never know pain, or anguish, or sadness. I shall love him as I love you.`` Her eyes begin to once more close, and I selfishly shook her again. ``Stay with me Amber...just hold on please...``I shook her again, but this time her eyes didn't reopen and just staring at her I could see that I had failed to save her. She coughed one more time and her eyes opened somewhat and she looked at me again. ``I`m so sorry Will...I`m so sor...``Her eyes remained open, but she just never blinked. Holding her I couldn't feel anything as I knew she had died. I would never hear her voice again. I would never know her touch again, and I let out a scream which I could barely control.

Following her grasping of his arm the two would talk briefly as she bled out but she held on for long enough to make sure William knew that Thomas was his child, and the two would heart sadly say goodbye to each other before finally she bled out from the horrible wound on her shoulder. It was several minutes of banging on the door with William crying into the hair of Amber before the rest of his men were able to get into the throne room, and by this point the Battle of Berne was over with the remaining forces of the True Sons of Lucerne either dead or having surrendered, but for William it felt increasingly like a hollow victory. As Faye, Jasper and Emmett tried to console him and help him with Amber he would refuse without words picking her body up and carrying her out of the throne room before collapsing outside of the inner keep where he would be helped up by Faye. He whispers to Faye that he needs to take her out of the fortress so he can bury her, and Faye goes ahead clearing the gatehouse, and letting the front gate open where William carries her all the way out of Berne and reaches the Valley of Berne where the large Lucernian army awaits and it is at this point that Alice meet him and he finally surrenders Ambers body to Jasper and breaks down in Alice's arms.

Meeting a Son

With Thomas sleeping William gathers with the Lucernian army leadership and following a long discussion on their next steps he commands his friend Hanna Arryn be brought to him, and then the meeting breaks up and joined by Jasper, and Edward he returns to his tent where saying goodbye to them he goes into the tent and finds Alice sleeping on his bed holding a sleeping Thomas. Looking at the scene in front of him he starts crying as he thinks about the loss of Amber, and at the sound of his crying Alice wakes up and gets out of bed gently leaving Thomas in bed and the two siblings hug. Thomas eventually wakes up to the talking of Alice and William and Thomas at first only wants Alice, but William goes to him and talks to him about his love for Amber and when Thomas reveals that Amber had talked about William to him almost every night William tells him the story of how he met Amber of which was a story that Amber had told him a thousand times before.

Control of Berne

Meeting with Hanna Arryn the two old friends discuss a more personal view of what happened in Berne, and Hanna reveals to him the depths of some of the things that happened, but also refuses during their conversation to come with him back to Lucerne telling him that Aria needs her more. Discussing Aria, and her father Byron it becomes clear that he needs to speak with Aria and asks Hanna to bring her to him something she agrees to if William agrees to be lenient on her father of which William agrees to out of love for Hanna. The conversation ends with Aria and William agreeing that in one month it will be the leadership of Berne that will travel to Lucerne to meet with William and the Kings Council who will decide the future of Berne. William Lovie III. leaves Berne with the majority of the army but leaves behind several thousand as a garrison of the city under the command of Dylan Steinmare, and this garrison is under orders to further the control of the crown over Berne who at this point there is still fear may be mixed in its loyalties.

The city of Berne was tense as Aria, and Hanna Arryn had become the most powerful leaders of House Arryn overpassing their father Byron of whom was hated by the nobles for his cowardess during the Battle of Berne. While this was happening Aria was somewhat rebuilding her relationship with her father and came to discover that her father still believed her brother Byron was going to come home, and it was for this reason that he was improving his image. It was weeks after discovering this that Aria Arryn would get a letter from William Lovie III. detailing to her that the Order of the Violet Dragon had narrowed down the location of Bill Lovie and that most her brother Byron had in fact been there, and he wished to know what Aria wished them to do with his body. Aria would for that moment remember the brother she knew so many years ago, and want to bury him in Forks where the family had grown up, and where she remembered him with fondness. First going to her sisters Hanna, and Spencer the group would speak kindly of their brother and the way in which they wanted to remember him, but at this point Aria would reveal what she knew about their father and his dependance on the memory of their brother, and they all realized he wouldn't survive the news. 

The girls would decide to spend time with their father one last time before they knew he would go off the deep end, and each of them had a different idea of what this would end with. The three would travel with a troop of Arryn troops north of Berne to a large waterfall where they spent the day together, and despite Byron becoming increasingly dillusional as he was kept away from Berne they had a good final time with their father. As they returned to Berne, Hanna would travel with only five men west to Greengarden, while Spencer would travel with a hundred men to Castle Scorpian where she planned to organize the living of the retreating refugees that the Violet Dragons had freed from both Orleans and the surrounding area. Left alone with her father Aria would be prepared to tell him when she grew weak and left it to Maester Coleman of whom she told to give the letter from William to once they had returned to Berne. 

Aria would be in the keep of Berne when Maester Coleman, and Benjamin Krinner would enter followed by many other high nobles of the city. Maester Coleman would tell her what she already knew would be to pass, when he told Aria that Byron had thrown himself from walls of Berne and was dead. There was silence as though noone had loved Byron they cared deeply for Aria and thus gave her time to digest the news of her father's death of which she would sit with her head down for a moment before rising and addressing the assembled lords. Describing how good a situation they were in now she wished for them to support her as she took her claim to William Lovie III. in an attempt to make herself the Arch Dutchess of Berne. Benjaming Krinner would be the first to stand and support her, and following this many of the other lords quickly stood and joined the chorus of cheers and applause for her. Aria Arryn would call for the next oldest male of House Arryn in the form of Paul Arryn, and his brother Derek of which both arrived quickly as they were both in Berne. The three would meet and Paul would indicate that he believed she was the best choice, and Derek agreed, and thus Paul would travel with her to Forks where the funural for her brother and father would be held, and it would be there that they would support her claim to the control of Berne.

Funeral of an Arch Duke

Derek and Spencer Arryn remained in Berne in order to lead the city in the absence of Aria and nearly the entire nobility of the Grand State travelled to Forks in order to meet with the leadership of Lucerne and decide the new Lord of Berne, of which they overwhelmingly wanted to be Aria. Arriving at Forks Hanna and Aria were greated at the front of the caravans and at the entrance of Forks by William Lovie III., Leven Martell, Jasper Hale, Alice Lovie, Bella, and Charlie Swan and William would get off his Griffon and walk to the front where Aria and Hanna got off as well and he would hug Hanna and say his apologies for their loss. The funeral would go as expected with very few attending outside of the Shadow Council, and Bella Swan of whom wanted to support Hanna as she put her father to rest.

Following the ceremony the Shadow Council, and the Arryn sisters would meet in Swan Keep alongside Charlie Swan of whom would meet with Aria over what she wanted to say. Aria would make an impassioned speach detailing why William should name her the Arch Dutchess of Berne, and the others stayed silent and stared at William once Aria was done. William stayed silent for a moment before breaking out laughing causing the rest to laugh until finally William revealed there was never any question as to if she would be named the new ruler. Hanna would travel with her husband back with William and the others to Lucerne where she would plan to stay for several months in better climate and try and help the sickly Harrold Krinner as they attempted to have a child. William having named Aria the Arch Dutchess of Berne would make her the first female leader of a Grand State in the history of Lucerne, and she returned to Berne at the head of the massive force of Berne and finally okay with her position in the political landscape.