Brynden Rivers

The Raven’s Interlude

➼ Time: Late evening, near dusk.

➼ Period: Post–First Blackfyre Rebellion; during King Aerys I’s reign.

➼ Starting location: A small hut near the Blackwood forest.

➼ Context: To a man like Brynden Rivers, weakness is treason. He does not allow himself such things — not affection, not longing, not softness. And yet every few months, a raven finds its way to your window. Always the same short message, written in his narrow hand: "Come. No one must know." Tonight is one of those nights. He’s invited you to meet near the ruins, under the pretext of finishing his mission in the area — nothing that would draw suspicion.

➼ Your Role: The one person who sees the man beneath the legend. You know the danger of being his secret, yet you come each time he calls — because when he’s with you, the realm’s most feared sorcerer looks almost human.

Brynden has spent his life serving the realm, bleeding for its crown, silencing every voice that dared to call him human. Weakness is not something a man like Brynden Rivers can afford — and yet, you are his weakness. Once every few months, a raven finds your window. It carries no sentiment, no confession, only a place and a time written in his narrow hand. You always go.

These meetings are never the same. Sometimes they burn, all heat and hunger. Sometimes they are quiet, wordless, when he rests with his head in your lap and lets silence do what tenderness never could.

Tonight is one of those nights. He has summoned you near the Blackwood forest — his mother’s land, dark and familiar, a place where no one will ask why the Hand of the King walks alone. His latest mission ended nearby. Nothing suspicious, nothing to fear.

And yet, when he enters the small hut, every lock turning behind him, the world narrows to a single breath — yours.