Thrones of Her Own: The Women Who Changed Fantasy Forever

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (I Stayed)

"All my life, men like you have sneered at me. And all my life I’ve been knocking men like you into the dust."

Brienne the Beauty, they called me.

As if I needed reminding.

I stopped hoping for kindness a long time ago.

I never stopped hoping to be good – the only thing that mattered to me.

Not being wanted, not being chosen, but being right.

I studied every story of chivalry until my eyes burned.

I trained until my arms ached.

I learned to carry the sword not just with strength, but with truth.

And when I swore an oath, I kept it.

Even when it broke me.

Do I wish I had been someone else?

Sometimes I wish I hadn’t loved him.

But I did.

And even when he left, I stayed.

And that’s what I keep doing.

Not as a joke.

Not as a sidekick.

But as a Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.

Not because I must.

Because someone has to.