Blood dried on her nose and swollen mouth. She had been struck by a large man, using the back of his hand, as she had tried to run. The other man lay on the ground, howling in pain and holding his leg as blood oozed out from the wound she had inflicted with her little bone knife. It was not her fault. He had grabbed her around the waist and held her. He breathed in her ear and held her so tight to his body that she feared he had rape in mind, and she did not scale a 700 foot high ice wall just to be raped by some southerner. She fought all of them as they tried to contain her. She bit and scratched every one of them as they tied her in rope and threw her onto a horse. Her muscles ached with every step the horse made, her belly heaved and her neck strained as she tried to look around at her captors. They said little, only shouting that she was a wildling and savage.
"You'll 'ave to pay for stickin' Guss in the leg, savage." One man said more a statement of fact than a threat.
They asked her questions, but she didn't answer them. She said nothing, and Will only rambled about the White Walkers, so he revealed nothing about her. They began to call her a mute and later, proclaimed that she must be 'simple minded'. That didn't bother her in the slightest. The less they knew of her better and the more chance she had of taking them by surprise and escaping. She did not know where she was going. She had run from her people after her father had died of a fever and Jarl died too. She was two and ten now, and the boys had started to look at her differently. With no father to protect her, anyone could try and steal her again. Although she was trained with a knife and spear, she was not strong enough to defend herself if one of the older boys from another clan came in the night. She did not want to be taken yet.
She had meet Will after scaling the Wall with Tirsh and Keyla. Keyla had fallen and died, but she was tied to Tirsh and he made it to the top. He was so angry that Keyla, his wife, had fallen; he blamed Val and told her he would sell her to a whore house. He beat her with his last bit of strength and vowed she would live in misery from that day on. She took her chance to escape when he fell asleep that night. She had no idea what direction she was going in. She had no food or water and her side hurt from where Tirsh had kicked her, but she kept running.
Will was hiding in a hollow bark of a tree, shivering and mumbling to himself. She later found out that he was praying. At first she was going to run away from him, thinking he would harm her too, but she noticed that he was more scared of her than she was of him. He beckoned her to hide in the tree with him for the night and gave her some roots he had picked. He continued to pray, repeating the same lines over and over, but she felt safe with him. She could sense that he was kind, gentle and that he had a good heart.
The next day, they continued to walk south. He asked her questions and she told him about her father, Jarl, Tirsh and Keyla. He explained that he was a man of the Night's Watch, and told her of the White Walkers he had seen kill his friends. She didn't believe that he had seen White Walkers, but he believed it, that was obvious. So she kept her mouth shut and said some words of encouragement to try and calm him. They had been together, walking south, for about two weeks, when they were arrested by a group of men. They said that Will was a deserter of the Nights Watch and was to be taken to Winterfell to answer to Ned Stark. That is when she stabbed a man named Guss in the leg and fought as hard as she could to escape the men. Will did not fight at all. In fact, he tried to calm her. He told her that he was going to be executed and he was a peace with it.
"Who is she?" Ned asked, as one of the men pulled her from the horse.
Her hair was matted across her face, her nose and mouth were covered in dried blood and she was caked in dirt. The man stood her on the ground but she instantly fell back, her legs tingling in pain from being held in the same position too long. It was only then that Ned sawhow small she was.
"Was there no other way to carry her? She is just a child." He asked angrily.
Holderen blushed in shame a little. "Ah, she bites and kicks, Milord... it was all we could do to stop her hurting anyone else."
Ned shook his head in anger at the man's excuse. "What is your name child?"
"She don't speak, Milord. I think she's a mute... savage and mute, I think."
"Do you speak girl?" Ned asked again in a gentle tone.
She looked around at the men staring at her. The four boys, two of whomwere close to her age she guessed, looked at her like she was a strange animal. They wore good skins and carried large swords. They must be rich, to have swords like that, at their age. She thought.
Guss, the man she stabbed, looked at her like an insect. His face was pale and he held his leg like it might fall off if he let it go. She looked at the man who was talking to her, their leader, it seemed. There was something about his face that made her trust him more than the others. She looked into his eyes,
"Aye... I speak." She said plainly, making all the men jump a little when she spoke. The two boy's eyes widened. She thought that soon, one of them might poke her with a stick to see if she was real. A pair of fools. She thought.
"What is your name, girl?" Ned asked.
"Val." She said, keeping her eyes on the leader.
"This is the Lord of Winterfell, you call him Milord when you speak, savage." One of the men shouted at her.
His loud shout did not even make the little girl flinch which did not go unnoticed by most of the men and boys surrounding her.
"Never mind that." Ned said impatiently. "Why did you attack Guss?"
"He attacked me... and I want my knife back from that fat fool, too." She yelled and nodded at Holoderen.
"You little..." Holoderen was saying as Ned cut him off.
"Watch your tongue, girl." He said sternly.
Val snorted. "I'll watch nothing... I did nothing wrong."
All the men gasped.
"See... she is a savage, Milord." Guss put in.
"You're the one who attacked a little girl." Val said with a smirk. "What does that make you?"
Theon and Robb tried to suppress a laugh. Jon stood with his usual stoic expression. Bran looked nervous.
"Enough!" Ned yelled. "How did you come to be with this girl?" he asked Will, who's hands were still tied behind his back.
"I came across her a day's walk from the Wall, Milord... she was travelling alone, beaten and hungry looking... I thought I had best help her, Milord." Will's voice was trembling and his body was shaking as he spoke.
"Where are you from?" Ned asked. "Why were you travelling alone?"
Val looked at the ground and said nothing.
"Answer me child." Ned said, raising his voice slightly.
"I'll not... it is not your concern." She said, keeping her eyes on the ground.
The men began to shout at her in protest of how she was addressing the Lord of Winterfell, but it did not make her speak.
Ned shook his head. "Do you know anything about this girl?" he asked Will.
Val looked at him, eyes pleading with him not to betray her.
"You don't need to worry, Val, Lord Stark is a good man, and he will make sure no harm comes to you." He told her before looking at Ned. "She is an orphan from beyond the Wall, Milord. Climbed over with another wilding two weeks back, but he turned on her and she ran from him."
Anger was rising in her belly. She wanted to hit Will so badly, but when she looked at him, he was smiling through terrified eyes. He trusted this man... this Lord Stark.
"Is that the way of it?" Ned asked.
"Aye." She answered simply.
"Jory, take her away while we... sort out... deal with Will." Ned said.
Val looked at Will. Tears began to fall down his cheeks and his body shock violently. She kicked Jory in the leg, hard, when he approached her.
"What are you going to do with him?" she demanded as the men grabbed her.
"Take her away." Ned yelled.
"Nooo... what are you going to do? Let me stay with him." she kicked and punched every man who came near her, screaming to be let stay with Will, until Ned had enough.
"Girl!" He yelled at her. "Will is a man of the Night's Watch and he deserted his brothers. That carries a penalty of death. I must execute him."
"But you can't kill someone for that!" she screamed.
"Val... Val... listen to me." Will called to her, making her turn and face him. "I knew the penalty for running, but I went anyway... I accept that I must die."
She stopped struggling as tears filled her eyes.
"But... Lord Stark... I did see the White Walkers... that's the only reason I left my brothers... I know you think I am crazy... but I seen them, I did!" Will pleaded.
Ned looked at the ground, before walking over and placing a hand on Will's shoulder. "It is fine, boy... be at peace now." He said in a soothing voice. "Jory, take her away."
"No... I want to stay... he should not be alone." Val screamed.
"He has us." Ned said.
"Look... look how scared he is... he is my friend and I will not let him die alone."
"Girls should not see such things, Val." Ned answered.
"I have seen men die... many times."
Ned sighed before saying, "Jory," and nodding his head to indicate that he should take the girl away.
Jory picked her up, wrapping his arms around her, pinning her arms to her side and lifting her off the ground. She kicked and screamed wildly as he threw her across his horse and mounted.
"It will be fine, child... he is not alone." Jory said in a soft voice. "He will feel no pain, I promise."
They rode down the hill. Jory stopped the horse and waited for the others. Val felt the tears that had been brimming in her eyes, fall down her cheeks. She quickly wiped them with the back of her hands.
"Don't cry, little one... Lord Stark will not let harm come to you."
"I'm not crying!" she shouted in defiance.
Jory laughed a little. "Then why are you wiping your cheeks?"
"I... because..."
"Its fine, little one... I'll not tell anyone." He said and placed his arm around her so that she could hide her face against his chest.
"Promise?" she mumbled.
"Aye, I promise."
Valrode back to Winterfell with Jory, saying nothing, until she gasped when she saw the castle.
"Big isn't it." Jory said.
"Aye." She replied in astonishment.
The boys were watching her reaction, her wide grey eyes and open mouth, as she marvelled at the giant stone structure.
"Don't you have castles beyond the Wall?" the oldest boy, Theon asked her, mocking in his tone.
She looked at him. "No... Are all southern boys as stupid as you?"
Robb and Jory snickered, whilst Jon's eyes widened.
"You can't speak to me like that." Theon spat, looking insulted.
"I just did, fool." She answered.
Robb and Jory laughed out loud. Theon was about to protest, but Robb told him to leave her alone. Jon just stared at her. It was not long before she noticed him and got angry.
"What are you looking at?" she demanded.
Jon blushed slightly for a minute, before composing himself again. "Nothing." He answered, sounding bored.
"Then keep your eyes on the path ahead, or I'll blacken one for you." She said, never breaking eye contact.
Jory was fighting to hold in his laugh. Robb didn't bother. He laughed loudly and Theon followed. Jon blushed again and began to get angry.
"Enough." Ned said. "Do not forget that we have just been to an execution."
They all stopped laughing and focused on the road.
A few minutes later, they came across a dead wolf, so big, Ned declared it a direwolf. They stopped to look and noticed five pups around the carcass. Val jumped from the horse and picked up two of them, holding them close to her chest. When Ned said that they must be killed, Theon picked one up from the ground and drew his knife. The youngest boy, Bran begged his father not to kill them.
"Do you southerners have to kill everything that is innocent?" she asked, venom lacing her tone.
"They are dangerous." Ned replied, ignoring her insolence.
"We have animals much bigger than direwolves in the free lands and they can be tamed if treated well." She replied, looking at the pups and nuzzling them with her nose.
Ned relented and decided that they could take them back to Winterfell. As they were leaving they heard a soft cry and found another pup in the thick bush. Jon was told it was his, so he picked it up and they rode back to the castle.
Val was not happy to hand over the pups but they were taken from her and she was sent with the Septa, who bathed her and gave her some clothes. Lady Stark said that she could work for them and stay at Winterfell, although, she did not seem to like the brash little girl much.
At supper, Val was serving their dinner. When she walked in, the boys all looked up and stared at her. She was so different after she was bathed and given a dress. Her hair was clean and shining. It was golden blonde and her skin was a soft ivory. Her eyes were grey and her lips a pale red. She had bruises around the corner of her mouth, a small cut above her eye and a large bump protruding from her temple. She looked nervous for the first time, which was strange. She looked more nervous serving food than she had when surrounded by men earlier. The boys kept their eyes on her as she moved about. They tried to hide it, none so much as Jon, but she was very striking, even covered in bruises, and so strange and different from the girls they knew in Winterfell, and they could not help but wonder about her.
Robb, Jon and Theon were practicing swords in the yard the next day, as was their custom in the late morning. Ned Stark and the captain of his guards, Jory, looked on with two direwolf pups beside them. It was Jon's turn to shoot arrow. He took some time and positioned himself, but did not release the shot. He just stood, staring into the distance.
"Jon... take the shot." Robb said impatiently as he examined his fingernails.
"Ah... sorry." He replied before sending the arrow wide of the target board.
They all laughed.
"What's wrong with you, Snow?" Theon asked.
"Nothing." He replied, raising his eyes slightly to see if the girl was still collecting firewood.
Theon noticed his glance and looked in the same direction. The wildling girl was still there.
"Oh... looking at the savage girl, Snow? I think the Bastard's in love." He mocked.
"Shut up, Greyjoy!" Jon said angrily.
"She's pretty, for a wildling..." Theon said, still teasing him.
"Aye, she is, but she's... a bit..." Robb said, fumbling to find his words.
"Wild?" Theon added, looking at Robb as if he were stupid.
"Yeah." Robb laughed.
"Alright, back to training... enough looking at girls." Ned said laughing at Jory and rolling his eyes.
It was three days later when Theon shouted at her from across the yard, beckoning her over. When she was close, the two direwolf pups ran up to her and began to climb up her legs. She laughed and bent down to play with them. It was the first time she had smiled since coming to Winterfell, and Jon couldn't help but smile too. He began to blush as he noticed how pretty she looked when she laughed and relaxed her face. Robb noticed his brother's reaction and felt a strange pang of annoyance. Most people were scared of the pups, but Val played easily with them.
"Hey... girl, what is your name again?" Theon asked, interrupting her happiness, much to Jon's annoyance.
'"Val." She said quietly and looking at him suspiciously.
"Val... My Lord." Theon said.
She looked at him squarely, standing up. "What?"
Theon was taken aback. "You say, 'My Lord' when addressing your betters."
The girl looked at the ground momentarily and then asked, "What have you done that has made you my better?"
The boys all gasped.
"My father is the Lord of the Iron Islands..." he was about to continue but she cut him off.
"I did not ask who your father is ... I asked what you have done to call yourself my better?" she was looking at him, not with anger, but genuine questioning. She did not understand the southern ways yet.
Robb, Jon, Theon, Ned and his man Jory stared at her, wide eyed. They had never been questioned by a servant before.
"You cannot talk to me like that... I am a lord and you a servant." Theon said red-faced.
She moved to go away from them. She had work to do and wanted to finish. Theon shouted at her.
"You cannot leave... I have not given you permission."
"I thought you did not believe in slavery here." She directed the question to Ned.
He nodded his head. "We don't, but we have some ways of addressing Lords and Ladies... you will pick it up, I'm sure."
"I'm not sure I want too." She said. "It seems stupid to give someone a title when they did nothing more than be born." Her face was serious.
Robb wanted to laugh again, but kept silent. Theon was enraged and Jon shocked.
"It must seem that way to you, Val... but that is our custom and you should try and understand it."
She nodded. "Okay... I will... but I will never ask anyone for permission to walk away... especially not him." she nodded in Theon's direction, making Robb snicker loudly.
"Go on... finish your work." Ned said, and she went away.
Ned looked at Robb to reprimand him but he noticed that Jon and Jory were attempting to hide their laughing too, so he gave in and smiled along with them.