User: thefangirlingauthor Fandom: Game of Thrones
Natalie stood in the kitchen and watched the Stark children talked about the pups and fed them pieces of meat. It was just her and Robb watching over the children, Jon having escaped already to some other part of the castle with his own pup. She didn't have even a chance to ask him what had occurred on their way back to Winterfell that had placed him in a foul mood.
She watched as each of them named their pups, and at how long it took the small Rickon to get the confidence to even play with his pup. "He still young," Robb had said to her as he held his pup – which he named Grey Wind – in his arms. "He'll get used to him."
"I know. It's just he seems to be the only one with any worry about befriending a direwolf," Natalie laughed as she sidestepped the running pups and headed out of the kitchen, Robb placing down his pup and following her.
Once the two were out in the hall, away from the sounds of his brothers and sisters gleeful activities, Natalie shouldered off her cloak and folded it into her arms. The two of them then walked in silence down the hall, further and further from the sounds of laughter and further into the heart of the castle. It was a walk Natalie knew well, for she often spent that time searching out her friends in the castle. The Starks never minded her being in their household, as long as she respected it as if it were her own home.
As they passed a window, Natalie paused and saw that the sun was already ducking down and touching the outer wall. "I had best be getting back," she said with a soft smile while keeping her eyes casted out the window. "The septa my father hired to keep watch over me tends to get very… upset if I'm not back before dark."
After the war, Natalie's father went to serve the king in his King's Guard, leaving her and her mother in Winterfell. But when Natalie's mother died of a fever when she was still but a child, he had sent a Septa to Winterfell to watch over her. While the Septa was caring, and the Starks acted like an extended family to her, Natalie still wished that she had her father to care for her.
Robb shook his head and laughed slightly at Natalie's words. "And why is it that your father thinks someone should watch over you? Have you given him reason not to trust you again?" he asked playfully as the two continued walking down the hall. He was hinting at the many letters that the Septa sent to her father. She was always keeping a diary of how Natalie was growing and forming into a young lady. But she also told him the stories that weren't becoming, like when she, Jon, and Robb took horses out for a midnight ride, and promptly got themselves caught by the guards.
"Me? No," Natalie laughed in reply as she played with one of the edges of the cloak. "He doesn't trust the ideas of what might happen if someone doesn't keep a constant eye on me during the night."
There was a light laughter between the two, and then they continued walking in silence. Natalie had often wished that her father would stay in Winterfell for long enough to see that she wasn't a child who needed watching. But she accepted that he was only trying to protect her, and was grateful for the fact that he didn't have the septa follow her everywhere she went.
"What if your father had another option?" Robb asked as the two descended a short staircase that would take them back out into the streets of Winterfell. "So he didn't have to worry while he was away."
"And what are you implying?" Natalie asked with a playful smile. "Do you want to lock me up in a tower and throw away the key, like in the stories Old Nan tells Rickon?"
But Robb had lost his playful demeanor, and had a very serious – but gentle – look upon his face. With a sigh, he took the cloak from Natalie and wrapped it around her shoulders, taking care to gently remove her hair from under the cloak. He pushed the brown curls behind her ear, a gloved hand brushing her cheek.
"Robb," Natalie laughed nervously, her eyes fluttering everywhere except for his face.
He then took her hands in his, and Natalie couldn't remove her eyes from the sight. "I have known you for most of my life," Robb said, and she could tell that he was staring at her as he spoke. "And I wish to see your face every day."
Natalie's hands began to shake, and Robb gave a gentle and reassuring squeeze before putting a finger under her chin and raising her face so that her eyes met his. "Natalie, I have never met another woman who has been able to make me do something that I would never want to do, nor someone who makes me wonder what she's doing when I'm not with her. So will you do me the honor and marry me? Promise me before the gods – old and new – that you will stay with me?"
Every heart beat could be heard in Natalie's ears as she took quick, deep breaths. Marry Robb? He was her best friend, one of the few people who knew her better than anyone else. Could she love him the way that he loved her?
But when Natalie thought about where her heart belonged, she could never imagine a place that didn't have Robb with her. And when she wasn't with him, she wished she was. She had to admit it, she did love him.
So she nodded softly at first, her eyes still avoiding his. "Natalie?" Robb asked, a spark of hope in his voice.
Her hazel eyes met his steal blue ones, and a smile spread across her lips. "Yes," she finally answered, her voice light and all the nerves that were there before, gone. "I will. I promise."
