FRACTURED MOONLIGHT ON THE SEA
In your eyes
Kaelyn saw Robb going from practicing with wooden swords in the yard, to practicing at being a lord with a real sword hanging from his hip. Theon was never far from his side and she had not spoken to him in a few days, still remembering the words of her father.
As for her father, they had crossed paths various times during the past days, but both of them always looked away, trying to ignore the other. Especially during dinner time, when they had to face each other, there was tension hanging in the air and even her mother and sister didn't dare to speak.
Bran had been making great progress with every day that passed. Kaelyn visited him daily and luckily his fever had not come back. He was regaining his strength and was now able to pull himself up in bed, even though he had lost all his feeling in his legs.
Lady Catelyn left yesterday to attend to some business, leaving the responsibility of Bran's health in the hands of Robb and Maester Luwin. Kaelyn had seen a crow carrying a message entering the castle and she could only imagine what news the bird had brought with him.
Softly Kaelyn opened the massive wooden door, not sure if Bran was sleeping or not. Seeing as she was getting quite familiar around the castle, the guards let her pass without any hesitation. Upon entering the chamber she noticed that Bran was awake and both Robb and Theon were sitting next to him, a concerned look on Robb's face.
"My lord" Kaelyn greeted when she saw her new lord of Winterfell.
When her eyes met with Theon's she could feel her cheeks turning red. This was the first time she had seen him since their last training session and she was not sure what to tell him about her absence.
"My lady" Robb replied, standing up. "I'll leave you to it."
Robb smiled at his little brother before heading towards the door, Theon following closely. When he passed her she could feel his hand softly brushing hers. His skin felt soft and raw against hers and she couldn't help but smile.
When she door closed behind Robb and Theon, Kaelyn let her eyes fall on Bran, who was patiently waiting for her to do her job.
"You like him, don't you?" Bran asked as Kaelyn approached him. His direwolf lay down next to Bran, protecting him from anything evil that might harm him.
"Who, my lord?" Kaelyn replied absent mindedly. There were still some cuts on Bran's arms and legs which needed treatment everyday.
"Theon" Bran said, raising his eyebrows curiously. Kaelyn took Bran's right arm and started removing some of the dried blood with a wet cloth. Maester Luwin had made her a herb-paste which she needed to put on the cuts everyday. She had read in one of the books that this paste would prevent the cuts from getting infected.
"Yes" Kaelyn replied honestly, focusing on her job. Bran had never flinched when she cleaned the cuts. The fall has made him strong. "How do you know, my lord?"
"I could see it in your eyes" Bran Stark said. "I could see it in his too."
The rest of the day Kaelyn helped her sister sewing. Her sister had laughed at her poor skills, but they both enjoyed each others company. Kaelyn always considered family important, even if she did not see eye to eye with her father all the time. She knew she would still give her life for him and he would do the same, even after their fight about Theon.
"Will you get the pork for dinner, please" her mother had asked her while preparing supper for tonigt.
Kaelyn could use some fresh air and told her mother yes. With the royal party gone, Winterfell seemed a lot more empty. Or maybe it was the absence of more than half of the Stark family, Kaelyn did not know.
As she passed down the courtyard she saw Theon standing across the yard, right next to where her father was busy forging new swords. Their eyes met and Kaelyn couldn't help herself, she had to tell him about the argument with her father. With her head she nodded towards an alley opposite of where she was standing, hoping they could talk without her father seeing them.
Kaelyn could hear Theon's footsteps following her as she went in the alley. It was dark and gloomy and if Theon wasn't not here she would never come her on her own.
"We have to talk" Kaelyn started, facing Theon. "My father found out about our training sessions…"
Theon lowered his eyes. "Do you want to stop training?"
Kaelyn shook her head. "No, it means we have to be more careful."
She wasn't entirely keen on sneaking around with him, but she had to admit it was kind of fun. They had to think of a way no one could link them together, which meant they had to ride separately to the Wolfswood with a lot of time between them.
Theon smiled, like he often did. "That will not be a problem."
"If you go to the Wolfswood right now, I can meet you in an hour" Kaelyn explained. "I'll take a different horse so it will be more difficult to recognize me."
Theon nodded, still smiling. "Then I'll see you soon."
Theon had almost turned around when Kaelyn suddenly remembred. "Theon!" she said, making him turn around to face her again, while retrieving something from her pocket. "I made this for you." She could feel her cheeks turning red as she handed him the little piece of needlework she had made earlier that day.
"It's supposed to be a kraken, but it looks more like a Tyrell rose" she said a bit shyly while studying her own work. She simply did not have the sewing skills her sister had and creating a kraken with golden thread had proven to be more difficult than she imagined.
"I love it" Theon said, accepting her horrible work. As Kaelyn studied his face she noticed he was genuinely happy she had given it to him, even if the mighty kraken did not look like a kraken at all.
"I'm glad you like it" Kaelyn smiled.
After picking up the pork and dropped it off, like she had promised, Kaelyn borrowed a horse from Theon to ride to the Wolfswood. He told her she could pick any horse she wanted, so finally she decided on a black gelding which made her blend in with the rest of Winterfell.
During her ride to the Wolfswood she encountered no one and as far as she knew nobody had seen her. Her father was probably back home, wondering where she was. Kaelyn pushed her thoughts away and made herself promise not to worry about him for the time being.
Theon was already waiting for her, his bow ready in his hand. Kaelyn jumped of her gelding and secured him to the tree next to Theon's horse. "Did anyone see you?" Theon asked her once she was near him.
"I don't think so" Kaelyn replied, taking the bow Theon handed to her.
"What am I supposed to aim at?" Kaelyn said, noticing the targets on the tree had smudged away due to the rain. She figured Theon would've painted new ones on the trees.
"Don't know, choose something" Theon replied, his voice a lot colder than normally.
Kaelyn raised her eyebrows. "But I need a target, do I not?"
"It doesn't matter. Just aim and shoot at something."
The coldness in his voice was making her uncomfortable, had she done something wrong? Did he think her gift was stupid? He seemed to like it, had he changed his mind?
"Did I do something wrong?" Kaelyn asked carefully, wanting to find out why his mood had suddenly changed.
"No" Theon replied. He did not face her but instead stared away into the Wolfswood. Kaelyn wondered what was going through his mind right now. She wondered what had made him so bitter all of a sudden.
Kaelyn bit her lip, guessing that was the only answer she was going to get. She placed the arrow in the bow and shot at random, if she did not aim anywhere in specific, she could not miss could she?
"How was that?" she asked, maybe a little more blunt than she had intended.
"Good" Theon said, keeping his distance. Normally he would've laughed at her and he would show her how she should do it properly. He would press himself against her and place his hands over hers. Today he didn't.
"No it was horrible" Kaelyn told him. "I didn't even aim for anything."
"It looked good to me." Theon replied, crossing his arms in front of his chest.
She couldn't take this. Earlier that day he had seemed so happy with her needlework and the way he acted right now was the complete opposite. Kaelyn could not remember a moment where she had not seen Theon smiling.
She dropped her bow on the ground and walked to Theon, making sure not the break eye contact with him. "There is something wrong" she started. "Please, tell me. I don't like seeing you like this."
"You wouldn't understand" Theon said frowning, his arms still crossed in front of his chest.
"I can try to understand" Kaelyn assured him. These past few days they had grown much more close to each other, she didn't want to throw it all away.
"Do you know what it's like to be a hostage?" Theon started to explain all of a sudden. "To live knowing you could be killed at any moment?"
Kaelyn had not expected this. She thought it was something she had done, but obviously his sudden feelings lied deeper than that. On the other hand she was glad he was trusting her enough to pour his heart out to her.
"And having the Imp tell you, you supposedly have turned lackey. You have turned into the squire of the enemy of my family. I never had a choice, my father gave me away!"
She didn't know how to reply. Kaelyn had always been lucky enough to have her family by her side, but Theon mostly grew up without his family. She never realized how hard it must've been for him.
"I'm sure he did not intend to offend you" Kaelyn tried.
"I'm sure he did" Theon replied harshly.
Kaelyn sighed softly and took both of his hands into her own hands. At first Theon was a bit hesitant, but eventually he removed his hands from his chest and let Kaelyn take them.
"Do you know what the problem is with people like the Lannisters? They need to insult others to make them feel better about themselves. They have no good qualities, but they wish they had. If the Imp's last name was not Lannister he would have been thrown off a cliff. He could only wish to be charming and strong and gentle like you. Someone like Tyrion is not worth it." Kaelyn explained. "But you are…"
A moment of silence fell and Kaelyn had to admit she never expected herself to say such things. For some reason she had grown protective over him. Everyone always jumped to conclusions when it came to Theon, he was often misunderstood. Kaelyn never knew why people always liked to remind Theon of his fathers rebellion, as it was clearly a subject he tried to avoid. Why they tried to remind him that he was a hostage, nothing more. Everyone needs someone around them who loves them, and Theon does not have anyone. The one thing she did know though was that everything she had told him, she had meant it.
"You really think I'm charming?" Theon smirked. That was exactly the answer Kaelyn had hoped for. He was smiling again and that made everything worth it.
"Maybe" she replied teasingly, letting go of his hands.
The second she let his hands go he moved them to the small of her back, pulling her more closely to him. "You are the first one who has been genuinely nice to me" Theon told her. "Nobody has ever made something for me before. Well, except the blacksmith in Winterfell who forges swords for me."
Kaelyn chuckled, feeling the butterflies in her stomach starting to flutter.
Suddenly Theon started to move his head closer to hers. The butterflies were uncontrollable and she couldn't help but to give in. She knew she wanted it as bad as he wanted it. She moved her hands to his neck, feeling the softness of it. It seemed as if time was slowed down and if it were up to Kaelyn, this moment could last forever.
Their lips moved closer to each and when they were just about to touch, Kaelyn heard a voice behind her.
"Theon?"
Kaelyn opened her eyes and sighed. As always her luck was not in her favor. Theon placed his head next to her and when he saw who was standing behind him, he quickly let go of her.
Kaelyn turned around to find Robb Stark waiting for them, his eyebrows raised and a playful smile on his face.
"My lord" Kaelyn greeted him, even after what he just saw, he was still her lord.
"Kaelyn" Robb replied, still smiling. "Theon, I need you to come with me."
"Of course" Theon said. "Same time, tomorrow?" He turned to Kaelyn, raising his eyebrows to await Kaelyn's answer.
Kaelyn looked past Theon to Robb. Her father did not know about her feelings towards Theon, he had already made it pretty clear what he thought about them as friends, let alone as something more.
"I will keep my mouth shut" Robb replied.
Kaelyn nodded gratefully. "Same time, same place" she then told Theon.
A/N: So I notice the chapters are getting shorter each time, I will try to make the next one longer! Of course Robb has to come in and ruin it ;) Better luck next time! Hopefully you enjoyed it and please review :)
