"Do you know when I am to marry him?" Rose dared to ask Robb as they walked the final length towards Winterfell. His family had rushed ahead but Robb had sensed that Rose was hesitant. She had looked up to Winterfell and slowed her horse down.
It was then when he helped her from the horse and told a squire to take their horses ahead. Rose had her hands in cloaks and she wondered if the Dreadfort had ever felt so cold to her before. She had slowed down her walking pace, but Robb had not complained. Theon had looked down to her and rolled his eyes before leaving her alone.
"No," Robb answered honestly, adjusting the gloves over his fingers. "But I suspect it will be soon. My father is only acting on the King's orders."
Robb continued to look over to her as she looked to the ground and he wondered what was running through her mind. He kept silent before he offered her his arm once they came across a puddle of mud in the middle of the road. She hesitantly took his arm as he took a long stride and avoided the mud, but he picked her up by the waist and helped to sweep her across. She nodded to him softly once he had aided her.
"Theon isn't as bad as you think," he promised her. "He's outspoken and he usually doesn't speak before he thinks."
"He's nothing to me," Rose promised Robb. "He came to my chamber and insulted me. He has done nothing but be rude to me since he met me."
"Well, you did decide to share another man's bed," Robb told her. "It isn't exactly the most ladylike thing to do when you have just been informed you are to marry another."
"Perhaps not," Rose whispered back. "But I..."
"You love him," Robb confirmed for her. "But Theon will love you eventually. He needs time to get to know you and you need to get to know him."
"He does not sound interested in knowing me," Rose muttered. "He sounds interested in teaching me how to be obedient and how to please him."
Robb didn't want to agree with her, but he couldn't help but think that she made sense.
"Everyone knows what I have done," Rose said. "I can hear them whispering about me. I can hear them call me a bastard's whore. Perhaps I was foolish for letting Ramsay take me. It has done no good like we had hoped."
"Did you honestly think that the King would care if you were a virgin or not?" Robb asked from her and she shrugged to him again.
"We had hoped," she spoke, "but it didn't work."
"And do you think that he will try to come back for you?" Robb dared to question her. "He would risk a lot if he did, but if he loves you...well...I don't know..."
"I don't want Ramsay to get into trouble," Rose shook her head back and forth. "But I do want to be with him...more than anything...I knew that I would have to marry some day, regardless of the fact that I am the daughter of a disgraced house. I just hoped that the match would have been more obvious."
"You do know that you don't have to be alone whilst you are here?" Robb checked with her. "I'll be your friend if you will allow it. Theon can be quite overbearing...but I'll try to help..."
"Thank you," Rose said appreciatively.
And she was thankful for Robb Stark. Perhaps he would be the only kind person to her.
...
Theon was fuming when he discovered the news. Rose's handmaiden had mentioned how the girl had not bled after a full month at Winterfell. Rose was simply grateful. She spent her days locked in her room, often asking for meals to be brought to her there instead of dining with her future husband or the Starks.
Lord Stark had tried to coax the girl out of her room and Lady Stark had sat on her bed and told her of her own marriage. She had gone to Rose a few times. Sometimes the girl would walk with her through the Godswood and other times she would say that she was too tired.
"Calm down, Theon," Lord Stark demanded from the young boy as they sat in the hall and Lord Stark told him the news. "We do not know what this means."
"Yes we do," Theon snapped. "But how is she pregnant? Roose Bolton gave her moon tea. I watched her choke on it!"
"It is often common for a woman to miss her moon's blood," Catelyn said as she remained seated next to her husband and Theon continued pacing. Robb stood in the corner, his hand holding his chin as he heard the news.
"Has her stomach swelled? Has she shown any signs?" Theon snapped. "I am to marry the harlot in less than two weeks!"
"I know," Lord Stark spoke. "But she may not be pregnant."
"There is one way to know," Robb spoke up. "You could ask her how she is feeling instead of jumping to conclusions."
"I'll go to her," Theon snapped. "The stupid whore-"
"-Enough," Robb interrupted Theon with a short snap. "You will never gain her affections if you keep on abusing her at every given moment. You have not said a kind word to her ever since we arrived here. She lost her innocence to another, but she is still a lady. You need to treat her as such."
"A lady?" Theon laughed lightly. "She should start acting like one if she wishes to be treated as one."
"Robb has a point," Catelyn spoke up. "She has done wrong, but you need to move past that if you are to be happy with her, Theon."
Catelyn didn't condemn Rose's actions, but she certainly did not think that Theon should be so cruel to her if she was to be his wife in the future. He should treat her with a bit more respect and in turn she might respect him too.
"She shall learn her place," Theon nodded, "once I have seen to her."
Theon stormed from the room and Robb followed him, trying to speak sense to him but failing miserably. He soon came to her chamber and slammed the door open to find her sat at her vanity, a brush in her hand as she tugged it through her hair. She noted Theon and Robb in her mirror before spinning herself around on the stool.
"Is it true?" Theon asked and Rose knew that the time had come.
She stood up and clasped her hands together.
"I have missed my moon's blood," she nodded. "I assume that you are speaking of that."
"And has there been any other symptoms?" Theon wondered and Rose sadly shook her head at him.
She had not felt anything, nor had her stomach swelled or her breasts grown tender. But she knew that there was still time.
Theon stormed over to her and shook her by the shoulders as she tried to prise him from her.
"And did you fuck him again?" Theon asked. "After you had the moon tea did you let him take you like a bitch in heat?"
"Get off of me!" Rose yelled as Robb grabbed Theon's shoulder and pulled him from Rose as she tumbled back to her bed once Theon had pushed her.
"Yes!" she finally yelled. "I let him fuck me again after you had been to me. I hoped that I would carry his bastard so that I could leave you. I don't want anything to do with you!"
"You little whore," Theon snarled and he pushed Robb from him and grabbed hold of Rose by her upper arms and sat her up on the bed before slapping her across the face. She tumbled from the bed to the floor, her arms outstretching as Theon took hold of her hair and began to pull on it.
"Theon!" Robb roared before his father and mother rushed into the chamber.
"This is foolish," Ned said as Catelyn knelt by Rose on the floor and took the girl into her arms. "You do not treat a lady in such a manner, Theon."
"She admitted to fucking the bastard after taking the moon tea," Theon yelled. "What did I do to deserve a whore for a bride? A woman who would rather waste away with a man like Ramsay Snow than with a true prince. I am no commoner."
"Then prove it," Robb demanded. "Rise above it and act like you should."
"I want the maester to check her," Theon demanded in a low voice as he tried to control his anger. "And if she is pregnant then I want the babe pulled from her stomach or I will personally see her back into Ramsay Snow's bed."
"Nothing would bring me greater pleasure," Rose snarled and Theon glowered before he stormed out of the room and Robb followed him. Lord Stark also went, knowing full well that he needed a maester.
Catelyn stood from the floor and helped Rose to her feet before looking down to the girl who was holding her stinging cheek tightly.
"Have you felt any symptoms relating to pregnancy?" Catelyn wondered, her tone short and curt as Rose sat down on her stool.
"No," Rose begrudgingly admitted. "I do not think that I am pregnant...I...you know, don't you?"
"After so many children I knew instantly," Catelyn admitted. "But your breasts look the same and you have not experienced morning sickness. It would be for the best if you were not pregnant...it would make things less complicated."
"And if I am?" Rose dared to ask.
"I do not know," Catelyn answered honestly. "It was foolish of you to let Ramsay have you again. Having a child is no easy feat and it should not be taken lightly. One day you shall be ready for children and they shall mean everything to you."
"And you believe Theon is the man I want to father my children?" Rose wondered.
"I think that you both need to learn to live together," Catelyn responded. "Marriage is not easy, but you can make it easier than this. You have done nothing but be cold to Theon since you arrived and he has nothing but insult you. You may not want this marriage, but you cannot stop it."
"I can try," Rose remained adamant before Maester Luwin suddenly appeared in the doorway.
Catelyn stood and nodded to Luwin before she looked at Rose and left the Maester to his work.
...
Ramsay received the news when he was about to go and seek out a serving wench to pleasure him for the evening. It was only when he received the letter did he sit down in the courtyard and clutch onto the piece of parchment.
My sweet Ramsay,
Words cannot express how much I have missed you, Ramsay. I have tried many of times to write to you, but Theon refused to send my letters. He has kept me under lock and key recently, but I have kept myself locked away ever since we arrived at Winterfell. Everything escalated when he discovered that we had made love before I had left. He questioned whether or not I was pregnant due to my lack of moon's blood. But I am not pregnant. Maester Luwin confirmed it. My marriage to Theon is due to take place in less than two week's time. I only hope that this letter reaches you before then. I know it is dangerous for you to come for me. You could risk everything and I do not want to see you hurt. I miss you terribly. Not a moment goes by when I do not think of you and our time at the Dreadfort. And then the reality of Winterfell comes back to me and the possibility of having to warm Theon's bed. I hope that Robb has sent this letter and you are reading it. I miss you truly, Ramsay, and Theon will never compare to you.
Yours forever,
Rose.
Ramsay screwed the letter up and threw it over his shoulder before standing up. She was not with child and she was due to marry Theon Greyjoy sooner than he had suspected. The mere thought of Theon Greyjoy taking her for his own brought anger to his veins. It was only then when he grabbed a girl he knew to be called Myranda. She seemed to have developed an obsession with him for some unbeknownst reason.
"Yes, m'lord?" she wondered with wide eyes and Ramsay continued to glare.
"You're to come to my chamber and not complain," he said and she nodded.
She had done this twice before now, and both times he had not called her by her name. It was always Rose when he climaxed. But she would make him see. She would have him speak her name and forget the little lady Rose. Besides, they truly were kindred spirits.
...
A/N: Thanks to everyone reading and I do hope that you will review!
