There was silence. No movement. No sound. Nothing. Long tense moments passed by slowly with neither woman moving until Amira dropped her hand from Jennisei's shoulder. Then, her mother stood and went back over to looking through her dresses. Her lack of words made Jennissei feel uncomfortable, possibly the most uncomfortable she ever felt. She would have rather been scolded, beat and screamed at by her mother than this. Now she felt awkward. Was it shock? Surprise? Shame? Speaking the truth had not brought her the comfort and support she had once hoped only seconds ago. But then again she had been stupid to think her mother would rejoice at the sound of having a first grandchild, born out of wedlock to her daughter of just ten and six and a man she would most likely never see again.
"The young Bolton." The words snapped Jennisei out of her upsetting gaze and she looked to her mother. Amira now had her jaw set in anger but she didn't know whether it was mostly towards her daughter or that boy. She knew he was trouble, she'd seen it in his cold eyes. He may have only been a few years older than Jennisei, but at one and nine he was already following his father. Now he had dishonoured her daughter, her only little girl who she still had high hopes for. But not now. The Gods obviously didn't have a steady life planned out for Jennisei. No man would take her now, no amount of gold would buy her a respectable husband.
"Yes." The younger woman replied, wiping away her tears before they had a chance to fall.
"When?" Jennisei felt the heat rise to her cheeks.
"The night of the feast, held for King Robert's claiming of the Iron Throne."
That had been very near the start of the Bolton's visit and, just by looking at her daughter, Amira knew they had ventured off into their own world more than once.
"Very well..." Her mother trailed off and folded a deep purple dress over her arm. Then their eyes met. Her mothers lifeless eyes meeting Jennisei's green orbs. They each saw their sadness reflected in the other and Amira sighed. A small amount of sympathy stabbed her gut for the poor girl but it did not over shadow the disappointment. "Go to Maester Jacobs now. Find out for sure."
"But what if the Maester-" Jennisei started but she was swiftly cut off by her mother. She had finally found the authority she had over her daughter and she was using it. This was not one of her stupid comments or games that she could ignore and worry about behind closed doors. This was real, this was serious and it would affect the image and workings of her family.
"Maester Jacobs is smart enough to keep this to himself." That was all she got as a reply to her worries so, without a second thought, Jennisei stood from the bed and walked out of her chambers.
It only took a mere second after Jennisei left, for Amira to start sobbing.
Jennisei slim bed the steps of the tower to get to the Maesters room, knocking hard three times when she finally approached the door. She heard a voice granting her permission before entering and pushing the door closed behind her.
"Lady Rosemyre...what may I do for you this evening?" The ageing man stood from behind his desk.
"My mother has sent me." Her normally strong voice, showing she could not be scared away was now quiet and submissive. It was like she had been skinned, scrubbed and hung out to dry. She had never pictured herself becoming this pathetic.
"Are you unwell My Lady?"
"Ye-" She began to reply to stopped herself. Was this classed as an illness? She hardly thought so, although this wasn't a condition she classed herself to be blessed with. "Erm, no, Maester." She paused and kicked at the floor with her boots. "I..I am afraid I may be with child. My mother sent me to you to make sure of it."
"I see..." He trailed off, eyes raking over the young girl, her stomach in particular. But he was careful as to not look judging, this was the young Lady of Deepwood Motte after all. "If you would please lie down My Lady."
Walking over to the small cot in the corner of the Maestors small room, she laying down stiffly and watched as the man came to stand over her. He felt her stomach gently, then her breasts while asking small questions about her last moon blood and how she'd been feeling the past couple of day. It didn't take long for the old man to hum to him self and take a step back, asking her to stand.
"Well My Lady, your thoughts were indeed correct." In that second her heart sunk to her feet, for her worst fears had just been concerned. There was a baby, well, the beginnings of a baby starting to grow within her. "I would say you are no more than a moon into bearing that child, with eight more to come at the most." He explained to her.
"You are sure of this?" She asked, almost on the verge of begging him to take back the words he had just spoken.
"Positive My Lady." He nodded and then returned to sit behind his desk. "I must advise you to not do anything too strenuous during this time My Lady. Such as long or heavy horse back riding, be careful when you ride and take rest. I would suggest not going near a sword or an arrow." Now she could practice cause of this babe. She could understand why but still...what was she meant to do? "Rest plenty My Lady, these next few moons are the most important." She nodded and then looked towards her feet.
"Thank you Maester."
"You're welcome child." Maester Jacobs smiled.
She took that as her cue to leave and fled the room, running down the steps of the tower and straight back to her chambers. The only time she stopped was right outside the door to her chambers as she remembered she'd left her mother there. Fear over took her and Jennisei's feet stayed planted in the narrow hallway for a log while before she pushed open the door.
Amira was still there,only now she was looking through cloaks, most likely deciding which were good enough to take with her to Winterfell. When she paid no attention to Jennisei even entering the room, she stood leaning against the door and cleared her throat. It was clear Amira had been buried in her own thoughts, as she jumped and swung her head around in surprise.
"Oh, Jennisei. Sorry, I was.." Amira trailed off, they both knew what she had been thinking about. "What did the Maester say?" Her tone was dull, no sense of love like there had been earlier.
"He said I was with child." She tried so hard not to break down in front of her mother. She wanted to prove to herself a de very one else that she was stronger than that. So instead Jennisei stood tall, although her frown did not move from her face. "One moon in, eight to go." She repeated his words easy.
He mother failed to speak for a long while and Jennisei was forced to stand there awkwardly. She didn't hold it against her mother, she was most likely trying to figure out a plan of how to deal with all of this. How were they to tell her father, he would be...angry was an understatement.
"Alright." He mother started and sat on the edge of Jennisei's bed before beckoning her to join her mother. "You must ride to The Dreadfort Jennsiei."
"Ride?" The young lady questioned. "Can I not send a raven?"
"No, it may get into the wrong hands and you want Roose Bolton to be the first to hear this news. I can picture the reaction of both him and his parents being better if it were to come from your own mouth." Amira explained, taking her daughters hand in her own. "Things will get difficult from this point Jennisei, I'm not going to lie to you about that." Her voice was soft, like a mothers should be. "When you begin to show, people will stare, people will whisper. But you will be a mother."
"But I don't want a child." Sounding like a child of five, her bottom lip pouted out.
"But you will, sooner than you think. And you have to be prepared. This child will be a bastard."
"I am aware of that mother." Jennisei spoke bitterly. She was not some niave girl, she knew just what the second name of her baby would be already. It would not match her own, it would be dirty and cold.
"They will receive looks, they will not be treated how a legitimate child would have been. But you will be their mother."
A sudden silence fell over the pair and Jennisei let out a long sigh.
"Are you ashamed of me mother?" She asked, twirling the loose strings of her worn tunic around her fingers.
"No, you could never shame me. But...I am disappointed for you Jennisei."
"For me?" Jennisei's face twisted in confusion as she faced Amira.
"Yes, I thought you were smarter than this sweetling. Now...everyone will have an opinion of you before they meet you. They will have an opinion of your son or daughter." Son or daughter. The words echoed in her head. She hadn't thought about the options, she didn't know which she would prefer. "It will be hard, try to prepare yourself. Love that child, because not many others will."
It hurt to hear her mother talk like that. Each word stung. Was she suggesting that she herself would not love her grand child? Jennisei didn't know, she could analyse it with everything else flying around her head like wild dragons.
"When do I travel to The Dreadfort?" She asked.
"You will ride there from Winterfell after our stay there. You will take some of our men. Then you will ride back to Deepwood Motte." Having no other option than to agree with the idea, Jennisei nodded but then looked up with eyes full of dread.
"When must we tell father about this?"
"Tonight." Amira noticed the fear cloud her daughters eyes and sighed, speaking up. "The sooner you tell him Jennisei, the sooner he shall except it and his temper will calm. You know he will not act rash, just be understanding that this is a difficult thing for a Nobel family. All the other house will judge us because of this and...just try to understand." She knew her mother was right, but Amira's words didn't really fill her with the confidence she needed to go up against her father.