"I brought you snow." Kailasa's nurse told her the next morning, bringing in a bowl of it.
Kailasa groaned, wanting to sleep more. "It's time for sleep."
"Take off your corset and lay on your stomach." Rebecca told her. "You can go to sleep like that. Your back is bothering you, is it not?"
Kailasa nodded, sighing as she sat up and started undoing her corset with clumsy fingers.
Rebecca looked over the girl, and decided not to comment on the bruise on the side of her neck just yet. She just closed her eyes and sighed.
Kailasa flung the corset to the side, and took a towel to lay down on the bed before she laid on top of it, her back fully exposed.
Rebecca pulled up the blankets of the bed to try to keep her legs warm while her back would be cooled significantly. She laid another towel over Kailasa's back, before putting the snow on her back. Kailasa flinched away from the cold of the snow.
"It smells like herbs." Kailasa said softly.
"It has evergreen, bay laurel, lavender, and peppermint in it. To help with the pain and inflammation."
"I like peppermint." Kailasa said softly, sounding like she was falling back to sleep.
"I know you do." Rebecca smiled, sitting on the bed beside her as she smoothed it over her. "How was the party?"
"Good." Kailasa whispered. "A girl called me a whore."
"And what did you reply?"
"That she didn't have breasts." Kailasa said. "I know some girls are really sensitive about that."
"And who in front of?"
"Robb."
"I'm sure she appreciated that."
"He waited until we walked away to start laughing."
"And Jon?"
"We weren't able to spend too much time together." Kailasa said, her voice going lower. "It seems Lady Cat is trying to stack the odds in Robb's favor."
"I take it the bruise on your neck is from him, then."
"No." Kailasa said.
"Jon?"
"He came to say goodnight." She whispered, hiding her face in her arms.
"Of course he did." Her nurse said, standing and putting the bowl on the night stand. "I heard the servants talking, you know. The silver lady who held every man's eye, though no one would go near because there was always a man on her arm."
"As if they said that. I take it they said I was on theirs."
"Yes, but I know better. You have never been on anyone's arm. They have always been on yours."
XXX
"You think you're good with a sword?" Robb asked, flipping a wooden sword, and catching it by it's "blade" and holding the hilt towards her.
"No." Kailasa said. "I'm terrible. My brother always knocked me on my ass. I haven't picked up a sword in such a long time."
"I promise to go easy on you."
Kailasa licked the corner of her lips for a second, before taking a thin strip of leather from her wrist and putting it between her teeth before gathering her hair on the back of her head and tying it up with the piece of leather. She took the wooden sword.
"You realize that it is a possibility that we will both be bruised by this."
"Do you bruise easily, my lady?" He teased.
"Perhaps." She teased back. "And when I have black and blue covering my skin, I will blame you."
Robb laughed. "I would never hurt you."
"I guess we'll see." She replied, tossing the wooden sword between her hands, feeling its weight. "I was taught with a Bravosi sword. They're much lighter than this." She held up the wooden sword in her hand.
"Do you have your own sword?" Robb asked.
"No." She said. "Bow and arrows are my weapon of choice."
"That I know."
Her wrist flicked forward, her arm darting out with it, catching him by surprise as she hit his arm lightly.
"Hey, cheater." He said, knocking her sword away as he laughed.
Kailasa grinned. "My brother and I always fought dirty." She said. "It's the only way I know how."
"You like to fight dirty, then." Robb said, his wooden sword hitting hers lightly.
"Always." Kailasa said, as he blocked another light hit from him. She knew that he was just playing with her.
They spared for a moment, both holding back from what they could do with the blade, but slowly it became more and more competitive. Kailasa was slowed down by her dress, the skirt sometimes caught around her ankles, making her movements less free than she wanted to be. Their hits became a bit harder, and it became more like a dance between the two.
Of course when Kailasa blocked him, he grabbed her other arm and pulled on her in such a way that her back was pressed to his front, and his wooden sword was at her neck.
"I win." He whispered in her ear.
"I told you I wasn't a swordsmen." She said, trying to pull away lightly, but he stopped her.
"But you are a warrior, are you not?" He asked.
Kailasa thought for a moment, looking for a way out of this position. Looking for a way to win. "Yes." She decided, bringing her elbow back, and hitting him in the stomach, making him release her as he coughed.
"Cheater!"
"I never said I fought fair!" She replied, her wooden sword at his throat. "I win."
"You cheated."
"If I called myself a pirate would that make you feel better?" Kailasa asked. "I'm already a sailor, I could easily cross over."
"And be an outlaw?" Robb asked. "No, I couldn't see it."
"I'd be the fiercest pirate captain the world has ever seen." Kailasa announced. "They would say my name in fear."
"I am sure people already say your name in fear." He said, hitting her sword with his lightly. "Did you here Kailasa Merrin is coming to town? We better hide away the men or they will be following her with a face like a hound."
Kailasa laughed. "I doubt that anyone would say that."
"Women will fear their husbands will leave them for you." Robb continued. "Men will be afraid that they will not be able to have you."
"No one will ever have me but me." Kailasa said, knocking her sword against his.
"So you never want to get married?" Robb asked.
"I never said that." Kailasa replied. "I just don't think because you're married you should be owned by someone." She tapped her sword against his. "Mostly when they're arranged. Suddenly you're owned by a stranger. It's archaic."
"It's happened for thousands of years." Robb replied. "It doesn't seem to be stopping anytime soon."
"But it should." Kailasa replied. "And as I said, archaic."
"And you think things have changed?"
"You must go to Dorne someday, Robb." Kailasa said. "Things are better there than they are here."
"How?"
"In all the ways I like." Kailasa replied. "While here it is bastards that are frowned upon, in Dorne rape is. Things that are actually harmful are stopped as much as they can. You can be of low or high birth and speak without being asked why you are speaking. Women can lead and even rank higher than men. It is never the eldest son that gets their parents' wealth, but the eldest child no matter the sex."
"Is that how you became who you are?"
"I have been bouncing back and forth from there and Goldenbirth since my brother's marriage. It is who I became who I am, and I am glad for it." Kailasa said.
"It sure has made you different from anyone I've ever met." He said, twisting his sword around hers in such a way that he was able to get it from her grip, sending it to the ground.
"I told you I wasn't good." Kailasa said, bending down to pick up the sword.
"I wouldn't want to own you." Robb told her. "And even if I did, I would want you to have as much of a hold over me as I do on you."
Kailasa smiled slightly, raising her sword. "Shall we go again?"
XXX
"Come on, let's go by the pond." Robb said, pulling her away from the castle by her hand. He was very much trying to occupy all of her time.
"Hey, Kailasa, where have you been?" Jon called, walking up to her. "Do you want to go see the hot springs under Winterfell?"
"She saw those months ago." Robb told his brother. "And we were just about to go to the pond."
"Wait, did I ever agree to that?" Kailasa asked.
Jon gestured to Kailasa. "So which do you want to do?"
"Well, I was just going to go sleep for a bit, I didn't get much sleep last night." She told them.
"Why not?" Jon asked. "Are you okay?"
"Nightmares." She said simply, and it wasn't a lie. She hadn't slept much. She kept dreaming of storms. Great ones. Dangerous ones. Ones that could tear homes apart. Ones her mother would hold her as she slept during when she was a child. Ones that could frighten her to this day.
"What about?" Jon asked.
"Storms." She answered simply, backing away. "See you both later." And then she turned and walked away.
"I think she knows what we're doing." Jon said when she was out of earshot.
"And what are we doing?" Robb asked.
"Obviously we are trying to keep her away from the other." Jon said. "And she sees it too."
"What's your solution for this, then?"
"I don't have one. Neither of us are going to back off." Jon replied simply. "Maybe we could not make it so obvious?"
"Well, we were going to the pond until you came out."
"Yeah, but either way I am sure she would have gone inside." Jon told him. "She does what she wants."
"Yeah, I know that."
XXX
Kailasa wanted to roll her eyes at the brothers. But she knew it was at least partly her fault. She needed to choose. And she needed to choose quickly, and she already knew who she wanted to choose. She just wanted to make sure that he wanted her too.
But she was terrified of what that would entail. She couldn't even imagine making a choice that would shape the rest of her life. What if she would regret her choice? What if she didn't regret her choice? Both terrified her.
But many things terrified her.
XXX
Kailasa pushed Jon against the pillows. Her body above his, her legs straddling his hips. She held his wrists in one hand above his head while her hand drifted down to untie his shirt as they kissed. He lifted his hips to meet hers through their clothing. She could feel how hard he was. She could feel how much he wanted her.
Kailasa's lips left his to kiss his neck, wanting to leave the same mark he had left on her.
"Do you enjoy teasing me, wife?" Jon asked, thrusting his hips against hers as he slipped one of his wrists out of her grip, and slid it under her dress, and slipped it beneath her small clothes. "I would never tease you."
Kailasa hummed happily as he slid his fingers over her, pulling away to look in his dark eyes. "I love you." She kissed him.
"Kailasa, wake up." Said his voice, making her open her eyes.
"Hmm?" She looked around. Jon was kneeling next to her, shaking her arm that held a book against her chest.
"You were having a nightmare."
Yeah, a nightmare. She almost wanted to laugh. "And you're my knight in shining armor." She teased, sitting up. "What is wrong with me? It is not even nighttime and I am falling asleep."
"What were you reading?" Jon asked, sitting beside her.
"Just a fairytale that follows my family name." Kailasa told him. "It is said my ancestors came out of the ocean, that some of us have tails instead of legs."
"And who wrote it?"
"My mother." Kailasa told him. "When she was ill she took it upon herself to hear every version of the tale and write down one with the best of the stories. She made a copy and another for my brother."
"And you brought it with you here?"
"I bring it everywhere." She answered.
"Will you read it to me?" He asked.
Kailasa smiled. "Sure." She curled her knees under her and leant against him, flipping the pages until she arrived at the beginning. "Back in the time of the first men..."
XXX
"Kailasa?" Jon asked softly one night when he sought her out. She was in her room writing her letters to her family like she did every turn of the moon. Afterwards she would go to sleep, and Jon planned on being the last person she would see before she closed her eyes.
"Yes, love?" Kailasa asked as she wrote a letter to Meara.
"Are you going to ever choose between Robb and me?" Jon asked her.
Kailasa paused with her quill in the ink. "Yes."
"It's not going to turn out well for me, is it?"
Kailasa looked up at him. "Who do you think I am, Jon?"
"I think you're a highborn girl that could find anyone with so much to offer." Jon replied.
"And what do you think I want from you?" She asked him.
"I have no idea." Jon told her honestly.
"And what do you see in me? Am I just some girl who has showed interest and you just enjoy the attention?" Kailasa asked.
"No. Never." Jon told her. "There's so much more to you than that." He paused. "I...I love you."
Kailasa froze as if turned to ice. "What?"
"I love you." That wasn't exactly the reaction she was hoping for.
She turned to him, almost in shock. "I..."
Jon waited as she paused after just beginning her sentence. Her lips were moving, but there was no sound coming out.
"Fuck, I'm bad at this." She finally groaned as she stood up, and took two steps over to him. "But actions always speak louder than words." She took his face in her hands, and kissed him, crawling onto his lap in such a way that her knees were on either side of his hips.
Yeah. She knew she would be making the right choice when she would choose him. She had known she would choose him for quite some time now...as least subconsciously. She gravitated towards him. She sought him out as much as he did her. A natural pull towards the other that happened without meaning to. Something she didn't even know she wanted until it happened.
Kailasa pulled away, leaning her forehead against his. "Gods." She sighed. "Yes. I love you. I choose you. Please tell me that you choose me too."
"Even if a thousand soldiers stood between us they would not keep me from you." He said. "Only you would be able to get rid of me."
"I doubt that would ever happen." She whispered, their eyes staring into each other deeply.
"So you want to marry me, then?" He asked, almost teasing her.
"Is that you asking?" She challenged. "I hoped for something a little better than that."
"Oh? And what exactly did you want?"
Kailasa smiled, running her fingers through his hair. "I wanted something like this." She sat back on his knees, and took his much larger hands in hers. "Jon Snow. I know that we aren't in a story where we will live without conflict, and are always happily in love. I know that we will fight and we will get angry with each other, and at some points may even want to never see each other again. But I also know that if I do not ask you this, I will regret it for the rest of my life. Will you marry me?"
Jon was speechless for a second before he took her hands in his. "Kailasa Merrin. I know that we are not in a story in one of your books. We will fight and we may hate each other for moments. But I also know that every fight we have will only make us stronger together. I know that even when you are cross with me, or when I am cross with you, I will never stop loving you. I will always love you. I am already yours, so please tell me that you will be mine. Marry me?"
Kailasa looked up for a moment, unable to stop the tears from appearing in her eyes. "Yes. Gods, yes." She kissed him again.
XXX
It was storming in the dead of night when someone came to the door of Winterfell. They banged on the doors until a servant finally answered.
"I have come to collect Kailasa Merrin." A man with black hair and blue eyes said. "Her father is on his deathbed. Tell her he sent Captain Jones to bring her home."
A/N:
Autumn 98: Yes, she does. How did you know? Thanks for the review/question!
Finlee: It is going to have an interesting ending, I'll tell you that. Thank you for your review!
I love damon Salvatore girl: Here you go? lol. Thanks for your review!
Usedmemories: Thank you so much! Well, it's going to be said soon, I promise! Thank you for your review!
gallowsCalibrator92: I think I changed that, but please tell me if I didn't! Thank you for your review!
Music Box Physicist: Thank you! Thank you for your review!
xxxRena: Yeah, a bit. Sisters do that, though. Haha. Thank you for your review!
Guest: I plan on finishing it, don't worry! Thank you for you review!
Guest #2: I think I fixed that (or to me it looks like I did). Sorry for the mistake! I was trying to fix something in the chapter and it went a bit wonky!
Please review!
Kat