Newly Discovered Family Members

As soon as Robb was finally finished berating her behavior, going on and on of how it was unbecoming of a lady of her stature, Alynna excused herself without curtsy and immediately headed towards the infirmary quarters. She wasn't being maliciously stubborn; she just thought the whole argument to be quite hypocritical. Her whole life her brother had never once made so much as a single comment on her behavior, whether it had been appropriate or not. Both of her brothers had always taken her as she was; her more male seeming mannerisms included. And now all of a sudden seeing her comforting and helping some helpless wounded men was unacceptable. The irony of his argument didn't escape her. Two nights ago he asked her if she was ready to fight at this side. He had not seen any problem with that kind of behavior and yet when she showed signs of a woman's compassion and inherently nurturing nature, he disapproved.

Alynna had listened to all of this quietly as they walked towards the horses. Kept listening as she steered Midnight to follow his stallion and all the way back towards his tent. And then, only when they were finally alone with no one in hearing distance, she gave him a piece of her mind. She didn't yell or even raise her voice in the slightest but she told her twin in no uncertain terms that just because another woman got away with calling him out on the flaws in his plan, he wasn't allowed to take it out on her. She followed it up by reminding him that he'd been able to accept her as she was for seventeen years just as she'd accepted him. They were siblings, twins and if he kept berating her for simply being who she was then that would go a long way in destroying their bond.

That shut him up alright and Alynna took the opportunity to level one more expressionless look at him before she turned and left. Robb wouldn't have needed an expression to know she was hurt and offended. She would give him some time to calm down and come to his senses. She herself needed to get rid of her anger as well. She couldn't risk going off on her brother in anger in front of his command. No one in this camp needed to see the Stark family divided, in any way or more to the point; no one should see Robb chastised by a female, even if that female was family.

In the meantime she would make herself useful as she had before. Not necessarily to make a point to her brother but to try and save lives instead of taking them. The making of that point was just a nice side effect, or so she kept telling herself. But also, working in the infirmary kept her busy, too busy to think about the things that could keep her weighted down in grief.

When she arrived in the infirmary, she immediately sought out Talisa and started helping her as she had before, which consisted mainly of holding people down, lifting them down from the carts or retrieving supplies. Alynna didn't mind in the slightest as she was learning a great deal as well by just observing the healers go about their jobs. Her help was very warmly welcomed by everyone save for Maester Joseph, who couldn't help but send her disapproving glares whenever he was not otherwise occupied. He was in charge and was obviously worried what the King would say about letting his sister do such work.

She noticed a great many things about the administration of aid that went against her moral beliefs however. It seemed that the healers were very fast in declaring a patient a hopeless case. Most of those patients were left outside the tents, in the cold on their stretchers and as soon as they'd blown out their last breath they were thrown in yet another mass grave. Alynna thought that practice was an incredible waste of lives and unbecoming the price those men paid to aid Robb's cause. But then again, she had to admit begrudgingly that she was no healer and perhaps those men were truly beyond healing and that there were too many to do proper burials. Further, there were only so many healers who could only do so much. This was especially true for those who had very little time left if they were left to their own devices. The practical side of Alynna's Stark nature could understand that such sacrifices had to be made. Her emotional side that was still recovering from the blow it had been dealt by her father's death however ached for all those mothers, wives, children, brothers and sisters that would never see their family members again.

Alynna helped the whole day. She lifted weights the frailer healers couldn't, held men down and ran around trying to find things she didn't even know the names off. At twilight she was exhausted, hungry and grumpy, though she tried not to show how irritable her mood had become.

When the sun finally did set Alynna found herself outside with one of the soldiers Talisa had spent over half an hour trying to save. The boy had been lying in the cold ever since the battle before being treated because another healer had judged him not to be too grievously wounded. In Alynna's opinion that meant that the healer was either blind or stupid. The lad was lucky to be alive. His foot had been all but severed from the rest of his body and only the fact that he had been lying with his foot propped up on some case was the reason he was still alive, otherwise he would have bled to death.

"I'm surprised Lady Alynna. I'd not thought to find you here." Someone called out from behind her. Tiredly she shot a look behind her and huffed. Half the camp had passed through the infirmary today, if not because they themselves were wounded then to find a friend who was. Any one of those men could have told her brother about her whereabouts so for him to act all "surprised" was spiking her already frayed nerves so it was with true irritation that she shot her answer over her shoulder.

"Honestly brother, I'm in no mood to argue. Can we not just agree to disagree? And I'll not accept this Lady nonsense either!"

"I'm sorry to have offended you dearest niece but nevertheless I can't seem to be able to recall what we were disagreeing on." That same voice came back in quite an amusing tone.

At that Alynna's head whipped around and she took a good long look at the man. Immediately she saw that due to the dark and her haste she had made quite the mistake. This man was not Robb. His armor was much more refined and detailed and he carried himself with a flair that reminded her more of Theon than of Robb. When he approached and stepped into the light she could also see that he was at least ten years older. Alynna made one last check by feeling out her twin in her mind and found him on the other side of the camp.

Completely bewildered and quite flustered Alynna stood up and turned around fully. She tried to keep a blank face as she curtsied.

"My Lord, please forgive me. It has been a rather long day." She said while going over his words again in her mind. 'Niece?' She thought as her stunned mind once again began running at full speed. 'Must be some Tully relation...'

"Yes I can see that." The still unnamed Lord said as he looked her over in turn before he bowed to her. Alynna refused to show her embarrassment at her dress that had been light blue this morning but dark red and brown at night. As she said, it had been a very long day.

"I don't think we've ever been introduced Lord..." Alynna cautiously probed as she saw him straighten back up.

"Lord Edmure Tully of Riverrun, at your service my lady." The Lord smiled brilliantly "I believe I'm your uncle." At that Alynna nodded in return. She had of course heard of the man that was the acting Lord of Riverrun as his father – her grandfather – had been ill for quite a long time. The man that Robb looked like, or so her mother always said, and it seemed that in this case at least, she had been right for the resemblance was uncanny.

"Lady Alynna Stark of Winterfell." She copied him in his formality while she held up her hand to shake his as she'd always done with her uncle Benjen. Instead of shaking it though Lord Edmure turned it around and placed a kiss on it as was more appropriate when meeting a lady.

"I know. I'm afraid you couldn't be anything but a Stark, my lady. You look exactly like your father, or more accurately, your aunt." He said before his tone turned grave. "We were all very aggrieved to learn of the murder of Lord Eddard. I didn't know him very well, but he was a good man and I am very sorry for your loss." With that he gave her hand one last squeeze before her released it.

Even now Alynna's throat clammed up a bit at the mention of her father. She chalked it up to her exhaustion and the fact that this was one of the more heartfelt condolences she had heard so far. She struggled against the emotion for a moment, refusing to show her weakness. This man might be family but he was still a stranger and they were in a very public setting.

"You are most kind my lord." She forced out as her mother had taught her, giving a forced little smile to accompany it.

"Please call me uncle. Or better yet Edmure." Lord Edmure said, waving her words away as he did.

"Only if you'll call me Alynna." She said, sporting a true smile this time. Alynna decided she liked this charming man. He reminded her of Bran with his smile and his kindness. There was also something in her gut telling her she could trust this man, the same sort of feeling she had gotten from uncle Benjen though it was reduced now.

"Well now that the formalities are out of the way, perhaps you'll do me the honor of having a drink with me? The last time I saw you was when I was eight and you not yet a year old. I'm afraid we have a lot of catching up to do." Edmure remarked.

At that Alynna frowned a little and she looked around at the patients surrounding them. It was strange, now that she had taken up her self-assigned duties; she was reluctant to release them. However in that same moment her stomach betrayed her by growling, loudly.

"And some dinner I think." Her new uncle said, giving her a pointed look. "I'm sure the healers can spare you for the night as they are leaving themselves." With that he nodded to a small group of maesters who were indeed walking away.

"Very well then." Alynna sighed, picking up a cloth to wipe her hands with before she took her uncle's arm to let him escort her towards her tent.

"Wonderful!" Lord Edmure exclaimed with his everlasting smile "Now tell me dearest niece, what makes the mysterious Alynna Stark tick. Tell me everything!"

Author's note: This one is rather small, once again, but at least I managed to update sooner. Hope you like it, please let me know!