Stags and Wolves, part 2

Winterfell, a few days after the arrival of the royal party:

For sixteen-year old Brienne Tarth, it still did not always feel real to wear a true armour and a sword at her hip. But this was not a dream, the very armour and sword had been a gift from Princess Argella as a sign of accepting her, Brienne, the most unfeminine and least marriageable daughter of House Tarth, as her personal sworn sword.

"I was even knighted for real by the King himself before the journey to the North! An honor that I could never have dreamed about!"

Of course, Brienne had been told about the logic behind the choice, that she as a fellow woman would never be the reason behind any horrible rumours about the paternity of any future Stark heirs that Argella would bear Robb Stark in their marriage. But even if she had become the sworn sword of the oldest princess for mostly that reason, she still felt pride over the position.

"Bria! Bria!"

That small voice belonged to prince Aemon, and right at his side, even holding hands as if to avoid getting lost alone, was little Ronnel Arryn, the young Lord of the Vale because he had been an infant when the late Jon Arryn passed away.

"Yes, my young lords?"

Thanks to her training to become a knight at Storm's End, and especially the presence of young miss Shireen and Rhea Baratheon, the two daughters of Lord Stannis and Lady Selyse, Brienne was not completely lost in dealing with such young children.

"Can we...find a shield?" Aemon almost whispered, he did not talk much so it was rare for him to raise his voice.

"Playing in the snow!" Eorl added in in a slightly louder voice, helping Aemon to say the words that he seemed to struggle with. With such more exact details, Brienne realized that they meant a shield to use as an improvised sleigh.

"Of course! Let us see what we can find for you two," Brienne promised, joining Eorl and Aemon to the armoury to find a nice shield for them to use as the sleigh they wanted to play with. Soon the young boys were joined in the playing outdoors by prince Tommen and Bran Stark, while Rickon Stark remained in the nursery because the youngest child of Eddard and Catelyn was still only slightly less than a year old.

As Ned and Robert had brought their oldest children out on a hunt because of the fine weather, it seemed natural for them to let Robb and Argella ride together in yet another attempt to make them grow used to each other while they talked about other things the King and Lord Stark felt to be more "grown-up" stuff for adults. Lyonel and Sandor were not far behind, though, just in case.

"...and we should build more roads between the most important keeps and castles, to ensure that trade can move smoothly even in winter."

Argella had chosen to talk about what she and Lyonel had as plans for the future when their generation was fully grown adults, and how she intended to use her northern marriage to help her twin brother make at least a few of those plans come true. But for Robb, this sort of talk proved to be something he almost never had been thinking about, even in his lessons. He had never thought more deeply about how isolated the North was even since becoming one of the Seven Kingdoms, the low population compared to the south, and a lot of other details that honestly made the North look poor.

"Is all this really important?" he asked, hoping to not sound like an uneducated country bumpkin. In return, she looked at him as if that was the most stupid thing she ever had heard:

"Your own mother is a daughter of House Tully from the Riverlands, your maternal uncle and his children are of that House as well, and your Arryn cousins from Lady Lysa! Surely she must have told you something about the culture differences outside the whole thing with knights, the Faith and the Old Gods!?"

The longer the royal party stayed in Winterfell, the more Robb had been forced to realize that even if Lyonel and Argella was one year younger than himself, their education was almost superior to his own in several different subjects even if Lyonel was going to be King and his sister expecting the traditional role of being a wedded wife and mother. Like knowing what currently happened in the Free Cities of Essos according to the latest news, the ability to greet people in different languages to an acceptable level even if they did not speak the language fluently, how to charm people from different social classes...

"The world does not have the North as its center, Robb Stark. Nor can the same be said about Winterfell. You need to start to widen your views before you risk becoming known as narrow-minded by others," Lyonel added in as he joined his sister and the Stark heir after catching a hare with his falcon. The Crown prince had no idea why Eddard Stark had not fostered out his four older children to his bannermen, especially as Lord Stark himself had once been fostered in the Vale under the late Jon Arryn with their own father the King in their youth, but he could tell how this affected Robb in a manner that would risk to become harmful in some way, according to Holly.

"House Stark is several thousands years old and we ruled as Kings before the Conquest! The Baratheon is just an upstart House hailing from a bastard…!"

Of course, that childish outburst did not impress the royal twins much. Again their Lannister blood was hinted at, with what Argella responded in turn;

"Bla, bla, bla, my House is older than yours, Orys Baratheon is said to be the bastard brother of Visenya, Aegon and Rhaenys...stop repeating things that we already know from our lesson, mister dunderhead!"

The argument ended with Robb getting yet another taste of how the Baratheon twins would team up against a common enemy, in this case with the Stark heir ending up being chased over the snow-covered ground that their fathers failed to notice and instead mistook as a friendly race because of the distance.

~X~X~X~X~X~X

Up in the sewing chamber, a different scene was happening:

Overwatched by the septas Mordane, Holly and Rhoyne, the two Stark daughters would have a sewing and music lesson together with their female Arryn cousins and the two younger Princesses today. Even Beth Cassel and Jeyne Poole had been allowed to join, because they were friends with Sansa. But naturally, something unplanned had to happen.

"What a horrible thing to happen! To get your fingers squeezed in the closing door! It must hurt so much!"

Arya tried to follow along in the loud talking of her cousin Amanda, who tried to bandage her swollen fingers with a random piece of fabric from the small basket with smaller pieces of cloth left over from the rare times a new clothing would be sewn for someone in the Stark family, before any of the three septas arrived for the sewing lesson.

"Amanda, slow down your talking, you are talking too fast again," Celia warned her sister, but it was done in a kindly manner that she had been taught by Tirwald to help Amanda understand what she did wrong. After all, he had said that the Valar had "given her a different mindset" to remind mortals that not all of them would behave in the same manner as expected.

"Does it feel a little better?" Amanda asked Arya more slowly, and the younger Stark daughter nodded, hiding a grimace of pain when closing her hand out of a habit made to make herself keep the hand simply remain open for now before she got something from Maester Luwin to numb the pain. At least it was her non-dominant right hand that now was bandaged, so hopefully septa Mordane would not be able to scold her for a messed-up embroidery this time thanks to that Arya would finally be able to use her left hand.

Soon the sewing lesson had started, once all the girls and the septas had arrived. Lady Stark and her sister were somewhere else in the great castle, on the ground of spending time together because they had not met each other very often over the past thirteen years since their weddings.

"...and Prince Quentyn may not grow up to be handsome as an adult, but he is kind in personality and never treats anyone ill."

At some point, when Holly and Rhoyne had gone to bring some fresh drinks for them all, the conversation had somehow changed from talking about favorite animals, to the future that some of them already had gotten planned though their parents.

"That sounds promising. I do not remember him that well from their visit when the birth of Tommen was being celebrated, so it feels nice to know."

Thanks to Celia and Amanda, who had been visiting Sunspear at times and naturally let the oldest son of Oberyn Martell as a result, Elinor felt less worried about ending up in a bad marriage. She felt that a good personality was far more important in a husband than how he looked. But then Sansa asked something unexpected:

"What about your betrothed, Celia? Surely you must be looking forward to marrying him too when you have turned sixteen!"

In all fairness, the oldest Stark daughter honestly could not know about how innocently insensitive that comment actually was to her cousin, but according to what the Martells had seen of Harrold Hardyng though their water mirrors when checking how things went in the Vale, he kept speaking ill about Celia around his peers, mocking her nearsightedness alongside that Amanda "was a simpleton" that would never be married because no man wanted a dumb wife and openly saying that once Celia had given him a good number of sons in the marriage, she would find herself sent to a motherhouse for the rest of her life, unless she was "kind enough" to die quietly in childbirth.

"Miss Arryn?" septa Mordane asked when there was no direct answer. Looking up from her half-finished embroidery, and through her pince-nez, the blue eyes of Celia seemed to glare at Sansa for having the nerve to mention Harrold Hardyng.

"I would rather see Horrible Harrold forced to marry an old maid, from some family with a large brood of relatives, like the Freys."

Though they did not always get along, Arya was shocked over the response to what her sister had said. Sansa had only wanted to hear what Celia thought of her betrothed, even she could understand that!

"S..surely he can not be that bad, for you to call him such names!"

For Sansa, who was a romantic at heart even at this young age since she had turned nine years old mere months before, the vermonous voice Celia talked about Harrold Hardyng did not match her mental image of her favorite romantic stories and the general image of the marriage between her own parents. Why did her cousin seem so unhappy with the marriage match her late father had arranged for her before his death?

"He wants the Vale as the next Lord Arryn, and only wants the children that Celia might give him! Horrible Harry prays for the death of our brother, as Ronnel took the position of being the official heir to House Arryn away from him by being born!"

Thanks to the medallions they had gotten from Oberyn, everyone heard Amanda call Eorl by "Ronnel", the name he had gotten by Jon Arryn to honor his claimed uncle. But otherwise, she still spoke the blunt truth; that Eorl still being alive was the only thing blocking Harrold Hardyng from becoming the new Lord Arryn, with Celia as his unenthusiastic bride to unite the oldest daughter of Jon Arryn and the grandson of his sister Alys into one stronger blood claim to the Eyrie, House Arryn and the rule of the Vale.

"Yes! He is just like that damn old man who sired us, because he kept belittling Mother and complaining about us being failures, for being girls! Are your father muttering about you two like that in your presence, Sansa? Is he planning to marry you to someone, who only wants your claim to Winterfell that follows after your three brothers because you are the oldest daughter?"

Of course Arya, who had the Stark hot-bloodedness, rose to her horrified sister's defense when Sansa could not find any words to response:

"Father and Mother will find Sansa a brave Lord to marry, and they would never allow someone stupid come near her!"

Unfortunately, Arya also happened to touch the trauma button of Amanda now. By using the word "stupid", which Harrold had called her as well many bullies at the royal court in the Red Keep before Lysa moved her small family to Rohan, this broke the attempts to remember her social manners that Amanda often struggled with.

"Mother is right; you Starks are ignorant of anything outside your northern corner of the world! I hope that Argella will keep your idiot brother on a leash because he does not seem to know what it means to marry a Princess!"

"Miss Arryn, sit down and do not raise your voice like that…"

But Mordane found herself unable to stop the argument that broke out between the female Stark and Arryn cousins all suddenly:

Arya threw her wooden embroidery frame on Amanda, who changed forwards in return, and then the two six-year-olds were down on the floor, wrestling under loud screams of pain as they pulled on each other's braids.

"Get your hands off my sister, damn she-wolf!"

Handing over her pince-nez to the shocked Myrcella for safe-handling because she knew how angry Lysa and Tirwald would be if she broke it, Celia joined the fight to help Amanda. In this way, the two Arryn sisters were indirectly showing how different the upbringing of girls in Rohan would be compared to Westeros, even for those of noble families. If they could not defend themselves against enemies verbally, then they were allowed to use their fists and feet. After all, if future shieldmaidens did not know how to defend themselves without weapons, then they were not welcomed to join the female warriors.

"Mother...Mother, help! Celia and Amanda are assaulting Arya!" Sansa screamed for Catelyn in the hope that her mother and aunt were somewhere close to the sewing chamber, not knowing what to do in this situation. Mordane tried to separate the three girls on the floor, but a closed fist on the mouth from Celia put a stop on that attempt.

"Lady Stark! Lady Arryn!"

Elinor had tried to focus on her sewing, but now got annoyed by the loud screams not far from her seat. Taking some inspiration from her kingly father when he would break up a fist fight between idiotic squires, she raised her voice and indirectly used the distantly inherited magic from House Martell though Myriah Martell:

"QUIT THIS NONSENSE, RIGHT NOW!"

For Ceila and Amanda, who were not unfamiliar with someone yelling at them in that manner, they stopped immediately, and Rhoyne, who had arrived in that moment, hurried to drag her two changes away though a firm hold in the back of their dresses while Sansa saw in horror that Arya had gotten a bleeding lip and a nasty black eye.

"Care to explain this?" Rhoyne asked in a stern voice, and the two Arryn daughters looked a little shamed over their behavior. Without doubt, their mother would hear about this.

"Sansa mentioned Horrible Harrold, septa, and Celia did not want to talk about him. Or that our brother is the only obstacle to him becoming Lord Arryn."

Rhoyne was not surprised, Lysa had expressed some fear that a situation like this would happen. If only they found a legal way to break the betrothal between Harold and Celia, things would be calmer, but now…

"Go and change into more work-suited clothing, then help the stable grooms clean out the stables. After that is done, you will care for, water and feed the horses for the King, Lord Stark, his heir and the royal twins when they come back."

It might look like a horrible punishment with actual physical labor for Sansa and the other girls in the sewing chamber, but Celia and Amanda were used to help out with the horses and stables at the large farm which Tirwald and his family owned. So for them, it was finally something normal for them to do here.

"Feel welcome to take Harrold as your future bridegroom if you now desire to be promised in marriage already so much, cousin Sansa. I do not want him, not now, or ever," Celia spat over her shoulder, taking back the pince-nez as she and Amanda left.

When Catelyn and Lysa arrived to see what all the previous screaming was about, the younger Tully sister basically exploded from long-depressed anger towards septa Mordane when the older woman tried to paint Celia and Amanda as the trouble-makers.

"Same cursed thing as you did at Riverrun with us, Mordane! You would always praise Catelyn for being perfect in the lessons, and then scold me when I failed to do things in the same manner! Of course you are doing the same with Sansa and Arya, right? The oldest one becoming a real little lady, while the younger one struggles in the lessons!"

For Catelyn, who already was horrified over the injuries that Arya had suffered in the fist fight, the accusations against their old governess came out of nowhere.

"Lysa, this is not the fault of Mordane. Rather, your own septa should have been here to keep your daughters under control and not letting the argument happen in the first place. How are you allowing them to be raised in Dorne…"

"To not be passive victims of violence in various forms and ill words against themselves!" Lysa snapped, not being in the mood for Catelyn to try scolding her like a mother just like in their youth before marriage, "I was sold like a fucking broodmare to a twice-widowed man older than Father himself, Catelyn, while you got blessed in a fruitful marriage with the younger brother of your original betrothed! For a decade, I was chained by laws and customs to a horrible man who desired a son from my womb, rather than the two daughters I was first blessed with! You have no fucking idea how lucky you are, to have three healthy sons and two daughters that will attract suitors from far and wide in a few years! Your oldest son is about to marry a royal princess, even! My poor Celia is trapped in a unwanted betrothal to a boy that are kin by blood to Jon Arryn because he did not care for her happiness, and Amanda will be forced to take her place by the side of Harrold Hardyng at the altar if Celia dies before the marriage!"

Rhoyne kept quiet, knowing that Lysa needed to get this rant out of her system. It was an inner anger growing with each year from her early childhood, and risked to poison her if she allowed it to feaster.

"Lysa, please…"

But Catelyn did not get to say anything, before her sister started again;

"Shelter your own daughters from the world outside Winterfell as much as you want, Catelyn, but it will not last forever! Soon, they will find out that there are real wolves out there, ready to tear them apart because they do not know how to defend themselves against the very dangers that are humankind!"

Sansa and Arya stared in horror as their aunt was ranting against their mother. What was she talking about? Why did she not admit that her daughters had been in the wrong to act as they did earlier?

Then, with a cold glare against Catelyn that promised her that this argument was not over yet, Lysa stormed out from the sewing chamber and Rhoyne followed in significantly more calm pace, though not without a few cutting words of her own:

"House Stark is already not having the best reputation down in the South because of Lyanna Stark, the sister of your husband, Lady Stark. The mystery about her disappearance with the Targaryen Prince, and the memory of how she acted at Harrendal, has already coloured how certain people already believe your daughters to be in personality, even though they have never been south of the Neck."

Hearing this, one of her worst unspoken fears because of how it would affect Sansa and Arya in their chances for a good marriage, made Catelyn collapse to her knees in horror. She needed to talk with Ned about this, as soon as possible when he came to her bed tonight.

~X~X~X~X~X~X

Unaware of the drama between his four nieces and sisters because the sewing chamber was in a different part of Winterfell, Edmure had to smile at the sight as Eorl and prince Aemon showed up in the Great Hall, covered from head to toe in powder snow.

"Enjoying the snow, boys?" he asked, then requested a maid to bring two wooden cups of warm milk for them so they would not freeze after being outside for closer to two hours of daylight.

"Very fun, uncca 'Mure!" Eorl smiled behind his knitted scarf, which covered the lower half of his face and only his eyes peeking out in the gap between the scarf and hood. If it looked like Lysa had covered up her son in fear of him getting sick after a long day outside, so was it nothing against Aemon and all his clothing that was needed because of his sickly health, since he could become bedridden for days if he got really ill.

"Alright, get indoors now."

Guided by Brienne behind them so she did not miss anyone, Bran and Tommen also came back indoors, trying to shake off as much snow as possible from their layers of clothing against the cold. It may be summer for several years now, but the North was still cold compared to the much further south.

"Sounds like a good day for you youngsters, then."

Looking down on the half-finished letter to Lyneese in front of him at the table, Edmure knew that she would be pleased by what he was writing. After some talk with a few of the present northern nobles that had arrived to Winterfell to meet King Robert, and showing her paintings of their Frey wards so they could see what was being offered, no less than two betrothals had hopefully been made and would soon be official by a betrothal contract:

The late Walter Frey's fifth daughter Roslin Frey to Jon Umber, the heir to House Umber of the Last Hearth, and his granddaughters, the sisters Amerei Frey to Harrion Karstark and Walda Frey to Wendel Manderly, the second son of Wyman Manderly.

"Now we only need to find a match for Tyta as well, but it is harder for her since she is already in her twenties and she is not exactly known for being a widow after a short marriage either…."

Edmure felt a little sorry for her, but Tyta had said to him before this journey north that she was fine by working as a lady-in-waiting for Lynesse at Riverrun if she did not catch a suitor willing to marry her, as long as her younger half-sisters and nieces found good marriages. Noble brides being young at their first marriage were the norm in Westeros, after all.

~X~X~X~X~X~X

Author note: About Robb, Argella and Lyonel not getting along for now despite the hopes of Ned and Robert; they are all preteens with theit own personalities and interests that can crash sometimes, and are still in a age where the opposite sex is not particularly interesting. Just because Robb is going to be Argella's eventual husband and brother-in-law to Lyonel, does not mean that they will be friends at once

I headcanon that Amanda's Asperger's syndrome and similar signs of autism may be explained in Middle-earth as that the Valar and Eru tries to make every mortal different

In RL, the earliest form of eyewear for which any archaeological record exists comes from the middle of the 15th century. I close to give Celia a set of pince-nez, because that seems to be a style fitting Dorne

Some of the Frey girls marrying into Northern Houses within the coming years? Yes, I imagine that with Edmure and Lyneese now having some of the Frey girls as their wards, it is their duty to find them a good marriage match if possible, and I tried to choose northern heirs that are mentioned as unmarried in canon. Besides, the fruitfulness of House Frey would likely be important for Houses that hope for many children, given that the North is less populated than the rest of Westeros