Hi guys! I'm sorry I'm a bit late, but I had a bit of trouble in my actual life that I couldn't ignore...

I thank you all for following me and taking the time to comment my work. I hope you still enjoy it.

Shade: thank you as always for taking the time to share your opinion! I do try to have as many scenes with Ned as possible. Arya's problem is a little bit more complicated than that... but Jealousy does have a thing to do with it. I hope you will like this chapter!

Anyway, I hope you will enjoy this chapter and I'll see you down there!

Chapter 7: Siblings

The second week of the Fifth month of the year 297 a.c

Winterfell

Lord Eddard Stark

Hm.

Familiar sight.

Ned dropped his arm on the flat of his sword and watched.

Kyria. Curled up on a flat stone. Looking at the pool. Ignorant of the world around her. All but the reflection the pool sent back to her. And Ned watched.

His heart squeezed inside his chest, as a powerful wave of bittersweet nostalgia crawled into his heart. As he looked at her, curled on her rock, half-hidden behind her hair, a book long forgotten on his laps, he let himself be carried away by his memories.

He could see her shrink before him, change into the little girl she used to be, with her thick braids and huge eyes, practicing her letters next to him, trying to be grown up and proper, while enjoying in her own way the peacefulness of the world around her.

She used to come here all the time. To play with Robb and Jon, or with Arya later. To seek him out. To explore on her own. For any reason, she could think of. Most of all, she was the only one coming to Godswood when she was upset. She had never been interested in the Faith in the Seven. Like all of their children Catelyn had introduced it to the girl when she was barely old enough to understand. Praying with the babies still in her arms. But Kyria had found the Godswood to be the place she needed in times of distress and confusion. Since the first time she toddled on it, she never again put a foot on Catelyn's Sept.

Kyria hated the thing she couldn't understand, and the Seven and their rules had always been a mystery to her. She used to be very vocal about her opinion on the subject and to this day he would still hear her protestations, while her mother and Septa tried to teach her the greatness of the Seven and their songs. She was adorable then. Whining and pouting her way out of the discussion.

"You used to spend a lot of time here when you were a girl." he said almost absentmindedly, " from the time you learned how to walk."

She looked up, her beautiful mother's eyes reflecting the light of the shy sun, and Ned allowed himself this moment.

"You never liked the Seven. Never saw the point of praying songs to have favors when you just had to run into the Godswood to pray to the Old Gods."

He smiled at her perplexed expression.

"You were there as often as you could. When you were upset we all knew where to find you. You would sit on that very rock you are right now, curl around yourself and watch the pool until someone comes looking for you."

She looked down at her hands, confused. Ned watched her, guilt gripping his heart. He couldn't help but blame himself for her was hard not to.

He knew there was very little he could have done. He wasn't there when she first fell and nothing would have been able to predict such a fate. But to see his child suffer every day with her memories, her place in their family…nothing compared to that.

The worth though, was this wall she seemed determined to build around herself and her pain, that separated her from the rest of them. He didn't know how to get past that. Nor did he want to force her into something she wasn't ready to confess. But he desperately wished he could help her. Ned always had a special relationship with his first daughter. He was never really at ease with the girls, they were too fragile for his overly large paws. But Kyria had been different. Seeking him out even when he avoided her for fear of saying or doing the wrong thing and potentially hurting her. He had this impression of sharing something special with her.

He hoped this would push her to explain what was bothering her. To talk to him. But she never did.

He had hoped she had finally opened up when Jon started to spend time with her.

He had heard every single argument about this development. How dangerous it was for Kyria's fragile mind to spend all this time with her bastard brother. How odd it was for them to spend all this time locked up in the tower. But he had welcomed the change. He had hoped that Jon's gentle nature would ease his daughter's worries.

Unfortunately, it was not to be. Which could explain why she was curled on her rock.

He did not know what happened. Robb and Jon were back at spending most of their time together. Arya was overjoyed to spend all her time shadowing them like she used to do, completely unaware of the long looks Kyria sometimes sent them. As for Sansa, she was stubbornly resolved in a strong silence that weighed on her big sister like a death sentence.

She was pouting.

Only Bran and Rickon were able to get close enough to their oldest sister to gain any kind of reaction. She was always kind to them and seemed to be especially inclined to the youngest with whom she spent most of her evenings.

Catelyn didn't seem to mind, only happy to have her girl away from "the bastard influence" but Ned was worried. It wasn't good for her to be all alone like that. Their last conversation was still clear in his mind.

Ned wished he could do something about the discord between his children. But there wasn't much he could do. Whatever was happening with his children, didn't concern him.

But then again, when one of his children came to him, who was he to refuse them his help?

"Well then, do you want to tell me?"

Kyria blushed and looked down.

She opened her mouth, closed it, and played with her hair. Ned didn't mind. He was a patient man.

"It's stupid."

Ned shook away his wayward thoughts. Now was not the time for introspections.

"How so?"

She huffed, frustrated.

"Everyone is mad at me."

Ned worked very hard not to show how adorable she looked to him. Pouting on her rock because she fought with her siblings. He knew he shouldn't, to her it was a tragedy and the importance of the moment shouldn't be ignored.

But she was adorable. And painfully young. To have such worries as the most dramatic things ever happening to you…

Ignoring everything about his line of thought, Kyria added:

"And I don't know how I'm supposed to face them now…" she confessed shyly.

"And why is that?"

"Because they are all mad at me!" she repeated, with intention, "And I was horrible and I did everything wrong and I drove everyone away and it was all my fault and-"

"Kyria."

She stopped. She took a deep breath and moved on her rock, gripping parts of her large skirt on her knees. Her big eyes shone with her worries.

"I feel… so stupid," she confessed in a squeaked whisper.

Ned frowned but already she was talking again.

"Robb, he wanted to help me and I didn't want to listen. I was selfish and I took Jon away from everyone else because he was helping me and now they all hate me and I hate myself for it and I don't know how I'm supposed to face them now…" her eyes were shiny and Ned had to look away to stop himself from grimacing.

He prayed to the gods she wouldn't start crying. He was useless to women's tears.

He stayed silent and waited for her to control her emotions and regain a calm, composed facial expression. She rubbed her face and looked down onto the pool.

"They are all mad at me now. Even Sansa."

"What happened with Sansa?" he dared ask.

She shrugged.

"When we talked I thought… there is so much she doesn't know yet. So much she is fooling herself with..." her voice faded in the soft wind who breezed through the high branches of the Godswood. "And I realized… Who am I to accuse her? To scold her like that while I-"

She struggled again, still.

"I was no better. I'm no better. Why should I scold my sister for acting exactly like I am, while fighting Robb when he dared accuse me of the same thing?"

The leaves whispered around them, and Ned watched one blood-red leaf go past him and floated around his daughter, as she kept on watching the pool.

"I don't know how I'm supposed to talk to any of them again."

Ned would have loved to roll his eyes. Such dramatics… How odd was it to suddenly realize how young she was still. He tried not to think of the time when those great tragedies will be nothing but fond childhood memories. The loss of their innocence was going to be an awful thing. For all of them. He hoped it'll come as late as possible. If ever.

"Kyria, you are young and there are a lot of things changing around you. No one can blame you for being emotional when so many things don't make sense anymore," he started, carefully measuring his words.

Kyria blinked her big blue eyes at him, and Ned's heart stopped as a single tear escaped one of them. She promptly wiped it off and looked away. Ned moved his sword safely against the trunk of the heart tree, and knelt, gripping one of her cheeks with his large hand.

He remembered the first time he held her. Right after the Rebellion. When everything was still so confusing for him. Having this little thing placed in his arms, with the knowledge that it would be his duty to protect her… The weight of it had been incredible. Far more than with Robb or even Jon. For this one was his daughter. His first daughter. His little girl to protect and shield from this world that killed babies for wars that did not make sense. For Power. For a chair made of swords.

He had been so scared to break her. He was still scared every time he held them close. Like now, her sweet face in his large hand.

"Kyria, no matter what happens between you and them, they are your siblings." he said solemnly, "Nothing will ever change that. When everyone else fails you, you will always be able to count on them. And I know they will be able to count on you too."

Kyria nodded and Ned allowed himself to pull his little girl closer, so her head was buried in his chest, and his own eyes away from the dangerous tears gathering in her eyes.

"If you fought, if you were wrong, or if they were wrong, nothing will move until you make the move to talk to them. You decide how you want to see it happen. You and your siblings. No one else should tell you how to love your family."

Kyria nodded and pressed her face against the leather of his doublet. He let her stay there, enjoying the peace growing in his heart, a gift his beloved Godswood and the weight of his child in his arms besotted upon him.

"How should I do that?" she asked softly. "How do I talk to them again? They won't let me approach."

Ned sighed, amused.

He knew his boys. Proud and as useless when confronted to their sisters as he was. Afraid of their tears and shivering anger. Robb in particular seemed utterly unable to deny them anything. Ned honestly couldn't say what was funnier. His proud firstborn shivering in fear confronted Arya's anger and very cunning revenge, him being completely powerless to Sansa's sweet voice and even sweeter eyes, or shrinking like a frightened turtle against Kyria's verbal bashings.

His poor distressed girl might not see it, but, just like her sisters, she had her brother wrapped around that pretty pinky finger.

"Maybe they are as scared as you to take the first step and talk to you." he offered with a smile.

Kyria blinked.

"Maybe you should show them the brave girl I know you are."

She looked up at him, and, after a moment, nodded slowly. Ned smiled and stroked her hair once. His eyes fell on the book still open in her laps and he sat back where he was before.

"Now what is this?" he asked gently.

Immediately, her face lightened. She promptly opened the book and started babbling excitedly about it. Ned listened patiently, basking in that privileged moment with her, as she shared her passion with him.

She stayed against his leg, her long hair pooling around his knee as she happily argued about the opinions of the book.

He wished he could have more moments like this.

The fifth day of the second week of the Fifth month of the year 297 a.c

Winterfell

Kyria Stark

She was ready.

She was going to do thought about it a lot. Who would be easier to talk to first, to start with.

It was an easy choice. Sad, maybe, but easy.

She waited for a quiet afternoon. Calm and peaceful. She took her time, walking around the entire keep. The place was large, even without counting the Godswood, around which the entire keep had been built over the thousand years since Brandon Stark thought about Winterfell for the first time.

It took hours to walk around every tower, every structure. The stables, the barns, the guest houses, the servant quarters, the Library Tower, the old keep, the broken Tower, the barracks...

It was like discovering it again every day. There was always a new corner to explore. A place, forgotten in the centuries. She would have gladly lost herself in another mindless wander around her home.

But she had a task to accomplish.

Finding Sansa around the keep was harder than she first thought. Surprisingly. She could not say if it was intentional or not. But if so, her little sister was more cunning than she gave her credit for.

Kyria was not sure how to feel about that…

It took close to an hour to find the girl.

She was in one of the Glassgardens. Under the Lemon trees. Father had ordered a little bench there for their mother when she was pregnant with one of them. Sansa probably. That girl loved her lemons.

The place was lovely, green, and lively, a nice change from the grey that surrounded the Keep most of the time. Or the white of the snow. As enchanting as Winterfell was, even Kyria couldn't call it colorful. She could understand why Sansa, fascinated with anything related to the South, would enjoy this place so much.

"Sansa?"

The younger girl jumped, gripping tightly the fabric between her hands. Her back stuffed like a wooden board, her head twitched, but she refused to look behind her.

"Can we talk?" Kyria asked.

The redhead bobbed after a short hesitation and Kyria took it as a yes. She took the time to sit next to her and arranged her skirt around her legs swiftly. Sansa had her eyes back on her hand, and Kyria guessed this conversation wouldn't be easy.

Easier than with one bullhead like Robb or Jon, who promised a massive headache when she would undeniably confront them, but still. Not easy.

"I wished… I wished to apologize." Kyria started slowly.

Sansa blinked at her hands. Kyria sighed. She wasn't going to make it easy was she?

In times like this, it was hard to miss the resemblance between her two little sisters. As opposed to they were in everything else, they shared this stubbornness. This desire to make people pay for any wrong done to them. The way might not be the same, but the need came from the exact same place.

"I shouldn't have talked to you like that. It was… inconsiderate of me."

Sansa nodded. Well.

"I am… not really feeling well recently and I- sometimes I wonder if I really have a place around you."

At least that caught her attention.

"And, the way you act, the way you pull yourself away from everyone else...I feel like I am trapped and when you talked about it with me it sounded so… Unfair."

"Unfair?" squeaked Sansa dropping all pretense of not listening.

"You have no reason to feel the way you do." said Kyria before the girl could protest, " You know them, have known them all your life, love them, are loved by them. There is nothing, nothing Sansa that can stop you from being their sister except yourself. I lost my memories, all the things we experienced together are lost forever to me. I don't feel like I will ever belong among them. Not the way you all belong together."

She had nothing to say. The girl blinked and looked down at her hands.

"But," she finally started, "I am not like them. They are always so… messy and loud and- and me I am not. I don't like playing in the mud or being outside or riding a horse or...It's not proper. A lady shouldn't do those things."

Kyria sighed and carefully chose her next words. She had messed up there last time. She couldn't do that again. As Father had advised, she took a deep breath and counted to five in her head.

" Sansa… Do you dislike all of this because it is something you feel or because you were told to dislike them to be a good lady? "

"But Septa Mordane said-"

"I know what Septa Mordane said." Kyria cut off before the younger girl could start ranting about everything Speta pushed into her little head. "And I know how much you listen to Sansa, but, tell me, don't you sometimes want to do things that Septa doesn't approve of? Don't you want to have fun? To do what you please without thinking of what Septa or even Mother would think of you?"

Sansa stayed silent for a moment. Her sister watched carefully as her face changed with her thought. The way her eyes blinked slowly. After a while, Kyria carried on, hoping her explanation would be heard this time.

She knew it would be hard for Sansa to hear what she wanted to say. She was Septa's shadow, listening to her and Mother's praise of the South and the life she would have once married to a handsome knight, or a good southern Lord. The contempt they often failed to hide over the wildness of the North and its tradition stuck like a nail poorly hitten in an overall perfect construction. Even Mother, whose marriage tied her to this culture couldn't seem to accept it completely. Let's not start with Septa who had no obligation beyond her faith and Lady Catelyn's children.

Mother was a tough subject when it concerned Sansa and Kyria didn't feel like she should even start to tackle it. Septa, however...

Sansa was always eager to gain Septa's approval, having the woman repeatedly said she was destined to be Queen didn't help. She needed to be careful in her approach to those beliefs. But even like that, it seemed easier to start there.

Father's councils were fresh in her mind. Think before you speak. Think of the words and the way you want the other to understand. This time she was determined to follow them until the end of this conversation.

"Courtesy is a lady's armor," she said, "I think those are the correct words?"

Sansa nodded.

"Septa Mordane says it a lot."

"Yes, she does indeed" agreed the oldest girl. "But, Sansa, I don't think she means you have to wear it all the time."

She bobbed her head to the side, confused.

"What do you mean?"

"Well I don't think armor is supposed to be worn every day of your life. Especially not when you are around family. Your courtesies are perfect. But they keep everyone away. I feel like you hide behind them. And I'm worried about that. This can't be healthy. This place may be the safest one for us in the entire Kingdom. Because it is our father's keep. Father protects us here."

Sansa nodded slowly.

"But Septa Mordane said-"

"I know," cut Kyria, "and I am not saying she is wrong. Being able to wear your courtesy, your manners like armor is a very important skill, Sansa. But you don't have to use it around your family. You can be yourself."

Sansa didn't answer. Kyria carried on.

"An armor is something you use to protect yourself. Why would you need such a thing around your family? We are here to protect you and cherish you. In the world we live in, at this moment, those people around us may be the only ones you can count on to treat you like that."

"Kyria don't be absurd! When I will marry-"

"Can you be sure your marriage will be a happy one?" cut Kyira, her patience over Sansa's rose-tinted vision of her future married life thinner than she expected. "Can you be absolutely certain that your husband or your husband's family won't hate you or despise you for one reason or another? Are you completely sure there won't be anyone in your husband's household who will wish you harm? Can you confirm this to me?"

Her little sister's eyes grew alarmingly shiny. Oh no. She wasn't going to cry now was she? That was against everything she had tried to do! She didn't want to make her cry, she wanted to make her understand!

Thankfully, for her state of mind mainly, she didn't. Her chin bobbled a little, her eyes blinked rapidly, but she stayed strong. Kyria felt oddly proud.

"I- I can't know."

Kyria nodded.

"Yes. You can't know. Which means you can't be sure it won't be like that."

Sansa nodded in the end.

"Being proper doesn't matter." added the oldest girl, "not with us. Maybe it will be easier for you if you drop your armor for a little while, don't you think? There is nothing wrong with being yourself Sansa."

Sansa didn't answer.

"No one will judge you if you do that. You grew up in this keep. Everyone saw you as a baby. They saw you toddle around, whine, cry and laugh. They couldn't be that shocked to see you act like the girl you still are, darling."

The girl looked lost and small on her bench under the Lemon tree. It seemed like Kyria was speaking an entirely new language. Like her mind resisted at Kyria's meanings. Which, given her passive nature and the way she had been raised didn't really surprise her.

Little Dove...

It was annoying. Kyria wanted to teach Sansa. She felt that need deep in her bones. But she couldn't force the girl.

"Do you think that I am a lady, Sansa?"

The question seemed to insult Sansa.

"Of course you are!"

She felt the smile play on her face. It was pleasing to hear. And flattering, from Sansa.

"Thank you, but you can not deny I am not acting like a proper lady all the time as you do."

And isn't that the truth?

Sansa blushed, her eyes lost in the space between them. Kyria waited for them to come back to her before carrying on with her line of thought.

"If I, while not acting like a lady every day can be considered as such, why couldn't you too?"

Sansa seemed conflicted.

"I-I don't want to be like Arya."

Oh. Oh my. Another bag of needles she didn't want to poke right now.

"How being yourself would make you look like Arya? You would be Sansa. That is all that you need to be."

"Just Sansa?"

Kyria nodded.

"Nothing else."

Sansa looked down at her hands again. Knuckles white from gripping the fabric too tightly.

The discussion ended there.

Kyria stayed next to her sister for a while, silently admiring the vibrant green of the plants around them. Then, she got up, and left Sansa to her reflections.

She was too nervous to stay in one place for so long. She knew this had been the easy part and what was awaiting her would in no way resemble what happened with the sweet Sansa.

For now, she had to go to her brothers….

It took her far too long to talk herself into confronting Robb and Jon. An entire day agonizing over a way to approach them. Was she supposed to talk first? Or to let them talk and wait for the perfect moment to- To what? She didn't even know what to say…

They haven't even looked in her direction since that day. How was she supposed to open a dialogue if they didn't even pay her any attention? She had pushed them away after all. It would be understandable if they didn't want to bother anymore with her problems.

No. She had decided. She needed to act on it. Father encouraged her. He was sure. She had to be the same.

As she quietly observed them both train in the yard, surrounded by soldiers, Theon and Ser Rodrick, she gathered all the courage she could manage, to take that final step that would allow her to come out of the shadows and into the yard. And the focus of everyone present.

She had been there for a while already. But she hesitated still. What if… Jon had been her main support since the day she revealed everything to him. What if all of this madness drove him away? What if it had nothing to do with that fight… She had been harsher to Robb than him after all and nothing had really indicated that he would leave her alone until he did. Or at least she didn't feel so. What if he just grew… tired.

She was spiraling into a full-blown panic when Jon's head turned. His dark eyes found her in her corner and she stopped breathing. He stopped Theon's sword with his own and turned around. It was impressive, and Theon looked furious to have been stopped while Jon wasn't even looking in his direction. The two of them argued for a bit. Then Robb came between them and talked too. She was too far to see the expressions on their faces or to hear what was said. The boys moved around a while, talking and making hand gestures in various directions. Then Theon left, followed by, Ser Rodrick, not long after. And both remaining boys looked in her direction. She expected something more but they kept talking, looking back at her from time to time. She didn't like that. She knew they were talking about her. It was obvious. It worried her. Part of her brain couldn't shake off the idea that they were bad-mouthing her. All her insecurities surfaced again, confronted with the idea that people were having a conversation about her without her. It couldn't be for good reasons.

Her heart was drumming in her chest as both boys looked at her again. Her feet were glued to the muddy floor and she had to hold on to the hard wall of the old keep to keep standing.

Finally, they moved. In her direction. Her leg shook. Were they going to talk to her? To walk away without a word? She couldn't say which one was worse.

"Kyria."

Her breath stopped. Talking to her then. Alright. Alright. She tried to pull herself back together. Chasing away the blinding panic inside her head. Deep breath. In and out. Alright. Alright, this was not what she had planned. But then again she had not planned that well to begin with.

Kyria swallowed nervously.

"Robb."

They looked at each other. Kyria's heart grew in her throat. Next to them, Jon looked tense and very uncomfortable. She tried not to fix any of them for too long. Things were awkward enough as they were.

" We are going for a ride this afternoon. Come with us."

Kyria blinked. Jon shifted awkwardly on his feet. Robb stubbornly kept looking into her eyes.

What? A ride?... That was it?

But-

...This was not what she expected. She couldn't say why but suddenly, she felt her entire face heat up embarrassingly. She looked down awkwardly and tried to make sense of all of this.

Why a ride? Why go outside the keep to have the conversation they knew they needed to have?

She thought about asking Robb. But she didn't have the courage. So she nodded and watched as his shoulders relaxed immediately. He opened his mouth. Closed it. Looked at Jon. Then back at her. His mouth twisted into an attempt of a smile and he left. Jon silent on his heels.

...A ride. Maybe they could talk then?

Kyria pushed her back against the wall, confused. She felt strange. Robbed somehow. She had expected...more when she finally talked to them. Not that. Anger, resentment, stubborn eyes judging her. Not...whatever that was.

Oddly it made her apprehend the afternoon even more than she had that morning.

She prepared for the ride in her room, changing her deep blue gown for something more practical. The dark brown wasn't as flattering for her complexion and made her look sickly, but at least it was comfortable. Well worn and warm. And with a skirt wide enough not to bother her legs while riding.

Jon and Robb waited for her in front of the stables, both of them holding the reins of their horses. As soon as she came close enough to distinguish more than their silhouettes, Kyria anxiously looked away. She didn't feel capable of looking at them right now. She was far too nervous for that. They didn't talk as she took her own horse from the stableboy who bowed to her.

Again, Robb moved first, Jon, apparently, content to merely follow his brother's lead. Not that she could blame him as she too, climbed her own mare at her brother's cue.

They walked through the front gates. The heavy drawbridge between the two massive walls was open. It was like this most of the time in Summer. Kyria had never seen it in any other way. She wondered how many men were needed to close it. The bloody thing must be heavy.

The horses stayed calm through the passage of the many people who visited the keep every day. Some looked at them with awe on their faces. It always made her a little bit uncomfortable. The utter respect those people had for her family. She could understand it when it came for Father or Mother, who were the Lord and Lady of the North. But for them… The only thing they had for them was the Stark name.

She wondered if she was the only one feeling the pressure of such a name on her shoulders. Sometimes she felt like she was. But thinking like that would have been a little bit egocentric to her taste. She had had enough of that for at least a few years.

Soon enough she heard the boy's horses running full gallop. She followed them, her eyes locked between the ears of her own mount.

The wind hit her face, awakening something inside her. It felt good to be on a horse again. She hadn't realized how much she needed that. She almost closed her eyes in the bliss of the ride. Her mare's strong muscles moved between her thighs. Carrying her confidently.

She expected, nay, awaited a conversation, but they remained silent, content to ride quietly under the cold wind of the day.

Too soon, the bliss of the experience faded in profit of the anxious energy that plagued her since she had decided she needed to talk to them.

Maybe she shouldn't have said yes. There clearly was no talking. Why did they even propose that ride? Away from the keep and from everything else? On paper, it was the best way to have a calm, quiet conversation. But what was the point if they didn't talk?

As she was busy torturing herself, one of her brother's horses trotted closer to her. She tensed immediately, her eyes still locked on the point between her horse's ears.

"I'm sorry," grunted Robb, before Kyria could spiral into another fit of panic.

She blinked. Robb grunted again, sounding very uncomfortable.

"I- Jon said he was helping you with something. Linked with your... memories. I shouldn't have been like that."

"Like what?" she asked numbly.

He paused.

"You shouldn't have to tell me anything. I shouldn't have insisted as I did. I don't know what it feels like to lose so much."

Kyria didn't understand everything that was happening. Why was he apologizing? Wasn't she the one who did wrong? Who pushed them away? She was confused…

"And I shouldn't have called you selfish when we talked," she spied his head moving from the corner of her eye, "It was… wrong. To talk to you like that. And you were right I wanted to know and-"

"Robb," she cut him.

Silence. His eyes were on her but she couldn't bring herself to look at him. This was surreal.

"I-I was wrong too, I know it. I shouldn't have pushed you all away like that. I wanted to... Or, I didn't want to talk about it and to-to to think about it."

She wondered if she should talk about it. The words were in her mouth, but she hesitated. From the corner of her eyes, she could almost see Jon's heavy cloak floating behind his back. The sight moved something inside her head. Kyria looked away.

She rubbed her head with a frown.

"I'm sorry too…" she said, finally.

Robb nodded slowly. He stopped his horse next to hers and grabbed her hand.

"I shouldn't have said all those things."

She nodded. She shouldn't have either.

"It's just-I- It's still difficult to... to remember that things are different. I was used to..to the way things were before... before."

She nodded.

"You were always telling me everything. Before. And I know you are different now. I know things are different and it's impossible to go back to how everything was before." Robb babbled, "I'm really sorry Kyria…"

She tried to smile. Hearing about her accident was always difficult. But she couldn't ignore it either. There had been a life for her before.

"I understand."

Robb smiled.

The tension was still strange between them, the weight of her secrets almost palpable. Jon's horse's hooves loud in front of them, hitting the dirt in rhythm. Why did he come with them if he insisted on ignoring her? Maybe he didn't want to talk to her. Maybe she didn't want to talk to him either.

This was too confusing. Her head started to hurt and she didn't feel strong enough to deal with Jon and the reasons he might have had to ignore her. Maybe it was her cowardice talking, but she didn't want to think about it.

Maybe Robb felt the heavy atmosphere, for soon enough he was clearing his throat, ready to talk again.

"Wanna race?"

Kyria blinked.

"Race?"

Where did that come from? Why?

"Why would we race?"

"Why not? See which one of us is faster on a horse."

The idea was strange. And forced. As forced as the cheerful tone in Robb's voice. But a race… The wind on her face, the freedom of the full speed of a horse… She never had the occasion to truly enjoy something like that. She was curious.

"Alright."

Before any of it could start to make sense to her, the horses were running, faster than she ever had been.

She blurted a laugh, intoxicated by the sheer freedom of it all. Her heart was loud in her chest, as she closed her eyes. It was amazing.

"Faster Kyria!" laughed Robb behind her.

She looked up, without thinking, finally allowing her eyes to find the large silhouette of her brothers.

Mistake.

KING IN THE NORTH

WE KNOW NO KING BUT THE KING IN THE NORTH WHOSE NAME IS STARK

KINGINTHENORTHKINGINTHENORTHKINGINTHENORTHKNGINTHENORTHKINGINTHENORTHKINGINTHENORTH

You lost the war the day you married her

He said I will follow the King in the North

Northnorthnorthnorthnorthnorthnorthnorthnorthnorthnorthnorthnorth

KING IN THE NORTH

"KYRIA!"

WhitewolfwhitewolfyoungwolfyoungwolfyoungwolfyoungwolfyoungwolfyoungwolfyoungwolfwhitewolfwhitewolfwhitewolfwhitewolfWHITEWOLFYOUNGWOLF

"Kyria!"

KING IN THE NORTH

Snow

Sand

Never been

My child of Ice and Fire

Promise me

"KYRIA!"

Mistake...

TBC.

NOTE: So, what do you think?

I kind of like this one. I really wanted to add a scene with Ned and Kyria. I love him and I feel like we don't see enough of them together. And it helps painting his character a bit more.

The scene with Sansa was hard to write. I tried to tone down Kyria's teaching/ranting she tend to do but I don't know if it was really successful...

What do you think? And Robb and Jon?

I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did ^^

I take this chance to remind you that I opened a discord server whose links follow. I hope to see some of you there.

/ecSvarzV

As I was a bit late this month you might end up with another chapter on the 30th of September! If I manage to do everything I want to do by then which I very well might. I hope.

Anyway, don't forget to comment, love and share this story around you if you want. Those are my only salary and I always enjoy talking with you about what you think of my work.

See you soon!