Maya had her head in her hands as she looked into the distance of the Narrow Sea.
"You look sad," someone stated from behind her. Maya turned around to the voice and saw a tall man who had thin eyebrows, the blackest eyes she'd ever seen along with a sharp nose. His hair was so lustrous and black with only a few silver streaks and recedes from his brow into a widow's peak. She knew that Jaime was the only handsome man she'd ever come across, but this man could beat Jaime in the game.
"I'm thinking, but perhaps that mught be strange for a woman to do where you come from," she quipped. The black haired man smiled charmingly.
"Actually, we praise women with thoughts," he replied. "I thrive on women who know what it means to be violent."
Maya chuckled and raised an eyebrow. "So you like women who are smart and can throw a punch to a man who thinks her stupid, huh?"
He pretended to think about the subject. "Very much so. It makes life interesting. What were you thinking about?"
"Why love is so hard? Why can't you just fall in love then be happy for the rest of your life without family problems and ex-lovers getting in the way of it?"
He nodded. "That would be true happiness. Love is such a delicate thing, my lady. For fools, it only takes a second, but for cautious people, it takes years-decades even. Perhaps it is because they don't want to get hurt. Love can scorn anyone, no matter how powerful or rich you are. It burns just the same."
Maya frowned. "It shouldn't have to be."
"You can try to change it, but it will still come to pass," he said. "So, Maya Stark, what has the Great Jaime Lannister done to upset you?"
Maya had a shocked expression on her face as she turned to him with a cautious expression. "How do you know me?"
"Who doesn't know of you. I like the way you fight everyone, I've seen the way you are," he explained. "It's quite entertaining to watch them struggle to win whatever fight they are in with you. So what has the Kingslayer done?"
She scoffed. "Don't call him that. Jaime is...his family...it's just complicated. I give up I suppose. How can I fight walls? I'll break my hands if I did."
"You'll get hurt, but you will break them," he confessed. "The Starks are a tenacious house."
"Who are you?" she asked curiously, moving away from him.
He smirked and moved a curl from her face and put it behind her ear. "Oberyn Martell and this won't be the last time you see me, Maya."
Maya gazed down at the dagger that Oberyn gave her just before his death, her fingers treaded lightly over her engraved name on the blade. She still held it close to her now more than ever.
Jaime and Maya arrived at the cave shaped like a mouth. As Maya took a step forward, Jaime's hand shot out to grip her arm as he questioned, "Why do you need to know? We can turn around and go back to Winterfell. We don't need to know about the future. I mean what happens when we do then we will probably set that very future we fear into motion somehow...Maya, please-"
Maya shook her head, cutting him off tensely, "I am doing this for Leo's future. They told of my death, but not of my family's or your's, Jaime. What happens to them all? I need to know so that I can save them."
"That's what I'm trying to tell you, Rose. What if your knowledge of the future is exactly what puts it in motion? Sets the entire thing in stone. What if it only hurts everyone instead of saving them," Jaime explained curiously as he looked into her worried eyes. "Cersei became insane with paranoia when that witch told her, her own future! I don't want to lose my family."
"Neither do I," Maya reminded him. "But I have to know."
"I love you, but I can't do this," Jaime said softly as he gazed into the eyes of his lovely wife which held a sea of endless darkness. "I want to follow you, but this path is death."
"I never took you for a man who's frightened of a challenge."
"I'm not, but even I know when to cut my loses and go the other way, Rose," Jaime snapped.
Maya pulled her arm away and strode into the cave. After a moment, she thought that Jaime wasn't going to follow her, but no sooner had she thought those words did she heard his footsteps. She smiled in victory and kissed his lips hard.
"I love you."
He rolled his eyes. "The things I do for love."
Maya hit his chest before they walked further into the cave. It was both cold and hot at the same time as they passed rocks and bones of both animals and humans. They came to an opening which was no more than fifty feet high and Maya wondered how long they walked for. She took a glance behind her and saw only darkness and not the light of the sun to the cave. There was green moss all over the rocks with vines encircling the entire cave and everything inside of it.
When Maya turned around, she wasn't in the cave anymore. She was somewhere much darker and colder. Jaime was gone as well. She frantically called out his name, but her voice was silent. Maya walked forward and saw the roots of a tree she supposed coming into the ground and spread throughout the cave.
A body encased in ice sat in the middle as she heard an echo, "Hold the door!"
She found nothing in the cave. She moved forward to touch the roots of the tree, but then a cry pushed her backwards into the ground. There perched on the roots was a raven with three eyes, it cawed at her wildly when the wind blew past her. She shivered as she turned around. At the entrance, something stood staring at her. She saw eyes as blue as ice, whatever it was, it was tall and gaunt with flesh pale as milk, there were spikes coming out of its head. The thing wore some kind of armor as it came closer to her and she knew in her gut that this was a white walker. It's dead appearance haunted her as she crawled slowly away when it came closer.
She dared not move her eyes away from the thing even as she felt her back hit the roots of the tree. Maya gulped nervously as she looked into the ice-blue eyes, the thing raised its hand and she felt ice come from the ground wrapping itself around her wrists.
Her breath quickened as it bent down to its knees and the raised arm spread its fingers out as it touched her stomach. Maya's entire body stood frozen, the air was so cold it hurt for her to breathe, like a knife inside of her chest twisting slowly.
It spoke to her, but its voice sounded like cracking ice as it moved away from her. The ice began to melt around her wrists. Maya turned her head to the side and knitted her eyebrows in confusion as she saw Leo sitting on the ground.
"No," she screamed. "Don't touch him!"
"Maya!" Jaime's voice came through.
"Maya!" She heard Bran's voice scream at her somewhere.
Maya gasped as she awoke to Jaime leaning over her. She quickly hugged him tightly as she let out heavy breaths, seeing her breath come out in puffs of heat. Jaime held her as she sobbed into his chest, "I saw him...he's real. We have to go back!"
"What?"
"That thing touched me! He's after Leo, Bran was there-Jaime, he'll kill us all!"
Jaime shook his wife a little. "Maya, who are you talking about?"
They heard someone state with a raspy voice, "She's talking about The Night's King, Kingslayer."
At the end of the cave stood Catelyn Stark with clawed out eyes, a cut throat, and the Brotherhood Without Banners by her side as they surrounded them. The woman standing in front of them looked nothing like Catelyn Stark for she had skin as pale as snow and haunting eyes, her hair white and barely hanging onto her head.
Jaime unsheathed his sword as Maya gazed up at her mother. "Impossible."
She ran to her, hugging her mother tightly. "You're alive," she breathed and felt fingers at her back.
Catelyn returned the hug for a moment before she caught Jaime's eyes then she pushed away from her daughter. "No thanks to him."
Maya shook her head. "What? Mama, please, it was not Jaime's fault. He tried to stop it."
She heard a struggled scoff come from her mother, she covered her slit throat with her hand as she spoke hatefully, "He started it. He killed our family! You traitor...you stand there...happily...as his wife and lover...how could you."
"He's changed," she insisted. "Ever since our son was born, he's different. I can see that and so can the rest of your children! Mama, please, don't do this. I know what happened-"
"You know nothing!" Catelyn screamed at her causing her to have a coughing fit. "How could you?! Your brothers and father are dead!"
"Bran and Arya are still alive!" Maya revealed as they saw the men starting to come in closer to them with their swords and arrows. "Rickon's death was Ramsay Bolton's fault and even then, I took out vengeance on them along with Jon and Sansa."
"Yet you...won't let me...do the same," she huffed angrily as she gripped her throat, her eyes full of hatred that would forever haunt Maya and Jaime. "My family is gone-"
"YOUR FAMILY IS STILL ALIVE," Maya screamed back at her mother, her fury causing everyone to take a step back. "We took back everything, Mother! We have the North behind us! If you so much as hurt Jaime, Jon and Sansa will kill you for taking away Leo's father! I WILL KILL YOU! I don't want to, but I will."
After a moment of silence, Catelyn muttered, "Kill them. The both of them."
"Mother!"
"Catelyn, please," Jaime snapped at the woman. "This is your daughter, seven hells! You really want to kill her?!"
"She's dead," her mother whispered. "Catelyn Stark is dead. My name is Lady Stoneheart."
Once she said those words, Maya struck down a man who tried to stab her in the side. Jaime quickly began to try to fight the rest of them off as they tried to corner the two of them. Maya kicked a couple of them away as she grabbed her dagger and slashed their throats left and right. Jaime grunted as he held them off for as long as he could before his left hand became a problem.
Maya and Jaime heard war cries as they turned to the entrance of the cave when they were forced to the ground. Malakhi stabbed his sword into two of the men from the Brotherhood that were holding down Jaime as they beat him repeatedly. He smirked and held his hand out, pulling him up.
"What's wrong? Tired already?"
Jaime pushed him away, stating, "Never, old friend."
Maya watched with stunned eyes as her little sister, Arya danced around the men, swiftly killing each and every one of them with her sword and her Needle in each of her hands. She grabbed her sister and pulled her up, telling her, "No time for explanations. We need to leave."
"There are more coming," Malakhi added. "We cannot take on an entire army."
They all ran out of the cave where they saw a large group of men running towards them. Arya and Malakhi ran to the horses as Maya and Jaime followed behind them. Malakhi and Arya took one horse as Maya and Jane took the other, riding away from the arrows and men behind them.
Maya looked behind and saw Nymeria running behind them as she dodged arrows and took down men who were close enough to fire at them. She and Arya smirked as Winter came beside Nymeria, helping guide the Starks safely away from the men.
"Friends of yours," Jaime asked Malakhi as he noticed Lannister banners in the distance.
Malakhi grinned. "Of the sorts. This way to Winterfell. They won't follow us."
"He won't stop crying," Sansa stated as she strode into the Great Hall where her brother was along with the rest of them, she tried to rock him.
"What happened?" Jone asked tensely, standing up and walking over to her.
"I don't know. He was sleeping then he woke up screaming and this on his arm," Sansa retold as she lifted up Leo's arm and there was a blue spot around his tiny arm. She kissed his head and tried to calm him. "Tell me what's wrong."
Brienne watched as the boy lifted his arm with tears in his eyes and pointed to the picture on top of the table. She walked over and held it closer as her eyes widened. Tormund grabbed the book and held it the boy's face. "You mean this, lad? A white walker. He saw it, Jon."
Jon shook his head. "That's impossible."
Tormund pointed to his arm. "Then how did that happen? It touched him."
"That's ridiculous," Sansa stated and held Leo closer to her.
"What's going to happen then? Will he...become like them supposedly." Davos asked as they surveyed the boy.
Tormund shook his head. "I don't know, but whatever it is, it's not good. It's very bad."
Leo stopped crying and gazed at the drawing of the white walker, Sansa pushed back his curly blonde hair.
"My lord," a scout yelled as he came running into the room.
"What is it?" Jon asked.
He took a deep breath as he explained, "Sightings from the west at Dragonstone say that there is a large fleet coming towards us. This came from a raven just now. It bears the Targaryen seal."
Suddenly, a distanced screech in the sky caught their ears as they all gathered to the window, seeing the flapping of green and bronze wings coming towards them. They all stood still as Jon commanded, "Do not move. No one is to hurt it. Don't make a sound."
The dragon flew over Winterfell and Leo lifted his arm in the air, waving at it. Sansa shoved his hand down quickly as to not draw attention to themselves. Jon watched as the dragon passed over them, he swore that it looked straight at them before moving further into The North.
Once it was out of sight, Jon commanded, "Hand me the letter."
Jon opened up the letter and read over the note as Sansa questioned, "What does she want? What does it say, Jon?"
"Daenerys Targaryen is demanding all the Northern lords to ride to Dragonstone. She wants to parlay."
"We cannot refuse someone with three dragons, can we," Davos stated.
Jon sighed and then commanded, "Ser Davos, we ride for Dragonstone on the morrow."
TBC…
THANK YOU FOR THE REVIEWS, FOLLOWS, AND FAVORITES! I'm so sorry for being super late with this story and so I tried to give you guys a long chapter, but don't worry because I do have the other chapter already planned out which is funny because this chapter was never supposed to happen. I was looking back through the story and noticed that I didn't explain some things or left ends loose and I was freaking out because I was wondering why I didn't include them so that took an entire chapter. I'm excited for the white walkers to come because the Night's King not only touched Maya, but Leo too.
This is literally setting up everything in my story into motion. I'm excited. Next chapter: Maya and Co. arrive at Winterfell
I hoped you guys liked this chapter.
REVIEW. FOLLOW. FAVORITE. Until next time...