Sunlight was in her eyes and people were talking in hushed voices. It was cold, so cold. Burying her head deeper into her blankets she searched for warmth until she heard Brandon's voice and felt a different cold. Something was wrong.
Opening her eyes Alora saw she was in her room at the keep with its two person bed, a chest of clothes, and a table. The voices coming from outside of the door were hushed as if trying not to be overheard. But she knew her brother and that was the tone he used when something terrible had happened.
Realizing she was too weak to sit up she gathered her courage and called, "Brandon." The other voices stopped and he stepped into the room.
His smile was concerned and his clothes were far more rumbled than usual, plus his hair and beard were a mess as if hands had just stopped running through them. But the warmth was the same as he asked, "What is Little Winterfell?"
Looking at him, "I know somethings wrong." Then her hand fell to her stomach, her flat stomach. Tears welled in her eyes as she almost whimpered, "Brandon…"
Almost before she had finished the word he had her wrapped in a hug and leaning against him in tired defeat, "Yes honey." His voice was gentle and he was stroking her hair, "When you collapsed you lost the baby and nearly died." She sobbed into him and he kissed her brow, "I'm here."
Alora later learned that they stayed like that for over an hour before she spoke again, "How..." Swallowing to clear the lump in her throat, "How long was I unconscious?"
Brandon was silent as he fluffed pillows and gently laid her back on them, "Your fever broke two days ago." She could sense there was more and looked at him expectantly. Finally he laid a hand on her shoulder, "You fell six days before that."
She nodded numbly, no wonder he looked so worn. Swallowing, she realized something, "Have you heard from Efan?" She was almost scared to ask the question.
The look on his face told her before he spoke. It was the same look from when they buried their mother, "His men wrote me." Swallowing, "He was captured on the day that you collapsed."
Nodding again she looked over at her husband's side of the bed, how could she stay in this room without him. Quietly she asked, "Did they find a body?"
Brandon reached out and took Aloras hand where her fingers were twisting into the furs on the bed, "No little one." Tears slid silently down his nose, "They found no sign of him."
Both siblings hugged each other again, crying quietly. Laloren came in with a tray holding broth and some wine but set it on the table before pulling both of them to her. Far away in a tree the Children of the Forest watched, and laughed.