The most wasted of all days

is one without laughter

- E. E. Cummings

Chapter Seven - Seven Hells

Winterfell

In the days that followed Bran's fall, he had been moved to his room, where his mother stayed firmly at his side, never being persuaded to leave for sleep or food. The rest of his family lived out their day-to-day lives, though there was no laughter heard in Winterfell anymore. The little lord seemed to have taken all that with him the day he had fallen.

Ned Stark was worried for his son, for his wife and for his eldest daughter, who, like her mother, had slept and eaten very little since his son's accident. Caryssa had been dividing her time between trying to find something to wake Bran with in the medical texts that belonged to the Maester, tending to her younger siblings' needs, training with her brothers, helping her father see to their Southern guests and praying in the Godswood.

Everyone, even Winterfell's guests, could see the light in the Northern Nightingale's eyes had been dimmed significantly. While she had always come across as slightly standoffish and proud, there had always been a fire in her that was visible to all who came across her. It was just a gentle fire that burned slowly, slowly building. Before her brother had fallen, that fire, at times, could build into a raging inferno if provoked, but it seemed that her fire had been doused, leaving behind only burning embers.

Caryssa was less concerned about herself, and feared only for her brother's life, and obsessed over what had caused him to fall. Never had he fallen. Through wind, through rain, even through snow, her brother had never slipped nor fallen whilst climbing. He had the surest feet in the whole of the North. Something had caused him to fall, but she had never voiced that paranoid thought aloud.

Her days began to feel repetitive. In the mornings, she headed to the Godswood and prayed before she would wake Rickon and Arya, get them ready to break fast, make sure everyone else, including their guests, were fed, before she would depart and oversee the management of the house, and at midday, she would go to the healing rooms and try to find some herb or plant that the Maester had missed that would help wake her little lost wolf. In the afternoons, she would make sure the children had attended their lessons before training with Jory, Robb, Jon and Theon. Once she was done there, she would oversee the dinner feasts and then head to Bran's room, where she spent the night watching over her sleeping brother with their mother.

Catelyn and Caryssa had grown even closer during this ordeal, forming an alliance against Ned and Maester Luwin when the two men would insist they go and get some rest, perhaps something to eat. In their eyes, they had failed Bran. Catelyn believed that if she had been stricter with him and his climbing, he would have listened to her about not climbing and he would not be a cripple, should he live at all. Caryssa believed that if she had not left to hunt with the men, if she could only have been content with living the life of an ordinary lady, then maybe she would have been there to watch over him, make sure he did not act so recklessly. Both women believed that they had much to atone for, and so seemed to punish themselves by not sleeping and starving themselves.

Yet nothing could persuade them to change their habits, or at least Caryssa's habits, until one man finally took action. She had brought Rickon and Arya to break their fast with the rest of their family and the king and his family, a rare sight as the families usually ate apart, and made to leave when an arm snaked around her waist, stopping her.

Caryssa turned her head and glared at the man who belonged to the arm gripping her middle, and he did not show that her anger bothered him in the slightest. He pulled her down onto the bench, and put a plate of food in front of her. Just a roll of bread and a goblet of water, since he knew that her starving stomach would not be able to take much more than that.

"Sit down and eat." Jaime ordered, not caring about any gentlemanly airs or graces. Caryssa just stared at him, wondering why he was doing this, before shaking her head.

"You are wasting my time, Ser Jaime. I am not hungry and I have things to attend to. So if you'll excuse me." She said, as she tried to get up again, but this time the king spoke up. He had not intervened with her self-destructive ways as he felt it was Ned's place, but clearly the girl refused to listen to her father's reasoning, so he decided to pull rank on her as king.

"You will sit down and eat, girl. We can't have you wasting away into nothing. You'll be no use to your brother if you're dead." The king snapped at her, and Caryssa lowered her eyes to the plate in front of her for a second, feeling like a scolded child, but raised her head, her eyes narrowed into a harsh glare, and began to eat. Everyone else began to eat, as soon as they were certain she had, but the table remained quiet. The adults were silent because of the tension in the room, and the children were silent because they were simply afraid to speak without angering someone, particularly the practically growling she-wolf.

"Lady Caryssa, are there any signs that the boy is going to wake?" Tyrion questioned, the only one who seemed to be brave or bold enough to talk about the broken wolf pup in his sick bed.

"The Maester says that he is unsure when Bran will wake. My mother and I try to make him as comfortable as we can, but there is not much we can do but wait." Caryssa answered after a long pause, her voice quiet and her eyes on her goblet of water.

"Maester Luwin tells me that you spend your afternoons in the healing rooms, surrounded by books. Why not the library? Is that not a better place for reading?"

"The books on healing are in the healing rooms, Lord Tyrion. I have no need of the library tower when the books I desire are not there." Caryssa remarked, her eyes flickering to him, an almost dark fire, just barely simmering, burning inside the bright blue orbs.

The little lion was going to ask one more question when it appeared the she-wolf had enough of their tense-filled conversation.

She finished the roll of bread, and drained her glass of water, smacking the goblet down hard onto the table, before she climbed to her feet, gave a low, mocking curtsey to her king and lord father and quickly left, without any words to her family, her betrothed or her king as she did so.

"That girl's temper is enough to frighten armies." Robert said to his old friend, who nodded to his words. His daughter did not have a quick temper by any means, but should she feel threatened or pushed, there was a rage inside her ready to be released.

"She disrespected her king." Cersei snapped, with a scowl on her face.

"She meant no disrespect, Your Grace. My sister is under a lot of stress." Robb quickly stated, coming to the aid of his sister, knowing that she could be punished for something as trivial as mocking the King.

"Don't shit yourself, boy. I know she didn't mean it. She's a Stark. You're a stubborn lot, and your women have worse tempers than Baratheon men." The King said, guffawing at his own words. Ours is the Fury were the words of House Baratheon, but Robert could tell that the Stark girl, the double of his Lyanna, could rival even his temper if pushed.

"She's a she-wolf, Your Grace. When one of the pack is under threat, the she-wolves become dangerous and deadly to all." Ned said, and Robert nodded his head, his eyes misting over as his mind fled to his memories of his own Stark love. Lyanna had a fierceness in her that only flared up when her family was threatened.

"Caryssa is strong," Cersei mused, and Jaime could see the cogs turning in his sister's head. Their eyes connected, and he shook his head so slightly that only she would have caught it. "She has taken on the management of your house, and the care of your youngest children, as well as helping in the care of your boy. She'll make a dutiful wife for my brother."

"Lucky me. I've always wanted a dutiful wife." Jaime said sarcastically, a sour look on his face as he looked at his sister still. Ned Stark looked at the Kingslayer with contempt in his eyes. He had taken Jaime's words as an insult to his daughter, rather than the intended insult to his sister. Yet it wasn't the Lord Stark who voiced his take on the imagined slight.

"You could do no better than my sister, Lannister. She's better than any man deserves." Robb said, glaring at the golden haired lion with as much fury as the young wolf could muster, though he did nothing but spark the lion's amusement.

"I hope I did not offend. Your sister is a remarkable woman, I admit, but she doesn't need you to champion her cause. I'm fairly certain she could do that herself." Jaime remarked, and Robb's anger seemed to dissipate slightly at the kingslayer's words, which only made the golden man smirk at the younger man.

Robb spent the rest of breakfast, glaring at his bacon, and visualising the many ways he could kill his sister's betrothed and not suffer the consequences of the murder.

"I like Lady Caryssa. She's not like the rest of the simpering roses you find in the capital. There's a real fire in her…or was." Tyrion said, as he sipped wine from his goblet, his eyes on his brother. He had watched Jaime the entire time his betrothed was in the room, and while there was his usual uncaring, sarcastic glee in his eyes, there was a hint of concern for the woman.

Tyrion was beginning to believe that the Lady Caryssa must be some sort of enchantress or sorceress or siren or something, as his brother was slowly becoming bewitched. Though truthfully, he was just thankful that his brother and sister were no longer involved with each other. It was one less secret that he had to worry about someone stumbling across. If only Cersei was smart enough not to get involved with their cousin, the Stark boy would probably not be crippled in his bed.

"If anything, my lord, I believe that my brother's fall has only stoked the fire in my sister." Robb said, and all around the table silenced again, thinking through the implications of the young wolf's words.

"Lady Caryssa, please take some rest. Bran's awakening is not dependent on you and your mother harming yourselves." Maester Luwin said, as he followed the young woman he had helped bring into this world as she rushed about the castle, seeing to the overall running of the household.

"My mother sits by Bran's side all day and all night, and my father spends most of his time with Robb, making sure that he is ready to take on the responsibilities as the Lord of Winterfell when we go to King's Landing, which leaves my mother's role as the lady of the house up to me," Caryssa said, pausing as she stopped a kitchen hand to bring up another barrel of ale as the ones they had were getting low. Lord Tyrion truly did drink all night and was putting a massive strain on their supply of ale. "I have a million and one tasks to complete, along with looking after Rickon, Arya and Sansa, and completing my own duties. It is too much for one person, yet I have no choice because if I stop…"

It was then that Maester Luwin saw that the she-wolf was truly fearful for her brother's life, and was distracting herself by any means possible from the horrible thought that he may not live.

"If I stop, then my mind begins to wander to dark places it does not belong and I begin to question things that are too dangerous to even question inside the safety of my head." Caryssa said, as they stopped in one of the corridors.

"Such as what, my lady?"

"Such things can not be spoken of out in the open. Or at all. Like I said, they are too dangerous and I am too busy. If I promise to sleep for a while in the afternoon, will you watch the children?" Caryssa questioned, and a smile spread across the old man's face.

"Of course, my lady."

Caryssa paused a moment, thinking her next question through fully in her head before she voiced it aloud.

"What do you think of Ser Jaime, Maester Luwin? They say he is a man without honour, the terrible Kingslayer…what say you?" She questioned, her eyes narrowing as she scrutinised his face.

Caryssa's instincts on when a man was lying to her had always been pretty sharp, but Maester Luwin had either never told her a lie, or was very skilled at hiding when he was. He was a very hard man to read.

"I believe that deep down he is a good man, and that we cannot truly understand his motivations for his actions in the event you speak of as he has never given any to my knowledge. If you are worried about your betrothal, I am certain the king will postpone the wedding until you are ready." Maester Luwin replied, and Caryssa could see the concern in his eyes.

Caryssa shook her head with a sad smile. She was not sad that she was marrying Ser Jaime, or about her impending marriage in general. She had long ago accepted that a man worthy of her would come for her one day, but she did not know Ser Jaime all that well, nor had it come at an opportune time. She was needed in her household, she didn't want to leave them now.

"Father and the king wish for us to be married as soon as possible. My wedding will be a couple of weeks after we reach King's Landing," Caryssa replied, and tried to make her smile seem more real, but with her brother on his sick bed, still appearing to be asleep, it only came across as a twisted grimace. "I'm not worried about Ser Jaime at any rate. I'm sure he'll make a good enough husband."

"Then why do you ask?"

"You have guided my parents through their marriage, and their trials and troubles, and I trust your counsel above nearly all others…I simply wanted your judgement. I would not want to marry and not receive your judgement of my betrothed." She actually managed to smile for him this time, though it lacked the warmth her smiles usually held.

"Oh child, sometimes I feel unworthy of the high esteem in which you hold me," The old man said, returning her smile, before he gestured at some of the papers in her hands. "What are those?"

"I was taking inventory before you arrived. This visit from the king has really put our stock under strain. These are lists of things that we need to order before I leave for King's Landing so that those in Winterfell won't end up starving and freezing in the absence of my father and myself."

"This is the steward's job." Luwin said, as he took the lists out of her hands, looking them over herself.

"I know, but I want to be sure that I've taken care of everything. I don't want to leave Robb any stress." Caryssa said, as she held her hand out for him to give her back her lists, but the old man shook his head. He had had enough of Caryssa taking on more than she could handle in her sleep deprived and emotional state.

"My lady, leave this to Poole while he is here, I will deal with the rest of your tasks today. As the maester, and an old man who loves you as dearly as he would his own, I am telling you to rest in your rooms for the rest of the day," Maester Luwin said, hurrying on when it looked like the young woman was going to protest his orders. "Do I need to escort you to your chambers or will you be able to find your way there yourself?"

"No need, Maester Luwin, I'll escort her." A quiet, but gruff voice said, and Caryssa turned around to see Jon standing behind her, the same sadness in his eyes that reflected the looks in all of her families faces.

Caryssa wanted to argue, but as soon as she knew that Luwin would take her duties off of her hands for the day and seeing the worry in her younger brother's eyes, her lack of sleep seemed to spring to the forefront of her mind. She had not slept for nearly a week now, and that realisation seemed to make her nearly fall asleep where she stood.

So she nodded, and took Jon's hand, leaning in to his body for support and let him lead her down the corridors and hallways to her room, where he put her into bed, taking her boots off for her. Her younger brother tucked her under furs, pressed a loving kiss to her brow and drew the shutters so the room was somewhat darker.

He had not even left the room when the gentle, barely audible snores drifted from his now unconscious half-sister. Jon Snow smiled at the eldest Stark girl, a grim, worried smile, but the first one he had smiled since his brother's fall. Watching her a moment, he realised that the only time his sister truly looked at peace was when she was fast asleep, and thought it a tragedy.

A/N:

Hi guys!

So I changed my updating days. I'm only going to update this story on a Saturday now. I think it'll give me more time to write the next chapter and you guys more time to read and review. So yeah, expect updates on Saturdays from now on!

And a big shout out to ALL of those who reviewed since the last chapter:

eva2410, aorangeinboston (seriously thank you so much, your review both made me feel better and made me laugh and made me want to visit Boston), Sparky She-Demon, Befham (thank you so much for your support - means the world, seriously), caseylu (hope this explains some things. Cersei, upon the end of her and Jaime's physical relationship started her affair with Lancel, her cousin, a lot earlier than in the books/tv show. He was the one to push Bran, after Cersei ordered him to), Hand of the Alex, HermioneandMarcus (do you ship Hermione and Marcus together? I've never seen that pairing before), xenocanaan, 0netflixme0, AnImEfAN506, shipwreck321, LittleNK (yeah, it sucked so bad, but I think I'm getting there again), Lucy Greenhill (THANK YOU! I mean it just makes no sense for female OC's to be labelled as something negative, right?), StrixChuu, (thank you so much!), danceegirl92 (hope this chapter explains it, I kinda glossed over that fact a bit, but I will add a Cersei POV when Bran wakes up to explain it better), Shelley421 (hope this satisfied your curiosity), jedi-stark (dude, thank you so much. I'm awfully tempted to make a Star Wars reference but I'll keep my geekiness to a minimum), guest (I want you to know that my rants are not about you. You are a good guest reviewer), Alice (so are you. Thank you!), StarkStruck11 (it is lame, isn't it? thank you for your review!), purple sky always (Most of Jaime's actions are going to be the same, but his motivations will be different. He won't be doing things in the name of Cersei, it'll be for his family and for Caryssa (eventually). Tyrion will be a major reason for Jaime's decisions as well), starrysky7 and 'Guestie' (thank you for your review, but I don't agree with pretty much most of what you said and don't call me sweetheart. It came across as your patronizing me and I got quite offended by the tone of your review).

Thank you all for your reviews. You guys are literally awesome personified into beautiful people!

I hope you liked this chapter, and come back next Saturday for the next installment :)

SophStratt

xx