Hello again! Here's chapter three ;)
It's quite slow-paced with little to no action but I needed to set the décor for the future chapters. Hope you'll enjoy finding out more about Narcissa!
To the guest who left a review this morning: You've given this much thought, more than I expected, and now I'm scared to disappoint you haha Though, you might have given me an idea with the Company of the Rose!
11 years ago
Narcissa threw open the door to her father's study, panting heavily as she had just run around the mansion and down the stairs. Behind his desk, Cosimo didn't even blink. No one respected that wooden door, so much that he seriously considered hiring a guard just to keep it closed.
"Shouldn't you be in your lesson? It's Math today, if I'm not mistaken." The father said, eyeing the tiny girl suspiciously as she poured herself a glass of water.
"Lorenzo is stupid!" She groaned before taking a large sip. "He doesn't even know what is 7 times 8 is." Narcissa complained and walked over to sit down in front of her father.
"And what is 312 times 12?" Cosimo asked, rather bemused by his daughter's antics.
"312 times 10 is 3120. 312 times 2 is 624. 3120 plus 624 equals 3744." Narcissa answered after a few seconds, lisping slightly due to her missing her front tooth. It had fallen out just a week before.
"This is why I'm entrusting you with the bank when I retire," Cosimo chuckled. He had completely shaven off his beard recently because mother preferred it that way, but Narcissa thought it made him look peculiar and too young.
"No. I want to live in the High Tower and be a Thinker!" Narcissa immediately objected, already dreaming about her future. "I'd do something great like Ursula and Octavio who invented the aqueducts!"
"And what would you invent?" He inquired, going back to what he had been doing earlier before she barged in and polished the sword.
"A carriage but one which wouldn't require horses. And which would be faster too!" His daughter replied confidently, obviously already having given it much thought.
"How would that work?" Cosimo inquired, raising an eyebrow, truly curious now.
"I don't know. I'm nine!" Narcissa blurted out and her father couldn't help laughing out loud. Cursed be the man that would marry her one day if she didn't take the vows, Cosimo thought with amusement, sure that her tongue would only grow sharper with time.
"Is that the blade you always keep locked in the safe?" The small girl asked, turning sideways to find that the safe was open. She had never seen it open before!
"Yes," her father replied with a smile. "It's a very important sword." He said and his daughter begged him to continue. "Many years ago when I travelled through Westeros, I came across the Riverlands where I met your mother. We fell in love in less than a week!" Cosimo remembered. "Her father, your grandfather, refused to let her come with me. I insisted and he said we should settle it with a swordfight."
"No offense, father, but I've seen you with a sword. It's not a pretty sight!" Narcissa interrupted.
"Yes, that's true but that day, I won! All thanks to this sword." He said, raising it slightly so his daughter could take a better look. "Had your mother's name engraved when we returned to Florence. She was so happy to have left the Twins, she declared that one day she wants to be buried with it by her side."
"Why are you polishing it now?" The nine-year old asked in a tiny voice, frightened something was to happen to her mother but Cosimo was quick to reassure her.
"Because tomorrow is our 15thwedding anniversary and I want to cut the cake with this sword."
Narcissa was thinking about something to say when they started hearing footsteps outside, fast approaching and both father and daughter immediately knew who it was. Without losing a second, Narcissa stood up and ran to hide behind her father's desk just seconds before Amara opened the door, not bothering with knocking either.
"Have you seen Cissa?" Mother asked Cosimo, and the girl didn't need to look at the her to know she had her arms crossed in front of her chest. "Preceptor Abacus just complained she fled from class again!"
"No, darling. I haven't seen her all day."
-/-/-/
"Pardon me, my lady, but aren't you supposed to be with your husband?" Gloria asked Narcissa warily. It was quite early and her ladyship had always been known as a late sleeper, mostly because she was also a night owl.
"He's still sleeping, I believe." Narcissa replied absentmindedly as she spotted a bowl of sugar cubes on the kitchen table and proceeded to put some in her pockets. "I needed to talk to you," she whispered. "Alone."
Gloria followed her out of the kitchens silently into a dimly lit corridor in the servant's quarters. "When you reach the port, gift the horses to someone who will take good care of them." The brunette instructed the blonde girl, though her tone wasn't a bossy one. "Piero has the map and the money, you'll be safe. Wait until the Stark army has left, and then head Northeast."
Immediately, Gloria starts objecting to these arrangements but Narcissa silenced her quickly. She was the lady, it was her decision. Besides, Robb Stark would most likely offer her the perfect ride to King's Landing and once there, she'd get the sword and escape Westeros without help, amid the chaos. "I just need one last thing from you, if do not mind Gloria."
The servant girl didn't comment as she let Narcissa rummage through the bag of medicine Gloria had brought with her from Florence on the healer's orders. She took a small sip of milk of the poppy, certain that riding wouldn't help her soreness. The servant girl didn't budge either as Narcissa took a few vials of penicillin and all of the moon tea herbs. Her lady perhaps wasn't as kind as her mother Amara, or as a good conversationalist as her younger brother Valentino, but everyone knew to trust her judgment, even her own father.
"Promise me to take care of yourself, Narcissa," Gloria pleaded, tears in her eyes as she hugged Narcissa one last time and using her name for the first time.
-/-/-/-
Narcissa only realized how late it was when she noticed Robb Stark's men were already assembling in the castle grounds, preparing their horses. She tried spotting her husband in the crowd but there were too many men, all dressed similarly. "Imagine if they left without me," Narcissa whispered to herself almost giggling.
She stopped in her tracks, however, when she reached the great hall, or rather the walls outside of it. Her bloodied bedsheets hung proudly on the stonewall like they were some grand work of art by Boticelli himself.
"A very beautiful painting, Lady Stark." Theon Greyjoy commented, assuming a false contemplative state. He had a tendency to pop out of thin air, like a rat you only noticed when your foot stepped on it. "What do you think the artist was trying to express?" The smile on Theon's thin lips was one-sided, much like a rictus and Narcissa wondered why her husband kept him around, his company was the worst.
"He was painting the blood that will gush out of your throat if you annoy me once again, my lord." She merely replied, trying not to dwell on the shameful exhibition of her lost maidenhead for too long though she promised herself she'd send men to suffocate Walder Frey with those sheets as soon as she was back home.
Entering the great hall, Narcissa was surprised to see that many men were still breaking their fast. Exactly how many soldiers did Robb Stark have, she asked herself before noticing that the man himself was still eating next to her grandfather. Narcissa sat down on Robb's left side, hoping to avoid seeing Walder Frey up close, not sure she'd be able to resist killing him right then if she did. She had had low expectations of him, and yet her grandfather had managed to disappoint her one last time.
"Where have you been?" Robb asked her in an urgent whisper as soon as she was within earshot. "You weren't there when I woke up." He added, and Narcissa wasn't quite sure whether he was concerned or angry.
"Dealing with urgent matters, my lord." She snapped before realizing the rudeness of her tone and Robb stiffed next to her. Narcissa only hoped that no one else had heard them.
Together, the newlywed couple exited the keep and joined Robb's men. She saw Lady Stark already waiting on her white horse, ready to march out. Yet, as her husband gave out the last orders to his men, she could feel that every pair of eyes were set on her but it wasn't the kind of attention she enjoyed. They had all seen the bedsheets and she was quite sure that's what they were thinking about when they looked at the new Lady Stark.
Robb helped her mount her horse, a light brown mare. It seemed like he wanted to say something when Narcissa sat down side-saddle, but decided against it at the last moment and for that, she was grateful.
-/-/-/-
By the time Catelyn and Narcissa had crossed the Green Fork side by side, most of the soldiers were still on the other side of the bridge. She was in pain but if was not enough to ask to be helped off the horse. Everywhere she looked, all she could see were men riding horses and men walking on foot, and she doubted they'd want to wait up for her.
"Have you ever been to the North?" Lady Catelyn asked, just loud enough to be heard by Narcissa.
"No, I haven't had the pleasure," Narcissa replied honestly all the while keeping her eyes on her surroundings. Were they riding South or East, she wondered with worry, not recognizing the path.
"It's beautiful, you'll see!" Lady Stark promised in a joyful tone, hoping her words would help her daughter-in-law relax. "When this is over, I'll have to teach you how to run Winterfell," she continued, startling Narcissa with her words though she didn't let it show. "Ned promised we'd visit Riverrun more often once he felt Robb was ready to be in charge a few months at a time."
Narcissa almost laughed before she managed to control herself just in time. A few months ago, his own father hadn't thought him to be prepared to run Winterfell on his own and now, Robb Stark was leading an army to King's Landing. Maybe her husband was as green as some whispered in the hallways. "I'm sure I'll find Winterfell to my taste, Lady Catelyn," Narcissa replied though she didn't intend to ever set foot there. "Who usually does the bookkeeping?"
They rode for five days straight, just stopping to eat and sleep a few hours. Only a couple of tents were erected each night: One for the war council, and for Catelyn and Narcissa to sleep in. It seemed Robb preferred to be outside in the cold with his men though he stopped by often enough to make sure the two women were alright.
By the end of day five, Narcissa had run out of sugar cubes for her horse because it seemed, Caramel as they called the mare, had a sweet tooth. At that point, she also felt she knew enough of Winterfell to paint on it a canvas and enough about the other Stark children to be their own mother. At first glance, Lady Catelyn might have seemed to be a rather reserved woman but she had chattered up Narcissa's ears and the young woman was glad they wouldn't share a tent tonight.
Around her, camp was slowly being set up and the fact that no one had bothered telling her where she was, left her uneasy. But her worries were soon forgotten when she spotted a large dark wolf outside the council's tent.
"Aren't you a good boy." Narcissa cooed, gently approaching the beast. At first, the wolf seemed ready to launch at her but she carefully extended her hand and the animal took a few sniffs before adopting a friendlier posture. "Tell me, what's your name?" She asked the animal, petting his head and scratching him behind the ears.
"It's Grey Wind." Robb Stark answered and Narcissa abruptly turned her head to see him standing next to her. She made a quick mental note no to ride through the woods alone because she'd be killed within the hour. "It's a dire wolf. I've had him since he was a pup." Robb explained, before petting the animal himself.
Lady Catelyn had thought necessary to tell her about all the different plants within the glass gardens in Winterfell, but had omitted the part about the dire wolf litter. Narcissa bit her tongue as to avoid laughing, her mother-in-law was rather peculiar when it came to her priorities. "So young, and already a father, my lord." Narcissa joked before stepping back and observing the silent communication between Robb and Grey Wind.
"I'm not his father." Robb Stark chuckled warmly. "He is way to furry to be mine," he added, a small smile on his lips before tapping the dire wolf's side as if giving him his permission to leave and go do whatever dire wolves did in their free time. "Though I am looking forward to having children of my own."
Narcissa's stomach tightened at his words and she was glad her husband wasn't directly facing her, or else he might have noticed the guilty look on her face. She reassured herself, knowing that she would be out of his way as soon as they reached King's Landing and he'd be free to marry someone of his choosing.
"I need to go back inside," Robb announced, pointing at the council tent with his head. "But I thought we could maybe have dinner together later," he suggested, a little unsure.
"That would please me very much, my lord," she replied, hoping to sound indifferent so neither of them would hurt once she left.
"Great," Robb briefed out with relief. "It's settled then. Olyvar is by the armory if you want to pay him a visit."
It took Narcissa a few minutes to find out who Olyvar was. She asked around discretely until one of the soldiers informed her that Olyvar was in fact Robb's new squire. It then took her even longer to find out why her husband thought she'd like to talk to his squire.
"You're my uncle, then?" Narcissa asked suspiciously, eyeing the blonde boy up and down. She called him boy, though they were most likely around the same age. He nodded curtly, looking very innocent as he cleaned Robb's armor. Narcissa knew better. "You won't tell Robb my father is Cosimo de Medici, right?"
"Not if you don't want me to," the boy replied though she wasn't entirely convinced.
"Of course I don't want you to!" Narcissa almost shouted, standing up from the barrel she had been sitting on. "Everyone in this goddamn continent hates my family! Calling us snobs and saying we all are uppity-like just because we condemn their silly wars and refuse to finance them."
"I won't tell him then, my lady," Olyvar promised but Narcissa knew best than to trust another Frey man just like that.
"I'm sure you won't," Narcissa finally spoke, her voice serious again. "After all, you'd rather have gold around your neck then inside your throat." She didn't consider this a threat. She had had to say those words oftentimes and found out all men could be bought if you had enough money.
-/-/-/-
Narcissa was already waiting for him, a glass of wine in hand, when the tent's flap opened and Robb Stark came in, looking rather gloomy with a deep crease between his brows. Inside the rather small tent, he appeared as large as ever, even without the thick cloak he was just shrugging off.
"I apologize for my tardiness, Narcissa," Robb breathed out, loosening up the first few laces of his leather doublet. "The council meeting took longer than expected."
She observed him in silence, leaning back against her chair, a small smirk on her lips. She was amused, but she didn't exactly know why. Perhaps because she was about to dine alone with her husband for the first time and didn't even know him enough to strike up a conversation with him. Perhaps, also, because she was forced to supper in a tent in the middle of a war encampment when she could have been in Florence, sharing an opulent dinner in the patio with her father and his employees. Life was cruelly funny in its own way.
"If you're going to apologize each time your duties keep you away from me, you won't have time to say much else," she quipped when Robb sat down in front of her. He took a large sip of wine because even looking at the food. "War tactics are more important than this, my lord," she clarified, resisting adding 'whatever this is' to her sentence.
They ate in silence for the most part, almost glad that the outside noise entered their tent, avoiding an uncomfortable quietness in the process. Though when Narcissa finished her meal, there was a question she couldn't resist asking and broke the silence. "Where are we, my lord?"
Robb looked up from his plate, appearing equally puzzled and amused as a few wild curls bounced on his temples. "In our tent," he replied seriously through trying hard to suppress a grin.
Narcissa however wasn't able to hide her gaiety and started laughing. Showing her white teeth for a moment before hiding her mouth with her hand. Her eyes looked much livelier this way and much warmer too, Robb bemused, this time allowing himself to smile as well. "I meant geographically, my lord," she said once she had calmed down enough to speak properly. "Though it's nice to know my husband takes me for a dimwit," the brunette continued with lighthearted sarcasm.
"Southwest of The Twins." Robb replied, his mood darkening again as if the subject was a touchy matter. Narcissa, however, silently started panicking at his words. She thought they were going to King's Landing, why on Earth would Robb be heading West? She wanted to reach the Narrow Sea as soon as humanly possible, and now they were headed in the opposite direction.
"Why head West when your destination is King's Landing?" Narcissa inquired, filling her glass with more wine, hoping it would give her sufficient patience not to raise her voice.
Robb rubbed his forehead, pushing back his hair before suspiring deeply with chagrin. "That's what the Lannisters expect us to do. I need to lift the siege to Riverrun before I can free my father," he explained, though rather curious why a woman would be interested in such matters.
Truly, up to now, Narcissa had given war tactics very little thought. There were dozens of books on it in the Medici library but they were covered in dust. Florence had been at peace for decades after all. "Why are you brooding then, if you have it all planned out, my lord?" She asked though what she really was interested in, was knowing how much more time they'd need to reach the East.
"Because I'm sending two thousand men to their graves." The words hung heavy in the air but it wasn't until Narcissa cocked her eyebrow at him, that he decided to expand on the subject: The Lannister armies outnumbered them by far. The only way to go past them was to trick Tywin's army into thinking the whole of the Stark forces were coming for them, so that he could take Jaime's men by surprise and defeat them.
Narcissa didn't know much about the ongoing war, mostly because she couldn't have cared less about Westerosi problems just over a week ago. But now, everything had changed and she had been forced to take sides.
Mathematically, Narcissa agreed with Robb's decision. It was the smart thing to do, but lives meant more than some random numbers in a book and losing a single life, was one too many in Robb's eyes. He was no barbarian, she ascertained with confidence, dropping her gaze almost ashamed she had ever thought that of him.
"It's the right to do, my lord," she whispered, gently placing her hand over his on the table, almost certain he'd pull back and yet, he didn't. Instead, he rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand before addressing her a weak smile.
"I'd rather change the subject now, if you don't mind," Robb admitted, standing up and fetching them more wine from the small wooden barrel in their tent. "Tell me, what do you like to do for fun, Narcissa?"
"Drinking and napping, my lord," she replied honestly for the first time.
They spent almost an hour getting to know each other. It felt awkward, forced in a sense because even if they didn't appreciate the other's answers, there wasn't the option to just leave. But Robb was easy-going enough and not an unpleasant company. He enjoyed sword-fighting like most men his age though he admitted he would probably take a short break once they returned home.
The way in which he pronounced that word, slowly and with longing, as if it was a deity on its own. The end that justified all means and much to her surprise, she found herself agreeing with him. She longed for home as much as he did. "I'm certain you'll like your new home," Robb said after a short silence. "The bedrooms are warm and all the women find the glass gardens beautiful."
His words hit her without warning. She realized that for all purposes, he now considered Winterfell to be their home, hers too and suddenly part of the kinship she had begun experiencing disappeared. "I hear Winterfell is humid and muddy."
"Aye, that's true," Robb laughed, not noticing the change in her tone. "But it's home."
Things became truly awkward, however, when it was time to call it a night and go to bed. They had been married for almost a week now, but had only shared a bed on their wedding night.
Robb turned around respectfully when Narcissa started undressing, deciding to just get it done with. He had already seen her naked body and she wasn't a particularly shy person to begin with. That didn't mean she was particularly bold, either. "Do you want to, erm, do it again tonight, my lord?" She asked apprehensively, pulling a night shift over her body and hoping her blushing wouldn't be visible in the dimly lit tent.
She turned around to find her husband had been staring at her after all, an indescribable look on his face. He was bare chested and Narcissa figured out that was most likely how he slept. "Our wedding night was an obligation neither of us could circumvent," Robb said in a serious tone as he walked to his side of the small bed, avoiding looking at her. "I'll admit I enjoyed it but I'm never going to force myself on you, Narcissa. That I can promise you."
What did you think of it? Please let me know!
I won't be able to update tomorrow (Friday) because I have an exam on Saturday and actually need to study. I'll do my best to post a new chapter Saturday evening, though!
Next chapter: Gambling, battle in the Whispering Wood and two drunk idiots.