Chapter 10
Enough
1 week later
"Thank you for your company," Minea said smiling.
"The pleasure was all mine, little sister," Tyrion assured. "I will see you at dinner."
"Yes."
Minea felt good as she entered the bedchamber. She had spent the whole morning with Tyrion and Bronn who had arrived here couple of days ago after receiving a message from Tyrion. He hadn't told Minea that he had summoned Bronn here, but she certainly didn't mind. All friendly faces were more than welcome. They had gone riding and for a moment everything had been well. No one had glared at her or said mean things.
So far the only one who had treated her kindly here had been Lord Jon. Lord Robb had tried to be polite to her, but they hadn't spent any time alone together or even spoken to one another much. It seemed that he had been avoiding her. Not that she really minded, but she would have liked to know what he wanted her to do.
Obviously they would have to share a bed again sooner or later and she was hoping it would be less painful. Or at least less humiliating. Well, one could always hope. Right now she was more than grateful that Tyrion was still here. All her efforts to get to know her new family had been useless so far and she doubted that would change any time soon.
"Ersa?" she called and froze when she saw her handmaiden. Her hand was in a water bowl and tears were streaming down her face. "Ersa!"
Minea ran to her as fast as she could and looked at her hand. She gasped in shock when she saw that Ersa's whole hand was badly burned.
"Ersa…What happened?"
"Boiling water…" Ersa managed to sob. "The woman in the kitchen…"
Minea clenched her fists.
"That woman did this to you on purpose?"
"She claimed that it was an accident."
This was it, Minea had reached her limit. No one hurt her friend. Gently she wrapped her arm around Ersa and hugged her before carefully lifting the water bowl.
"You need to sit down," she said and guided Ersa to the bed. "Here we go. Wait here, I will be right back."
Determinedly she marched out of her chamber and headed to her husband's study.
"My lady…" the guard who was standing in front of the door started.
"I must speak to my husband," Minea cut in firmly and yanked the door open without knocking. Five men turned to look at her; one of them was Lord Jon. Lord Robb was sitting at his desk; he was clearly surprised to see her.
"My lord," she said firmly. "I must speak to you at once."
"We are in the middle of a meeting, my lady…"
"I'm afraid this is urgent. I must speak to you."
"Alright," he stated after a brief moment of hesitation. "Please excuse us."
All the other men left the room; Lord Jon glanced at Minea with a worried expression as he walked past her and closed the door behind him. Lord Robb stood up and crossed his arms.
"Alright, what can I do for you, my lady?"
"You can start by telling your servants to leave my handmaiden alone," Minea snapped, unable to control herself.
Lord Robb's eyes widened.
"Excuse me?"
"I believe you heard me, my lord. Your people can despise me as much as they like, but I won't tolerate anyone hurting Ersa. She has done nothing to deserve that."
"Has someone hurt her?"
"Yes, some woman in the kitchen. She burned Ersa's hand with boiling water."
Lord Robb was speechless for a moment; he didn't seem to know what to think.
"Are you sure about this, my lady? I can't believe that any of my servants…"
"You can't believe that they would hate me enough to hurt my handmaiden?" Minea stated coldly. "If you think that I am lying, please come with me and see for yourself."
"I don't think that you are lying," he replied, sounding somewhat confused. "What I meant was that perhaps there has been some kind of misunderstanding…"
"I doubt that, my lord. I believe we both know how much everyone here hates me."
Lord Robb pressed his lips together, he seemed uncomfortable.
"How is your handmaiden now?"
"She is in pain, my lord. Her whole hand is burned."
"I see." He paused and cleared his throat. "Is she in your chamber?"
"Yes, she is."
"Alright. I will send Maester Luwin to her right away."
Minea nodded rigidly.
"Thank you, my lord."
"No need to thank me, my lady. This… This should not have happened. I apologize."
"I appreciate that, my lord, but what I would appreciate even more would be your assurance that it won't happen again. As I said, Ersa have done nothing to deserve this. She is not a Lannister."
"It won't happen again," Lord Robb murmured. "I will make sure of that."
"Thank you," Minea stated and curtsied before walking out of the room. Quickly she returned to her chamber and tried her best to comfort Ersa until Maester Luwin arrived.
"Oh dear," he hummed as he examined Ersa's hand. "I must go and fetch some salves."
Tears were still rolling down Ersa's cheeks; Minea wrapped her arm around her handmaiden and stroked her hair.
"I am sorry, my lady," Ersa said quietly. "You shouldn't have to do this…"
"Ersa, you are my friend," Minea cut in firmly. "I will do whatever I have to do to help you."
Both women looked up when the door opened. They expected to see Maester Luwin, but it was Lord Robb who entered the room.
"Please, no need to stand up," he said before they managed to move. "I only came to see if you need some assistance."
"Maester Luwin went to fetch some salves," Minea replied. "He will be back soon."
"Yes… Good. That's good." He paused and looked at Ersa. Minea's arm was still around her and she had no intention to remove it. "How are you feeling?"
"I will be fine, my lord," Ersa managed to say and let out a weak sob.
Minea had never seen her in so much pain, she certainly didn't cry easily.
"I apologize, something like this should have never happened under my roof."
Minea tightened her embrace protectively as she felt Ersa shivering.
"Thank you, my lord," Minea muttered tensely.
"I… I will make sure you will have everything you need," he stated and bowed briefly before leaving. Minea barely noticed that, she only concentrated on Ersa. Her sweet, loyal Ersa. Her dearest friend. She was going to make sure that her husband would keep his promise. He owed her at least that much.