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02x08: The Prince of Winterfell.
Chapter Thirty-Three: Going into Labour.
"Ooh," Sanira gasped clutching her stomach, she opened and closed her mouth for a moment trying to wrap her head around the fact that this was actually happening; the craps had surprised her as she held onto her bump.
Ser Rodrick was a little ahead of her preparing for another evening of traveling, he was sure that they would find the Stark camp soon and he doubted that it would be much longer before Sanira and Robb were reunited. Rickon looked up from what he was doing at the sound that his good-sister made, he tilted his head curious as to why she had made it; he got up from the log that he had sat on and moved towards her.
"San?" Rickon asked curiously, he was counting down the days until the baby was born and he did hope that they would see Robb before that happened. They had been on the road for weeks now and Rickon had done his best to be brave like his brother would want him to be; he missed his family and Sanira was all that he had left right now.
There was no sign of Bran joining them and Rickon had no idea what had happened to him after they had left Winterfell; Maester Luwin had promised to help him escape and he hoped that it had worked.
"Baby is just kicking very hard," Sanira said reassuring the seven-year-old, he didn't need to know that she was actually going into labour at that moment. The last thing that Sanira wanted was to scar him for life, she couldn't imagine how much longer they had to travel and her pains weren't that regular enough to cause them any real worry at that moment.
"We need to keep moving, Your Grace," Ser Rodrick insisted wanting to keep moving, he was sure that they could travel a bit longer before they needed to set up camp for the night. It had been a long trip and Ser Rodrick wished that there was some sign that they were getting closer to the Northern camp.
"We've sent a dozen ravens, none have returned," Roose Bolton said sitting across from his King while they talked in his tent, things just seemed to be getting worse for the army since Catelyn had let Jaime Lannister go. The tension that filled the tent was just a piece of what the last few days had been like since Catelyn had been imprisoned in her tent; she had been kept there and they were no closer to finding Jaime Lannister.
"My bastard is a couple of days from Winterfell, once he captures the castle…" Roose stated knowing that soon there would be no escaping for Theon when Ramsey reached the capital and he was sure that his son would have some plans on keeping him out of trouble until he was handed over.
Robb took a deep breath, the last thing that he wanted was for Bran and Rickon to suffer the same fate of his wife; he couldn't help but wonder if Sanira had been buried in the crypts with others who had passed before her in his family. There had been no sign of outrage from House Tremaine and Robb was starting to wonder what was going on in Aeredale; he had been sure that Lord Rolan would have something to say about his only daughter's murder.
"Theon has my brothers… if we so much as storm the castle," Robb murmured shaking his head, he didn't even want to think about what could go wrong next; he felt like this entire war was slowly starting to turn on him. Walder Frey seemed even more determined to have Robb marry one of his daughters and it was starting to get under Robb's skin; he had no intentions of replacing Sanira anytime soon.
He wanted to deal with this war before he focused on anything else, they had to secure independence first and then he would even consider creating an heir to his throne.
"He wouldn't dare hurt the boys," Roose insisted knowing that Theon would be a fool to do such a thing, they were his own way of escaping the North with his head after what he had done. Every Northern family were more than willing to ensure that Theon didn't make it out of the North alive, he would pay for what he had done and Roose had no doubts that Theon realised invading Winterfell was a big mistake.
"It didn't stop him from having my wife murdered," Robb spat clutching at the edge of the table, he wasn't ever going to let that go and he would make sure that Theon's head rotted on a spike for what he had done. Roose was silent knowing that the Queen's death was regrettable but it did open the door for Robb to marry into a family that would be more supportive of his plans; House Tremaine had been silent since this war had begun.
"Send word to your son, any Ironborn who surrenders will be allowed to return safely to their homes," Robb ordered taking a deep breath, he would avenge Sanira when he had the chance and that would happen sooner rather than later. Ramsey was drawing closer to Winterfell and it would not be long before he had retaken it and Theon would be dragged back to camp to answer for everything that he had done.
"Any Ironborn with the exception of Theon Greyjoy," Robb made clear, he wasn't going to have Theon disappearing back to the Iron Islands after what he had done. His head would rot on a spike and Robb doubted that anything would change his mind about the decision that he had made; he was going to make Theon pay a high price for his betrayal.
Roose nodded his head, he was sure that could be easy to arrange and there was no Ironborn that could ignore such an offer; it wasn't hard to hear that Theon had taken Winterfell with only a few men.
"He betrayed our cause… he betrayed me… he murdered my wife and my unborn child… we will hunt him down no matter where he goes," Robb vowed knowing that he would not rest until justice had been served, his wife had deserved better and he would ensure that she was remembered.
Roose was silent on the matter, he had noticed that Robb was still very attached to Sanira and he doubted that would be changing anytime soon; he did hope that a second marriage would work out better for the King. The two were silent for a moment and Robb's thoughts drifted back to his unborn child; they might have been born by now if Theon hadn't killed them.
It was like another dagger in his heart and Robb swallowed the lump in his throat, he hadn't thought much about the baby while he had mourned Sanira but now things were starting to make him think about his unborn child. They would have been born around now that much he was certain, Robb wondered what they would have been and who they would have looked like; it broke his heart that a life had been stolen before they had even gotten to live at all.
The flaps to the tent opened and both men looked up to see a soldier stepping into the tent, he looked out of breath and sweaty as he moved forward knowing that he needed to deliver this message quickly.
"Your Grace, My Lord… there's something in the wood," the soldier said knowing that Lord Umber had sent him to get the King and Lord Bolton for a reason. There was something moving towards camp and they were preparing to attack since they were sure that the movement was a Lannister spy; it wouldn't be the first that they'd caught recently.
"Why didn't you say anything?" Aiana scolded taking Sanira's hand, she couldn't believe that the brunette had tried to hide the fact that she was in labour; they would have stopped hours ago if they had known. It had caught them by surprise when Sanira's water had broken and Aiana was in no way prepared for this, she feared that if she screwed up that it would cost Sanira, her life.
"I didn't want to worry anyone," Sanira hissed clutching at Aiana's hand as another contraction ripped through her; she took several deep breathes trying to steady herself. This was certainly not how she had planned to deliver her child when she had found out that she was expecting and Sanira almost wished that she was back in Winterfell at that moment.
Aiana was certainly not trained to help her deliver her child and Sanira wished that Maester Luwin had come with them when they had fled for their lives.
"There is a camp up ahead," Ser Rodrick commented wondering if they could be convinced to help them, they had done well to keep moving without attracting any attention. The last thing that they needed was anyone discovering who they were, it would only end in trouble until Sanira had been reunited with her husband.
Rickon watched frightened as Aiana helped Sanira sit down, he was scared what would happen and he could see that they were in big trouble right now; they needed a healer or a Maester to help deliver his nephew.
"See if they have a healer… we are going to need one," Aiana suggested hoping that there was a healer in the camp, she had no idea what she would do if there wasn't. She would have to deliver the little prince or princess alone and that scared the seven hells out of her; Aiana focused on Sanira wanting to help her in anyway.
Ser Rodrick turned around to move towards the camp when suddenly he founded himself being disarmed and tackled to the ground; the small clearing was surrounded by soldiers. Aiana looked around concerned, she couldn't see anything that told them who had caught them and she feared that it was the Lannister army; she crouched down in front of Sanira trying to block her from sight.
Sanira held her breath, fear consuming her that this would be her end; they were surrounded by an army and there was no telling who they had just found. There was only one army that would see them safe and Sanira prayed that this was that army, her eyes swept the line until she started to spot faces that she recognised.
"Send word to the King," Greatjon Umber ordered recognising the woman instantly, he almost couldn't believe that she was here and this would certainly change the tide around their camp. They had all believed that Queen Sanira had been murdered when Theon had taken Winterfell, yet here she was before them now and very heavily pregnant.
Sanira gasped as another contraction passed and she gritted her teeth in pain and hoped that this was going to be okay; she looked to Aiana who was starting to relax. Ser Rodrick was allowed back to his feet and it was clear that their journey was now at an end; they had made it to the Northern army camp just in time it seemed.
"Let's get them back to camp," Greatjon Umber ordered sensing that the babe wasn't going to keep waiting for much longer, the future prince and princess didn't need to be born on a forest floor now. Aiana was grateful when she was helped getting Sanira to her feet, they didn't have much time before the baby would be born and she wanted to make sure Sanira was comfortable.
Just as they entered camp, everything seemed to change as for the first time in several months Robb saw his wife.
Double-Update.
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