A/N: Hey guys. So, as I said, I'm trying to update every week - here you go!
You finally get to know who's occupying Avyn's thoughts and I pushed the plot a little further, with each chapter a little more Tormung incoming.
Hope you like it!
xxx
scuffie
"May I ask, Lady Avyn", Sansa said as they met after Avyn had sent her letter "to whom you wrote? I believe there are no Umbers anymore at the Last Hearth. Hasn't your younger sister been married of some four years ago?"
"Yes, My Lady" Avyn said "To Lord Carol Flint of Widow's Watch. She seemed quite happy, when I recieved her last letter. It seems like there's a baby on the way; her third child. She hopes for another boy."
"So did you write to her?", Sansa asked and lead her out of the castle, determined to show her friend the Godswood.
"Am I even allowed to be here?", Avyn asked instead, not wanting to answer the Stark's question.
"Yes, of course. You are in my company, after all", Sansa said and sounded a lot older than she was "Now, to whom did you write?"
Avyn lowered her gaze, fidgeting with her robes and Sansa wondered what was going on with the normally so indifferent, strong woman.
"My son", Avyn admitted after a while.
"Your son?", Sansa repeated a little louder than she intended as she was completely taken aback „I...I'm sorry, Lady Avyn, but you have never mentioned a husband nor children... Nor have I ever heard of you being married."
"Probably because I have never been married", Avyn said, looking up again. Now that she had confessed about her son, she did not mind that much talking about his origin.
"But...but..."
"My son, Brynden, is a bastard", she simply said smiling slightly at the younger one's confusion "His father was a knight who came to the North and stayed with my family for some days. I liked him, he liked me, and... oh well. Brynden is a lovely boy, he is all I can think about."
Finally being able to talk about her kid Avyn almost could not stop the words from coming but she tried to give Sansa a chance to adjust to the news.
"I have always been my father's favourite", Avyn began at the beginning „So, naturally, he did not want to let go of me – instead he married both my younger and my older sisters off. The older one, Elyse died in childbirth, as you might have heard, about five years ago. Anyways, when it became quite obvious that I was with child, we had a long discussion about what to do. That is, after he was angry with me in a way he had never been before and close to throwing me out of the castle. After one or two days he decided that I and the kid should stay with him. It was his grandchild after all, or so he said. He made all of our servants and family swear to say Brynden was a bastard-orphan I had found while riding in the woods and we had taken him in. Surprisingly enough, it worked out quite well, especially since we kept his existence mostly private anyways. I have him on my mind day and night. He is with my handmaiden now, and hopefully, he is well. I miss him so much."
Avyn had talked with Sansa listening carefully. The Umber woman had not even noticed how much she had revealed about herself. What had happened? Normally she would keep her feelings to herself. Maybe it was because she truly was missing Brynden so much and had to keep those emotions locked up for far too long.
"How old is he now?", Sansa asked after a while of silence.
"A little older than three years, My Lady", she said "but very intelligent and strong for his age. Then again, this is something, most mothers would say about their sons and daughters, I guess."
"I will talk to Jon", Sansa said "There must be a way to have him with you... Jon might understand; in fact I am almost certain he will want to meet little Brynden himself."
When they returned to the gates of the stronghold, they saw Jon Snow, the new Lord of Winterfell, talking to Tormund, the wildlings' leader. Though Avyn would have preferred not to go join the two men, Sansa had already taken the direction towards her half-brother.
"Sansa, Lady Umber", he greeted them with half a smile. Avyn had the feeling he never was truly happy and that made her heart sting a little.
"Good day, Lord Snow", she said and curtsied while Sansa did not bother with civilities but instead talked directly to her sibling.
"Jon, have you sent out the messengers already?"
"Aye, was just about to do that", Jon Snow said "I hope we'll resolve those problems soon enough... Father has been right, after all. Winter is coming."
"Yes, well, actually, that's not the point. I want to send out another messenger."
"Where to?", Jon asked, cocking an eyebrow „I've sent one to every house that pledged its allegiance to our father."
"I want to send someone to the Last Hearth. Well, unless you finally decide that all of this is utter nonsense and let Lady Avyn go home finally", Sansa said and Avyn looked at her surprised. She really could not truly understand this young woman's character. Sometimes she seemed so fierce, at other times so soft, and suddenly the realisation hit her, that Sansa was about five or six years younger than Avyn. Normally the Umber lady should be the one to help the younger one out. But instead Sansa had become her guardian angel.
"May I ask why you want to send someone there? Lady Umber is here, after all", Lord Snow asked his sister, only to be backed up by the wildling that had not said much anyways.
"Aye. And the lass won't be able to ride anyways; not with how she moves and all. Looks like every bone's hurtin'."
Sansa wanted to reply but was interrupted by Avyn who did not want to be talked to in that manner – by a wildling, of all people!
"Excuse me, but I think I can talk for myself quite all right, thank you very much. It is, however, very nice to see how much you care for me. Though I am wondering, if you were as concerned with anyone's well-being when you killed my brother. As for the sores, I would not know how bad they are when I am sitting on horseback, without actually sitting on horsback. And no, Lady Sansa I do not want you to tell your brother about...it and especially not in front of him", she nodded in Tormund's direction "And I don't want you to waste any capacities on me, as I am still a mere prisoner. Now, if you would kindly excuse me. It seems I have lost my manners and I should go look for them", she said, in a very calm, almost bored voice, and turned around to leave but was held back by Jon Snow who took hold of her arm:
"My Lady, are you quite all right?", he said quietly.
"No, not quite", the lady admitted "but as I said, it should not be of your concern."
He let go of her arm and she smiled curtly yet serenely before running off.
She had just lain down in her bed, hoping to finally rest a little as she had barely slept the last few nights, being chased by thoughts of Ramsay Bolton and his tortures, when someone knocked on her door. Sighing, Avyn got up to greet her visitor with some courtesy. It was Sansa.
"Lady Avyn", the redhead greeted the Umber lady "I do hope you will join us for dinner downstairs tonight."
"I am sorry, My Lady", Avyn prepared herself to politely decline but Sansa would not hear any of it: „I must say, I cannot understand you a bit." She finally came inside the room, sat at the table and motioned for Avyn to join her, which naturally, Avyn did – even though a little reluctantly.
"How can you let Ramsay win like this?", Sansa asked straight ahead.
"How do you know...?", Avyn said, distrustfully. She had tried to act like the tough woman she always had been – she still was, she hoped, and was surprised that Sansa had seemingly watched her that carefully.
"Shutting everyone out. I have been at this point myself. But you cannot give in to him", Sansa said and nodded as if to further stress her words.
"I'm not planning on giving in", Avyn said "I just... I..."
And suddenly, neither Avyn nor Sansa knew how it happened, the Lady Umber burst into tears.
"I just... Gods, it all makes me so angry. And I ca...can't-t... I nee-eed to..."
"Hush now", Sansa said softly reaching out to touch her friend's arm gently, trying to comfort the older woman "Everything is going to be fine. Calm down, try to tell me, what you need, maybe I can help you."
"I need to know... I... Ugh", Avyn tried to clean herself up a little but she still sounded like shit "I need to know what will happen to me. And I need to see Brynden... or at the very least know that he's allright. My little snowflake", she smiled sadly "I just can't keep on going. The only thing I want is this time to go by. I just want to sleep for days, but I can't even sleep three hours straight, because I wake up every night... And I don't feel like myself anymore. I try to act the way my father has raised me, but I fail, and I have started to like the fact, that he is no more. He would have hated to see me like this."
"I am sure your father would be very proud to see you like this, after all you've been through. At least, I tell myself, that my father would be."
Avyn looked up to Sansa and straight in her eye, remembering what she had thought about earlier, Sansa, the young girl, her guardian angel, while she smiled sadly and said: "I bet he would be, my Lady. I am sure he is very proud of you, wherever he might be."
The two women sat down next to each other at the table, the two of them being the first ones downstairs.
"I hope you will get an answer from the Last Hearth quite soon, Lady Avyn", Sansa said quietly as they waited for dinner to start "I meant to apologise to you, earlier. For my behaviour when you told me of...Brynden."
"No need for that", Avyn replied "He is a bastard, after all. But he's my son, too, and he doesn't have his father, so I have to love him double."
Sansa smiled: "That is a beautiful thought."
"It's a mother's job, I believe", Avyn shrugged "and he makes it very easy. My little snowflake."
"Is that what you call him?", Sansa giggled a little and it was just now that she noticed that she had not laughed in a long, long time.
"Why, yes, my Lady", Avyn grimaced but grinned "he is a unique boy. And only calling him Brynden gets a bit boring after a while."
Sansa smiled, noticing how her friend seemed to warm up every time they mentioned her son in their conversations.
"Tell me about him", the Stark girl said and filled herself a cup of water while offering Avyn some wine which she gladly agreed to.
"About Brynden? There's not much to tell, my Lady. And I'd rather not talk about him here, whilst your men could come in any minute. It's not something many people should know about."
"Only a little, Lady Avyn", Sansa pleaded "It's so lovely to hear you talk about him. It seems so ordinary - a mother's love, and still so beautiful."
Avyn nodded slowly, thinking she could understand the Stark's motives. The girl had been through a tough times, and after all she had lost both of her parents at a quite young age.
"Well, I suppose I could tell you a little. But I am afraid, I will start fretting and you might not want to hear about my worries. After all, he is a sweet summer's child and now winter has come... But anyways. He seemed to like the snow. Could not wait to get outside, after he'd seen everything was white out. So I took him for a long walk and we played in the snow and I chased him around. It's not ladylike, but I was not raised to be very girlish, so I hope I can be a good playmate for him", Avyn smiled sadly "He wants a brother or a sister, but, of course, that's not possible. Of course, he doesn't understand that. He's only known me as a parent, so why can't I just get myself another kid? The last few days I was home he had become taken with the thought of having an older sibling, which is of course completely impossible."
Sansa smiled: "Of course it is."
"And of course, I won't be able to give him any siblings. I don't want to have another kid raised by the name of Snow, and I don't think there'll be any suitor soon, so there's no way I'll ever have a legitimate child. Anyways, I...", but Avyn stopped as the door opened.
Ser Davos came in, accompanied by Lord Snow and the wildling, Tormund. Avyn shifted in her chair. It was strange to think she would dine with the man that had killed her brother.
"Good evening", Sansa greeted the men, while Jon kissed her cheek roughly and took a seat next to his sister.
"Good evening", Avyn mumbled and quickly drank some wine while she noticed how Tormund sat down opposite of her, next to him Ser Davos, who nodded in her direction.
"How are you, my Lady Umber?", the knight asked.
"Apart from the fact, that I am not a prisoner, yet not a guest, and I could be beheaded any minute, without seeing any of my beloved before, I'm quite fine, thanks", Avyn said and scolded herself for her sharp tongue. But to her surprise, the wildling came to her aid.
"Aye", he said and taking a big gulp of beer, before turning to face Jon Snow "ye should come to a decision, lad. The lassie seems a wee bit distraught, and we cannot have a gal in discomfort now, can we?"
"For what it's worth, I have said so about a thousand times now", Sansa agreed "You've seen now, Lady Avyn does not do anything wrong. Why not just let her go?"
"I must say", Davos now chimed in "I agree. Young Lady Umber is of a kind disposition. Surely, you must see this yourself, Lord Snow."
"Well", the Lord of Winterfell said, after a moment of silence "it seems, I am outvoted. So I say, you can be at ease now – you are a free woman. And, after the death of your brother, it seems you are the new Mistress of the Last Hearth."
Avyn looked at him in surprise. She had stayed at Winterfell for quite some time now – after being freed from the dungeons anyways. And now, suddenly, just like that they would relieve her that way?
"I do have one condition, though. As the new Lady of the Last Hearth, I ask you to pledge your loyalty to House Stark. We have sent out messengers to all the rulers in the North; we await them in about three week's time. We should like it to have you here as our guest, for that time, as you are not quite recovered and even if you rode for your home tomorrow, you would only get to stay there for a mere week."
"You are very kind, my Lord", Avyn replied and looked down on the table while she spoke "but I have... the people I hold dearest awaiting me at my home."
"Aye", Jon Snow said "Well, surely they could wait? Of course, you can write them letters, to let them know you are well."
"I would, my Lord, but..."
"But what Lady Avyn means to say", Sansa interrupted "is that she has a three year old boy who waits eagerly to see her again."
"A boy?", Jon Snow said, mustering Avyn most interestedly.
"Aye, my Lord", she said and blushed "Brynden. He's my..."
"Her ward", Sansa interrupted, yet again, grabbing for Avyn's hand beneath the table "He's been left by his parents as a baby, so the Umbers took him in, and Lady Avyn has grown very fond of the child."
!Ah, well, I see", the Lord of Winterfell said "Well... why don't we ask young Brynden to come and join us here?"
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