Well, my dearest readers,

I hope you're still there - and also that you might like this chapter, which has been finished for weeks now but I simply forgot.

If you do enjoy it, please let me know. If you don't, please let me know, too.

xxx

scuffie

"So, I have been approached by many a lord asking about the Last Hearth", Jon finally said after they had left the walls of Winterfell. He led her down a familiar path; Avyn knew he was leading her towards the Godswood. To support her and her weak ankle, Jon had offered her his arm which she had taken gratefully.

"The Last Hearth?", Avyn repeated "But why?"

"Well, seemingly they are certain that you, being a woman, and – in their eyes – a traitor to the Starks, have no longer any rights to your ancestral home."

"But, Jon, you said you'd trust me", Avyn raised her eyebrows "And I am the last remaining Umber, I have any right to it. For sure I would have to marry, but only to secure the line. The Last Hearth belongs to me."

"Well", Jon sighed "That is what we thought. Sadly, not everyone holds that opinion. You have a sister, right? She's married to Lord Flynt of Widow's Watch? He came up to me, wanting the Last Hearth to be signed over to him. Then there were at least three other lords proposing they take it, because it borders their own land. The whole gathering has been a disaster; instead of discussing war against the White Walkers I had to talk about land and borders."

"Don't you ask me for pity now, Jon Snow", Avyn said harshly "I need to know what will happen to me."

"I have a few ideas. Firstly, I have planned for both Ser Davos and Tormund to get each some land and a stronghold – as it would befit my counsellors..."

"Tormund?", Avyn snorted and interrupted the newly crowned King in the North "Tormund owning a stronghold?"

"Well, it would surely be close to the wildlings' encampment. But, yes, he would have to become a lord in order to stay by my side as my advisor. But we are not here to talk about Tormund, are we?"

"It was you, who brought him up", Avyn said, and sighed.

"Anyhow. I would both of them to have their own land, so that gave me reason enough to block off all of the suitors, for now. But that does not mean our problem is gone. There are not many places suited for the advisors of a King", Jon was now sighing himself, he had not gotten used to the heaviness of his new, unwelcome title.

"Look, Avyn, you need to marry, and you need to do it soon."

"Is that all?", she asked him and stopped walking to turn to face him.

"Well, if you had a husband with any claim to the Last Hearth it would all resolve pretty easily", Jon shrugged.

"Easy?", she yelled, almost laughing.

"I am sorry, I really am. But you knew it was coming, anyway."

"Mhmpf", she mumbled, taking his arm again, contemplating what her next step could be.

"I just don't know how to convince them of your kindness", Jon tried to explain "not after their behaviour yesterday. I did not think they would be so very harsh..."

"Oh, Jon, I truly never thought you were naive in any way", she sighed "they need a scapegoat and in me they have found the perfect version of one. Not only am I easy to blame for everything that has gone wrong the last few years – because of my family's name – but I am also harmless and unprotected, a woman, as this world seemingly reminds me every five minutes."

They had reached the Godswood now and Jon led her to a stone where they sat in silence for the last few minutes.

"You are an astonishing woman, Avyn", he said after a while.

She smiled, still thinking about what she could do.

"If you want to, my lady, you can have me", he then offered, taking Avyn so very aback that she almost slid down the cold stone.

"Lord Snow... King Jon", she corrected herself and looked at him with big grey eyes.

"You can think about it", Jon offered and even smiled a little, which made her heart jump, just like every time he did so.

Slowly she bend over to him and caught one of his curls between her gloved fingers. Slowly she traced the scars on his face with the palm of her hands as she felt herself get lost in those deep brown eyes as her face moved closer to his.

And then, in the cold snow-covered forest she kissed him.

"Sansa!", Avyn greeted her friend as soon as she had found her. Quickly, she turned to Suca and asked her to take Brynden for his bath. After they left she added: "I have to talk to you."

"By the gods, you seem in great distraught, Lady Avyn", Sansa said and put her embroidery away.

"I am, a little. I have to tell you about something. I fear you might feel uncomfortable talking about it, or maybe you might even be angry with me, but you are the only one I can confide in – and you better hear it from me now, than from anyone else."

"Well, tell me then", Sansa said, confused, but smiled to comfort her friend.

"All right", Avyn sighed "where to start?"

And so she told her all about the walk in the woods, about her fear of losing her home and about Jon's proposal.

"You kissed him?", Sansa shrieked "So you accepted?"

"No", Avyn shook her head quietly "I am sorry, I did not."

"But why not?", Sansa asked "You know, of all the women he could marry, you are definitely the best choice."

"I am not", Avyn sighed "I tried to explain it to him. These lords hate me so much – it could easily destroy his stand with them. I am not cut out to be a queen. A lesser lady, yes, though even most people would argue about that. I don't have the means or the manners, nor the calmness a queen would need to support her husband. I even told him about Brynden and his true origin. If that story came out, Jon would have to deal with a lot of horrible, horrible comments. And I think, after all, he understood. This was not about me or him..."

"Do you love him, then?", Sansa asked, her eyes big and round, trying to wrap her mind around what Avyn had told her.

"I don't think so. Not that it had mattered, I need to marry anyway, and Jon would have been a great match, if it would not make him so very unhappy. We could have been good as a couple, you know. We are friendly enough. But I just could not. I could not get my father out of my head, how disappointed he would be in me to leave my ancestral home to a non-Umber. I need to fight to get it back."

"Very well", Sansa sighed, trying to stay calm "It was your choice and you made it. I cannot talk you into something you don't want. Though I would have loved to have you as a sister", she smiled "But that is all I want to talk about it, if you please."

She took up her piece of fabric, only to put it down again.

"Why did you kiss him then, though?"

"I am not sure", Avyn replied honestly "There was something in that moment..."

"Was it a nice kiss?", Sansa asked "I never had a nice kiss, you know. Or maybe I did...", she added after a moment of thought.

The rest of the day Avyn spent time with her son. Brynden seemed to grow up quicker and quicker, he talked so much and was so very polite to everyone they met. Avyn looked at the little boy in awe: That a three-year-old could be so good, so nice and so smart already! She had to stop herself from being too proud. But a little bit of pride would do no harm, would it? At least it was something she could take pride in, the upbringing of her son. If only he would stop blabbering about Tormund and Jon! Avyn knew she was not one for romance, never had been, so naturally all of this men talk was just annoying and confusing. Had it been smart to turn Jon down like this? He did not seem to take any offence in it – which was at least something. After all, Avyn had been sure that she had about as romantic feelings towards him as he had for her. Which were close to none. But the decision not to marry him might turn out as a bad one. At least he would have provided for her and Brynden, and he liked the boy well enough. She had always gotten along so well with Jon – she actually felt like he had become her friend over the course of the last few weeks, which was more than she expected from a future husband. Avyn tried to calm her nerves by telling herself that, in the end, this had been the right decision. Everything else had just been selfish. With Jon being king, she had to take the future of the North into account.

Avyn sighed, before she sprinted after Brynden, chasing him around the yard. She would regret her choice, no doubt.

And then there was Tormund. Oh by the gods... Why did he pop up in her thoughts now? This was Sansa's fault! If she had not mentioned him the day before... Of course, Sansa was wrong in her thinking that Tormund might have feelings for Avyn. He never would. And even if he did – which, obviously, he did not – she would surely never be able to feel the same way.

"Lady Avyn", someone suddenly called from above. The Umber woman looked up to see Sansa stick her head outside a window "There you are! Could you come to the library, please?"

Avyn shouted a "Yes" and took Brynden upstairs with her, curious about what Sansa would want from her.

She was surprised to find not only Sansa but also Tormund and Davos waiting for her.

"What's going on?", she asked, finding the whole situation slightly weird.

"We have to find a husband for you", Sansa said curtly, shifting a whole lot of books onto a table.

"But... Brynden", Avyn tried to say but Tormund interrupted her: "Aye, let me take care of the boy, lass. I won't be much of a help to you, anyhow."

He squatted in front of Brynden, talking quietly to him, while Avyn took a few steps towards Davos and Sansa: "A husband?"

"An ideal husband", Davos explained, "because that one is not going to suddenly appear. We had to do some research."

"That is why we took all of the books we could find about the houses of Westeros, and especially the ones about the North to find you a suitable man, not too old, who is eligible but not some heir, because that would defeat the purpose – after all you do want to keep the Last Hearth, right?", Sansa said.

Avyn looked from one to another in astonishment.

"You did this?", she asked and felt the urge to hug all of them, even Tormund.

"Well, we only sorted out the unmarried second or third sons of the Northern Lords. Now we have to go through them and choose", Sansa shrugged.

"Oh, dear Lady Sansa", Avyn grinned "you sound as though it was not such big of a deal, but indeed I am truly touched."

"Mhm", Sansa said and grimaced "Maybe because you have not yet taken a look at our list of names."

Davos held up a piece of parchment with about ten names on it.

"Well, let me see", Avyn said and sat down, asking her friends to join her "Oh."

"I know", Sansa sighed "Those two are like... fifteen years old."

"And he is older than I am", Davos snorted "It's a wonder he is the only bachelor of House Senfeld."

"Wait, hasn't Ser Hutter gone to take the Black a few months ago?"

"Oh", Sansa said and took a quill to cross the name "Sorry, Lady Avyn, I have not exactly been around much."

"Ser Nathen is not going to work – we have had some differences in the past. Though he is quite a good looking fella", Avyn sighed, scanning the list "And the rest does not seem too likely, either."

"Well, you should at least try", Sansa said.

Avyn glanced over to Brynden who was sitting on the ground, playing some rather silly looking game with Tormund, not minding the adults' conversation at all.

"Ah", Sansa understood "Well, maybe you should start by telling your friends."

Avyn stopped for a moment to think. Should she tell them? After all this time? She looked to Tormund again, then to Davos and finally to Sansa, locking eyes with her. Avyn had lied to those people, and even though she still thought it to be reasonable she could not help but feel Sansa's suggestion to be right. After all, they had been good to her, so very good, how could she lie to them even a minute more?

So she took a deep breath, asked Tormund to join them and then she finally told the three of them about Brynden's true heritage.

After she had finished, there was a long, quiet pause. The men were contemplating what they had just learned, the women watched them carefully while they did so. Then, eventually, Davos got up: "I will go and find Jon, he has to hear about this", he said.

Avyn nodded as he left, her hands shaking unnaturally until Sansa took hold of them beneath the table: "It will be fine", the Stark girl assured her "Everything will be fine."

"Aye", Tormund said in a calming tone. He had Brynden sitting on his lap. The boy looked around the room in confusion, wondering why his Annie was so shaken up. When Avyn noticed her son's look she tried to straighten herself up and gave him a smile, which cheered Brynden up right away.

After a while Avyn got up and started pacing around the room:

"Jon will have nothing more to say than what has been clear from the beginning – there will not be a match for me in all of the Seven Kingdoms for I would rather live alone in the woods than to give up my little snowflake."

She stopped in front of Tormund and bend down to give her son a kiss on his forehead. The little boy stretched out his arms for Avyn to take him up and carry and so she did while he held onto her, cuddling his head against her neck, which was a great comfort to his mother. She sat down hugging Brynden tightly while Sansa and Tormund exchanged some concerned looks when suddenly the door opened. Avyn jumped up, still holding onto Brynden: "Jon!"

But the King in the North did not reply. He looked at her curtly and the indifference in his eyes hurt Avyn.

It was quiet until he sat down: "Davos has told me everything."

Avyn put Brynden on the ground where he happily sat down. Being with the adults was very exciting for him and he did not want to annoy his mother by disturbing them.

"I am sorry we did not have a chance to talk about it before", Avyn said gently, and she wanted to go on but Jon interrupted her.

"Aye", he said "Well, we cannot change that now, can we? We will have to find a solution. What's that?"

"A list of eligible bachelors", Sansa said.

"Which is, of course, completely useless, now that you have told us that you would like to legitimise Brynden", Jon said.

"I know", Avyn said, looking at her hands.

He sighed: "I hope you know that you cannot expect to have much of a choice now. In fact, I think all of your choices are in this room at the moment."

Did you like it? Did you hate it? Do tell!