Riverrun, 283 AC
The night is dark, huge threatening clouds darkening the sky of the Riverlands. Sit by the window, Aylis cannot resolve herself to sleep. She stares at the landscape in front of her, guessing, despite the bad weather, the shapes of the trees, the sound of the two rivers running around the castle. She hears the sound of her door opening and she sees Cat walking in. She looks surprised to see her little sister still awake. Aylis smiles huge when Cat joins her, and her eyes immediately wander to her bump, which is pretty obvious now. The eldest daughter of Lord Tully holds her kidneys as she sits down and winces slightly.
"Are you okay, Catelyn?" Aylis asks worried.
She is always scare something is wrong with the baby. Catelyn smiles at her:
"I am fine, Aylis, thank you. I just feel so heavy and fat", she makes a face. Aylis takes her hand:
"You are gorgeous, Cat", she says very sincerely.
Pregnancy has turned Cat into a real woman: she had grown up all of a sudden, her breasts have developed quickly and her hips have grown larger. Aylis has been excited right from the start when she learnt that Cat was going to have a baby. Seeing how young she is, it would mostly sound like a little brother than a nephew to her. Edmure has been pretty distant from this moment, and Aylis thinks it's because it's hard for him to realize Catelyn is gonna soon be more a wife to Ned and a mother to this baby than his sister. Lysa has been cold as always, repeating all the time she cannot wait to leave for the Vale. Is she jealous of Cat? Aylis thinks so, but why? Lysa will be pregnant soon too, she is young and men can father children way later than women. Aylis has decided to stop worrying about her: she is acting so nastily towards everyone, their father, their brother, the maids, everyone. Secretly, everyone is eager to see her leave. But the war lasts: they don't have news from their father, riding alongside with Robert and Ned Stark. She remembers the night of the wedding of her sisters: she had thought Robert was very handsome, and had wondered why Lyanna Stark would run away from him to go with a man who looked nothing like human. She shivers when she remembers how Aerys looked like during the Tourney of Harrenhal. She hopes, with all her heart, that this King is going to die, and that her family will be safe. She is brought back to reality when Cately gasps loudly:
"What is it?" she swiftly turns to her.
"The baby is kicking!" Cat exclaims, squealing with joy and surprise.
She swiftly grabs Aylis's hand and places it on her bump. Aylis stares at it, waiting. And suddenly, against her hand, she feels the baby moving, not only kicking, as if he was turning around in his mother's womb.
"Gods", she whispers, marveled at the feeling and looks up at Catelyn.
"How does it feel?" she asks her, not moving her hand away.
"It feels honestly weird", her sister confesses. "But it means the baby is healthy, and strong. That's what Maester Kym and Maester Luwin say."
Aylis nods at her and keeps stroking her belly. Maester Luwin is the Maester of Winterfell but he has been sent here to care for the future heir of Winterfell. He doesn't have much to do though: Catelyn is fine, the baby is too and everything is made to turn this pregnancy as comfortable as possible.
"We should go to bed", Aylis ends up saying after a long silence, and slips her hand off her sister's belly.
Catelyn nods silently and kisses her sister's cheek before heading to her own bedroom.
A few weeks later, while Catelyn is closer and closer to give birth, they receive a raven from their father, writing down to them that Rhaegar Targaryen has been killed during a battle, and that the war was almost won. He is fine, he precise, but most men have died. Then, apart from the main letter, a smaller one where he explains how the battle occurred to Edmure, who reads fascinated. The booming voice of Robert commanding his men, Ser Lyn Corbray destroying the Dornishmen and killing their prince, Lewyn, the loyalist army broke and leaderless after Rhaegar's death, running back to King's Landing with the survivors, and then, Barristan Selmy, one of the men the most loyal to Prince Rhaegar, healed by Robert's own maester when most of Robert's men advised him to kill him. But Robert rewards bravery, maybe to his own expense. Behind Edmure, Aylis reads the description of the battle, as fascinated as her brother. She would have loved to be a boy for that, for knowing how to use a sword, killing all the men she would have hate. But, then, she would have died too, and her sisters would have grieved for her, leaving their father heartbroken. She is happy to be a girl, she thinks. Women bring life on Earth, and men take it away. She turns to Catelyn, crying with joy to know that their father will soon be home again. But Aylis knows that King's Landing needs to be taken first, and Aerys will not let the Rebels do without fighting them without pity. She shivers at this thought, and wraps her arms around herself.
Walking to the window, she leans her head on Cat's shoulder, and her thoughts wander to Stannis, still besieged at Storm's End. Soon, his brother will free him, and at this moment, she could talk to her father about her wish to marry him. He is a grown man, and she is only a child, but she will grow up, and if he is willing to wait for her, she will make him happy. She knows she will. He will see her, realize how beautiful she is, and he will tell her father he agrees on marrying her, and everything will be alright.