Author's Note: This chapter is gonna be interesting. ;P

After Euphemia had received the raven, she had tried to avoid Haymitch as much as possible. She even kept her handmaidens with her even though she did not like their presence that much. Every time Lord Haymitch tried to talk to her, she would greet him and reply as little as possible. He often would try to banter but she merely smiled. She could tell his frustration but he didn't decide to push it.

Mealtimes were even worse. Lord Jon and Lady Sansa inquired them of their misunderstanding and Effie would only smile and tell them they had both a tiring day.

Of course one couldn't use this excuse for more than a fortnight.

One day, Lady Sansa had entered her chambers.

"Lady Euphemia, is something amiss? You can tell me."

The lady seemed genuine and Effie couldn't help but be honest. So she explained the whole story to Lady Sansa. The lady flinched at the part when Effie had dueled Haymitch, but her expression remained neutral for the rest of the story.

"You should have told us, child," Lady Sansa whispered.

"I-I was scared, my lady. You might think ill of me," came Effie's reply.

"By the old gods and new, I swore to not harm you. You are still young, Lady Euphemia, and my son," she trailed off. "Something had happened to him when he was still a child, a green boy. He wouldn't tell us but he's grown distant since then. Though a lesser Lannister was found murdered in the vicinity where he had been, no doubt that explains his hostility."

"Oh," Effie managed to squeak. "I'm sorry if my kin had done Lord Haymitch wrong," She bit her lip, hesitant at the next part. "I'm sorry if the Lannisters had done the Starks wrong."

Sansa sighed. "It's not your fault, child. I would never fault you for what your kin had done. I was accused with traitor blood when I was younger than you."

Euphemia nodded.

"Though, you and he seemed to get along after some time."

Something about Lady Sansa's expression darkened. Effie's heart leapt in fright.

"I-I don't know, my lady," she stuttered. "We just always met in the library, then, we became friends and then, I said something about us getting married and then, I remembered that Lannisters and Starks will never get along, and when my parents said that they would return, I didn't want to get myself attached to him, so I-" Effie paused for breath. "I didn't talk to him again."

Lady Sansa seemed calmer now. She nodded and stood.

"Are you sure you're calling off the wedding?" the lady Stark asked.

"Yes, my lady," she affirmed.

"Must I send a raven to your parents to inform them?"

"No need, Lady Sansa, my parents will know soon enough."

"Alright," she merely said. "I will talk to my son,"

And Effie was left alone in her chambers. Her worries were eased but only a little. Oddly, it was her parents' arrival she dreaded.

The next day, Euphemia had sword practice with Aron. She had been getting better the past few days. She was better at learning to take advantage of her smaller frame and she had quicker feet. She had been gaining more muscle, too. After managing to prod her master at the throat, Aron looked pleased with her and awarded her with a short rest. Euphemia sat on the bench near the door. She wiped her sweat and gulped down mouthfuls of water. Next thing she knew, she found her water spilling on her training garb and her hand was being dragged inside. She took a good look at her captor and shrieked.

"Let go of me, Haymitch," she demanded.

"Now you actually call me that," he replied bluntly and Effie blushed at that.

"Where are you taking me?" was all she managed to say but he didn't reply. Then, he found a closet and he gently pushed her in it. Effie was surprised at his gentleness but she still refused to look weak in front of him. After he closed the door, she stared daggers directly at him, not caring about what his steel eyes were doing to her.

Minutes passed and there was only uncomfortable silence. She had tried to leave but the young Stark only blocked her.

"You drag me in practically a cupboard and you won't even talk to me?"

"I was waiting for you to talk to me."

"That is good logic, my lord," she scoffed. "I thought you were the smart one."

Haymitch groaned. "No," he ran his fingers through his hair, a gesture he seemed to do when he's frustrated, not that she noted, but somehow she did. "You weren't talking to me. Why?"

Effie relaxed her shoulders. "You know very well why," she muttered.

"Mother," he began. "She was right. Not all of the people in their kin are the same."

"Your mother told me a bit about what happened." Effie's gaze flickered away before gazing intently back. "Sort of. You were in the same area where a Lannister was murdered."

"I- perhaps she was right."

Euphemia shook her head.

"No, my lord. I can still see how much the event had affected you. You're closed off now, she said, and I'm certain it had something to do with your once lover, too."

Effie tried to shake off her jealousy and continued on. "You had the same expression when I had asked you of her as you do now."

"But-"

"I'm sorry, but this would give me further reason to not go through with this match. I would not want to remind you of the pain of your lost lover."

She made a motion to reach for the door but he pushed her hand away and pinned her to the wall. Before she could protest, he grabbed her chin and his lips were pressed against hers. Suddenly, Euphemia forgot about what she was going to do. All she wanted was the fiery need of touch. Their mouths were locked in an entirely new battle that was different from their usual verbal spar. She tried not to shudder at how his hand wandered from her chin to her neck, to her shoulders, to her waist and hip. Her hands were busy clawing at his back desperate with need. They seemed to be grinding against one another. Her leg hooked at his waist while his arm clutched tight at her leg. When she felt their arms wander at their bare flesh did Effie snap from the bliss.

She pushed the young lord off her and dashed out the door. She tried not to think about what happened and searched for the stables. She was so disoriented that she didn't know what was happening and didn't know where to go. After several wrong turns, she found her way outside and saw the horses. She found her brown mare, Sapphira, and beside her, a green cloak. It was windy. She put on the cloak and saddled up. The castle gates were open at the moment due to Jon hearing the peasants' pleas. So, she went straight out of Winterfell.

Despite being in despair, Effie memorized landmarks so she could find her way back. When she was entering the forest, she slowed her mare to a trot, until she stopped.

"Sapphira, why must he play with my feelings this way?" she whispered to her horse. "I'm trying to do what's best for everyone. Why must he be so difficult?"

"Because Northmen are difficult people,"

She spun her head behind her.

"I've worked with plenty of their lot in my travels," Aron was some feet away with his black and white steed. He and his horse were never loud. Plus the wind and snow muffled their sound.

"I was looking everywhere for you, my lady." He urged his horse closer. "You disappeared from the courtyard and wondered where you've been. Some saw you heading for the stables and when I found your mare gone…"

Effie turned away from him. She felt bad for leaving their session.

"I would ask what's wrong but it's clear your Lord Stark bothers you,"

"When are mother and father coming?" she inquired, ignoring the fact that he said 'your'.

"They will be here anytime soon. Now, tell me, Lady Effie," Though his father's nickname for her spread like wildfire in their island, Aron only ever used that nickname when he was serious.

"Haymitch, he's-" she began, unsure how to express herself. "He hated me because of my blood, Because my blood did wrong to him. Lannisters and Starks aren't meant to be, Aron. We leave nothing but blood on our trail when we clash-whether it be lion blood, wolf blood or any other blood,"

"Don't you think it's time you bring an end to that?" he merely suggested.

"I thought so, too, but the contempt-"

"Do you still see the contempt?"

She didn't say anything. She knew very well that his expression has changed in the long run. So she shook her head in dismay and her master-at-arms quirked his lips up.

"These Northern men are reserved people-concealing their emotions one way or another. But they are quite deep people. I see how the boy looks at you in training,"

Effie reddened. "H-he-"

"He's usually watching from a window,"

She didn't know what to make of that so she let out a squeaked sound.

"Like everything else," he continued. "Marriage isn't perfect. No relationship is perfect. But when you love someone truly, the imperfections are worth embracing,"

"You think he loves me Aron?"

"Aye. And I'm certain you love him, too,"

Euphemia nodded at that.

"Do I take the risk?"

"You can risk marrying the Stark boy or you can risk marrying someone else-either way, it's a risk, my lady,"

She nodded absentmindedly and a long silence followed.

"I think I'd like to go back now, Aron," she requested after the pause.

"Me, too, m'lady,"

As they turned to head back to the main road, men in horses appeared around them. It was just their luck to have the wind howl less when what they needed to hear before hand appeared.

"Who do we have here?" one of the men asked.

Euphemia looked to Aron and they had a silent conversation. Study your surroundings. Study your opponents.

"Why is a lovely lady such as you wearing breeches?" another one said, licking his lips.

There were about almost a dozen men. They were all garbed in such a variety of garments that no one might have suggested they knew one another.

"Let's just kill the man and have her here and now. We'll just tell our master that she wasn't already a maiden when we got her,"

"I don't want to disobey master," the speaker seemed to shudder. "Let's-"

Aron's sword scraped against his scabbard and positioned himself for battle. Immediately, the men surged to them whilst clumsily drawing their weapon. She heard metal clashing. Then, something sloshed and gurgled.

"Run, m'lady," Aron barked.

She wanted to stay and fight. Aron had been part of the family since she was a child and she couldn't bear to leave him like this. But he barked at her again to go and she steered her horse away from him. Effie could feel tears sting her eyes and she looked back at her master-at-arms.

Her heart stopped as she saw her friend with a planted arrow at his throat. She whipped her head back to her path again but the image of the swordsman burned into her eyes. She would have spilled tears but arrows whizzed past her head and taunting shouts were behind her. She urged her horse to go faster. Slowly, she could see something ahead, some bushes that indicated the path. It grew larger and larger, when she felt her horse buckle- throwing her to the snowy ground. Sapphira's leg got shot. She got up and tried to run, but the men had caught up with her.

A few hours later back in Winterfell, Haymitch saw a scrawny boy running toward him.

"M'lord," he panted.

Haymitch rolled his eyes. Little Mill was always up to trouble. The ash blond twelve-year-old was the baker's son and he always liked to play. Sometimes, he tried to ask Haymitch to play but today, he was not in the mood.

"Breathe first, Mill. I swear you're going to die if you keep this up. And no, I don't want to get dragged into one of your misadventures. My day has been terrible,"

"But m'lord, it's-" he breathed out in a huff. "It's Lady Euphemia,"

He perked up but he kept his face disinterested.

"What of her?"

"M'lord, she's been taken,"

He felt his stomach lurch and like a man possessed, he shook the little boy by the shoulders.

"Who had taken her?"

"I-I don't know who they were, m'lord" he began to explain. "I followed them a bit, but a man emerged from the bushes- a man garbed in white except for his breast. It was crimson with a sigil of a yellow eagle,"

Haymitch's heart lurched.

Not again.

Haymitch took off the bird pin on his chest and gave it to the boy. He told him to go to Lady Sansa and Lord Jon and if anyone tried to stop him, he advised him to show them his pin. He would've given a letter but he couldn't waste time getting a parchment. He needed to save Lady Euphemia now.

When the boy left, the only detour he did was to get a sword from the courtyard. After that, he dashed to the stables like a madman and mounted his horse. He almost forgot to even put on a cloak, but he had to stay warm if he wanted to save Lady Euphemia. He had to get to her before it's too late. He couldn't live with himself if something happened to Lady Euphemia.

Author's Note: ERMEGERD! Hahaha! We're getting to the climax. Yeah, I'm being brave and have an action scene which I don't usually do because I'm afraid of action scenes. TwT Gonna be out of topic here but what do you peeps think of the new season of Game of Thrones? Weak beginning but they made up for it eventually. Especially episode 02 *wink wink* spoilers… hahahha anyway. It also reminds me how much of a sweet summer child my fanfic compared to the GRRM's world but well, YOLO XD I hope you guys still enjoy reading my green boy fic lol. Please do leave a review. It is much appreciated.