The Lions Protégée

Chapter 3 of my crossover story, enjoy.

Reviews

Boris Yeltsin: Thanks and yeah, well, we'll see.
Parent12D: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it; true, very true, but it works both ways, they don't know much about Jodie either remember :)
Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks, yeah, indeed :)
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Game of Thrones, Beyond Two Souls or their characters.

Chapter 3

It was eight in the morning the following day, Dorna sighed softly as she sat back down in the chair next to the bed. She looked over the young woman, still unconscious, in the bed.

'Her pulse is stronger, she's warmer...it looks like some colour has returned to her face too.' Dorna reflected.

Normally, at this time, she'd be ensuring that her children were all ready for school; but with the snowstorm she'd just received calls from the twins and Janei's schools, informing her they were closed. She was grateful for this, it meant there was little danger for them now; the snow hadn't got any worse since last night, but it wasn't any better either.

'Oh, but Lancel still plans on coming home, I just hope he's...' She thought worriedly, concerned for her eldest son. But then she saw something. 'What, is that…?'

She hadn't noticed it before, but now, leaning closer to the young woman, Dorna noticed something.

It was something she saw on the woman's face. 'Are those...scars?'

She froze however as she suddenly felt a strange creeping sensation and the room suddenly seemed to get colder.

Dorna straightened up, shaking her head. 'I must be tired.'

It was true, she and Kevan had taken it in turns to watch over the young woman throughout the night. They knew that when she woke up, there would be some explaining to do.

Sure enough at that moment, Dorna heard a soft moan and she quickly focused on the young woman, who was indeed waking up.

"Morning." She said softly, trying not to startle her.

But it didn't work out that way, the woman jerked upright, trying to move away, eyes wide.

"What, where…?" She gasped.

Dorna gently spoke, holding up her hands, trying to calm her.

"It's alright, you're safe now. I found you lying in the snow and brought you to my home." She explained; seeing the woman pause, she continued. "My name is Dorna Lannister, I live with my husband Kevan and our children, Martyn, Willem and Janei, my oldest son Lancel will be coming to see us to, if the weather is kind enough to let him."

The woman was quiet for a moment and Dorna briefly wondered if she had said too much at once.

But then the woman replied, her voice shaky, but not longer panicked. "Jodie...my, my name is Jodie."

Smiling Dorna nodded. "It's nice to meet you Jodie; don't worry, you're safe here."

There was something in Jodie's expression at that which startled Dorna, it was a look that said 'you have no idea what you're talking about'. Yet there was also something more disturbing, the look in Jodie's eyes, she had seen far too much it seemed, more than a woman of twenty-two should have seen.

But it was what happened next that truly scared Dorna.

"You found me, brought me here?" Jodie asked, her voice sounded off.

Dorna nodded. "Yes, of course, I couldn't leave you lying there, you would've died."

It was the hopelessness in her voice which caught Dorna off guard. "You should have...You should have just left me."

"I couldn't..."

"It would have been better off." She replied.

Dorna was horrified; she couldn't help but wonder just what this woman had gone through if the thought of lying in the middle of the street and freezing to death seemed an attractive option.

Dorna decided to try and different approach. "Lancel, my oldest son, he's around your age...If he'd been stuck out on a night like last night...I would've prayed someone kind had found and saved him. You must have family, someone worried about you?"

"No, no family." Jodie said quickly, shocking Dorna again. But then she admitted. "Well, there is someone I guess, but...I don't wanna see him right now, not like this."

Dorna nodded slowly. "I understand. Listen, I can see you're worried, but I want to help you. You are more than welcome to stay with us."

"I really shouldn't..." Jodie began, hesitant.

Dorna however wasn't deterred. "Please, I insist. Look at the storm."

Looking over at the window, seeing the snow, Jodie sighed but nodded.

Finally, slowly, she got out of bed, Dorna standing up too.

"Alright then...thank you, ma'am." She replied.

Dorna smiled. "Please, call me Dorna. If you want to freshen up I'll show you the shower...I could, wash your clothes too, I'm sure I have some clothes that'll fit you. Then, when you come down I'll have breakfast ready."

Jodie finally managed a small smile. "I...thank you."

So, as Dorna gathered up the clothes and showed Jodie to the bathroom; Jodie began to get ready for her shower. As she did so, she handed Dorna her worn, ragged clothes to be cleaned. She disguised it well, but Dorna was in fact horrified by what she saw.

She had to avert her gaze not to be caught staring as Jodie finally removed her underwear. For it wasn't just the few on her face, Jodie's body seemed to be a litany of scars, small ones, somewhat bigger ones too. What shocked Dorna the most was, they were not the marks of an abuse victim; especially not the ones that, if she was seeing them, appeared to be old bullet wounds.

Kevan, Martyn, Willem and Janei were all seated around the table in the kitchen when Dorna entered. Seeing Dorna's expression, Kevan immediately stood up and approached his wife, worried.

"Dorna?"

Dorna bit her lip before explaining. "She's awake Kevan, she told me her name. It's Jodie...Oh Gods, Kevan..."

He gently took her hands, noting she had Jodie's old clothes. "Dorna?"

"I...I let her use the shower, and said I'd wash her clothes, gave her clean ones...But, what I saw." She whispered. "She has these, scars all over her body; Kevan. Not the kind you'd see on an abuse victim. The kind a soldier gets, in combat."

"Gods...The more we discover about this woman, the more worried I become for her." Kevan replied.

Dorna nodded, sharing his concerns and, while they had been talking low, Martyn and Willem had been close enough to overhear. They too, shared a worried look.

Meanwhile upstairs, having finished her shower and feeling a lot better physically than she had been in weeks, Jodie, wrapped in a towel, stood wiping some condensation off the mirror, examining her reflection. Her hair showed it's true colour now and was no longer matted; she felt cleaner, she still looked exhausted but that was the least of her worries. It was then she heard a distinctive clicking and whispering coming from just above her.

"I know, I know, Aiden." She whispered. "But there's nothing we can do right now. Not with this snowstorm. We'll just stay here until it passes, keep a low profile, then make an excuse and leave. Alright. Everything's gonna be fine."

There was more clicking and whispering and then silence. Jodie let out a soft sigh and finally, removing the towel, pulled on the clothes Dorna had provided for her, a simple blouse and trousers, and left the bathroom. While nervous as to what to expect, Jodie's hunger overcame any of her other worries, she couldn't actually remember the last time she ate properly. Taking a deep breath to try and compose herself, Jodie made her way downstairs.

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.