Chapter four: Bear against Bear.
I heard the horn of Bear island shortly after, and smiled widely.
"Forgive me, my Lord. I did not travel alone, and it seems our Lord's offering has arrived." I explained. Lord Stark rolled his eyes. "The need to parade riches and gifts is more an annoyance. I would not have minded had you decided to forgo the tradition." He grumbled. I smiled wider.
"Mine is a little different," I hinted. I grinned when he and his wife looked at me. "At Bear island, Gold is not the main source of income. We do not buy and sell; we trade. It is what has allowed us to survive for so long." I explained. I gave an unladylike shrug, which Lady Catelyn obviously did not miss, but I carried on. "We understand the cost of supporting another fifteen or so mouths, and so our Lord's Gift to you Lord and Lady Stark, is all of the finest that we could hunt. We determined our stay would amount to about a fortnight, and so we have the first week's food here, and we would like to extend the offer of a friendly hunt midweek, so that you may get to know us better." I smiled. Lord Stark smiled.
"You are clever, girl. I will give you that. How many summers have you?" he asked me. I bit my lip. "My Lord knows that a Lord should never query a Lady on her age, but for you, My Lord Stark, I will answer." I grinned. This meeting was going well. I could see Maester Blondwin approaching. "I am six and ten. I will be seven and ten in two moons." I smiled. "This is Maester Blondwin. He has been my counsel since I have been in charge of the island, and my dutiful instructor in all for the years before." I explained. The Maester bowed respectfully, as he reached us, before nodding at me. "The young Croft girls need you, M'Lady," I nodded, before turning back to the Lord of the North. "I take my leave," I curtseyed again before turning to see to Cameryn and Lyla.
My trip at Winterfell went well, Maesters Blondwin and Luwin were quizzing me, and offered their evaluation of me to Lord Stark, and I got to go to lessons with actual girls, and I know most of my family are women, but they were uninterested in embroidery, and such. I enjoyed it, when I didn't have to do it with her – the reason that Jorah was now gone – because his stupid wife couldn't live the Northern lifestyle.
Sansa was elegant and polite – a little lady in the making, and her sister Arya was truly a Northern girl. Running positively wild! I got to prefer Arya's company, as Arya enjoyed to learn by doing, and learning from mistakes. I found the youngest Stark daughter glued to my side the second day at breakfast, when she learned about House Mormont. Lady Stark asked me to teach them the history of the house, overseen by Maester Luwin, of course, and I explained to them that the women were all trained to handle at least one weapon. She then begged me to teach her, and with Lord Stark's permission, I decided to show her to use a small axe.
I made her run around the sword court four times, before I deemed her sufficiently tired to realise what she would be dealing with. "But I want to try the axe now!" she had complained. I smiled and sent her running, and finally handed her my axe. The moment my grip was released, the blade of the weapon sank into the dirt.
"This, Arya, is why I made you tired. You need to raise your stamina to wield an axe." I grinned. Cameryn and Lyra stood to the side. "Cameryn can wield an axe now, but Lyra is not yet ready." Both girls smiled and nodded at Arya, who now understood.
"Before you can raise a weight at a distance, because the grip of the axe merely holds the head further from your body, you need to be able to lift that weight first." I explained, brushing my braid from my face. I glanced at the parapet, to find Lord Stark watching us carefully. I offered Arya a bundle of sticks tied together. "Carry this on your back once around the courtyard." I commanded and she did it surprisingly quickly.
"It wasn't too heavy." Arya smiled. I nodded and held it back out to her. "Now hold it like this," I showed her, holding the bundle at arm's length from my body. She seriously struggled, and so I grinned. "When you can carry it like this, at the speed of your first journey, I will then allow you to practice swinging an axe." I nodded to her, before gathering my skirts and walking back to the hall.
All too soon, the morning of our mid-stay hunt had dawned. I rose, washed and dressed, tying my hair back in the northern fashion; a simple braid. I lifted the lid of my trunk and pulled out my last name-day gift from Jorah. A Large bear-pelt. It was dark brown and fluffed; meaning warm, but it was almost like a second skin – it insulated and protected me. It was also Jorah's last gift to me. I wondered idly as I strapped it to myself, what he was doing. Was he safe? Did he miss me? Did he blame me? Would he be proud of me? I sighed, and collected my axe, clipping it to the metal straps along the back of my pelt, and grasped my bow and quiver.
The party were mounted and ready as I reached the courtyard; Lord Stark, Robb, Jon Snow, Theon Greyjoy, my dozen guards from home, and some of Stark's men. It seemed I was the only woman, and I relished it. "Ready when you are, young Lady Mormont." Lord Stark called. I nodded, a grin lighting my face, and approached the squire who had brought my horse. After attaching the quiver to the saddle, I placed both hands, prepared to haul myself up, when two large hands grasped my waist and lifted me into the saddle. Startled, I turned my head only to drown in the icy blue eyes of Robb Stark. I hadn't heard him dismount, nor had I heard him approach.
After quelling the ridiculous notion of blushing at his chivalrous act, we set off, with myself riding between the Stark men, enjoying their banter and listening to their situational quizzing. It seemed Lord Stark would present scenarios that could happen in the future, when Robb will be Head of House Stark, and would ask him questions on how he would deal with them.
"You must be a fair and noble leader, but remember fealty is to the Crown. We are Wardens of the North, by the grace of the King." Lord Stark reminded, before firing another scenario. "A man steals food for his starving family, because taxes are too high and his wages are not stretching far enough. What do you do, Lord Stark?" he asked his son. Robb sighed, clearly weary from this barrage of questions.
"That will not be a real issue, father. We take care of our people." He argued, dragging a lazy hand through his auburn locks. Lord Stark opened his mouth to reply, but I beat him to it. "It was a very real situation to me not six weeks hence," I said. Robb stared at me, shocked.
"Aye, I am sixteen summers, a woman and a leader of my own keep. These scenarios are always a possibility Lord Robb." I nodded to him, and proceeded to tell the story of the two young ladies in my employ.
"Your Maester made me aware of this decision; it seems that you are not heavy headed." Lord Stark offered. I nodded my thanks, before a hush settled on the party. It was time to end the chatter and begin the hunt. Within moments, bows were strung, and the dogs were released, while several unsuspecting ducks and birds were shot down from escape, and onwards the party moved.
The hunt seemed to be going well, and a great many beasts were hunted. Together, Robb and I chattered and laughed together, with Theon even joining in. I had changed my opinion of him, while we were on this trip. He was vulgar and rude and obnoxious, but he was terribly loyal and a fierce and caring friend. I hoped to reach out to him.
Cameryn rode to be by my side, and we chattered, while scanning the dense trees for more quarry. A few hours later, on the return trip, my ears alerted me to a noise approaching. The heavy thudding of heavy paw prints allowed Cameryn and I to send a warning through the party, as we had strayed to the rear so as to avoid scaring more prey away. The deep, rumbling exhales of breath echoed near us, and I slapped the rear of Cameryn's steed, sending her forward, whilst pulling the reins of Stormcloud to bring her to a halt. I jumped from my saddle and pulled the hood of my bearskin over my head, my first lesson in hunting with Jorah coming to mind;
Walking through the woods, with my very first ax at hand, Jorah and I chattered about what we could find that would make father proud. Jorah told me what to do if I ever found myself cornered. "Animals are special creatures, Ellie, but none more so than the proud bear. She is fierce and loyal and fearless, and she is a good choice for our sigil," he'd educated me slowly. I nodded, my brown eyes following his every word and every move. He was as large as a bear to me, but moved with a cat-like grace I yearned to learn.
"There is ill-luck in the hunting of your own sigil, Jeorelle, you must remember that we must pose no threat, nor give harm to these miraculous creatures, and balance will remain in the fate of our house." I nodded once more, intent on learning that one lesson, even if I retained no others.
"If you are cornered by a bear, then fate has deemed you worthy – they will see if you can stand against them. To do this without injuring the bears, or yourself, you must make yourself seem so much larger than you are, and make as much noise as you can! It will be a challenge and you must face it."
I kept my eyes forward, and buckled my shield around my back, drawing my ax from the saddle as I stood in the middle of the pathway. There, less than a hundred yards away from me, came a colossal bear. She was a beautiful creature, no one could deny that, and she approached me cautiously. I heard silence behind me, broken by Robb's strangled cry of "Jeorelle!" before I hid beneath the Bear-head hood of my pelt. I raised both of my arms wide, allowing the pelt to mask my thin frame, and clattered the ax-head on the shield. The banging caused the creature to halt in its movements and watch me carefully. I took two long strides forward, adding shouting to the repertoire of noise projected at the bear. Slowly, she began to back away until under the cover of the trees. Letting out a sigh of relief, I waited a few more moments and turned to the hunting party. Most of my men were holding their axes and blades out as a barrier that the Starks' could not cross. They stared at me oddly, until I lowered my hood, and shrugged, remounting my horse and turning her to the party. I guessed I wouldn't hear the last of this for a long time.
How correct I was.