Hi... I admit this took longer than I thought it would. Damn college work! Anyway, I hope it's okay and that you enjoy it! Please leave me some feedback if you do, but don't be a dick and leave a flame if you don't. I own only OC's.

Falling Slowly
Chapter 1

Five years later…

The chill of the dark chamber went unnoticed by Eyva, who lay nude upon the furs, her curls tangled and cheeks flushed as she struggled to catch her breath. The muscled body that lay on top of her, also panting heavily, let out a low chuckle.

"Well, that was definitely more frantic than I had expected… Not that I'm complaining." The man murmured in her ear before rolling off the girl and landing on the sheets beside her. Eyva now let out a laugh of her own and turned herself onto her side so that she could watch her companion.

Jory Cassell was a man who Eyva trusted with her life. Not only had he provided Eyva with hours of pleasure, but he was a talented swordsman and over her years at Winterfell the two of them had grown especially close in more ways than one. There had been a mutual attraction between the pair from the moment they had met, and over the coming years the flirtatious banter had eventually become too much and they had been all too happy to give into their desires.

But their relationship had never been a romantic one. A lot had changed for Eyva over the past five years, but not her views on marriage. It simply wasn't for her, and thankfully Jory understood and respected that, which had resulted in a satisfying sexual relationship for the past year. However it was not an exclusive one. The two of them were fully aware that both of them had other dalliances, but neither felt any reason to complain about it.

"Well the children will no doubt be finished with their lessons soon so we had to make the most from what little time we had." Eyva shrugged as she sat up. While the boys were all in the training yard Arya and Sansa were tied up in their needlework class, not that Eyva expected the younger Stark sister to remain there long.

"Ah good thinking." Jory agreed, still sprawled out in all his glory on her bed. "Speaking of which, as one of the Norths' 'most valued warriors' shouldn't you be overseeing the lads efforts?" He went on to ask with a cheeky grin, running his fingers lightly up and down her spine. Eyva resisted the urge to shudder in pleasure.

"I could say the same to you." She retorted, glancing back at him.

"A valid point." Jory said as she turned away, curls tossing over her shoulder. He watched her as she rose from the bed and started gathering her discarded clothes that had been tossed around the room in their haste to get at each other. She pulled on a beaten pair of dark olive breeches before beginning to bind her breasts. He loved watching her like this, when she wasn't putting up a front. He would almost say that she was off guard but if there was one thing that Jory had learnt about Eyva Tarth it was that she never let her guard down. She never let her guard down.

By now Eyva was lacing up a tight navy tunic that had a pale blue pattern stitched into it. Despite the fact that she was in her training clothes Eyva still liked them to have a sense of finery about them. She knew that her looks could be used as a deadly weapon, so she made an effort to look well-dressed a lot of the time. Her gaze once again fell upon the naked man who lay on her bed as if he had every right in the Seven Kingdoms to be there.

"I hope you don't plan on making yourself too comfortable Cassell." She said, pulling up her brown knee-length boots of supple leather.

"Honestly Lady Tarth, I'm beginning to think you're only using me for my body." He teased. Eyva smirked.

"Oh you've finally caught on then?" She asked innocently, tossing his own breeches to him. They landed over his groin as he made no effort to catch them. One thing she had been surprised about when she had got to know Jory, who was now reclining comfortably against her wooden headboard with an arm behind his head, was that he had quite the sense of humour on him. He flickered his gaze down to the trousers in disapproval.

"So we meet again old foe." He said in a quiet but nonetheless dramatic voice. Eyva laughed.

"Well while you and your clothing settle your differences I'm going to go down to the training yard." She said as she pulled her hair back and tied it up with a black ribbon of Sansas'.

"This may take a while… we have a long history." Jory replied as Eyva took hold of the old metal door handle. She turned back and glanced at him as he lay there, his hand drifting slowly down his torso and reaching under the scrunched up material, smirking as he looked her directly in the eye.

"Well try not to take too long. I don't know how I'd explain this one to Lord Stark." She said.

"Oh please. Don't pretend you're so formal with him. I saw the two of you singing the Dornishman's Wife after one too many ales last month." Jory laughed, but Eyva kept her face impassive.

"I don't know what you mean." Was all she said before yanking the door open and departing down the stone corridor in the direction of the grounds. Despite the chill in the air Eyva found that she wasn't even fazed by it anymore. It had taken some getting used to but after five years her skin had finally thickened. She could hear the clang of swords as she neared the yard, and when she eventually rounded the corner Eyva saw that Robb and Jon were locked in a fierce duel.

The two skinny lads that she had first assisted in training when she had arrived had gradually transformed into strapping young men. Robb was tall, lean and still bore a striking resemblance to his Mother, whereas Jon was slightly shorter, a lot more bulky and without a doubt shadowed his Father. Theon, wo was preparing young Bran to begin shooting at the archery targets, was the tallest of the bunch, and probably the slimmest as well due to the fact that he favoured his bow and arrow over swords. He may be insufferable at times but hr had taken all of the advice that Eyva had given him regarding his craft on board without question, so Eyva did respect him for that.

She strolled over to where Ser Rodrik, Jory's uncle, was standing with her faithful hound Bones sitting at his heel, and gave him a brisk smile while bending to scratch Bones' ears, which he returned. The Master-At-Arms had grown rather fond of Eyva over her time in the North. He sometimes couldn't help but treat her like the daughter he never had, reprimanding her when she was in a particularly raucous mood. However he knew that there was no talking to her regarding her relationship with his nephew. Neither Jory nor Eyva were aware of the fact that Rodrik had nearly walked in on them in a… compromising position, to the say the least, in the stables a few months back, and he was happy to keep it like that.

Although they bantered back and forth in the company of others Eyva and Jory didn't make the extent of their relationship obvious, even though anyone with eyes could probably work it out. Rodrik couldn't deny that he hoped Eyva would eventually move past her disdain towards marriage and settle down with Jory. He knew that his nephew would marry her in a heartbeat, he truly cared for the girl. Rodrik would have been proud to call Eyva his family.

"How're they getting on?" The beautiful blonde asked, regarding the two eighteen year old boys.

"They're consistent." Rodrik huffed. "Hard to call really." Eyva nodded in agreement. Robb and Jon had always been more or less equal when it came to fighting, however she had a suspicion that Jon's brawn, if he used it to his advantage, would help him triumph in the end.

Eyva spun around and began to make her way over to the archery stands which stood a few meters away, Bones lolloping after her. She saw little Bran, still clutching his bow nervously, straighten as she approached. Eyva knew that the young lad had been infatuated with her from the moment she had arrived in Winterfell, if what Lady Stark said rang any truth. Apparently he spoke of little else for weeks after her arrival. Eyva was inclined to believe this because the rosy blush that covered his cheeks whenever she neared him also confirmed her suspicion.

Although she cared deeply for all of the Stark children she did have a little soft spot for Bran. He was unbelievably sweet and gentle, and his determination was something she both admired and respected.

"Good morning little wolf." She greeted, ruffling his hair as she passed him in order to retrieve her own bow from the stands.

"Morning Eyva." Bran replied, stroking Bones as the dog sat himself down beside him. Eyva smiled at the sight before glancing up and catching sight of Lord Stark standing over them on the wooden veranda, watching his children contently. She caught his eye and he sent a nod and a small smile her way.

Eyva Tarth was definitely a woman in a league of her own. When Eddard had asked her to remain in the North five years ago he would never have imagined that she would have had such a huge impact on his family.

Bran was smitten with her, Rickon was constantly trying to impress her, Arya would actually listen to her reasoning about attending lessons (not that she always heeded her advice), Sansa admired her beauty and poise, despite the fact that she could wield a sword, and had even made her an embroidered shawl, and even his two eldest boys, Robb and Jon, were rather taken with her. However they did a better job at hiding it than young Bran.

Robb was gradually becoming more daring, participating in harmless flirting more and more as he got older, despite the five year age gap, and Eyva would often humour him back. Ned knew that Robb wouldn't have had the slightest issue with a betrothal to the young lady of Tarth, but given Eyva's opinions on marriage Ned hadn't even bothered to consider it.

Jon didn't make his desires known, but his father saw his bastard sons longing glances and stiff, nervous body language whenever she neared him.

Not that he could blame his boys.

If he had met Eyva when he was young, before he wed his beloved Cat, Ned knew that her beauty, spirit and wilfulness would have likely enchanted him as it had done his sons. Despite his honour Ned had a feeling that she would have made him question his betrothal. However now he knew it was irrelevant. He loved Cat and their children. There was no point fantasizing about the 'what ifs'.

Suddenly a sharp cry sounded, and Ned refocused on the scene below to see that Jon had successfully disarmed Robb and was laughing triumphantly. "Nicely done Jon!" Eyva called out as Robb moved to pick up his sword.

"I'll get you next time Snow." The heir to Winterfell remarked with a playful glint in his blue Tully eyes.

"Whatever you say." Jon replied with a smirk. The two of them re-sheathed their swords before sauntering over to the archery stations.

Bran, who had been watching the fight and not at all focusing on the bow in his hand or the target before him, seemed to suddenly remember what it was he was meant to be doing. Eyva saw the panic return to his pale face as it always did when the focus was on his training.

"Bran, how would you like it if your brothers helped you today?" She asked and the young boy nodded nervously. Robb and Jon, who had been chatting away, immediately joined them at Eyva's suggestion that they aid the young Stark. She watched as the lesson began, and was shortly joined by Rickon, who she hoisted up and sat firmly on a saddle that was draped over a beam to her right so that he had a better view. "And where have you been pup?" She asked the fair haired boy quietly.

"With Mother." He answered pointing up to the veranda, and Eyva looked up to see that Lady Stark had joined her husband.

"Ahh," Eyva said softly, just as an arrow darted through the air and hit the target. Eyva turned back to the boys quickly, ready to praise Bran for the brilliant shot, however her eyes, along with everyone else's, landed upon the very smug looking Arya Stark.

The whole training group watched and laughed with glee as Bran chased after his sister, and Eyva hoped that things never changed in Winterfell. However when her eyes caught sight of Theon Greyjoy talking to Lord Stark, whose gaze hardened suddenly, Eyva was reminded that good things rarely lasted. As the Starks would say; Winter was Coming.

Sorry if there are any mistakes, I don't use a beta. PLEASE REVIEW!

Eve x