Wife of the Wolf, Husband of the Sun
Chapter Five
As soon as they arrived in the north Elia was freezing, she knew that the north would be cold and had brought thick furs for exactly that reason as had Ashara but there was knowing what the cold was and then actually feeling, she clutched the three furs that she wore close to her to try and stave off the cold that penetrated the wheelhouse.
This was to her home now, this frozen wasteland where there were dozens of miles with nothing around but farms or a small inn in the distance. She took a deep breath to stave off the tears she felt as she remembered the life she could have had, she was a Princess of House Martell she would not bend or brake over something that would never be.
It had taken them around a month but they were nearing Winterfell, only a few more moments and they would arriving at the road that would take them to the ancient castle. Elia took another deep breath to sooth the nervous quiver in her stomach and in a moment her stomach settled.
A course of coos and happy squeals caught her attention and Elia smiled as her eyes drifted to Lauryen who was sitting in her mother's lap, her little legs kicking happily and her grey eyes bright and curious.
Lauryen was one of the happiest babies that Elia had ever seen and it took until they had picked her up from Starfall that Elia had remembered quite how much she had missed her and she could tell by the way that Ashara had run and embraced her daughter that she had missed her too.
Despite being happy with the little girl's presence it was a bittersweet joy, looking at her brought back memories of those she had left behind. Arianne. little Tyrstane. Obara. Nym and little Tyene, how she missed them all and her heart ached that she could be with them again, the goodbye had been painful and full of tears on both sides. Except for Obara who had stormed off, her sorrow a hard emotion for her to deal with so it had become anger.
She missed them greatly, when the Maester had told that her illness would make it difficult for her to bear children her heart had broken. She had wanted to be a mother more than anything else and though the Maester had tried to comfort her by reassuring her that she could still have children it would just be more difficult for her the damage had been done.
She couldn't help but remember how Oberyn reacted when he had found out and that the Maester had made her cry, he had taken up his spear and threatened the poor old man to a duel to the death. If it hadn't been for Doran he probably would've gone through with it as well.
For as long as Elia could remember Oberyn had been her protector, despite the fact he was younger than her he had always protect her from everyone and everything that would do her harm. Doran had protected her as well but in different ways.
And now she was away from her protecters, away from everyone she had ever loved aside from Ashara and daughter.
She took another breath and blinked her eyes to try and clear away the tears, she would not cry. She would not cry.
Ashara took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze and Elia looked up and saw the comforting smile on her pretty face. That smile and her eyes said a thousand word even through the wheelhouse was silent except for the sounds of a happy child.
Elia smiled and nodded and looked out the window, her eyes widen at what she saw.
Winterfell. She had heard of it and even seen one or two drawings of it but now she was seeing it in real life and she could hardly believe it, it seemed ancient like it had been where it stood for thousands and thousands of years and it would continue to stand for thousands more.
The stone of the castle was grey and it's towers stretched into the sky, it did not have the luxury or the elegance of the Water Gardens or Sunspear but it had it's own charm, it was mysterious and ancient and as she looked at it she got the feeling that it held a thousand mysteries and even if she spent the rest of her life within those stone walls that she would never discover them all.
The wheelhouse and their escort rode into the castle through the main gate and they then came to a stop, a dornish man dressed in armour of a captain opened the door and held out his hand to help them out, the poor man was clearly freezing and miserable and she could understand why, he only wore leather armour and a very thin wool fur.
Elia took his hand and let him help her out and turned to face the wide open space they had ridden into, underneath a covered bridge stood the people who were to be her new family. She took another deep breath and decided to be bold, she began to walk over to them.
She heard several of her country men and servants carrying her luggage following after her and they stopped short as she did, a few steps in front of the Starks.
A true beast of a man, the largest man that Elia had ever seen and that was including the mountain, stepped forward and despite his intimidating appearance his eyes held a kindness and a wisdom that made her relax. Elia held out her hand and he gently took it and kissed it. "Princess Elia, I am truly honoured to have you hear."
"I am honoured and overjoyed to be here Lord Rickard." Elia said with a gentle smile, she looked down the line of people that were greeting her and she smiled gently when she saw that her soon to be husband was standing next to his father, despite that usually in a situation such as this the father's heir would standing next to the father.
Eddard Stark was no where near as tall as his father but Elia did not mind that, he was still tall but only a few inches taller than Oberyn but wide shoulder where Oberyn was slim. The young man, while not overly handsome all things considered was by no means ugly, his face strongly shaped, his chin covered with heavy stubble and his grey eyes pleasant enough to look at, his brown hair remind her somewhat of some of the sand in Dorne.
He seemed to stare right through her, she imagined that was as he pleased with this arrangement as she was. "A pleasure to meet you Lord Stark, I hope that I am not a disappointment to you."
Eddard shook his and spoke quietly, his voice gruff through not unpleasant. "I could not see how you would ever be a disappointment my lady."
Elia nodded and stepped over to the next person in line, as first introductions went it wasn't as bad as she feared.
The next person in line was Brandon Stark the heir and while his younger brother was certainly not bad looking in any regard it was clear that Brandon was the one who got the looks,with striking blue eyes and brown hair so dark it was almost black and a face that looked like the gods had carved it from marble as well as strong muscles and a wide chest it was clear to see why so many girls were so mad with desire for the so called wild wolf.
He was polite to her and even told a joke that his brother had been born frowning and serious and while it was not particularly funny it did make her laugh, through she did notice in the corner of her eye that Eddard did seem to tense up.
Despite being polite and speaking to her his attention seemed to be drawn to Ashara who had come to stand behind her, or more specifically Lauryn who Ashara held in her arms.
It couldn't be could it? It was difficult to tell, Ashara had purple eyes so her daughter didn't get her eyes from her and she and Lauryn both had dark black hair and both mother and daughter had similar facial features, making it difficult to identify any father.
But the way that lord Brandon was staring at them both...
Elia quickly decided that it wasn't her business and moved down the line, the person standing in front of her this time was Lord Rickard's only daughter, Lyanna Stark. The girl was lovely with long dark hair and the same grey eyes as her older brother and father and a figure that was well on it's way to becoming a woman's.
Despite this the girl greeted her rather coldly with a simple and quick shake of the hand instead of the formal kiss and Elia got the feeling that she didn't like her very much.
The final person who greeted her a young boy around ten years old with sandy brown hair and grey eyes, Benjen Stark, the youngest child. He was a sweet boy and kissed Elia's hand gently and Elia could tell that she liked him already.
Once the introductions were spoken Lord Rickard spoke up. "Now then, Lyanna if you would please show Princess Elia and Lady Ashara to their rooms they will be tired from their journey. I will send a servant to fetch you ladies for when our guests arrive and than we shall go to the godswood so you and my son can say your vows and then will be the feast. Brandon! Eddard come with me, there are still things to discuss."
Lord Rickard walked off after giving a respectful nod to both Elia and Ashara, Ned and Brandon following after him.
Lyanna sighed before walking off, she turned to look over head at both Elia and Ashara. "Follow me then."
Elia and Ashara shot a look at one another and followed the northern girl, they got the feeling that at least one Stark did not want them here.
As they walked after her and Elia's servants followed she suddenly had a strange felling, as if someone somewhere was watching her. Judging her.
But as she looked around to see if she could see anyone, she could see no one at all.
Just the wind perhaps?
End of Chapter Five.
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