Wife of the Wolf, Husband of the Sun

Chapter Eighteen

Elia sighed heavily as she finished writing the letter to Lord Umber and sealed it before picking up another piece of blank parchment and began to write a letter to Lord Gregor of House Forrester who had only just recently assumed lordship.

Ever since Lord Rickard had suffered his heart attack a week ago the maester had made it clear that his work load must be lightened and while the proud old lord had complained his children had made it clear to him that he needed to rest so in all intents and purposes Brandon, Eddard and Lyanna had taken to running Winterfell with Elia, Catelyn and Ashara helping where they could.

Brandon had mostly been sitting in the Lord's chair and dealing with judgements and the major decisions, he might not enjoy performing the main duties of the lord but he wasn't too bad at doing it.

Ned had taken to overseeing the soldier's of the house as he was the best when it came to leading to men, the master-at-arms had even mentioned that if it was up to him he would have Eddard become the new lord instead of Brandon.

Lyanna had taken to running the household, well to be fair it was more her and Ashara and Catelyn who ran the household while Elia continued to teach Lyanna, she had to admit she was proud of how far the girl had come. She was a quick learner and while she still had a far way to come she was by no means the worst she had ever seen when it came to writing and sums and she was soon able to balance the books without much help needed from them.

Elia also occasionally wrote the letters to the other noble houses when the others were too busy to do so, at the moment she was spreading the word that Lord Rickard was on the way to making a full recovery as she knew if that there were more than a few houses in the North who would take advantage of any apparent weakness.

Her husband had told her that House Bolton had revolted against House Stark in the past so they were an immediate concern and from what she had heard of him Roose Bolton didn't need more than hearing that the lord paramount of the north was ill than to try something.

Speaking of her husband he had been complaining that he still had a headache from his hangover but it was an improvement considering that the day after he come to their bed he had been unable to get out bed and he was still able to take command of the house's forces.

She had to stop and put the quill down on the table as the thought of her grim, cold barbarian husband caused butterflies to flit in her stomach and a small gentle smile to appear on her face.

"Gods, you like a girl of ten." She mentally chastised herself as she brushed an errant lock of black hair behind her ear but she could not help herself, it was a surprise to no one more than her but she truly did love her husband and she did not care who knew it, she loved him so.

She couldn't help but wonder, would she have loved Rhaegar this much? She could not deny that a small part of why she had found him attractive was the fact that marrying him would make her the queen, she liked to think that didn't really matter all that much to her and for the most part it didn't but still she couldn't deny that a small part of her had yearned to be the queen.

But now she found that she didn't much care for the idea at all, perhaps it was because she knew that if she was going to King's Landing she would have to speak carefully and softly to avoid a dagger being shoved into her back and smoothing over any perceived slights and plot to simply avoid being caught in other's plots.

The northerners were, on the whole if not all of them, not like that. The sheer harshness of the land did not allow for things like plots and schemes to survive, they were blunt and to the point and said what they meant and meant what they said and Elia had to admit that she found it a very refreshing change of pace.

Still, she would not have minded marrying Rhaegar, he had been her dear friend and she knew that he trusted her opinion most marriages were built on far flimsier foundations.

She had to wonder as to how Rhaegar was finding his new betrothed, as soon as the announcement had came that the king had cancelled their betrothal she had long suspected that Cersei Lannister would be her replacement so when the announcement came to Winterfell a few days after she and Ashara had arrive that Cersei Lannister would be marrying Rhaegar she had not been at all surprised.

Cersei had always seemed a little...cold, at least to her. The girl was beautiful there could be no doubt to that, long golden hair with eyes so green they shone liked emeralds and pale skin and full breasts that drew the attention of a great deal of men and quite a few women and she knew to quite a lot of men that would be all that mattered.

Of course that was only what she knew of her as a woman, as girl she had been a monster. The way she had treated her poor baby brother, that sweet little babe...

Perhaps time had made her kinder but she would not hold out hope that this was the case.

The more she thought about it she prayed that Oberyn had not gone to King's Landing to do something to Lady Cersei, he wasn't so stupid as to do something to Rhaegar which is the first thing that she had feared but he might not have considered that do something to Cersei would be just as bad if not worse. The last thing that Dorne or Doran needed was House Lannister going on the warpath.

She supposed that for now she would just have to hope that Oberyn wasn't that foolish.

Perhaps she should write to Doran and ask him to command Oberyn to come back.

With a sigh she picked up her quill and finished the letter she was writing before sealing it and placing it atop the small pile of finished letters, before she could start on a new one however there was a knock on the door and as she gave permission to enter a little boy with messy brown hair and who was missing his two front teeth walked in, a letter clutched in his hands.

"This just came for you milady." The boy said brightly and Elia took the letter with a gentle smile and sent him on his way before she gazed down at the letter.

The letter was sealed with two wax seals, the first was the standard one for House Martell but the other, A red viper ready to strike she recognised as her brother's personal seal. She broke open the Martell seal as that was the one that was holding the letter closed and began to read it's contents.

My dearest sister,

How do you fare in the cold, grey wasteland? I trust your husband is treating you well, if he his not then simply send word and I will come and get you, you know that I would.

Our dear older brother sent a letter to me that said that he told you that I was in King's Landing, honestly I do not see why so many seem to love this place so much, it smells of shit everywhere you go unless you are in the keep or the great sept.

Obara is enjoying it, mainly I think she likes the fact that she throws all these so highborn lords and ladies off, they are used to seeing bastards shoved off to the side and hidden away in the shadows or fostered in a far away keep so seeing a bastard girl acting so brazenly is off putting for them, the fact she uses weapons and dresses as a boy is almost nothing to them compared to that.

Nymeria gains something of the same reaction and the girl is constantly getting under the feet of servants, she spends most of her time sparring with Obara and both of them are enamoured with Uncle Lewyn and he's already sought to teaching them true form, as he calls it, in what little spare time he has.

Tyene on the other hand is almost like a chameleon in this place, she has adapted perfectly. The people here look at her and they see a sweet young girl, barely more than a babe, quiet and modest. Perhaps it is just me but I think, that when she grows she will be more dangerous than any of them.

The lioness has arrived and she's made herself at home, she's beautiful I will give her that much but she a vile harpy beneath it, so little has changed in that regard and certain friends of ours quite close to your beloved silver prince have told me that so far he does not seem quite happy with her.

As I write this I can almost see the heavy frown appearing on your delicate face, do not worry yourself sweet sister I shall do nothing foolish, before anything else Elia do not think that I would bring my children here and then do something to endanger them.

I think I shall make them feel uncomfortable, I know that my presence make the Prince feel quite awkward and that is honestly the best revenge that I can think off.

Did you know that Cersei's brother has come with her to King's Landing? He did not recognise me at sight but that was fair enough as he hadn't seen me since we were both children, needless to say he has grown into a very fine specimen.

That might be an even better form of revenge now that I think about it, Cersei stole your crown so perhaps I shall steal her brother?

Regardless, I can here a servant screaming down the corridor and the sounds of very familiar laughter so I should probably go and deal with that.

I love you sister and I hope to see you soon, the girls miss you so. Why don't you come and see them, if your husband will let you come of course, if he is suicidal enough to refuse you.

Your devoted brother,

Prince Oberyn Martell.

Elia couldn't help but smile after finishing the letter, Oberyn could be a little crude for her tastes sometimes but it had been so long that she had read her younger brother's words that she would willingly over look it, just this once mind. And so long as Oberyn didn't actually do anything to Cersei or Rhaegar then he was fine, like he said he would never risk his children.

She wondered if Ned would be willing to go south with her, she would understand if he didn't want to go of course considering that his father was only just recovering but she missed her family, she could ask at the very least.

Elia put the letter down and decided that after she finished the rest of the letters, she would go and speak with Ned and see what he said.

She began to write the next letter, this one was going to House Mormont but before she could even get half-way through however the door to her room opened and Ned walked in.

Before she could ask what he was doing here he came over and kissed the top of her head and began to kiss down her cheek and then down her neck, he leaned up to whisper in her ear. "I've missed you."

Elia moaned as Ned continued to kiss down her neck, she tilted her head back. "Ned." She whined as she put her hand at the back of his head though she made no effort to pull him away. "I need to finish these."

"Then tell me to stop and I will." Ned said simply before he nipped at her neck gently and slipped his down the front of her dress and gently began to fondle one of her breasts. "I hope that you won't however."

"Ned." Elia breathed as she closed her eyes and tilted her head back.

"I don't know what happened, I was helping Ser Rodrik train the soldiers and suddenly all I could think about was you, you've started to occupy my thoughts my lady, more times than I can count." Ned whispered into her ear as he rubbed her back and played with the strings of her dress. "If this keeps up I won't be able to spend a moment without you and who would blame me?"

Elia opened her eyes and looked at her husband who steadily met her gaze, his face showed little to no emotion like he was wearing a mask but his eyes were blazing with something that lit a fire inside of her. "Ned, I need-"

"Hush now my love." Ned said as he pressed a kiss to her lips and pulled away from her, chuckling slightly as Elia moaned in disappointment and gently slapped his chest. He offered his hand. "Come with me, I want to take you somewhere."

Elia sighed and stood up, adjusting her dress to make herself look presentable and then took her husbands hand and followed him out of the room as he lead her.

He lead through the halls of Winterfell and she realised that he was taking her deeper into the castle then she had ever gone before and they descended several old stone staircases that she had never realised had existed before.

They eventually arrived in a small stone passage was that was almost completely dark aside from a few candles burning in small alcoves. Elia noticed that most of the candles seemed new as if they had only just been recently placed in the alcoves.

She was about to ask Ned where he was taking her but she stopped when she noticed something, something about this part of Winterfell that marked it as different from any other part of the castle.

It was boiling.

The walls had water running down them, like a man sweated and the heat was so overbearing that even Elia found it more than a little uncomfortable so how Ned could bare it she did not know.

The passage way ended with a locked and bolted door, Ned let go of Elia's hand and placed his hand down his shirt to retrieve a small brass key which he used to unlock the door and grabbed the bolt and slid it free, as he did all of this he explained. "I don't normally come down here, normally only Brandon or Lyanna does but...I wanted to treat you, I was not...my best that night."

"Ned, I understand. And you do not have to apologize, to me or to anyone. You were worried about your father and I did not tell you to stop and I know that if I did then you would, you're a good and decent man." Elia said as she stepped forward and pressed a kiss to his cheek. "And I love you a great deal my lord."

"And I you my Lady." Ned said as he turned his head and pressed his lips to hers before he pulled the door open and kept it held open, gesturing for her to go first.

She stepped through the door and her jaw nearly fell to the floor at what she saw was waiting for her on the other sides.

Candles, there were dozens upon dozens of candles and that was only light as the room beyond was not made of the grey stone of the castle but seemed to be made of more natural rock and beyond the candles she could she what looked like several large pools of water with steam rising from them.

They were in the hot springs. She had been aware of their existence for awhile, one of the first things she had wondered about was how her room had seemed so warm. Winterfell had been built over these springs and a series of pipes carried the water all around the castle, warming it within which meant the cold had never truly been a problem for her or for Ashara.

"I did not realise that you could actually come into the springs. I had imagined that any entrances would've been sealed off centuries ago." Elia said as she gazed off into the distances, the cavern seemed to go on for miles and the candles only went so far. She would hate to be lost down here.

When she heard the sound of something hitting the floor behind she turned and couldn't help but smirk slightly as she saw her husband standing there, utterly naked. It did not matter to her how many times she had seen her husband's naked body it was still a delicious sight.

Every muscle clearly defined, strong arms that could, and had, lift her without a hint of effort. A chest that she laid against more often then her actual pillow which was covered in fine dark hair which lead down to...

Elia whimpered as she felt herself getting wet, her husband chuckled and Elia could've slapped the man, he knew what he did to her.

The candles caused dark shadows to be cast over both of them and the light caught Ned's eyes, causing them to shine like smooth marbles. He walked towards her and gently took her hand and lead her over to one of the pools. "Take off your clothes." He whispered in her ear, his tongue darting out to lick the outside of her ear.

Elia shivered and reached behind her to undo the strings of her dress, thankfully Ned decided to help her which was good because her hands were shaking. The strings were undone in a moment and her dress feel to her feet in a clump which she then stood out of.

Ned smiled and kissed her before stepping into the pool, he stood in the water for a moment with his eyes closed before he let out a sigh of satisfaction. "Come in my love, it will not burn you. You have my word." He said as he held out his and Elia took it with a smile and he helped her in.

As soon as she sank down next to Ned her eyes widen and she let out a whimper, when she felt Ned's eyes widening and saw that he was about to stand up to help her out she held up her hand to stop him. "It's alright, I'm not in pain. Quite the opposite in fact, the pain in my bones is gone. Well, no it's still there but it's never been this mild before."

"Truly?" Ned said with a raised eyebrow before he smiled and settled back down and pulled his wife into his arms and buried his head into her neck. "Well then, we must make coming down here a far more regular occurrence." He muttered between kissed he pressed to her neck.

"Yes. Yes we should." Elia said as she closed her eyes. "I do believe that you are more than a little obsessed with me my lord."

"Obsessed. Addicated. Madly in Love. One of them at least." Ned said as he pulled her into his lap and grinded against her, smirking at every single whimper and choked off moan that he caused. "Is there anything that you would like me to do my lady? All you need to do is ask it of me?"

Elia whimpered as she felt her lord husband's cock rubbed against her, she twisted around so she was facing him and rested her hands against his chest and leaned forward. "I want to look at you while I ride you." She whispered into his ear.

And so that was what she did.

She was unsure how long the two of them stayed down there, the caverns were cut off from the world and she was to busy focusing on her husband to really care but by the time they had finished the candles around the spring were all nearly melted half the way.

Right now she was resting next to Ned with her head on her shoulder and his hand gently stroking her hair. "We really should come down here more often."

"As often as you would like." Ned said as he pressed a short kiss to her forehead.

"I meant to tell you that I received a letter from my brother, my younger brother. Oberyn. He is in King's Landing with his daughters and he asked if we wanted to visit him as he's staying in the Red Keep." Elia explained as she traced a small scar on one of Ned's pecs. "Do you think that we could go? I would like to see my brother and I am sure that Brandon, Lyanna and Catelyn would be able to hold the fort until we get back."

Ned was quiet for a moment as he clearly thought about it and Elia couldn't help but wonder if she was being selfish, her goodfather had only just had a heart attack after all and the road from here to King's Landing was long, she opened her mouth to tell him to forget that she had even brought it up but Ned spoke before her.

"If father gives us leave and Brandon and Lyanna think they can take care of everything while we are gone then, I don't see why we cannot go." Ned said with a smile and that smile widen and Elia laughed and kissed Ned's lips hungrily.

The two of them did not leave the springs until the last few candles threatened to burn out.

End of Chapter Eighteen

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As you may have noticed this story has been getting a lot of attention for me so for just a little while I will take a break from it to focus on my other stories.