Notes:
Another idea I really loved that ended a bit sooner than I expected. But I really love what I managed to get down.
I hope y'all enjoy it.
Thanks again to Captain.
/ / / /
The old stone hallways of Winterfell were vacant as a figure dressed in thick leather clothing that was lined with soft fur made their way down the shadowy passages. They left the warmth of the great keep to walk down the deserted hallways towards the kitchens on the other side of the castle.
It was unusual for them to be out of their warm bed at this hour but nothing in the last few weeks had been usual. They made their way to the kitchens that seemed to be as vacant as the hallways had been. They pulled out a bit of meat and cheese with a little bread. They filled a tankard with ale before moving to a small table tucked near the back.
Halfway through their utilitarian meal that was as much about something to do as it was nutrition, they heard a sound coming from near the great stone fireplace that heated the kitchens and allowed the women who fed all of Winterfell to cook. A small child was filling the soldering fire with wood to get it ready for the morning meal that would be served in a few hours.
"Sorry," a child no more than six or seven said when he saw the Lord of Winterfell's daughter turn her head.
"It's quite alright," Arizona said with a tight smile. "Fill the fire. I am interrupting your day, you aren't interrupting mine."
The child kept to their task. They arranged the wood to give the fire some cooler spots at one end and hotter spots at the other the way the older children who once did this job taught him.
Arizona watched and thought about how many early mornings the child must have already had of filling the fire. She herself was raised to be up early and take to her lessons or training in different battle methods. While her father, dying in his bed from a fever in the great keep, had believed in making sure she as his heir and her brother worked hard, she never had to fill a fire in the early hours of the morning. Not except during the camping trips he took them on to teach them to live off the land in case the worst happened.
"What's your name?" Arizona asked the boy when the fire started to catch.
"Harlik," The boy said.
"Are you hungry, Harlik?" Arizona asked.
"Breakfast isn't until after sun up," Harlik answered without answering.
"That's not what I asked," Arizona said as she raised an eyebrow at him.
"Yes," Harlik said and dropped his head. "I was allowed to play with some of the others last night and missed most of dinner."
Arizona rose from the table and took the plate she had been eating off with her. She put some more of the meat, cheese and bread on it before handing it to the boy. "If the cook asks about it, send her to me, do you understand?"
"Thank you," Harlik said with a grin that took up half of his small face. He had a bit of dirt and soot on his hands but he paid it no mind as he sat on a makeshift bed by the fire and started to eat the food. "Can I ask something?"
"Of course," Arizona said as she sat down and crossed one leg over the other as she leaned back.
"Why do you dress like a boy? All the girls in the kitchens wear such dresses but you wear pants like boys," Harlik asked between bites.
Arizona let out a soft chuckle at the question before taking a drink of her ale. "None of the women in the kitchen are heirs to a lordship. Women who are born first to their fathers take up their father's titles. So I get to choose what I wear and I like pants."
Harlik nodded as he shoved a large chunk of meat in his mouth.
"Eat slower, no one will take it from you now," Arizona chided him lightly.
Harlik blushed and ducked his head down as he chewed the large bite of meat. He swallowed it before looking back up to her. "Are you going to be a lord or a lady?"
"I am currently Lady Arizona. When you hold no title in your own right but are the child of someone who does you are Lord or Lady and then your first name. When my father passes I will be a Lord Robbins of Winterfell as my father was before me and his father before him and his mother before him and so on and so on," Arizona explained with a sad smile coming to her face.
Harlik set the plate down by the makeshift bed and curled up. "They let me sleep again after the fire is going, Lady Arizona. Can I? Please?"
"Go to sleep, sweet Harlik. I will make sure the fire keeps on," Arizona nodded to the boy.
Harlik turned his back to her as he cuddled with what looked like might have once been a stuffed wolf. He had a thin blanket over him.
Arizona watched the boy a minute before her eyes turned to watch as the flames danced and jumped. She thought of the title that would soon be hers. Though she would push it off a decade or two if it meant her father would recover. Though his fever showed no such mercy.
Arizona finished off the ale and walked over to pick up the plate that Harlik left on the floor. She put them up after cleaning them out before she left the kitchen to start the walk back to the great keep. About halfway back she saw a figure walking towards her.
"He's near gone," April, Arizona's younger brother Timothy's wife, whispered with tears in her eyes. "The Maester confirmed it won't be long."
The Maesters were an order of learned men that were part teachers, part doctors, part priests that each castle or noble family had on hand. Maester Webber had been here at Winterfell since before Arizona was born.
Arizona looked at April in shock before taking off in a run through the halls and up to the top of the great keep where their Robbins family private rooms were located. She felt her heart race in her ears as she ran as hard as she could so she could be there for him. She didn't want him to be alone for his last dying breath.
When she reached the doorway of her father's room she panted as she saw her mother on one side and her brother on his other. Her father was gasping for air.
And then suddenly he wasn't.
The room became still as the Lord of Winterfell's watch ended.
Arizona felt like the world moved in slow motion as her mother's head fell forward and a small sniffle came from the always composed Lady of Winterfell. Timothy across from her was slightly trembling as he held their father's hand.
Barbara turned her head back to look at Arizona before she slowly rose to her feet. For a moment she just focused on composing herself before she straightened her spine. She curtsied toward her oldest child with her head bent low.
"Lord Arizona Robbins of Winterfell," Barbara whispered as she straightened back up again. "Long may your life be and prosperous may your lands be."
Timothy turned to their father as his mother spoke and slipped off the ring on his left ring finger. It was silver with a wolf carved into it. As he brought it over to his sister he felt like a little boy again.
"Lord Robbins," Timothy whispered as he held his hand out with the ring sitting in his palm. "I believe this is yours."
Arizona wordlessly plucked the ring from his palm and slipped it on her left ring finger. The ring full of magic tightened accordingly so it was a perfectly snug fit. She could feel the wolf inside of her howl at the added boost the ring gave her even through a veil of grief.
"May I have a moment?" Arizona asked as she lifted her head and looked toward her mother. Even now as she stood the most senior noble in the room she couldn't help but ask permission like she was a child asking for another piece of cake after dinner.
"As you wish my lord," Barbara said. She lifted the ends of her dress up and walked over toward her. She stopped in front of her daughter and reached a hand out to cup her cheek. "He was always very proud of you even if the words were difficult for him to come to. Do not believe him disappointed. He was not."
Arizona's tears sprung to her eyes as she slowly nodded her head. "I love you, Momma," she whispered. Once more feeling like a small child.
"And I love you, Arizona," Barbara whispered as she leaned up to kiss her cheek. "Say your final words to him and then he will be taken to be prepared for the crypt."
Timothy met April in the hall and hugged tight to his wife as his mother joined them in the hall. Arizona turned and shut the door to give them a moment of privacy and to take one for herself.
She looked around her parent's bedroom that would in a day or so be her own as the new Lord of Winterfell. She saw the fur cloak by the fire that her father often wore, the desk and books that he referenced when needed. A pipe full of fresh leaves ready for him to smoke it. It felt so cruel that a month or two ago he had packed it and now it would never be smoked by him again.
She shook her head as she walked over to her father's side. She reached down and stroked his cheek and found his skin had already started to cool. She let out a sob at the thought she now stood where he had once saying goodbye to his own father.
"I will miss you every day," she whispered as she traced down his nose with her thumb. "I will see to it that these lands and these people are cared for the way you cared for them. I will make you proud, Daddy." Her voice cracked as she said her goodbye.
She turned toward the door and let out a held breath. She opened the door and walked out and past her crying sister-in-law, her brother holding on to her, her mother and all the others that had gathered.
"Where are you going?" Lord Alexander Karev of Dreadfort asked when she blew past them. He was her most trusted advisor.
"For a run," Arizona called without turning back to him.
She made her ways down the darkened stone hallways seeking to get out of the castle grounds. She avoided all she could as she tried to make her way as quickly as possible. She felt as though if she stopped she would crumble down to the floor and may never be able to stand up again.
She made it outside of the great keep and crossed the courtyard. Just as she made it outside of the second massive stone wall she felt her body twist and contort. She let out a howl of pain as her bones broke, her organs rearranged and her body grew a thick coat of pure white fur. She turned her head to the half moon that was still in the sky and let out a mournful howl.
When she turned her head back to the castle she saw two other wolves both with their heads up in a howl. A large gray black wolf of Alex's standing next to Timothy's even larger sandy blonde wolf. She pawed at the ground before taking off toward the woods. Both wolves fast on her heels as they tried to outrun the pain building in their chests.
/ /
Harlik was up from his makeshift bed and started filling the fire hours before anyone else in the kitchens would start their day. He carefully moved the wood to make sure it all burned in the way he was taught. His tongue poked out between his teeth as he slid the last piece in place.
He jumped when he heard the sound of boots on stone behind him before grinning when he saw who it was.
"Lord Robbins," he said before bowing the way she taught him when he asked.
"Mister Harlik." Arizona bowed back as she held her right hand behind her back. Her near nightly visits to the kitchen had become a comfort in the two long weeks since her father passed. "I've something for you."
"You do?" Harlik asked as he nearly jumped up and down at getting a gift.
Arizona pulled out a stuffed wolf from behind her back that was in a much better state than the one he had tucked in his bed. It even had a stuffed rabbit in its jaws with a bit of red thread for blood.
"That's for me?" Harlik asked in wonder as he lifted his hands up to carefully take the wolf from her.
"One of the gentlewomen made it and needed a good home for it. I thought you would keep him safe and warm," Arizona said with a smile.
"I will, Lord Robbins, I will," Harlik said as he held the wolf tight to his chest.
"That's very good to hear," Arizona said as she grabbed herself a bit of leftover pudding and some ale. She sat down at the small table in the back as Harlik sat on his bed with his new friend.
"I saw you during the full moon," Harlik said as he held the wolf to his chest. "Me and some of the others who aren't old enough to shift yet went and watched the great run under the full moon."
"Did you?" Arizona asked as she used a spoon to gather some of the sweet pudding.
"Yup. We climbed up on the wall and watched high up where we could see the miles," Harlik grinned. "But I have a question."
"What is that?" Arizona asked.
"Why doesn't Lady April shift like Lord Timothy?" Harlik asked with a title of his head.
"Lady April is from the Reach. She isn't a shifter like those born to the North. She is an earth elemental. She can grow things and cause changes in the earth like those from her birth place," Arizona explained to him between bites of pudding.
"So everyone has a different thing from where they were born?" Harlik asked with scrunched brows.
"That's right," Arizona nodded. "Those of us from the North shift to Wolves. Those from the Vale shift into hawks, it's lions for those of the Westerlands and merfolk for those in the Riverlands. The Ironborn of the Iron Islands have water powers, those in the Stormlands have air powers and the Dornish have fire powers. Oh and we can't forget the Targaryen down in King's Landing. They ride dragons."
"Dragons?" Harlik asked with wide eyes.
"Dragons," Arizona confirmed.
"So what powers do you have depending on when you're born? So I can turn into a wolf when I'm big?" Harlik asked.
Arizona slid her empty bowl away from her and picked up her tankard of ale. "It's not as simple as that, no," she said with a shake of her head. "Your parents influence it. Lord Timothy and Lady April's children for example will be wolf shifters who have a mild bit of earth powers. Them being in the North helps insure the wolf would be strong in their child. But it's as much the will of the gods as it is a perfect prediction."
"But I get to be a wolf?" Harlik asked to make sure.
"You will get to be a wolf," Arizona chuckled.
Harlik grinned as he held the stuffed wolf to his chest tight at the idea of getting to run the way he saw the adults do during the full moon. Wolves from all over the North came to spend time together and run as a pack. Some returned to their family homes while a fair number came to Winterfell to do it.
"Tell me, Mister Harlik," Arizona tilted her head and looked at the boy. "What do you want to be when you are grown?"
"A knight," Harlik answered with no pause. "I want to be a knight in shining armor with a big sword and house."
"That is a lofty goal," Arizona said.
"Lofty?" Harlik asked.
"A big goal," Arizona amended.
"I know it's silly," Harlik admitted in a small voice. "I'm a Snow after all." Any bastard born of a noble father in the North was given the same last name.
"Just because you are a Snow doesn't mean you can't make a name for yourself," Arizona said as she leaned forward to put her elbows on her knees. "Work hard and good things will happen, yes?"
"Yes, Lord Robbins," Harlik said with a nod and a smile.
Arizona smiled before she finished off her ale and set her dishes by other things that needed to be washed in the morning. She turned and smiled at him again.
"Goodnight, Mister Harlik," Arizona said with a bit of a bow.
"Goodnight, Lord Robbins," Harlik stood up and gave her a full bow with his wolf pressed to his chest.
Arizona left the kitchen and headed back toward the great keep. Seeing Harlik was a bit of a boost of mood that she needed with all that she had on her plate lately. Between her father's service that had been a painful reminder that her head was the only place she would hear his voice to plans for her bride to be to come to the North from down in Dorne to help her mother cope with her husband's death she felt pulled in all directions.
She was deep in thought when she passed the library. A flame burning inside to note that someone was inside of it.
"Who would be up now?" Arizona said to the empty hallway.
Inside and to the back of the library on one of the large chairs that was stuffed full to give the sitter a comfortable place to sit, was Timothy. He was smoking a long pipe and looking out the window in deep thought.
"A copper penny for your thoughts?" Arizona asked as she stood with her hands behind her back.
Timothy turned his head and let out a puff of smoke. "You think so little of my thoughts that you would offer me a cooper for them?"
"Is a silver stag more your taste or must I go all the way to a gold dragon?" Arizona asked with a bit of a playful smile on her lips.
Timothy puffed the pipe again and let out a soft laugh. "For you, dear sister, I will give them for nothing more than the request."
"Then tell me what they are," Arizona said as she took a seat in an equally stuffed chair.
Timothy puffed again and turned his attention back to the grass. "April's little problem is rearing its ugly head again."
"April has many little problems," Arizona pointed out. "She can't eat stag that aren't well done, she is always cold and when she sneezes sometimes flowers sprout on the ground at her feet," she said to try and lighten whatever was on her brother's heavy mind.
"Were it only the flowers," Timothy sighed. "She has cooled our marriage bed to a bed of ice. With Dad cold in his crypt her fears of dying in our bed delivering me a son have come back as strong as ever."
"Her mother had nearly a dozen children. She was a broken woman who nearly died three times before the last and finally was taken to the grave with the last one. April was the oldest girl and saw all of it," Arizona pointed out for her brother.
"Which is why I am down here smoking a pipe instead of doing anything else in the world," Timothy said as he turned his head back to his sister. "I wish for my wife not to fear a future with a child in it."
"You might wish it but she fears it anyway," Arizona reached over and plucked the pipe from his hand. She took a few puffs of it before handing it back to him.
"I thought of going into Winter Town and paying one of the women there for their time," Timothy admitted.
"No lord has ever been looked at twice for paying a woman for her time," Arizona said before letting a puff of air through her nose.
"And then what? Come home, crawl into bed with April and feel a knot in my chest?" Timothy snorted. "I might be the only high born man in the North to feel guilty were I to take a paid woman to bed with my wife unwilling."
"Maybe," Arizona agreed. "Maybe you are the only man in all of Westeros who wouldn't look at yourself the same in a mirror tomorrow if you were to do it. And what of it? So you're more honorable than other men, so you care more for your wife's feelings than a bit of warm flesh, so you're a good man. So?"
"Good men have short lives in a harsh world," Timothy said something their grandfather always used to say.
"You not paying a woman to go to bed with you isn't going to shorten your life, less you try to mount a sheep to take care of what ails you and get kicked to death," Arizona laughed at him.
"The image you placed in my mind has taken away any thoughts I had of anything but sleep in a bed. How thoughtful," Timothy said with a humorless laugh.
"I do what I can for the North," Arizona said with a sweet smile.
"Goodnight sister," Timothy said as he stood from his chair. He walked the space between the chairs and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Sleep well."
"You too," Arizona smiled.
Timothy cleaned his pipe out on the way to his chambers. His mind lost in thought about the very real ache that he felt in his belly even after Arizona's crude joke. He and April had been lucky their match had been well made and their feelings grew from the moment they met.
Even if it took three nights before their marriage bed was shared.
Timothy opened the door to the room he and April shared and shut it again to keep the cooler air from the hall out. He crossed the room and put some wood on the fire before he undressed in the newfound light of the fire.
"I'm sorry I couldn't tonight," she whispered after Timothy was under the thick blankets of their bed.
"I'm sorry something I want so much scares you," he whispered as he turned and wrapped an arm around her waist.
"Wanting to be a father isn't a crime," she said as she rested her forehead to his chest. "I want to be a mother. So much, Timothy. But after what I saw my mother go through the thought of it makes my blood cold."
"Did your father push her to it?" he asked as he tried to figure out if there was something he could do to ease her mind.
"No," she admitted. "I asked her once and she said she believed the gods wanted her to have seven and five children."
He wrapped his arm tighter. "The Faith of the Seven of the south and the Old Gods of the North night want a lot from us but twelve children is not one of those things."
"I don't think so either," she said. She turned her head up and kissed the underside of his jaw. "Can we try again tomorrow night? I think maybe tomorrow I can do it."
"We can try tomorrow," he agreed even if his body protested at the thought of another failed try. He reminded himself he was in control and not the raging thoughts and urges in his groin.
"Goodnight," April whispered as her eyes grew a bit heavier.
"Goodnight," Timothy whispered as he laid there far from tired.
/ /
In Westeros there were two primary faiths, the Old Gods of the Forest in the North and the Faith of the Seven outside of it.
Arizona had been brought up with a belief in the Old Gods and the unnamed and innumerable gods that filled everything from the rocks in the streams to the streams themselves to the trees. She knew enough about the Faith of the Seven to know how different her quiet prayers in the Godswood forest inside the Winterfell castle walls were to the septs southerners used. Other than kinslaying, incest and violations of the laws of hospitality the Old Gods didn't ask much of those who prayed to them. Arizona found a focus on nature and the protection of the land fitting for the North.
The section of Godswood inside of Winterfell's walls was a grove of about 30 trees with a weirwood in the center having a face carved into it. The large tree had white bark with bright red leaves.
There was a small sept that Daniel had built for April and a few others around that followed the Faith of the Seven but she stayed away from it to visit the Godswood instead.
"I have been looking for you all morning," Barbara said as she walked into the Godswood where Arizona was sitting on the ground looking at the weirwood.
"I've been here since breakfast," Arizona said as she looked up at her mother.
"A raven from Lord Torres came for you," Barbara said as she handed the rolled parchment to Arizona.
Arizona unrolled it and nodded as she read his words. "He, Lady Calliope and their envoy will be starting their journey north tomorrow."
"It will take some time for them to make their way. Enough for the rooms to be cleared and the wedding to be prepared," Barbara said.
"I knew this day would come," Arizona said as she laid back on the ground. "I knew since I was young I would take a wife and use magic to give her children. And now after twenty-five years, the day is nearly here."
"You've never made a secret of the fact you favor women," Barbara pointed out. "A fact that led your father to find you a wife and not a husband I remind you."
"Which I am grateful for, I assure you," Arizona said with a soft laugh. "And the few times I have met Lady Calliope at events, she has been most charming. But it is another thing off a checklist that is my life that I have little control over."
"I remember that feeling," Barbara whispered. "I was just eighteen when I married your father. He was a year older and it felt like we were playing parts in a much larger play. But high born have little choice other than to do the duties we have to do. It is the way of the world."
"At least we have magic so I might give her children of my blood," Arizona said as she rested her hands on her stomach.
"Magic which allows women in your position to take a wife and not need a husband if one is not preferred," Barbara nodded.
Arizona got to her feet and gave her mother a tight smile. "A better cage is still a cage."
"We're all in a cage my dear. Even the King is not truly free to do as he wishes without repercussions. No matter how many dragons or lords tell him otherwise. We all live in cages, some big and some small, some well appointed and some bare. It's best to make peace with the cage and worry about what you can control within it," Barbara said as she reached her hand out to cup Arizona's cheek. "That is what my mother said to me when I was told I would marry Lord Daniel Robbins and what I say to you before you marry Lady Calliope Torres."
"Thank you, Momma," Arizona said as she leaned toward her and pressed a kiss to her cheek.
"I have been giving consul to the Lord of Winterfell since I was years younger than you, I will not stop now," Barbara said with a good natured smile.
"I hope you never do," Arizona said before leaving her mother in the Godswood.
Out in an open area she watched as some of the local kids were spared with wooden swords. Some young men were training with real swords on the other side of the yard. Out past the wall she saw some men tending the lands where some vegetables were grown and past them she could just make out some wolves running in the forest.
"Lord Robbins," Alex said with a bow of his head.
"Lord Karev," Arizona said to the younger lord.
"Boswells are at it again," Alex said as he handed over a communication from Lord Reed. "Their ships have been attacking the villages at the edge of the North for the past two moons."
Arizona read over the communication and tried to hide her anger. She knew the Boswells and the others from the Iron Islands thought of raiding as some sort of birthright but that didn't mean that she wanted to deal with the effects of their raids.
She slipped the note in pocket before turning toward the south where House Reed stood watch as the gatekeepers of the North. "Send word to Greywater Watch. Tell Lord Reed that I will be sending him 500 men and 10 ships to help beat back the Boswells."
"We can spare 500?" Alex asked unsure.
"We can if it means putting down this mess before it becomes war," Arizona said as she turned back to him.
"I'll send word," Alex nodded.
"And I will start working out who to send requests for men to," Arizona said as she thought of all the requests she was about to make. "Come see me after dinner and we can work out the details."
"Yes, Lord Robbins," Alex nodded before he walked away.
Arizona stood there a moment as the sun beat down on her. She breathed out slowly. Heavy was the weight of her title today.
/ /
Cold.
All Lady Calliope Torres felt was cold.
Even if it was fairly warm for fall in the North it was so much colder than Dorne in the very south was. Laying in her bed in guest accommodations at Winterfell she already missed her family seat at Sandstone.
She opened her eyes and looked around the room. Even with the fire going and thick furs on the bed she felt a chill on her skin. She cuddled deeper in them and reflected on her trip north.
At twenty five she knew she was a fair bit older than most women about to be married. But a few skirmishes back to Dorne and the same in the North had pushed back her and Arizona's official betrothal and therefore the wedding. She sometimes wondered if her father was trying to find a more southward match for her but the logistics never worked out for her to take someone from the south.
She sat up in the bed and really looked around the room. It was a fairly large room with stone walls. There was a large fireplace that was putting out heat, just not enough from what she was used to. She slipped out of bed and tossed a few pieces of already cut wood on the fire before quickly returning to the warmth of the bed.
As she laid back against the bed, the room started to warm to a much more comfortable temperature. She closed her eyes and thought of the person she was here to marry.
Lord Arizona Robbins of Winterfell was well known in the North and the whole of the south. The eldest child of Lord Daniel Robbins, she had often been the one sent south when someone from the house needed to attend tournaments and other events of the like. The former Lord of Winterfell had little time for balls and tournaments after all. He was a man who had spent much of his youth fighting in the different wars that had broken out during the reign of a much weaker king than they had now.
But Arizona, she had charmed and partaken in tournaments and managed to win over the southern lords like very few in the North had or even tried to before.
And soon Callie would go from the daughter of a vassal of the Martells of Dorne to the wife of the Lord of Winterfell of the North. It wasn't as if she was going from a minor house to several steps up but it was a leap nonetheless.
"Come," Callie called when she heard a knock at the door.
A servant girl brought in a tray of food. A sealed note on it at the right top corner.
Callie sat up fully and let the girl put the tray over her lap. On it were a mix of from Dorne and of the North. Some flatbread with chickpea paste and purple olives along with sausage, bacon and duck eggs with a bit of toasted bread with honey butter. There was a large cup of tea as well.
"Thank you," Callie said to the girl as she broke a piece of the toast with the honey butter to try.
She took a few bites of the toasted bread before she picked up the sealed note.
Lady Calliope,
I hope breaking your fast with a mix of Northern and Dornish foods might be to your tastes. I have some business to attend to this morning but I hope to have my work finished before dinner so we might dine together.
May you enjoy your day exploring your new home.
Lord Robbins
Callie read the slightly tilted writing and a smile came to her lips at the thoughtfulness of it. When her traveling party had made it to Winterfell the prior evening, they had met briefly but between having dinner and wanting to rest after the long journey, they hadn't any time alone together.
Yet Arizona still took the time to request a meal for her and write a note.
She tucked into the food and filled her belly on the skilled cooking of the Robbins cooks. The flatbread wasn't perfect as in Dorne but it was the best made she had away from home. But the bacon was the best she ever did have.
Once her plate was empty and her tea gone, she moved the tray to the side and got out of the bed. The added wood she put on the fire warmed the room enough that she was able to change from her sleeping clothes to a dress made of thick material without feeling like she would catch a chill.
The coloring was darker than she usually wore but her Dornish clothing wouldn't protect her in the North. She looked at herself in the minor on a stand and instead of the woman she knew she saw someone else looking back at her. She looked like a Northern woman and for a moment she was scared of what she saw. She felt the same but she looked so different.
She shook her head and tried her hair back into a knot before she turned to the tray. She plucked the note from it and put it in a box where she kept some of her most treasured items.
Once she was sure she was ready, she opened the door and headed out to explore Winterfell.
The outer wall of Winterfell was eighty feet high with an inner wall that was a hundred feet behind it, a moat sat between. There were guard stations on the outer wall and nearly three dozen turrets on the inner wall to repel any form of attack. The area inside of the inner wall was several acres.
The main gate led out to Wintertown, the main town of the area, where the south gate led to the woods. There were gates to the east, which lead to the Kingsroad which went directly to King's Landing in the south and the Wall farther North, and west as well that were a bit smaller.
Callie walked to the North gate and looked back at the sprawling complex. She walked down the path from the gate and stopped at the courtyard. She spun around and looked at the grounds as if they were a clock.
At twelve o'clock was the North Gate, one o'clock had the entrance to the underground crypts, two o'clock would be the armory with the guards hall past that. At three o'clock there was the East Gate. Four o'clock had the Great Keep where the Robbins had their rooms. Five o'clock there was a small sept and the Great Hall where guests would be entertained and large meals would be taken. Six o'clock was the South gate with the smithery next to it. Seven o'clock had the stables. Eight o'clock saw the library tower, the kitchens behind that and where the Maesters stayed. Nine o'clock had the kennels and past that the West gate that led to the woods. Ten o'clock had the guest house and past that the Godswoods which was large enough it took all the space up back to twelve o'clock. The courtyard was in the center of it all.
"Learning your new home?" Timothy asked as he stepped next to his soon to be sister-in-law.
"Trying to," Callie said as she turned her head to look up at him. "There seems to be a lot of people here. More than I expected for the North."
"We have nearly two hundred people who live inside these walls year round," Timothy chuckled. "Winter Town has a few hundred during the spring and summer and twenty times that in the fall and winter when the harvest is done."
"That many?" Callie asked in shock.
"The North had more people than you southerners think," Timothy said. "Just because winter is harsh doesn't mean it drives out all the people."
Callie hummed as she watched all the activity around them. "This is so different from home. I was unaware there were so many shades of gray and brown."
"You'll get used to it," Tim said with a laugh. "And I'm sure you'll bring more color here."
"May I ask you a question?" Callie asked as they crossed the courtyard.
"Of course," Timothy nodded.
"Is it always so cold in the rooms here?" Callie asked as they started to climb the stairs to the library.
"Winterfell was built over a natural hot spring so the warmest rooms are in the Great Keep and the Great Hall where the Robbins sleep so you'll be warmer once you're married and out of the guest rooms," Timothy explained. "There are even hot spring baths you can access there. But it will never be as warm as Dorne."
Callie's eyes lit up at the idea of the hot spring baths. "Oh, I will need to find them once I am married then. That sounds wonderful."
"I am more than sure my sister will be happy to show them to you and share one with you," Timothy laughed softly.
"Oh are you?" Callie teased back.
"Most sure," Timothy smiled widely. "Come now, let me show you the library. There is a grand fireplace I think you will make friends with."
"Thank you," Callie said with a shiver at the temperature around them in the hallway.
/ /
"Dowager Robbins," Carlos Torres said as he walked down one of the many hallways on his third day in the North.
"Lord Torres," Barbara bowed his head slightly. "How are you finding Winterfell? I know it's not as warm as you are used to."
"It's been a pleasure," Carlos said. "In a few nights from now I will be heading away from here and my Calliope. But I will return."
"Are you prepared to see her wed tomorrow?" Barbara asked as they started walking down the hallway together.
"Seeing my daughter Aria married to the second son of Lord Selmey was a moment of feeling as though the line was secured for a time. But seeing Calliope marry feels different. As though I am giving away part of myself to the North," Carlos admitted.
"Lord Kepner said something akin to that when he was here with April," Barbara said as they found a bench overlooking the courtyard to sit on. "I have no experience in losing a child to marriage, only gaining them. But seeing my children married is a loss in its own way."
"Is it?" Carlos questioned.
"They have their own lives, their own marriages, their own families just beyond the sunset," Barbara sighed.
"Aria doesn't ask me for nearly as much as she did before," Carlos said slowly as if the idea of it was just coming to him. "And soon Calliope will be on the other side of the kingdom."
"You can write to her, visit her and give your eldest time to oversee your lands on her own before you are gone," Barbara pointed out.
"I can," Carlos rubbed a hand over the back of his neck to give him something to do besides sit. "Thirty years ago I returned from the Riverlands and took a wife. How many twists and turns I have experienced since."
"Those wars were brutal," Barbara whispered. "Daniel nearly didn't return to me."
"He was a skilled fighter," Carlos said of the late Lord Robbins.
"Always more comfortable with a sword in his hand than sitting at the head of a meeting over grain production," Barbara said with a bit of a laugh.
"Could drink a tankard of mead better than any man I ever knew," Carlos said with respect.
"He did favor mead over wines," Barbara smiled. "This is the first time I've spoken of him in detail since he passed and felt a smile come to my face in this way, thank you Lord Torres."
"When I lost my wife a decade ago," Carlos started softly, "I never thought I would hear her name and find joy in it again. But speaking of her with those who knew her aided in the healing process."
Barbara nodded and looked out at the courtyard where Arizona and Callie were walking together. Arizona was pointing out this and that as Callie looked as though she was preparing for a test. She really was. Being the Lady of Winterfell was the greatest test Barbara ever faced.
Down below Arizona and Callie walked side by side.
"Thank you for the tour of Winterfell," Callie said as she walked with her hand on Arizona's arm. "I have done some exploring of my own and your brother showed me a bit around the library but your tour has been most complete."
"I know the castle and the lands around it as well as anyone, I wish for you to be able to say the same," Arizona said as she smiled up at Calliope with her dimples popping.
"I wish for the same," Callie smiled. "I wish to visit the wooded area but I haven't had a chance yet."
Arizona checked the sun in the sky. "It is nearing midday," she said as she turned back to Callie. "I could have the kitchens prepare a sampling of foods and we could go for a ride on a pair of horses," she suggested.
"Alone?" Callie asked with an arched brow.
"I assure you that your virtue is safe with me, Lady Calliope," Arizona said with a mild chuckle.
"My virtue does not fear you," Calliope said with a smile playing on her lips. "Nor do I. But it is an adjustment to go off with a lord, even a female one, without a pair of eyes on us."
"I could ask Timothy and April to join if I could find them," Arizona offered.
"No," Calliope said with a simple shake of her head. "I do want time at your side without watchful eyes on us."
Arizona smiled and looked past Callie to a group of kitchen boys playing. She spotted Harlik among them. "Mister Harlik," she called out.
The boys' heads all lifted at the sound of their lord calling out for one of them. Slowly Harlik looked at his friends and then over to Arizona before jogging over.
"Yes, Lord Robbins?" Harlik asked in a slightly nervous voice.
"Go to the kitchens and ask the cook to make up a meal of meats, cheeses, bread and a bit of something sweet with a jug of mead. If you bring it to the stables quickly, I will give you a silver stag for your troubles."
"A whole silver stag?" Harlik asked with excitement filling his voice.
"Yes," Arizona smiled at the boy. "Off you go now."
Harlik bowed to her before running off toward the kitchens as fast as his little legs would take him. The other boys all whispering to themselves now.
"He's the bastard of one of my banner men and a worker in my kitchen," Arizona explained to Callie. "Made before he was lifted from being a bastard himself."
"And he allows his son to work in your kitchens?" Callie asked. Back in Dorne, bastards were more accepted than in other places in Westeros. People with the last name Sand were found in fairly high positions.
"He does," Arizona nodded. "I can not force him to request legitimization of his son nor the marriage of the woman. Him being a bastard himself I think makes him worried how others would see him if he were to marry low."
Callie forced herself not to roll her eyes at the Northern thought process. "At least you seem to carry for those who serve you."
"I do," Arizona said passionately. "I care very much for the North and the people here."
"That is something I respect about you," Callie said as they started to walk toward the stables. "Not all lords respect the people on their lands or care for them as they should."
"My father always said that being a lord was much like being a father. That protecting your people, providing for them, caring for them was like being a father to them. And he saw to the North as well as he did to Timothy and me," Arizona said as they walked.
"Lord Robbins," Eli the stable master bowed when she came into sight. "What can I do for you today, my lord?"
"We need two horses for the afternoon," Arizona said to him. "One side saddle."
"Of course," Eli said before turning and calling out to some of his men to prepare the horses.
Soon Harlik was walking quickly to them with a basket with everything that Arizona asked for. He stopped about 50 feet from them and slowed his speed as he came to them.
"Everything you asked for, Lord Robbins," he said as he handed the basket over.
"And faster than the horses are ready," Arizona smiled. She took a pouch off of her belt and handed him over two silver stags. "For your time, Mister Harlik."
Harlik's eyes were as big as dinner plates as he looked at the two shiny silver coins. He was quick to tuck them both in his pocket. "Thank you, Lord Robbins," he said as he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Thank you."
"You are very welcome, Mister Harlik," Arizona smiled as she rubbed between his shoulders. "You may go back to your friends. Thank you."
Harlik bowed to her before running back to his friends.
"You are very good with children," Callie said in a warm tone.
"One day when we have our own I hope to be the kind of parent mother was," Arizona said. "I know it is common for nannies to do most of the raising of children but I wish to be a part of their lives more than to be seen between dinner and their bedtime."
"As do I," Callie agreed as their horses brought over.
They were outside the gates and halfway to the woods before Callie spoke again. She knew the process of events that would take place and yet she worried about her future.
"A request if I may be so bold as to make one," Callie said as she looked over at Arizona riding beside her.
"You may make any request of me you see fit," Arizona said as she looked over at Arizona as the horse walked her forward.
"Give our marriage a year before we bring magic and children into it. I do not wince at the idea of giving you children, a house full of children if you request it, but I wish a year to understand my role here and our dynamic before I am put in a birthing bed," Callie asked with a nervous but thoughtful tone.
"I am no man and no natural way do I have to give you a child," Arizona said after a few moments of thought. "My pleasure with you in bed is not connected to us making a child on its own the way a man's would be. If you want a year, I will give you a year before we try for a child. Timothy is strong and healthy and will serve as my heir until I have a child in my arms."
Callie breathed out at the reaction. "I have been worried since we left Dorne I would request it of you and you would deny it."
"If something is in my power to give you, then I will give it gladly," Arizona said as she looked back forward to try and hide her blush. "I find you quite miraculous."
The weight of the complement caught Callie off guard but she recovered from it after a second's pause. "You are so much better of a lord husband than any man, even a man such as your brother, would be to me."
"Oh?" Arizona asked as she stopped them once they got to a clearing in the woods. She dismounted her horse and tied it to a tree with some grass around the base for it to nibble before turning to help Callie down and then tying hers up.
"I do not dislike men nor would I have objected to marrying one and doing my duties with him," Callie said as she brought her hands up to rest on Arizona's upper arms. "But a man does not understand the pressures of a woman's world. You live half in one body and half in another of duty. You understand things in a way they could never. And in that understanding I feel some freedom."
"I do live half in one world and half in another," Arizona agreed as she looked into Callie's rich brown eyes. "I will give you all I can of freedom if you give me to North as our family all you have."
"A deal freely and happily made," Callie whispered. "Should we seal it with a kiss?"
With any other woman Arizona could have flashed a dimpled smile but with Callie it felt more serious than that. Her eyes darkened just half a shade and her face tilted seriously. She lifted her hand to Callie's left cheek and cupped it as she pressed their lips firmly together.
"I'll seal every promise with a kiss if you desire," Arizona whispered as she stayed pressed close to Callie.
"Deal," Callie leaned in for another peck before stepping back. She was still an unmarried woman after all and Arizona was still a lord.
It was time for Arizona to flash her dimples now in a simple smile. She stepped back and pulled a blanket from the bag attached to her horse's saddle. She laid it down with a tree that Callie could sit against before and undid the blanket.
Callie sat against the tree with her legs out in front of her as Arizona unpacked their food. For a moment things were quiet and Callie just watched the way that Arizona moved, the delight on her face at the puddings backed for desert, the way that she licked a bit off of her thumb for a preview taste.
"What?" Arizona asked if she caught Callie watching her.
"Nothing," Callie said with an amused smile. "I just enjoy watching you find pleasure in simple things."
Arizona flashed a smile at her before handing her a plate. They soon fell into easy conversation about different foods and sweets they both enjoyed as their horses nibbled tender grass.
/ /
The music that filled the Great Keep of Winterfell was joyful as the assorted lords of the North gathered to celebrate the marriage of house Robbins to house Torres of Dorne.
Even places from outside of the North and Drone sent representatives. One of the younger son's of the King was here. Mark Sloan, the nephew of Lord Sloan of the Eyrie was sent as was the second daughter of Lord Bailey of Riverrun from the Riverlands. House Murphy of Lordsport on the Iron Islands sent Leah the heir of her father while April served as the representative of her father from the Reach. Half sisters Meredith and Lexie came from the Wastelands for the two Grey houses. Lady Teddy Hunt of the Stormlands came while her husband stayed in Storm's End to handle a squabble between some of his vassals.
All in all the Great Keep was full of lords and ladies, high ranking and showing their support for the new lord and her wife.
The Great Keep had long tables running parallel to the large stone walls with a table raised up at the head of the room set horizontal with the wedding party sitting at it.
There was space at the far end for music to be played and dancing to take place. Something the older lords forwent and the younger took up eagerly. A wedding was a great time to find reason for another to happen after all.
"Lord Robbins, Lady Robbins," Mark Sloan bowed his head as he approached the table. "It is a wonderful occasion to raise a cup of fine Dornish wine to you both today." He raised the half filled cup as Arizona and Callie raised theirs to him.
"Thank you, Lord Mark," Arizona smiled slightly.
Mark and she had known each other most of their lives. Her mother was from the Vale, the area the Sloan's oversaw. She had gone there often enough as a child to see family and he was usually around somewhere. With his hand under some poor woman's skirt usually.
"I was saddened due to the time of year of this wedding that there was no tournament to be staged," Mark said before cutting the wine in his cup by half.
"There will be one come spring," Arizona assured him. "I would not deny the pleasure of wanting you knocked from your horse by another knight of the realm."
"You wound me," Mark said as he pressed his hand to his chest. "I have never been knocked from my horse. Not once."
"Your memory must be faded with age," Arizona chuckled. "I remember seeing you flat on your back in the mud not a decade ago."
"Not since then," Mark grumbled and bowed his head again before turning and walking over to the Grey sisters to ask the younger one to dance.
"You are a blow to his ego," Callie said as she leaned over to Arizona.
"Someone must be," Arizona said with a much more natural smile.
Callie slapped Arizona's forearm slightly even as she laughed at the way Arizona enjoyed needling Sloan. She reached for Arizona's hand and tangled their fingers together.
"Will you joust in the tournament?" Callie asked.
"I've never been very good at the joust," Arizona admitted. "I always compete in archery though. And the ax throw. Taking part in the melee fights feels as though I am asking the gods to take my life at this point so I will sit that out as well. Might participate in the horse race if I have a mount I think might win it."
"If you take part in any of it, I shall proudly cheer you on, Lord Robbins," Callie said with a coy smile.
"And I shall place my wreath of flowers in your lap as the most beautiful woman at the event, Lady Robbins," Arizona answered with a dimpled smile.
"There is no need to charm me, we are now married," Callie teased.
"There is charm in my words but you are worth it," Arizona said as she ran her thumb over Callie's thumb.
On the other side of the hall, Timothy sat down next to his wife and passed her a goblet of fine Dornish wine. The pair had been dancing for the better part of an hour but both needed a rest before they went back to it. He watched as April caught up with others from the realm.
"What I've heard is Lord O'Malley has taken every chance to be in King's Landing since about a month post wedding," Lady Cristina Yang said.
"Izzie was always a wildcard," Alex said with a grunt. "I was her suitor two summers ago for a short time. She came to Dreadfort on a visit and wanted the whole of the castle changed."
"Dreadfort could stand to be changed," Cristina shot back.
"Runestone is as gray and stormy as anything south in the Stormlands," Alex shot back at her.
"I thought George and Izzie's wedding was beautiful," April said as she tried to keep Cristina and Alex from fighting or turning into a wolf and hawk and having it fully out.
"You and I spent all night dancing with your husband," Meredith said to her. "Of course you did."
"Lord Derek still hasn't confirmed your betrothal?" Alex said dryly.
"He's trying but my mother is playing hardball," Meredith made a face.
April turned to Timothy and smiled at her husband. "I am forever grateful that our father's were reasonable in their requests," she said.
"As am I, wife," Timothy said as his hand found hers under the table.
"I need a drink," Cristina said before she stood and bowed her head to the table, pulling Meredith with her.
Not a minute later a trio of trumpeters was heard throughout the hall. A signal that the lord and lady would be marched to the lord's bedchambers for the evening. They would have food and drinks for them in the room and locked in for 12 hours to be given a chance to consummate the marriage. Even with two women married to each other the tradition was upheld.
"That's our signal," Timothy said as he moved to his feet.
As Arizona's brother and heir, he would spend the next 12 hours or so from sun down to sun up as Lord of Winterfell as she was unreachable. Only something as massive as war or a fire at Winterfell would break her from the room early.
"I hate this part," April said to him as they walked to the front table.
"Our wedding night wasn't so bad," Timothy reminded her. "Even if I slept on a bed of wildflowers that you created for me as you took the bed."
"You are a true gentleman for that," April whispered.
"I care more for your comfort than my pride," Timothy reminded her.
They reached the table as Arizona and Callie stepped from the platform to stand with them. Neither looked overly nervous about this. Though Timothy thought Callie was in for a much easier night than most brides on her wedding night.
Lords and ladies alike followed behind as Arizona and Callie headed across the walkway toward where the Robbins family bedrooms were. Some of the younger lords made a few comments only to be hushed down by some of the ladies.
When they reached the doorway, Arizona and Callie turned to face everyone.
"You are in command during my sequester," Arizona said to her brother as she handed over the ring she had been passed down from her father.
"Until the sun breaks the horizon and then the ring will be returned," Timothy said before giving her a big hug.
"Calliope," Carlos said before he stepped forward. He wrapped her up in a hug and kissed her cheek, his words failing him.
"I know Daddy," Callie said because she knew he couldn't find the words. "I love you too."
After hugging her mother, Arizona turned to Callie and laced their hands together. She opened the door to their chambers and pulled Callie swiftly in before the door was shut and a bit of pine was put in a 6 inch section of the door. No one really was ever sealed in the way they were generations before anymore but the symbol was still there.
Callie looked around the room and saw all sorts of food for them to eat and wine for them to drink. The bed, larger than the one she had been sleeping in by nearly triple, had thick furs on it. The desk that Arizona did writing or whatever was needed in the morning or evenings was to one side while the hearth to the other. The high windows looked out on the forest.
"This won't do," Callie said as she looked toward the barely burning fire. With a flick of her wrist she brought the flames to life and soon there was a roaring fire that warmed the room much more than it just had been.
"I've never seen someone from Dorne use their abilities before," Arizona admitted as she took off her fur lined cloak and put it over a chair. "Impressive."
Callie undid the clasp on her cloak that she wore to stay warm during the wedding events and put it over Arizona's. "I have a feeling you will see me do it a lot," she said as she walked over and sat on the end of the bed.
"Will I?" Arizona asked as she sat down in one of the chairs and pulled off her thick leather boots.
"It's cold here," Callie said simply as she started to take her own shoes off.
Once Arizona had her boots off and her leather doublet off, leaving her in a simple cotton shirt and leather pants with thick wool socks, she walked across the room and poured them each a glass of wine.
"Thank you," Callie said after her stockings were off.
"Of course," Arizona said as she walked to her desk. She had a small tray that she placed a wolf pendant she wore around her neck and the tie that kept her hair in a tight bun. A small knife she wore on her belt, her belt itself and a pouch with some money in it all went on the tray. She shook her hair out and turned back around.
"I haven't seen you with your hair down before," Callie smiled. "It suits you."
"Thank you," Arizona said before flashing her a dimpled smile. "It gets in my way if I don't tie it back."
"I can understand that," Callie said. She reached up and started to take her hair out of the braid she had her hair currently in. She shook her hair and it curled around her nearly down to the middle of her back.
"You are beautiful," Arizona said softly before taking a long pull of her wine.
"When you look at me like that, I believe it," Callie said in a soft voice.
Arizona finished off her wine before setting the goblet down on one of the tables full of food. She grabbed a small bunch of grapes before plucking one off and popping it in her mouth. The sweet juice flooded her mouth once she bit down. She walked over and plucked a second from the vine before holding it in front of Callie's mouth.
Callie locked eyes with Arizona and chuckled before she leaned forward to wrap her lips around the grape. In the process she wrapped her lips around the tips of Arizona's fingers and swirled before pulling back with the grape between her teeth.
The action pulled a soft moan from Arizona who rocked back on her heels and tossed the grapes back on the platter. She turned back to her wife and stepped forward so she was standing right in front of her.
"It's a curious thing," Callie whispered as her hands reached up to take Arizona's. "I have heard stories of women on their wedding night and the fear that so many hold. Even those who go to bed willingly with their new lord. And yet I feel light at this moment."
"I hope the thought of going to bed with me keeps being something you needn't force yourself to do," Arizona whispered back.
"I do not believe it will," Callie said.
Arizona helped Callie up so she could undo the back of her dress. Her fingers nimbly undid the ties and slipped the buttons through their holes. Soon Callie had to hold her arm to her dress to keep the dress from falling off her frame.
"Let me see you, wife," Arizona whispered. She leaned up and pressed a soft kiss over Callie's shoulder where her bare skin almost glowed in the moonlight.
"Your wish is my command, Lord Robbins," Callie whispered. She dropped the dress and shrugged off her underwear. She turned and let Arizona get a good look at her bare body.
"I am the luckiest lord in all seven of the kingdoms to have you as my lady," Arizona whispered as her eyes hungry moved over Callie's form.
"You flatter me," Callie said. She moved to the bed and laid on the thick furs as the room heated up from the fire that grew even hotter in the fireplace.
"I speak only the truth," Arizona said as she tugged her own shirt off. There were many benefits of being a lord but none were greater than being able to take Callie as a wife.
/ /
"That was incredible."
"It was."
"Best I've ever had."
"Have you had much?"
Arizona laid with her head on Callie's shoulder and an arm slung loosely around her hips. Callie was carefully running her hand through Arizona's hair as the two took a break from the rather passionate joining of their houses.
"Not more than a handful," Arizona answered as her eyes closed. "Being a lord's heir gave me cover to enjoy things I never would have been allowed if Timothy was born first."
"Your experience is welcome to teach me how to please you," Callie said. She hadn't expected Arizona to wait for tonight the way she had. Even if Dorne was more liberal in sexual politics, her father wanted her to marry outside of it so she was raised slightly differently than most ladies down there.
"You did very well to please me," Arizona chuckled.
Callie trailed her fingers down the back of Arizona's neck and traced down the indentation of her spine. "Will this be what the next year is?" she asked. "Warm and peaceful?"
"That would be wonderful, wouldn't it? Making love by a warm fire, sharing ideas of how to make the North a better place, running in the forest with me shifted into a wolf and you on a horse," Arizona said as she daydreamed about a wonderful time for the two of them.
"It sounds idyllic, doesn't it?" Callie whispered.
Arizona nodded her agreement as she slid her hand across Callie's side and down her hip to rest on the top of her thigh. "I can not promise you warmth and peace anymore than I can promise you blue skies and sun every day. Things can be harsh in the North. Brutal. But I can promise you to be a good man when the storms come. To steady the ship and to guide us to safe harbor."
A good man in a storm, are you?" Callie asked with the corners of her mouth twitching into a smile.
"Yes," Arizona said with a serious look in her eyes.
"Lord Robbins," Callie whispered, "I've no doubt you will see us through any storm that the North might face."
"It means much to me that you believe that," Arizona whispered as she sat up. She bent her head down and pressed a firm kiss to Callie's lips.
"It is a wife's duty to give counsel to her lord," Callie said against Arizona's lips.
"What a good wife I have," Arizona smiled.
"Would you care to show me how dear you hold me, my lord?" Callie asked with a wicked smile and dark eyes.
"I have shown you twice tonight and will do so again if requested," Arizona said. "I endeavor to please you, Lady Robbins."
"I request it," Callie smirked.
"Your wish is my command, Lady Robbins," Arizona said before pressing her body to Callie's again.