Chapter 71: Churching
She was dressed in white. It was an old custom, dating to well before the Conquest, and one that the Targaryens had not removed even when Jaehaerys the Conciliator had bent the faith. A month after giving birth, a woman, no matter how rich or poor, had to present themselves to the local Sept, there the Septon would bless her and ensure that she was now fit for public duties once more. Who had decided it needed to be a month, Myrcella did not know-nobody did-but a month had come and gone. Her children were growing stronger by the day, and as such, she was ready to be back in the public eye.
The doors opened, and her ladies led her out of her room-no men apart from the Kingsguard could see her until the blessing had been given. They were joined in the hallway by Ser Arys and Ser Jon. Both men nodded to her and then faced forward. They walked down the hallway, then down the steps, then down another hallway. Her heart was steady in her chest. She knew there was no reason to feel nervous. Not today.
Up another flight of steps, through a doorway and into the courtyard they were. A coach was there, waiting for her. She walked to it, got up the steps and then settled into it. The doors were shut behind her. A moment passed, then another, then the coach began to move. It trundled along, the curtains were closed, so that nobody could peep in. That was another requirement. Apart from her ladies-who were in the coach with her-nobody could now look at her until the blessing. Other than the Kingsguard of course.
That had apparently been the one thing that Queen Alysanne had managed to wrangle from the Faith. She had apparently argued with the High Septon and quoted passages from his predecessors and from Septas to win her point. And so the Kingsguard were going to be the ones to guide her into the Great Sept, whilst the gold cloaks maintained the screen that was present around her.
They moved in silence. Her ladies were no doubt trying to ensure that they remembered everything, the steps to the Great Sept, the procedure once they were there, and much more. For her own sake, Myrcella simply kept her mind blank. At least as it pertained to the events that were going to follow. She allowed her mind to think on other things.
That included the fact that Cerenna seemed much happier latching onto her wet nurse than Edwyn. Edwyn fought and howled every step of the way. Usually, he needed some sort of contact with her before he took onto the wetnurse. Nobody knew why. Not Nannette, and not Pycelle. Maybe it was just one of those things and it would resolve itself? She had to hope so. Anything worse and she wasn't sure how they were going to solve the issue.
"We're here, Your Grace." Barbara Bracken said.
Myrcella nodded. The coach had stopped, the doors opened, and she got down, with help from Ser Arys. She moved off to the side and waited as her ladies got down. Once the last of time-Lady Alys Karstark-had gotten down, her ladies formed a protective shield around her and they made their way to the Great Sept.
Up the steps they went, two other members of the Kingsguard-Ser Harry and Ser Balon Swann-were stood guard at the doors. They opened them, allowing Myrcella and her ladies through into the Great Sept. The moment the last of them had entered, the doors shut with a loud bang.
A moment passed, then a loud voice echoed through. "Who goes there?"
Lady Barbara spoke. "Her Grace, Myrcella, Queen of the Seven Kingdoms."
"And why does she come?" The voice asked.
"To be churched." Came the response.
"Come." The voice said.
They moved forward as one. As if they were an animal moving in protective shield. A hedgehog perhaps?
This continued until they got to the altar, where the group dispersed. Myrcella was left alone in her white shirt and trousers. The High Septon was stood before her.
Myrcella bowed her head.
"Your Grace, do you confirm that you have entered this sept with pure intentions, desirous to be cleansed and freed from sin?"
"I do."
"And do you confirm that you have birthed a boy and a girl?"
"I do."
"What are their names?"
"Edwyn and Cerenna."
A beat, then. "In the name of the Seven I do declare that you are freed from sin, made whole by the deliverance of two children, purified in the light, and let it be known that only goodness and love flows through you." The High Septon sprayed her with water before placing a touch of oil on her forehead and her left and right shoulders.
"Rise."
Myrcella rose.
"Septa Moraine shall take you to the clothing room."
The Septa was a wizened old woman, hunched and wrinkled. She led Myrcella by the hand down a hallway and through a set of doors, the clothing room was small, and smelt dusty. The woman helped her undress and helped her into her clothes. Dark blue stockings, dark blue shift dark blue tunic that stopped at her knees, a dark blue hood was added as well-this required golden thread to tide it to the tunic.
She was then led out of the room and toward another entrance, where she was greeted by her husband. Robb smiled at her and kissed her cheek. "You look beautiful." He whispered before nodding to the Kingsguard who opened the doors. They stepped out into the open air and Myrcella gasped.
The entire place was thronged with people. As she and Robb waved at them, they roared.
"With what Old Nan has said, we now have a convincing argument for why I need to go to the wall." Bran said. The words that had come from Old Nan had been terrifying at first. But now that he'd had a chance to think through them, he realised that perhaps there was no better opportunity to exploit them.
"How do you mean?" Sansa asked.
"Well, think about it, the Wildlings didn't try and cross the wall until the Empire of the Dawn broke up. The Emperor was a Stark who ruled from Winterfell. I am the Lord of Winterfell. Maybe if I go north, this issue can be solved." Bran said.
"How?" Sansa asked. "Unless you're going to control the Wildlings, you're not going to be able to make them suddenly stop and realise their wrongdoing."
"Well, I have to try!" Bran said. "I can't just let them keep coming. Uncle Benjen said they'd overwhelm the Night's Watch without aid from Winterfell."
"You're not going to let them just keep coming though, you've called the banners, Robb has sent the northmen from King's Landing back north. Men will be going north." Sansa said. "You're a ten-year-old boy, Bran, you wouldn't be allowed to command from the field even if Mother decided you should go."
"Robb commanded from the front." Bran said, hating how he sounded just like a child.
"Robb was fourteen years old; you are not. You are a child. There are others out there who can command the army for you. Ser Rodrik, Lord Umber, Ser Wendel. Any one of them would be happy to do it." Sansa said.
"It has to be a Stark!" Bran said. "The northmen will argue with one another if its not a Stark. They argued like mad before Robb set them straight. It has to be me."
"Well, let's say that it has to be you, how are you going to convince Mother?" Sansa asked. "And no, you can't use any of the information that you got from Old Nan, you know Mother won't believe any of that."
Bran frowned. He didn't know how to convince Mother without using what he'd learned from Old Nan. He had honestly thought that that would be enough. He had forgotten in his excitement that Mother didn't believe anything other than what she could see.
"You could use the fact that as Lord Stark you need to know what is happening at the wall. That you need to see with your own eyes that things are as Uncle Benjen says they are." Arya said then.
"Why would Uncle Benjen lie?" Bran asked.
"Because he's Lord Commander of the Night's Watch and the Watch has not nearly as many men as it should've had for many years." Arya replied.
"But…" Bran began before Sansa interrupted.
"Arya's right. Mother barely knows Uncle Benjen, yes she's friendly toward him, but that's because of who he is, he's father's brother. He left to join the Night's Watch when Robb and Jon were babies. She barely knows him. But if you say you're going to make sure everything is as it should be, then she will have to let you go. She knows duty is important to the family, and this is a duty that only the Lord of Winterfell can do."
Bran considered this; he supposed it could work. He didn't know whether Mother really felt that way about Uncle Benjen but he supposed it was worth giving it a shot. "Fine, I'll use that line of reasoning. But you guys have to help me."
Sansa and Arya smiled. "We will."