Queen of the North

Chapter Fifteen

Sisters are different flowers
from the same garden.
—

Riverrun was more miserable of a temporary homestead to Eleonora than King's Landing. Perhaps it was because so much misery had come to pass while lived amongst the riverlands. It was a cooler, much wetter climate with frequent overcast and a dreariness she could not shake. However, with the frequent rains, brought life when the sun did visit the holdfast.

Flowers of every color, size, and scent bloomed in breathtaking fashion. It reminded her of the gardens of the south in a smaller capacity but no less beautiful. Robb had committed himself to a day amongst the lords of the North and Trident. Previously, Eleonora would have sat beside him during anything of the sort but she had been ostracized by her brother after her disrespectful dinner display. She hoped he would come to his senses and welcome her back into his fold before Rolph Spicer could slither into his ear.

Robb asked her to join him that evening for supper with their mother. She agreed despite not speaking or seeing her mother in over three moons. The night Eleonora had placed her own mother in fetters haunted her. She wondered constantly if she had made the right decision or if her wolf blood had gotten the better of her again. She would speak to Robb of Lord Karstark that evening. Torrhen had come to her in private, pleading for his father's life. He did not need to, Eleonora was already profoundly against any harm coming to his lord father.

Eleonora carried a large woven gathering basket over her right forearm, a pale blue cloth and gardening sheets delicately placed atop the reeds that held it together. She would select some of the brightest flowers into an arrangement for their supper table that evening. She could think of nothing else to keep her mind busy whilst forbidden to be by her brother's side. It felt like a menial and absurd thing for her to do with an afternoon, but she had an odd desire to pretend as if the world she knew was not gone if only for an hour or two.

The most gorgeous peonies had bloomed in several shades of pink. She snipped a few of the largest flowers. Hibiscus plants decorated the large maze of green, dozens of different florets decorating the hedges and overgrown ivy. Iobella flowers only grew in Riverrun, nearly extinct. They grew into a breathtaking violet that only bloomed under the moonlight. Eleonora did not dare snip a bud, choosing to preserve its beauty. Eleonora collected a dozen roses of red and pinks, only managing to cut her thumb once with a single rose thorn.

She cursed to herself and sucked the thorn out with her lips and spit it into the tall grass. She brought her thumb back to her lips in attempt to stop the bleeding. Her attempt was to no avail, drops of her blood dripped red atop her bouquet.

"You should put honey on that—"