Bleeding Ivory l Robb Stark

faceless

Bayla picked at her nails underneath the table as she sat across Robb. Though as heavy as her eyes felt , she could find sleep, only taking a slumber when her body couldn't stay awake anymore.

"You look mad..." Bayla said

"I'm not mad, but rather irritated and I think you know why." Robb answered as he sat back in his chair

Bayla could feel her hear drop. It was the one conversation that she refused to relive and unfortunately she was the only one with true answers as to why Robb survived.

"Robb, I don't think you'd want to know. None of it-"

"Bayla please." Defeatedly he sighed "I deserve to know what happned. All I can remember of that night was the attack, Joanna being taken away from me and next thing I know we're traveling North." Robbs voice cracked "I wake up at night and sometimes I find myself unable to tell what's real or not."

Both extremely traumatized from the red wedding but where Robb was unable to piece everything together Bayla remembered everything. Every detail and it was eating her alive. She could see within Robb that something was broken. They were broken together but she swore an oath to the memory of Joanna that she would look after him, keep him safe but Robb wanted to tread on the line of trauma.

She sighed closing the book as she breathed in deeply "What did Joanna ever tell you about me? Besides that I was her lady in waiting?"

"Nothing much. She always made it clear that you kept your life private."

"Did she ever tell you why?" Bayla asked as Robb shook his head. "Not many know of my life." She picked on the skin of her fingers harder as Ghost sat up resting his head in lap to stop her "Not many know of me, or how I came to Kings Landing, except Varys and Joanna."

"Lord Varys, the Master of Whisperers?"

Bayla fondly smiled "Yes." She replied "I was born to a high lord in Braavos. We lived a good life him and I, I never knew my mother. My father was all I had. He never explicitly said what he did or how we came to wealth, only that he would always provide for me but like most peaceful things in my life , nothing was ever constant." She forced herself to relive it all, for the sake of Robb "One morning he woke me up, said to grab a bag with whatever I needed. We were ashore for months until we landed on the Black Water Bay. It was during the time of the Greyjoy rebellion. We barely made it to the streets before he was killed by a man."

"Was he of a house?"

She shook her head , feeling the tears well up in her eyes "No. He was cloaked but I saw his face or I thought I knew. After he slashed my father's throat open this man ripped of his face and as it turns out was a woman." She continued to explain

"What do you mean? How is that possible?"

"When I worked in the Red Keep, I was approached by Lord Varys. He had little spies anywhere and everywhere,  I was one of them. Because I was so young he took me under his wing." Bayla confessed "As time went on we began to gain a respect and care for one another. I had told him about what happened to my father when he revealed it all to me." She wiped the tear from her red cheeks "As it turns out he wasn't in debt to the Iron Bank as I thought but rather a network of assasins within Bravos. He betrayed them by teaching me their practices. "

Robb remained quiet as he could see how heavy the conversation weighed on Bayla "They're called faceless men, of which my parents were. Varys had said the Caines, my family were traitors to the faceless men but what my parents did was so much worse. Their code valar morghulis , meant all men must die. They served a many faced God, you give up everything of yourself to their service." Bayla continued "My parents committed atrocious murders to gain the wealth of families in Braavos. By betraying the faceless men, they became targets, eventually they hunted my father and killed him because as he slowly died of his wounds , he peeled of a face of a man I thought was my father but turned to a stranger..."