Ursa Major | Tormund Giantsbane

Chapter 8

She stood, "So if any of you in this room– and this room alone– wants to know what it's like to be with a woman before you die, just know this woman right here wants to know what it's like to be with a man. And if you'll promise to be patient and gentle, then you may come and meet me in my room anytime these next few nights, at least until the wildings attack."

Thyrsa walked out quickly, very aware that their jaws had dropped in shock at her proposition. Her own cheeks were red, unable to believe she let that fly out of her mouth. She didn't realize that was where her mind was headed, but she didn't necessarily regret it, either. She couldn't live always wondering when she'd get to do things she wanted. She had enough of a curiosity about it. It felt right. She trusted them, she felt safe with them. And she knew none of them would attach a meaning to it.

She already expected that Jon and Sam would not take her up on her offer. Jon was too sweet (and still hung up about his wilding girl, Ygritte) and Sam was head-over-heels for Gilly. Grenn, she figured, might not come, either, since he'd certainly been with a woman before and would get shy about asking Thyrsa for something like that.

It left Edd and Pyp, both of whom she expected would visit her at one point in the next several nights. Edd made very dark and sarcastic jokes; they could bond over the idea of– for the lack of a better way of wording it in her sinful mind– using each other as whores. Pyp, of course, had expressed jealousy at Grenn having experience. Surely he didn't want it to persist that way.

There was a knock on her door that night, letting her know someone had arrived to see if she was serious about her offer.

"Come in," she told Pyp, shutting the door behind him and sealing it with a board so they wouldn't be disturbed. "I take it you're here for–?"

"I must look like a lecherous fool to you," said Pyp bashfully, perhaps regretting it. She didn't doubt the boys had talked him into coming if he'd expressed any interest whatsoever. They'd probably discussed it the moment she left the room.

"Not at all," said Thyrsa, removing her cloak. "If I think that of you, I must think it of myself."

"You're a lady," said Pyp quietly. "I really, really should not."

"And what if I want you to? As long as we both want to, who will stop us? My virtue doesn't mean a thing to me. I'm a sworn sister of the Night's Watch... I don't mean to take a husband; I never truly did. I want to see what it's like. If you feel the same, then that's alright. If you've changed your mind, that's alright too. No one will hold it against you, Pyp, least of all me. I'm the one that asked."

He closed the gap between them, daring to cup her face with both hands. "I don't even know what to do," he said quietly. "I've never even..."

"Me neither," she whispered. "But I understand enough. My sisters made sure I knew what to expect. We'll learn together, if you'd like." She laced her fingers around his wrists, holding on as she leaned in, eyes closed, to brush her lips against his.

Pyp was as patient and gentle as she asked him to be. She moved at her own pace while he wiggled around to accommodate her, definitely not complaining once she'd climbed onto him and faced both of their fears. Nothing else mattered, none of the opinions of their Night's Watch brethren or the fact that wildings were probably marching up to them as they kissed.

They wouldn't die unaware and regretful. They hadn't even necessarily broken their vows; the code didn't technically forbid intimate relations. Only that nothing more come of it, which is exactly what they adhered to.

The Northern forces arrived the following morning. Thyrsa greeted them all at the gate, thanking them and learning that the Karstark men had joined the fray, only they'd divided themselves prematurely– fifty men were at Shadow Tower and another fifty were at Eastwatch-by-the-Sea. They'd have to make do with what was there.