The King of Winters

The Lone Wolf

"So I see little Andrew is enjoying his sweets," a familiar voice said from the side and Andrew turned his head to see his uncle Arthur, tall and regal in his white plate armor and white cloak smiling at him.

"I do," Andrew replied moving from his mother's hands to his uncle. His uncle took him in his hands effortlessly and tossed him in the air before catching him again. Andrew bursted into laughter at that as he loves it when his uncle does that all the time.

"I could see that," his uncle told him as he carried him to his mother.

His mother stood up from her seat and greeted her older brother. Uncle Arthur held him firmly in his arms as he bowed to kiss his mother on the cheeks.

"Ash," uncle Arthur called mother, the same way his father used to call her. "How long has it been?"

"Almost two years," Mother looked up at uncle Arthur with a smile and then turned to him in his hands "And you shouldn't throw him up anymore you know he is not so small."

"I am not too old to catch a five year old little sister and there is no way I'm dropping my nephew," uncle Arthur made a face at him making him smile. He returned him to his mother and took a seat near mother after she sat down.

"I could see that Ned is not enjoying the feast," his uncle told his mother and Andrew turned to look his father. His father looked the way he was right from the start but when he saw Andrew he gave a smile.

"He hates feasts," his mother told looking at father. Uncle Arthur looked at father and then gave a nod which was then returned by father. They both were not the best of friends like father and Lord Robert, but they certainly respected each other and because of the love they both held for mother they managed to talk to each other.

Then their talk turned boring to Andrew as they talked about the Seven Kingdoms and other things which never interested him.

Andrew was playing with his mother's gown when the music stopped suddenly. King Rhaegar stood up from his high seat of the carved white marble throne and the hall grew silent. "I thank Lord Dayne for receiving us into his castle and hosting us grandly." He Iooked to his uncle Aaron and uncle Aaron bowed his head in acceptance. "I thank Lord Stark and his family for joining with us in this wonderful feast." The king looked to where they were seated and gave out a smile. His mother tightened her grip on him while his father ignored the king. "So now that these two families have been so kind and good to us I suppose it is right for me to kindly return the courtesy to them."

As he finished that the great oaken doors of the Hall of Gods opened and armed men dressed in the Targaryen livery made their way inside in two long rows. They were armed with spears and swords. Andrew looked up at his mother's face as he couldn't understand what was going on. His mother's face had grown taut and the sweet smile which adorned her face always had vanished. Only she held him closer to her.

"Ash, take Andrew and leave," uncle Arthur said to mother. "You remember the way right?"

Andrew looked to his uncle Arthur. But he never took his eyes off his sister. Andrew turned back to his mother, fear clutching hard to his heart. His mother turned to see father. Father gave a silent nod at her with a sad smile. Andrew didn't know what was happening. He was afraid and found himself clutching tighter to his mother.

Without a second to spare the madness sprung up. He could hear the thrums of arrows. Uncle Arthur turned the table to provide a cover and father pulled mother down to cover. Andrew could hear the clashes of steel now and the screams of men and the wails of women. His mother held him to her chest that he could see nothing.

"Ashara, go," he heard his uncle shout at mother.

"You should leave Ash," said father. "I love you." Andrew could hear the soft sound of their kiss. He could feel his father's hand on his head but he couldn't bear to look away from his mother now.