Running with Wolves

Chapter 31: The First Rule

Rules.
Just like a game of chess, the bastard had a certain set of rules.

The first rule Blair quickly learned was that she was not to speak.

It happened only two nights after the bastard had let Blair free from the dungeons. It was a misunderstanding in Blair's eyes, but it was treachery in the bastard's eyes.

They sat at the table in the main hall eating dinner. Blair was at first thankful for having special guests as Ramsay had put it. She was ecstatic at the potential to talk to someone that wasn't him. That was until she realized who their guests would be. People called them the bastard's boys.

When she walked into the dining hall, the first man she noticed was Yellow Dick. Ramsay had only introduced him to her once while the two of them went on for a walk around the Dreadfort. He was a repulsive man in appearance, demeanor, and stench. Blair knew him as the man who would have his way with Aondale on Blair's wedding night, according to Ramsay.

The man sitting next to Yellow was Damon, or Damon dance for me. Aondale had pointed him out from Blair's window one morning as Damon was helping out Ramsay. Aondale refused to tell Blair why people called him Damon dance for me, but Blair had a good guess on how he earned his second name.

Ben Bones sat at the far corner of the table. The old frail man was in charge of Ramsay's hounds. He was the kennel master, so it only made sense. Blair wandered how much he knew about what Ramsay did with his hounds. She figured that he knew everything.

Three other men Luton, Sour Allen, and Skinner were also at the table. Blair hadn't met them, but the less she knew about them the better.

Blair watched as the eight men discussed the war. It was a refreshing topic, if you ignored their vicious and vulgar words. She was glad to hear that Rob had won more battles since she had left. The thought crossed her mind that he could win this war. How she longed to be there with him to watch him sit on the iron throne.

After some time Blair had grown tired of their poor attempts at war strategies. Ramsay had suggested for Northerners to encircle their enemy, to lure the Lannisters in with some sort of trap. Without thinking Blair had snickered at the thought.

"Is something funny my dear," Ramsay asked as he harshly gripped her thigh.

She wanted to scream and cry as he gripped harder and harder, but she wouldn't give the bastard the satisfaction of hurting her in front of his boys.

"Nothing," she replied through gritted teeth.

"Oh please do tell, you are from House Sherwin. The great masters of war? Now please do tell. What was so funny," the bastard laughed as he edged her on. If their had been just them in a room alone she would have taken the bastard's taunting. She would have sat silent and mentioned how thankful her house was for the Bolton's help, but they were not alone.

"Encircling the enemy leaves you vulnerable on every front. It is a fools strategy. The only circumstance where that would work is when the enemy has all of its combined forces in one battle. If the enemy has reinforcements come in, it will be a slaughter of our own men, no matter what the odds are." The words came out of her mouth before she realized that she had said them. She was right, and that was the worst part.

In that moment, Blair looked into the bastard's eyes.
She went to open her mouth, but no words came out.

Before she could say a word the bastard threw her across the room. Blair's screams was all that could be heard in the hall, along with the sound of a table braking as Blair collided with it.

"Lady Blair of the great House Sherwin. All fear the brains of house Sherwin. Knowledge is Power," Ramsay yelled across the room. The room filled with laughter from Ramsay and his men.

Blair attempted to stand up only to be pushed down by the bastard.

"If your great house is so smart then why were your people starving?" He picked Blair up and threw her against a nearby wall.

Blair could barely breathe as she attempted to stand up after the bastard had thrown her against the wall.

"Your own father sold you off like a common whore," Ramsay yelled as he threw her on the dinner table causing plates to shatter onto the floor.

"No, we had a marriage agreement," Ramsay laughed as Blair's voice was barely audible.

"If I was to fuck you right now what would happen? If I was to dishonor your maidenhood what would happen?" Ramsay asked.

Blair's eyes frantically search the room looking for something or someone to say something. Her eyes lock with the old man, Ben Bones, who looked away once their eyes met.

The old man couldn't stand the pain of her helpless eyes begging for him to help her. To step in and say something, but he adverted her gaze.

When the old man looked away, the tears started forming in her eyes.

Please, someone, she thought as she continued to look around the room. There were no heroes, only the monsters surrounded her.

Nothing
Nothing would happen.
If she told her father, her house would lose everything that the Boltons has helped them make. They would go back to being a dying house. Her house would divide the North.
She could lose the war for Robb.

"Nothing," Ramsay's smirk grew when he saw the tears form in Blair's eyes when she admires nothing would happen.

"Now why is that," Blair shook as the bastard whispered into her ear.

"Because I am a whore," Blair whispered back.

Ramsay backed away from the girl as he continued his game with her, "I am sorry, I couldn't hear you. Could you repeat yourself?"

Just five letters. These people don't matter, she told herself.
She didn't care what the bastard thought of her.
Her father knew she was not a whore.
Her brothers knew that she wasn't a whore.
Her sister knew she was not a whore.
Randal knew she wasn't a whore.
The King in the North knew she wasn't a whore.

"Because I am a whore," Blair yelled across the room receiving another smirk from the bastard.

"Yes you are," Ramsay said stepping forward towards her.

"Boys, tie her up and bring her to the eastern cell. Do whatever you need to do to get her downstairs. Don't  fuck her and don't touch her face," Ramsay said.

"Also, Skinner, I'll need your help this afternoon. I believe that this is an area that you are experienced in," Ramsay said in a dull tone.

Once the bastard left the room all of the men were staring at the terrified brunette.

"I'll take care of her," Blair jumped at the sound of the old mans voice.

"What and let you have all the fun?" Damon asked as he took a step towards Blair.

"Yes," the old man said as he stepped in-between Damon and Blair. After a quick stare down, Damon and the rest of the boys left the room.

The old man stared at the girl covered in blood who sat on the table.

"I promise I won't hurt you," he said as he approached the shaking girl.

She remained silent as he stood in front of her.
"Please just let me tie your hands together with this rope and we can calmly walk down to the cell. I don't want to harm you," the old man calmly said.

He pitied the poor girl, that is something he couldn't deny. With her age and long brown hair, she reminded him much of his daughter. How he thanked the gods that his daughter wasn't to marry the bastard.