LION'S LEGACY | ROBB STARK [2]

59

Robb was sitting in one of the large bath pools, the only place he could go where people wouldn't taunt him. They let him roam free as long as he didn't try to run. He wondered why they didn't try to kill him, though. It wasn't like he'd actually marry Margaery or even bed her.

The squire helped Annalys undress until she was finally bare. The only thing she wore was the wrap that was placed around her stubbed wrist. "Now get out," She told the squire sternly and her voice immediately echoed through the bathing chambers.

Robb's eyes widened at the sound of his wife's voice. He turned his head, only to have his eyes lock on Annalys. She stood naked, her hair matted and bruises scattered across her face, along with cuts. She had her left arm behind her back, which confused him. What was she hiding?

"Annalys!" Robb exclaimed in shock, his eyes wide, "What are you doing here?"

"I need a bath. What does it look like?" Annalys retorted with an attitude and wasted no time climbing into the large bathing pool that Robb already sat in.

He sighed in defeat, realizing at that moment that Annalys was still angry. He believed she would have gotten over it, but he clearly wouldn't have thought the same once he saw her missing hand, which he didn't.

When he wasn't paying attention, Annalys slipped her left arm under the water, making sure he didn't catch a glimpse of her missing hand.

"I did what I thought would protect us both, Annalys," Robb reminded Annalys, who scoffed loudly, "We were at a higher risk of being caught when we were together. You saw how quickly that woman recognized us. Others would surely do the same. I thought being separated would keep you safe."

"But it didn't, did it?" Annalys asked him, tears beginning to form in her eyes at his words.

Robb's eyes softened, his eyes scanning her features. "What did they do to you?" He finally asked her, realizing he was missing something.

"It doesn't matter," Annalys whispered softly and as much as she wanted to tell him, she couldn't.

"It does, Annalys--" Robb began to argue, only to have his wife cut him off.

"Please," Annalys pleaded, beginning to cry as she shook her head, "I don't want to talk about it."

"We must," Robb demanded, knowing that even if Annalys didn't want to talk about it now, the moment she did, they'd be able to work together to escape.

   Annalys was keeping something from him and as long as she did so, they would be unable to truly work together to free themselves from Lord Florent and Leyton Hightower.

"No," was all Annalys said, much to Robb's frustration.

    Having had enough, Robb rose from the water, on the verge of leaving. "Robb," Annalys suddenly spoke up, her voice soft and heartbroken.

   Robb slowly turned to Annalys, watching as she slowly lifted her arm to reveal the fact that she was missing her left hand. "Seven hells," He muttered softly, her eyes widening in horror.

   She began to cry and Robb rushed over to her. He didn't question her just yet, knowing she wouldn't unable to form any words in her state. He wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tightly as she sobbed.

"They chopped off my hand," She cried out and Robb began to have flashbacks of their time in the Riverlands fifteen years prior.

The men loyal to Stannis smashed Annalys' hand with a hammer. She nearly lost it and back then, she had been so broken that Robb wondered if she would ever be the same. She had gotten better, but now, she completely lost her hand. Robb feared that she would never be the same again.