The aftermath of a battle was never pretty. The stench that filled the air, as well as the sounds, painted a pretty clear picture of hell on Earth. Years of war and battles prepared Andriella for the landscape but it never made witnessing it any easier. Especially when they had to sort through the wounded and dead.
Andriella knew the reality of war. You can't save everyone. That, however, didn't mean everyone understood the same realities.
Unfortunately, her husband was one of those people.
Shortly after the battle, Andriella wandered away from Robb to meet with her own commanders. Her orders were the same as every battle. "Put to rest the dead." To Andriella and the other Bryne soldier's 'dead' was a blanket term. Being dead at the end of a battle looked different ways.
Stomping through the mud and gore, Andriella surveys the remains of both Lannister and Stark soldiers. The majority of them were long dead and the ones that were barely hanging on met the swift blade of her mercy.
She crouches down by the heaving body of a large wolf. Immediately identifying the beast as a Bryne, she smoothes her hand over its thick black fur. Taking a brief moment to look for the partner of the beast, she frowns when she finds a Bryne soldier hidden under the large animal.
It snaps its teeth protectively as Andriella tugs the woman out from under it, but Nesaeh is quick to quell it.
A quick look at the woman reveals all there is to know. Half her tan neck is missing, body armor split down from there and exposing her majory organs.
The beast isn't in much better shape. It's hind legs are missing, bloody stumps exposed to gore of the battlefield. It digs it's head under the woman. Seeking solace in it's final moments.
"Rest." Andriella calms in Agaligian, slipping her dagger into the wolf's neck and ending it's suffering swiftly.
As the final breath leaves the summer beast, Andriella rises to her feet. Nesaeh brushes up against her partner. Comforting her for the loss of her soldier.
Moving again through the battlefield, Andriella spots something that makes her blood boil. Robb hovers near what appears to be a nurse and Lannister soldier. Dutifully helping them amputate the soldier's leg. Many factors contribute to her anger but none more than the sight of the nurse pulling materials from a Bryne marked first aide wagon.
She's at their side in an instant. Sword already plunged through the Lannister's neck as he gurgles out his final breath.
The nurse tumbles back in a heap, eyes wide as she witnesses the murder.
Robb is quick to grab his wife, stilling her blade as she removes it from the man's neck.
"Andriella!"
"Who are you." Andriella hisses, accent thick for the first time as she points her blood coated blade at the nurse.
"Why did you do that!?" Robb reprimands. He still wrestles her for the blade only for her anger to turn back on him as she elbows him in the gut.
"You really have to ask Robb? Look at the man. He was dead already yet you prolonged his suffering." She drags her blade up the leg they were amputating. This reveals thick red viens crawling up his appendage and towards his heart. "His wound was already infected. He would have died within the hour and here you are wasting Bryne medical supplies on a dead man." She turns her reprimanding glare onto the unknown nurse again, "So I ask you, who do you think you are treating my enemies with my supplies?"
"T-Talisa." She stutters, fear palpable in her eyes.
"Talisa what. Your house name. Spit it out."
"Maegyr. Talisa Maegyr."
"And what are you doing on my battlefield, Talisa Maegyr, when you're meant to be in Essos?" Andriella snaps.
"You know of my house?"
"It's an old Volante name." Andriella steps over the dead man to push her mud coated boot onto the maiden. "You still haven't answered my question. What are you doing here?"
Talisa desperately looks to Robb who she knows is the new King in the North but Robb's gaze is intent of Andriella. "I- I wanted to treat the wounded."
"With Bryne supplies."
With her head bowed, Talisa begins to weep. "I didn't have enough money for my own."
"So you stole." Her gaze burns into the Volante woman. Wolves seeming to lunge from the depths of her irises. "Guards." Andriella barks in Agaligaian. Two men in Bryne armor appear before the Wolf Queen. "Take her to the medical tent. Make sure she treats only Bryne soldiers. Do not let her leave your sight until I come for her." She instructs in her native tongue thus leaving Robb and Talisa unaware.
The two guards grab Talisa under the arms and hoist her up. Talisa screams in terror, kicking her legs and begging Andriella to release her. All the while Andriella stares the woman down with hatred in her heart.
Robb places a cautious hand on Andriella's shoulder, mindful of her wild temper. "My love, what are you going to do to her."
Still furious, Andriella whips her head to meet her husband. "My love? Do not pamper me with pet names to get your way Robb. You are still naive in the ways of war and what she was doing was wrong."
"So you'll have her killed?"
Andriella rolls her eyes, shrugging his hand off her shoulder. "Of course not. I'm simply repurposing her until my temper has calmed and I can deal with her properly."
Concerned, Robb asks, "Why not tell her that then?"
"I wanted her to suffer first." She shrugs.
Despite his hurt at being called naive, and watching her basically torture the poor nurse, his love and adoration outweighs it all. Placing a gently kiss on her fire hot cheek, Robb offers a small smile. "I'm sorry."
Instantly, her eyes become gentle. Her blood soaked gloves reaching out to entertwine with his own. "There's no reason for apologies, Robb. Just-- you need to be realistic. We can't save every wounded soldier. We have to prioritize those with a realistic chance of surviving. And we can't waste supplies on enemy foot soldiers. You know this."
Robb's eyes turn downcast. "I hate the unnecessary blood shed."
A swift kiss on the lips garners Robb's full atention again. "Then end the war." Andriella smiles, squeezing his hand before marching off to finish the clean up of the battle.
Now alone, Robb's eyes drift back to the dead Lannister Talisa was trying to save. He bends down, peeling the shirt of the dead man back to see that Andriella was right. Thick ropes of red spider up the man's chest. All twisting and turning towards the man's heart. Rot and infection thick in his blood.
Still saddened by the death, Robb offers a moment of silence before moving on as well.
Death following him as he ends the misery of so many other foot soldiers, Andriella's words fresh in his mind.
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Beasts of Lore ♕ GOT
Fanfiction"To run with the wolf was to run in the shadows, the dark ray of life, survival and instinct. A fierceness that was both proud and lonely, a tearing, a howling, a hunger and thirst." House Bryne made a name for themselves by being the first to ally...
