Only A Northern Song ~ Game of Thrones / Willas Tyrell ~

Chapter Seventeen: Late Night Conversations

Even with Leonette's words, Eddmina hadn't been able to tear her mind away from the thought of Amariah Oakheart.

Perhaps it was since she'd not seen Willas for the last few days, the two of them kept busy with wedding planning, but Amariah haunted Eddmina's thoughts. Not just because of her worries that his family didn't like her as much as they had initially liked Amariah, but because at some point, Willas had come close to loving her. At some point, he held a close enough relationship to another woman that left him confused over his feelings. She sometimes wondered if he wrote Amariah letters, if he took her riding and walking with his dogs. She'd wanted to ask Leonette the next time they had dinner together, but the memory of how upset her future sister-by-law was at the mention of the Oakhearts made Eddmina decide to try and never mention her name again.

That didn't kill her curiosity though. Whenever she wasn't off planning the wedding or with Margaery and Leonette, she found herself reading books in the library about all the Reach families. She found out that Amariah had married a knight called Jonah, and the two of them were rather rich and lived in a keep of their own down near Oldtown that Jonah had inherited from a distant relative. She was still famed for her beauty, and she and Jonah had two little sons, Elio and Owain. Reading about her made Eddmina feel strange, as if she was reading about an alternate life, where those boys were Willas' sons. She found herself thinking about how close it had been that this wouldn't be her life, how close she had come to being just a name to Willas, just the daughter of the Warden of the North, so far away and to never be bothered with, never to be betrothed to. She found herself surprisingly upset with that possible life, a life where she would have never met Willas.

Amariah at least forced Eddmina into thinking over how she felt about Willas. Each night when his letters came, they were unchanged, not knowing the inner turmoil she was facing, not knowing how close she was to realising just how much she actually liked him. The thought of Amariah also made her think about her life before Willas, and as soon as she considered her past, she found herself wracked with guilt about one specific person; Theon.

It felt hypocritical to be jealous of Willas having a previous betrothed given her past. Every time she thought of Amariah her mind instantly took her back to her bedroom back in Winterfell, each night after dinner when Theon would come visit her. The thought of Willas being in love with someone else, the memory of Theon kissing her came rushing back. She felt so guilty, and knew that the guilt would only stop when she talked to Willas about it all.

That was why with only two nights standing between them and their wedding, Eddmina found herself stood outside of his quarters nervously, daring herself to knock on the door. She'd asked Leonette which room belonged to Willas and had snuck out of her room late at night to try and find it. Before she could stop herself she knocked and stepped back from the door, taking a deep breath and stroking her braided hair to make sure it was still neat, and when Willas opened the door she felt a smile grow on her face instantly.

He'd not been expecting visitors, that was certain based off the fact his shirt was untied down to his lower chest, exposing his chest hair. His hair was messier than usual too, his curls frizzing wildly, and upon seeing her he instantly ran his hand through it in an attempt to tidy it, clearly shocked to see her by the way his eyes widened.

"Mina? What are you... Not that it's not lovely to see you, but what are you doing here?" he asked, surprise in his voice.

"Sorry to disturb you," she said politely, trying not to look at his exposed chest and focus on his face. "I was wondering if we could talk?"

"Of course, I feel like I haven't seen you for such a long time," he nodded, stepping away from the door and welcoming her into the room.

It was a little odd to think that in only a few days, this wouldn't just be Willas' room but hers as well. It was nice though, much bigger than her room on the third floor, all the furniture being much grander than hers, the large fourposter bed being the centre piece, as well as the great bay window that opened up onto a patio, providing him with easy access to the grounds outside. Across from the bed was a large bookcase as if it was his own private library, a table and chairs in front of the bookcase with papers and quills strewn across it. As Eddmina looked around the room Willas quickly moved to tidy up all the papers, piling them together as he gestured for her to take a seat.