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FIRE AND ICE
CHAPTER FIVE
oak
"EVERY OAK TREE STARTED OUT AS
A COUPLE OF NUTS TRYING TO
STAND THEIR GROUND"
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SHE HAD SHAGGY RED HAIR, not nearly as bright as Elias, but it was red. A dark, russet red and it was beautiful. Elia missed running her hands through her coarse hair, if she remembered hard enough she could still feel her fur. Elia hadn't had her direwolf long, not two days into travelling south with the King, Maeri had been struck by a stray arrow.
The Kings hunters had foollishly mistaken her for a wild wolf while hunting, they dragged her into camp with her feet bound and head dragging limply across the ground, blood seeping into the dirt beneath her. Elia remembered the exact moment she knew something was wrong, her fathers hands were bruising her shoulders and Sansas scream hurt Elia's ears. She had throught her ears were bleeding, then she'd seen her wolf.
Maeri had the arrow still stuck in her ribs, tongue hanging out of her mouth and Elia screamed, she howled for her wolf. She tried to run to her, but her fathers hands grabbed at her amd she fell into the ground, sobbing as she tried to pull herself closer. Her tears fell from her cheeks as she threw herself over her wolf, she clawed at the red fur, bright red from her blood and cried, sobbed over her for all to see.
I'M SORRY, NED, the King looked full of sorrow later, after they'd buried Maeri, and hung his head in shame. Elia hadn't stopped crying, she clutched at her fathers vest with blood covering her hands, until she looked to the Queen. Her false apologies rang in Elia's head to this day, but it was the Lannister symbols plastered over bloody armor that dragged her wolf through the camp like a wild animal.
SHE WAS MY WOLF, MY PET. Elia was not afraid when she turned to the King and Queen, she raised her head and spoke like the true northman she was, AND NOW SHE'S DEAD, SPARE ME YOUR FALSE COURTESIES.
HE IS YOUR KING, ADDRESS HIM AS SUCH, the Queen barked at Elia, like a dog if she remembered well enough. But the King snapped back at her, SHE HAS LOST A LOVED ONE, LEAVE HER BE. He nodded at Elia then, and she swept from the tent without a word.
That memory was all she could remember as they wolves howled around them, their cries shattering the quiet night. Brienne had decided to camp for the night when the first howl sounded through the clearing, it was close Elia could tell and it scared Brienne enough to tell them to ride through the night.
The Forrester knights paid no mind, used to sleepless nights but Elia and Pod shared a weary glance before riding on. The nights along the road had taken a toll on Elia, more often than not Elia slept in her saddle and Pod had to keep an eye on her.
"I've always been a lover of wolves," the youngest Forrester, Garlan, spoke as he looked into the woods, spooked, ". . .but do the cries not scare you?"
"I've learnt to fear steel more than teeth, my lord." Brienne answered from beside Elia and shifted on her saddle to grasp her sword. Lie as much as she wanted, Elia could tell the wolves scared her more than she liked to admitted.
"You learn to fear both when it comes to men dressed with wolf skin." Elia scoffed slyly and avoided Garretts eyes.
Pod rode behind Elia and she struggled to hear the bite in his words, "Wolves are not the worst you'll find along this road." Elia snorted.
Podrick had warmed up to Garlan easiest, they were both inexperienced and not far apart in age. Elia quite like Garlan but she drew closer to Gray as he was full of laughter and smiles, he never hesitated to tell a joke. Elia appreciated it, the road was long and lonely to Winterfell and Brienne and Pod tried to fill the silence but they were enough.
She felt selfish to say that, they had done more for her than necessary but they couldn't fill the hole that was her family. With Gray, he had the jokes and the happiness of Arya and her brothers, he brought the normalcy that she hadn't had in years. She drew to him like a deer to water, he was Bran, he was Rickon, he was Robb - he was normal.
She didn't notice the way Pod watched her when she talked to him, she didn't she the wry curve to his lips, the narrowed eyes. She didn't notice anything except him. She saw his smile, large mouth pulled over bright teeth when she rolled her eyes behind Brienne's back, the crinkle of his eyes and the sparkle behind them when she manged to best him sparring.
I SHOULDN'T THINK THIS, she does not like to sound like Sansa but she was a lady and he was a squire, he would not want her either way. She hadn't realised she'd ignored the conversation until Garrett shouted in front of her.
"Quiet!" The horses slowed until the group was still in the road, "There's wolves in front of is."
Elia's eyes could not see far ahead, all she saw was a bundle of dark shapes and Lord Forrester pulling his bow taunt. Her heart slammed into her chest and she pulled at her horses reins, she jolted and rode to sit in front of Garrett.
"We do not shoot wolves." Elia snarled, A WOLF HERSELF, and Garretts bow dropped. His face was clear, eyes searching hers but eyebrow furrowed in annoyance, "They are the sigil of my house, you will not harm them."
Gray rode up to his uncle, "The largest would have fed us for three days, my lady."
"Find an elk or deer," She rounded her horse and sat stoicly on her horse, "These wolves are not the only ones with sharp teeth, my lords, I do too. I would rather see an arrow through my chest than theirs."
The silence was deafening but Elia did not hear it, red blood on russet fur was all she saw. The lords clicked their tongues and pulled the horse to continue on their way, Elia waited until they passed before she looked into the woods. A flash of gray fur and a large body was all she saw before she followed. TOO MANY WOLVES HAVE BEEN SLAIN ALREADY. Elia thought as Brienne slowed next to her.
"You did well, Lady Elia." She nodded and smiled slightly, Elia thought sje looked beautiful, "You sounded like a true Stark, like your lady mother."
Elia smiled, she did not think she sounded lile a Stark. She could still hear her mothers voice in her head, her mother knew how to calm a room of roudy northern lords, all different but the same men who would quieten like a child scolded in front of her. She was not her mother, but Brienne thought she sounded like her and it helped her heavy heart.
"Thank you, Lady Brienne." She tilted her head to look at the tall woman, she'd never thought to ask earlier but Brienne knew her mother in her last month's. "You were my mother's sworn shield before she died."
Brienne knew it wasn't a question but braced herself all the same. "Yes, my lady."
"What was she like? In the camps, before-" She cleared her throat, ". . .Were she and Robb happy?"
"I did not know much of your brother, my lady. . ." Brienne tried to avoid Elia's eyes but she caught the haunted look before before she closed off. ". . .Your mother, she wasn't happy. Her lord father's death hung over her, she fought with her son. She thought she lost all of her daughters. . ." Brienne saw Elia's wide eyes and apologised. "All she wanted was you and your sisters home safe. I'm sorry I couldn't be more help, my lady."
Elia swallowed and wiped at her wet eyelashes, "Do not apologise Brienne, I appreciate the honesty."
"Your mother," Brienne hesitated before setting her shoulders, "Your mother was the strongest lady I knew. She lost her husband, her daughters and her sons. She still held her head high, still gave her son son and his cause her whole heart, no matter how much she hated what he was doing. She braced herself every time he rode out, prepared for that one time he wouldn't come back to her, and still supported him."
Elia rode quietly beside Brienne, tears pooled in her eyes but she did not have the heart to wipe them away. Brienne was a strong woman, she inspired Elia and no doubt Arya if she'd met her, and she admired her mother. Her mother who died believing Elia to be dead, her mother who helped keep Robbs crown straight on his head.
"I'm sorry to have upset you, my lady." Brienne did not look at Elia as she spoke, she kept her eyes on the horizon in front of her.
"You didn't upset me, Lady Brienne." Elia smiled brightly, tears still slipping over her cheeks. "I could not ask for a more loyal sworn shield."
Brienne flushed, bright red against porcelain white, and smiled shyly at Elia, "I could not ask for a better lady to serve."
Elia snorted and grinned mischievously, "You could. . . But I do not think you'd find one."
THEY'D PASSED MOAT CAILAN TWO DAY AGO, and had only caught up to Lord Baelish and Sansa only a day past. Elia hadn't seen them but Brienne and Pod had come back from scouting with the news and Elia felt her heart soar, she was only so far from Sansa, they were only so far from home.
But they could not pass through the moat, Littlefinger no doubt had people spying for him and Brienne was a very noticeable person. So it was decided they would go around, being a week behind was no matter to Brienne - she knew where they were travelling.
"Wouldn't it be better to catch them before they get to Winterfell?" Elia had asked a day into going around Moat Cailan.
Brienne shook her head. "Littlefinger has twenty personal guards, we have five, and two that don't know how to properly use a sword."
Elia scowled and talked little to Brienne in the next three days. She wanted her sister, she was right in her grasp only one slip of Elia's fingers and Sansa would be lost to her again. Elia had lost too much already, she would not lose more of her family to the Boltons, they butchered her brother, murdered her mother.
Brienne had the right of it though, after three weeks Elia could not hold her sword straight, let alone weild it. She could not spar against Pod, he knocked the sword out of her hand and left her flat on her back in the dirt every time.
THE SWORD IS NOT FOR ME, Elia thought as they rode through thick woods, she knew how to wield her tongue better than a sword. Words were easily spoken, light on her tongue and Elia knew she wasn't an expert but she knew how to use them.
When they'd settled to camp on their fourth night after Moat Cailan, Elia ignored Brienne's complaints as she helped start a fire and settled calmly in the soft snow. Her cloak was not warm enough for the cold nights and Garrett had to lend her his extra, it was warm and thick. A proper northern cloak, similar to her fathers, she hid her tears that night as she curled into it.
"Would my lords care for a song?" Elia's smiled was small and sly, she had not sing since she'd left The Green Tree.
"If it pleases m'lady." Gray threw himself onto the snow next to her, a lazy grin on his face.
Podrick settled down softly next to her and handed a half empty wine skin to her, she smiled and handed it back as she ignored the red blush in his cheeks.
"This one is my favourite," She cleared her throat and started to hum, Gray caught on and copied her hum lowly. "And the stars in the night were the eyes of his wolf. . ."
Brienne stood still next to her horse as Garrett and Garlan moved in to listen, ". . .and the wind itself was their song. The young wolf, astride his mount, feasting on lions and men alike." *
There was silence around Elia before Pod spoke, "T'was a lovely song, Elia."
"It was written for my brother," Elia focused on the goosebumps covering her skin rather than the pair of eyes on her, "A bard told me it was written after his win at the Whispering Woods. He told me Robb had fought like a true wolf, ferociously and strongly. He said they fought like a pack, like a true army."
"I'd heard he rode his wolf into battle." Garlan told her, hands cupped in front of his nose to keep the cold out.
Elia snorted, "Grey wind, his wolf's name was Grey wind. I doubt he rode him."
"I heard his beast ripped them apart, horses and animals alike." Gray laid back in his cloak and closed his eyes.
Elia kicked his legs hard, "Do not call him a beast."
"Well," Gray opened one eye and stares uncaringly, ". . .what should I call it then?"
"A wolf." Elia snapped, IT WAS A WOLF AND SO AM I. "It was not a beast, it was half of Robb and they butchered it and him."
"Did you have a wolf, my lady?" Elia froze, the red in the fire was harsh on her eyes. Garrett did not notice her hesitance, "It was said all the Stark children had one."
"I had one." Her statement was final, it was tense in the night air but Elia could not bring herself to care. The hurt was still fresh, too raw even after five years. SHE WAS MY WOLF, I WAS HER HUMAN.
Elia laid in her cloak and the borrowed one, closed her eyes and ignored them for the rest of the night. She could hear their conversations but she didn't listen to them, THEY WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND MY LOVE FOR WOLVES, THEY ARE APART OF ME.
It wasn't until the voices quieted and the fire died down to warm coals that Elia opened her eyes and sat up, she hadn't slept a second and now her head hurt and she was cold. Another log in the fire did little to warm her and she turned as she pulled her cloak tighter to her, Pod was curled in on himself next to her and she nudged his back.
"Elia?" He opened his eyes slowly to see her perched next to him, she shivered slightly and nudged at his cloak again. He opened his arms and she crawled in next to him, throwing her cloaks over the both of them.
"Podrick?" She whispered quietly and he tightened his arms around her, looking down at her looking slightly more alert. She shuffled closer and laid her head on his chest, "Did you have any pets growing up?"
"No, Elia." His voice was heavy with sleep, deep and rough, and Elia liked how it sounded. "My mother left when I was young, no lord would allow me one."
"I had one, years ago now." Her voice was thick with tears, she forced her eyes closed and nuzzled his chest, Pod felt her sadness and rubbed her bare arms softly. "She was a direwolf, young and beautiful. She had hair red, like my mothers, and she was graceful and smart. I loved her, but she died."
Pod rolled and pulled Elia with him, he was spread on his back with Elia curled around him like around snake. He was too tired to be tense with her, if it were daylight and he were awake, he'd have pulled away from her stammering and blushing. He was more open with Elia at night when no one was listening, he would talk about the different lords he'd squired for - Lord Tyrion was his favourite, so far.
"I had a bird once," His voice was muffled as he buried his nose in her hair, it smelt like ash and the woods around them, "It wasn't a pet, it had fallen from a tree and hurt its wing. I patched it up and fed it worms that I squished." He paused, "It didn't last the night."
HE IS KIND AND WARM, ENTIRELY TOO PURE FOR THIS WORLD, Elia thought as she burrowed deeper into his arms.
"All that is pure, will die." Elia muttered sleepily, "Roses will wilt, lions will age and grow old but winter. . ." She could feel Pod's nose bury deeper in her hair, his nose brushed against her hairline and Elia was fully aware of his lips brushing her forehead. ". . .Winter is always coming."
Sooo I'm back? sorry I dropped off the face of the earth, I got into uni and it's hectic 🤦🏻♀️ that's no excuse but still, shit happens.
Anyway, I'm getting back into writing for Zirtys! The book kinda popped off a little since s8 of GOT & I've had really bad writers block but I'm finally getting stuff done! I've got the next to chapter planned and one written, so it's not long till an update I hope!
Thanks for sticking with me guys ❤️