LAMENT | III.
( 'A RAVEN' )
WINTERFELL
297 A.C.
Robb Stark silently made his way through the Godswood, in search of a certain blonde. A raven had come from The Twins with Walder Frey's seal. His father had requested that he find Willa and bring her to the Great Hall. He had to admit, he found it odd that in the five years Willa had lived here, they had never received a letter from her father once. It made him skeptical of what the contents of the letter were.
When he found Willa, resting against the Weirwood tree, his lips ticked up at the sight. He'd never seen a girl look as beautiful as Willa. In her own way she was a foreign beauty, the only girl in the North with golden locks. Robb wondered if she could be mistaken as a Lannister.
"I knew I'd find you out here," Robb voiced, making his presence known. Willa's head turned, and her eyes seemed to sparkle as they rested on Robb. He leaned against the Weirwood tree, smiling down at Willa.
"Your mother says that she feels like an outsider here, and I agree. This is the only place that reminds me I'm not a true Northerner," she chuckled and shook her head.
"You're as much a Northerner as I am. This is your home Willa," he told her. If anything, Willa was much more a Northerner than Sansa was. All his sister dreamt of was going South. She knew nothing of Willa's past, and Willa wished to keep that way. Sansa had dreams and Willa didn't want to ruin that for her. Sansa's experience would be much different than Willa's, but Robb doubted that.
"I know," she smiled, "So what is Lord Robb Stark doing out here? You could have sent Rylen to find me."
Robb easily could have sent Ethan or Rylen to find Willa, but he wanted to spend time alone with her before they had to read the letter that could contain disappointing news.
"I wanted to see you, besides, Rylen was too busy fawning over Jon," Willa chuckled. The young handmaiden had been infatuated with Jon since he found her and Ethan in the stables. Robb was certain his half-brother was unaware of Rylen's crush since Jon was oblivious to everything.
Willa held her hands up, "Well here I am," they dropped back to her lap, "How may I be of service?"
Robb shifted against the tree, "There's been a raven from your father. My mother wants you to be there when they open it."
Panic washed over Willa's face and Robb dropped down beside her, resting a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her.
"Hey," he said, "You have nothing to worry about."
And he meant it. Robb would give his life before he would allow anything to happen to Willa, just like he would go to war before he would allow Walder Frey to force Willa south.
"I'm just paranoid," she chuckled, but Robb knew she was trying to downplay her fear. The fear that she'd be a game piece in her father's hands.
"Willa, I swear, no matter what that letter says today, you will remain here," Robb told her, holding up his pinky, "I promise."
He grinned as Willa smiled and intertwined his pinky with her. It was something she and Olyvar used to do, but now it was her thing with Robb. He placed a gentle kiss on her pinky and stood up, extending his hand to Willa, so he could help her up.
She accepted and Robb couldn't help but noticed how small and soft her hands were. They had held hands plenty of times before, but every time, he couldn't help but to amazed how perfectly their hands seemed to fit.
"So, I was thinking," Robb playfully groaned.
"That's never good," he teased. Willa slapped his shoulder, but Robb just chuckled.
"Like I was saying, I was thinking we should do something special for Arya. Septa Mordane has been unbelievably hard on her these past few days," Robb thought about Willa's suggestion.
"What should we do for Arya?"
Willa smirked, untangling her fingers from Robb, "We are going to sneak her out one night and you're going to teach her archery," Willa's face was practically glowing with excitement and nowhere in Robb's heart could he say no to her.
"Very well, but if we get caught, it was your idea, not mine," Robb told her, causing Willa to squeal in excitement and throw her arms around Robb's neck.
"Thank you! Arya is going to be so happy!" Willa said into his neck. He brought his arms around Willa's waist and held her close. They stayed like that for a moment, since Robb nor Willa made any attempt to move out of the embrace.
After what felt like hours, Robb pulled away and held his arm out for Willa. They would be nearing the rest of the population of Winterfell, and Robb wanted to properly escort Willa to the Great Hall, but almost everyone knew that Willa and Robb were to be wed someday, they just didn't know when.
When they entered the Great Hall, Eddard Stark and Catelyn Stark lifted their heads and greeted the teens with smiles, but the smiles seemed force. They were worried of the contents of the letter as well. Willa and Robb took seats beside one another and waited for the Warden of the North to break the seal.
"No matter what the letter says, Winterfell will always be your home," Ned told Willa. Willa smiled at him and reached beneath the table to take Robb's hand within her own, squeezing tight.
Ned broke the seal and began to read the letter aloud, "Dear Willa, it is my great pleasure to tell you that there has been talk of your betrothal to Prince Joffrey, the firstborn son of Robert Baratheon and Cersei Lannister."
Robb felt as Willa squeezed his hand tightly. He heard his mother sigh from beside him. Everyone remained silent as Ned handed the letter to his wife and allowed her to read over it.
"Well at least he didn't ask me to return home," Willa attempted to joke weakly. Robb shook his head angrily.
"No, what he did was far worse. He offered your hand in marriage to someone without your consent," Robb growled.
"Calm down," Catelyn scolded her son, "There is talk of a betrothal, there isn't one yet. Lucky for Willa, there are many families wishing to give their daughters to the Prince."
"Willa and I should be wed soon. The longer we wait, the bigger chance she has of becoming the next Queen of the Seven Kingdoms," Robb voiced, squeezing Willa's hand. Silently beside him, Willa nodded in agreement.
Eddard sighed, "Give me a little more time. The two of you will be wed we just have to sort things out."
"Time is running out," Catelyn mutters, "Willa is of age to wed."
Robb looked over to Willa. She was glancing down at their hands, playing with his fingers. She was scared.
"May Willa and I be excused?" Robb asked. Catelyn looked at her son, whose eyes drifted to Willa and back to her. Catelyn nodded almost immediately.
"Of course," Willa and Robb stood up, "Willa," Catelyn said grabbing the girl's attention, "You are a Stark."
The four words brought a smile to Willa's face, a real smile.
"Thank you," Willa said.
She and Robb left the Great Hall and began to walk aimlessly around Winterfell.
"Willa Baratheon," she muttered to herself. Robb's nose scrunched in disgust. He believed that nothing could sound sour leaving Willa's mouth, but that name did.
"You will not be a Baratheon," Robb proclaimed, as though it was a well-known fact of the universe, as though Willa could not have any other names than Stark or Frey.
"It sounds like I will," Willa retorted, "Being in the North in no way lessens my father's intentions to marry me off to gain favor with the throne."
He knew she was right, all they had did was put miles between her and Walder Frey. He was still her father, and he could still wed her to any man he saw fit, but Walder didn't know Willa. He didn't know of her interest in old tales of Westeros, of how much she loved Old Nan's stories. He didn't know that Willa's favorite food was raspberry tarts. He didn't know Willa, so how could he get to decide who she married.
"Look at you two," the familiar voice of Theon Greyjoy said. Robb watched as his closest friend approached them, a smirk on his face. Robb wondered if he had just left the whore house.
"Theon, you look chipper. Which whore was it today?" Willa asked, her eyebrows raising suggestively.
"None of your business," Theon replied. Rob chuckled at the ordeal, which cause Theon to give his attention to Robb.
"And what are you laughing at? At least I'm getting a good lay," Theon retorted, but Robb was in no way insulted.
"You've got me there," Robb replied.
"A good lay?" Willa scoffed, "Are you sure about that?"
Theon smiled, "How about you experience it for yourself?"
"Sorry Theon," Willa draped herself over Robb, "Maybe another time?"
"There will be no other time," Robb said, wrapping his arm around Willa's waist and pulling her closer to him. He felt the vibrations as the smaller girl chuckled in his arms. Theon held his hands up as though to surrender.
"Easy mate, I was just messing around," Theon said with a chuckle, "Oh, Rylen was looking for you Willa. She's watching Jon and Ethan spar."
"Where else would she be," Willa muttered before pulling herself away from Robb and walking to find her handmaiden.
"Up for spar Stark?" Theon asked.
"Always."
***
Willa let out a sigh as she saw Rylen standing, watching from a far as Ethan dodged an attack from Jon. Rylen didn't have a discreet bone in her body. Had Jon been a little more aware, he would notice the way Rylen looked at him.
"This needs to stop," Willa said as she stood beside her handmaiden.
"You can't deny that there isn't something attractive about the way a man swings a sword," Rylen said, not even batting an eyelash in Willa's direction.
"One of those men is your brother," Willa stated bluntly. Rylen looked at her flustered.
"Clearly, I meant Jon, not Ethan," she attempts to clear up, but Willa is already laughing at her.
"I don't understand why you don't just tell Jon how you feel for him," Willa said, wincing as Jon landed a hit on Ethan's side.
"He's so quiet, well around girls he is. Do you notice how he never seems to look you in the eye?" Rylen asked. Of course, Willa had noticed it. Jon always seemed to drop his gaze in her presence. When she was younger, she thought it was because he was a bastard, but other bastard boys had no issue meeting Willa's gaze.
What was it about her that made Jon Snow so scared to look at her.
"You don't think he likes you, do you?" Rylen asked.
"No," Willa responded. No way in seven hells could Jon like her. They had never had a full conversation and he always seemed so uncomfortable in her presence. Even after they had first met, Jon was so formal in her presence.
"Good, because he's mine."
Willa chuckled, "In your dreams."
"Well he's a lot more than mine in my dreams," Rylen joked causing Willa to playfully gasp.
"Rylen Snow, that is unladylike!" she scolded her.
"I am not a lady, therefore I don't need to be ladylike," Rylen retorted. Willa and Rylen had developed an immediate liking to each other after they had met in the clearing. She and Robb went to Lord Stark and told him of the kids and he had fabricated the story that they were bastards, a squire and a handmaiden from a forgotten Northern house. No one seemed to question it.
"So, have you and Robb decided on a wedding date?" Rylen questioned.
"The opposite. My father wants to marry me to Prince Joffrey," Willa sighed.
Rylen looked at her thoughtfully, "I can see you as queen. Maybe Robb will go to war for you."
"And have another rebellion? No thank you, no wars need to be fought over me," Willa declared. She had been told plenty of times that she had a face men would go to war for, but she didn't want anyone going to war for her, especially Robb Stark.
"Sadly, I feel like there will be one," Rylen muttered.