So here's another Christmas/winter bonus chapter set before the start of The Stag and The Frog There will probably be at least one more of these as a have a chapter for Tyrek planned (because writing fluff about Tyrek Lannister is like my favorite past time...).
A world of white greeted Meera when she opened the cabin door to walk outside. A thin layer of snow had fallen during the night and it now covered every leaf, branch, and straw. As if a sack of flour had been poured over the whole swamp. It sparkled so much that it blinded her as sun rays reflected upon the pale sheet.
It had been a few weeks since she returned home to the Neck and the memories of her brother still haunted her around every corner at her father's castle. Jojen had always been there, sometimes annoying her like brothers tend to do, but now he wasn't. He would never be again. So to escape the memories Meera had decided to go visit her grandmother for a couple of days.
Her mother's mother, also called Meera, lived hidden away in the deepest corner of the swamp in a cabin obscured by thick white moss and ancient knotted branches, If you didn't know where it was you wouldn't find it. A dark pond lurked right outside the cabin, filled with gators that the old woman fed every day.
Meera took a step outside and filled her lungs with the cool brisk air. It smelled of swamp. It smelled of home. To most people, it would probably seem an unpleasant smell, but Meera had missed the pungent odor. The north had not smelled like this.
She pulled on the leash in her hand. "Come on, Lily," she said to the crocodile attached to it. Meera had been tasked with walking her grandmother's pet in the morning. Lily was a small albino crocodile who had the privilege of living inside the cabin and get fed scraps for dinner. Usually, she slept on the floor below Meera's grandmother's bed. Lily was a very spoiled creature.
Lily did not oblige. Instead, she opened her jaws slightly and made a clicking sound. Her back feet spread wide as Meera pulled on the leash. Lily was not going anywhere.
"Grandma," Meera called out with a sigh. "Lily doesn't want to go outside."
Her grandmother soon peered out the door as well. "Oh, it's snowed," she said. "Of course the poor creature doesn't want to go outside then. Crocodiles don't do well in cold."
Meera's grandmother threw a blanket on top of the crocodile and bundled the creature up. "I'll throw some more wood onto the fire so she can get warm," she said. "And we can warm ourselves too."
"But what about the crocodiles outside?" Meera asked with concern in her voice. "How will they deal with the cold?"
It usually didn't get this cold in the Neck, it must have something to do with the threat approaching from the North.
"They'll hide in the tall grass and hibernate," her grandmother replied and put her hand on Meera's shoulder to assure her. They both shared an affinity for the scaly creatures. "They'll survive like that for a couple of weeks, so hopefully it will get warmer soon."
Meera threw a worried glance over the pond. She hoped the crocodiles would be all right. She felt her own body shiver from the cold. Her journey up north had made her accustomed to snow but she wasn't dressed for it currently.
She followed her grandma and Lily inside where they all sat down by the fireplace. The crackling flames warmed her hands as she held them out in front of her. Her grandmother walked up with two mugs of tea, brewed from herbs found in the deep swamp. The tea was spicy and warmed her to the bone. The older Meera sat down beside her granddaughter and Lily quickly curled up by her feet with her mouth agape as she basked in the warmth.
"You know you can ask me about things," her grandmother said after they sat in silence for a moment. "Things you might not want to talk about with your father. Things you would have asked your mother about if she had lived."
Meera looked down at the floor and turned uncomfortably. She didn't want to talk with anyone about things like that. Certainly not her family members.
"You're old enough to marry," her grandmother said. "A woman of that age need to know about men."
Meera blushed. "I'm not interested in marriage," she said while still looking down at the floor. "Or men."
That last part was a lie. She had felt things when looking at men. Things that confused and intrigued her.
She hadn't felt such things before she left for the North. She was too young then. And the feelings she had for Bran wasn't different than the feelings she had for her brother. Meera wanted to protect and care for him. But she didn't want to rip his shirt off and straddle him.
But she had felt suck things when they arrived at the wall on their journey back. The rangers had taken care of her and Bran before they helped them travel to Winterfell. Tired and dirty she had looked upon the men of the Nightwatch and her insides had done funny things. When she had looked upon Dolorous Edd's smile as he made a crass joke, butterflies had started to flutter right under her ribs. When she had watched one of the rangers pull his shirt off, when he thought she wasn't looking, fireflies had ignited under her belly button.
She did want to rip the shirt off those men and straddle them.
So yeah, Meera was interested in men. But not in everything that being a wife entailed.
"So are you interested in women then?" her grandma asked with a curious look.
Meera shook her head, still looking away. "I just... don't want to give myself away to someone," she replied. "I want to be free. I want to be me."
"I'm sure if you find the right man, he would still let you be free. My daughter did, she found your father."
"There are not many men like my father."
"There might not be many of them, but if he's out there I'm sure you can find him."
"It's not like good men just come falling into the swamp..."
"You never know who might pass by one day."
Her grandmother gave her an odd look. Like she knew something. And maybe she did. There were rumors that the older Meera was a witch of the older goods. That she had somehow harnessed the powers of the swamp to tell her secrets no one else knew.
One day Meera would find him. The right man. He would fall head first right in front of her, and she would fall for him. And no matter what doors closed around her, with him she would always be free.