( PART I; a dreary existence. )
⟵ ◊ ⟶
chapter 2: the king is coming.

SUMMER snows fell as they often did in the early mornings, their flakes gracing the warped, aged glass of Raina's chamber window. It was a quiet morning, with few awake except the house guard changing shifts and servants tending to their early morning duties. The midnight-haired bastard loved the quiet, with nothing except the sound of a crackling fire burning under a wax covered mantle. She stood before the wooden structure while breaking away pieces of the wax as she sometimes did when bored or anxious. She rubbed the smooth substance with her fingers before tossing it in the flames below her to watch it melt into nothing.

The small whine of Stryder caused her to turn toward her bed, where the pitch black pup looked up at her with its golden eyes. She smiled slightly to herself as she wandered over, causing the pups ears to fold back and his tail to thump uncontrollably.

Scooping up the pup, she looked into his eyes. "Such a demanding little thing you are," she remarked as a slight giggle emitted. "So energetic as well. How does a walk sound? Perhaps outside?"

At the sound of her enthusiastic tone, the pup squirmed and whined with excitement as Raina went to place him on the floor.

A sennight had passed since the arrival of dire-wolf pups, but the joyous occasion came to a halt once dark news on the wings of a raven reached Winterfell after a long flight all the way from King's Landing. Jon Arryn, a man her father had known and practically been raised by, had sadly passed away. He was Robert's Hand of the King, but had unfortunately been taken by a ravaging fever.

The most strange of news to come from the capital was the impending arrival of Robert himself, on his way toward Winterfell. Even if one had never seen the King for themselves, everyone knew the man was a notoriously lazy monarch. It was apparent that he had no interest in actually ruling the Seven Kingdoms and therefore left the governing of the country to his advisers and those alike. Instead, Raina had heard rumors that he did nothing but drink, eat, and whore about despite having a Queen that was rumored to be a goddess among men.

As the girl and the pup exited the room and entered the hall, Raina mentally scowled at the thought of such an ignorant man, with the world in his grasp but with no care about his prestige. She thought about all the things she would do just to be able to live her days without shame, without Snow.

She thought about those that will be arriving to Winterfell: a small army of Lannister men, likely, with knights, sellswords and those alike following after the trail of gold, crimson, and black. If she remembered correctly, the king had four children, all little lions like their mother she'd heard. If she wouldn't offend them with her presence, she might have liked to speak to them a time or two.

The excited yip of Stryder has her forgetting about the subject momentarily as she looks down at him. He looks up with his tongue lolling to the side happily. She'd never thought such a fearsome beast could be so playful and gentle, nor did she believe she would ever claim ownership of one. The thought of she and Jon even being included on the rare occasion was beyond anything she might have hoped for. They'd been trained all their lives to accept who they were.

"I dare say, you and Jon are lucky ones."

The voice of Theon Greyjoy has Raina almost emitting a sigh of annoyance, but she withholds it. The ward had been around for as long as Raina could remember, when she, Jon, and Robb had only been small children and Sansa but a toddler. It'd been a strange thing to accept a prisoner of war, a child even, into their home as a "guest" but Theon eventually settled in as if he'd never been anywhere else except Winterfell.

The only thing she regretted was the sheer and blatant disrespect he always had toward her as a girl and any other servant he got the chance to try and swoon.

"What do you want?" she more stated than asked as she picked up the speed of her walk, him following close behind.

"Do I require a reason to talk to now?" He scoffed as if he were wounded. "We've known each other for years now and you still act as if you'd rather see the ass end of an ox."

Raina let out a contemptuous laugh as they rounded a corner. His words were true enough. No matter what, Stryder stuck to her side. His golden eyes stayed trained on Theon, the pup mostly likely developing protective instincts.

"Oh trust me, I would," she replied. "Don't you have something to be doing? Perhaps swooning over the servant of the week? I don't want to be bothered right now. I've got things to do."

Theon scoffed once more. "Ha. Like what? Join the girls for embroidery with Septa Mordane? As far as I'm aware, Catelyn would still rather see your head on a spike than see you around her daughters. Not after what you did to her tapestry."

"It's been a sennight, by gods!" Raina's fists clenched in anger. "She can't stand me, but Jon? She merely ignores his existence when she must. I don't understand."

By now, they'd entered the courtyard which was busy as it always was. Chickens pecked at the hardening mud, the smith beating away at molten metal, the calls of herding sheep. They stop for a moment near the door as Raina's eyes scanned the area. She was hoping she'd find Jon near the smithy of maybe by the leather worker's booth. But alas, he was no where in sight.

"She hates you because you're more beautiful than her own daughters," Theon shrugs as if it's a fact. "How could they be? Sansa is so full of herself any man would be driven away, and Arya— I don't see your father finding a willing lord to betroth her to any time soon."

"Oh, please," she swatted at him, annoyed with his insinuation. She'd been aware that the ward had been attracted to her in some degree and the thought had alway made her uneasy whenever she was around him. The uneasiness was beginning to take over once more. She didn't like being around him alone.

"Don't act as if you don't know," Theon muttered. "You're the most beautiful girl here. I don't understand why you've always avoided my advances—,"

"We were raised alongside each other," she said lowly, dark eyes narrowed. "If anything, you're but a brother to me. And you know Jon would have your head if you tried anything. Tread lightly Theon, or you might just see your reckoning."

She storms off, Theon watching her leave, particularly at the sway of her hips, little does she knows. Stryder prances after her, the pups tail wagging in the air. She finds herself wandering toward the stables, where she thinks she might find Jon or perhaps Robb. As she enters, she finds no one except Arya, who surprisingly in standing within an empty horse stall. When the boyish little girl catches site of her elder sister, she dips below the surface. Raina smirks as she makes her way over.

"What might you be doing?" She asks as she rests her arms on the door, looking down into the stall that hadn't been used in a few moons. Arya was squatted near the far corner seemingly looking down at something.

"Snowflake had kittens," Arya replies optimistically after a few heartbeats of silence. She moves to the side to allow Raina to see the white cat the girl had been following around Winterfell, which indeed had a clutch of newborn kittens at her belly. "Eight in total. There's three grey, a two striped, an two orange, a black and a white one just like it's mother."

Raina had always appreciated Arya's sweet innocence. She smiled to herself.

"Are you going to keep one?" Raina asked.

"I think I will," Arya tells her. "Once they're strong. I'll take the white one. She's all alone just like the little black one and I feel sorry for her."

"I'm sure you'll be a wonderful owner," Raina praises. Somehow, someway, she feels herself sympathizing for the black and white kitten's, alone in their own ways. She begins to think she's truly gone mad. "Now tell me, are you supposed to be with your Septa for your lessons?"

Arya looks up with her large brown eyes, which only slightly betray the truth behind them. "Yes," she mumbles.

"You best catch up," Raina advises. "I would hate to see your knuckles bloodied for not being there when you're supposed to."

Arya huffs a sigh before reluctantly rising to her feet to exit the stall. Once she stands in the main aisle, she looks up to Raina, who had closed the stall door behind her.

"King Robert is coming," Arya asked. "Will you be with me when he arrives?"

Raina pauses for a moment. She knows the answer, of course not, yet a part of her wished she could tell her littlest sister she would. She clasps a hand on Arya's scrawny shoulder gently.

"I'm sorry dear, but I won't. I'm not a Stark, you know that. My place will be with Jon and Theon." Arya hopeful gaze falters. "But I promise we'll be nearby."

Arya sighs in defeat. "You'll try to sit with me at the feast then?" The girl asked.

"Of course I will. I couldn't imagine anyone else."

Arya grins before nodding and slipping out of the stables and into the courtyard. Raina watches after her. Even if she wasn't a Stark, she often felt like one because of the boyish little girl.

❆

THE king was nearly to Winterfell it seemed, as servants had been busily ordered around by Catelyn for at least three days before his presage has been spotted down the King's Road. Cleaning rooms, straightening things, slaughtering animals, cooking bread, brewing mead, and much, much more made the Keep a place of chaos.

As if to hide the seemingly gloomy atmosphere that lived within Winterfell during cloudy days, northern flowers and garlands of pine were created and hung in different areas. Raina believed it was meant to make the southerners feel more at home while away from their flowery filled keeps.

It had been at least two moons since the Stark children, as well as Raina and Jon, had received  their dire wolves. In the weeks that passed, she had tried her best to handle Stryder properly, but the animal already held a spirit she knew would be hard to contain.

Unlike Ghost, who was as quiet as his namesake, Stryder loved to yip, leap, and play with his litter mates. Along with the beasts growing spirits, they were growing physically as well. At such a rapid rate, Winterfell would have a large wolf pack to defend it.

In one of the main halls of the Keep, Raina stepped out of the way of a few servants, who were struggling to carry a rather large table toward the great hall. A few maids followed behind with different items that were ready to be put into use, like brooms, candles, wreaths, and more. She smiled to herself, loving the energy that flowed within the keep. It was uplifting to see excitement fill even servants.

Following the herd of servants and maids, she entered the great hall. After a deep cleaning, the place no longer smelled of dampness as it had before. Some of the windows that line the wall were opened just enough to let a steady flow of air enter the room. Long tables replaced the single one that one sat in the middle of the room where she and her siblings would often break their fasts and have supper. Luckily, Catelyn was no where in sight, and instead Raina spotted her father a crossed the room.

She made her way over to his side to plant herself while he finished a conversation with a steward.

"Oh, Raina," Ned greets as the steward leaves and his attention is focused on her. "How are you doing today? I didn't get the chance to see you this morning, not with all of these preparations to finish with."

"Don't worry," she assured him with a grin. Despite who she was to him, Raina had always been able to speak to her father easily. He'd at least always treated her and Jon fairly. "After my lesson with Septa Mordane I decided I would venture down here to see what had all been done. I dare say, it is looking far different."

"Thank you," Ned says with pride. "This place was due for a cleaning, anyway. I just don't see it staying that way for long. Not with the number of men that Robert is bringing with him. If it's true to what the outriders say, our cellars are going to be frank dry."

Raina always enjoyed hearing her father chuckle and he did, wholeheartedly.

"What do you presume he's coming all the way north for?" She asked.

"I had a lot of assumptions, but it's hard to tell with Robert," he sighs. "With Lord Arryn's death, I could only assume it's something important, important enough to come all the way up here. He wouldn't come here for something small."

They step back to allow servants to roll a very large barrel of most likely mead of wine a crossed the room.

"But Raina," Ned continues. "I want to apologize for the way Catelyn has been treating you. I try my best to speak to her about these things but she is steadfast, you know that. She needs to understand that you're welcome in this house and that she'll accept it. I want you standing with us when the king arrives. You deserve it."

Raina stammers for a moment as she tries realize what he was saying. She thinks back to her conversation with Jon the last time they'd been forced to sup at the servants table in the kitchen. They'd spoken of her possibilities of finding a future. Was her father perhaps trying to help her get exposed to the world?

"Truly?" She asked in disbelief. "You truly want me there? I'm not a Stark."

Ned shook his head, as he often did when hearing about the fact that she and Jon were bastards. He seemed to dislike the idea.

"Truly. You deserve to be with us. Jon is almost a man grown and won't need help getting into this world. I see nothing wrong helping you."

With a kind small, he gently pats her back before being torn away from their conversation but a steward and servants in need of instruction.

As Raina made her way out of the bustling great hall, she couldn't stop the grin caused by the warm feeling spread in her chest. For the first time in a while, she felt like she might belong.