┏━ tribulation.
( SCENE 14 ) ━┛

WHOEVER had come to liberate Winterfell from the Ironborn left their mark. Evolet, holding Laila close to her chest, looked around the court yard littered with bodies. Dead servants and Ironborn alike were strewn a crossed the muddied ground, blood pooling around them. Dwindling fires emitted smoke toward the sky. Greywind sniffed the bodies as he passed, tail ridged. The place Evolet had begun to consider her home was nearly unrecognizable.

The safety of her daughter was racing through her mind the longer they wandered from the crypts entrance and avoided the still bodies. Pulling Laila closer to her neck, she soothed the little girl with coos despite the fear aching in her chest. The men of sword and armor were twisted and capable of things she'd only heard of in stories, which scared her even then.

Lukas had told her of the second-hand tales he'd heard from war veterans, men who had fought during the Rebellion and were seasoned in battle. She could only imagine what he might tell her when the war he currently fought was over and the northern host could return home. If they returned. Another possibility she wouldn't consider.

"To the Godswood," Robb murmured, his blue eyes lingering on a fallen servant boy a moment longer than usual. Far too long had they been stuck in the crypts she realized, Evolet seeing the dust clinging to his cloak. A reminder of the disaster they'd come to find themselves in."It's our safest place to go. Leaving through the main gate could have us spotted. If I'm correct, there's a hidden break in the wall that Darik and Ismene used to use. We can escape there."

Evolet clung Laila close to her side as Rickon clung to the tresses of her dress, quiet as a door mouse. Hodor, carrying Bran, was quiet as well. Unintentionally, she offered Bran a weak frown where he rested on Hodor's back as her hand soothing ruffled Rickon's dusty brown hair. Her anger for the boys and her daughter to be seeing such horrors would drive her mad. No child should ever see such things. Yet, they were in troubling times. With troubling times came unfortunate circumstances.

"It appears it was the Bolton's," Robb muttered as he lifted an abandoned shield from the mud, the flayed man of the Dreadfort apparent on its face.

"If the Bolton's were sent to free Winterfell from the Ironborn, would they not be here to protect us?" Osha asked.

"Even if they were sent by Darik, it is apparent that they are not here for our benefit," Evolet murmured, biting her lip. The dwindling fires and drifting smoke made it apparent. The slain people around them seemed like an almost cruel a touch.

"The torching says enough," Robb agreed with his daughter's mother. "My father never quite cared for Lord Bolton. Nor his cruel habits. I would sooner believe that House Bolton has forsaken its oath after this disaster."

Soon, the small group began making its way toward the Godswood in search of the suspected exit in the keeps walls that Robb's brother and sister supposedly used in the past.

At the gates of the Godswood, as if standing guard against any who might intrude, the loyal direwolves Shaggydog and Summer waited. Rickon quickly peeled away from Evolet's side where he'd refused to leave since leaving the crypts, running to meet his black direwolf with an embrace around the animal's neck.

"Summer," Bran said from Hodor's back with a hint of relief in his voice. Greywind goes to meet his litter mates, offering a kick to the muzzle as greeting.

With three direwolves in tow, the entry into the Godswood was a reprieve from the worry that had consumed Evolet's mind, the serene song of the wind drifting through the grove's trees helping her to just breath and focus. The Godswood in Lakewell was a place the young Estemore woman frequented during her pregnancy with Laila. The one here was similar in many aspects, a comforting thought.

The scrupulous judgement and resentment from her mother for her bastard daughter had thankfully never followed her to the consecrated site. The watchful gaze of the weirwood had somehow seemed less critical than her mother's sneer anytime they passed each other in the keep's halls. She'd taken to dining in her chambers to avoid difficult suppers until her journey to Winterfell, where Laila was eventually born.

The sound of their shuffled footsteps beginning to crush fallen leaves of oak were enough to bring Evolet back to the present, the distant memories of her mothers subjective treatment disappearing on the wind.

Resting against Evolet's chest, Laila was quiet. Not a babble from the child could be heard more often than not. The saving grace of her daughters quiet nature had saved them more than once during the nights when Robb and Osha would sneak from the crypts entrance in search of food, avoiding the Ironborn within the shadows before returning from the kitchens with what measly food scraps that could find. Many servants of Winterfell had long fled, the rest that had remained still lying in the mud where they had passed them before entering the walls of the Godswood.

The crimson leaves of the weirtree were growing more visible as they passed the mottled pine and oak trees, the whiteness of its trunk and limbs stark against the dark greenery surround it. The leaves and white bark had become a comforting sight for Evolet anytime she saw them.

"Maester Luwin!" Robb exclaimed, taking off from where he'd been leading them. Osha immediately followed after him, always light on her feet.

Once Evolet spotted the maester propped against the roots of the sacred tree, his grey robes bloodied and his skin a shade of pale on the verge of ghostly, she knew he did not have long.

"My boy," the old man uttered with a wince soon following. He gripped his side in pain. Evolet soon arrived to his side.

"Tell me what to do," Evolet said urgently as she lowered herself at Robb's side. "Milk of the poppy? Tell me where it is and what other herbs-"

"There is no saving me," he breathed. His gaze shifted to Robb. "You and your brothers need to leave. The Bolton's will back and they will not see you

"They came to liberate Winterfell of the Ironborn, why have they done this?" Robb asked him.

Luwin frowned. "It appears they have forsaken their oath to House Stark," he sighed. Another wave of pain hit him. Evolet had been correct.

"We have to tell Darik," Robb stated.

"Go to Lakewell," the maester said weakly. "Send a raven from there. It is no longer safe for you here," he looked to Laila in Evolet's arms, and then to Rickon and Bran behind them. "The children will be safe there. Lady Estemore has a yoke of men strong enough to defend the keep if need be."

"My mother won't have us," Evolet told him. "She does not condone Laila's birth, no matter if she has been legitimized."

"Values and morals be damned," the maester muttered. "Winterfell has fallen to the Bolton's. Go, seek asylum. Save the children. Send word to your mother and Darik."

The tears in Evolet's eyes had been building since she'd first laid eyes on Luwin lying beneath the crimson leaves. Knowing he would soon die, her heart broke. The old man had shown her much kindness since she'd taken residence in Winterfell, such a kind soul. He did not deserve death and her heart raged over it. Her tears finally spilled down her cheeks.

Luwin's attention then focused on Robb. "I helped bring you into this world," he breathed laboriously. "Please, do me the grace of taking me from it." He looked to the knife sheathed at Robb's side, one of the few weapons he'd been able to grab before they'd been forced into the crypts.

Looking to Robb, Evolet saw the pain in his eyes as a heavy sigh escaped through his nose. It was obvious he knew he had to do it. Inevitably, he nodded in response to the maesters request.

Luwin then looked to Evolet and offered a weak smile. "You are stronger than you believe, my dear. Take care of my boys, please. And yourself."

With a tearful nod, Evolet stood. She held Laila a little closer as her seemingly heavy feet began to lead her back toward the boys, Osha, and Hodor where they stood a short distance away.

"They do not need to see this," she murmured to Osha with emotion lacing her voice. "Come. We will search for this exit."