┏━ tribulation.
( SCENE 7 ) ━┛

THE last subject to come for the Stark's aid for the day exits the great hall with the guards closing the doors, leaving Robb Stark in a particularly unpleasant mood, alone. From where he sits at the table, in the lord's chair, he pinched the bridge of his nose in contempt for ever thinking that lord duties would be enjoyable. He sighed, allowing his hand to fall as his attention turns to Evolet, who comes to his side. She sits on the edge of the table, her arms crossed as she looks down to him with a side smirk.

"Are you not enjoying your lordly duties?" She hummed. She was free for the time, for Osha had been kind enough to care for Laila.

"No, I am not," Robb muttered, making hand gestures to exaggerate his annoyance. "These people keep coming to ask for things I simply cannot provide right now. Not during this war. I wish Darik wasn't gone. I'm not sure I like playing lord anymore."

Evolet let out a light laugh. "Darik is the king, though. This is your keep to run now. I suppose you could pass your responsibilities on to Bran. . . if you really felt it." She but her lip as she smiled, knowing that her joke would cause Robb's mood to brighten.

He rolls his eyes as he suddenly goes to scoot the chair back, snatching her by her hips as she let out a laughing yelp while he pulled her onto his lap. She wrapped her arms around his neck, looking at him with her warm brown eyes and a smile.

"Tell me, Lord Stark, what would you be doing now if you didn't have to deal with these lordly responsibilities?" She asked, reaching up to twirled a finger within a lock of his curly mahogany hair.

He sighed as if he needed time to think. "I suppose I'd return to my life before this war," he shrugged. "I'd like to spend my days hunting, sparring, and riding. If only Jon and Darik were here so I could actually do those things with them."

"I would join you," Evolet suggested. Part of her was only joking, but another part of her truly would do it. She would do anything with him if it meant he would be happy and they would be together.

"You would learn to wield a sword and a bow?" He asked with a raised brow. He raises a hand and tucks a piece of her long hair behind her ear. "A pretty thing like you would wear armor?"

"My cousin Aubrey does," Evolet pointed out. "She's a Mandal and Mandal women have done as such for centuries. I'm half Mandal too, if you had forgotten." She grinned widely. "Even my own mother used to be a fine archer. She fought in the Rebellion."

"I had nearly forgotten about that," Robb smiled. "I suppose my daughter comes from a fierce line of women then."

"Her father's house is honorable as well," she chimes. "With those factors, she could be an unstoppable force."

"Whatever she becomes," Robb muses. "She'll be wonderful. And strong. Like her mother."

Evolet beams at his kind words as she gazes at him. She wants to lean in, to drink in his kiss as they had so many moons ago before so much misfortune had befell them, but it had luckily turned for the better. They hadn't been intimate since, but she was unsure if they'd reached such a point again.

It seemed as if Robb had a similar idea, as his expression softened and he looked to her with a longing gaze. His blue eyes drifted to her lips. The moments that passed seemed as if they dragged for minutes and soon enough his hand had reached to cup the back of her head, drawing her towards him in a deep, deep kiss.

She feels her heart pounding in her chest, her belly filled with pure excitement. His hand wandered to her hips as he began grasping roughly and she drew in a sharp breath of welcomed surprise. They fought back and forth for dominance over the kissing until they eventually pulled apart, both of them breathing heavily.

"It has been moons," Robb murmured, still out of breath. "I've craved your kiss, yet uncertainty discerned me."

"Do not be discouraged any longer," she said between her deep breaths. "I have waited for you long enough."

"You will be mine," Robb promises. "You will be my wife. We will be a family. I will make you a Stark and right every wrong I have placed on you."

Evolet feels pure emotion rock her to her core and she tries her best to not allow tears to swell from her eyes. She had cried many tears in her life, but these were the first that she would welcome. She strokes his cheek, looking into his blue eyes with pure love.

"That is all I have ever wanted," she whispered. Her voice was laced with emotion. "Ever since we first met, so many moons ago, I wanted to be your lady, and you, my lord."

They dive back toward each other, kissing until Robb heaves her into his arms, carrying her toward the exit of the room all while their lips never leave each other. They disappear down the hall, toward the lord's quarters of the keep.

❆

"EVOLET?" Bran murmured from where he lied under the furs of his bed, his direwolf Summer sitting at his side. Greywind was present with Evolet as she put the children to bed, as it seemed the animal liked to assure that they were all safe. After she and Robb had engaged in their intimacies earlier that evening, they'd attended dinner and readied the children for bed. She was closing the shutters of his door and blowing a candle out before she turned to his attention.

"Yes?" She asked, coming to sit on the edge of his bed.

"I had another dream," he tells her. "But I didn't see the Three Eyed Raven this time. I saw the sea."

"Oh, well that better than the others, right?" She optimistically smiled.

He shrugged as if he was unsure. "I don't know. I saw it flooding Winterfell, killing people. I saw Ser Rodrik die."

His words caused an ominous feeling to consume her as her expression stilled. She furrowed her brow while she tried thinking of some explanation she could give for the dream. She knew children had over active imagination, but it almost seemed as if Bran's was abnormal.

"I'm sure it was but a dream," she assured him. "No meaning. Just your mind needing something to do in the evening."

Bran frowned slightly. "I hope so," he murmured. "It didn't feel like it though. It felt as if it were really going to happen."

"I promise, Brandon, everything is going to be fine," she tells him once more. "Now, don't bother yourself with such things right now. You need your sleep."

"Alright," he sighed as she leaned forward to plant a kiss on his forehead. As she went to stand, he said something else. "I like having you here, Evolet."

She turned back toward him, listening intently. "Ismene was always the sister I liked being around the most. She was kind and gentle and liked being around me too. But she moved away when she married Lukas, so I was only ever around Sansa and Arya. Sansa was always stuck up, and Arya was annoying. When you came around, and then Laila came, I started feeling better. As if you'd taken Ismene place here at Winterfell."

Evolet is deeply touched by his kind words expressing how important her presence was to him. She had never felt more welcome anywhere but Winterfell. She may have been born in Lakewell and raised there, but Winterfell was her home.

"Thank you," she said softly. She reached forward to cup his cheek. "It is a blessing to be with you and Rickon. I love taking care of you both."

"I don't want you to leave," he says. "Ever. You belong here."

"I will stay here as long as I am welcome," she tells him.

"You are always welcome here," Bran assures her. "I say you are."

Evolet smiles warmly, feeling her heart swell with love. She kisses his forehead once more, before rising to her feet. Greywind gets to his feet as well, ready to follow her out of the room. "You get some sleep now, my dear. May you dream well."