Winterslcdy - Tumblr Posts

Sister‌:

❝ This is your chance. ❞ Rickard had given a tremendous opportunity to his son. He had placed his trust in Torhhen and left him to rule their House’s castle and lands. And yet it was perceived as a punishment and it paled in comparison to the promises of war. Alys did not understand how her brother could not see the chance that he was offered. He was not the heir and unless he married well, he would never rule. He could prove his valour at home and did not need a sword for that particular task. 

❝ Father was smart. In war sons die. ❞ Her voice broke as she thought about Harry, Edd and Daryn. They all left and the young lady understood that they might not come back. ❝ He perhaps saved your life. ❞ And also insured that Karhold would not fall into the wrongs hands. Alys would have been heir but she was destined to leave for Hornwood. She would give Daryn children and they would carry his name not hers. The main branch would die. 

❝ I believe a time will come in your lifetime when you can win glories in war. For now you must stay with me and protect your sister and home. Is that so terrible ? ❞   

Torrhen knew that Alys was right, that there was a reason that their father had left him in charge of Karhold. It was not smart to take all your heirs into battle, but he was still unhappy that it was him. He wasn’t trained to be a lord of an entire vast holding, Harrion was. And who would keep Daryn from doing something stupid that would leave him unable to return to marry Alys? He hated that he had been left behind, but Alys was right. Someone had to stay and make sure that she was safe. Wildlings had been seen in Last Hearth again, and their uncles... ❝ I still wish that I was marching with them. ❞

Torrhen clenches his jaw and takes in a sharp breath, wanting to scream at the world that he did not want the responsibility. He felt like he was drowning, lost beyond all belief and in well over his head.  ❝ Alys, I don’t know how to run a household, let alone one this large. It would have been better if he had left Harrion or Edd. If he has saved my life and sacrificed theirs, then it is hardly fair to the people of Karhold. ❞ He wanted nothing more for his brothers to return whole, now.

❝ I need help if I am going to do this... Will you help me? ❞

New Lady Thenn‌:

( overdue starter for @sarcasmasadefense )

Alys was tipsy on the terrible wine they had been serving during diner. She liked to wear a brave face around others and act as if being married to a wildling did not scare her in the slightest. But it was a kind of facade. She hoped that if she kept pretending, she would fool herself too and completely rid herself of any trace of uneasiness. Her wedding was not what she had wished for her future. It was what had been necessary to survive. The lady had brought a bottle back to the chambers she now shared with the Magnar. Liquid courage. Sigorn had been gentle with her on their wedding night but she dreaded that it might not last. She looked at her new husband while she sipped some wine from her cup.❝ You seem less of a monster than my uncles.❞ She remarked. 

Arnolf, Cregan and his sons were good northerners, the blood of the first men, the sons of House Karstark and yet they were despicable human beings who would kill her if they had the chance. They showed more savagery than Sigorn had so far. ❝ I was more scared of them than of you. ❞ The lady still feared him a little and would keep doing so for some time but she did not dread her husband the way she had her uncles. ❝ Perhaps you should be scared. ❞ Let him be scared of me. She had told Jon Snow and in that moment she had been so self assured. The wine helped her feel bold like she had when the lord commander had given her away. 

Sigorn was still not the most fluent in Common, so it took him a moment to make sense of what she meant by her words. She was afraid of him, not near as much as her uncles but her words told him she saw him at least a little like a monster. There was still a long way for him to go before she saw him as anything other it seemed. He did not show just how much her words stung, no, he was taught to never show when you were hurt by anything, most of all by words. No, he would not show that her words, which, from what he had seen of the Free Folk that were not Thenns were justified, were not correct. He would show her that the Thenns were not monstrous like the other clans of the Frost Fangs, he would show her that the last of the true first men were not kidnappers and rapers.  ❝ Perhaps. You see me most vulnerable. ❞

He sat down near her, his form relaxed as he leaned his elbows on his knees. His eyes remained on his little southron wife.  ❝ About me. What causes fear? ❞ His voice was soft, though his words still a little stilted since his Common was not the best. He hated that they could not have communications without that barrier. She could not learn about him and his people as easily because they spoke different languages and speaking Common took so much damn effort, being so different from Old Tongue. Instead, he would have to let his actions speak for him. He would have to find ways to show her just how the Thenns were different.  ❝ I swear by the old gods. I not cause harm to mine wife. ❞