|
Post by Snowglobe18 on Jan 18, 2018 21:05:02 GMT -7
Mia watches her father as he explains but for some reason it's not the answer she was looking for and for a moment she actually thought he would agree with her but when he says about the fact that being a Princess she has expectations to hold she looked away from him and around the office that had once belonged to her Grandfather. She closes her eyes for a moment and feels those tears back once more but she refused to cry in front of her father, she didn't want him to see her like that it was bad enough when he had seen her that way when Ro had left the first time.
"You mean I have to marry so that we can rebuild this place" she opened her eyes and looked at him. She shook her head and rolled her eyes once more before she turned her back on him. Mia had honestly thought that if one person would understand then it would be him but it felt like no one understood and there was no one she could turn too, Katherine had made sure that Ro was gone from Winterfell and would make sure that she married into a noble family who would inherit some sort of title.
She moved towards the door of the office and went to pull it open before she turned her head in his direction "I thought that if one person could understand then it would be you, I thought that you of all people would be on my side but now I see I have no one in this place that understands and now I understand why Winterfell is so cold because no one in this place has feelings" she said and pulled open the door so hard that it slammed back against the wall and she walked out of the office letting the door slam shut behind her.
|
|
|
Post by Ray on Jan 18, 2018 21:39:37 GMT -7
"No, that's not what I meant," Jon sighs out slowly, shaking his head, but Mia does not give him a chance to explain himself. In a fit of fury, she slams the door open and stomps into the hall, slamming the door back closed behind her. The books rattle on the wall quietly with the force of the impact, and Jon winces. Mia does not get angry often, but when she does... As bad as it may sound, she reminds him of Robb. All fire and stormy eyes when he gets prodded to anger, slow to boil but quickly brimming over the surface when he does. It was never Robb's best quality, always prone to get him into trouble, but it also helped him win battles when the time came.
"Shit." Jon mutters under his breath, slumping even further in his seat.
They do not go far, despite better judgement. But the morning is still little more than a breath of sunlight on the horizon, and as long as Katherine's men do not come hunting through the town for him, he figures they are safe for the time being. He avoids the tavern he drank in the night before, stopping instead at an inn at the edge of Winter Town that seems older than the rest of the businesses that have appeared in the midst of spring. An older woman sets plates in front of them with a weary glance between the two, eyeing Ro and his armor, and then looking at Vasha.
The woman is not like anything these people would have seen in their lives. Pale and tall, with eyes darkened by black pencil and a small black line running from her lower lip down her throat, disappearing into the grey leathers she wears. Beads tinkle in her messily braided hair as she reaches forward to grab a slice of bacon with long blackened fingers and bite into it, not even acknowledging the woman with a glance.
"Thank you," Ro fills in instead.
"Of course, love..." The woman mutters before shuffling away, giving Vasha another concerned look.
"These people stare too much." Vasha says around her chewing.
"People stared plenty in Rohan too."
Vasha shrugs slightly.
|
|
|
Post by Snowglobe18 on Jan 18, 2018 21:54:25 GMT -7
Mia was so angry and she really needed to calm down because she needed to start thinking rationally but she couldn't and when she did calm down then she would apologise to her father for what she said, she would apologise for slamming the door so hard that she probably woke up the rest of the castle but for now she needed to just let it out. She had thought about heading out but then she came across the Great Hall and breakfast was happening.
She had to admit that it smelt so good but she was too angry to eat. The hall was actually busy with all the people and right at the top of the hall was her mother she was going over some letters while drinking and she felt her hand clench up and before long Amelia's feet were carrying her in the Great Hall. "How could you?" she yelled from near the doors, her eyes were on her mother and the hall went silent but she didn't care.
Katherine was about to read another letter when she was caught off guard by a yell and she pushed her eyebrows together and looked up to see Mia standing there with anger pouring from her and for a moment she could see Stark anger right there. It was anger that Robb had had during the war "Excuse me?" she asked and then put the letter down and watched her daughter.
"You told him to leave and not come back" her eyes blazing at her mother.
Katherine knew what this was about definitely and this was the first time she had yelled at the men in the Great Hall when she told them to get out, now. The doors shut behind Mia and then she put her attention back on her daughter and stood up moving from her spot and down to the same level as Mia. "Because this is what happens when that boy is here, he causes so much trouble and he gets you like this and that is why I told him to leave"
"You had no right" she yelled.
"I have every right I am your mother" Katherine shouted back at her, their voices echoing off the hall.
|
|
|
Post by Ray on Jan 18, 2018 22:28:38 GMT -7
"So what happened?" Vasha asks, eyes still down on her plate as she continues eating, forgoing the fork and knife set aside on a napkin. Ro looks up from his own breakfast, mouth stuffed with goose egg and a bit of a slightly charred bread roll. He bounces his brows upwards, acting as if wondering what she could possibly mean, when he knows exactly. He had not been so quiet or subtle about his disappointment, having barely spoken in the last few hours since climbing from the window of the guest chamber.
He had not wanted this to be how he left things. He had not wanted to pull another disappearing act.
He swallows his food and reaches out for the shared tankard of ale to wash it down. "Nothing," he mutters, before taking a gulp. His head still pounds from the ale the night before, but this settles his stomach and wets his thirst. Vasha glances up, arching a slim black brow, seemingly unconvinced. She chews as she watches him, staring unblinking and in minor disbelief.
"We came all this way for...nothing?" She replies, mimicking his tone on that final word, putting on a glowering expression that looks far more serious yet comical on her face.
"It didn't work out." Ro sighs out, setting the tankard down roughly.
"Why not?" Vasha pesters, taking the tankard for herself.
"I don't want to talk about it." Ro grunts.
"You always want to talk."
"Not this time." Ro huffs.
"Not this time," Vasha mimicks again, this time making him sound like an irritating mouse. And then she rolls her eyes. "Is she not as pretty as you remembered?"
"No, that's not..." Ro sighs out heavily, slumping back into his seat and shaking his head.
"I thought she was pretty."
"Vasha." Ro mutters, getting annoyed.
"She was very pretty."
Ro leans forward abruptly, brows pressing close as he hisses in a hushed voice, "Her mother practically exiled me, all right? I'm no longer allowed to see her or Winterfell." Vasha blinks slowly, still not impressed. She sets her elbow onto the tabletop, and sucks the trace of food from the pad of her forefinger.
"So?" She asks, finally, shrugging again.
"So what?"
"You're going to let that stop you?" Vasha continues, looking at him as if he were stupid. "You stole a sword from an Orc King and told him to fuck a dog and yet this Queen scares you."
"First of all," Ro says, holding a finger in the air, "You're the one who gave me that shitty translation," he argues, and a grin spreads across Vasha's lips, devious and pleased with herself, "And second of all, yes."
|
|
|
Post by Snowglobe18 on Jan 18, 2018 22:53:38 GMT -7
Katherine has never once shouted at her like this and Mia winced a little when her voice echoed around the hall. She had never made her mother that mad that she had to shout like this. But she guessed that there was a first for everything. "He came back, mother, he came back to make amends" her voice quieter this time and her hands shaking a little but she didn't care about that. Didn't care that at this very moment that her heart was pounding hard in her chest and her breathing was hard.
"The damage was already done, Amelia, he hurt you for a long time and he can't do it again. I won't let him do it again and that is why he needs to stay away from Winterfell and you"
"Mother, please" she said and felt her bottom lip shake. "Why is it so different for you? You love my father so passionately and yet you wont let me have the same, you are the Queen of the North and you basically told those very lords that they had to accept father as their leader too but you won't let my heart love the man I want to be with, how is that fair?"
Katherine leaned against one of the tables and put her hands together against her lap "Mia one day you're going to be a mother and you're going to make hard decisions for your children and one day you will see what I am doing is in your best interest, it's not for the North it's because I don't want you to get hurt again but you can't see that because you're too angry"
"But you will happily let me hurt by marrying me off to a lord because that's the expectations of what I am, right?" she asked and shook her head and she swallowed hard and tried to breath but it just felt like she was getting breathless.
Katherine watched her and she hated seeing her like this, she hated seeing her suffering so much and knew that she was the cause but in the end she was doing the best she could in a very bad situation. Ro had already hurt her and she refused to let him do it any more. She was going to hate herself for this, she was going to hate what she was about to do but it was for the best. Katherine tipped Mia's chin up so that her eyes were on her mothers and she spoke "You need to f-" in all these years she hasn't used her compulsion on anyone, she never used it on her family and never on her daughter and she knew that doing it this way wasn't the best but if she kept talking then she was only making Amelia more upset but she couldn't do what she originally planned to do so instead she spoke again "You need to calm down, breathe... that's it" she said softly and could feel Mia calming down.
The last thing Katherine wanted was for her daughter to be so agitated to the point that she caused so much damage to the place. She let her chin go and then took a step back away from Mia and watched her. She looked a little bit more calmer and that was what she needed but she hated herself for using the compulsion on her. In the years she has been a vampire she never used it on the youngest Stark but today she did and it was going to be something she regretted for a long time. "You can hate me if you want but it's not going to change the fact that I will keep you safe"
Mia looked up and at her mother and then said calmly "Good because I do hate you" she said and turned away from her mother and in the direction of the doors. "I will never forgive you for this" she pulled the door opened and walked out into the corridor and away from the hall.
|
|
|
Post by Ray on Jan 18, 2018 23:16:38 GMT -7
"Why?" Vasha asks, leaning back slowly in her seat but keeping her eyes locked on Ro.
"Because..." Ro begins, but cuts himself off short. It's more than just the gut feeling he had in the godswood, more than the lingering suspicion of something wrong. That is not what frightens him. He's seen enough of it now, felt enough of it like snakes coiling in his chest, to not let it scare him here. Not after everything. It's more than that. Far, far more. He sighs carefully and looks away, distantly but on nothing, leaning back as well. "Because she has the power to take away what I've wanted most." He admits, voice a low, honest murmur. He rolls his jaw before setting it squarely, letting his own words, his own admission, sink deep into his bones.
A moment passes, and then Vasha reaches out to knock upon the table, drawing his eye back. Ro follows suit, exhaling a slow breath through his nostrils. Vasha arches a brow at him. "Running does not get you what you want either." She tells him, cocking her head to the side, "And running does not make a Champion."
Ro stares at her for a long time, seeing the slow creep of a smile on Vasha's lips. He knows what she is thinking, knows the thought as it is the same one that has been passing through his mind all night. And, as it circles back around to the forefront, spurred by her smile and her dark eyes and that blasted name, he knows he is about to do something very, very stupid.
"Damn you." Ro says, and rises swiftly to his feet, grabbing his spear-sword on the way.
"Every day," Vasha replies, leaping up on agile feet to follow.
His feet carry him on the familiar route back through Winter Town, straight for the gates of Winterfell that stand high and open in the morning sun. Shoulders squared, blade across his back, and Vasha right at his heels, he moves forward with purpose, watching as the guards suddenly alert to his appearance, hands grabbing spears and shouts on their tongues. But before they can speak or halt him, Ro interrupts loudly. "Stop me and I'll show you how I got my name."
The guards hesitate for just a moment long enough for Ro to carry on, hands balling into fists at his side. Vasha blows them both a kiss.
He walks surefooted up the steps of the Great Hall, knowing that she'll be here, knowing for a fact, and carries himself towards the doors leading into the dining hall. Pushing them open with both palms, he steps in, courage bubbling hot in his veins, blue eyes setting immediately upon the Queen standing alone among the scattered chairs and abandoned tables. Yasha stops just before the doors, letting them close on her, and turns to lean against the wall outside -- arms folded and foot resting back against the stone casually.
"Your Grace," Ro says, hands balling back into fists at his side, "We need to talk."
|
|
|
Post by Snowglobe18 on Jan 18, 2018 23:32:40 GMT -7
Katherine felt her own anger bubbling up when she watched Amelia walk away from her but she knew that one day she would understand just what she was doing to keep her safe. She turned away from the door and put her two fists into the table and leaned against them and closed her eyes. Today was definitely going to be one of those days when she wished she had stayed in bed or at least just stayed out of the way.
No one came back for breakfast and for that she was actually glad because she wasn't sure if she would keep her temper long enough to sit with them. After a moment she stood up and turned back towards the door and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Bloody Stark attitude" she muttered to herself. She could pretty much curse Robb right now, him and his bloody attitude and it seems like he had passed it down to their daughter.
It was then that she heard footsteps coming this way and when the door closed she moved her hand from the bridge and looked up to see that Ro was standing there and wanted to talk with her. For the first time she actually felt very flat "You really don't give up do you?" she asked after a moment and grabbed a drink from the nearest space to her before knocking it back, that she could do but eating at the moment was beyond her.
Katherine put the goblet back down on the table and looked at him with an unreadable expression on her face before she perched on the table once more this time her arms were crossed over her chest because she was sure that if she left them down then she would want to wrap them around his bloody neck. She might as well give him a bit of leave to get out what it was that he wanted to say even if she would rather call the guards and have him escorted out the castle and onto a boat bound for Rohan. "You might as well say what you've come to say because I don't have all day"
|
|
|
Post by Ray on Jan 18, 2018 23:59:28 GMT -7
"I made a mistake," Ro says, unhesitating and unabashedly, the words falling from his mouth the moment Katherine gives him leave to speak. She stares him, unreadable and yet somehow bored looking, watching him from her perch upon the table. And though that strange feeling fills his veins once more, he stares right back. "I was young, stupid, a boy with dreams of grandeur and living up to a name I felt I had no right to bear." He continues, the words flowing freely, all that he had thought to himself a thousand times before but rarely let himself say aloud. "And so I left. And by doing so I hurt far more people than I meant to. My fathers, my cousins, Mia. I know this. More than you know. More than you care to think possible of me." He nods once, honest.
"And I also know that I should have died out there. But I didn't. I've fought my way through mountains, forests, and ice. I've met with Kings, I've bargained with warlords, I've made deals with dragons. I've killed orcs, genlocks, harpies, and ogres. I've defeated an Archdemon in single combat." He lists off, his words echoing against the stone walls of the Great Hall, "How many of your little lordlings that you have in waiting for Mia can say the same? How many of them are the children of those who hid in their castle walls while you and Jon Snow reclaimed the North from your sister?" He questions, knowing full well that he has far surpassed the line of what is allowed when speaking with royalty. But he was never very good at holding his tongue.
"You may dislike me, your Grace. There are many reasons to. But do not mistake me for a man who does not know the cost of protecting what you love. And there is no one better suited to protect Mia than me."
|
|
|
Post by Snowglobe18 on Jan 19, 2018 0:28:44 GMT -7
Katherine actually listened to what he was saying, for the first time she had actually given him the chance to explain everything and it was more than what she had allowed him to do with Mia. The day before he was with Amelia in the Godswood and the only thing she wanted to was protect her daughter from him. There had been times during him gone that she had been tempted to compel Amelia not to forget but to accept that he wasn't coming back for her, that he had moved on to other people and left her behind but even she couldn't be that cruel.
He then went on to speak about all the things he had done while he was gone and she raised her eyebrow at most of them and then to hear him dare to challenge just what she was going to do with the children of the lords that had shut their doors on both her and Jon when they reclaimed the North. That had been so many years but she was sure that no one was likely to forget and maybe that was why Mia had all of those proposals so that they could get back on the good side of the Starks after all they had let them down on the first go.
Then he spoke about the fact that he was the better one suited to protect Mia.
Katherine stayed quiet for a moment and she looked down, letting the silence stay with them for a moment. There were two ways she could actually play this and both of them she wasn't sure she wanted to play but in the end she looked up at him. Everytime she tried to get her answer out she could see Mia asking her why it was so different for her, why could Katherine love Jon and not allow her to be with Ro. It wasn't about stations on this, she didn't care that he was an orphan. If she did then she wouldn't have allowed Amelia and Ro to have formed such a close bond in the first place.
"Mia was in here a little bit before you and she asked me why it was so different for the two of us, for me to be in love with Jon and yet not allow her to even be with you because she does want to be with you" she admitted and kept her eyes on him. It was the first time she had actually spoken to him like he was an adult and not a stranger. She could see that he loved Amelia or at least cared about her as deeply.
"But when it comes down to it I think it's best if she marries into a highborn family so I'm going to no that you're not the best suited person for my daughter"
|
|
|
Post by Ray on Jan 19, 2018 0:50:09 GMT -7
He is not met with anger as he anticipates, not even met with a scornful look or a threat or a smirk. Ro is well aware that he did not merely toe the line of what is acceptable -- he charged straight through it, baring his teeth and all. A part of him had been tensing, preparing, for the guards to march their way in with spears drawn and swords at the ready and his head marked for the chopping block. But it does not come. For the first time since he returned, Katherine regards him with a sort of cool complacency. It's enough to deflate some of the fire he'd built up, enough to relax his shoulders just a degree as he faces her, watching, waiting. And yet Katherine still tells him no.
Ro's teeth click together, eyes falling momentarily to the ground, a huffed exhale slipping through. He tightens his fist once more, the leather of his glove flexing with the stretch of it.
"You forget, your Grace," Ro begins, his voice a little more evenly tempered, matching the same coolness as the Queen. He lifts his eyes back to her face, holding his chin high, "I may be an orphan, but my name is Durin. And that name still carries weight. Even here. And if it's titles you want....I've earned plenty." Not that you have told Mia, he wants to add, but holds his tongue. He can only test Queen Katherine's patience so much, can only cross so many lines, can only let his anger take him so far.
Even in moments of great stupidity, there needs to be a limit.
|
|
|
Post by Snowglobe18 on Jan 19, 2018 1:03:17 GMT -7
Just when Katherine thinks the matter is closed he comes back with another shot and she sighs. "Aye you certainly have" she said and watched him before she stood up straight.
"Just imagine I say yes, that you can marry my daughter, the wedding happens and then two, three or even four years down the line you decide that you want another go at that wild of yours and Mia doesn't, but its itching your veins to the point that it's driving you insane and then suddenly you have found yourself having to pick but knowing what you want you go for it and then Mia gets left behind again" she said and watched him. "It will break her to pieces and I would rather that not happen so can you really reassure that it's not going to happen because at the moment I can't"
Katherine knew she was being stubborn and she knew that in the end she was going to have to either call the guards to escort him out or give him the answer that he clearly so desperately wants but she really wanted him to reassure her that he wasn't going to hurt her again because she wasn't going to be around much longer to pick up the pieces. She knew that people were looking at her funny about the fact she still looked the same and in the end she was going to have to leave and while it hurt her she knew it was going to have to happen. Mia would take over Winterfell and she would rather she was settled and happy than having so many problems and worries that he would want to leave again and this time she would rather stop that from happening if she could.
|
|
|
Post by Ray on Jan 19, 2018 1:31:50 GMT -7
Katherine relents, but only for a moment, giving him a second of stirring victory in his chest until it is squashed away. The words that follow sink his heart further and further in his chest with each passing breath, until a frown begins to tug at the edges of his mouth. He does not know which is worse -- that Katherine sees this future for them, for him, or that she is not entirely wrong.
He has no love for the wild, none of the lingering starry-eyed nostalgia that Fili and Kili get when they talk about their lengthy adventures into the heart of Rohan's darkness, none of the whimsical memories or lasting excitement. He'd learned the truth of those tales, the horror, the blood, the dread, in only a matter of a few days of hiking through its unforgiving terrain. It is a hard place. A cold place. More likely to kill him should he step foot back into its reaches then welcome him with open arms. But a piece of him still resides there. A piece bargained away for survival.
And one day he may have to collect.
He swallows visibly and looks away from Katherine, unable to give her the reassurance she's demanding of him. Unable to pretend as if there is not a chance he would ever have to venture back into the wilds.
"So you will not even let me see her?" He asks after a moment, voice low, "You will not even let me explain?"
|
|
|
Post by Snowglobe18 on Jan 19, 2018 1:43:05 GMT -7
Katherine watches him and can see the look in his eyes that tells her that's not entirely wrong and that was what scared her. Mia needed to be ready for when she left because she couldn't hang around much longer, she wasn't sure when it would be that Katherine would leave but in the end that is exactly what she would do because there would be questions that she wouldn't be able to answer without exposing herself and the others that knew about her.
He looks away from her and there is no good feeling in this, there is no victory when it came to winning on this because in the end there was a girl whose heart would be broken if he went back into those wilds without her.
Ro asked her a question and she sighed softly and knew that sound. It was the sound of sadness and the last thing she wanted to hear today. Did vampires get headaches? Because if not then she was certainly getting one from all the shit had had come her way and it wasn't even anywhere near lunch time yet. In the end Katherine relented and looked at him once more. "She should be in her room" she finally said and moved away from where she was standing to back to her seat needing that drink more than anything. "I have a feeling she will be happy to see you" Katherine admitted and let only a slight smile out before she seat back in her seat and took a drink of wine needing it now more than ever.
The two of them were going round and round in circles and they had to break that routine so finally she decided to let him go and see Amelia even if it was just to give her a break.
|
|
|
Post by Ray on Jan 19, 2018 2:08:11 GMT -7
He lifts his blue eyes to Katherine, his brows pressing close, when she tells him where Mia might be. It takes him a beat to understand what she means, a beat to realize that she is at least allowing him this, even at the end of their conversation. He remains there for a second more, eyes following the Queen as she moves to the head table to get a drink of wine, the only thing sitting at her place setting.
"Thank you," Ro says, finally, loosening his hand from the tight fist it had been held in for what felt like hours, "Your Grace."
He takes a few steps backwards before turning and walking towards the closed doors of the Great Hall, pushing them open before Katherine has a chance to change her mind. Though she still could. Though she still could send the guards after his heels. Vasha waits just outside, head pressed back against the stone, grey eyes tracking a servant girl that hurries passed quickly. She flicks her gaze to Ro as he steps out, releasing a held breath in a sharp rush, all the tension that had ridden his shoulders flooding free as well.
"So?" She asks.
"I can talk to Mia. Explain." Ro replies, and turns for the doors leading out to the courtyard. Vasha unfolds herself and follows.
"Explain what?"
"Everything."
|
|
|
Post by Snowglobe18 on Jan 19, 2018 2:19:46 GMT -7
After her argument with her mother she had retreated to her chambers because it was the only place she could be alone right now, she had a book open in her hands but she was too angry to read it so she slammed the book shut and put her head back against her headboard. She had said some harsh words to her mother and wasn't even sure that she meant them she wanted to feel the hurt that Mia was feeling because then she would know how it felt.
The window was open and she let some of the air in, it had felt a long time since she even had breakfast and was feeling hungry but she refused to go down to the Great Hall to get anything because she knew her mother would still be there.
The silence dragged on for a moment and then there was a knock at the door "Go away I'm not interested" she called out and hoped that if it was her mother or even her father then they would leave her alone. Then there was another knock and she sighed getting up from the bed, her feet bare against the cold floor and she went to pull the door open "I said I- Oh" she said and looked up to see Ro standing there. This definitely was different and a little worrying about why he would even be there right now.
Mia's eyes fell on the female and she gave her a slight smile before putting her eyes on Ro once more. "You'll be wanting to come in" she said and then moved away from the door to let him in. She moved back towards the bed and heard the door shut and she glanced behind to see that it was just the two of them and that made her worry a little more. "If my mother catches you you will be in trouble" she said and then turned completely so that she was watching him. The last thing Amelia wanted was for him to get into trouble for being here and she knew that Katherine would happily make an example of him.
|
|