The Dalyngridge Girl ➝ Bran Stark

II.

Later that night, a feast was held to honor the king and queen's visit. All the adults were drunk and having the time of their lives. Mare tried to stay civilized because after all, she was in the sight of Queen Cersei Lannister. But after a while, she, Arya, and Bran had started throwing little pieces of food at each other.

To Mare's surprise, Lady Catelyn didn't notice a thing.

"Do you dare me to fling this at Sansa?" Arya grinned devilishly, nudging Mare in the ribs.

"Arya, no," Mare said uncomfortably, shaking her head 'no'. "Sansa made her dress and I know she's proud of i-"

But it was too late. Arya filled her spoon up with mashed peas and flung them at her sister. It splattered on her cheek, falling into the lap of her dress. Sansa immediately snapped her gaze to the three young, wide-eyed fools with their spoons held in the air.

"Arya!" Sansa screeched. The girl next to her brought a cloth up to Sansa's face and dabbed away the mess.

"That was too far," Mare said solemnly, putting her hand over Arya's and lowering it to the table. She could hear Robb's laughter over the commotion in the room.

Arya looked at her in disbelief. "It was just a joke, Mare."

"It wasn't a funny one."

The conversation was interrupted when she saw Robb out of the corner of her eye approaching them. He picked Arya up while announcing that it was her bedtime. No doubt an order from Lady Catelyn.

Mare turned to Bran with her nose scrunched. "I'd like to be excused. It smells like pigs in here."

Bran stuffed a bite of pork in his mouth. "I don't like the smell of pigs much."

"Why would anyone?" Mare laughed. She pushed her seat back and stood, smoothing out her dress. She could feel eyes burning into her and when she turned to look, she saw Queen Cersei staring at her so intensely that Mare could have sworn she would be set on fire just from the queen's gaze.

"Do you want to go climbing?" Bran inquired hopefully. Mare turned to see that his soft brown eyes were wide with wonder.

"Lady Catelyn said no more climbing," Mare corrected matter-of-factly.

Bran scoffed. "Mum won't know."

"She will if one of us falls!"

"I won't fall. I'm a skilled climber," Bran said, jabbing a finger to his chest. He grabbed Mare's hand and began to pull her towards the door. "Come on, it'll be fun!"

They burst through a heavy door leading outside and the immediate sting of the cold hit Mare's face. Her breath came out in large white puffs that floated up into the stars that shone brightly against the black sky.

"I don't think it would hurt to get a better view of these stars," Mare murmured, not being able to take her eyes away from the masterpiece above.

Bran smiled to himself. He made sure to remember that she's easily convinced by the stars.

---

The next day, Mare and Bran were seeing off Lord Stark as he went on a hunting trip with the king. Summer, Bran's direwolf, was at their side with his large ears perked. 

When Ned and the king rode off, Bran turned to Mare, his eyes sparkling oddly. "Let's go climbing again."

Mare grinned. "I bet I could beat you there!"

And with that, Mare took off with Bran close behind. Poor little Summer trailed behind, trying to run alongside them as they clumsily sprinted towards a tower. She began to start finding footholds, but before she could get anywhere she slipped and fell right on her bottom. Along the way, she scraped her hands against the rough rocks and her palms began to bleed. She winced as she watched blood ooze from her hands.

"Are you okay?" Bran asked her, eyes wide as he stared at her.

"I should be. It's just a little scratch," she said shyly, attempting to hide her hands by placing them palms-down on her dress. She winced again at the friction of the fabric on her cuts.

"Why don't you go see m-"

Mare shook her head rapidly. "No. I've got to watch you. Make sure you don't fall."

A smug smirk crept its way onto Bran's face. "I don't fall, Mare. I'm an expert."

He began to scale the tower with ease, causing Summer to whimper by Mare's side. They grew increasingly louder as he climbed higher.

Bran got about halfway up and next to a window when he stopped, looked in, and headed inside the tower. Mare knitted her eyebrows in confusion. Maybe there's a bird's nest, she thought to herself, her worry fading ever-so-slightly.

"Bran, are you alright up there?" Mare called to him. Summer whimpered loudly. No response.

Then Bran was falling.

He hit the ground with a sickening thud before she could react. She sat there for a moment, thinking that it wasn't real. Then she burst into tears.

"Catelyn! Lady Catelyn!" she sobbed, running back to the village. She burst into the castle and found Catelyn in her chamber. She didn't even bother to knock; she slammed the door open so hard that it slammed against the stone wall.

"Mare! It isn't polite to slam doors o-" Catelyn started to scold, and then stopped when she noticed Mare's tear-streaked face. "Dear, what's wrong?"

"It's Bran, he fell and he's not moving," Mare sobbed. Catelyn's face went white.

"Oh dear," she muttered. It was the fastest she'd ever seen Catelyn move; she was up and out of the chamber like lightening, taking her by the hand and running to Bran.

Mare assisted Catelyn in carrying Bran to Maester Luwin, where they sat by his side while he laid unconscious in a bed covered in fur blankets. Bran didn't usually fall when he climbed. Mare didn't think she ever saw him all in the year she knew him, and the two climbed fairly frequently together. She wondered how this could have happened; her gut told her it was no accident.