Witch of Winterfell*Game of Thrones*

Chapter Twenty One

THE DUST HAD SETTLED.

When the smoke cleared, when the last piece of rubble finally hit the ground, Marina could finally see the path set out before her. She practically raised Bran, as she did with most of the children, but anyone could see that herself and Bran shared a closer bond.

The sorceress had never been one to believe in fate or religion, but do the God's really hate her this much to forsaken her to this fate. She had lost so much already. Too much.

"You come out here too?" Meera says from behind the witch, trudging up the fresh thick snow. "Though this is a little too far, even for me."

Marina sighs, "And yet you've followed me." She couldn't keep away the distaste within her words. Meera flinched. Marina didn't mean to be rude or curt, but all she wants to be is alone. "What is it that you want."

"Bran said that you plan on leaving. Said he saw it in one of his dreams." Meera says after a moment, still facing the witch, who hadn't bothered to turn around from her place a top of the cliff.

"If that's what he's seen" Marina replies, "who am I to the Three Eyed Raven." The bitterness chilled Meera's already numb bones, but she also noticed her answer hadn't been answered. However, the witch did turn her head to actually face the young girl. "I suppose he sent you out here?"

"No, he didn't actually." Meera moved closer, though her steps are apprehensive. "I came to talk."

Marina gave a small, barely seen, nod before turning to look at the vast landscape again. She gave no cue that she was even going to listen or that Meera should even speak.

Meera wet her dry lips, gathering herself. For a moment she pondered over whether she should even bring up her thoughts. Because, in the grand scheme of things, her problems seem near non existent to what Marina faces.

"I don't know what to do about Bran" the girl starts, "every time I look at him I see my brother's face. I hear my brother telling me about our destiny with a Raven beyond the wall."

Again, Marina made no sound.

"Leaf said that Bran needs me but I can't help but blame him for Jojen's death. How can I help someone that took the last family I had?"

"You have a choice, Meera. Leaf doesn't have the power to influence your choices like she did ours."

The girl scoffs, "a choice to protect him even if it means dying in the process." She shakes her head in denial. "That was my brother's path, not mine."

"Your anger is misplaced. It's justified but still directed at the wrong person. You're blinded by grief."

"And how would you know that? You haven't been around much since we got here. You haven't even looked at me."

Her words weren't directed in a angry manner. More so as an observation with a frustrated edge than anything else. Marina looks down at her lap, weaving the red mist between fingers.

"I don't fully understand my magic, but I know that it allows me to read people. I'm able to see into their minds and find the darkest moments that they've buried." Her green irises turned a boiling red, not that Meera could see it. "It allows me to read emotions as well."

"I'm not afraid of you if that's what you're getting at."

After a moment, Marina finally turned to Meera, without her magic glowing in her eyes. The witch tilts her head curiously.

"You think Bran's the reason for your brother's death. Yet he's a pawn, as are all of us in the God's eyes. The Raven chose us to do his bidding, regardless of the outcome, for the greater good of a kingdom that doesn't care about us."