Carliene Stark

II Chapter 50

Carliene

That night I was not visited by Bran, but I had a strange dream of waking in the middle of the night and a man with a square face standing in my chambers. He wore a chain around his neck and held a dark staff. It seemed so real that I almost called the guards, but then the man was gone again and I slipped back into unconsciousness. 

I dream I as a raven instead, my feathers as black as the night surrounding us as I soared above the clouds with nothing but the moon and the stars above me. It was so peaceful and so freeing. There was something strange on my foot which I tried to shake off a couple of times, but it was to no avail so I concentrated on the flapping of my wings instead. I had been flying for a while, but home was close, as some instinct deep within me knew. In the east, the sky had already turned shy tint of pink, announcing the coming sunrise. I soared lower, soon dipping into the ticket of the clouds. They were cold and left a thousand drops of water on my wings. But all it took was a flap of them once I had excited them to shake my feathers dry. There were a few lights beneath me and a river and beyond that was home. Home where my flock was, home were food was. And something else that called me. I dipped lower, avoiding the masts of ships as I crossed the river and climbed up to the castle. Soon I could rest my tired wings, soon I would be warm and safe and fed. But the comfort of pleasant anticipation was crushed suddenly. The walls were only a few yards away when suddenly there was a short hiss in the air and before I could identify it an unbearable pain exploded through my chest. I tried to scream in fear as my left wing cramped and I tumbled out of the sky like water from a waterfall. But there was no air my lungs. There was nothing but pain as I hit the grass and rolled a few times, disorienting me further. I tried to get away, flapping my right wing frantically, but something had pierced through me and I felt my strength already leave me as I lay dying in the meadow at dawn. 

"Carliene!" a sharp pain hit my cheek, snapping me out of the vision and taking me back to my own body, in my chambers, safe in the castle. Desmera knelt in my bed, having my face cupped in her hands as she stared down at me. "Can you hear me my lady?" she demanded. 

I tried to speak only to find my mouth dry and my throat impossibly raw. Had I been screaming? "Yes" I told her after clearing my throat. Then my hands went to my chest and I frantically searched my torso, looking down at my dishevelled nightgown but there was no blood, no wound, no threat. Still the fear and the terror of the raven remained, making my hands shake as I stared up at my handmaiden and then the guards that stood in my room. 

"Get the maester" the redhead girl barked at one of them and he left. 

I wanted to stop him, wanted to assure him that everything was fine and that I did not wish to make a scene in the middle of the night but my thoughts returned to my dream. Was it a dream? Was it a vision? 

"My Lady, what is the matter, are you ill? Did you have a night terror?" Desmera brushed some hair from my face and held onto my arm. 

My whole body as shaking and my chest still ached and tightened and I felt like I had to puke. "The- the raven" I spoke bewildered. "He died" I told the both of them. My handmaiden looked even more concerned. "He was shot down" I urged confused. 

"What are you talking about" she urged and I could tell she was trying her best to help me and to understand. 

I took a deep breath, it was coming back to me that this was not normal and that she had no hope of understanding what just happened. I didn't even fully understand. The raven had died while I was inside of him and now I felt death's cold hands still grasping for me. Its as a fear unlike any I had ever experienced, one that made any other worldly pain irrelevant, even if it was just for a time.