The Dalyngridge Girl ➝ Bran Stark

Chapter 18

        The next night, Mare felt Bran bolt up beside her again, this time taking deep breaths. It was dark when they awoke, and Mare was ripped away from sleep as soon as she felt Bran move.

        "Brandon Stark, if I have a heart attack one day you'll be the bloody reason!" Mare gasped out in panic, sitting up and looking into his face, cradling it in her hands. "What was it this time?"

        He grabbed her wrists and pressed a kiss to them both. "You should get back to bed-"

        "When I was betrothed to you, you officially became my responsibility," Mare laughed softly, "I'm not going back to bed until you do."

        Jojen was watching them from the other side of the fire, and Rickon was sleeping between both the direwolves. Osha was more on the outskirts of camp, and Meera was curled by the fire sleeping. Hodor was next to Rickon and the direwolves.

        "It was just the three-eyed raven again," Bran said, shrugging it off as if it were nothing.

        "You're sweating, Bran, I'll get you some water," Mare said, rubbing her thumbs across his cheeks.

        "No, please don't leave me," he whimpered, tugging on her hands. She looked back at him, and his big brown eyes shone in the firelight. They begged her to stay with him, and her heart melted into a big pile of stuff that felt like candle wax in her chest.

        "Well then, you best be getting back to sleep," Mare sighed, laying back down and readjusting the wolfskin blankets. She got comfortable against his side, hands resting gently against his chest and his arm draped around her loosely. Before she knew it, she was out again, sleep overtaking her body.

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        Mare woke up in the morning with a strange feeling near her thighs and further up. She groggily readjusted her pants, and when she felt her hands, they felt... sticky. She looked down and they were covered in blood.

        And that's when she screamed. She couldn't even form words; she was terrified. Bran, along with everyone else, had awoken, the direwolves on edge and everyone rushing to her to make sure she wasn't hurt.

        "Little Lady, it's alright! You just bled for the first time," Osha said, stroking her face once she realized nothing was wrong. "Everything is going to be okay, it's not going to kill you."

        After everyone had settled down and she stopped crying, she had changed into an extra pair of trousers and resumed her spot next to Bran. She was fine for the most part; she was shaken up that she had grown up so fast. But now she could bear children. That was one of the scariest -and most exciting- parts of life for her.

        Bran took her hand in his and rubbed it with his thumb. "Are you okay?"

        "Yes. I'm just not used to knowing that I can bear children any day now," Mare said glumly, burying herself deeper into the blankets.

        "My children," she heard Bran whisper. It was barely audible, which told her no one was meant to hear it. But she had, and she felt a sense of comfort and warmness. She didn't respond for the sake of him thinking no one else heard it. She couldn't deny the thought of their children, though.

        "We better get moving, little ones," Osha said, packing up their food and blankets.

        "More walking," Mare muttered, curling into Bran. "Dandy."

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        "That's not the proper way to skin a rabbit," Osha said as Meera struggled with trying to rip a rabbit's fur off.