Hera's family was murdered in cold blood by their enemies. Hera got away and went to Winterfell, where the Starks lived. She knew she would be safe there, because Ned Stark and her father were close friends. Now, years later, she still live there...
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Hera Nyvell was taught from a young age to know when she was in danger. Right now, her mind screamed that she was. Her back was pressed flat against the stone wall behind her. Her lungs screamed in pain from all the running she had done, and her breaths came therefore out uneven. Her mind was spinning with questions. Where was the rest of her family? Were her parents okay? Were her siblings safe?
She breathed deeply through her nose as she clutched the hilt of her sword. Her father always meant that women should learn how to fight just as men would. Hera had therefore been taught to fight since she was a young girl. She guessed that would come in handy now.
"You can do this, Hera" she whispered to herself as a way of trying to become braver. She slowly peeked around the corner to see if anyone was coming. Relief filled her body when she realised that no one was there. Without a second thought, she retreated from the wall and started running down the hall. She had her sword in her hand, ready to use it if necessary.
She needed to find her family. She needed to find them, and get them all to safety. A loud shrilling scream made her whole body freeze. It was like her whole body went cold, and her heart started beating faster. She couldn't hear anything else than her own heartbeats in her ears. She prayed to all the gods that the scream didn't belong to any of her family members.
While she was standing there, a man came running towards her with his sword ready to strike. He would have stabbed her, had it not been for another person killing him first. Hera snapped out of whatever state she was in. Her emerald eyes focused on the bloodied form of her older brother. His dark hair was a mess, his clothes were covered in blood, both his and other's. His wide eyes looked at Hera, before she ran at him and enveloped him in a hug.
She couldn't help the strangled cry that left her lips. She was so scared. More scared than she had ever been before. Her brother soothingly rubbed her back while hugging her as tight as possible without hurting her. After a while they let go, and Hera stared up at him with wide and worried eyes. "Cedrick" she gasped out. "Where are the others? Are they okay?"
Hera felt her heart break as she saw Cedrick's eyes glaze over with tears. He shook his head.
"Father and mother are dead" he croaked out. Hera felt like someone punched her in the stomach, as the air left her lungs. Her eyes filled with tears as she struggled to stand straight. "I don't know where Lexa and Derron are, I couldn't find them" Cedrick said with a pained voice.
Hera wanted to cry. She wanted to scream until her lungs exploded. But most of all, she wanted to kill the people responsible for her family's deaths. She wanted to watch the life leave their eyes.
"We have to leave" Cedrick announced. Hera's tear filled eyes snapped up to meet Cedrick's blue ones.
"We can't leave Lexa and Derron!" Hera exclaimed angrily at her brother.
"They're not here, Hera!" he responded with despair. "If we don't leave, we'll end up dead!"
Hera pursed her lips in frustration. She knew he was right, but still, it crushed her to leave her siblings behind. She prayed that they had gotten away, and that they were safe. She gave her brother a nod. They ran down the halls, towards the doors. They could accasionally hear fighting, but they never slowed down.
They were rounding a corner, when Cedrick suddenly stopped abrubtly. First, Hera didn't understand why he stopped, but she soon did. A sharp blade pierced through Cedrick's stomach, and blood coated the entire blade. Hera couldn't stop the ear piercing scream from escaping her lips. It rang through the halls like sirens.
Before anyone could react, Hera lifted her sword and stabbed the other person in the throat. She watched as he fell to the floor choking on his own blood, but she didn't care. She heard a thud behind her, and when she turned, Cedrick was laying on the ground. He held a hand to his wound, the blood seeping through his fingers.
Hera dropped to her knees beside her brother. Her eyes filled with tears and a lump formed in her throat.
"I'm so sorry Cedrick" she cried. Her whole family was gone, and now Cedrick was going to be taken too. Hera didn't know what to do. She was terrified. A fourteen year old girl shouldn't have to go through those kind of things. No one should.
"It's okay" Cedrick stuttered out as he winced in pain. "It's not your fault." Tears streamed down Hera's face as she softly took his cold hand in her warm one. His hand was shaking. He was scared.
"Don't be scared" Hera said softly. It was dumb of her to tell him to not be scared, when she was scared herself. But she thought that he deserved to not be scared in his last moments.
"You'll get to see mother and father" she continued. She gave him the best smile she could provide, even though she felt like screaming and crying.
Cedrick looked up at her with a distant look. "Hera, listen to me." He stopped as he started coughing. Blood coated his lips, staining them crimson. "Go to ... Winterfell... the Starks will... protect you." his voice shook and he had to stop talking many times to catch his breath.
Hera nodded while sniffling. "I love you big brother" she said.
Cedrick gave her a smile. "I love you too." He took one last breath, before his body went limp. Hera laid his limp hand on the ground and slowly stood up. She felt like her heart had been broken into millions of pieces, and she didn't know if it would ever be whole again.
She was going to follow his wishes. She was going to go to Winterfell. And when the time was right, she would hunt down the people who murdered her family and get revenge. And it would be sweet.
