Among Lions and Wolves • |Book 1|

.chapter twenty-three.

Thunderous hooves, rickety wheels, a pent up lion ready to be freed from her prison, and a woman grown tired of riding for days without end. It did not help that during this particular journey, her bleeding had begun.

"There appears to be men up ahead, my lady," a young knight spoke, his sparkling gray eyes peering at her through the visor on his helm. "Shall we take a different route?"

"No," she said, digging her heels into her mount's side, "We have already been spotted."

Men rode to them, banner flapping in the wind, a white banner with a very familiar sigil printed across it.

"Lower your weapons," she ordered the men, riding pass them. "These are Stark men."

"LOWER YOUR WEAPONS!" a man shouted.

"My lady, they are rebels,"

Rhaella looked over at him, "Lower your weapons," she commanded, her eyes growing darker with each word. And then she turned back to the men approaching them. "We mean no harm! We are only traveling this road to visit my father in the north."

"Do you play us for a fool?" He was an old man, his hair streaked with silver and thinning. "Those are Lannister men. They fly the Lannister banners."

"They are to escort me, I am Rhaella Tydore ward of Tywin Lannister," she took the reins of her horse into one hand and sighed deeply. "Lord Stark knows who I am, if you take me to him you will see my men and I mean no harm.

"My lady," one of her guards whispered, "I think it's best we slay this lot now and ride on.

"And how far do you suspect we'll get with a wagon in tow?" She asked, her head inclined toward the cage carrying the lioness. 

"Fuck the lion," he hissed, "the bloody beast is what's slowing us down!"

"That bloody beast was a gift from the queen mother," she snarled back. "And she's the only reason half the capital wasn't sent on this journey with me. So be grateful toward her."

"I'll  be grateful when we are rid of her," his dark eyes flickered over her. "And you too."

"Likewise," she replied.

"Very well then," the Stark men spoke up, "but you must leave the horses and your men."

"I think not," the very same knight who wanted to be rid of her said as she slid from her horse.

"I will take two of my men, and my lion," she summoned for one of them to bring forth her lion."

"My lady, we must implore you to reconsider. We will allow three men if you leave the lion."

"I am bringing my lion," she said stubbornly, taking the thick chain that kept the beast within length of her. "And I am taking two men."

They exchanged glances with one another and then the old man sighed, leaned forward on his steed and said, "Very well, follow me."

She turned to her men and nodded for her least favorite to dismount and follow. Despite his rolling of the eyes, he obeyed.

"I think we are walking into a trap," he whispered after he had been forced to discard his weapons.

"I think you are just afraid," she replied, "Don't be afraid, Nickolas, nothing will harm you here."

His dark eyes narrowed, "I'm not afraid," he sneered.

"Fear makes a man very... mmm... What is the word I am looking for Jax?" She peered over her shoulder at the man that looked after her lion on the journey.

"I do not know, M'lady," he said, shrugging his large shoulders.

"As you've instructed," the men stopped out front a tent pitched in the middle of a vast field. "We've brought you to Lord Stark, he's just inside."

She nodded her head, thanking the men and then handed over the chain to Nickolas, his black eyes wide.

"What are you doing? You can't go in there alone! At least take the lion."

"A lion is not welcomed in the den of a wolf," she said, a smile curving her lips. "Do not fear, she won't bite... unless she is hungry. When was Zena's last meal, Jax?"

"I believe two nights ago, m'lady."

"Oh," she made a face, "well then she might just take your arm off. I'll try not to be too long."

And without another word, she disappeared under the flap of the tent into the warmth of the inside.

There he stood, his hair soaking wet, being toweled dry by a woman with dark hair. He turned toward her, not entirely recognizing her at first.

"Rhaella," recognition lit up his face, his blue eyes wide. He turned from the woman, crossing what little ground that was between them. She practically ran into his arms. They were twice the size she remembered them to be in Winterfell and they were stronger.

"Robb!" She buried her face into his leathers, unable to control the emotions coursing through her. She clung to him, her nails digging through his clothes and into his back.

"What are you doing here?" His hot breath tickled her throat, she smiled softly against his shoulder and squeezed him tighter, the reality still not settling in.

"I was on my way to visit my father," she said when they released one another from their death grip. "I know you wrote to me about it months ago but I could not ride out quickly. This rebellion of yours has kept me confined to the capital."

She was smiling as she spoke, a smile that reflected on Robb Stark's handsome face. It was nostalgic looking at him, a face she scarcely recognized now but still knew from the memories of staring at it long ago from windows.

"You've changed," she said to him, her hand running along the beard growing. "The man I recall was no man at all but merely a boy. What I see before me is a man."

"You've changed as well," he said, his fingers tracing every inch of her face. "You were a woman when you came to Winterfell, and you're a woman still, but there is something different about you."

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Reunited and it feels so good!
Like so so good.
I am so freaking happy about their reunion it's not even funny!

And I lowkey ship Nic and Rhae.