A Vow Without Honor

The Divide

Myra

The first time Robb had ever been angry with her, truly angry, they had been fourteen years old.

It had been a meeting with Lord Manderly to discuss trade taxation and the like. Given White Harbor was a port city, and the richest in the North to boot, not only was the matter an entirely serious affair, it was also a fairly large and complicated one at that.

Their father had put Robb in charge of the whole thing, a sign of utmost trust in his son and heir, as well as a sort of trial by fire. Lord Eddard Stark may not have been one to toss his children into frigid waters to teach them to swim, but he was clearly not opposed to the idea behind it.

Myra had been allowed inside as an observer. A future lady of a castle should have an idea of the goings on within it, although she knew this would not be a constant in her life. Winterfell was larger than any hold she would be in charge of, and given their connection, she might have proved more of a hindrance than a help to Robb's cause. Her father had warned them both on their dependence upon one another. It was both their greatest strength and weakness, and they had to learn to make do without the other before life decided to do it for them.

So, she had done her best to keep quiet, fidgeting in her seat off to the side of the room, while Robb took up the lord's chair with Maester Luwin beside him. Their father lurked in the corner behind him, and Myra could not say if having him out of sight made Robb more or less nervous. True, Father wasn't directly watching him, but he could also not look to him for guidance, or her for that matter, given one of Lord Manderly's sons was conveniently standing in front of her.

They'd planned this, but at the time, neither sibling realized it.

Her assistance had started off simply enough. Robb had stumbled over some key facts about White Harbor, which he had either forgotten or – which was more likely – he hadn't bothered looking into enough. And while Maester Luwin was there as a resource, it would be rude of him to interrupt his lord without permission, especially the number of times he would have had to in Robb's predicament.

Then one thing led to another, and before she realized it, Myra had all but stolen the meeting from her brother, although she and Lord Manderly were hardly speaking of trade at that point. They'd gotten to a lovely discussion about harbor festivities when her father made his presence known again. He thanked Lord Manderly for his time, and walked him out of the room, Maester Luwin trailing behind them. It left Myra and Robb alone in the Great Hall, which was also planned, and again not noticed by either of them.

"What are you doing, Myra?" Robb hissed. Seated in their father's chair, he looked more like a little boy than a lord to her. "This was my opportunity to impress Father and his bannermen."

"And what a fine job you were doing, Brother," she countered, not a fan of his tone when all she had wanted to do was help. "You couldn't remember half the things they trade in White Harbor, not to mention your numbers were all wrong."

"So, you decided to show me up, and prove yourself the better leader."

"That wasn't my intention, and you know it!" Myra shouted, her voice echoing over the open space. "It isn't my fault that you cannot take your duty seriously!"

Her brother stood up then, his chair scraping across the floor. "You think you're so much better than me, don't you? You read all these books and you memorize how much wheat a household grows and how much it's worth, and suddenly that makes you capable of doing what Father does. But there's more to it than that, Myra. There needs to be leadership, the ability to command men. Facts mean nothing when no one will listen to you."