A Vow Without Honor

The Realization

Myra

She'd watched the Frey party approach Riverrun from her room, the window overlooking the roads to the north. Myra had never met any of them, with the exception of her brother's former squire. They were not exactly an intimidating lot. Their armor was dull and crudely made, more like the common folk rallying to defend themselves rather than actual soldiers in an army. But they had the numbers her brother desperately needed, and in war that may have been all that mattered.

"I can't say I missed them," Talisa mumbled beside her, watching the view warily. "When the Freys left Robb, his army lost a peculiar smell as well."

Myra laughed softly, wringing her hands. She couldn't sit. No force in the world could compel her to do so. She was nervous for her brother, and her mother beside him. How she wished she could be downstairs listening to what they spoke of, but she would be of no help. It was Robb's mess, and only he could fix it.

"Do you think they'll demand he set the marriage aside?" Talisa wondered, turning about on the bench. "I'm sure you Westerosi have some sort of exception for foreign brides."

She was jesting, but Myra could hear the undercurrent of fear. It was an actual concern of her good-sister's.

"If that's the case, Robb will make due without the Freys. I think he'd let his whole army go before you."

"I'm afraid of that sometimes."

Love was a terrible thing like that.

Love made men forsake their vows and plunge the countryside into war. It made women lose their minds and end their lives at the prospect of being without. It made her a traitor, lost amongst her own family, flitting from one place to another, unsure of where she truly belonged anymore.

Love destroyed everything, and they clung to it desperately nonetheless.

"You shouldn't be. It won't come to that," Myra replied, resting a hand on Talisa's shoulder. "The Freys may be stubborn, but at the end of the day, they are trapped between the North and the Riverlands. They'll have to give in eventually."

"An army without much choice doesn't sound like the kind we want."

"No, not really, but we don't have a choice either."

They fell into silence then, watching the horizon and waiting. Talisa had grasped her hand and clung to it. Myra had to wonder if she wasn't holding her shoulder tightly. Neither complained either way. Small annoyances were nothing when they had to endure all this.

How long had it been, she wondered. Had they started talking or had the party not even made it past the gate?

Time was a funny thing when it wanted to be.

Talisa took a breath. "I'm pregnant."

Myra blinked, looking down at her brother's wife. She'd heard the words and understood their meaning, but connecting them all to the woman before her, and in turn to her brother, took some time. To be honest, she'd barely grasped the concept of Robb being married. Her brother, the young lord who all the ladies swooned over, who ran away with Theon in the dead of night to go see the whores in town, was dedicated to one woman.

And now he was to be a father.

Her silly, stubborn, idiot of a twin brother was going to be a father.

It was the happiest news she'd received in what felt like an eternity.

"Really?" she asked, her voice high. "Are you certain?"

Her good-sister grinned bashfully. "Yes, I am."

A wide smile spread across Myra's face as she fell to her knees in front of Talisa and wrapped her arms around her. She began to laugh. They both did. There wasn't enough joy in their lives anymore, and they had to embrace every moment they found.