❝ i pray you survive us, m'lady. but be aware, nobility can get you killed in places like this. ❞
in which a young woman refuses to accept limitations, in spite of being told what she can't do.
GAME OF THRONES SEASON 1-8
COVER BY @goodhYOUman
FEM!OC...
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CHAPTER TEN; RUN IN BLOOD
"It looked like Stannis," Brienne said once the women had dismounted their stolen horses. They had covered enough ground throughout the night to take a break, but Rey didn't know if she could. Her heart was still racing; she couldn't close her eyes because every time she did she saw Renly's body bleeding out onto her lap. Her dress was beginning to smell from the stains.
Catelyn pulled the young girl into her arms and held her while she caught her breath. "To me, it just looked like...a shadow in the shape of a man."
"In the shape of Stannis," Brienne insisted without hesitation. She had gotten ahold of herself quicker than Rey, but her voice still trembled in horror and dismay.
Catelyn ran her hands through Rey's hair as she would with Sansa or Arya when they were upset; Gods, she missed her children. Not a moment passed that she didn't think about having her beloved babes back under her protection. The day would come. "We will reach my son's camp tomorrow."
"Will you stay there long, my lady?" Brienne asked, tying her horse to a nearby tree branch. She did the same with Rey's.
"Long enough to tell Robb what I have seen," Catelyn muttered. "After that, I will leave for Winterfell. My two youngest need me. I've been away from them for far too long."
"I never knew my mother," Brienne said softly, watching as Rey parted from Catelyn and walked towards the riverbank, wanting to wash her hands and arms of dried dirt and blood.
"I'm sorry," Catelyn replied, her tone genuine.
Rey felt tears welling up in her eyes again as she scrubbed her skin furiously. She watched the crusty red matter dissolve in the water and flow into oblivion. She felt both disgusted and upset. She had the book still, but this, the blood stained into her skirt, that was the last part of Renly she had left.
The two women began to engage in conversation behind her, so Rey cried quietly where the bubbling creek drowned her out. "Renly, forgive me."
What of Margaery? What would she think -- the young one she had taken care of for so long, leaving in the middle of the night with two people she hardly knew. She'd be heartbroken. She'd tell Olenna, and Olenna would tell Irvin. What would Irvin do? Would he demand she be brought back? Would he send for her? Would the further shame brought to the Marigot name mean that the marriage could be called off?
Funny how she seemed to spiral without a crutch to help her along the way.
"He's gone, Brienne. You serve nothing and no one by following him into the earth. Renly's enemies are Robb's enemies as well."
Rey turned her head to the side slightly to see Catelyn seated opposite a standing Brienne.
"I do not know your son, my lady. But I could serve you, if you would have me. You have courage. Not battle courage, perhaps, but, I don't know, a woman's kind of courage. And I think that when the time comes, you will not hold me back. Promise me that you will not hold me back from Stannis."
