Carliene Stark

Chapter 75

Carliene

I don't know how long I stood there, staring at the rising column of dark smoke in the distance as the yard exploded with life. Guards and servants everywhere, horses thundering past us and screams and orders filling the air. Robb stopped crying but grew ever heavier in my arms as I felt the exhaustion of labour slowly make itself know and the weight of what lay before me made it hard to even breathe. 

It was a servant boy that finally tore me out of my trance as he gently shook my arm.
I stared down at him startled and suddenly it all came back to me. Where I was and what was happening. I turned to the tower of the hand, rushing over the cobbled yard as quickly as my shaking legs would carry me. I knew I needed to leave. We needed to leave. I knew I had to grab anything I could carry and disappear as quickly as possible. I entered the small hall to find a pair of whitecloaks stand together by the corridor that lead to the tower. 

They had been talking to each other, but now that they saw me they put their golden armour into motion. 

I turned on the spot and stumbled back into the yard, knowing instinctively that they were not out to help me. Clutching the red bundle tighter, I ran over to the stables as fast as my body would cary me. But as I passed a group of redcloaks, one of them stepped into my path and caught me in his arms. 

"No, no no, what are you doing? Release me!" I screeched at him, pressing Robb to my chest as the guard locked his arms around my waits and lifted me off the ground. I kicked and screamed in rage and fear as the whitecloaks caught up. 

The guard laughed as he handed me over. "Do I get a reward for catching a wolf?" He demanded loudly as the kingsguard men grabbed hold of my upper arms with iron grips and pulled me along with them. 

"Please, just let me go" I begged as I looked at them, not recognising either of their faces. "I did nothing wrong" I assured feeling fear tighten around my throat. "Just release me you'll never have to see me again"

They did not respond, only dragged me further. 

When I realised where they were taking me I squirmed again, trying to pull myself from their grip while not dropping Robb. "Please, I did nothing wrong, why are you taking me to the dungeons?" I cried. 

It was a pointless question of course. Deep down I knew why and what was happening, but my mind wanted to grasp even the thinnest straw in believing it wasn't so.

We passed a pile of bodies and I stared at them, noting with confusion that they were redcloaks. It looked as though they had been butchered, most of their throats cut. Like the one at the top of the pile, staring with lifeless eyes up into the sky, his mouth wide agape with the last breath's of air he was never able to take. I noticed he was missing a few teeth. And his red cloak.
I felt like emptying my stomach out on the path right then and there, but as we entered the dungeons and the guards started dragging me down the winding steps, I had to concentrate more on keeping my footing. No matter what I told them, no matter how much I tried to resist, they never spoke a word to me and never slowed down. Half dragging and half carrying me dow the stairs that lead deeper into the earth. My distress only caused Robb to wail again and jerk around in my arms. 

Please not the black cells, please not the black cells, I repeated in my head as we passed the first level and went deeper. I remembered what those dark holes had done to my father and how they had eaten away at his sanity until he was ready to confess to a crime he never committed.
Someone must have heard me because the kingsguard pulled me along the corridors of the second level, shoving me into an empty cell. I quickly backed up agains the wall, pressing my back to the cold stone as I watched the jailor throw the heavy door shut and hearing the key turn twice in the lock.