𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐆𝐀𝐑𝐘𝐄𝐍 𝐓𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐒

𝐢𝐱 𝕿𝐡𝐞 𝖂𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝕮𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞

𝐀 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐈𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐇𝐚𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐞
__________________

____ A summer breeze wafted through the Northern Kingdom as the sun brightly shined above the vast lands of Westeros. A week had past since the attempt on young Bran Stark's life, and the young boy had yet to awaken from his slumber. And his worried and tired mother had yet to leave his bedside.

The people of the villages some miles beyond the walls of Winterfell rode through the gates, preparing to trade their livestock and resources to the smiths and the butchers of the grand and ancient castle. The loyal guards of House Stark patrolled their routes, consisting of the gates and walls of Winterfell and the hallways inside of the castle. The numerous men having been on edge ever since the attempted assassination on young Bran Stark.

Meanwhile, inside of the secondborn Stark's chambers the chattering of people outside of the castle and the faint barking of the hounds from the kennels provided sound in the rather quiet room. The flames inside of the crackling fireplace danced with the breeze from the open windows, as Alysanne sprawled herself across the bed, releasing a huff of content once she was situated.

Standing before his dresser was the secondborn son of House Stark, observing his new scar in the decent sized mirror that sat on top of the wooden dresser.

Resting just above his left jawbone were the two scars left by the dagger of the assassin, the one closest to his lips was a vertical lined scar while the other was a horizontal lined scar, both a deep crimson color as the wounds weren't older than a week. Running his calloused yet smooth hand across the scars, that reminded him of an upside down letter L, the Stark released a small breath.

It was not that Rikson was self-conscious about the scars, he could care less about them, he was more ashamed of the fact that he had fainted after the fight between him and the assassin.

Rikson hated whenever he appeared weak, especially in front of his family.

And he knew his sweet mother had enough to be overly concerned about at the moment, she didn't need the extra worry that came with Rikson's blacking out after a simple fight to others, but a draining one to his already distracted mind and tired body.

Ever since his father and sisters had left with the Royal Family for the capital of Westeros, Rikson Stark had been ovecome with fear that resulted in the boy stressing himself out to the point where his body simply couldn't handle it and needed rest. And with the stress from the attempt on his slumbering brother's life on his jumbled mind, as well, all Rikson wanted to do was curl up in his warm bed with his sweet direwolf beside him and sleep all through the days and nights.