Carliene Stark

III Chapter 5

Carliene

The Inn at the Crossroads brought back a different set of memories. The last time I was there I had been in the company of my father and sisters. It was there that Arya ran away for two whole days and Sansa and I lost our furry companions to the sword. I think it was also the first time I realised how much evil Cersei Lannister was capable off. Maybe I should have learned from it. Maybe then, I would not have underestimated her when I had the most to lose. Although the memories weren't rosy, they still held members of my family, and for that I cherished them.

The inn was large. Possibly one of the largest in the Seven Kingdoms and yet it couldn't hope to at least hold a fifths of the highlords and commanders of the army. Lyra, Val and I were each offered a room of course. Ser Jorah always saw to it that we were comfortable. But I refused the offer. I could do without the featherbed and although a bath sounded more than enticing, I was offered something far more valuable: the chance of having a tent all to myself. 

Although I quite enjoyed the company of the other women I was always afraid they might come to find something about me that I was not willing to share. What if I talked in my sleep or screamed from my dreams? Val already knew more than I was comfortable with. Luckily she never spoke of it, even though she seemed to enjoy talking about everyone and everything at camp quite a bit.

We sat up camp early in the day. although the Red Fork was a large crossing, it still created a bottleneck when an entire army had to cross. So it would take the rest of the day. 

I managed to separate myself from the army, taking Tansy through a mixed forest, darkened by shrubbery and heavy ivory that strangled many of the tree trunks and hung from the branches. Frost now grew instead of greenery, as the plants slept beneath. An eery silence hung in the air. One I was no longer used to after traveling in a loud army of soldiers for days. There was barely a bird in sight and even the wind was absent It almost made me feel like we were intruding upon something. Tansy's hoofbeat was sounding unnaturally loud in this environment. 

I tried to retrace my steps back to when I took Arya looking for rubies. The river had changed since then. 

A silly thing to notice, the whole definition of a river is to change.

I could hear it a lot sooner than I could see it. Roaring loudly as the rough water tore across a bed of large stones. The shore was covered in frost and gathered snow banks in the shadows of the trees here and there. The water was harsh and cold, but flowing too fast to freeze. 

I dismounted slowly, letting Tansy roam free as I carefully made my way down to the river's edge. Pulling off my gloves I crouched down to test the stream. I knew of course that it would be cold, and yet I still had to touch it. It was like when someone handed you a blade, warning it that it was sharp and you had to touch the edge anyways. 

The cold bit into my flesh, creeping up my hand before I pulled it back. Already I could see my fingertips grow red. You are a wolf from the north, the cold should not bother you, I told myself strictly as I rose again. My gaze wandered downstream. The water was flowing so fast and so violently. If I stepped into it, it would wash me away. The only question then would be if I would drown first or die of hypothermia? 

There is something behind me. 

The realisation hit me like remembering the name of an acquaintance you had struggled with for so long. It made a cold feeling wash over my entire body and still I did not feel fear. I spun round. There was nothing but shrubbery, the wild briers red fruit giving a strong contrast to the otherwise muted colours of the woods. I couldn't hear anything either, not over the roar of the river. But there was definitely something there. I could feel it. Something large. Something dangerous. Something painfully familiar. And whatever it was, it was getting closer. Any moment it would appear in my sight. Any moment now it would burst from the bushes. I was at an impasse. Part of me wanted to leave the openness of the river shore, but a still larger part wanted to leave. I took a step back, feeling my boot slip on a frost-covered rock, juts as a scream tore through the forest, louder even than the rumble of the waters. A horses scream.