"I think you are the real warrior here, my Lady" Daemon stroked her cheek with his free hand and her swollen lip with his thumb.
The invitation to the wedding of Princess Rhaenyra makes Aruna travel to King's Landing with her family. Old friendships...
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126 AC Twelve long years had passed since the birth of their daughter Edith. Ten years in which the Stark family had to cope with a lot.
Not only the winters became colder and colder and the supplies slowly less and less, but also they had to suffer many losses. Lord Rickon was an old man by now and did his best to keep the north together. He made alliances and gave lands to the needy. The latter, on the other hand, provided enough crops for the whole north in return.
Finley and Ronja had hardly changed except for their age. They were tall and blessed with the striking Stark beauty. Their mother, on the other hand, had not done well in the last few years and was looking more and more her age.
In the times when it was hardest for Aruna, not only her maid Nia, but also her mother-in-law and her sister-in-law stood by her side.
At Edith's birth, Aruna had vowed never to have children again, for the pain and stress of survival had left its mark on her mind and heart. But once she was comfortable with her new role as a mother, she wanted nothing more than more children.
She adored her daughter and hardly let her out of her sight for a second.
But every wish had its price, and Aruna and Brandon had struggled hard over the past few years to fulfill their unfulfilled desire to have children.
They didn't know what the problem was. Both had indulged in many examinations and Aruna had secretly visited many maesters - despite her reluctance - to find the cause, but none could help her.
And when they thought they had finally done it, Aruna was bleeding and was not pregnant at all or not anymore.
Her suspicions that Edith could not be Brandon's child were only confirmed by this. The maesters could not find any health defect in the young woman and fathering a child with Brandon seemed almost impossible.
Meyra had always tried to encourage her in the darkest days and told her daughter-in-law about her own initial problems. Meyra and Rickon lost children while still pregnant or in infancy to serious illnesses like their oldest son Cregan.
The young couple's marriage suffers a lot as a result. As much as Aruna wanted more children to have a big family, so much Brandon wanted more heirs and so it happened that despite having the same goal, they became more distant from each other.
When they had already given up hope, a miracle happened and Aruna became pregnant. From that moment on she took no risks and spent most of her time in bed until her son Cassian was finally born.
Winterfell finally had a new heir and Aruna had a son.
But the desire for children was not the only problem in their marriage. The Tyrell-born girl sorely missed her home and she had not seen her brother for years.
