The runaway bride | Cregan Stark

Chapter 7

Dealla was sure that Lord Stark had sent Ser Jensen to look after her, rather than to keep her company, though the young knight could manage that too. The Maester had taken another look at her hands and changed the bandages again, and then Jensen had taken her outside to show her Winterfell. Dealla hadn't really had much choice in the matter, as Jensen had jokingly threatened to throw her over his shoulder again and show her the castle that way. Whether she would have as great an overview there was a another matter.

Winterfell was not King's Landing or the Red Keep, nothing about Winterfell reminded Dealla of her family seat. And yet the inside of the castle was full of life; children were running around, Smiths were forging, cooks were cooking and knights were training in Winterfell's courtyard. Cregan's people tried not to stare at her too hard, as the lord had asked them to, but the children especially found it difficult. None of them had ever seen a Targaryen and a few brave children had even asked her about her dragon before Jensen had shooed them away.

That was before he had left her alone and hurried off, as his help was needed. Dealla was not alone, though, as she sat on one of the walls, dangling her feet back and forth. The guards had tried to shoo her off the wall at first, but Dealla had just smiled and said that if anyone touched her, she would throw herself off the wall before anyone had a chance to grab her. She wasn't really planning on jumping, not when she knew she'd break every bone in her body, but the guards seemed to take her warning seriously and left her alone as long as all she did was sit on the wall.

It was definitely a nice view to look over the forests and fields of the north from above. In King's Landing or on Dragonstone she had always been able to see the sea, but here in the north the sea was nowhere in sight. Not even the air carried the salt of the sea here. The air was cold and the wind cut Dealla's skin as if it were a knife. Dealla's cheeks were flushed and she could see her breath in front of her, but she refused to go back inside. Here, on the wall of Winterfell, she felt free. It was also nice to feel the wind splashing against her face, it reminded her of flying.

"I heard you threatened my guards," Cregan said behind her as he approached her. His hands were clasped together behind his back, while the cold colored his cheeks as red as Dealla's. "I wasn't threatening anyone. It was just.... a nice hint, Lord Stark," Dealla muttered without turning in his direction. The sun would be setting soon. The princess wondered what the sunset would look like from up here. "According to them, the hint wasn't exactly ... nice," Cregan replied amusedly and stepped up to the edge of the wall to stand next to Dealla.

"Where is Ser Jensen?"

The question made Dealla grin briefly before she pointed downwards. "Down there, I pushed him down to test if I could survive a jump from up here," Dealla then lied with a straight face, so that even Cregan had to pull himself together and press his lips together. "I must warn you, I am very fond of Ser Jensen's company." Cregan had a slight smirk on his face when Dealla turned her head in his direction. It should worry him that she was sitting on the edge of the wall so unconcerned, but he didn't find it in himself to do anything about it. Not if it put her in a good mood.

"Then why don't you keep him company? Maybe you'll have better luck than him," Dealla's head nodded to the side and down the wall, and Cregan was sure that if she had the courage to throw herself down that wall, she'd pull him with her. "Don't you want to look down?" Cregan shook his head, even if he hadn't met Jensen before, he would have known that the princess was messing with him. "Come on, I want to show you something," Cregan said, holding out his black-gloved hand to her. "I've already been given a tour," replied the princess, not moving from the spot. She was reluctant to leave the wall.

"Not from that part," Cregan replied. He had asked Jensen to leave the Godswood to him. "If the lord wishes it," Dealla teased and stood up, causing Cregan's body to tense. One step backwards and she would fall off the wall. "Do you have to scare me like that, princess?" asked Cregan with his hand still outstretched. But no longer just to help her down, but to reach for her in time if she stumbled. "Me? Scare you?" Dealla asked with a laugh and did a funny little spin on the edge of the wall, which made Cregan automatically step closer to her. "Princess," Cregan urged and breathed a sigh of relief when Dealla took his hand and jumped down from the wall.