ᴀ ʜᴇᴀʀᴛ ꜱᴏ ɢᴏʟᴅᴇɴ, ᴀ ꜱᴜɴ ꜱᴏ ʙʀɪɢʜᴛ

vi. i like horses. a lot.

┌─── ∘°❉°∘ ───┐

She had been staying in the village for almost a week now. Not that she wanted to do so - it was merely that sudden and excruciating pain would prevent anyone from travelling. Especially those experiencing it along with their first moon blood.

At this point, she had assumed it would never come, and that she would never be able to bear children. And no matter how much that thought hurt, it certainly would have been one way to avoid another betrothal.

Alas, here she was, lying in the grass, wondering how she was supposed to survive this every month. Especially while she was travelling.

Perhaps it was a sign by the gods that she should return home. Perhaps she had helped enough. Perhaps it was time she finally fulfilled her promise to Jon.

Jon.

She had tried her hardest not to think about him, to ignore what she had left behind at Castle Black.

But it was so difficult.

She closed her eyes and saw his face, she tried to fall asleep and felt his lips on hers, she saw a man with dark curls and only thought of Jon. Jon, Jon, Jon. All she thought about was Jon.

With the way they parted she was certain she would never get over him. Even if she fell in love again, even if she somehow found a man or woman worthy enough to dedicate her life to, her heart belonged to Jon.

And she fucking hated herself for it.

"Elle?" The voice interrupted her self-loathing and finally made her open her eyes. "How are you feeling?"

Marcia looked through one of the windows that led to the house's backyard. Her brown hair was tied back and gave easy view to the wrinkles on her face.

She was the one who had taken Elle in, and, upon finding out she was experiencing her moonblood, had given her everything she needed, not a question muttered.

"I am doing better, thank you," she answered, slowly sitting up.

"Would you be so kind, then, to bring some apricots over to Beate? She lives on the other side of the village and needs it for her baking."

"Of course."

The task was quickly done, so Elle allowed herself to wander a bit, all the while playing with her necklace, trusting no one would recognise its importance. Until now she had not had time to explore the village she had ended up in, and she soon realised it was much bigger than she had anticipated.

Which mainly came from the massive farm on its outskirts.

Barns, stables, sheds, fields - but most importantly, a small paddock containing over a dozen horses.

They all looked magnificent, their colourings ranging from the darkest blacks to light browns. Her view to them was a tad restricted, however, as the fence around their paddock was taller than even she was, and each wooden board was wrapped in barbed wire.

One of the horses separated itself from the herd and came trotting right towards her, and Elle wondered how she hadn't noticed it before.

The horse's white hide almost glowed in the sunlight, while the strands of its silver mane seemed made from molten stars. She had never thought a creature this beautiful could exist outside of fairy tales.

All she could do was stare in awe as the mare stopped before her, shaking out its mane and lowering its head to look through one of the openings in the fence.

Slowly, she raised her hand and reached it through the fence, careful of the metal thorns. The horse met her half-way, laying its muzzle in her palm.

"Hey, beautiful," she said with a smile. It whinnied in response.