Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Two weeks passed laced with tragedy. Mornings grew darker despite the pleasant grey clouds, as if the sky had heard the misfortune that had gripped the castle of Winterfell by its throat. Mere hours after Taryn and Robb's riding lesson, young Brandon Stark had fallen from Winterfell's old broken tower. He had not been left alone, and no one knew if he would ever wake again. The mournful howl of Bran's direwolf had echoed around the castle ever since.
Then came the day Taryn had dreaded since news came that the royal family would be travelling north. Taryn had been forced to bid farewells to her family before when she took her first trip to Winterfell, but this time felt different. Finality hung in the air like a funeral shroud. Taryn felt confident that Robb would allow her to visit her family whenever she desired to, but Winterfell was to be her home now. Her life would never be bound to the Red Keep again — instead, she would be shackled to the ice of the North. (The price of duty.)
The morning was crisp and Taryn made her goodbyes to her family beneath layers of wolfish furs. Around the courtyard, carriages were being loaded and horses mounted in preparation for the royal family and their entourage to depart from Winterfell.
"Will we see you again?" Tears shone in Myrcella's emerald eyes.
"Of course you will," Taryn promised. She pulled her sister into a tight embrace.
When his turn came, Tommen hid his face against his eldest sister, his arms like iron as he clung to Taryn's middle. "Don't go, Taryn! Let me stay with you, please."
Taryn sank to her littlest brother's height, wiping tears from his wet cheeks. "This is not goodbye forever." She pressed a smile onto her face. Her heart trembled the longer she looked at her siblings. Taryn had to stay strong, for her siblings, her mother, and herself — if Cersei detected any shred of reluctance in her daughter, she would take Taryn straight back home. (Taryn could not yet decide if that was a bad thing or not.) "I'll visit often, and you'll come back here for our wedding."
Tommen shook his head. "It won't be the same. I don't want things to change."
"Change is inevitable, but that does not have to be a bad thing," Taryn explained. "And I'll write to you all the time, but you must promise to write back to me. And keep an eye on the old black cat for me, would you?"
The little Prince sniffled and nodded, he drew back from his sister and let go. "I promise." Then he gave a little giggle. "That old cat doesn't like me or Ser Pounce, but I'll try!"
Taryn gave him and Myrcella another hug. Then Taryn turned to her mother. Truly faced with the realisation that she did not know when she would see her mother again, Taryn pulled her bottom lip between her teeth as her breaths became shaky.
