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Taryn had never seen a castle so quiet. After the royal entourage departed from Winterfell, it was as if they had taken the castle's lively soul with them. Each morning Taryn broke her fast with Lana and Jeyne in Winterfell's great hall alongside Robb, his six year old brother, Rickon, and the Starks' ward, Theon Greyjoy, as well as the small number of Winterfell's household that still remained at the castle. As days passed, Taryn found fewer ways to occupy her daylit hours. And though she knew her family were still closer to Winterfell than King's Landing, Taryn found her easiest comfort in confiding her thoughts in letters to her mother.
Writing came easily to Taryn, expressing her thoughts in ink on paper when she could not always speak herself came as a welcome form of escapism. She wrote with practiced eloquence — her Uncle Jaime once said Taryn should be the one to write up his greatest deeds in the history books ("None would write us as kindly as you").
In the letter, the first to her mother since the first time Taryn had been separated from her mother, she described the morose tranquillity that had overtaken the castle — a quietness Taryn would have found unusual in, if the stillness was not blanketed by misery. She detailed the fondness which had already grown within her for little Rickon (who reminded Taryn much of Tommen when he was littler), and how she had convinced Theon to begin teaching her archery after she had found him shooting casually at a target four days passed. (Cersei might disdain her daughter handling weapons, and spending time with a Greyjoy, but Taryn minded little — Theon was alright company, and if Taryn was not allowed to carry a dagger then it would be beneficial for a Princess to have some weapon to protect herself with.)
At the end of her writing, Taryn beseeched a request to her mother that Cersei tell her how the journey south went — how Taryn's siblings fared, how the Starks settled in, and the goings on when they returned to King's Landing. Taryn was little of a gossip, but she loved a good story as all did.
Rolled parchment sealed and clasped tightly in her hand, Taryn walked alone through the castle, cloak pulled around her shoulders despite the warm corridors. The path to the Maester Luwin's Turret was unfamiliar but, thanks to guidance from servants and guards that she passed, Taryn found her way.
When she arrived, the Maester's door was ajar. Taryn poked her head into the room, but the Starks' Maester was nowhere visible — instead, she found Robb by the cages of ravens. Taryn decided to leave him in peace and return later, she doubted she would be allowed any further without permission. But as she retreated, the wood beneath her feet gave a groan.
Robb's gaze rose and he looked at Taryn.
"Sorry, I can come back later–"
"Are you alright?" Robb asked. "Do you need Maester Luwin?"
