The Wildling Princess

Chapter 4: Pandora's Box

His heartbeat began to match the hooves of his black steed as they plundered south, tearing the frozen gravel as they went. The stallion's silky black mane swam down its neck and poured off its shoulders in a churning inky waterfall, whipping Jon in the face each time the icy wind screamed at him. Side by side the two horses were synchronised as their hooves kissed the ground, letting a golden glow fall on their riders as the sun descended in the west. Jon looked to the other rider, her hair streaming behind her like ribbons. Jon couldn't deny her beauty. Briefly looking at her he could see the fire that danced in her eyes, how her face lit up each time they neared a jump making her chestnut stallion gather his legs under him and rocket into the air, letting a gleeful smile overtake Evelyn as they lept through the air, shortly followed by the stallions hooves smacking the snow, sending up raving clouds of powder and ice in protest.

Jon coughed as the clouds silently choked him, "Evelyn!"

"What?" She giggled, turning ever so slightly to see the thin layer of powder that had settled on Jon.

"That's the third time you've done that!"

"Then don't try and overtake me!" She shouted through her smile.

Jon swore under his breath, it wasn't his fault he'd been stuck with such a stubborn horse, "It's the horse not me!"

Evelyn threw her head back laughing, staring back at Jon. Once he'd thought her eyes had just been made of valerian steel, cold and lethal, but when she smiled you could see flecks of emerald green and deep blue.

Her horse rumbled on ahead, causing the arrows in her quivers, strapped to the side of the horse, to attempt to flee along with half a dozen swords and daggers which she ending up insisting they bring, despite potentially causing the suspicion she'd feared. Not forgetting the couple of maces she'd stuffed in the sacks in case they lost all of the swords.

In the corner of Jon's eyes he could see Ghost, barely visible in the 2ft snow, darting through the trees. Jon whistled causing Ghost's ears to prick up followed by his red eyes looking up at Jon, panting as he tried to match the stallions pace. "Evelyn, can we take a break?" Jon dug his heels into the black steed, Raziel, closing the distance between him and the other rider.

Evelyn pulled back her reins letting her horse come to a gentle stop, "Tired already?" she teased.

Raziel came to an abrupt stop causing Jon to almost head-butt the horse, "I think the horses and Ghost need a break, we've been galloping for at least an hour."

She sniggered, "How on earth did you survive beyond the wall?"

Jon narrowed his eye, "How do you-

Evelyn interrupted him, "When a crow joins the Free Folk people are going to talk about it."

"Can you stop calling me crow." Jon said frustrated, trying to tug his foot out of the stirrup.

"How about bastard then?" Evelyn winked, swiftly jumping off her horse.

Shooting Evelyn a look he managed to clamber off the horse, "That's worse. You can just call me Jon."

"Ygritte didn't tell me you were this boring"

Ygritte, the name pulsed in his mind, the girl with hair kissed by fire who died in his arms. He stammered, "What do you know about Ygritte?"

Smiling Evelyn jingled the quiver of arrows beside the saddle, "Where do you think I got all these from?"

Jon stared at the quiver of arrows, the same arrows which Ygritte had shot him with, "She traded with you?"

She shrugged, "Once or twice, just before she left to climb the wall."

Jon was silent.

Evelyn continued, loosening her saddle, "I bet she's married some great lord in the south."

Jon's throat began tighten as the memories clouded his mind, "She's dead." He swallowed.

Evelyn stopped for a moment, staring at her snow covered boots, before continuing to fumble nervously with the saddle buckle, "I didn't know, sorry."

He scoffed, "No one even mentioned it? How about all the other Wildlings that were slaughtered at Hardhome, do any of the Wildlings even mourn them?"

"The dead are gone Jon. They can't hear you." She muttered, letting her words fade at the end.

"What if they're family?"

Jon waited for a response, but Evelyn's attention had shifted behind them to the small line on the horizon, the wall, shadowed in an orange coat as night descended.

"Will you miss it?" She said under her breath.

"They wouldn't miss me."

She shook her head, "I'm not talking about the Nights watch."

Jon was silent, staring at the girl with the golden halo as the setting sun framed her small, lithe body.

Evelyn asked him again, "Will you miss the wall?"

Jon furrowed his eyebrows and stared at the wall on the horizon, trying to piece together what could be so sentimental about a ton of ice, "It's just blocks of ice piled on top of each other."

"It's more than just ice." Her voice was airy, "It's Pandora's box. It keeps the bad things trapped behind it, but it's slowly breaking apart. When the wall falls so do we."

Authors note:
Thank you for reading! I have big plans for this story!!
The next chapter should be very interesting and exciting so stay tuned!
Will update soon! Please comment, rate
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Love you all :*