✓ | 𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒃𝒐𝒅𝒚 𝑾𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝑻𝒐 𝑹𝒖𝒍𝒆 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 (R.STARK 2/3)

Chapter Thirteen::Goodbye

"You're not going to run away this time, are you?" The bitter tone of the old woman rang out in the silence of the room, making it feel colder than it already was. Raina was already feeling sick, the last thing she needed was the shrill voice of her mother biting at her eardrums while she sat and awaited the announcement of her fate. She shook her head, looking down at her hand, which had skillfully intertwined with Asher's - who had taken the seat to the right of her, and to her left sat her brother's with the similar grave expression that she herself probably modeled. "Good. I pray you've learnt your lesson after the outcomes of your previous actions," Her mother snarled with a sour look in her eye, that only targeted the daughter sat opposite her. Raina's entire body tensed, her hand closed around Asher's like an iron grip, and her eyes caught fire in the light of the sun that still filtered through the large stained glass windows along one wall. How dare she. But, despite the exploding hatred she held towards the older woman, Raina nodded in response, not finding the will and strength to confront her mother vocally, and instead preserving her energy for when she might need it to injure someone. She knew damnwell that her mother, and father, had never approved of her attraction to the eldest Stark, but never did she assume her mother would reach this kind of low - the kind where she would purposefully burn her with such painful things like her loves death. Yet her words came as little surprise to Raina, who just sat silently nodding, and shaking her head when it was asked of her, and saying - and doing- little else.
"You're leaving for Winterfell this afternoon, with the Boltons." The words all but flew from her father like fire from a dragon, scorching the room in a similar way. Asher's hand slipped away, and was soon planted flat on the table in front of them - Delvin and Finn jolted to their feet instantly in attention to the announcement just made, but Raina did nothing. She'd been expecting something similar to this, and now that it was official, she couldn't help but feel numb to the shock of it. Her brothers, however, had not seen this coming and were screaming arguments at their parents, who cared little for their persistence.

Asher said nothing, he just looked at her with the saddest eyes she'd seen since his exile some years ago, eyes full of pain and helplessness. She was sure she should be feeling the same, but instead she just received sympathies and sad looks, yet felt nothing. Maybe it was Robb. The loss of him had prevented anything from hurting, as it could surely not hurt as much as his death, which had branded Raina for life. But maybe she just chose to ignore the scarring pain of this declaration, as it made her feel slightly better about the ordeal. She didn't want to leave her home, no matter how much she truly despised the place, she didn't want to leave her brothers, or her friends, she didn't even want to leave her parents, if it meant staying, and she didn't want to leave with a monster like Ramsay, and a beast like Roose. Suddenly the battlements didn't seem as unappealing as they had before.
"Raina..." Asher whispered, voice cracking and reminding both parties of the awful day they'd tried to forgot. "I know." She sighed bitterly, closing her eyes and feeling the acid sting her eyelids, but she tried to conceal them anyway. She didn't want to cry, or be weak, she wanted to fight and stay strong; its what she'd always aspired to do, and had been taught to do by the Stark's. She wouldn't let this bring her down, not the Boltons, not after all they'd done. She'd fight them until her last breath. But right now was not the time for that, now she just had to try and prevent her brothers from storming their home and killing every Bolton they came across, all to keep their sister at home. They'd already lost Esme, they didn't wish to lose Raina - especially after the long fight they'd all gone through to protect her from this fate already. But whatever fury-driven plan they could enact, it was pointless, because Raina had already made up her mind on the matter, no matter how much her brothers protested to it. She wanted to stay strong, this was how she was going to do it.
"Alright." The word felt limp in her mouth, as though it had just slipped from her lips with effortless grace, and fallen to the ground with a juxtaposing thud. Everyone looked at her like she'd cursed and stabbed a man; horrified by her reply. Delvin jumped to her side, his eyes illuminated by pure anger. "You don't have to-" "I do." Raina interrupted, feeling her throat tighten with a familiar restriction. It was painful, and she wanted to scream she hated it that much, but she knew there was no escaping it this time. No where to run. Finn came to her side too, standing behind her chair protectively, "we won't let you." "It's not up to you." Raina said with a said smile, her eyes attaching to the view of her brothers - a pair she may not see for a while after today. She didn't want to leave them, that was what hurt the most, the idea of having to say goodbye to them in a matter of hours. "Raina..." Asher was trying to say something, but it was unclear through the pain in his voice, and the genuine sadness in the room. Even Raina's dad looked a little disgruntled, but that might have just been his appearance. Something Raina had enjoyed not having to see everyday. "I'd best go pack, if I am to be leaving in a few hours." No one so much as breathed as Raina stood from her seat, her mother wore an expression of contempt, her brothers seemed entirely distraught, and Asher - Asher looked as though he was about to be sick across the table. If it was worth any sort of comfort, Raina felt exactly the same, but she refused to let it show. She needed to do this with her head held high, or else there was no motive to her actions at all.

The climb up the stairwell was the worst bit. Raina tried to act strong, as though every move of her muscles didn't burn like a lash to the flesh, but it was easier said than done. She wanted to fall to the floor and scream out her lungs, cry from the overwhelming depression consuming her life in that moment, and just simply because she missed him. It had been almost a month since she'd last seen his face, and even then it wasn't a pleasant memory to hold onto, and it certainly wasn't helping with her mourning of him. She wanted him to hold her now, and tell her he loved her, and would keep her safe forever in his arms, but all she could feel protecting her was the cold chill that seeped through the cracks in the door. Nothing comforting about that embrace at all. Yet somehow, with a willpower she'd only had to enact a few times before, she made it to her room without a single tear slipping past the damn she'd spent a while constructing. But as soon as the mahogany door closed behind her, the floods came down. She wished Esme was there, to hug her if not Robb, tell her to run, or to build up her confidence again, but there was merely shadows lurking in her room, shadows that failed to resemble anything warm.
Her brothers knew her well enough, and were more than capable of telling she meant nothing that she'd said downstairs - which was why it was no surprise they were in her room just as quickly as she'd reached it seconds before. Delvin held her closely, brushing her hair like he always used to if she couldn't sleep, and humming quietly to her to keep her calm, though it hardly worked. It didn't make the engagement disappear, it didn't make her sister, or her love, reappear, it didn't even comfort her in this depressing hour, but she let him hold her - more for him than for her. "Come visit me soon," She whispered faintly, once her voice had returned to her aching throat. "Of course," Delvin replied in a tone that sounded so fragile in the silence that it might break at any loud noises. "Why do you have to do this? Why not run?" Finn's voice arose from the other side of the bed, where Raina had some how managed to collapse into her brothers welcoming embrace. "Run where? Robb was my hope last time, so what hope do I have anymore? This is just...easier, no matter how much we hate it. Besides, I'm tired of running from my problems, I need to grow up..." "I'm sure running from your problems are considerably better than living with those traitorous bastard's in your best friends home!" Finn's voice rose, but there was no anger in it - only pure anguish. He even looked sore. His face scrunched as he held back tears, and stopped himself from saying anything too sentimentally. He was a man after all. "I know, Finn. But look what happened the last time the Bolton's didn't get what they wanted. I don't want to lose another sibling any time soon. If marrying that monster means keeping you two safe, I would do it a million times over. Let me do this for you, brother, just don't make it harder for me when I'm trying to say goodbye." Raina shifted closer to Finn's now trembling body, his tears glistening in the golden beams of afternoon light, which cascaded through billowing curtains and illuminated portions of the room in an orange haze. "We are the ones that are supposed to protect you." Finn mumbled softly, placing an arm around Raina's small frame, and holding her close. "You have done well at that so far. Now it's my turn." Raina whispered, allowing her head to rest on her brother's shoulders for the last time in a while. She didn't want to go anywhere, she wanted to stay there, with them, in that moment forever. If only things were so easy in the North.