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

Chapter Twenty Nine:: Another Wedding

She didn't say goodbye, not this time. She knew Robb far too well to risk final words; she'd made sure he'd believed she'd be there until he was too far away to turn back, she'd made her brothers promise to tell him she would join them later on, so that he would not come back for her. She knew he would, but couldn't put that to the test. Her brothers barely wished to leave her, she knew how Robb would feel about it, given her wedding that was swiftly upon her. Finn and Delvin had left with Robb in the night, Robb was still recovering from his previously sustained injuries and Raina was sure had he not left then there would've been no chance to get him out, but it still hurt to watch from the window as her love and her family rode into the night where she would no longer see them. The next day her father questioned where the pair were, to which Raina's mother replied simply, riding, which was sufficient enough then, but would soon wear thin given the events of the next day. The events of which made Raina wish to jump from the battlements at the mere thought of what was going to happen; and to which she'd made no plans of avoiding. She'd told Finn and Delvin that she'd leave before the wedding, but that had been but a lie to get them to go without her. If she left, she'd put everyone at risk, and the Boltons would know exactly where she'd go considering she'd have no where else to turn to, which was why she intended on going through with it. She didn't wish to, in fact she'd rather take the fall than speak any vows towards that bastard, but if it meant the King and her brothers were safe she'd do it, she'd do it a million times to keep them alive and well. Freya wanted her to leave, but then mothers always did want what was best for their children, and was thus bias towards Raina's intentions, but Raina ignored all her efforts to get her to run, knowing what would happen if she did.

When the day came to an end, Raina sat beside her window - she looked out at the crimson, smudged sky as it faded to indigo, the glimpses of light filtering through the sapphire backdrop and allowing only sparks of silver shimmers to be let loose upon the sky, and the foggy distant land that she wished she could touch, but was instead concealed beyond glass. Dusk was contrastingly beautiful compared to the horrific nature of inside Winterfell. Raina's mouth tasted of steel, and her stomach curdled into large, constricting knots, all to remind her of the fate that lay in he next day. She didn't wish to wake up from what sleep she would gain that night, she didn't wish to make the vows she'd have to in mere hours to come, she didn't wish to leave her brothers, her love, waiting for her return that would never arrive, she didn't wish for any of this. But for whatever reason, it was the destiny she had to follow, all to allow her family and her friends the safety they required to continue the fight they'd almost lost. When Robb died, the North lost hope, lost interest in the war raging throughout Westeros, but now with the King back there was just a sliver of potential that the North would rise again, and claim what is rightfully theirs. Raina wished she could be a part of that, but the only part she could play currently would be to stand and allow the Bolton's to have what they want, and wait for the day, that would soon come, when the Bolton's are cut down at her feet by the Young Wolf, and the price for all their actions is finally paid.

The thought of Ramsay grovelling on the floor, begging for forgiveness and mercy, was the only thing keeping Raina's head held high, and the only thing keeping her alive in times such as these. She could have ran, she could have ran like she always did and hide to keep safe, but that wasn't what she wanted this time - what good had befit her family the last time she'd run away from this betrothal, what good had come to anyone the last time she coward away from her responsibilities? She wasn't prepared to put anyone at risk, and one day that would be well rewarded, and her actions would have paid off, but until that day she must face what has been laid before her, and hope that Robb will save her like he always did.

"You should've left, Raina. You promised you'd keep yourself safe." Freya tattered on, waving her hands manically as she frantically paced the room. "Mother, I have cause to do this, you know I do, I-" "I don't care for your cause, Raina, I care for your life. As soon as you produce an heir they'll cut you down like any other unwanted wife, they'll have what they want by then." "Then I will not let that time happen. Before they get their heir, before they get what they want, Robb will have taken back his kingdom and his claim, and he'll come for Winterfell, and the Bolton's heads will line the grounds upon pikes. That time will come before Ramsay so much as thinks about laying a finger upon me." Raina exclaimed, holding her chin up and trying hard to persuade herself of the truth in her words, or else she'd surely look back to the battlements for salvation. If she doubted what she said for even a second, all hope would fall to ash on the ground, and Raina would never make it through the days to come. "Oh you silly girl - you truly believe that, don't you?" Freya frowned, but in a way that almost seemed disappointed, more than upset or even mad. "I have to." Raina whispered, her eyes stinging and throat tightening; but she would not give in, never, she believed it, for she would never doubt her King for even a glimmer of a moment.