Warning: Rape Spoilers about the Red Wedding (if you don't know what that is, I suggest that you don't read this one-shot).
I can't bring myself to hate Ramsay when Iwan Rheon's the one playing him.
Note: This one-shot has no correlations to the Robb Stark one.
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A lady of House Karstark, who had married Robb Stark in secret prior to the Red Wedding, is arranged to wed the Bâstard of the Dreadfort in order to pledge fealty to the new wardens of the North.
• • •
The cold was no less piercing here in Winterfell than it was back at the Karhold. The white furs of my wedding gown did nothing to protect my face from the biting frost, making my cheeks turn red and my slow breaths visible in the air before me.
It was beautiful, the Godswood. The crimson leafs of the weirwood glistened under the candlelight. The same candlelight that illuminated my path to my future husband.
Ramsay stood with a small smile, holding his clasped hands before him. His father took a step forward from where he stood next to his now-legitimatized Bolton son to address me as I grew nearer.
"Who comes before the Old Gods this night?" Spoke Roose Bolton. I saw the glance Asher gave my way from the corner of my eyes before he turned back to address Bolton with a clear of his throat.
"... of the House Karstark comes here to be wed." My brother began. "A woman grown true-born and noble. She comes to beg the blessings of the Gods. Who comes to claim her?" It was only then that I looked up at Ramsay from where I had been staring at the snow-blanketed grounds. Then, he too stepped forward till he was once again standing beside his father.
"Ramsay of House Bolton." He stated. "Heir to the Dreafort and Winterfell."
"Lady Karstark, do you take this man?" I looked upon Ramsay's face when being asked this. His eyes bore into mine, gentle but stern, saying nothing but also everything.
Swallowing before gently tipping my head up and holding my face strong, I lessened the distance between us with a few more steps.
"I take him."
I wasn't able to share any words with Asher before I was escorted away. My brother couldn't even look at me with the shame clinging onto his features. I knew he could never forgive himself for what he had just done. But it had to be done. For our house. For our family. But it wasn't only for that.
"Are you pleased, my lady?" Ramsay asked just after the doors fell close with a soft thud, confining me in the bedchambers with the man himself. I managed a small nod in response. "Good. I want you to be happy."
"I hope I make you happy, my lord." I found a voice to speak in. A broader smile broke across his face.
"And how do you hope to accomplish this?" He asked with the smile still painting his lips and his eyes glittering with amusement. It wasn't hard to guess what he wanted to hear from me, but I couldn't bring myself to speak the words. Instead, I dropped my gaze downward where I brought my hands to the laces of my dress.
