The Wolf and the Rose / Sequel to The Queen in the North

Twenty-two

Twenty two

El

The next week was utterly uneventful and the rise north was an dull as it could possibly have been. The had travelled to just south if Kingslanding and were camped by Crakehall in the westerlands where the next morning they would be sailing across the sea to the north, rather than riding past Kingslanding and drawing attention to her movements. Caswell proved to be indispensable to El, given he knew the geography of the south and also things that you could always read on maps. Mainly that there was a small port near Crakehall that no Lannister troops would be positioned within a hundred miles allowing them to leave safely.

Axel had been avoiding her, thank god. And Caswell ate with her each dinner, sometimes Mayres joined them and others she was absent and presumed to be with Axel. The week was dull in events but the scenery they passed was far from dull. Within that week they had left the calm rolling arable hills and had crossed into the doers of the forest that surrounds Crakehall. The westerlands were a place El had not visited before now, and noted that the woods for strikingly different to the dark forests in the north. There was almost an airy feels that these woods had, the trees were spread more sparsely and the trees were different. The sort of trees that would loose all their leaves come the autumn, leaving their skeletons bare and crisp for the winters frost. Unlike most of the trees in the north these had leaves that were lighters green in colour that radiated the suns warmth and light through them like kaleidoscope. Projecting such elegant patterns onto the forest floor.

The night before they would sail  from Crakehall, El was alone in her tent and getting ready for bed, she caught sight her her belly in the mirror. She placed her hand on the small swelling of her stomach, she smoothed her hand across the bump that still was so small that you couldn't tell she was with child with her clothes on. Thankfully. It was only when she was naked that the swelling was recognisable. Just as she had curled up in bed, noise of raised voices came from outside and one of the voices was unmistakably Axel's, "I need to request a conversation with Lady Stark..."

"Not tonight my lord." Laughed her surly guard Flyn folding his huge arms across his braid chest.

"Look I need to speak with her-" He said calmly.

"I can ask her..." The mans face crinkled up in dissonance, his brushy black moustache pushed up beneath his nose, making him look slightly amusing and a bit like some sort of large bird of prey.  Yes, a bird of prey was an execellent way to describe this guard. His towering shoulders and arms of spread out would be like the wings of an eagle. Of course his large crocked nose was the main resemblance to an eagle. Flyn was a man from the north fortunately for Axel, whom was just as loyal to him as he was to Elonar. A man who's son was only a few years younger than Axel and who had played with the stark and umber children alike many years ago.

"fine, of course. Go ask her, please." Axel said, still maintaining a calmness that was the closest to the Axel she knew that she'd seen in weeks. What she couldn't tell from his voice, but if she'd seen his eyes she'd have seen the desperation that Flyn saw in him.

Flyn knocked before entering, El was by this point wrapped in her robe and perched on the end of the bed frame by the brazier. "Let him in." She smiled. Her subconscious was screaming "NO!" But everything else inside her was keen to hear Axel out.

Lord Umber entered sheepishly with Flyn close behind him, clearly Flyn had heard about what had happened in Highgarden and as was his duty was eager to protect  El's interests. El didn't wave him out either, because she wasn't entirely sure if she actually trusted Axel or not, so having Flyn there could prove useful.

El remained silent as she watched Axel move cautiously in to the tent. He raised his head, blue eyes met hers and she could read him like he was an open page of a book. He was sorry, painfully sorry for what had happened. What had happened had been a mistake and Axel couldn't face her before now because he was so god awfully ashamed of himself.