( PART I; a dreary existence. ) ⟵ ◊ ⟶ chapter 6: king's landing.
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RAINA learned quickly that she had never truly experienced a long ride on horseback. Her bottom had grown numb, her muscles tense, and her back stiff. Always believing the journey to Winter Town from Winterfell was the longest journey she might dread, the young woman was struggling to survive in her saddle.
One of her first few visits to Winter Town had been unforgettable. Not necessarily in a good way, at least. She'd been approached by a pretty auburn-haired woman named Ros, a pleasure worker Raina had heard of during idle chatter from guards in Winterfell. Conversation they likely thought no one could hear.
Ros had looked her up and down as if she were a chalice of warm, spiced wine and it was a chilly night that seeped into one's bones.
"What a beauty you are," Ros had purred, a pale, delicate hand running over Raina's loose, dark hair. "Where might you hail from? I have not seen you in this part before." The woman had circled Raina like a lioness inspecting prospective prey. "If you are in search of work, my dear, you come to me. You would do well here with that pretty face."
She didn't know what to say, what to do. Raina had only been one-and-four at the time, only recently having her first blood. The thought of the interaction, the proposition to work in the form of pleasure and quite possibly produce a bastard of her own, had prompted her to make a vow with Jon that neither of them would produce more Snows.
When the royal party pulled a stop after leagues of relentless riding, Raina thought she might tumble from her saddle in exhaustion and pain. The beginnings of sores and blisters below her skin were becoming noticeable with every mount and dismount. Her hands were stiff, her fingers struggling to open from her reins.
The Princess Malkyn was thirsty, and not for the wine there seemed to be an abundance of, therefore Raina needed to find a stream to steep somr water from for the Lannister girl. With a pewter decanter in hand, Raina set off into the brush in search of moving water.
Luckily, she found a small moving stream not far off from the royal presage. With the full decanter in hand, she began making her way back. The terrain was not offering an easy route for her return, therefore she needed to find a better path.
"She has married a savage!" A gruff voice howled in the near distance, forcing Raina to reel to a stop. Straining her hearing, she realized it was the king.
"A savage with an army one hundred thousand strong!" The king spat. Raina peared through the brush in the direction of the king's voice, trying to catch a glimpse.
"The Dothraki cannot cross the Narrow Sea," she heard her father point out. "They have no ships."
Robert huffed angrily, saying, "You really believe those dragon spawn won't find a way here? If Viserys or Vaegon are anything like their father, their return here would see the destruction of this country. Especially if their sister's savage husband brings his horde here."
