A Shadow and a Wolf

Mira IX

Mira had seen many godswoods through her life. She used to pray in the one at Ironrath as a child. It was a place of devotion, made for prayer and to honor the Old Gods. Their godswood was populated of ironwood trees, just like the grove behind their home. Even the Old Gods couldn't escape ironwood at Ironrath. Then she had gone to Highgarden. Its godswood was entirely different, a beautiful place, natural yet it had nothing to envy to the most wonderful gardens of the Reach, with three weirwoods. The godswood of King's Landing showed no great interest and Mira seldom spent time in it. To her regret and shame, she had neglected the Old Gods while she stayed in the south. Margaery followed the Seven and always prayed in the sept of Highgarden, and Mira followed her when she prayed as her handmaiden. Being risen in both faiths by her father and mother, Mira had no problem praying in a sept or a godswood. Still, in Highgarden, the godswood was such a marvelous place that people almost used it as a garden and Mira spent some time there with Sera and Margaery. She said short silent prayers whenever they went in it. However, in King's Landing, they seldom walked into it and Mira kept praying with the queen. When she had gone to the Hightower, she had continued to pray in the sept mostly. From time to time, she would visit the godswood to pray, but again it was rarely that she did it.

Now here she was, back in the North, and she prayed to the Old Gods in the godswood of Winterfell. She had stopped there on her way to Highgarden the first time, years ago, but since they had arrived late in the evening, she hadn't gotten the opportunity to meet Sansa or her brothers and sister. None had any memory of the Forrester child who stayed one night in their home. Mira didn't even have the time to visit the godswood on this occasion. Now she had. The godswood of Winterfell was renowned through all the North and now Mira could see why. You could feel the presence of the Old Gods here. She shouldn't have set them aside while she was in the south. She was a Northerner, and the Old Gods were part of her.

Snow was quietly falling all around her. She closed her eyes and let the natural smell of three acres of nature untouched for ten thousand years fill her lungs. She could almost imagine she was home, in the grove of Ironrath. There were ironwoods here in the godswood of Winterfell, which made it easier to believe. She prayed for her brothers and her sister, for Gared and Malcolm, for Gerold, for Sansa, for Margaery and the king, for her brother-in-law Garlan, for Elys, and even for her other brother-in-law, Altos, though she didn't forget the fist on her cheek.

They received news not long ago that Gerold and Asher had reached Ironrath. Their home was burned to the ground, and there were no Whitehills to be seen. They knew that there had been a garrison at Ironrath after Ludd Whitehill sacked it, but it seemed he abandoned the place after his son was killed at Winterfell. Now they were marching against Highpoint, where Ludd Whitehill and his last men were. She hoped everything would go well. Asher had fought in the thick of the battle here, and he had been injured. It was nothing serious, only a cut in the leg, but they were lucky it didn't fester. As soon as he had recovered enough, he had ridden to Ironrath with his men and Gerold. Gwyn followed him.

Mira hadn't been sure how Gwyn would react when her brother died. Asher had killed him, and he didn't hide it. He didn't boast about it, especially when Gwyn was around, but he wasn't reluctant to say it either. Gwyn seemed to take it all with philosophy. Mira had gone to talk to her about it, a few days after the battle, and she had tried to apologize for the death of her brother. Mira didn't feel any regret over Torrhen Whitehill's death, especially after he declared he would marry her or Talia once the battle would be over, but she could understand Gwyn's grief all the same. She knew what it was to lose two brothers. Gwyn's answer surprised her.

"I knew it would come to that. I tried to make peace between our two families, and I failed. And they were wrong to support Ramsay. As soon as Roose Bolton died, they should have deserted, but they didn't. All I want now is to save my father, convince him to join the Night's Watch. If I can't... Then I hope Asher is not the one to kill him. If he was to kill my father... I don't know what I would do."