Only A Northern Song ~ Game of Thrones / Willas Tyrell ~

Chapter Nine: Duty

"What do you think of Willas Tyrell?"

It had been two weeks since the Tyrell's arrived and the days had flown. Eddmina had tried to be a good hostess despite finding it all rather exhausting, and though she had enjoyed the change of company, she was quite glad that the visit was coming to an end. She couldn't wait for things to go back to normal, even if it would only be for a short time.

Despite the gladness she felt, she was also rather sad to see Willas go. After their morning ride two weeks previous, the two had spent most of their time together. She showed him the rest of Winterfell, or at least the parts that were accessible to him, and she often took him to the library. He seemed to love investigating all the books there and comparing them to the ones he had in High Garden, and the two spent many hours together in the library, sat side by side reading silently. When they weren't in the library she was showing him the rest of the northern sights. They'd made a tradition out of going riding every morning, then they would part and break their fast with their families, before meeting back at the library.

Margaery had been right. Willas was clever, with a big heart too. He was nothing but courteous to everyone he spoke to around Winterfell, especially her. He often met her with a smile and after a few days he began to take hold of her arm as they walked together. The gesture took her back at first, but after a while she got used to it, finding it almost nice.

There was certainly some sort of attraction there, that was for sure. With Theon, the relationship had been purely physical, partially satisfying the desires she knew she wouldn't be able to fully fufill until her marriage. She'd liked him, but never enough to betray her maidenhead to him, and certainly not enough to want to marry him. She didn't particularly fancy marrying Willas either, since despite his kindness he still felt like a stranger, but their marriage wouldn't be for a long time and maybe by then they would have gotten to know each other more. A marriage to Willas would at least mean a strong ally for her family, which was all that mattered in her mind at the end of it all.

The Tyrell's last day of the visit was a quiet one. Willas had been too busy arranging his things for the journey home to go riding with her that morning, so she'd headed straight to the library, finding a book on the history of the Reach and settling herself in one of the window seats in the far corner, where she could pull the curtains around herself and not be found. Or at least, she thought she wouldn't be found, but it turned out that her mother knew her far better than she realised, and was stood over her, her arms folded across her chest, her face a perfect mixture of curiosity and concern as she asked the question Eddmina had been dreading.

"He's nice enough," Eddmina spoke without looking up from her book. "He's become a friend,"

"A friend?" her mother asked, and though she was hiding it well Eddmina could still sense the bitterness and disgust she felt.

"Well what would you rather me say?" Eddmina closed her book and it made a rather loud slam, making Lady Stark flinch ever so slightly before she came to sit down next to her daughter on the seat, ignoring the way Eddmina shuffled over to be further away from her. "I might ask you the same question, since you seem to have avoided the guests wherever possible,"

"Eddmina, I..." her mother began but trailed off, knowing her words to be true, as whilst her children seemed to have embraced the southern guests, she only ever interacted with them whenever absolutely necessary, the betrothal negotiation meeting that morning being a prime example. "I was with them just this morning,"

"And given that it's the last day of their trip, how did the negotiations go?" Eddmina narrowed her eyes, giving her mother a steely look that told her there would be no getting round her, no pretending over the matter at hand.