Ramsay's Lady (Ramsay x reader)

The Deadly Letter

When Y/n entered the dining hall that morning, she didn't expect to see Maester Tybald. She had barely seen him for the entire duration of her stay. It wasn't an unpleasant surprise, but definitely an unexpected one.

"Good morning, Lord Bolton," she greeted, sending a nod to the maester. Ramsay had yet to arrive. She took her seat, noticing that both the men, although not saying anything, seemed to be watching her with worried eyes. "Has something happened?"

Roose sighed. There was no use hiding this from her; she had to know. He nodded at Tybald, who slid a letter over to the young lady. "News from Shadowrise, my Lady. Unfortunately," he sighed, "not good news. We'll give you a moment."

Both men left the room.

Hesitantly, Y/n picked up the letter and began reading it.

Roose,

I hope all is well at the Dreadfort and that my daughter is happy.

Unfortunately, I have some news I need you to tell her. Maricus is dead. I don't know why, but he attempted to kill me while I was sleeping. As you know, since Jalina, my reflexes have been exceptionally good, perhaps too good now that I have lost another son. I would have liked to know the reason behind his attack, but nothing can be done now.

Will you pass this news on to Y/n? I know she may be upset, but I do not wish to prolong the wedding anymore. We are leaving in a few days.

Until then,

Aberam

Ramsay burst into the room as soon as she finished reading. She kept her face blank, trying to suppress all the emotions she was feeling.

"Are you alright? My father just told me-"

"He was a fool," she interrupted, looking up to try and stop the tears that so desperately wanted to escape. "A damned fool."

Ramsay lifted her from her seat, hugging her close to him. That was all it took for the tears to start falling. She didn't make a sound, just hugged Ramsay as she let the tears drop. After a few moments, he pulled back to look at her. The tears had stopped, but her face was still red, and her eyes were glossy.

"It's okay," he whispered, wiping the tears away.

She smiled at him with a little shake of his head. "I know why he did it." Ramsay was confused. His father had used the words unexpected and unexplained to describe the event. How could she know if she wasn't there and the people who were didn't even know?

"He was trying to save me." She sat down, gesturing for Ramsay to do the same. "He thought you were a bad man – that you killed people for pleasure-"

"I am," Ramsay interrupted.

She grabbed his hand. "-And I know that. It doesn't change the fact that I've never felt safer than when I'm with you, that I feel happier than I can ever remember being when I'm with you. Going on that hunt with you was the most fun I've ever had. Ramsay, I love you – but he couldn't understand that." She sighed. "He came to my room the night before he left. He was trying to tell me that I didn't have to marry you – that he was going to get me out of this. I told him he didn't need to. I told him I was happy. But he left."

"And tried to kill your father to stop the wedding."

She nodded. "He was a good man; he just didn't know when to listen."

Ramsay didn't know what to think. His hobbies were often frowned upon so he couldn't be upset that someone had thought him a bad man because of them. What he was slightly upset about was that someone had tried to take away the one person who had ever loved him. That would have been unforgivable. But he didn't succeed so there was no reason for him to be upset anymore.

"Ramsay?" He jerked his head back to look at his betrothed. "I'm worried. I have a feeling that something bad is going to happen." He frowned at her fear. It seemed genuine, but he didn't know what had caused it. "When I left Shadowrise, my father hadn't given a reason for his sudden decision to not come with us. There was a night while we travelled that Maricus thought someone was following us, but nothing happened. I know it's unlikely, but what if Maricus didn't try to kill my father? What if my father just wanted to get rid of him? No one would know."

"Why would he do that?"

"I'm not sure, but my father had been acting strangely for a while before I left." She paused, looking down to their hands which were still intertwined. "When my mother died, he blamed himself. Said he was too distracted by us kids to notice something was wrong. Maybe he realized that it was my fault."

"What do you mean?"

"Alek and I were playing pretend with some sticks. I managed to knock it out of his hand. He was going to retrieve it when the man came out of the trees. I froze when I saw him. He had an arrow pointed at my brother, and - and I did nothing. My mom, she was the hero, or at least she tried to be. It happened so fast. She rushed forward, picking my brother up and trying to run back to the rest of us. My father had spotted the man and was running towards her when the man released the arrow. It went straight through her chest. She died instantly. Alek wasn't as lucky. The arrow had pierced him but not enough to kill him. He died the next day from blood loss."

Ramsay didn't know what to say. It wasn't her fault. Not really. She was just a child when it happened. "I'll keep you safe." Ramsay pulled her close, placing a kiss to the side of her head. Maybe she was right. She knew her father better than he did – he hadn't even met the guy – maybe he did hold a grudge. It didn't matter; he wanted to make sure his wife always felt safe, even if she wasn't his wife yet. He would protect her. "No matter what."