Armies of Summer

Chapter Thirty-Four

Winterfell – Two Days After the Fall

It had been a very long time since Elsie had seen Bran. She barely knew what was going on with him, her only source of information being her siblings, specifically her sisters.

"Lady Stark and Lady Elia haven't left that room in two days. I wonder how bad they smell."

"Oh my gosh, I can't believe someone sent an assassin to kill Bran! And Lady Elia took a knife to the stomach for it! Oh I hope she's okay, she seems so nice!"

"It's been three and a half weeks. Do you think he will ever wake up? Lady Stark doesn't seem to think so, she rode out with Rodrik Cassel for King's Landing this morning, I guess she's given up on him. But Lady Elia hasn't, she's still in that room, says she won't leave until he wakes."

"He's awake!" Yes, he was awake, but Lady Elia was still sitting with him, so Elsie was afraid to go and see him, afraid that the nice Lady Elia had been told by Lady Stark that she was bad, and that she couldn't be in there. She didn't want that. So she resigned herself to waiting, hoping that Bran wanted to see her as much as she wanted to see him.

Winterfell - Three Months Later - Bran's Bedroom

Bran had almost been killed, again, and Elsie had still not seen him. So, when it got dark, she took the risk and made her way up to Bran's room, wanted to finally see her best friend. When she got there, she saw Bran laying on his bed, with Summer laying by his feet. She creaked the door open as quietly as she could, and Summer let out a little growl, before rushing over to see her once she saw who it was.

"Elsie!" Bran exclaimed, excited to see the small girl, as she closed the door. Elsie, without saying anything, crawled up into his bed, and sat next to him, facing him, criss-cross-applesauce.

"I'm so sorry I haven't been to see you. You were never alone! And I didn't want to upset your family more by being here. Please forgive me." Elsie said, with tears in her eyes as she looked into the brown ones of the boy in front of her. Bran didn't bother to reply, and simply pulled her into a hug, glad he could finally see her.

"I've missed you." She whispered as she hugged him back, glad that he wasn't angry with her.

"I've missed you too. I have so much to tell you." Elsie sniffled, pulling back and wiping her eyes, before nodding at him to go ahead.

"Tyrion Lannister brought me a blueprint for a saddle that lets me ride, even without my legs! And when Robb and I were testing it out, some wildlings tried to kill me! But Robb killed them, he saved one, her name is Osha, and she is working in the kitchens now." Elsie smiled a little at the boy.

"So it's true then? About your legs?" Bran looked down at his blanket, and finally nodded.

"I'm so sorry Bran. I wish I hadn't been late, maybe I could have stopped this."

"No. It's not your fault. Mother and Elia say that I was pushed. By the Lannisters. That's why she went South, to see Father, why she took Tyrion to the Eyrie." Elsie gasped, holding her hands up to her mouth, how could the Lannisters try to kill Bran? What had he ever done to them?

The two children talked for hours, not even noticing when the sun came up, instead the continued talking, before, finally, around dawn they fell asleep, holding hands.

Winterfell - The God's Wood

Robb and Lady Elia had left the night before, taking all of their bannermen with them, and Bran had dragged Elsie with him to the God's Wood to pray before they started their day. Hodor carried Bran, and Elsie skipped along beside them as they made their way down. After Hodor set Bran down in front of the Weirwood tree, Elsie sat beside him, leaning her back against the trunk and looking up at the leaves while he prayed. She didn't know if she believed in the Gods. If they were real, why wouldn't they have fixed Bran?

"Please watch over Robb, and Elia. And watch over all the other men from Winterfell. And Theon too, I suppose." Bran was saying, and neither of them noticed the wildling woman sneak up on them.

"You hear them, boy? The Old Gods are answering you."

"What are you doing here?" Bran asked, as Elsie sprang up, ready to go get Hodor if she needed to.

"They're my Gods too. Beyond the Wall, they're the only Gods. Even slaves are allowed to pray."

"You're not a slave." Elsie watched as Osha pointed down to the chains connecting her feet together, and held back the eye roll that was threatening to emerge.

"You almost killed Bran. You deserve those." Elsie said, fire in her heart as she talked to the woman that could have killed Bran. The wildling woman looked over at the little girl in interest before she responded.

"I'm not complaining, Little Lady, just telling truths."

"I'm not a Lady." Elsie spat, knowing it would always be the truth. Bran interrupted, not wanting Elsie to get too mad.

"What did you mean about hearing the Gods?"

"You asked them, they're answering you. Shh. Open your ears." Bran did as he was told, and could hear the wind blowing through the leaves, nothing else.

"It's only the wind."

"Who do you think sends the wind if not the Gods? They see you boy. They hear you. Your brother will get no help from them where he's going. The Old Gods have no power in the South. The Weirwoods there were all cut down a long time ago. How can they watch when they have no eyes?" Before the woman could continue speaking, Hodor appeared, butt naked as the day he was born.

"Hodor!" Elsie screeched as she covered her eyes, while Osha just took him in.

"Well, there's a big man. He has giants blood in him or I'm the Queen."

"Go back and find your clothes, Hodor. Go dress."

"Hodor." Hodor backed away and ran off to go get dressed, and Bran nudged Elsie so she could uncover her eyes, which she did, cautiously.

"Are there really giants beyond the Wall?"

"Giants and worse than giants. I tried telling your brother, he's marching the wrong way. All these swords, they should be going North boy. North, not south! The cold winds are rising."

Winterfell - Above the Crypts

"It had three eyes. It told me to come with him, so I did. We went down into the crypts and my father was there." Bran was saying as he gripped Osha's shoulders. She was supposed to be taking them down to the crypts, but Elsie saw the same fear there that used to be in Bran's eyes.

"Your father's not down there, little lord. Not for many years yet."

"You're afraid. Just like Hodor."

"I'm not afraid of some hold in the ground."

"You've lived beyond the Wall. What are you scared of? I'm a crippled boy and I'm willing to go." That seemed to be all it took as Osha began to descend into the crypts. Elsie grabbed a torch from the wall and lit the way as she went in behind her, Summer following her closely. From where she was, Elsie could see Bran's back tensing, showing her that while he was putting on a good act, he was still terrified of this place. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Elsie moved ahead of Osha with Summer so that the light wouldn't be blocked by her body.

"That's my grandfather, Lord Rickard. He was burned alive by the Mad King, Aerys. That's Lyanna, my father's sister, she's the older one, Arya was the youngest. King Robert was supposed to marry her, but Rhaegar Targaryen kidnapped her. Robert started a war to win her back. He killed Rhaegar, but she died anyway. That's where I saw father." Bran said, bringing them to a stop, as the looked upon the empty space for Bran's father.

"You see? He's not here." After a little while, when the torch was burning low, Osha carried Bran out of the crypts, it had been silent for a long while, before she finally broke it.

"You miss him. It's only natural he should be in your thoughts and dreams, but that doesn't mean that—"

"Bran..." Maester Luwin interrupted, and Elsie felt her stomach drop.