Northern Sun | Robb Stark

Chapter 14

Eidalya couldn't focus.

She'd never kissed anyone before, and certainly not like that. All she'd been able to think about the whole time was the fact that Robb was touching her in ways she enjoyed, pressing his lips in places she liked, and in the end, left her mind so fuzzy that even just kisses seemed to render her no better than pudding.

She'd sat on the edge of her desk staring at the wall even after he left, smirking and telling her to get some sleep. How he expected her to sleep in that condition, she didn't understand.

But when she found sleep, her dreams weren't about kissing Robb. She found herself back in King's Landing, stuck in the Red Keep listening to Ellaria scream as Oberyn's face was beaten bloody, skull crushed and rendered unrecognizable.

She awoke in a cold sweat and saw Tommen at the door.

"You were crying," he said worriedly, revealing he'd brought Myrcella with him. "We heard you crying."

"Forgive me," said Eidalya, wiping her brow and instinctively reaching for her mouth and eyes. "I don't... I don't know what happened."

She imagined her lips, still tingling from the kiss, but being used instead to scream in terror as Robb was killed, not Oberyn. She imagined watching his eyes be gouged out and in turn, performing the same act on her own to rip away the image of his death. It wasn't real, none of it was real.

"You've had a nightmare," said Myrcella, settling herself beside Eidalya and hugging her. "You said Ellaria and Oberyn's names."

"I thought I was well," said Eidalya. "I thought I was... fine after what I witnessed. I suppose not."

You're not, because you remember the husband you had, you remember what Ellaria told you about becoming more involved with Robb, and now you realize what you risk, now you remember what it's like to see death and you realize that Robb might one day lose his life in the same manner.

"We can stay with you," Tommen piped up, lifting the covers to let Myrcella under them before he went to sit on the other side of Eidalya. "I can't sleep well these days. Ser Pounce is still getting used to the castle and prefers to be under my bed."

Eidalya smiled weakly, putting her arms around them as she laid back. "You are both so very sweet. Sometimes I wonder how it is that you managed to be so, considering the circumstances of our births. We don't exactly come from good people."

"You're good, too," said Myrcella, tilting her head up. "You've never been like Joffrey. Do you think you're not sweet because of the things you've seen? The choices you've had to make?"

"Something like that."

"In Dorne, everyone makes difficult choices much younger than we were. You're sweet too, Eidalya. The Northern lords think so." She giggled, "Robb Stark thinks so."

Eidalya laughed, but she realized it sounded forced when Tommen made a face. "My King is generous to think such a thing of me." She kissed their foreheads, "Now, perhaps I might find some sleep with the two of you here protecting me. And with the door ajar, perhaps Ser Pounce will want to join us."

"Probably not," said Tommen slowly, accepting her change of subject. "Shaggydog and Grey Wind roam the halls and Ser Pounce doesn't understand they only want to play. He still thinks the direwolves will eat him."

"Ah, well, then perhaps Grey Wind will come. He used to enjoy sleeping in my room."

Even after Myrcella and Tommen fell asleep, warm and safe in Eidalya's arms, she couldn't feel the sensation of tiredness or a need to rest. She heard sounds and flinched, she sensed movement and tensed, she wondered about all the things happening in the world and what poor Ellaria was doing now. Probably also awake and lost in her thoughts.