The Remnant of the Pack - Book 1 - GoT

King in the North

Ylina lifted her eyes from the books in front of her when the doors of the room were pushed open and the chief of her guard stood there. Frowning slightly and nodding at the man, she placed a hand over the confidential registers she was going through with Maester Luwin, expecting the guard to speak up and explain why he interrupted the meeting.

"Forgive me, my lady, but there is a rider wanting to pass the gates." He said, as Ylina's heart suddenly dropped to her stomach.

"A rider?" She asked. "Alone?"

"Yes, my lady, and it's one of ours."

That was all she needed to hear, biting her lip, Ylina closed the books and passed them to Maester Luwin. With a nod from the older man, the girl was soon walking out of the room, after the guard with Daria by her feet. As they walked through the hallways of the castle, her high heeled boots echoing around the stone walls, her anxiety was very evident because, before they could even reach the courtyard, the guard looked back at her with a gentle smile.

"The man seemed unharmed, my lady." He said, as Ylina sighed.

"Do you know who he is?"

"One of lord Umber's sons." The guard answered quickly. Nodding her head, Ylina smiled back at the man.

"It's good to hear he is well." She said lowly. The guard nodded.

"Seemed tired, but overall, seemed alright."

As soon as they reached the courtyard, Ylina ordered for the other guards to open the gates and waited for the rider with the chief of the guard standing beside her with his hand on the handle of his sword. Daria sat on her other side, watching with careful eyes as the rider entered the guard, stopping his brown horse right in front of Ylina. As he dismounted the horse, the man bowed at the girl and passed the reins of his horse to one of the stable boys before turning to look at Ylina.

"My lady." He said, as she smiled at him.

"My lord." She responded on the same tone. "Travel safe?"

"Yes, my lady. Thank you." He coughed slightly. Turning around, Ylina waved forward one of her maids.

As the woman rushed inside the castle to bring back a jar of wine for the visitor, Ylina turned back around to face him.

"I expect the road back wasn't the easiest one." She said. The man smiled.

"Not really, my lady." He agreed, before reaching for his bag and shuffling with it for a second.

When Daria growled at his movements, lord Umber stopped and looked up at Ylina. With a gentle smile at her wolf, the girl placed a hand over her head.

"Now, now, girl. Take it easy." She whispered as the wolf lifted her icy blue eyes to meet Ylina's stormy grey ones.

When she nodded at lord Umber, the man looked uncertain to Daria, before starting to rummage through his bag once again. When he pulled out a small package out of it, Ylina's maid came back with a cup and a jar of wine. Reaching for the package, Ylina took it from lord Umber, caressing the leather cover with careful fingers.

"A present." Lord Umber said, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand after taking a big gulp of the drink offered to him. "For lord Bran's nameday from his grace.."

At that, Ylina frowned, lifting her eyes from the package in her hands to look up at lord Umber, who was already asking for Ylina's maid to refill his cup.

"His grace?" She asked.

Lord Umber humed in agreement, before glancing at Ylina when he noticed how confused she seemed.