Nymeria

The Vale, and the shadow

It turned out that the shadow who had followed Jon, Nymeria and the others was not one shadow, but two. One day, when they had run out of water, a tall skinny girl appeared with the princess Shireen on her hand.

Jon stood. "Asha Greyjoy?"

"Jon Snow. Well, I had not wanted to come, but Shireen here persuaded me to come so badly that I couldn't say no." said the tall girl.

"I wanted to see the Vale with you all!" said Shireen.

Nymeria studied Tysha's and Jon's reactions. Tysha had a smile on her face, gladdened by Shireen's coming so they could have more companions.

But Jon had a grave face. "My princess, you should not have come. The king your father will surely punish us."

"I won't go back!" said Shireen. At that moment, Nymeria remembered that Shireen was only a little girl.

"She won't," said Asha. "She has been very defiant, even when I tried to round her back and take her home."

"That was very cruel of you," said Shireen.

Tysha laughed aloud, unable to contain her amusement. "Nonetheless, I would enjoy my princess's company," she said.

"I know you would. She's been pestering me with tales of many creatures under the sea for the whole journey," mused Asha.

Tysha laughed again. 

Jon sighed. "Keep her protected," he told Asha.

"Of course," she replied.

So they went on.

After many days of hardship, they finally reached the Bloody Gate. But, no Knight of The Gate stood there.

"That's strange," said Jon. "The previous Knight of The Gate was Ser Brynden Tully, but he has disappeared after being sieged at Riverrun. Now, I think it is  Ser Donnel Waynwood. But no one is here!"

"Maybe they're all in, stocking for the winter," Shireen suggested.

Tysha ruffled Shireen's hair. "Clever child," she said.

"Now that winter has come, I agree with Shireen," said Asha. 

"Let's see. Get to Stone." said Jon.

And the began to climb. Nymeria was a swift-footed animal, so she made it first of all of them. Ghost followed soon, and Shireen on his back. The little princess was squealing with scare. "It's so high!" she exclaimed. 

Jon and Tysha came up. "It is high," said Tysha with awe.

"Yes. The Eyrie sits atop a huge mountain, at a place called Sky. But we aren't even going up past Snow. We'll stay at Stone for the night."

They made their way into Stone, where they were greeted by Ser Donnel Waynwood. 

"Aren't you the Knight of The Gate?" said Jon.

"Aye, I am, but tonight is a merry occasion," replied Ser Donnel.

Jon was about to ask what merry occasion when Shireen kicked Jon's leg. "I'm cold," she said in a small voice.

"Yes, come to our quarters," said Jon.

"Who are you?" asked Ser Donnel.

Then Ghost and Nymeria howled as one. Ser Donnel looked down on them, and his eyes widened. 

"Direwolves?" he exclaimed.

Jon kicked him out of the way, and sweeped Shireen near the fire. "Are you warm now?" he asked.

"Yes." replied the princess.

Jon was about to go out when Tysha said, "Lord Snow. Come back."

Jon retraced his steps and looked at Tysha. "I figured something out," said Tysha.

"Me too!" said Shireen. "The way Ser Donnel was talking, it seemed like a wedding was happening!"

Tysha smiled. "The same thing came to my mind."

"A wedding?" wondered Jon. "Whose?"

Suddenly Ghost slipped.

Jon said,  Hey, you never slip!"

Nymeria was shocked too. She went to the place where Ghost had fallen, and studied the ground. She saw something oozed upon the floor. 

Jon had seen it too. He traced a finger across it, and tasted it. "Lemon?"

Then a dark cloud passed over his face. "Sansa used to like lemon cakes." he said.

"Hey! Jon!" shouted Tysha. 

Jon, Nymeria and Ghost ran over to Tysha. "What?" he said.

Tysha brought out from the cupboard a long white cloak. On it was emblazoned the grey direwolf of Stark.

"A maiden's cloak?" said Tysha.

"And Sansa's. She's about to be wed. We need to stop it." said Jon.

They burst out through their quarters and headed on to the wedding.