｡･::･ﾟ★,｡･::･ﾟ☆ - ☆｡･::･ﾟ★,｡･::･ﾟ☆
𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘚𝘵𝘺𝘭𝘦𝘴 - 𝘔𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘢
｡･::･ﾟ★,｡･::･ﾟ☆ - ☆｡･::･ﾟ★,｡･::･ﾟ☆

115 AC.

Several months had passed since their wedding. Brandon had shown her the north and made it her new home. But still, she kept wondering why it didn't feel like home.

The hope she had when she first arrived was almost gone. Aruna sorely missed her true home, Highgarden, and her annoying family. She even missed King's Landing with all its people.

She hadn't seen her brother Adrik since she left either and the letters were getting less and less every week. She understood that he was busy, but she would still be happy about one letter a week. Sometimes Alicent or Laena would write to her. The women only wrote about trivial things, but Aruna kept in touch with King's Landing through the two of them.

Mostly, in fact, she wrote letters with Ser Laenor, who had proven to be a good friend. Through him she knew that Rhaenyra was expecting a child. But Laenor himself was no longer in King's Landing and avoided the capital as best he could. He spent most of his time on the water or showing young men his ship.

For the young woman, the idea that Laenor was interested in men was strange, but she had slowly gotten used to it.

She had not received a single letter from Rhaenyra or Daemon, not that she had written one, but it saddened her to hear nothing from either of them. But deep in her heart, Aruna knew that this had all been her decision.

She didn't know if she would have ever really married Daemon if she had overlooked the fact about the relationship between him and his niece.

Brandon and the Stark family did their best to make the southerner comfortable so that she felt comfortable. In her early months, she had even taken out Adrik's old sword and her husband had shown her some tricks. It was important to him that she be able to defend herself in an emergency. With time Aruna became more and more skillful and she remembered old steps and movements, which her brother had once taught her.

But all too soon Aruna had to hang her practice sword on the wall again, when she realized that she was pregnant. From now on she could only watch Brandon and his brother Finley fighting.

Lady Stark had taken her under her wing at some point and made sure that the pregnant girl was not bored. The two women spent a lot of time together in which they were engaged in handicrafts or simply went for a walk.

Here everything was so much easier than in King's Landing and yet it was not quite perfect. The morning of that day had already begun with many tears. First Aruna had to realized that none of her clothes fit her anymore. Her maid Nia had a hard time to calm her lady down and and had to get creative.

Somehow Nia managed to fit Aruna into a dress and the tears had disappeared again. The pregnancy made the young woman even more emotional - at least Aruna blamed the pregnancy

After a hearty breakfast, she received a letter from Lady Laena, which again brought tears to her eyes. again. She knew she should be happy, after all, her friend would be getting married soon, but the Aruna's heart contracted painfully at her choice of husband.

Laena would marry Daemon, of all people. Her Daemon.

Nia had become her closest friend and confidante over the past few months. The maid tried everything to make the lady feel well and Aruna did the same for Nia. The girl had come and took good care of her, so Aruna wanted her to have everything she wanted.

The pregnant woman wiped the tears from her cheeks, put on a coat and went outside for some fresh air.

She felt ashamed, because she was still not over the Targaryen man. Deep in her heart he still had a firm place, as did Rhaenyra. But it was not to be be. She was married and pregnant by another man!

"Good morning, Runa!" The young woman was barely outside when she was greeted joyfully by the still youngest Stark member. "Good morning!"

Finley was a very intelligent youngster and mostly hid his head behind books. Since Brandon could no longer train Aruna, he had taken it upon himself to teach his little brother. Finley wasn't thrilled about it, but he was good with the sword, but he had a hard time pronouncing some words, like Aruna's name. Which is why he was the only one with Ronja who was allowed to use her nickname from her brother here.

Ronja, on the other hand, loved to fight or shoot with a bow and arrow. She was a bit of a free spirit and stubborn, but with all the men in her family, she had to be. Aruna admired the younger girl very much, because it seemed that Ronja was not afraid of anything.

Finley took Aruna's hand as the two walked down the stairs into the yard. "Do you know what the Maester said?" the doe-eyed boy asked.

Aruna still wasn't a fan of maesters, preferring natural healers, but the Maester in Winterfell was a nice old man. Even if Aruna had been a bit afraid of him in the beginning.

"No. What did he tell you, Finley?" Aruna didn't trust the man, but she still wanted to know know what he had put into the little Stark's head. When they arrived in the courtyard they could already hear the sound of swords and went straight there and sat down on a bench.

"It's supposed to snow!" he shouted so loudly that now even the two fighting people were paying attention to him. "Snowing?" his sister repeated with wide eyes and ran towards the two.

Brandon could only laugh and shake his head as he saw Ronja let down her guard and turn her back on him. Slowly, he walked over to his wife and brother as well.

"Snowing!" confirmed Finley. He was the only Stark who, like Aruna, had never seen snow. Supposedly, it hadn't really snowed in years.

Thrilled, Aruna looked at Brandon, who now knelt in front of her and placed his hands on her round belly. The baby seemed to sense his father's presence and started kicking. "Did the Maester say when, too?" wanted Aruna to know.

Disappointed, the little one shook his head. Ronja took the hands of Finley and pulled him up from the Bench up. "Come let's practice!" An annoyed sigh escaped from the youngster, but he did not contradict his sister.

"Those two are so indescribable." Aruna watched as Brandon now sat down next to her in the empty seat. Understanding, he nodded, laughing. "You said it."

Aruna loved the two of them, for it reminded her of herself and her brother when they were children. She would give anything to see her brother again as soon as possible.

"I received a letter from Laena this morning." She then told her husband. The two had no secrets from each other and Aruna had to share this information with him. He was also the only one she had told about the relationship between Daemon and Rhaenyra. "She is getting married soon and she invited us."

"Do you want to go?" Brandon put his arm around Aruna. She loved it a lot about him that he let her have her freedom and always listened and thought first before judging.

"I don't know." She replied honestly, looking to the two Stark children. "She's marrying Daemon."

"Oh." Even though she didn't look at him, the surprised expression on Brandon's face didn't escape her.

"Yeah oh," the dark-haired girl repeated, leaning against his chest. Her gaze was still directed forward. "I don't think I want to go. I also don't want to travel while I'm pregnant." The risk was still too great for her then.

Understanding, the man nodded and kissed her forehead. "We will visit her soon or we will invite her sometime."

~~~

The maester's prediction actually came true just a few days later when it snowed. Aruna had stood fascinated at the window half the morning, which Brandon had watched with amusement.

At the sight she was not interested in how she looked today or in the fact that the dress had to be had redone before she could wear it. She didn't care how she looked today or that the dress had to be redone before she could wear it.

After breakfast, she and Finley had walked straight out into the yard to gaze at the snow, which was getting higher and higher. It had already snowed during the night, so some men had already had to push the paths clear.

The rest of the Starks also came out quickly and while Lady Stark made herself comfortable with a warm drink, her three children and her husband ran around the yard. Aruna could hardly get enough of the family picture and could hardly wait until her own children would be ran behind her father and grandfather.

She stroked her belly dreamily. Meyra next to her just smiled at her and it was as if she could she could hear her daughter-in-law's thoughts.

The snow felt cold on her skin and it was a strange feeling when it then melted. Due to the unfamiliar cold, Aruna had often been sick during the first weeks here. She hoped very much not to get sick again soon, especially not now, when she would soon have a child.

Then she was tired of just sitting and a bit awkwardly she bent forward and took some snow in her hand. She formed it into a ball and threw it directly at the group. Amazingly, she hit it on the first try! Only, unfortunately, not Brandon as she had hoped, but Rickon.

The lord of Winterfell looked around in confusion and his eyes landed on Aruna sitting in shock next to his wife. Meyra, on the other hand, could barely contain herself from laughing.

"I'm so sorry!" Aruna braced herself as she slowly stood up when she saw Rickon walking towards her. His three children immediately came after him.

"What's a little snow?" He didn't look angry at all, which relieved Aruna greatly. "But you shall have some of that too!" She couldn't even react that quickly, as Lord Rickon already had snow in his hand and was spreading it on her head.

It didn't hurt at all, but still Aruna was shocked. But the behavior of her father-in-law made her laugh out loud. Her uncles would never have done that, they were too uptight for that.

Brandon stood protectively next to his wife. On his face one could also see a laugh. Instead of his wife, however, he himself needed protection, which he only noticed too late.

Aruna was immobile, but through the mountains of snow that had been pushed together, it was easy for her to grab it and throw it off Brandon. "You're the one I meant to hit!"

"What did I do?" he asked laughing and turning to her, not seeing his little Siblings ran up to him and threw snow at him as well. "Hey!"

A formal snow war broke out and everyone threw snow at everyone. Even Meyra had stood up and showed herself to be a real talent at throwing snow.

Aruna laughingly lifted her skirt and tried to dodge the snowballs as best she could, but she was nevertheless quickly covered with snow everywhere.

They almost spent the whole noon in the snow, until Aruna lay down exhausted in a mountain of snow. Her clothes were thick and consisted of several layers, so she was not cold. Lord and Lady Stark had also sat down, but on benches rather than in the snow.

Ronja, Finley and Brandon formed big balls out of the snow which Aruna watched fascinated. She had never seen anything so beautiful. The Starks decorated the balls and stacked them until they looked like people. Finley had called them snowmen.

But the beauty of the snow suddenly became uninteresting for the young woman when she felt an unpleasant sensation in her lower stomach and when she felt something wet on her legs she got scared. Aruna first wanted to blame it on the snow underneath her to calm herself down. However, the tugging in her stomach said otherwise.

"Brandon?" Her voice was anxious and far too quiet for anyone to hear. Awkwardly, she tried to sit up, holding her aching stomach. "Brandon!"

Her husband looked up from the snow in alarm and searched for her. He immediately ran toward her when he saw her sitting hunched over in the snow. "Aruna what's wrong?" Concerned, Brandon looked at her and as if automatically put his hands on her stomach. "Get the maester!"

"No no maester!" begged Aruna breathing heavily. "I need a healer."

Brandon ordered several people something which Aruna ignored as well as he ignored her request. Then he carefully lifted her up and took her to the bedroom they shared. Meyra immediately rushed after the two while Rickon and his children searched for the maester

Aruna's body ached and her belly continued to cramp strangely. She had a hard time catching her breath when she finally lay in her bed.

"Aruna!" Nia, her maid, came running into the room and looked anxiously at her lady. Quickly realizing the seriousness of the situation, the girl fetched two more maids to get everything ready. They fetched bowls of water and many cloths for the possible upcoming birth.

Aruna became very hot and tried to tear off her clothes. Meyra immediately helped her undress until she was wearing only her undergarment. Brandon, on the other hand, stood by somewhat awkwardly.

"I need a healer. I need my brother!" repeated Aruna over and over. She was suffering in pain she had never imagined possible. More than ever, she missed her brother. "Write to him, please!"

Immediately Brandon nodded and left the room. Everyone knew Adrik would never be here on time. But the Stark didn't know how else to help his wife.

Brandon had hardly left when the maester came into the room. She eyed the old man critically, who immediately examined her. "Meyra?"

Her mother-in-law shook her head slightly and dabbed her forehead with a cold cloth. " The healer is not here, but you needn't worry. The maester has delivered all my children as well."

Aruna wanted too much to believe her, but pain would not allow it.

Her body felt like it was on fire. Aruna screamed and warm tears ran down her cheeks. She wanted nothing more than for it to stop. No one had ever told her how painful childbirth was and she wondered why some women still had so many children.

Aruna never wanted to experience that pain again.

"Maester! You have to help her!" Meyra's voice sounded serious as she addressed the maester. Her face showed no emotion and that caused Aruna a lot of fear.

"The child will go her way, just like the mother, Lady Stark." Replied the old man.

"What does that mean?" Aruna wanted to know. Her heart was beating so loudly that she could hardly hear anything else and her breathing, went only haltingly. "Shh" Nia sat down on the bed with her, took her lady's hand and tried to calm her down.

Meyra and the maester moved away from the bed so Aruna couldn't hear the conversation. But Aruna could hear the following words more than clearly.

"The child is coming far too soon. The chances of survival for the two are not high." The maester tilted his head. One could see that Meyra did not agree with the man's treatment. He seemed to have already given up hope quickly. "We need to get Ser Brandon. He should decide who should live."

"No!" cried Aruna, and all pairs of eyes turned to the young woman. She didn't want to believe that either of them would not survive the birth. Aruna also didn't want anyone else deciding about her or her baby. Not even her husband and her child's father.

"I'll get Brandon!" Meyra quickly left the room and her two maids also went with her. The maester paid no attention to the young woman as he mixed something together. Only Nia was still at Aruna's side holding her hand. "Nia what is happening right now?"

Nias was just as scared as Aruna, but she tried to cover it up with a smile. "Everything will be fine." Nia stroked her lady's forehead and then handed her something to drink.

"I'm so scared." Whimpered the Tyrell born. She didn't want to die in childbirth, but she was willing to do anything to make sure her unborn child survived. "She has to live."

"She?" asked Nia, doing everything she could to distract her friend.

"She" Aruna repeated in an exhausted voice. Again and again Nia had to remind her to breathe. The pain was far too strong. She writhed in her marriage bed, clutching at the pillows. Only the thought of her child gave her hope. "A girl."

Nia had to smile and Aruna did as well, while the two young women held hands.

"Aruna!" Brandon came rushing into the room and knelt in front of the bed. "How are you?"

"Ser Brandon. One minute." Before Aruna could answer, the maester spoke. She had already forgotten him.

Brandon got up again and went to the old man, because he thought he was the only one who could help his wife.

"No! Brandon!" Aruna didn't want Brandon to decide who got to live. As she knew he would choose her and not the baby. Only vaguely could she hear what the two men were discussing. "Stop it!"

Nia stroked her long curly hair and continued to dab her forehead. "Please calm down."

Then Brandon rejoined his wife and sat with her on the bed. "You're going to survive this, my dearest. We can do this." Aruna shook her head and again tears ran down her cheeks. "She has to live."

Her words seemed to do something in Brandon and change his mind. He ordered the maester to do everything possible so that both would live. The maester gave the three no hope but did what he had to.

She agonized for hours and the Milk of the Poppy seemed to have no effect. Nia did not leave her side for a second and was the biggest help. Aruna knew that her maid had read many books on childbirth in the last months to help her.

Nia was the one who examined Aruna and did everything for her. There were always books next to her and the maester gave her some helpful advice.

After his evil statements, Aruna forbade him to touch her. She wanted to banish the man from her bedroom, but she was not allowed to. Brandon did leave Nia in charge of the birth, but he desired the old man's presence.

"You must be strong once more now, my lady." Nia's hands were on Aruna's belly and her eyes shone with hope.

Just one more time turned into many, many times and Aruna was at the end of her rope when the time finally came and another cry was heard next to her cries.

Nia took the baby and wrapped it in a cloth, then immediately placed the little creature on Aruna's chest. "It's a girl."

Aruna's smile was wide and her heart filled up. She held her little girl tightly in her arms and closed her eyes in exhaustion. Carefully, Brandon kissed his wife's forehead and then looked at his baby.

The married Stark did not notice what happened next, because she only had eyes for her daughter.

Contrary to all expectations and only with the help of her maid, mother and child had survived the birth and Aruna was never happier than at that moment. She looked at her daughter and gently stroked her head.

The girl was tall and strong and anything but premature, as the maester had claimed. Aruna was still young and inexperienced in many things, but she was not stupid. Attentively she looked at her daughter, searching for a sign, for something that could betray her.

She could not say one hundred percent if her daughter was Brandon's daughter. But for all the people of Winterfell, this was a special day, but what they didn't know was that the day was not only special for the north.

In the south, the capital also celebrated a feast for the king's newborn son, who was born a few weeks ago.

The king's firstborn daughter also had a reason to be happy because she too had given birth to her first child a few hours ago.

All three women had given birth in a short time and survived the births. Two of the three women were hopefully expecting a Targaryen child and the other was very afraid of it.

But contrary to all expectations and hopes, none of the three children had silver hair, but thick dark hair.

✩｡:•.───❁𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗲❁───.•:｡✩