Aemond was gone to Rook's Rest within a night. And Alyarra was left to wallow and mourn alone in a castle with people that did not really like her or her last name. She did not leave her chambers, for days on end she stayed locked in them with her son.

And she cried for her best friend. Hours on end her screeching and wallows could be heard throughout the corridors of Maegor's Holdfast. Nobody visited, seldom for her sworn protector. Benjamin visited her frequently, he brought her food and snacks. And sometimes he brought her poppy milk to calm her down.

It was the only thing that would soothe her wallowing, milk of the poppy. She drank it almost every night, and if she did not drink it she could not go to sleep. It became addicting. It was the only thing that could mend her broken bones, even if it was for just a short amount of time.

Benjamin's care, kindness, and gentleness was more than welcome by Alyarra. "You've not eaten your lunch, my lady. And I have your supper." Benjamin would say as he entered her bedchamber once more.

Alyarra hummed in acknowledgment, yet she did not turn to look at him. She remained in her stance and staring at the wall as she thought of her Catherryn. She heard him set the plate down in the nightstand, and when she heard his footsteps shuffling to leave her alone; she finally spoke.

"Do not go. Please. I do not wish to be alone with my thoughts." Alyarra spoke in a quiet and meek voice. It was barely audible but enough for Benjamin to stop in his tracks. "Of course I will stay with you, my lady." He responded, and she heard him shuffling about once more.

Alyarra turned to Benjamin, and his eyes widened ever so slightly when he took in her face. Her undereyes were swollen from all of the crying, and her eyes were bloodshot red. Her face was wet with tears and her hair was matted beyond repair. Alyarra had been destroyed. When they took Catherryn, they took her soul. Now what remained was the shell of who Alyarra Stark was.

Benjamin locked eyes with her, and the lively and sweet girl he once knew was long gone. Her eyes were vacant, like there was nobody there. They were once sparkling, and now they were dull and void.

Benjamin did not get how the prince was able to leave his wife and go to war, especially when she was so battered and bruised. He would never understand who could leave Alyarra Stark. She was the kindest soul, with the face of an angel. How was the Prince Aemond such a fool when it came to his love? Benjamin was baffled.

"She was my best friend." Alyarra muttered. It had been a week since Catherryn was beheaded before her eyes, yet everyday she found herself talking of her with Benjamin. And he listened. And she would be eternally grateful for it.

"Lady Catherryn was good. She was kind and I know she loved you so much, my lady." Benjamin assured his lady with a comforting smile, trying to soothe her forever aching heart.

Catherryn was perfect, she was everything. She had been Alyarra's friend since they were just children, and her lady since they both turned ten. Catherryn was all Alyarra knew, she was family even if they were not of the same blood.

"I will never forgive myself for not being able to save her... for not being there for her when it truly counted." Alyarra broke down again in tears, her heart heavy as she thought of her best friend. They went through so much together. They were like sisters, raised together in the cold and finding warmth in each other.

Alyarra laid back down in the bed and cried into her pillow while Benjamin kept her company. He approached the bed and sat down by her frame, pulling her into a supportive hug. He knew he should not be doing this, he knew it was wrong... but it felt right in his heart. How could he possibly watch her break down and not hold her? Only the coldest of souls would ignore Alyarra Stark in her time of need.

Alyarra cried into her sworn protector's lap, not once thinking of the appropriateness of it all. Nobody had been there for her, nobody but Benjamin. Was she wrong in seeking comfort from another man whilst her husband was off in war?

She stayed in Benjamin's arms for what felt like hours. When night time came, Benjamin thought she was asleep in his lap so he gently tried to move her off and set her down on her pillow. But she was rather awake, and she grasped his wrist tightly. "Stay tonight." She whispered, and Benjamin did not need to be told twice. 

He stayed seated next to her, watching her sleep and praying to the Gods for her happiness.

As he watched her sleep he could only focus on her beautiful face, so broken and battered. Benjamin felt his heart straining, and he could not help the bubbling feelings that sped through his veins. He admired his lady, but it was more than admiration. It was adoration.

-

"Catherryn, give it back to me! Cregan said it was my turn to play!" Alyarra demanded her best friend angrily as she chased her around a field of the Winterfell castle.

"No! It is mine! Mine! Mine!" Catherryn stuck her tongue out to the girl and then blew raspberries at her tauntingly. "We can share! Please!" Alyarra giggled as she chased her best friend around. A fight all because of Cregan's old wooden sword.

"Can the lot of you stop running around like wild horses?" Alyarra and Catherryn both turned to Cregan Stark. He stood a few feet from them, watching them with a small smile on his face though he seemed to want to be stern.

"Shut up! You are boring!" Alyarra rolled her eyes at her older brother, who in return did the same to his younger sister. "Get inside, both of you. There is a snowstorm brewing." The thirteen-year old Cregan ordered the girls.

Catherryn grabbed a handful of snow from the ground and hurled it at the boy, causing him to huff in annoyance. "Catherryn Mormont, you just threw snow at the new Lord of Winterfell!" Cregan complained as he wiped his fur coat off the snow.

"Boo hoo! Cry us a river, Lord Stark!" The ten- year old Catherryn said inmaturely and continued on running around the field with Alyrra in tow.

Cregan smiled gently, and though annoyed at the young Mormont child, he was happy she was there for his sister. Especially after the recent death of their father. So Cregan sighed and watched the girls play, looking over them for hours on end.

At five and ten Catherryn had turned into a great beauty, and at seven and ten Cregan had turned into a handsome and gallant young man. His little sister's bestfriend and lady had turned into his great love.

"You're really wedding Arra?" Catherryn would ask, sitting down across from Cregan's desk one night.

"I am. Your father arranged it." Cregan answered, in a rather emotionless way though Catherryn knew it hurt him as much as it hurt her.

"Alyarra is excited for Arra to move into the castle. Says she is glad to finally have a sister." Catherryn seemed genuinely hurt at this, and Cregan looked up from the scroll he was reading and sighed.

"I gave you a choice, Catherryn. I offered to speak to your father, to take charge for what I took. To wed you before the gods, and you refused." Cregan spoke, a hint of bitterness in his tone.

"Because you spoke of it as duty rather than calling it what it was." Catherryn countered back.

"We are in love, it is true. But your father wouldn't like to hear that, you know him. He would only allow for us to wed if we told him what we've done. How we love each other..." Cregan stood from his seat, and took Catherryn's hand in his and pulled her into him.

"I already said no to that. I do not want my father or mother knowing I am no maiden." Catherryn spoke solemnly. And Cregan respected that.

"I know." He breathed and planted a kiss to the top of her head. "Will you ever tell Alyarra?" He asked.

"No. She is my best friend, but how do I tell I love her brother? How do I tell her he took my maidenhead and is marrying another? I could never..." Catherryn sighed.

"I love you, Cregan. Though I know this will be one of the last nights I get to be held by you. For I know you are a dutiful man and would never betray your wife. And I am okay with that."

Cregan Stark had been staring at Catherryn Mormont's severed head for hours on end. It had been sent to him on a pike, and thrown on the gates of the Winterfell castle like a sack of nothing. It had been a fortnight since he asked for his sister to be sent back to him to Winterfell with her lady, and instead the usurper king had sent him Catherryn's head.

Cregan was not an emotional man. He barely cried, some would say his eyes lacked tears because they were frozen in place but the tears he spilled were real ones and not at all frozen. His childhood friend, his sister's best friend, his lover for years on end, stared back at him with dull eyes. Her face grey and bloody. Her once green eyes were now haunting and dead ones.

Jeremiah Mormont's screams of agony echoed Winterfell, and haunted Cregan Stark. He sat there, tears spilling from his eyes, and watched Catherryn. Her father screamed and cursed and cried, and Cregan felt the guilt seep into him at a rapid pace. He should have never sent his sister to the capital, he should have never let her marry the kinslayer, he should have gone to get the both of them himself when the airs of war started.

Jacaerys Velaryon was seating next to Cregan, staring too at the severed head before them. "I..." Jacaerys had no idea what to say to Cregan Stark. What could be possibly said?

"I will write to my mother, the Queen, and I assure you; Your sister will be extracted from their claws. We will save Lady Alyarra." Jacaerys now spoke of his betrothed, and he was adamant on getting her back from his kinslaying uncle.

Jacaerys had lost his brother, and so he understood how it felt to have family slipping through your fingers and into evil. He made a pact of brotherhood with Cregan, and he would honor it.

Cregan wanted to speak. He wanted to declare war on the Greens, he wanted to get on his horse and get his dear sister himself... But he found himself frozen in time as his eyes bore into Catherryn's. He had loved her since he they were teens, since he became a true lord. And nos her head was all that was left of her.

Alyarra was in the capital, alone in that castle. Catherryn's death was a message, loud and clear. His sister was in danger. She was alone in the capital, surely broken and mourning her best friend and Cregan was not there to look after her. He failed Catherryn, and he was failing Alyarra.

"You must call war for what they did to my girl! My girl!" Jeremiah Mormont fell to his knees, head buried in his hands as he cried and wallowed for his daughter.

Suddenly into the council chamber burst in Lady Camillah Mormont, Catherryn's mother. And soon her outraged screams filled the Winterfell castle. "My daughter! My child! My baby! Please no! This can not be! Please!" The woman took her daughter's head and plummeted to the ground, sobbing hysterically as she craddled Catherryn's head to her body.

Cregan still stared at the spot where Catherryn's head had been. His mind was racing at a thousand miles an hour. Faster than a deer running from it's prey.

They murdered the woman he had loved, unknowingly they shattered Cregan Stark's heart. Unknowingly they killed his former lover.

And if that was not enough, Aemond Targaryen stole his sister's maidenhead and forced a wedding on her, and now he held her prisoner after sending her lady's head on a pike.

Cregan did not want to believe this was real. He had let Alyarra go with Aemond because he believed him when he said he loved her. If he loved her, how did he do this? Was Alyarra okay? Or was she being mistreated in the capital? Why Catherryn? What did she do to deserve that? Did they know what she meant to him?

He turned his head slowly to look at Prince Jacaerys, his eyes dark and cold on the young prince.

"Go to the Queen. Let her know my army is hers. And let her know I am riding for King's Landing with my banners to get my sister and avenge Catherryn Mormont."

-

Author's Note:

Did you guys expect them to be LOVERS?! I had so much fun writing Cregan's pov because it is interesting and vital for you guys to see that he didn't just forget his sister. He's worried for her, and he loves her. And now the wolf of the north has been awakened.

Also for fanfic purposes i decided to have the north be a two week journey (by carruage). i also did the same for the maid.

If u guys dont remember he is played by Arnas Fedaravicius in this book!

As always thank you all SO much for still reading! We are entering the final trek!