A story from Winterfell.......... She stood in the early chill of dawn, as her deft fingers braided her long auburn hair. Her empty stomach roiled and she prayed she wouldn’t spend the morning retching into her chamber pot again. The last month had been misery as she tried to keep her meals down. She was worried her Uncle Mikken would find out she was with child. Ameena was only supposed to be visiting her uncle and his family. She couldn’t stay and now her parents would have a bastard grandchild. Her sweet manner and sense of adventure had made the young woman a favorite with the Stark children, and Lady Stark had asked if she could help care for them. Lady Fiona Stark was expecting her fourth child and her three young sons were a handful. Ameena loved Brandon, Eddard, and little Benjen and readily agreed. She also loved Winterfell and the wild, beautiful land around it. She also thought Lord Stark quite wild, and handsome as well. Soon Ameena and Old Nan cared for the children most of the time as Fiona’s pregnancy had left her weary and abed most of the time. Everyone whispered that this one must be a girl, for the first three babes had not slowed the Lady at all. Nan had caught her watching Lord Stark at various times and cautioned her. “I can read your eyes girl, and to go that path could be ruin for you, and hurt our Lady Stark badly. Keep those wide doe eyes on those you can have. There are many at Winterfell that covet your beauty and would wed you, look to those instead.” Ameena tried to heed those wise words, but first lust is a powerful thing and she still caught herself watching him without meaning to. Rickard was a tall, wide shouldered, stately man who had sired four children in a short span of time. He had always held true to his lovely lady wife, but her confinement left him restless. Of course he had noticed Mikken’s niece with her red-brown hair, and big brown eyes feathered with those dark lashes. Her shapely, ripe lips drew the eyes and her strong, clean jawline and firm little chin only added to her beauty. After the girl started showing up in his night dreams he asked Old Nan to find a different duty for her, one that kept her away from the castle and him. Ameena was set to helping tend the vast Winterfell stable, grooming and caring for the horses and cleaning the leather tack. She enjoyed the beautiful and spirited animals and her new job. The stable boys gawked at her and teased her, making her laugh and blush. Only adding to her happiness, the little pack of Stark boys now spent almost as much time underfoot in the stables as they did inside the castle. One night in mid-summer, Lord Stark’s favorite gray mare was showing signs of foaling. Her last colt had been large and the birthing difficult. Ameena bedded down in the thick pile of sweet clover hay next to her stall to keep watch over her. Hours later, a restless Lord Stark made his way through the quiet, lonely night to the stable to check his good brood mare. It was a warm night and he slipped into the stables and made his way to her stall. He stopped when he saw the girl sleeping amidst the fragrant clover in the next stall, and stared at her lush mouth and the soft light glimmering along her fiery hair. Without thinking, he briskly walked to her, knelt, and gently pulled her into his arms and claimed those lips. The sleepy girl responded automatically to his touch and shivered hard against his body, as her hands pulled him closer. The rest was a blur. A short time later he stood and fastened his breeches, his parting words were “This never should have happened.” It had not been at all what Ameena thought would happen and not romantic at all, she hid her head in her hands and wept silently in shame and pain. When her next monthly blood did not show, she knew she was with child, soon after came the retching spells. Ameena had been a virgin and thus knew nothing of moon tea. Old Nan had watched her suddenly spatter her breakfast on the ground with rough heaves and knew the cause. She led Ameena to a quiet corner and gently questioned her. Ameena admitted that she had been willingly taken by Lord Stark and was three weeks overdue for her flow. The girl’s beautiful face blushed red in embarrassment and tears ran down her cheeks. Nan knew she spoke the truth.
Posted on: Fri, 26 Jul 2013 22:35:51 +0000
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