Never to be Seen by Waking Eyes
By the morning, the girls had dried their tears. Beth and Jeyne had swiped some supplies from the kitchen and packed them away in canvas bags. It wouldn't last them the sennights they'd need to reach the Wall, but they could get more from the Wintertown. On top of that, Jon could hunt and he had hopes once they reached Last Hearth that House Umber would assist them the rest of the way. Lord Umber had always been a staunch supporter of his father.
Leaving Winterfell dressed as staff was just as easy as entering the castle dressed as staff. They kept their heads down and hurried out with the shift change. Jon caught Lyarra glancing back over her shoulder and took her arm to pull her away. “Remember last night.”
Lyarra took a deep breath and turned away.
They stopped by the bakers and then the butchers in the Wintertown, exchanging the few valuables Jeyne and Beth had managed to keep hold of for food.
“You lot leaving then?”
The question came from Ros, the whore that had taken them to shelter on the first night.
“We have to,” Lyarra said.
Ros looked grim. “Aye. You just be careful. The King’s got men hunting for you everywhere.”
“We shall be careful,” Lyarra promised her.
“Then I wish you luck, Lady Lyarra.”
They waited at the edge of the Wintertown until night fell, dodging those who came nearest. At last, as sunset turned the sky orange, they set out into the Wolfswood.
They couldn’t follow the Kingsroad; it was too obvious a search location and would leave them too vulnerable to the Baratheon men. That left them navigating north through the Wolfswood, keeping out of sight within the trees. In the dark, the younger girls tripped several times and walked into bushes several more.
“Do we have to go in the dark?” asked Jeyne.
“Less chance of us being seen.”
As well as keeping them awake in case of wolves. The beasts wouldn't near armed men on horses, but they were unarmed children on foot. Jon warned his companions to climb a sturdy tree if they caught any signs of wolves. Still, the girls were fearful and Berena clung to Lyarra’s side.
A strange chirping rang through the night. Minisa was halfway up the nearest tree in a heartbeat, and Beth scrambled up behind her. Lyarra pulled Berena against a tree, freezing in place.
Jon pressed a finger to his lips. That didn't sound like a wolf, nor any northern predator. Breaking away from the others, he crept through the trees, following the noise. At last he came across the stream that was crossed further up by a bridge. Beside it lay a lump of flesh and fur, matted with blood and mud. A pair of antlers were sunk deep into its neck. Parts of one front leg were blackened and burned, and feasting upon it were the two dragon hatchlings. They hissed upon seeing him and flapped their wings, bleeding smoke from their jaws.
“It's safe,” Jon said, creeping towards the two. He wasn't fool enough to try handling them, but he didn't believe they would attack him.
Lyarra came first from the trees and made a noise of surprise when she saw the dragons, hurrying towards them. They leaped into her arms and greeted her as a friend.
“What is that?” asked Minisa, speaking of the wolf.
“It's so big…” whispered Berena.
“It's not a normal wolf…” Jon murmured. He'd never seen one this big before. It must be the size of a pony.
Lyarra gathered up the dragons, checking them over. “I don't think they're hurt. They must have just been roaming out here. We’ll take them with us, if we can.”
Something squirmed against the belly of the wolf. Jon glanced at Lyarra to check she had both dragons, and then reached in to pull out the pitiful creature from the wolf. A pup, small and grey, not yet even old enough to have opened its eyes.
“Oh, it's cute!” squealed Minisa, rushing to see.
“Do you want to hold her?” Jon asked, holding the pup out.
Minisa accepted it, cradling the pup in her arms. “She’s so soft!”
Berena skirted forward to peer at the pup as Jon pulled another pup from beneath the mother. Another female, darker than the first, mewling as he lifted her.
Berena looked fearful as Jon offered the pup to her, but still took it in her hands and hugged it close.
The next pup Jon pulled out was a male, silvery grey, and stone cold. He tried rubbing it between his hands, then in his jacket, as that worked sometimes, but all the life had gone from the little thing.
“Is it dead?” asked Beth, her eyes round.
Jon nodded grimly and set the pup aside by its mother’s head.
The fourth one was still and limp too, but came to life when he rubbed it.
Lyarra had her arms full of dragon, but managed to move one to her shoulder and tuck the little pup into her jacket.
“What will happen to them now?” Minisa looked down at her little pup. “Their mother is dead.”
“Our mother is dead,” Lyarra choked out, and turned away.
The last pup Jon pulled from the belly of the mother was another male, dead just like the first. Jon rubbed it rougher than the first, hoping to spark some life into it, but the little thing remained dead.
“The direwolf is the sigil of your House. And there are three surviving female pups,” Jon said. Something inside him was uneasy at that.
“What does that mean?” asked Minisa.
“I don’t know. But I think you were meant to have these pups.”
Lyarra gazed at the two dead males. “They were meant for Robert and Edwyle.”
Jon could say nothing, but secretlyhe agreed.
As he turned to leave, something caught his attention. Not a sound, nor some movement, but something deep inside him that knew. He stopped and turned back to dig in the nearest bush. His hands found soft fur. He lifted the sixth pup out, holding it against him. This one was smaller than the others and white as the snow, another female. Her eyes were open and red like weirwood sap.
“Is he alive?” asked Minisa.
“She. It’s another girl.”
Minisa frowned. “But I thought…”
Jeyne scoffed. “Silly; of course it’s a girl. It’s not meant for him. She’s meant to be Joni’s.”
Minisa’s mouth rounded into an ‘o.’
“Are they to be ours then?” asked Berena.
“They are,” said Jon. This might be Joni’s wolf, not his, but he’d felt the connection with her even before he found her. She was his now.
“What about the mother, and the other pups?” asked Jeyne.
“There’s nothing we can do for them now. Let’s keep moving, before dawn catches us.”
Because with dawn would come the new threat of men.
They left the dead wolves behind and continued into the darkness.
Jon drew some comfort from the warmth of the pup tucked into his jacket.