The Godswood || Self-Para
Catelynn had missed Winterfell very greatly. There was one place that she had missed more than anything; the Godswood. Before leaving for King's Landing she had had not frequented the Godswood too often. She had always been more inclined to worship her mother's Gods but recently she had found herself in great need of the Godswood of Winterfell. King's Landing did have a Godswood, though it was not as sacred as hers.
The ball was dying down and Cate had walked with Beauty to the Godswood, the cool air of night a relief after spending so much time indoors. With so many visitors she would be lucky to find herself alone. She had hoped everyone would be occupied with the party so she could be alone.
As they entered the woods Beauty ran off leaving Cate alone as she walked alongside the cool, dark waters that accompanied the Heart Tree. She felt completely at peace as she sat beneath the canopy of the old tree.
Everything was calm and quiet until Catelynn heard the crack of branch somewhere in the woods behind the Heart Tree.
She quickly stood, waiting a moment and hearing nothing.
“Beauty, come to me.”
She looked out into the woods. It was getting darker. And harder to see. She heard the sound of steps crunching the leaves on the ground. There was definitely someone out there.
There was no answer. Cate started to walk back around the pool, it was getting darker and darker, she should be getting back to the castle. She had only taken about 10 steps when she heard the rustle of leaves again. She stopped. Where did Beauty go? She thought to herself.
Cate quickened her pace and let out a startled gasp as she nearly ran into the man that stepped from behind the tree in front of her.
“You startled me, ser.” She said with a smile, backing away slowly. He laughed, showing a mouthful of rotten teeth.
“I'm no ser, little girl.”
He did not look like a knight. Nor anyone she knew in Winterfell. This man was wearing old, tattered furs, his face dirtied by months without bathing. She also noticed a blade concealed beneath his cloak. He looked wild. Her heart began pounding in her chest. Wintefell was safe. She was safe here. She had a direwolf. Where was Beauty?
“I'm terribly sorry for running into you but I really must be going.”
She went to move around him but he violently grabbed her arm, pulling her in front of him. She lost her balance and fell to the ground. He laughed at her.
"I-I'm Catelynn of House Stark and if you do anything to me my Lord father-"
The man laughed again. He reached down and pulled Cate close to his face.
"Well, little lady, your dear father will soon get what he deserves. We've got an army coming for him, you see. For now, though, I'll have to settle with taking care of his pretty, little daughter."
He pulled her face to his, smashing his lips against hers. He tried to stick his tongue in her mouth but Cate bit down hard, tasting blood. The man yelled and struck her hard across the face, sending her back to the ground. He drew his sword and stood above her, ready to strike.
Catelynn had screamed the second he released her. She looked up as he raised the sword, closing her eyes waiting for the sting of the cold blade as it pierced her flesh. She instead opened them again at the sound of the man's shriek. Beauty had finally returned and had her jaws clamped tightly on the man's sword hand. The blade fell to the ground as the man attempted to fight of the direwolf. As he struggled he drew a small dagger from beneath his cloak. He slashed at the mighty wolf, drawing blood as he made contact with her side. Beauty yelped, releasing his tattered hand.
Before she knew what she was doing, Cate had picked up the fallen sword and lunged hard toward the man. He let out a small gasp of surprise, Cate's eyes widening in horror as blood seeped from the fatal wound. She stood there for a moment in shock of she had just done. She let go of the sword and the man crumpled, dead, his cold eyes staring into the darkness.
The sound of whimpering brought Catelynn back to reality. Beauty was laying on her side, blood matting her fur. Cate ran to her and placed her hands over the wound.
“You'll be okay, Beauty. Everything will be okay.”
The wound did not seem too deep but it was bleeding pretty badly.
"Everything will be okay."
She stroking Beauty's head, the words more of a comfort to herself than the wolf. She could hear footsteps coming toward her, no doubt someone had heard the shouting. They would find her clutching her wounded direwolf in her the lap, the corpse of a wild man in front of her, and blood on her hands.
