ben had found himself stood among a loose circle of men, most of which he had last seen bloodied and shouting across a battlefield. they had found camaraderie then, but there was a different type of it here tonight, marked not by being brothers-in-arms, but by ale in the belly and the laughter it produced. snow clung to his boots and his eyelashes, but he barely felt it, snug in his bulky cloak.
though he was a riverlander by birth, ben felt far more at home in the north than he ever did amongst the clover folk. the north made sense to him, no temples, no septons, just the wind in the leaves of the godswood. amongst the riverlords, the ceremonies and songs they aimed at the seven he did not believe in, there was no denying house blackwood stood apart, and ben more than most, thanks to the blood of the mother he did not recall in his veins. but here, where the gods had no names, he felt a little more understood.
ben caught the flutter of movement before he caught her voice, the swoop of fabric against the snow, the way the firelight caught in her hair. perhaps it was the fact he'd been drinking, but ben smiled at the sight of her, a crooked grin crossing his face without him even meaning to. even with her nose pink and her cloak a little too thin for the northern chill, she still looked pretty, he thought, a bright, shining thing against the harsh of the chill.
"lady mallister," he greeted her warmly, her name visible on the air as his breath left him. there was something in the tone of her voice that had his brow furrowing, as though she was giving him a clue he could not quite decipher as he looked down at his own attire - the layers of black wool, fur at the collar, hands tucked into leather gloves, and then back to her. "yeah. yeah, i suppose i am quite comfortable," he said, as though surprised by the notion himself. "and you look lovely, by the way." that was a normal thing men said to women they were engaged to marry, wasn't it?
she was speaking again in that funny way. it was different to the last time they had been together, but ben didn't think he minded it. or at least, he wouldn't if she kept batting her eyelashes like that. still, her words felt like a riddle he didn't know the answer to, and he hesitated before answering, giving her question more thought than was warranted, and still coming up short. the obvious answer was to go inside, but surely she would have thought of that herself?
he frowned, thought a little harder, then spoke. "you're not actually freezing to death, are you?"
.
emira blinked at him for a heartbeat, then laughed softly, the sound a little breathless in the cold. “not yet.” she said. “but i fear it is only a matter of time.”
she shifted her weight, edging just a little closer to him and the bulk of his warmth, as if by accident. the fire cracked nearby, but it did very little against the wind, which seemed determined to cut straight through her cloak. she hugged her arms briefly, then dropped them again, clearly unwilling to admit defeat too openly. yes she was freezing but it was worse to admit she was wrong about being freezing. no she could get that cloak or what was the use of having a fiance.
“i could, of course, retreat inside.” she continued, tone light, almost conversational. like she was debating it in her head. “curl up near the hearth, surrender entirely to northern weather and my own poor planning.” her eyes flicked up to his face. “but that feels like losing. and i hate losing.”
another small step closer, close enough now that her shoulder nearly brushed his arm. she lowered her voice just slightly, as if sharing a secret. “besides, if i freeze solid out here, i imagine it would be very inconvenient for everyone. quite the scandal. lady mallister found frozen to death at king owen stark’s birthday celebration.”
her lips curved into an innocent smile. “so. i’ll ask again, lord blackwood. if a gallant man wished to prevent such a tragedy, what might he do?” she said hoping he finally got the hint













