Her sister's keeper.

Kalia Poole. Twenty of age, daughter of Vayon (the steward of Winterfell) and sister to Jeyne. "Winter is coming, my dear Kalia, and with it the snow will fall deep and the crops will die. But you, my winter child, will bloom." MOVED TO OFXWINTER

[saera-of-pentos]

Saera’s fingertips reached out over the sill by the window. Her gaze fixed on the courtyard below, still awaiting Jon’s return, for a moment, she forgot Kalia was in the room. Her gaze was so fixed, so focused on the northern gate she almost lost herself. Saera turned and looked over her shoulder to Kalia as she spoke, a smile forming on her lips. ‘’Kalia.. I’’ She lifted her fingers to wipe the tears from her cheeks. ‘’I’m so sorry, If I’d have known you were alive..’’ She shook her head. ‘’I saw .. I saw Robb and I just assumed’’ She sobbed softly, clamping her hand over her mouth.

Her bleary eyes followed Kalia over to the cot, she shook her head, letting out a shakey breath. ‘’I fell asleep, and then when I woke up they were all fighting..’’ She followed Kalia over to the crudely made cot that Sam, Grenn and Jon had just about scraped together. ‘’I just took him and ran..’’ She looked back to Kalia. ‘’I took Eddard, I didn’t know what to do but I know you’d want him to be safe..’’

[kaliaofwinter]

Confusion washed over Kalia as she saw Saera smile, something she didn’t think she would ever be able to do in relation to the events being spoken about. “No. No, it’s better you were safe.” She stopped speaking abruptly at the mention of Robb, swallowing a lump in her throat with a brief closing of her eyes as the image came rushing right back; Robb’s body being paraded around for all to see with his wolf’s head where his should have been. The very image haunted her each and every night since. 

“Is he..,” her voice trembled, fearing the absolute worst. “What happened to my son?” She asked as tears stung at her eyes once more. “I have had too many dreams about what might have happened, I need to know. I can take it.” Her words were more reassurance for herself than anything as she reached out and took hold of Saera’s hands in her own, trembling as she did so.

[saera-of-pentos]

‘’Oh you needn’t envy me for anything’’ Saera breathed a chuckle as she rubbed Kalia’s’ back, trying to get her a little warmer. She looked back to Kalia as she asked about Jon, her smile fading for a brief moment. ‘’Oh he wont be when he get’s back.’’ She gave Kalia a look before chuckling to herself, trying to mask her worry. ‘’I’ll tell you what Kalia, your timing is impeccable.’’ She smiled as she nudged open the door to her room, sitting Kalia down on the bed before she threw some more logs on the fire. 

‘’A few months…’’ She nodded, looking back to the brunette before her smile returned. ‘’Oh don’t worry about them, you know I’d kick there arse if they weren’t nice, Or Jon certainly would.’’ She smiled as she pulled some clean dry clothes out of the chest by the door. ‘’Here’’ She tossed them over to Kalia, pausing for a brief moment as she looked over to the cot by the fireplace.

[kaliaofwinter]

The inside of the Castle gates it’s self looked war torn, with Jon nowhere to be found it only cemented the sense of worry in the pit of her stomach, but she had to go on. She had to hold it together. Once inside the room Kalia began to look around, sighing happily as the warmth landed on her skin, and began to remove her gloves. “I still can’t...believe you’re here. I had been thinking the worst.” She wanted so desperately to ask with the questioning burning away at her, but instead she sat down on the bed and embraced the warmth.

Catching the clothes thrown to her, she placed them beside her on the bed before pushing herself to stand up, removing her cloak and furs. Beneath the thick cloak draped over her shoulders was another, which she folded up carefully, along with so many layers she hadn’t counted. The family that had taken her in gave her a clean skirt and an undershirt to add warmth to the clothes she had already worn. But before she even thought about changing something caught her eye as her gaze drifted towards the fire. Crossing the room, rubbing her hands together to thaw her frozen skin, she made her way towards the cot. A shuddering breath escaped her as she placed a hand on the wood, before turning to Saera. “...I need to know what happened, Saera. Please.”

[saera-of-pentos]

‘’Sshh’’ Saera pressed her lips to Kalia’s head and stroked her fingers through her hair once more. She leaned back, moving to wipe the tears that fell over Kalia’s hollowed cheeks. ‘’Like they could ever catch me’’ She smiled ‘’Swift as a deer, quiet as a shadow’’ She lowered her head a little to catch Kalia’s gaze. 

‘’I’m here, Jon..’’ She cleared her throat a little and looked over her shoulder towards the north gate that led out beyond the Wall. ‘’He’ll be back soon, he’s just.. dealing with something.’’ She nodded. ‘’Come on. I’ll get you something to eat, run you a bath.’’ She turned Kalia in the direction of the chambers she had been given. As she started to walk towards the stairs, she suddenly remembered Eddard. How on earth was she supposed to bring that to attention. She didn’t want to alarm Kalia, just wanted her to be calm for the moment, a moment of peace and quiet. ‘’Come on.’’ She rubbed her hand over the sodden furs that cloaked Kalia’s shoulders.

[kaliaofwinter]

“You always were fast, I envied that,” Kalia laughed softly as a smile continued to tug at the corners of dry lips, before it faded as she noticed how on edge Saera seemed to be on the subject of Jon “Dealing with something? For the love of the Gods, tell me he’s okay..” Her heart suddenly felt heavy once more. Even before marrying Robb Jon had been a brother to Kalia, a best friend, and the Gods certainly were cruel if they could take the last person who remained from her life before the war. Her mother was dead, her father beheaded, Jeyne presumed dead, her husband murdered and decapitated, she couldn’t bear to think of what had happened to Jon or the son she daren’t ask about.

As she followed along side Saera tired, green eyes explored the sight of Castle Black before them, drifting upwards to the great wall of ice. “I always wanted to see the wall... It feels life times away since I used to dream about it.” Shuddering beneath the weight of the cloaks on her back, Kalia’s gaze fell to look to the faces that blatantly stared in their direction. “I see news reaches the Wall quick enough.” Her voice was low, almost a mutter, before she moved inside and sighed as the warmth landed against her pale skin and rosy cheeks. “How long have you been here? Those men better be kind to you or I’ll give them a kick up the arse. ...Once I can feel my toes once more.”

[doppelutiful]

[saera-of-pentos]

Saera didn’t care what Kalia looked like, she was too much in shock too notice anything about her. It wasn’t until the brunettes arms were tight around her chest that she acknowledged ger once more. ‘’Oh gods..’’ She whispered into Kalia’s hair, her eyes brimming with tears. She was holding Kalia so tightly the brunettes shoulder was pressing into her neck, to the point where she could breathe, but she didnt really care. 

‘’No- No’’ She shook her head, sniffling to stop her nose from running as she stroked her fingers over the other womans face. ‘’I thought you were dead’’ She croaked. ‘’I thought you were dead - if I knew’’ She sobbed, almost unable to speak from her lips quivering so much. ‘’I-if I knew I would have come for you’’ She sobbed, stroking her fingers through Kalia’s knotted hair before pulling her close once more.

[kaliaofwinter]

Kalia hated to cry, to show weakness, but with Saera in her embrace she didn’t have the strength nor the fight to stop herself. For the first time in months she felt a comfort like no other and a sense of home, of safety. Since the night of the wedding it was as though a switch inside of her had been flicked and turned her emotions off; she had become cold, emotionless and hard in a bid to cope with a loss like no other. Sure she had known death and pain before, but it was another story to feel the weight of the blame resting on her shoulders and the loss of the husband and son.

“I thought you were dead,” she sniffed, blinking quickly to try and clear her vision from the tears. “They went looking for you and they said... They...” Kalia’s body trembled as she embraced Saera once more, sobbing as she buried her face against her friend’s shoulder, even speaking of what happened began to hurt unlike before. “But you’re well and you’re here... With Jon?” Her question was quiet, not at all unaware of the heavy gazes on them where they stood by the gate. Leaning her head back, she lifted a gloved hand to brush away her own tears so she could see Saera clearly. “I don’t remember the last time I felt so happy..” She sobbed, a smile tugging at her dry lips. “How long have you been here? Where’s Jon? I didn’t know where else to go, clearly Winterfell isn’t an option anymore.”

[saera-of-pentos]

Leaving Ed in under the watchful gaze of Shadow and Gilly. Saera set about making herself busy, she helped shift the dead, swept away the blood, the mud, the straw and splintered wood. She then began tending to the injured, cleaning wounds and stitching cuts. As she was coming to the end of her rounds, the last on her list was the Wilding they’d captured. 

She’d heard Jon talk of Tormund Giantsbane and for a Wildling she hadn’t expected him to be quite so.. reasonable. For the first wildling she had ever met, he was relatively calm given the circumstances. Perhaps because he was peppered with arrows. Once she finished tending to him, she emerged into the courtyard once more, wiping the blood from her hands. 

She looked towards the gate, half expecting to see Jon there, yet each time she was dissapointed, she felt unable to breath, unable to settle, not knowing if he was even alive. She looked over to the south gate as she heard raised voices. Furrowing her brows, she headed over. Hearing the name ‘Stark’ repeated only peaked her interest, she looked to the man at the gate. ‘’Who is it?’’ She asked, stuffing the bloody cloth into her pocket. 

‘’Callin herself the Queen in the North’’ He cackled. Saera furrowed her brows and pushed him aside. Peering through the hatch the colour drained from her face as she saw a familiar pair of eyes staring back. 

‘’Kalia..’’ She whispered.

‘’Open the gate.’’

‘’Are you havin a laugh?’’

‘’Open the fucking gate’’

[kaliaofwinter]

If looks could kill the brother manning the gate wouldn’t have stood a chance. Perhaps she could have understood, been patient, polite even, but the air that far North was colder than even Kalia had experienced and she had been running for so long. She was fatigued, starving and that man was standing between her and the only person she knew for certain was still alive. Just as her lips parted to argue her case once more the man on the safe side of the gate turned to address another, earning a frustrated sigh from the Northern woman outside. “She isn’t callin’ herself ANYTHING, Jon will vouch for me.”

She wasn’t going to budge, she had to see Jon and part of her knew also that she didn’t stand a chance on her own much longer; not with Winter coming as quickly as it was. Before she could shout to the brother in black once more another face appeared in her sight, causing any evidence of annoyance in Kalia’s expression to melt away and her heart seemed to drop into the pit of her stomach. Chapped lips moved to mutter the blonde woman’s name but the word caught in her throat before it could escape. Perhaps it was the exhaustion, she had pushed herself too far and now she was beginning to see things. But once the gate was unlocked there she was, Saera looking even more beautiful than before if that were possible. In comparison Kalia knew she must have looked awful. A family gave her a bed to stay in for a night, some furs to help keep her warm and water to wash in, but she was thinner than she had been before with dark circles under her eyes and her skin pale even for a Northern woman. “Heavens, Saera..,” she said quickly as she rushed inside, handing the reins of her horse to the man whom had been refusing her entrance. A sob escaped her as she instantly embraced the friend, sister, she feared had been lost. “Oh thank the Gods.” Kalia’s voice was barely a whisper, with tears stinging at her eyes she pulled back only to look upon Saera. “...H-how? I thought they- I feared they had gotten to you. And you’re HERE...safe. Looking so well. I-I’m so sorry.” 

[saera-of-pentos]

Saera awoke fully dressed and slewn over her bed, too exhausted to have changed from the clothes she had wore during the battle. She groaned softly and wiped the crsted blood from her face as she pushed herself to a sitting position. She looked over to the homemade crib as Edd gurgled a little, his little feet flailing agove the sides of the crib. ‘’Hey little man.’’ She whispered softly as she strolled over, resting her elbows on the side of the cot as she tickled his toes. ‘’Come on, let’s go find Uncle Jon.’’ She groaned as she picked him up, he’d either grown tremendously during the night, or her muscles ached from fighting, most likely the latter. She slipped on her boots and wrapped Eddard up tightly in blankets and furs, holding him against her side as she called at Jon’s room, knocking on the door she wasn’t suprised to find no answer, she doubted that he’d been able to sleep after what happened.

The morning light and the cool air stung at her eyes as she set foot outside, she watched as body after body of crow and wildling alike were lined up in the middle of the courtyard, her heart sank when she recognised Pyp and Grenn amongst them. ‘’Sam, Sam!’’ She called out, running over to the fat crow. 

‘’Where’s Jon?’’ She asked, smiling as Sam cooed a little over Eddard, He seemed to swallow thickly as his focus remained on ed.

‘’Sam?’’

‘’ He.. ‘’ He sighed.

‘’He went North, to speak with Mance’’ He sighed

‘’What!’’ Saera hissed, her eyes searching the courtyard for his face. she couldn’t see it, and it sounded like something Jon would do. 

‘’When?’’ 

‘’At Dawn.. I tried to talk to him but-’’

‘’..I know.’’ She sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. 

As Sam returned to his duties, Saera glanced around the courtyard. She felt lost, without Jon here, there was no one, all these people were practically strangers. She ran her fingers through her hair and over her face, trying to think of something she could busy herself with until he got back- if he got back. 

@kaliaofwinter

[kaliaofwinter]

The cold North wind whipped around Kalia’s small frame as she clung to reins of the horse trusted to take her as far North as she would dare to go. It had been some months since that awful night, that WEDDING, that changed everything; changed her even. The Queen consort was lucky to have made it out of the so called festivities alive, though after what she had seen and the endless nights spend inside a freezing cold cell she wished she hadn’t. The child’s nowhere to be found, she heard them say it and knew exactly what they meant. The traitors had gone on a man hunt after an innocent baby and the woman who offered to take care of him while his parents walked into the trap, assuming them both dead since there was no way they could have gotten away unseen. Night after night Kalia lay freezing, with only the blooded cloak of her decapitated husband to keep her warm, just waiting for her time to come without hope of freedom. 

Many nights did she dream of escaping, finding Robb and their son healthy and going on with their lives together, but they were exactly that. Dreams. Until one night a rather poor excuse of a guard entered Kalia’s cell and didn’t keep a very good eye on the dagger strapped to his side. She knew she couldn’t return to King’s Landing, she couldn’t travel as far as Pentos without questions being asked near the Crownlands, her best option was to go North but not to Winterfell. A horse taken from The Twins aided her escape, as well as a group of Stark supporters who found her on her way. The sight of Winterfell’s towers reaching towards the sky was a sickening one. It looked so gloomy, even Winter Town was deserted with Bolton men at every turn. This wasn’t suppose to be like this, the next time she saw Winterfell was suppose to be a joyus occasion as she returned home safely at Robb’s side. But she pressed on. As the Wall came into sight she went her own way from those who helped her, not wanting them to get into trouble for assisting her as much as they had, and it felt like a life time before she reached the gates of Castle Black.

A scrawny man opened a hatch in the door, to which Kalia lowered her hood to allow her raven hair to blow in the wind and to show she wasn’t a threat. “I need to see Jon Snow,” she said as she dismounted her horse. “Aye, so do we. He left this mornin’ so you’re a bit late.”

Left? Where would a steward be off to when the snow outside the gates looked to be stained with blood. “It would be a wise decision to allow me to wait for him, surely I’d freeze to death out here. I’m his sister-in-law; Kalia Stark.” To which the man let out a roaring laugh. “Oh, are you? I be calling you your grace then, and I’m his brother the King. Nice try, clear off.” She could excuse the rudeness, understand it even, but the mere mention of Robb still caused anger to burn in the pit of her stomach and she wouldn’t stand for his name to be used in humour. “I AM who I say I am. Jon Snow IS my brother by law, by my marrying his brother, and my name is Kalia STARK. For the love of the Old Gods, I must see him!”

[kaliaofwinter]

You think you know the story, but you only know how it ENDS. To get to the heart of the story you have to go back to the BEGINNING.

[fuckyeahoriginals]

According to Tristan, he was a torture consultant for Genghis Khan.

[niklausroyals]

I can’t be your queen anymore.

[theoriginalsfans]

[always-and-forever-indeed]

[niklausroyals]

[rstarky]

Robb furrowed his brows a little as she referred to his son, he followed her look over to the bed and shook his head, scoffing. ‘’I’ll pass on the disembowled vermin, thank you..’’ He nodded before looking back down to her.

‘’Well, my love, you’re asking the impossible there.’’ He laughed softly before stroking his hand over her shoulder, frowning a little as she mentioned a bad nights sleep. ‘’If you said you were sleeping terribly I’d tuck you up in my bed, infact, I’d have you in bed right now…’’ He purred, looking back down to her. ‘’But there’s a dead animal on it..’’ He snickered. Robb nodded and listened to her, stroking his fingers through her hair gently as she spoke. He smiled, nodding in agreement. ‘’We can do that. When all of this is over.’’

[kaliaofwinter]

My love, hearing him call her that made Kalia’s stomach flutter in a way the hand stroking over her shoulder could. “Oh, well.. If that is the case then I might sleep terribly tonight, once the dead animal is gone,” she smiled with a gentle laugh, her eyes drifting shut for a moment as his fingers brushed through her hair. It was a strange feeling, all these things that had suddenly become familiar, like how he would tangle his fingers into her hair, but almost intoxicating and she couldn’t get enough of it. 

“When all of this is over, I fear I’m beginning to forget what it was like before this happened. Everything has changed... Some things for the better.” Smiling softly, Kalia moved so that both hands were resting on his sides, her fingers brushing over the fabric of his robe. “But I honestly can’t wait to go home so we can get on with the rest of our lives. ..I can’t wait to go and sit in the Godswood with you again, only perhaps with kissing this time?” she asked as her smile brightened slightly, leaning up to press a kiss against his cheek. “At least at home you wont be leaving every day and worrying me sick, which I assume you will be heading off to do soon?”

[ann-redbullracing]

[rstarky]

Robb practically jumped out of his bed half naked, as he saw Kalia arrive in the tent shortly after, he reached for his night robe, slipping into it before wiping his bloodied hand on the pocket. ‘’Aye, great job of stopping him you did..’’ He grinned as he reached out, attempting to smear the remainding blood on his hand onto her person. He grimaced as he looked to the wolf as he tucked into his prize, bones crunching between his jaws as he practically grinned at the two. 

He moved closer to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder he tugged her close, pressing a lingering kiss to her forehead. ‘’I need my beauty sleep.’’ He muttered against her forehead, a smile gracing his lips before he looked down to meet her gaze. ‘’Good morning, did you sleep well?’’ he asked, his fingers brushing through her dark hair.

[kaliaofwinter]

Scoffing as she watched Grey Wind proudly examining his kill, Kalia shook her head before she brought her gaze to look at Robb. “But thank you for trying, Lia. You are the best, Lia,” she playfully frowned at him before moving to jump away and dodge his bloody hand. “Perhaps you should keep a better eye on your son over there, young wolf. Shall I leave him to drop his breakfast ON you in your sleep next time?” 

As she was tugged close Kalia broke out in a smile, one arm moving to wrap around his waist while embracing the warmth that radiated him, suddenly becoming aware of the chill that seemed to have settled on her pale skin after being outside. “How do I tell you that you are incredibly handsome and don’t need beauty sleep without making your head grow?” she asked while her eyes closed at the kiss pressed against her forehead, opening with some delay before she looked up at Robb with a gentle smile. “If I say I slept terribly will you take it upon yourself to tuck me in at night? Read me a story perhaps?” she smiled with a gentle laugh, raising a hand to brush aside misplaced curls from his forehead. “I slept fine, I actually dreamt that you and I were sitting in the Godswood, it was the nicest dream I have had in a very long time. But you...I’m very happy to see you are finally getting some sleep. Beauty sleep looks good on you, Stark.”

[rstarky]

Robb couldn’t remember the last time he had stayed in bed until at least mid morning, it was ong before his father had died, and that felt like years ago now. He rolled onto his stomach, hugging his pillow around his head to block out the sounds around him. Hearing just the sound of his own breathing, and seeing nothing but the darkness of his pillow, for a moment he could have been in Winterfell. Staying in bed till noon, not wanting to move but dreading his mothers voice as she would come barging into the room, nagging for him to get up. He could practically hear her voice. 

He grunted softly as he felt something heavy hit his bed which such force that his body bounced in a wave like motion. He tilted his head slightly and peeked open an eye, the light almost blinding him before he made out the shape of Greywinds ears. 

‘’Mornin’ boy’’ He murmured softy as he placed his head back in his pillow, reaching an arm back he fumbled for Greywinds head, ruffling his ears before his hand became slick with some sort of liquid. He lifted his head quickly, looking down to his palm which was dark crimson in colour.

‘’Greywind!’’ He roared as he rolled onto his back and sat up, looking down at his wolf he saw his scarlet muzzle, and the unfortunate, half mangled victim of his hunt lying on his bed.

@kaliaofwinter

[kaliaofwinter]

Before tents, camps and war became a regular occurrence, Kalia had never had a room all to herself, she had always shared with Jeyne. Waking in the middle of the night she would be able to hear her sister turning in her sleeping, muttering something she could never quite make out, on the mornings of feasts or any form of celebration she would be woken early by Jeyne’s excitement and rushing around to find something to wear. But now everything was just silent. As much as she spent some nights wishing she could sleep alone for a change now she just found it lonely, she didn’t like feeling alone.

With that in mind, unlike her love for staying in her bed for as long as she could back in Winterfell, Kalia had been up with most of camp and had already brushed down her horse. Feeling something nudge the side of her leg Kalia glanced down to see the large direwolf, who roamed camp as if he were King himself, brushing past her with something proudly held between his jaws. Usually she would let the wolf go on his way, clearly he had somewhere to be if he hadn’t stopped to nip her hand, but as he headed towards Robb’s tent she tried to call him over to her to stop him taking the trail of blood from his prize into the tent. With a sigh, she lifted her skirts slightly and rushed over, though by the time she peered into the tent the mess had already been made and the King woken up. 

“I tried to stop him... Apparently I’m no match for a direwolf, but it is nice of you to join the world of the awake,” she spoke quietly as she looked at the proud wolf, pressing her lips together to try and prevent herself from laughing. Letting the tent entrance fall shut behind her, Kalia laughed quietly under her breath before she crossed over, leaning down to press a kiss to Robb’s cheek. “Good morning, I’m sorry about the dead thing,” she giggled softly, glancing down to the side of her dress where a crimson stain had been left from Greywind’s brushing past her. “..And the blood.”