Robb had almost been about to tell the girl that they were headed to Riverrun, and that she could be escorted as far as the Crossroads Inn, left to take the High Road to the Vale herself, but sense stopped him. The news had most certainly filtered to the south that he was heading their way, and where else should he go than to his mother’s lands, to support her family in fending off the Lannisters? But still, he would not like to have it confirmed for certain to anyone, all for the sake of offering a passing comment to a girl he had just met. “We head south, you may join us until you feel is best for you to carry on alone. I’ll see to it that you are kept safe on your travels,” he assured her.
With that, he turned to the maester once more. “Once she is warmed up and well enough, find one of the men who can be trusted to have her ride with them,” he instructed, briefly thinking over who would be the sort to look after her well enough but also be courteous and not take advantage of the fact she was not a noblewoman. “Perhaps Rodrik Forrester, or Lord Glover.” He looked at Myrcella once more. “Both good men, and to be trusted,” he told her.
He bid his farewells for now, knowing he really could not afford to linger much longer for the sake of one girl. She would have time to rest yet, until everyone in the front of the march was ready to carry on - for the rear was only just coming to a stop. Hours of marching followed, and when night fell the order was sent through the men to camp down for the night. Only a matter of days of this were left before they’d reach Moat Cailin. What would happen after that was anyone’s guess. As his mind pondered the possibilities, he found himself reminded of the stranger he had placed among his men earlier that day. He wondered if the girl was still among them, or if she had taken fear and left, or worse, had she gathered the information she was sent for and went back to some foe with it. He rose then, and decided to enquire.
Having found his way to the Forresters, it seemed the maester had entrusted Lord Glover with Myrcella after all. Once pointed in their direction, he looked around for a few minutes and eventually found her near a fire around which many tents had been raised, and she cupped a portion of broth in a small wooden bowl, looking a little bewildered and ill at ease.
“My lady,” he said, knowing she was not a noble lady at all, but he felt it would be rude to call her anything else. “I hope my lords have treated you well today. I’m glad to see you eating. Are you feeling better at all?”
it wasn’t becoming easier to accept with time, that much was certain. some moments she blinks and thinks again that she must be dreaming, she must be, only for something to remind her that it is all too real. this is not, she thinks, the kind of dream her brain could ever serve up. at least, she thought, robb stark had been true in what he said : the man she had been assigned to ride with was a good man. and while she might not be at ease with him and the others, neither did she feel more than a token’s worth of fear.
but she is glad for the stop, when it comes : when fires and tents are set up, and she has a moment’s time to consider everything that’s happened. to try to sort it all through in her mind. not that, when she has that moment, it does much good. there is no explanation of science, history, philosophy, or mathematics that can possibly make sense of this.
she glances up at him, once again wishing she had anything but blonde hair and green eyes, knowing well which family was noted for those features in the days she’s now walking through. wonders, not for the first time, what he must make of her. whether he thinks of her as a threat or just some unfortunate lost thing.
“as well as can be expected,” she says honestly, in answer to his question. he will take it to mean as well as could be expected for a girl who had been half-frozen. she is the only one who will know different. “your lords have been...better than i expected,” she says, opting for the modern boldness that may well serve her well, if she is to play the part of common girl. “i didn’t expect you to check up on me again.”
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