#feray 002

why had he been surprised to hear that she would be venturing so far south as to kings landing in light of all that had happened was something he was not entirely sure of; all knew the fact that northerners did not do well in the south, and it was not a result of the lack of furs that wrapped around their bodies. mentioned briefly in passing within the council meeting of the great northern lords, within a list of other northern houses that were still arriving to kings landing, a certain name registered far more than his body language would give away.

only one who knew him through and through would know to look beneath the table and see the way he bounced his knee, both in exhausted anticipation for a sense of normalcy, but also anxiety.

for amir manderly stood and lived, despite being entirely out of reach within the tremendous churning waves of the shivering sea. the captain had pulled through the hardest of times, and yet some of the members of the crew he had lost had been some of his most important; notably, the son of house locke that had been raised beside him, and had breathed his last breath with an arrow wedged within his chest. sent by a wild skagosi upon retreat, even the darkness could not stop the lethalness of the arrow; amir heard it pierce before he even turned to see who it had gone through.

and now, when amir rested his hands upon his chest and looked upon the canopy atop his head, he heard the laboured, struggled breaths of bekarys locke as he held him.

he did not know when he decided that his schedule would be rearranged to ensure the morning was free for his presence to be in the courtyard of the north's holdings; only that he found himself doing so in the morning, informing the servants of his where abouts should anything need direct answering. and as the wagon wheeled in, he felt the world remain still and calm around him, despite the fact he felt as though his stomach were churning the way the shivering seas did. he was sat upon the wall of a fountain, and yet felt as though he could sense the seas beneath his feet. he was no longer at sea.

when she stepped out, he remained sat upon the fountain - a common sight. as though nothing had changed, but everything had changed. perhaps it was the crushing sense of weight that came in knowing they had both lost much, but she had lost everything. everyone. perhaps it was the crushing weight of knowing her brother was under his charge, his responsibility, and had died with his blood on his hands.