Winter is Coming
I wake up to the sound of arrows flying in wrong directions and smug laughter.
This morning is colder than the last. When I exhale smoke comes out, and I think of dragons.
Those big beasts with skin as hard as a shield and breath as hot as fire itself. I dreamt with mother again. That little song she kept singing as a lullaby still rings in my ears. I wish I could remember the lyri-
"Hey you! What are you doing in the stable! Get out of there! Don't you see you are ruining the hay?"
My thoughts are blocked by the old hag that keeps an eye on me. She's from no house, but she's loyal to the wolves, so I call her grey sheep.
She nags me non-stop, so I hurl to get up and go my way, trying to avoid her scolding.
She tries to catch me, but I'm too fast for old legs of old sheep.
"I'm a Kraken!" I say.
"I swim faster than you run!".
I get outside to see the frail pup shooting arrows everywhere but the right spot.
Keeping him company is his brother, the big grey wolf, and the bastard, the snowy dog.
"What are you doing?" Asks the snow.
"Running from a terrible beast" I answer.
"Shouldn't you listen to your elders and do as you're told?" Asks the grey one.
"I'd rather drown" I answer, with a smirk on my face.
As soon as I'm finished speaking, an arrow flies in front of me, only to hit right in the middle of the circle. The frail pup as been outdone by his sister, the wolf's promising cub.
He runs after her, after his pride, leaving the rest in laughter.
Later that day, word is spread of a deserter of the night's watch, and the big black wolf goes to find it's truth in his horse, with the company of his other two sons.
"A lady shan't go off on such adventures" tells me the old grey sheep.
"A lady shall wear dresses, and be pretty, and bear sons as strong as their father" she mumbles, while cutting potatoes.
"I'm no lady" I say.
"Well that's true.
No lady indeed...no manners, no smiles, no singing. All you do is disappear off this castle and go gods know where." She keeps on cutting.
"Tell me, when will you marry some lord and leave me be?" She asks, holding the cutting knife.
I'm sure taking care of me is no easy job. But I didn't ask her to try.
"When the drowned god stops drowning."
"Gods aren't men. That's what makes them all so special" She shakes her hand. I watch as she makes funny faces. She puts the knife down as she's finished with the potatoes.
"Now come, help me make the soup. The faster you learn to cook, the more you'll please a god-man" she laughs.
I get up, and leave, while she screams and curses at my back.
I was leaving the castle, when I see a dead stag in the way. I hear horses, and quickly hide.
It's the wolves, with the squid and other men.
They inspect the stag, and are fast to notice a direwolf, dead, not very far away.
"A wolf and a stag killed each other? Aren't they supposed to be friends?" I whisper to myself, while keeping a close eye so I don't get noticed.
They notice the puppies, and the squid wants to kill them, but the frail pup howls for mercy.
The snowy dog steps forward, him also howling much stronger.
"There are five pups, one for each of the Stark children. The direwolf is a sigil of your house. They were meant to have them." Says the snow.
The big black wolf hides his teeth, and the squid puts down his weapon.
"The dog tamed the wolf" I mumble.
Word is spreading that the drunken stag is visiting the castle, and everyone is in a hurry.
"Don't you have a dress to put on?" Mocks the squid.
"Don't you?" I answer, coldly.
The squid runs after me with his floppy legs, trying to catch me, but I'm too fast for a grown baby.
I laugh at the sight of a defeated coward.
I run to my room, and look inside my chest.
All the clothes are old and poor, perfect for a visit. I put on a dead man's blue linen shirt, with high wool pants and used leather boots.
"Perfect" I say to myself.
I am on top of the castle's wall, seeing men with lion banners arriving. After them there's a firstborn golden cub, and after him, a big dog. I don't wait to see the rest as I see the red fish looking for me and the wolf's cub. I climb down and see the cub pushing her brother for space in line.
I run and reach Hodor's side without a sound.
The red fish doesn't look pleased, but she never did like bastards, so I don't give it much of my attention.
The drunken stag arrives surrounded by lions, and everyone kneels. I squat.
He takes his time getting off his horse, and hushes himself to the black wolf.
"Your grace" says the black wolf.
"You got fat" laughs the drunk stag.
I giggle at the comment.
The lioness comes out of her moving house, and gives me a look.
That's when I notice all her children are lion Cubs.
That's when I notice none of them are brown, or eat grass.
The drunken stag has been too drunk for too long.
He wants to see his beloved, and hurries the black wolf to come with him.
That's why the stag drinks.
The stag fell in love with the wolf.
And suddenly I remember the animal corpses.
We all quickly disperse, and the lions go around, roaring through the castle.
"What is it with you now?" Asks the snowy dog.
"I don't like the lioness" I reply.
"You're already naming them? By the gods" he sighs.
"She's got the face of a villain" I grump with my hands holding my face.
"Anyone from Kingslanding has the face of a villain, Aenys" he says, "you just have to learn to put on a mask too."
"Masks are for liars, deceivers and snakes."
"Be careful with that tongue of yours" he warns.
The snowy dog always had a soft spot for me.
Maybe because we are both bastards.
Maybe because we both don't know our mothers.
But I know where I came from.
That's the difference between us.
I know something. He knows nothing.
The wolf's cub keeps talking about the Imp and how she wants to see him, but I don't pay much attention.
I don't want to see an Imp, they say they are hideous goblin like creatures. I don't want to see that. If I do I'll be honest, and lifes have been taken for honesty.
It's dinner time already, and the kitchen is full with the smell of meat and baked sweets.
Wine is in every table, and the drunken stag laughs and screams hugging women that are not his own.
"Hail to the king" I mumble while chewing bread that I took from another plate.
I can't sit down with them, I'm a bastard. I also don't care. But the snowy dog does. He went outside with his tail in between his legs, and showing his teeth.
I could still hear his sword moving around with anger.
"Looks like someone is in a bad mood" I say to myself.
"Doesn't look like he's alone" the cook talks back.
I glance at him, and he gives me a smile in return.
"Here" the cook says, tossing a piece of chicken.
"Eat something, you'll disappear one of these days for eating so little."
I catch the piece with one hand, and making a foolish vow, I leave the kitchen and toss the meat to the smallest hound.
"Here" I say.
"It's different from what you eat because it's cooked."
I notice I'm not alone, and quickly hide.
"The wall isn't going anywhere."
"I'm ready...to swear your oath."
I take one look and see who's talking.
The snowy dog and the big brown wolf, his uncle.
The night's watch is what they're discussing.
I'd like to see what it's like, the bastards, and the broken, and the weak, all together in one place, protecting the same realms who had forsaken them.
The problem is, they don't accept women.
A shame, to say the least.
It does sound fun.
But it also sounds like a slavery place.
And I am to serve no one, but myself.
I leave before they finish the conversation, and climb to the highest tower, like the frail pup does.
I stay there, under the starry sky, and try to find my location solely on the drawings made by the stars.
Father taught me to read it like a book ever since I was smart enough to understand what he told me.
"When you're on a boat, you either know where you are, or you lose your senses" he used to say.
"And if you pray to the drowned god, he will take you were you need to go."
I sat down straight, and brought my hands together.
"Point the way." I prayed.
"Point the way and I shall follow."
I fell asleep under the stars, and once again dreamt with white hair and the humming of the same old song.
In the next morning, I wake up to the screams of the old hag, as grey as they come.
"AENYS! IF YOU DON'T SHOW UP RIGHT NOW I SWEAR BY THE OLD GODS AND THE NEW I WILL MAKE YOU WEAR DRESSES FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE!"
I let her scream and huff and go another way around the castle, before I climb down. I meet eye to eye with the "Imp", who smiles at me.
"You better hurry, those dresses seem frightening."
I smile back.
"You're no Imp. Imps are ugly goblins." I let out.
He looked sad for a moment, looking at the big dog sitting beside me, and then back at me.
"Then what am I?" He asks.
"A giant." I say, after leaving, careful not to get caught.
Maybe I was too blunt, I wonder. But then again, he didn't seem small at all.
I leave the castle, as there's no other place I can hide inside without the risk of getting caught, and happen to change looks with the big black wolf on top of a white horse.
I wave at him.
He waves back.
