Chapter Thirty Two

Aera goes back to the rest house while strolling towards the place she saw a guy, shirtless training with a wooden sword confusing the girl, because how on earth a man comes into her place?

Until it sinks in... It's Robb, Aera slowly moves toward the man nervous. She doesn't know why she's anxious.

Aera scans him, he's body is doing fine and he can move properly then he slowly turned. He comes face to face with Aerasanne.

The man stared at her, recognizing the girl in front of him... They both didn't say anything just stared at the familiar faces, tension filled the area. Aerasanne waited for the man to wake up for a very long time and here he is, with open eyes in front of her.

Yet she doesn't know what to say, the first time that someone made her speechless.

Aera took a deep breath. "You're awake" the Princess mumbled.

Robb gazed at those purple eyes that shimmers under the sun's light, a true beauty.

"You protected me," The man said. Aera's eyes drifted to the sword he was carrying. The man's already training his body after waking up. Aera was about to say something when Catelyn Stark rush towards them.

"Aera... Aerasanne, Robb's awake." Catelyn said looking at Aera and then at Robb. The Princess nodded.

"Don't tire out your body, Young Wolf" Aera told before leaving them to enter the house. The Princess entered her chamber and close the door behind her, she leans on it, she doesn't understand why her heart is beating so fast.

She pressed her hand on her chest to calm her breathing, she was still not used to her body weakening by 5%. Aera closed her eyes and sit down while still leaning on the door, she needs to regain her energy.

War is coming.

After a few minutes of rest, Aera decides to get out of her room to witness that Shireen and Catelyn are eating. Once the woman saw she invited her to eat but Aera declined.

The Woman stands up and approaches her. "Aera, could you talk to Robb? He doesn't want to stop training... He still hasn't eaten anything after waking up. I already explained to him everything but after that, he goes out to train." The woman is sure indeed worried for the safety of her son.

The man just woke up and now he's slowly putting his life in danger but training so much. Aera pressed her eyes close and nods.

Aera goes out to see Robb who still training nonstop, she grabs a wooden sword from the side. She's training Shireen how to fight which is why there are two wooden swords on the corner.

The other wooden sword is held by Robb. Aera surges toward the man to attack him but he manages to prevent it with his sword. Then they began to clash, but Aera manage to snatch his sword and push him down with the other hand.

Aera tossed the two swords on the ground. "You need to rest, your body cannot take it," Aera said making the man sit down on the log near them. Robb was about to retaliate but Aera push him to sit. "Just sit for a while!" Aera firmly instructed.

Aera sits down beside him. "You cannot force your body to train, it will shut down," Aera warned worriedly. She works tirelessly just to make sure the man wakes up only for him to kill his body.

"My mother told me everything, I cannot sit here and do nothing," Robb let out, he's been at odds by the fact that he's defeated. He lost everything, everything falls apart.

Aera understands him. " It's not doing nothing, it's doing what's best. You can train tomorrow, I'll help you but please rest your body." The Princess plead.

Robb's turned to her." Why did you save me? "

Aera was stunned by the question.

"I'm still conscious inside, I can hear you and feel the way you stayed all night just to make sure I'm safe, why would you do all of this? Was it because you wanted my support for your sister?" Robb's asked.

Aera did consider doing that for the man to support the claim of her sister, but over time she realizes that support needs to be earned.

"Why wouldn't I?" Aera asked.

Robb was astonished by what she said.

"You're a good man, Young Wolf... Always been. You know what you have to do, what you need to do but like a human being you make mistakes-"

"By marrying the woman I love instead-"

"By not being true to your words, there's nothing wrong with marrying someone you love but you are a lord... Or a King as the people chose. Love can be the end of duty...but in the end, you are still worth it to be saved. " Aera muttered.

Robb's stared at her, the girl who sees his worth after all those failures, all those death that he cause for marrying Talisa. He still loves the girl, but after everything that happens, he regrets a lot of things and one of them is Talisa dying.

"Besides, you cannot die just like that... Your family still needs you." Aera added reassuring the man.

"How can I start over?... How can I save my family when I already fail them? I feel so weak." Robb's asked.

"Acceptance, accept everything that happened and learn from it. Once you do that, you will be starting over again. " Aera provides smiling at the man. " It's alright to feel weak and what's not right is to stay weak. Besides, Like you said I've stayed up all night just to take care of you, don't let that go to waste... So stand up and eat with me!" Aera exclaims and stands up.

The Princess lends her hand to the man to help him stand up. Robb was amused by the sudden change of her mood but he just sighed and take her hand. They began to walk towards the house.

"Your mother is a good cook" Aera commented walking beside him, she already let go of his hand the moment he stand up.

"Does she?"

"She does! I will never be able to cook something like that, I'll be a terrible wife." Aera retorts making the man chuckle even though Aera's cooking is good.

"Terrible at cooking doesn't mean you're terrible at being a wife," Robb said making Aera pout at the thought of her being a wife. It's a stereotype that for a woman to be a good wife she needs to be a good cook.

"Yeah... But still... I'll probably stay unmarried my whole life unless my sister asked me to marry someone" Aera muttered and that doesn't sit right with Robb.

"Why? Will she force you?"

"Nope, but I will if it will help her. Did you know that she's willing to marry the most savage man in Essos just to make sure I'm safe?" Aera stated. "Now I wanted to repay everything she did by gathering people who will support her as a Queen," Aera said.

Robb didn't say anything, he doesn't know what to feel about that. Going to Westeros alone is a dangerous thing to do, even though the girl is special.

Aera notices how the man stays quiet after what she said. "Why don't I cook for you? And you will be the judge." Aera said trying to change the mood. Robb just nods.

Aera did cook for the man, seafood. Different kinds of seafood that she tried and every single one of them is not familiar to Robb but either way, he eats them.

Because of the smell Shireen and Catelyn eat once more. The three are delighted to taste the delicious foods that Aera serves.

"You said you're a terrible cook!? This is amazing" Robb's commented making Aera chuckles.

"Your future husband will be lucky to have you" Lady Catelyn commented and Shireen nodded. Aera just smiles, trying to remove that thought from her mind. She just cannot see herself marrying anyone.

In the morning Robb and Aera train and the Princess helps the man to get his stance and posture back. She also gave him a potion that will enhance his strength and the strength of his muscle giving him a fast recovery.

In the next few days, the two stayed together to fight and train until their body collapsed on the ground. "How did you learn to fight?" Robb asked while sitting on the same wooden log.

It's already evening and there's a campfire in front of them.

"You are good at fighting but you told me that you and your siblings are always running away from place to place because of King's Robert assassin, how did you get this good?" Robb questioned.

Aera didn't look at the man but she just stared at the fire in front of them. "I know there will be a time that I need to protect my sister, so I trained. I have someone who helps me train."

"Did you pay him?"

"It's not him, it's a woman. Let's just say we have an agreement that once she trains me I cannot be beaten not even once. So I train and train until I cannot move anymore. It all works out in the end. " Aera explained and the man believe her, why would she lie about that?

"Can I ask you a question?" Robb asked, curiously.

"You're already asking," The Princess says.

Robb just grin and shut his eyes, taking a deep breath. "Do you believe in Gods? The Old and New?" He asked.

Robb's faith in the gods disappear the moment he saw the death of his wife and he couldn't do anything to save her, he saw everything that will break him-yet his still standing.

He wanted to ask his mother that question but he knows what she will say, the woman still believe in God whether old or new, because she still made those wooden circles bound with vines, he also knows that the only person he could ask, is the person who understands life and death.

Aera stays still while staring into the eyes of the Stark, reading him carefully to understand why he's asking that kind of question.

"Why? Why do you ask?"

The man didn't say anything, giving a wave of silence filled them. He's just staring straight at those purple eyes that hold a ton of story. Aera sighed. "Do you?"

"No... Not anymore, If they exist where are they? Where are they when I need them the most?" The man asked, angry.

Aera nods, understanding the fury of the man who lost everything in this war.

"Do you what happened to the other?... Let's start with Jaime Lannister" Aera begins but she was interrupted by the man.

"Kingslayer, the man who crippled my brother, Bran!"

"You're right, that man is crippled now. He lost a hand and a son. Your brother cannot defend himself from the man who harm him, but fate did it anyway... You're brother lost his ability to walk while Jaime loses his sword hand. Both are cripples, but it would not justify what he did."

Robb was rather surprised to hear one of the greatest knights in seven kingdoms lost his hand, a perfect payment for what he did to his brother.

"Next... Joffrey Lannister, made by the affair of Jaime and Cersei Lannister. The boy is a coward and no one likes him, he loves to torture some animals... Or people. He died by poison, not any poison... He died in a very painful way the same pain that he cause the people."

Robb was relieved hearing that the boy died but a part of him still wanted to kill the boy for killing his father.

" Tywin Lannister, they said that he is the richest man alive... The man spends his life making sure that his second son suffers under his watch, making him feel like a monster for killing Joanna. In the end, he was killed by Tyrion Lannister in the privy... That's when they find out that he doesn't shit gold. " Aera giggles at the last part." They said that his body stunk, The symbolic explanation is that it was a manifestation of Tywin's corruption. He was a rotten man in life, and smelled just as rotten in death."

Slowly Robb understands what the girl trying to say.

"Hmm... Who's next, Theon Greyjoy" this made the man clench his fist.

"He's a traitor" Robb snarls and Aera nodded.

"He's alive, he got taken captive by Ramsay Bolton... Roose bastard son who got legitimate by Tommen. Ramsay tortured, flayed, and castrated Theon to the point it broke him, Ramsay also forces him to submit to his new name, Reek. " Aera said surprising the man.

Robb knows that Theon manage to escape the Bolton because that is what Roose told him but what he could say is they are all liars.

" But wanna know what's interesting, he stayed with your sister... Sansa, the whole time. No matter how the man broke him, he made sure to protect Sansa. I was there. Ramsay wanted to play with Sansa the same way he did with Theon. " Aera could see the fury in Robb's eyes.

" Sansa? Where is she? "

" She's fine, I brought her to Meereen where she could be safe. Theon is there with her, protecting her. " Aera paused then she goes on telling him what happened to everyone, she even tell him about Jon which made the man happy.

"I found it rather poetic" Aera declared.

" What? "

" Their life, their fate... Jaime made someone cripple and then become a cripple, Tywin torment the life of Tyrion who later killed him, Joffrey died in his joyous moments and Theon betrayed the Stark yet protected one with his life. " Aera said.

" Theon is still a traitor, what he did cannot make up for his mistake! I don't understand how could he betray the people who treated him as a family"

" Cause he's conflicted, he is not a family the moment he steps in Winterfell, he's a prisoner. Your father threatened his father to kill Theon once he made a move against them. Theon is in the middle of that fight, a victim of everyone's choices. He will never understand if he's a Stark or a Greyjoy. He goes back to his hometown only for his father to treat him like an outsider, a foreign. He made a mistake, Young Wolf but that doesn't define him. Everyone made fun of him for respecting his captors but got angry with him when he betrayed them. "

Robb didn't say anything, he never thought of Theon's perspective, and no one really did. No matter what everyone says, the man is still his childhood friend, his best friend.

"Why are you telling me all of this?" The man asked.

"You asked me if I believe in gods, I never really know the answer to that... But I always looked at other's life to understand them. Everyone will always find the consequences of their actions and as if someone is watching over us." Aera muttered.

She doesn't believe in Gods when she's Amelia but what happened to her changes everything, but that doesn't mean she would rely on them... Gods can be cruel sometimes.

Aera stand up and looked down at the man. "You're getting better, Young Wolf. The north still needs you, in fornite let's ride towards Jon's place... I'm sure Westeros would be glad to hear that you are alive." Aera lends him a hand to help him stand up.

Robb's take it. "Save by a Targaryen. Looks like dragons are back" He whispered.

Aera then turned to the woods, she whistle calling someone. This confuses the man making him turn in that direction. A figure of a wolf suddenly came running towards them. Robb's eyes lighten seeing Grey Wind, he hurriedly embraces the wolf.

" He's been running around, being wild. Mostly when I came home your mother told me he was outside again. " Aera informed.

" A dire wolf saved by a Dragon," Robb said once more and Aera just smiles.

The people in Westeros kneeled to Dragons but they disappear but now they're back and looks like they will be reigning the sky once more.

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