Ursa Major | Tormund Giantsbane

Chapter 15

Winterfell was comfortable.

Thyrsa felt safe, relaxed, and never lacked a proper meal. With her nephews and nieces there, she was occupied the entire day, helping them practice their archery whenever she wasn't sparring with Tormund. Tori and Astrid were glad to see their remaining family members again, both House Karstark and House Cerwyn remaining at Winterfell with House Umber to keep the three Starks safe.

"You fight with two swords now," said Esther as Thyrsa sharpened the blades. "The wildling way."

"I have a good teacher," said Thyrsa with a smile. "But I've much to learn."

Esther sat beside her, looping her arm with Thyrsa's. "You know, Mother once spoke of going beyond-the-Wall. Meeting the wildlings, living with them for a time, learning everything she could about how they fought. She once dreamed of taking us to every one of the Seven Kingdoms to learn their styles. She even said that when Smalljon was old enough, she and him would go to Essos and learn to fight like the Dothraki." Her eyes became somber, "Perhaps if she would have learned all those things, she could have defeated Rhaegar, if it is true that she fought him and was slain by him before Robert arrived."

Thyrsa set the swords down, leaning her head on Esther's shoulder. "I remember her less and less each year," she admitted. "I was five the last time I saw her. Five years have passed since King Robert died. Twenty-one years since I've seen her face... the same age I was when this all started. With each year... the memories fade more and more. Memories that weren't very strong to begin with. Some days I can't hear Father's voice, or imagine Aspen smiling. I can't close my eyes and pretend Hother and Arnal are wrestling again. I wonder, had they known to fight with two blades, had our society been anything like the wildlings... would we have been put in that position?"

"Maybe, maybe not," said Esther, beckoning Sigrid closer when she saw her carrying a bowl of berries. She accepted a handful as their sister lowered herself onto the ground in front of them, humming to herself. "Sigrid, will you fight in the Long Night? Against the Army of the Dead?"

Sigrid was quiet. Thyrsa had always looked up to her sisters, the only manifestations of female strength she really knew, the only part of their mother that lingered. They were great warriors but Esther and Sigrid chose not to partake in battles for different reasons, while Aspen had embraced being a warrior head-on.

Esther resented their mother, even slightly still, and refused to leave her children behind to go to war. Sigrid had never liked killing, even hunting down animals made her feel like she was harming innocents. She still did it, when she needed to, and she was good at it. She was the only one of them now that had never killed a person.

"I suppose I don't have a choice," said Sigrid quietly. "This isn't a war we would fight to give someone a crown or a throne. It's a fight for the lives of our children, for the lives of everyone in our country. We came to Winterfell to surprise you but I realized I do not feel safe taking my daughters back to Last Hearth, not when the Army of the Dead will soon be upon the Wall... and where will that leave us? Alone up there, with no defenses. We'll become... those... those awful things you told us about. I can kill that which is already dead. I have to. And I hope that will be the last war. I hope the North will be free. I hope we do not have to lose anyone or anything else. I am sick of this. I am sick of all the pain and suffering. I am sick of graves being dug and telling our little ones why someone is not coming back. It wasn't supposed to be like this."

Thyrsa put her hand over Sigrid's. "This will be the Last War. The North is united. The Riverlands are with us. Soon we will control most of the country and we will defeat this great threat, we will leave a world where the children can grow and do whatever they wish because they'll have the freedom and security that we'll have given them. I invite you to train with me, Sigrid. We will prepare together. When the time comes, we will have all the strength Father and Mother gave us, we will emerge victorious."