Princess in The North

Chapter 10: Tragedy

“How are you feeling?” Jon asked Ella.

“Mostly tired.” Ella told him. “The maester said that I’m lucky I am not sick all the time. Apparently Lady Catelyn always was sick for the first few months of her pregnancy.”

“I can agree as witness. She rarely left her chambers.” He said. “Rickon is only a few years old, after all.”

“My mother was sick as well.” Ella told him. “Maybe I take after my father’s side. It’s one think I’m happy to have of a Baratheon. The drinking, not so much.”

Jon laughed. He recently was able to smile in front of her now, and Ella knew that it was real. In her months in the North, she had become much more trusting than she had before, and much happier. Maybe the northern air was better for her than she had previously believed.

“Is there anything you get from your father besides your hair and eyes?”

“My passion.” Ella told him. “Or at least I’ve been told I have a Baratheon temper. Hotheaded.”

“My father always called it wolf-blooded.” Jon told her. “Maybe you’re more like us than you think.”

“Maybe that’s why I like it here.” She agreed. “Our fathers made our houses close, you know. Maybe there’s a reason the only true Baratheon was matched with the Stark’s.” 

“Are you saying that the rest of your family are not true Baratheons?” Jon asked.

“That’s not what I mean. I only mean that they take after the more Lannister attributes of our parentage.” Ella replied. “Maybe my father knew I would get along here just fine.” Her hands covered her stomach, which wasn’t much larger than it was, but Ella felt like it was. 

“You’re really not who I thought you were, Ella.” Jon told her. “I always thought you’d be a stuck up princess, but you are actually very sweet.”

Ella laughed. “Me? Sweet? I’m afraid you have me confused with someone else, Jon. I have never been accused of being sweet.”

“Then maybe you became sweet when you came here.” Jon replied. “You know what everyone is calling you, right?”

“No. What? Don’t tell me it starts with a B and ends with itch.” Ella stated.

“No. They call you the Princess in the North.” Jon told her. “Keep in mind that the last king of the North, was called the King in the North. People like you here.” 

“Do they? I’m technically half Lannister, doesn’t everyone who isn’t a Lannister hate the Lannister’s?” 

“Not you for some reason. Maybe it’s because you actually are kind. You don’t order people around, you ask them nicely.” Jon said. “Or maybe because you invited a bastard to your wedding, even though you knew it would not only make people uncomfortable, but also upset some people and make others happy. People talk, Ella. People like you, Ella. Deny it all you want.”

“I’m not denying it. I’m just not believing it either.”

“Well believe it, dear sister, because it’s happening. You are liked.” Jon told her.

Ella smiled, looking down. “People don’t like me, Jon. People are not supposed to like the lords and ladies that rule over them.”

“Who told you that?”

“My mother.”

“Well she is wrong, Ella.” Jon told her. “You can be loved. The Starks are up here, and you are now a Stark.”