Princess in The North

Chapter 11: Bad to Worse

Ella didn’t show too many emotions as her baby left her body. She didn’t cry, not even when the stomach cramps got really bad. She would vocalize her pain but no more. All she could think about was when the maester always said that she was so healthy. She was the healthiest pregnant woman that he had ever seen. What happened to that? What happened to her baby?

Robb couldn’t talk any more than Ella could. After she had let anyone see her, she could see half-healed cuts and bruises on his fists, like he had been in a fight recently. She didn’t comment on them, and neither did he. Winterfell was silent for the first time since Ella had gotten there, almost as if everyone was mourning the little lord or lady that never came to be. No one spoke of it. The young couple barely spoke to each other, even when they both tried to get things to go back to normal.

A month after Ella lost the baby, they laid in bed. Ella kept her back to him, curled on her side, facing the window. She watched the night. She watched the stars when she could see them, and the light the moon reflected on the clouds when she could not. She had been much meeker since the baby left her. She didn’t know how excited she was for the child until the child was taken away from her.

Robb laid right behind her, his hand wrapped around her waist as he began to kiss her back and his hand slid down her to the place between her thighs. Ella’s hand caught his wrist and held it still.

“Not tonight.” She whispered softly.

“All right.” He kissed her shoulder softly before moving away from her again. It was the first time she rejected him.

A few days later he tried again, with the same actions, and again she refused him. He left her alone without pushing her.

Ella resumed her activities around Winterfell, but when the baby’s crib was delivered, all the color drained from the princess, and Jon was the only one able to see it.

“Get this away from here.” Jon told two servants, stepping in front of the crib that he had watched Ella work on for days before finally sending it to a carpenter, making sure the measurements were to her specification.

“Excuse me?” The man looked confused.

“Get it out of my sight.” She told a servant whose name she did not know. “Get it away from me. Put it somewhere no one will find it.”

“Yes, milady.” He said, bowing, before quickly doing as she bid.

“And do not speak of it.” She told Jon when the man had left. “I never want to see this again.” She swept out of the room, and the moment she was alone, she didn’t cry, she didn’t want to. Her breathing was ragged and uneven. She kicked the bench in front of her vanity, causing it to fall over.

Ella let out an animalistic, heartbroken, and raw yell from between her lips. She slammed her hands down on the vanity, causing her palms to tingle. Her chest hurt, like her heart was breaking. Her heart was breaking. Her heart was broken. She looked up into the mirror, she could see the tears in her eyes, and the red blotches on her cheeks, just above her jaw. Her fair skin didn’t glow, she looked sickly. She hadn’t been able to eat much since she lost the baby; anything she ate made her feel sick. 

Ella brought her hands up from the wood of the vanity, and there was something stuck to her palm. Her mother’s note.

Ella read that note again. And again. And again. Slowly she read between the lines.

I will always take care of you. 

I will always do what is best for you.

You may not agree with me, but you will soon.