Fic: The She-Bear's Story, for chisakami
Recipient: chisakami
Title: The She-Bear's Story
Author: violaswamp
Rating: PG-13
Character: Dacey Mormont
Word Count: 1677
Summary: The Mormont women leave their home for duty.
Warning: This isn't exceptionally dark, but it's also not fluffy.
“She-bears do not cry before outsiders,” Dacey whispered to Alysane and Lyra when Lord Stark came to Bear Island to do justice upon Jorah.
Do justice, meaning kill. Killing was justice when someone had killed or enslaved another. The Starks understood this, and they were the guardians of justice in the north, which was why Lord Eddard was here with Ice.
The Mormonts understood this as well, but they were less concerned with justice than with survival.
But Mormonts did not quail in the face of justice. So Dacey, Alysane and Lyra stood stone-faced behind their lady mother while Eddard Stark commanded Jorah to appear before him. They continued to stand, silent and tearless, as the maidservant came back in confusion and said that Lord Jorah had fled.
Dacey, looking at Mother, saw that she was unsurprised. Jorah understood justice and survival both. And knew he had to flee the one to keep the other. Was it Dacey's imagination, or was Mother's mouth slightly upturned at the corners, just for a few seconds before her expression faded into impassivity? Had she known her nephew would run?
Lord Stark gave Mother a suspicious look, but the note Jorah left absolved his family of all complicity. And the Mormonts were loyal bannermen. Lord Stark was a just man. He would not accuse without cause.
That night Dacey brought a cup of mint tea to her mother's chambers. Lady Maege brushed the tears hastily from her eyes as Dacey came in, and Dacey pretended not to see. It was Lady Maege who had taught her that she-bears wept only when alone.
For the next few weeks Mother was very busy being Lady and fixing things Jorah and Lynesse had done before leaving. He'd sold a priceless tapestry, the only truly valuable one Bear Island had, to pay for a dress for Lynesse. Mother had to negotiate with the buyer to cancel the sale. He'd told a rich merchant who had been born on Bear Island that he would receive a keep in exchange for money; Mother had to tell him the contract was off.
Meanwhile Dacey took charge of the castle and of her sisters. She spun new games and merriments for Alysane and Lyra, tended to baby Jorelle, and herded them all into tending the castle and practicing arms with her when she could not think of some new play.
When she looked back on it, Dacey thought this was when she learned what it was to be a ruling lady.
Years passed. Mother had a new baby and named her Lyanna. A good northern name, and the name of Lord Stark's beloved long-dead sister. A symbol of Bear Island's continued fealty to Winterfell. It's showing, Dacey overheard Alysane explaining to Lyra, that we're still loyal to the Starks, even though Jorah broke the law of the north and fled from justice.
Then they received word that Lord Stark would be Hand of the King.
“'Tis good news, isn't it?” Dacey asked, after Mother had been silent for some time.
“Aye,” Mother said finally. “It ought to be, anyway...though Lord Stark, he's an honest man, and...well, far be it from me to be disloyal, but he's a slow man. Not stupid, but slow. Slow to change his notions of people.” She was silent again for a few moments, and then said, “But it'll all end well, you mark my words.”
A few months later Robb Stark called the banners. Dacey went with Mother, because she was the heir, and because took to axe and bow and sword as naturally as ducks to water. It was her duty to leave, and Dacey was raised to do her duty.
Truth be told, she didn't want to leave. She liked fighting, Dacey did, but she would be content to chase bears and ironmen and fight with wooden swords in the practice yard the rest of her life. She didn't want to go to Winterfell to go after Lannisters and all other manner of southrons. She didn't want to leave the dark green beauty of Bear Island. “I've never been off the island in my life,” she said to Alysane the night before she and Mother left.
“Do you good,” Alysane said, though her voice was gentle. “You'll have adventures and see all manner of exciting things. While I'll be stuck in this castle.”
“You'll be lady,” Dacey said. Mother had charged Alysane with Bear Island while its ruler and heir were away. “You'll get to tell everyone what to do. Even Lyra and Jorelle will have to mind you,” she said with a grin, knowing just how well rebellious young Jorelle would like that.
“Don't think I won't rub her face in that.” Alysane laughed.
Dacey hesitated before speaking her mind. She didn't want to lecture Alysane. And she knew there was no need for it. Still-- “Look after the forest for me,” she blurted out. Alysane turned to her, a look of worry on her face. Dacey's voice must have betrayed her heart. “I mean,” Dacey said, trying for a light laugh, “I don't know if I'll be back again to see it--”
“Don't be a fool,” Alysane said crisply. “The Stark boy's just calling the banners to give the Lannisters a scare so they release Lord Eddard. You'll be back in a week or less, so enough of your tragedy airs.”
Dacey laughed, naturally this time, releasing her worry and her fear. She suddenly felt both happy and ridiculous: what had she been so scared and excited about, anyway? This call from Robb Stark was naught to be scared of. “I'll be back,” she repeated. “Don't set fire to the place, sister, and don't get accustomed to being lady. I'll be back.”
Dacey left, and the letters began to come: mourning Lord Stark's death (“He was a good man,” their mother said), praising young Lord Robb, excitedly telling of his choice of Dacey for his personal guard, sending the news that he was now King Robb. A dismayed letter upon the fall of Winterfell, the murder of the Stark boys and the treason of Theon Turncloak. (“The King should have known better than to trust an ironman.”) Then Dacey and Lady Maege began writing of Lady Stark and her grace and kindness, sympathizing with her treasonous act of freeing the Kingslayer (“I'd have done the same were it you in that Lannister woman's clutches, my girls.”) Then more letters: telling of the new Queen Jeyne and the broken troth with the Freys, and then telling of the plans for a big wedding with Lord Edmure and a Frey girl. That would be pleasant, Dacey and Lady Maege thought: there was so much loss and sorrow lately, and a wedding would be a chance for merriment.
Later Alysane received the raven, black wings for black tidings, and told her sisters with a face of stone, and went to her chambers and wept, alone.
Lady Maege received the news a few days later, for she was on the move. She had no chambers, only a tent amidst a flock of strange and hard men, few of whom were from Bear Island. But she too wept, after making sure she was alone.
Then Alysane received another bird, this one from her mother, telling of secret orders and plots and intrigue. More intrigue than Alysane had ever been involved with in her life.
Before she left with Lyra and Jorelle, the three sisters went on a final hunt through the forest. They brought down two bears, and picnicked, and rambled through all their old places: here was the tree hollow where Dacey had jumped out at them when they were all playing monsters and maidens, and scared Jorelle so much she wet herself; there was the oak Alysane had climbed to the highest branch and hid there, clinging, for hours after her sisters had given up looking for her and gone home. And then Lady Maege had a fright and sent the castle out looking for her and they'd all gotten such a scolding, they would never forget it.
We do not surrender, her mother's letter had said. The Starks will rise again.
Easy for Mother to say, far away from this island with trees and bears and plenty of hungry mouths and no gold and little food. Mother did not have to see the widows and orphans and the old lining up outside the castle every day, begging for succor. Easy for her to have faith in the north rising again.
But Alysane was Bear Island's heir now-her grief over Dacey swelled within her at the thought, and she suppressed it with a ruthless act of will.
If this could help Mother-if this could help the Starks, who would then help the north stave off the winter as Lord Bolton would never do (traitorous fiend, murderer of Dacey and King Robb, the gods would see that he burned in seven hells if there was any justice)--
She would do it, of course. She would need help from Lyra and Jorelle, and she'd leave little Lyanna with the rule of Bear Island as Mother said to (with the steward to watch over her, of course) until she came back.
I'll come back, Dacey said, before the vile Freys stuck an axe in her belly.
They left on the morrow.
“We'll be back soon,” Lyra said, hugging Lyanna, who did her best to look brave and grown-up. “We'll be back, and Mother will come back with us, and then we'll have a banquet to celebrate. Wouldn't you like that?”
They sailed away in a rickety boat. The trees and the shore and Lyanna's wistful face faded into the distance and once again, Bear Island's heir left home for duty.
But this time she would come back.
Title: The She-Bear's Story
Author: violaswamp
Rating: PG-13
Character: Dacey Mormont
Word Count: 1677
Summary: The Mormont women leave their home for duty.
Warning: This isn't exceptionally dark, but it's also not fluffy.
“She-bears do not cry before outsiders,” Dacey whispered to Alysane and Lyra when Lord Stark came to Bear Island to do justice upon Jorah.
Do justice, meaning kill. Killing was justice when someone had killed or enslaved another. The Starks understood this, and they were the guardians of justice in the north, which was why Lord Eddard was here with Ice.
The Mormonts understood this as well, but they were less concerned with justice than with survival.
But Mormonts did not quail in the face of justice. So Dacey, Alysane and Lyra stood stone-faced behind their lady mother while Eddard Stark commanded Jorah to appear before him. They continued to stand, silent and tearless, as the maidservant came back in confusion and said that Lord Jorah had fled.
Dacey, looking at Mother, saw that she was unsurprised. Jorah understood justice and survival both. And knew he had to flee the one to keep the other. Was it Dacey's imagination, or was Mother's mouth slightly upturned at the corners, just for a few seconds before her expression faded into impassivity? Had she known her nephew would run?
Lord Stark gave Mother a suspicious look, but the note Jorah left absolved his family of all complicity. And the Mormonts were loyal bannermen. Lord Stark was a just man. He would not accuse without cause.
That night Dacey brought a cup of mint tea to her mother's chambers. Lady Maege brushed the tears hastily from her eyes as Dacey came in, and Dacey pretended not to see. It was Lady Maege who had taught her that she-bears wept only when alone.
For the next few weeks Mother was very busy being Lady and fixing things Jorah and Lynesse had done before leaving. He'd sold a priceless tapestry, the only truly valuable one Bear Island had, to pay for a dress for Lynesse. Mother had to negotiate with the buyer to cancel the sale. He'd told a rich merchant who had been born on Bear Island that he would receive a keep in exchange for money; Mother had to tell him the contract was off.
Meanwhile Dacey took charge of the castle and of her sisters. She spun new games and merriments for Alysane and Lyra, tended to baby Jorelle, and herded them all into tending the castle and practicing arms with her when she could not think of some new play.
When she looked back on it, Dacey thought this was when she learned what it was to be a ruling lady.
Years passed. Mother had a new baby and named her Lyanna. A good northern name, and the name of Lord Stark's beloved long-dead sister. A symbol of Bear Island's continued fealty to Winterfell. It's showing, Dacey overheard Alysane explaining to Lyra, that we're still loyal to the Starks, even though Jorah broke the law of the north and fled from justice.
Then they received word that Lord Stark would be Hand of the King.
“'Tis good news, isn't it?” Dacey asked, after Mother had been silent for some time.
“Aye,” Mother said finally. “It ought to be, anyway...though Lord Stark, he's an honest man, and...well, far be it from me to be disloyal, but he's a slow man. Not stupid, but slow. Slow to change his notions of people.” She was silent again for a few moments, and then said, “But it'll all end well, you mark my words.”
A few months later Robb Stark called the banners. Dacey went with Mother, because she was the heir, and because took to axe and bow and sword as naturally as ducks to water. It was her duty to leave, and Dacey was raised to do her duty.
Truth be told, she didn't want to leave. She liked fighting, Dacey did, but she would be content to chase bears and ironmen and fight with wooden swords in the practice yard the rest of her life. She didn't want to go to Winterfell to go after Lannisters and all other manner of southrons. She didn't want to leave the dark green beauty of Bear Island. “I've never been off the island in my life,” she said to Alysane the night before she and Mother left.
“Do you good,” Alysane said, though her voice was gentle. “You'll have adventures and see all manner of exciting things. While I'll be stuck in this castle.”
“You'll be lady,” Dacey said. Mother had charged Alysane with Bear Island while its ruler and heir were away. “You'll get to tell everyone what to do. Even Lyra and Jorelle will have to mind you,” she said with a grin, knowing just how well rebellious young Jorelle would like that.
“Don't think I won't rub her face in that.” Alysane laughed.
Dacey hesitated before speaking her mind. She didn't want to lecture Alysane. And she knew there was no need for it. Still-- “Look after the forest for me,” she blurted out. Alysane turned to her, a look of worry on her face. Dacey's voice must have betrayed her heart. “I mean,” Dacey said, trying for a light laugh, “I don't know if I'll be back again to see it--”
“Don't be a fool,” Alysane said crisply. “The Stark boy's just calling the banners to give the Lannisters a scare so they release Lord Eddard. You'll be back in a week or less, so enough of your tragedy airs.”
Dacey laughed, naturally this time, releasing her worry and her fear. She suddenly felt both happy and ridiculous: what had she been so scared and excited about, anyway? This call from Robb Stark was naught to be scared of. “I'll be back,” she repeated. “Don't set fire to the place, sister, and don't get accustomed to being lady. I'll be back.”
Dacey left, and the letters began to come: mourning Lord Stark's death (“He was a good man,” their mother said), praising young Lord Robb, excitedly telling of his choice of Dacey for his personal guard, sending the news that he was now King Robb. A dismayed letter upon the fall of Winterfell, the murder of the Stark boys and the treason of Theon Turncloak. (“The King should have known better than to trust an ironman.”) Then Dacey and Lady Maege began writing of Lady Stark and her grace and kindness, sympathizing with her treasonous act of freeing the Kingslayer (“I'd have done the same were it you in that Lannister woman's clutches, my girls.”) Then more letters: telling of the new Queen Jeyne and the broken troth with the Freys, and then telling of the plans for a big wedding with Lord Edmure and a Frey girl. That would be pleasant, Dacey and Lady Maege thought: there was so much loss and sorrow lately, and a wedding would be a chance for merriment.
Later Alysane received the raven, black wings for black tidings, and told her sisters with a face of stone, and went to her chambers and wept, alone.
Lady Maege received the news a few days later, for she was on the move. She had no chambers, only a tent amidst a flock of strange and hard men, few of whom were from Bear Island. But she too wept, after making sure she was alone.
Then Alysane received another bird, this one from her mother, telling of secret orders and plots and intrigue. More intrigue than Alysane had ever been involved with in her life.
Before she left with Lyra and Jorelle, the three sisters went on a final hunt through the forest. They brought down two bears, and picnicked, and rambled through all their old places: here was the tree hollow where Dacey had jumped out at them when they were all playing monsters and maidens, and scared Jorelle so much she wet herself; there was the oak Alysane had climbed to the highest branch and hid there, clinging, for hours after her sisters had given up looking for her and gone home. And then Lady Maege had a fright and sent the castle out looking for her and they'd all gotten such a scolding, they would never forget it.
We do not surrender, her mother's letter had said. The Starks will rise again.
Easy for Mother to say, far away from this island with trees and bears and plenty of hungry mouths and no gold and little food. Mother did not have to see the widows and orphans and the old lining up outside the castle every day, begging for succor. Easy for her to have faith in the north rising again.
But Alysane was Bear Island's heir now-her grief over Dacey swelled within her at the thought, and she suppressed it with a ruthless act of will.
If this could help Mother-if this could help the Starks, who would then help the north stave off the winter as Lord Bolton would never do (traitorous fiend, murderer of Dacey and King Robb, the gods would see that he burned in seven hells if there was any justice)--
She would do it, of course. She would need help from Lyra and Jorelle, and she'd leave little Lyanna with the rule of Bear Island as Mother said to (with the steward to watch over her, of course) until she came back.
I'll come back, Dacey said, before the vile Freys stuck an axe in her belly.
They left on the morrow.
“We'll be back soon,” Lyra said, hugging Lyanna, who did her best to look brave and grown-up. “We'll be back, and Mother will come back with us, and then we'll have a banquet to celebrate. Wouldn't you like that?”
They sailed away in a rickety boat. The trees and the shore and Lyanna's wistful face faded into the distance and once again, Bear Island's heir left home for duty.
But this time she would come back.