Even with Leonette's words, Eddmina hadn't been able to tear her mind away from the thought of Amariah Oakheart.

Perhaps it was since she'd not seen Willas for the last few days, the two of them kept busy with wedding planning, but Amariah haunted Eddmina's thoughts. Not just because of her worries that his family didn't like her as much as they had initially liked Amariah, but because at some point, Willas had come close to loving her. At some point, he held a close enough relationship to another woman that left him confused over his feelings. She sometimes wondered if he wrote Amariah letters, if he took her riding and walking with his dogs. She'd wanted to ask Leonette the next time they had dinner together, but the memory of how upset her future sister-by-law was at the mention of the Oakhearts made Eddmina decide to try and never mention her name again.

That didn't kill her curiosity though. Whenever she wasn't off planning the wedding or with Margaery and Leonette, she found herself reading books in the library about all the Reach families. She found out that Amariah had married a knight called Jonah, and the two of them were rather rich and lived in a keep of their own down near Oldtown that Jonah had inherited from a distant relative. She was still famed for her beauty, and she and Jonah had two little sons, Elio and Owain. Reading about her made Eddmina feel strange, as if she was reading about an alternate life, where those boys were Willas' sons. She found herself thinking about how close it had been that this wouldn't be her life, how close she had come to being just a name to Willas, just the daughter of the Warden of the North, so far away and to never be bothered with, never to be betrothed to. She found herself surprisingly upset with that possible life, a life where she would have never met Willas.

Amariah at least forced Eddmina into thinking over how she felt about Willas. Each night when his letters came, they were unchanged, not knowing the inner turmoil she was facing, not knowing how close she was to realising just how much she actually liked him. The thought of Amariah also made her think about her life before Willas, and as soon as she considered her past, she found herself wracked with guilt about one specific person; Theon.

It felt hypocritical to be jealous of Willas having a previous betrothed given her past. Every time she thought of Amariah her mind instantly took her back to her bedroom back in Winterfell, each night after dinner when Theon would come visit her. The thought of Willas being in love with someone else, the memory of Theon kissing her came rushing back. She felt so guilty, and knew that the guilt would only stop when she talked to Willas about it all.

That was why with only two nights standing between them and their wedding, Eddmina found herself stood outside of his quarters nervously, daring herself to knock on the door. She'd asked Leonette which room belonged to Willas and had snuck out of her room late at night to try and find it. Before she could stop herself she knocked and stepped back from the door, taking a deep breath and stroking her braided hair to make sure it was still neat, and when Willas opened the door she felt a smile grow on her face instantly.

He'd not been expecting visitors, that was certain based off the fact his shirt was untied down to his lower chest, exposing his chest hair. His hair was messier than usual too, his curls frizzing wildly, and upon seeing her he instantly ran his hand through it in an attempt to tidy it, clearly shocked to see her by the way his eyes widened.

"Mina? What are you... Not that it's not lovely to see you, but what are you doing here?" he asked, surprise in his voice.

"Sorry to disturb you," she said politely, trying not to look at his exposed chest and focus on his face. "I was wondering if we could talk?"

"Of course, I feel like I haven't seen you for such a long time," he nodded, stepping away from the door and welcoming her into the room.

It was a little odd to think that in only a few days, this wouldn't just be Willas' room but hers as well. It was nice though, much bigger than her room on the third floor, all the furniture being much grander than hers, the large fourposter bed being the centre piece, as well as the great bay window that opened up onto a patio, providing him with easy access to the grounds outside. Across from the bed was a large bookcase as if it was his own private library, a table and chairs in front of the bookcase with papers and quills strewn across it. As Eddmina looked around the room Willas quickly moved to tidy up all the papers, piling them together as he gestured for her to take a seat.

"Hiding tonight's letter from me?" she teased, raising her eyebrow as he sat down next to her, letting out a small laugh as she saw him flush pink. "I really like reading them, you know. They're really lovely,"

"I'm glad you like them," he said with a small smile. "I just thought since we can't spend much time with each other yet, it would be a nice way to let you know I haven't forgotten about you,"

Eddmina found herself smiling, unable to meet his eye as she felt the butterflies buzzing around in her stomach. As warm as his sentiment made her feel, the reason behind their meeting dawned on her and she felt herself become nervous. Willas clearly noticed, as he reached out and took hold of her arm, squeezing it reassuringly, his touch giving her goose bumps.

"What's wrong?" he asked, almost worriedly.

Eddmina didn't know where to start, letting out a small sigh. She'd spent all day thinking about what she was going to say to him, but now she was sat across from him, now he was looking at her and holding her arm, she was speechless.

"I don't know what to say," she began, and Willas was surprised, considering Eddmina usually thought everything through before speaking.

"Just, start from the beginning," he advised. "Whatever it is, whatever's wrong, we can make it better, alright?"

"Okay," she nodded, taking a deep breath, and Willas felt her shaking ever so slightly. "When I was having lunch earlier this week with your grandmother she mentioned Amariah,"

Willas swallowed nervously, looking down at the table with a slight grimace. He wasn't sure what he'd been expecting, but hearing her name wasn't it at all. What made it worse was that it was Eddmina saying that damned woman's name, Eddmina who he liked and admired, and he hated to think that she knew about Amariah.

"Did my grandmother tell you what happened?" he asked, not meeting her eye.

"No, but Leonette did," she told him. "I felt like your grandmother was trying to imply that I was inferior to her, and all the other girls that were suggested to you for betrothal. Leonette told me what happened to try and reassure me that it wasn't the case,"

"No, Leo was not fond of that woman at all," Willas shook his head, squeezing her arm again. "If it makes you feel better, you are far superior to Amariah. I wish her every happiness in her life, but looking back I'm glad I didn't marry her. I'm not glad of the circumstances that our wedding was called off, Gods know that I would change that in a heartbeat, but I would never wish away the future I will have with you. I didn't think that I would actually look forward to being married, but... I like you, Eddmina, and I'm excited to call you my wife,"

Eddmina felt herself become almost numb, her heart aching ever so slightly. He was so kind, so courteous, and it was overwhelming to know he had such strong feelings for her. It added a little bit of pressure to what she was going to say to him next though, considering how much guilt she had for what she had to tell him.

"I'm still nervous for the wedding, but I'm glad it's to you," she told him truthfully. "You've made me feel really safe about it all, but there's something I need to tell you first,"

"Whatever it is, there's nothing that could possibly change how I feel," he reassured her, but she doubted his words severely.

"Back before I knew about you, about the Tyrell visit, or the planned betrothal, I always knew I'd have to get married for my family's honour," she said, looking up into his eyes as she tried not to let her voice shake out of nerves. "I was never happy about it, even if it was my duty, so I decided to quietly rebel. It started when I was fourteen, a few days after my name day, I invited my father's ward to my chambers. Theon had been a flirt with me for a while, and I knew it wasn't long before my parents began arrangements for my marriage, so I wanted a bit of affection. I wanted to feel like someone wanted to kiss me because of who I was as a person, not because we had to for duty,"

She paused, the memories running through her head, though she felt nothing as she thought about Theon kissing her. It might have only been a few months ago, but it felt like a lifetime had passed since she had even thought of Theon in that way. It made her cringe ever so slightly, thinking about herself back then made her feel like she'd been such a child.

"We never did anything more than kiss, I promise you," she said quickly as if to make sure he didn't doubt over the truth. "I'm still a maiden, I promise. All we did was kiss, sometimes he'd try for more but I refused. We carried on sneaking around like that until about two weeks before you all arrived in Winterfell, but I was getting bored anyway. I think we were both so confused over it all, he was very possessive and refused to think that one day I would have to leave him to get married, and I just wanted to feel loved, even though I knew he didn't love me, not really. He loved the idea of me, loved the thought that he could have that power over me knowing that I wanted that affection. He wasn't happy when I told him I was done,"

"Well that would explain why he hated me being around in Winterfell," Willas remarked, remembering one of the last nights he'd spent in the north and how Theon had spoken to him.

"He could be a real prick when he wanted to be," Eddmina nodded, before letting out a small sigh. "I'm not going to apologise for what happened between me and Theon, I just wanted to tell you so you knew. I wanted to tell you so you didn't feel as though I was going to keep secrets from you, and I thought it was stupid of me to feel jealous of Amariah when I had Theon,"

"I wouldn't expect you to apologise to me, you deserve the freedom to explore who you are outside of the person your family expects you to be," he said, his hand moving from her arm to take hold of her hand instead, his thumb running across her knuckles. "And as for being jealous... Why would you feel jealous of Amariah, of all people?"

"Because at one point you were going to marry her, and you might have even loved her," she said honestly before she could stop herself. "I always thought if you found out about Theon you'd be mad, or jealous. I thought you'd hate the thought of me with another man,"

"Oh, I don't love the thought of it, but that's only natural considering you're going to be my wife soon, but whatever happened in your past is your business, whereas your future will be my privilege, if you'll let it," he explained to her, and she struggled to stay focused and not cry out of his kindness. "Are you jealous of Amariah because I had feelings for her? Because trust me, what I felt for her is nothing compared to what I potentially feel for you. I know we didn't really have a choice in all of this, but I'm glad it's you that I'm marrying,"

"I can't believe we're going to be married by the end of the week," she said quietly, still too unsure of how she felt herself but feeling relieved at his words. "I'm glad it's you too... I'm really glad,"

In that moment, Eddmina moved her hand slightly so that she could intertwine their fingers properly, squeezing his hand gently. She felt the usual buzz of butterflies, but instead of just making her feel nervous, she felt safe, and she felt as if she was at home. It was strange, usually never feeling that sort of way about a person. She only ever felt at home in Winterfell, surrounded by her brothers and sisters, but sat across from Willas she realised that over the past few weeks she'd begun to rely on him, her betrothed slowly becoming a person she felt utterly comfortable with. Part of her wanted to tell him, but she didn't want to just yet, not until she had the chance to figure out how she really felt about him.

"Your family arrives tomorrow morning, don't they?" he asked, deciding to change the topic, hoping that they wouldn't be stuck on such a deep conversation as the last one, and he was relieved when she grinned, nodding enthusiastically. "You must be looking forward to seeing them,"

"I am, this is the longest I've ever been apart from any of them, especially Robb," she said, trying not to get emotional over the thought of her twin brother. "I know this is my home now, and your family are going to be my family too, but I don't think I understood just how much I was going to miss them all,"

"It's only natural you've missed them," he nodded. "Winterfell will always be your home though, you're always going to be a Stark, nothing can change that. I'm excited to see your family again too, I didn't really get the chance to get to know them all back when we were up North,"

"Why, because you were too busy trying to flirt with me?" she joked, to which he just shrugged with a small smirk, laughing quietly. "You know none of my siblings have ever travelled this far before? I'm so relieved I didn't travel with them, I think if I had to spend a month on the road with my sisters bickering I'd have gone mad, not to mention my little brothers complaining about the heat,"

"I love it when you talk about your family," he told her with a smile, enjoying the little stories of all of their characters, and the way Eddmina's eyes seemed to light up whenever she spoke about them all. "Tell me about them all, your brothers and sisters,"

"Really?" she frowned with a small smile, but realised that she was enjoying talking to him, and she wasn't ready to leave his company just yet, and telling him about her siblings was the perfect excuse for her to stay in his room a little longer. "Well, there's Robb, my twin. Mother and father used to say we were like the same person, we used to be able to finish the others sentences. He always used to fight our mother to let me join in on the boys lessons, that's why I know so much about history since I used to be taught the same as him, except mother drew the line at me learning how to swordfight though, so he and I used to take archery lessons together instead. He's going to be the next Lord of Winterfell, and I don't think there'd be anyone better for the job.

"Then there's Jon, he's my half-brother, but I don't believe in halves. He's only a few months younger than us, so when I was really little I thought we were triplets, Jon, Robb and I. He's the bravest person you could ever meet, and the funniest too. My mother hates him since he's a constant reminder of my father breaking their marriage vows, but it's not Jon's fault. She used to try and keep us separate, but he's like my best friend. He wants to become first ranger at the Night's Watch, like our Uncle Benjen.

"My sisters, Sansa and Arya, are the most opposite people you could ever meet. Sansa is the prettiest, she has all the Tully good looks, and all the graces of a real lady. She's going to love it here so much, this is the sort of life she dreams of, though her dreams worry me a bit. Back home she always used to beg me to sing to her the pretty songs about knights, but I was always scared she'd think the world was much sweeter than it actually is. Arya, though, is so fierce, and she's clever too. She doesn't like to follow the rules like Sansa, and she hates being a lady. Mother once said that she got her behaviour from copying me, but she is far more wild than I ever was. The guards at Winterfell nicknamed her Arya Underfoot, since she was always running about and getting in the way of things.

"My younger brother Bran is a bit like her too. He's going to be nine in a few months, and he's constantly outside climbing and exploring. I bet he and Arya will miss our entire wedding because they'll be too busy off exploring. He used to get me to read stories of the knights of the kings guard, since that's his dream for when he's older. I used to love going out riding with him and Arya, when our parents let us, he didn't like it though since he wasn't big enough yet for a proper horse and he still had a pony. Rickon's the youngest, he's only four, but he was like my little shadow. Whenever I wasn't in lessons he'd make me play with him, chasing him around the courtyard or the forest near the godswood. Before you all visited, I was starting to teach him and Bran how to shoot, but mother hated it, saying they were too little, but they both loved it. It sounds stupid, but I hope they've all missed me,"

"I'm sure they will have missed you," he assured her, grinning at her stories. "You sound like a wonderful sister, you clearly love them all. I always thought I was close to my brothers and sister, but you all seem like a proper family,"

"We aren't without our faults though," she said, her eyes widening ever so slightly as she laughed, and there were a thousand family stories just behind that simple gesture that Willas could tell she wasn't quite ready to tell to him yet. "It's strange, I never really imagined my life out of the North, even though I knew it was inevitable,"

"Hopefully a life in the Reach will make you happy enough," Willas suggested, and he felt pleased when she nodded, almost enthusiastically.

The two of them spent practically all night talking, even into the early hours, and when Eddmina finally did sneak back off to her room, she was completely exhausted yet utterly reassured that everything was going to be alright.

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Word count: 3344

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