The Warden's Duty

Mid year, about six moons into their marriage, the letters from Dorne stopped arriving as frequently as they had been, and the spring thaw had began and the last remnants of Winter melted away with the sun's bright rays. Laien had grown used to her new home in the North, she still missed Dorne from time to time, and she knew that if it weren't for her new sisters and husband she'd have already lost her mind.

Laien quickly found fondness in her heart for her lord husband - he was a very passionate, kind, strong, honorable man, just as the rumors she'd heard before she arrived had promised. He was attentive man, going out of his way to give her the attention she needed to feel as comfortable as he could.

Late one night when Laien had grown sick for the third time in a row Jon had roused from his sleep and went out into the night's air to find Maester Sam himself. Sam came with a smile, as always, but with sleep still in his eyes. He checked her over under Jon's watchful eye.

"Well, my lady, from your symptoms it seems that you're not actually ill at all." Sam smiled happily, his full cheeks glowing puffing out even further.

Laien's brow raised high on her sweaty forehead - she'd retched all night and into the morning light, she knew something was wrong. "Well then, Maester Sam, tell me why I've emptied my stomach of anything I've eaten in the last five nights!"

Sam's smile grew wider and he turned his head to grin at his friend in the corner, looking as brooding as ever, before turning his eyes back to Laien. He was unfazed at her words, he'd grown used to the mood changes of women since his Gilly had only birthed his second son only weeks before. "When did you last bleed, my lady?"

Laien's cheeks grew hot with embarrassment, but she had no time to respond.

Jon stepped carefully into the center of the room, his eyes boring into Sam's. "Are you certain?"

Sam nodded and Jon knelt beside the bed, not trusting his knees, like he had done so many times that night. Jon's his face as pale as snow, and Laien scarcely thought he might vomit as she had.

Jon nodded quickly, then looked up at his lady wife. His eyes were full of some kind of emotion Laien couldn't describe. "Laien? Your last moonblood?"

Laien shook her head, her mouth opening and closing without words. "I-I don't know...," she thought hard, her hand resting on her stomach - it seemed to help stop it from turning. She sat quietly for a moment before her large, brown eyes widened and she gasped. "Just after we were married! Gods! How could I not have noticed?"

Sam shook his head gently. "You were under a lot of stress, my lady. You were in a new place with new people..."

"Am I with child?" Laien asked, her voice so small she didn't know if either man could hear it.

Sam nodded softly. "It seems so, my lady."

Jon let out a shaky breath and Laien covered her eyes with the palms of her hands. Sobs left her lips as she breathed in. Jon excused Sam and raised himself onto the bed, his hand rubbing her back.

"Shh," Jon whispered. "S'alright."

Laien shook her head, her eyes still covered with her hands. Jon firmly grasped her wrists, careful not to hurt her, and pulled them away from her face.

He stared at her with a small smile. "Laien, you're bringing our child into the world."

"I don't know anything about children," Laien sobbed. "I'm the youngest child, I never had to care for younger siblings..."

Jon shushed her again, and buried his hand in her thick hair. He brought her forward with a small tug and pressed his lips to her forehead before speaking. "I helped with my siblings. And I've heard stories - it'll come natural to ya."

"What if I hurt it? I don't know how to hold a baby!" Laien whimpered. "I don't know how to calm a child from crying!"

"Gilly will let you hold Julien if only you ask." Jon said quietly. "She'll help prepare you for motherhood as best she can."

Laien nodded her head and sniffed. "Thank you."

"There's nothing to be thanked, Laien. You're my wife," Jon smiled and slid his hand down her neck, over her breast, and ended it's path on her lower abdomen. "And you are carrying my child. It is me who should be thanking you."

Jon watched as Laien smile briefly before her eyes widened and she covered her mouth for the hundredth time that night. "Fetch the bucket!"



Laien groaned as she was helped from her place in the throne room by Sansa, her sister smiling and placing her slender hand on the woman's ever growing stomach.

"Laien, if you grow much more you're bound to pop open!" Sansa laughed, her eyes full of wonder at the woman beside her. "How've you been feeling?"

Laien almost glared at the girl. "Like my ankles are cracking apart. Jon's had to place two extra chamber pots in our room because of how many times I must go nightly. I am bloated. I am hungry, but there's nothing I want to eat. I'm tired but I can't go to sleep..."

A thin, red brow raised on Sansa's forehead. "Fret not, sister. Maester Sam says only a few more weeks until the baby comes."

Laien's lips curled at the thought of her little baby. Unconsciously she moved her hand atop Sansa's own. "I can hardly wait to see it's little face."

"Do you think it's a boy or a girl?" Sansa asked quietly, her hand moving from Laien's stomach to her arm, helping her out of the room.

Laien's shoulders shrugged and she felt her mood darken. "For Jon's sake? A boy."

"Laien, you know Jon doesn't care about that." Sansa scolded lightly. She led Laien into the Great Hall. Sansa had called the servants to prepare Laien some buttered bread and blood orange jam. "He and you are going to love this child even if it were born a great, snarling direwolf."

The expectant mother nodded, a soft sigh leaving her. "I know Jon doesn't care. But the council - they will look down on the foreigner that can't even give their leader what's expected of him. I will be thought useless, a waste of a political marriage."

Sansa stopped in her tracks, her arm pulling Laien back a step. In her eyes was a blue fire. "You are not just a political alliance anymore, Laien. You are my sister. You are Lady of Winterfell. You are a part of the North now. If someone says anything of you or your child I will pluck their eyes from their sockets myself."

Laien nodded, touched by the girl's sweet, but slightly barbaric, words. "I know you would, sister, and I truly thank you for it, but you know how things like these come to pass."

"And they will pass, Laien. Just worry about the baby in your belly and let Jon and me handle the rest."

Sansa helped her sit, watching as Laien winced. Her hands shot to her stomach. "Oh!"

"Are you alright?" Sansa asked quickly. "Should I fetch Sam?"

Laien shook her head. "No, it's just - Oh! - the baby is moving around."

Sansa's eyes lit up. "May I feel?"

"Of course!" Laien took her hand and once again placed it on her stomach. Laien winced as, once again, the child seemed to stretch it's entire body inside her. Sansa smiled so wide Laien feared the girl's face might split in two. "Can you feel it?"

Sansa nodded. "Oh my! It's really moving, isn't it?"

"Is that blood orange jam?" Laien asked quickly, eyeing the tray in the servant's hands. "Oh, I do believe I've died and gone to the Heavens."



Misery.

It was the only word that defined how Laien felt as she lay in her bed, birthing her first born child. It felt like she was being ripped apart! Another scream passed through her lips and she gripped the hand that was by her head, ever thankful that her sweet sister had been by her side.

"Sansa, I can't do this! I can't!" Laien cried.

Sansa gripped her hand back, just as hard. "Laien, you must! This is your child, and to bring this child into the world you're going to have to push harder!"

Laien shook her head, her sweaty hair stuck to her forehead. Her voice was so raw it had began to sound like someone else. "I don't think I can."

"You can." Sansa said finally. "Jon is outside that door waiting for his child. Give him his child, Laien."

Laien nodded, tears streaming down her face. She clenched her teeth together and pushed with all her might. She felt the burning of a thousand fires, and gave one final scream as her child entered the world.

The child bawled and screamed, and Laien didn't think she'd ever heard such a beautiful sound. Sam wrapped it in a cloth and wiped it's face and cleaned it's little eyes, then handed it to Laien for her to see.

"It's a girl," Sam said happily. "Congratulations, my lady."

Laien sobbed and held the little girl to her chest. Sansa ran to the door and swung it open, announcing happily that she was the aunt to a beautiful little girl.

Jon pushed past the crowd and ran to Laien's side, his hand shooting out to touch her face. "Are you well?"

Laien laughed, the tears still pouring from her eyes. "Yes. Yes, I'm perfect."

He placed a tender kiss to her head before turning his eyes down to the babe against her chest. "She's as gorgeous as you, my love."

Laien's heart stuttered for the second time that day, and for the first time since she'd come to Winterfell she truly felt loved. Jon had never called her anything but her name, and the affection in his tone brought a new wave of tears to her eyes. "She favors you."

Jon met her eyes and she saw that his, too, were glistening happily. A single tear left his eye and dropped onto their child nestled between their chests. The babe opened her eyes and looked up at her parents. Her little mouth twitched and Laien could have sworn that her baby girl smiled at them.

"She's so tiny," Laien whispered, staring in awe at the bundle. "So beautiful."

Jon nodded and leaned down to kiss the baby's tuft of black hair. "What will we call her?"

Laien smiled down at the baby in her arms. "What about Keira?"

"Keira," Jon repeated with a smile. "It's a good name."

Laien leaned up and kissed Jon, her heart full to bursting, and in that moment, she finally felt like she belonged.