Scalton

[Deleted]

"I see." Aranya had gone very still. "Your man must be very handsome, to have won the heart of a girl like you. I imagine he was a tall and golden-haired, with bright, fierce eyes, a great hero. Am I wrong?" Aranya's voice took a teasing note, but only Fallon and Tech could see the agitation in her.

[The Smith]

Maila smiles, "He had the most beautiful golden locks, but he shaved them off with his beard. He would never let himself be called a hero though, but he is the best with the spear my brother Brand has ever seen." She touches her belly and smiles down at it.

Tech stares at Aranya, as he chews his food with a face blank of all expression.

[Deleted]

Aranya did not look at Tech. She feared that she would hurt him if she did. "So your lover is clever. He fooled the King in the North, but has actually been on Benjen Stark's side this whole time?"

[The Smith]

Maila was confused and glanced at Tech, "I think you are confused. Daniel served Lord Karstark for years as an armsmen until he betrayed the Starks. Then he came here because he had known my mother and father from their stays at Karhold."

[Deleted]

Aranya looked at the girl shrewdly. Either she's lying, or she truly doesn't know. Aranya was pretty sure the girl didn't know what she was talking about.

"I see. It is good that the man-at-arms showed loyalty, even if his liege didn't." Aranya turned to look at Tech and spoke so Maila couldn't hear. "Are you as confused as she is? Tell me the truth, Tech. I'm not a fool."

[The Smith]

"I do not waste my time teaching fools. There sits your revenge. Tonight you can cause your enemy the same pain he has caused you. I will not stop you, I have seen you do it." Tech plays with his food, and with effort his face remains impassive.

[Deleted]

Aranya gaped. "You knew I was going to do it?"

[The Smith]

"I have seen you do it." Tech shrugged.

[Deleted]

Aranya regarded him for a long moment without speaking. "I will say nothing of what is passing in my mind," she said. "But I think we will see each other again."

She reached into her pack and pulled out a vial of black liquid Maester Cerwyn had given her, a sedative to help her sleep despite her grief and trauma. While Maila leaned over to talk to someone, Aranya discreetly tipped some of it into her milk.

When Maila turned back, Aranya smiled. "Have some of your milk," she urged. "When I was pregnant, I found it did wonders."

[The Smith]

Maila took the milk and asked, "Aren't you pregnant now? I thought you said earlier. Oh have you already had children? What were their names?" She sips from her cup.

Tech stands smiling fiercly, then he walks away to the swamp.

[Deleted]

"I have one son named Brynden."

Aranya watched Tech walk away, sensing his terrible anger. I will not walk away from this easily myself, she thought. She would have to be very, very careful.

The guests had cleared away. Only Fallon, Perra, Maila and Aranya still sat at the table. After a few minutes, Maila fell asleep. Aranya picked the pregnant girl up easily, and carried her away. Fallon and Perra followed wordlessly, the falcon scouting ahead. They mounted their horses and rode slowly through the swamp. Aranya supported Maila carefully in her arms.

[Deleted]

Aranya crept into Scalton. It was an hour from dawn, and the village was asleep. She had left the others in the trees, while she cradled the baby boy against her. He had fallen asleep. She found Tech's hut and knocked on the door.

[The Smith]

The door swings soundlessly open, for the village of Scalton has been abandoned by the crannogmen.

[Deleted]

Aranya searches the village, looking for tracks or signs to show where they had gone.

[Deleted]

When she realized that they had left not so much as a trace as to where they had gone, Aranya grew frustrated. She called loudly for the others to come. "If we can't find them, then we will make them find us," she said. She wished she had drums to beat loudly as she walked, but somehow she did not think she would need them. They laid down Maila in Tech's hut and found milk and other foods in several other huts. Then Fallon prepared a large fire, the smoke rising high.

While Perra and Fallon sat around the fire, Aranya held Maila's baby, wondering if Lance Sands would mourn Maila the way she had mourned Selwyn. She had been a sweet girl.