[center][h1][color=magenta]Manasa Stark[/color][/h1]
Mentioned: Reed Stark | Tiras Rivers 
Interacted with: [@smarty0114] | [@BlackPanther]
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[right]The young woman glanced up from the book she had held in her hands, the horse following her brothers as she had asked it to so that she was free to look around or doze as she so pleased. Long fingers delicately turned the page of the aged volume, silver-green eyes slowly reading over the words written in old and elegant scrawl over the yellowed parchment. An old history of King’s Landing, the origins of the names and the dragons that had taken up roost on the many towers of the Red Keep. Such a shame that they had died out with the Targaryen’s in the Sack of King’s Landing. Robert Baratheon, an amazing warrior and talented general had sat upon the throne and made almost as bad a King as Aegon the Mad had. Would it have been any different if Eddard Stark had taken the throne? The crown could have moved to the North, or he may have simply garnered a peace that allowed the King in the North to wear his Iron Crown. 

Manasa was pulled out of her musings by the slowing of her horse's pace, gradually coming to a stop just outside of the gates to the Red Keep. The herald was calling out their announcement, yelling louder than was necessary though there was nothing she could do about it. The long two months on the King’s Road was enough to wear out the usually wide awake skinchanger, but the large white and grey direwolf at her side was enough to keep her awake. Strangely enough, Shiva had crawled up on Echo’s back and gone to sleep while they were riding the final stretch today, not waking until they had finally gotten in passed the main gates of the Red Keep. The lynx stretched, yawning widely much to Manasa’s amusement before padding around them, looking for something to eat.[color=magenta] “We’ll get you something inside Shiva.”[/color] The young lady accepted the help of a young knight boy from the Karstark’s family, his strong and gentle grip assisting her balance and descend from the horse. She had always been better on the horse than her brother, though with how little he rode she often didn’t have the chance to ride unless he was in his lessons with Father. 

With the castle guards approaching, Echo and Shiva settled closer to her, each brushing against her hips in comfort. She had never been good with social interaction, and even worse when it came to people trying to separate her from her twin or her companions. They had pried the two apart once when Reed have come to King’s Landing with their father, while she stayed at home with mother and the others. The half year that he was gone had been one of the darkest parts of her life. She never wanted to be that far away from him again. She would rather die than potentially never see him again, thus her refusal to marry outside of the North. It was a stubborn request, but their mother couldn’t bear the thought of her daughter being as distraught and miserable as she had been when they were separated before. 

[color=magenta]“Manasa Stark. Twin to Reed Stark.”[/color] The men bowed, showing their respect, and as a stable boy went with two of their most trusted men to the kennels with Winter, Manasa knew she couldn’t leave Winter alone. Just like the twins, these wolves shouldn’t be without their pack. Her eyes narrowed, glaring at the men before her just as the direwolf growled lowly. Leaving her threat unspoken she followed her brother and the young page boy ahead of him. Shiva followed her without question, Manasa keeping up her connection with Echo, watching so that they knew the moment that something happened. 

Walking through the halls was like walking through a cathedral, but with dragon bones and danger everywhere. She knew no one but Reed within these walls, thus everything becoming a potential threat. She saw her brother round the corner, the young woman growing more nervous the further away he got but it was only natural. She had been delayed long enough with seeing the wolves in the kennels and looking at the garden. The Karstark knight touched a hand to her shoulder, brushing a lock of long black hair away from her face and behind her ears. [i]“You’re going to be fine Lady Manasa. These Southerners know nothing of hardship. You will triumph over these weaklings.”[/i] He whispered in her ear before gently nudging her forward. Already a stuttering mess, cheeks flushed a deep red, she pushed through the door into the common room of the tower. 

Naturally, the first person she would look for would be her brother, seated near the fireplace, his cloak laid across the back of his chair, foot tapping the floor anxiously. He was apart from his wolf, his family and in a place unfamiliar and unsafe. It was natural to be nervous. Heck, Manasa couldn’t even recover her usual composition before there was a bear in her face. It was small for a bear, mostly black, but with big and soft eyes. A pet? On reflex her mind brushed against his, jolting the beast into a friendly frenzy in which it nudged the girl slightly too hard and she fell back against a chair, that just happened to move and thus she landed on her butt with a bear on her, licking her face. She had not even had a chance to see who it was in the room, her eyes closed and nearly hyperventilating from the surprise and shock of something unknown touching her. Shiva bristled beside her, hissing at the bear, shoving her way between his face and Manasa’s shaking form. The bear took a step back, confused clearly, though when the contact of Manasa’s mind, it was getting the same shocked fear that the young Stark lady was feeling right at that moment. 

[color=magenta]“R-r-Reed?”[/color]

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