Chapter #6Emma enters the hall by: MontyB   She walked into the great hall and was surprised to see the snowfall coming down all around her.
"Winter is coming, my dear," a strange voice said. Emma looked toward the center of the room and could barely make out the shape of a human form located there, deep within the snows. "The time of House Martell has come to a close. Winter is coming and those who are prepared shall endure."
Emma raised her chin. "The sun will melt the snows." Her voice was strong and defiant, belying the tremor she felt through her body.
"The sun may try." The scratchy voice laughed and Emma felt an odd familiarity. She knew that voice. She knew this soul. "Grandmother?" She stepped a little closer to the center of the room.
"Yes, my dear," her grandmother said. "But you can come no closer to me. I cannot offer you physical help here. It is forbidden. But you must beware the snow. It covers lightly, gently, until you realize that your path is blocked and you are no longer able to move."
Emma looked around at the snowflakes that fell into her golden locks and onto her thin night shift. She gave an involuntary shiver at the cold she had expected, but there was none. The Martell sun must be keeping me warm, she thought.
"The cold is not always felt on the skin," Grandmother warned. "The cold we must fight against most is within the heart. He will try to corrupt your heart. He will attempt to make you believe things that you know are not true. If you believe, your heart will freeze and all will be lost."
Emma worried her lower lip with her teeth. It was a habit that she thought she had broke as a young child. And, like a child, she longed to rush into her grandmother's arms to find comfort. Grandmother had been a Stark and had traveled from Winterfell to House Martell when she married Grandfather. "It makes sense that you would be in here with the snow," Emma said. "You always did miss it. I still think of your stories."
Grandmother chuckled softly. "I never could get used to the heat that you all seem to thrive within. But you must be prepared, my granddaughter. Winter snows can cover even the warmest of hearts."
Emma nodded. "Yes, Grandmother," she said solemnly. "But, can you tell me, why am I here?"
Grandmother sighed. "You were chosen," she said. "None but the Maker know the reason why. But He has faith in you. And I do as well. You must defeat this best. You must refuse him. For if you do not, the Martells will perish along with the rest of the realm."
Emma felt a weight, like that of a fifty pound feed sack, press down on her shoulders. She was barely fifteen, so how could she be expected to take on this task and save the kingdom. Wasn't that a job for knights and squires? Maidens like herself were expected to embroider and run households.
She fell to her knees in the deep snows. The white powder covered them and crept up her thighs. She considered lying there and allowing the snow to cover her body. What cannot be seen cannot be hunted, she thought.
"You must not give up before you begin," her grandmother's voice traveled toward her ears and she found she could not shut out the words as she longed to do. "You are chosen and you must fulfill your destiny."
"I don't want it." Emma said simply.
"Then we are all surely lost." Grandmother's voice was sad and disappointed. The words felt like a dagger slicing her thin skin and Emma felt the coldness of the snowdrift in which she sat.
"It's so cold," she remarked. "I feel as if it is sucking all of the warmth from my body." She lifted her hand from the snow to stare at the reddened skin.
"When you give up the warmth, you allow the cold to seep in." Grandmother said.
"What can I do?"
"You must continue your destiny, child. You must defeat the Morbidane."
"And if I cannot?" Emma's voice trembled, though she wasn't sure if it was from fear or the cold. She stood, eager to leave the snow's icy grip.
"You must!" Grandmother's words were harsh and firm, like the winters she often spoke of in Winterfell.
Emma nodded, her eyes brimming with tears. "I'm afraid."
"We all are afraid when our destiny comes to call." Grandmother's voice softened and Emma took solace in the warmth there.
"What do I do?" She steeled herself. Fear was for children. She was a woman and would do what was needed to save her family.
"You must face your fears and let them not change you."
Emma let out a ragged breath. "Okay, I am ready."
"You have passed the first fear." Grandmother said. "You did not allow the cold to freeze you. You found your warmth. The others, I'm afraid, won't be so simple. But you must continue. We all depend on you. Be well, child. And remember, winter is coming."
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