Game of Thrones; No One's Pawn
Chapter 1 of my new Game of Thrones story, enjoy.
Well, this should be interesting, my first story focusing on Lancel, this was an idea posed to me by Marina Ka-Fai and I decided to oblige.
Disclaimer: Game of Thrones belongs to George R.R. Martin.
Chapter 1
The young blonde man of eight and ten hurried desperately through the tents. The tourney of the Hand was well underway, the King was drunk and demanding more wine, so, as his squire, the young man had been sent to fetch it.
'Gods, I better hurry, the King seemed more irritable than usual.' He thought worriedly.
The King had been enjoying the tourney and been drinking heavily; now he sought more and as usual, when none was readily available, he began taking it out on the young man, forcing him to go and find more.
The young man paused and looked around worriedly. 'The Quartermaster didn't have any, I can't find any, what am I going to do?'
"Lancel?"
He started and turned. The young man was indeed Lancel Lannister, the son of Kevan Lannister, nephew of Tywin Lannister, head of the powerful Lannister family. He was tall, slender but gaining some muscle, he had medium sandy blonde hair and emerald green eyes.
He was pale and sweating, but that was mostly due to his exertions. He then saw the person who spoke to him and smiled, relieved, it was someone he knew, a good friend of his.
The figure was a young woman, the same age as him; a girl he knew as Mina Ashford, a girl from the Reach who had moved to King's Landing a couple of years ago, before Lancel himself did. She was Princess Myrcella's handmaiden; she was about average height with pale skin, big blue eyes and long dark chestnut hair, she was quite thin and, although it made Lancel blush to think or notice it, she had average curves.
"Hello Mina." He greeted her, happy.
She smiled warmly as she walked a little closer to him. "Good to see you, I wasn't sure if you'd be here?"
He nodded. "Me neither, but, I'm here." He replied.
Unlike most of the time, he strangely felt more relaxed when talking to Mina, he didn't stumble over his words, in fact, he seemed to feel more at ease talking to her than anyone else. He liked that she was quiet and patient, listened to people when they had problems and could be very discreet and well-mannered.
'She is also very loyal to her friends...' He remembered. 'I suppose it also helps that we have similar interests too...'
It was true, they both were avid readers, big nature lovers and had a fondness for music and poetry.
"Are you alright, you look breathless?" She asked.
Lancel gasped as he was suddenly reminded of his initial purpose.
Seeing his panic, Mina stepped forwards, clutching his arm.
"Lancel, what's wrong?"
He shook his head. "Gods, I...I nearly forgot. I, I have to get wine for the King. He needs, I can't find any and..."
Mina smiled gently. "Oh, I see, don't worry, here."
To Lancel's surprise she handed him a skin of wine.
"I...Mina?"
"It's alright; take it, I don't need it." She told him.
He smiled and thanked her profusely before heading back to the King's tent.
'Mina, she saved me again...Gods, just like how we first met.' He thought to himself.
It had been a similar set of circumstances in which they first met and since then, they had met every now and again, both of them seemed to enjoy each other's company.
He couldn't help but note. 'I always feel happier around her and she, she always seems more talkative and open around me...'
Mina was a quiet girl, rarely speaking up after all; but around him, she had no problem, although she never gossiped about anyone, she had a strong distaste for it.
As Lancel walked back, he thought more about Mina.
'We just grew closer, good friends, simply...enjoyed spending time together.' He thought happily. 'It's always so pleasant and she, she looks, so beautiful, her dress today really brought out her eyes and, and...Gods what am I thinking?'
He felt his face heating up and knew he was blushing. He couldn't believe he was thinking that; it wasn't like him at all. He actually felt ashamed, he shouldn't think that way about Mina.
She had enough trouble with unwanted suitors seeking to claim her hand in marriage to claim her family fortune. She didn't need a friend having inappropriate thoughts about her too. Mina meanwhile was returning to her tent, getting ready for the next round of the tourney.
She couldn't help but think of her friend. 'It was good to see Lancel again, he's been so busy lately...I missed talking with him, I hope we'll find time in the future to do so.'
It was true, Lancel was unable to get much time, which saddened her. After all he knew her better than most. She thought sadly of those men who kept trying to court her, all of them clearly after her family's wealth, something which disgusted her, they knew nothing about her, about her various interests, about her dislikes.
Lancel for example knew of her least favourite foods, lettuce and beets, he also knew other things, thanks to their friendship. He made the effort to get to know her, most of the men courting her didn't care if she had existed mere months ago, until she became sole inheritor of her family's wealth.
She sighed sadly.
'Honestly, Lancel wouldn't think about that...He wouldn't care...' She told herself. 'He would, he would care for me, for me and, and...'
She blushed, realizing where her mind was going, she quickly composed herself, she couldn't believe she had actually allowed herself to get carried away like that. She had to focus, she and Lancel were just friends after all.
End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.