She stood in the open archway of a grand balcony feeling the wind whipping and tugging at the silk of her gown. Shona felt most at home here on her balcony smelling salt water in the air. Sunshine trickled through the gauzy curtains setting her room a glow. Breakfast was untouched upon the table. Golden bowls twinkling with gems sat filled to the brim with grapes and fire plums. Platters of once warm bread and various meats grew cold for hunger did not come upon her. Shona felt nothing but bitterness deep in her gut. It was a feeling that prevented her from gorging on the feast behind her.
Glancing out across the open expanse of water before her, Shona Hightower could understand the nature behind the words of her house.
We light the way.
Rising high above the river mouth of Honeywine stood a fortress with walls of stark white stone. The High Tower was a sight to behold. Eight hundred feet above the shores of Old Town and beckoning ships forth through the froth of murky waves. A glimmering inferno sat atop the stone walls of her tower home guiding men home from across the Narrow Sea and to lands unknown to her.
Shona had never set a foot outside of Oldtown. She hardly set foot outside of her tower bedroom most days by wish of her grandfather. Leyton Hightower was said to be senile in his old age but Shona knew otherwise. Her grandfather's mind was as intact as her own, and at times ever the sharper. Her father claimed he was just secretive and enjoyed the comforts of seclusion. Inside Shona knew Leyton Hightower was too smart to involve himself in matters involving houses other than his own.
A knock sounded at her door. It was the quick succession of three raps which gave away the man behind the door before his voice did. A booming call of, "Sunshine" came forth before the door opened on squeaky hinges. Her father was standing in the open archway wearing a wide smile identical to her own. Baelor Hightower was said to always be smiling. Baelor Brightsmile they called him, and for good reason. Shona had always admired how handsome her father was. In her eyes he was the most handsome man in the Seven Kingdoms.
"How was your breakfast?" Baelor asked his youngest child passing a sideways glance at the full table sitting before him. He picked a grape from the bunch and popped it in his mouth chewing slowly. Her father approached her from behind as Shona still faced forward staring out across the open ocean before her tower salvation.
"Do you hate me?" she asked without emotion. She had cried all her tears the night before all the way until early morning. Her eyes were dry and sore and red.
"Sunshine," her father started. He was weary of the conversation and Shona could see him working his reply carefully in his head before he spoke, "I could never hate you. I love you dearly. From the first time I held you in my arms to now I have loved you."
"Then why are you sending me away?" She scrambled to say through her breaking voice. She might not have been crying, but the sadness was more than audible in her voice. Her father walked forward to awkwardly hold her to his chest. His large hands patted at her back as she stood still and stared at the wall behind him. Baelor Brightsmile held her at arm's length and stared hard at his daughter. She was a vision of innocent beauty and the frown she wore broke his heart. She was always full of smiles and never frowns. "It is important to have Hightower in King's Landing. Your cousin Margaery,"
"Is to marry the king. I know, father." Shona replied tiredly. Margaery was her cousin through her Aunt Alerie whom had wed into the Tyrell family. Mace Tyrell was the high lord of Highgarden and her Uncle by marriage. He was a nice man, but never had anything particularly interesting to say. Shona found him quite dull and dreaded attending parties in Highgarden due to his constant blabbering. His daughter had inherited her father's knack for talking, but was much more intriguing. Shona could not decide if it were because Margaery was beautiful or she was just charming enough to attract attention from an entire room.
"You talk as though it is a tragedy. You are not the one getting married, Sunshine. You are free as a bird in the sky. If it were up to me you would stay here forever with me. I do not think I could ever give you away."
Shona frowned and took a step out of her father's grasp, "But you are giving me away. You are giving me away to King's Landing."
"You are to be a lady in waiting to your cousin. You can attend all the banquets and parties you desire. You get to meet all sorts of new people and discover a new place. Besides, you will not be alone in King's Landing."
Baelor fiddled with the bowl of grapes and popped another in his mouth feeling the juice explode on his tongue. He got to his feet and pressed a kiss to the side of Shona's head. She stayed facing towards the open archway with her wheat colored hair blowing in the late morning breeze. It was not until her father had left the room that she cried once more. Her heart was full of ache for on the morrow Shona of the House Hightower would no longer live in the tower by the sea that smelt of salt water and sunshine.
It took her all of one day to pack, and even then she was worried of leaving behind something of value. She had her wood harp and books packed safely away in a chest made of Yarrow. Her dresses and other clothing took up a whole wagon of their own sitting beside a noisy cage containing her song birds. Shona was truly an animal lover and was always begging for a new pet. The birds were blue of color and had the sweetest voices. They were named 'Sing' and 'Song' respectively, but Shona could never tell them apart even by their voices.
"I promise you a stable full of horses when you return." Her father had spoke as she had mounted her horse, "And a kennel full of the finest hounds money can buy."
It had taken all of her not to cry. Baelor Brightsmile was not so full of bright smiles the day of his daughter's departure. He had stood beside his lady wife and watched as she faded down the Roseroad towards King's Landing. It was not until she was out of sight that he cried, his wife and sons beside him.
A royal escort met the large group of Hightower men in Highgarden where the Tyrells sat as lords. The trek even to there had taken upward to 7 nights. Shona had never seen so many men in one place. Knights in glittering armor, servants in roughspun wool tunics, barefoot children running amongst the throng of wagons, carriages, and horses. They were taking their finest seamstresses to King's Landing as well as tradesmen of all sorts. Blacksmiths, butchers, bakers, and even a woman who swore she could tell the future in a ball made of crystal.
"I see great things for you, child. I see you rich beyond your wildest dreams in the arms of a man of the proudest lineage. I see you crossing red sands and seas. I see you fulfilling your destiny."
One of her guards had finally put a stop to her crooning with a smack to the head. The butt of his sword had cracked her cheekbone leaving behind an ugly off colored bruise. The lady had refrained from fortune telling from that point forward. Shona was a little displeased for she had enjoyed the old crone's company. Her back and legs were stiff from riding, and her thighs were just about rubbed raw when they made camp two weeks into their journey across The Reach.
Bitterbridge was a castle named for the massive stone bridge which crossed the Mander River. The lord whom occupied the stout damp castle was of House Caswell. He welcomed Shona and her band of travelers with bread and salt as soon as he spied the Tyrell rose banners flapping in the wind accompanied by her own banners featuring the familiar white watch tower she called home. Her gut sank at the sight of it most days. It was the first time in her seventeen years which she had ventured from home. She could almost hear her grandfather complaining from seven hundred miles away.
"The Hightowers are to stay here in the High Tower where they belong. We do not need to involve ourselves in the age old King's Landing drama. Let the boy king rule, and let little Margaery handle him. She's got smarts and spunk that one as well as a pretty face. Yes, indeed."
She could only imagine his reaction to her departure. He had not left his tower to see her off, nor had he sent her a message by servant which he often did. Shona felt an edge of sadness tighten around her heart. Grandfather Hightower was old, much older than he liked others to believe, and she might have missed her chance to tell him goodbye before he passed. Shona prayed hard to the seven gods that night in the tiny sept inside Bitterbridge castle before she went to sleep dreaming of her tower room and the smell of the sea.