The air is getting colder day after day: the wind blows from the north and the sky is often plunged in a greyish and misty atmosphere. Today, at least, I wake up to a delightful sunshine. I enjoy this rare privilege, sitting by the window as I braid my long hair that looks slightly ginger under these sunrays, and I rush outside in the courtyard.
As I approach the stalls, I see a pretty blonde girl saddling a horse, while Alfie is clearly just pretending to keep himself occupied only to secretly look at her.
'Do you like her?' I burst out, jumping next to him, in a really childish tone.
He gasps. 'Mind your own business.'
He tries and walk away, but I obviously follow him, amused. 'Oh, just because, you know, you had stars in your eyes as you looked at her.'
'Did I? At least I don't blush whenever someone names Theon Greyjoy.'
'Hey, it's different! I was like… ten.'
Alfie bursts in laughter. 'No, you weren't. You kept doing it until you were… nah, I'm sure you still do it.'
'No, I don't!' I spit out, fists on my hips. 'Look, I'm not blushing.'
He checks my cheeks under the sunlight. 'Mmh, ok, you are right,' he admits, 'but trust me: you went on like that until last time I saw you up North.'
'No, I didn't,' stomping my feet. 'That was just when I was a child.'
'Oh no, it SO wasn't. You… You didn't sleep for a whole night after he kissed you,' he covers his mouth laughing even lauder.
'That's not true!'
'It is! For all the gods, I had forgotten about that time.'
'Alfie!' My voice starts turning terribly high-pitched.
He steels my green shawls and wraps it around his head, mimicking me. 'Oh my, Alfie,' he begins, batting his eyelashes, 'you won't believe what happened today! Oh Alfie, I could die! Kill me, kill me now!'
'I-don't-talk-like-that!'
'You did! Kill me, you kept saying! Kill me now Alfie, for I don't think my heart can bear so much thrill.'
'Very funny,' crossing my arms. 'I hate you.'
He gives me back my shawl. 'Well, that was just to show you why you shouldn't make fun of my when I look at girls.'
My killer instinct towards Alfie gets brutally interrupted by approaching footsteps. I turn around and spo the bastard fiercely marching through the courtyard towards the stalls.
'Oh look, the bastard is here,' I whisper to Alfie.
He promptly stomps on my foot.
'Ouch, I didn't even say it aloud!'
'Shut up.'
Ramsay is wearing a wide dark clothes, same colour as his hair, heavy boots and a thick cape. The blonde girl that Alfie was looking at, smiles at him. Then he glances at us.
'You.'
Alfie and I both look at each other, unsure whether the bastard is talking to me or him.
'The little one,' he clarifies.
'He just saved you from me killing you,' I quickly smirk at Alfie, before heading towards Ramsay.
'I don't need killing, I haven't been kissed by Theon Greyjoy. I'm sure my heart can cope without all that thrill,' he laughs back.
I finally reach Ramsay on the other side of the courtyard and quickly bow, even if I shouldn't, since he is just a bastard, but Helàna told me at least five times –I swear!- that I must.
He quickly glances at Alfie, far behind me, and then his icy eyes meet mine. I think he can be considered handsome, in a way, but the look on his face is always so severe and his jaw tightly clenched that it's hard to stare at him.
'Next time I call you, you need to answer back much faster.'
I bite my tongue, trying so hard to be polite. 'I beg your pardon.'
'I beg your pardon, my lord,' he hisses.
Deep breath. Fine, I can handle this. 'I beg your pardon, my Lord.'
'Better,' he smiles, pleased. 'Do you know how to saddle a horse?'
'Yes, my lord.' My Lord. Can I throw up yet?
'Good. Then prepare the black one.'
I enter the stalls, heading towards the horse he mentioned, and I hear Ramsay's footsteps not far behind me. I pick up a fistful of hay and feed it to the fierce animal, caressing him quickly before fetching the saddle. Ramsay is silently studying me, his breath is the only noise breaking the silent now that the voices from the courtyard are barely muffled.
'What's your name?'
'Aileen.'
'Aileen, my Lord.'
'No,' I spit out, 'Just Aileen.'
I bite my tongue. I couldn't help it. If Alfie was here, he would stomp my foot much harder. Before I can even realise, Ramsay has clutched my chin in his strong grip, forcing me to look into his eyes.
'You,' he hisses. 'I know you are new and young and you probably don't know much about manners,' he corners me to the wooden wall, without letting go of the grip on my chin, 'But you'd better learn some really quickly. The way you behave with my father, so you have to do for me, understand?' He gets even closer, until I can almost feel his breath on my lips. 'Unless you want me to teach you how to behave, and believe me: you really don't want this to happen. Do you understand?'
Is that a threat? I breath out loud, trying to calm myself, remembering Alfie and Helana's stupid advice. 'Yes, my Lord,' trying to sound humble, but staring back proudly right into his blue eyes.
He lets go of me, slightly pushing my face on the side. 'Now saddle the horse.'
'Yes,' I mutter, feeling my stomach ache, 'My Lord.'
….
Hello, people of Westeros!
I wanted to thank Bluerubydragon, Aleesha513, Dark Angel 792, Jafcbutterfly, Jess54325, Luronda and Mira91 for beginning to follow my story or adding it to their fave.
A special thank to Lumay16: I am really busy recently, but finding her review compelled me to find some time to write this new chapter. (Since you were expecting the first proper interaction between Aileen and Ramsay, I hope you are happy!)
Hope to hear something from you!
Bye xxx
Sunshine
