"I've heard that Stormed has quiet attached himself to the girl's skirts these days. Escorts the gel and her cousin almost everywhere."
Did he now? Circe stirred her tea with lowered lashes to hide her musings from her aunt and her companions. They, like the rest of the ton make it a sport to shake the infallible Circe Lannister for fun. Little do they know she was more than capable to handle thrill seeking old bats even with her half wit engaged.
'No doubt, Aunt, you think I will deny it passionately and announce the Stark girl my enemy thus forth.'
Ah how their society works! One might think, living at the pinnacle of civilization, kindness or other virtues were bred in the people. But no, that would be too boring for the indolent Gentry. Everyone must put others down to make their uselessness seem… well… not so useless.
"That's hardly a surprise Aunt!" Circe chuckled prettily with her guileless mask held strong in front of the dragons. "I do believe my very dear friends, the Dane sisters? Excellent family I assure you and attended the same finishing school as I." She explained at their frowns, "Told me they are neighbors to the Starks, and have mentioned that Lord Stormend visited Winterfell quiet frequently."
Lady Marcel, who was the sweetest for her silliness in the pack, nodded at Circe's explanation, "Is he not friends with Lord Eddard, Winterfell's son, as well?"
One lady, Mrs Drummond, stared intently at their young hostess and remarked, "I do not believe the boy has any familial intentions towards the gel. His unusual behavior has been remarked by many."
"But then we haven't seen, His Grace, with a sisterly figure before." Circe parried idly.
Lady Constance chortled, "Sisterly indeed!" the rest of the ladies joined her, making Circe now truly uncomfortable.
'I should have known the old cow wouldn't call on me without a reason!'
She didn't have to wait long for the reason as Lady Constance continued, "My dear girl, Stormend's behavior is not brotherly adoration." The sly old woman paused for effect and Circe geared herself for the revelation, "His are the actions of a besotted young man towards his intended." As if scripted, every bleary eye riveted towards Circe's face to seek her reaction, "There have been whispers of a secret betrothal that took place when the old duke was alive. Robert Baratheon I do believe is finally courting a young lady who has been chosen for him."
"And frankly, the popular opinion is that he is not at all unsatisfied by the choice for his duchess." her Aunt Lady Stafford smirked at her dearest friend, and the reason why she decided to shake the infallible Circe Lannister, Lady Tyrell. For whom the biggest crime Cersei ever committed was refusing her grandson's hand in marriage.
Ah to have friends like that. A recurrent thought came to Circe's mind along with the accompanying bitterness and resentment.
'How my aunt wasted no time barging in to embarrass her own niece at her friend's bidding. But then again friendships are earned with trust and loyalty and a Lannister's only loyalty is to their family.'
"Never show weakness. Never show predictability. And never wince at the face of duress."
It was like her father was standing beside her chair and shouting his wisdom at her.
"That is indeed surprising. Well…"
'Father will be furious enough to have a fit.'
Funny how her first thought was not indignation but worry at her father's reaction.
"…after all that is said, it does seem like a brilliant match! Quiet a… rewarding alliance."
'And after that he's going to demand results with any means possible.'
Dowager countess Tyrell smiled in her amusement, "Brilliant you say? I must concur as I too am a staunch believer that some things are above the plane of materialism. Rewarding indeed, lucky for Stormend."
'You, your dandy grandson and your pack of vicious old bitches may go straight to the devil.' Circe tried to convey the sentiment with her eyes and a negligent tilt of her proud chin yet kept a bland amiable smile on her face.
Lady Olenna was about to open her poisonous mouth again that Circe's father interrupted them. After sketching a perfect bow and a round of friendly greetings, he asked his daughter to be excused for a moment, and Circe was never happier for her father's interruption.
Out of the guest's sight, his manner again became brisk as he stormed to his library. She followed at a sedated pace and knew already what was coming. He was obviously outside the drawing room's door when one of the dragons decided to impart that bit of news to his daughter.
"I cannot bloody believe it! That old battle axe has the audacity to fling that rubbish on my face!"
'Always about you, father? What about me? How do you think I feel after making a cake of myself after your preferred duke in front of the whole ton?'
"Bloody Stark! Of course he would pre-think everything for that daughter! Even when…" his eyes fell on his daughter, "Well… were you not, dear daughter, quiet trite about Stormend looking for a different sort of wife?" He towered over her and spat, "One job, girl. Perhaps it is too much to ask for a female to be useful."
Refusing to be cowered and immune to his words she tried to reason with him, "Father, as you well know that the said betrothal was done in secrecy and perhaps without, his grace's knowledge. For all we know he still doesn't know and is just indulging a friend's younger sister on her first season."
"Just as well. Invite the girl to a tea party. Call on her. Become a part of their household for all it takes. I would have the support of the 2 seats that have a bloody say in the house!"
Not that she was privy to her father's deepest secret machinations, but she had a general idea that it was always something to do with politics and a bill he kept pushing forward.
'Oh Jaime. If only you knew what awaits you. You might never wish to return from your tour.'
How she envied the freedom of being a man. To escape even for a while from the unpleasantness of her life seemed like heaven. Yet here she was fighting her demons in the absence of her brother and conniving a way to gain a position of power to keep those demons at bay. The only way a female could gain her security.
How it angered her to feel helplessness sometimes. As if to mock her further, laughter was heard as a pianoforte started to play. Her eyes hardened in sudden anger.
"It will be as you wish, father. But," She pointed at source of the merry making, "he leaves this house."
"Dont be addled, girl. He's your brother and I have some use for him yet. That was actually the reason I wanted to see you. Tyrion, as you well have guessed, shall be taking residence here. And no matter that idiot's predilection to foolishness, I expect you to remain civilized."
"No respectable lady shall visit this household if it accommodates that satyr in here." she said pointed at the sounds of her little brother's indulgences. To which of course her father waved a dismissive hand.
"Do not worry about it. He has just arrived and I shall abreast him of his expected behavior. Now go and see your Aunt off." He turned around and muttered almost to himself, "It was bad form of them to blurt such speculations and gossip to our faces. I suppose mutterings behind fans do not have the same impact."
She quietly left him to his musing without being watchful of her environment, until it was too late and the demon of her former contemplation manifested itself.
A started gasp escaped her, "Uncle! I did not know you were visiting."
"Yes my dear, I know how much pain you take to avoid me these past months." Kevan Lannister pouted in mock reproach, "Very bad. I thought we would share more time since your hovering brother had gone away."
'Not hovering you monster. But protective.'
"I have missed you my sweet Circe. I hope my gifts were enough offerings as a token of my adoration to you." his slimy hand stretched forward to cup her ashen cheek.
'Gifts that I was burning in my hearth every time they arrived.'
She quickly took a step back and tried a polite smile. 'Surely there are servants about. Calm down, you are safe, Circe.'
"Please excuse me Uncle, but I have already left the guests unattended for too long." She tried to walk past him.
He captured her elbow, "Guests that have left already." then smirked, "I saw to that."
She shrugged him off with a stony glare, "Then perhaps you would wish to visit papa now. He's in the library."
'Your brother is right under this roof you bastard! Leave me be.'
"Oh no my darling." he rasped and crowded her in an empty room and locked the door, "I have exactly what I came for."
All her bravado seeped from her trembling body and she fought feebly like a frightened little girl she had been made felt throughout the years, "Uncle you mustn't. Please let me go."
'Oh God, do not make me endure this.'
"Or what? You shall scream?" He laughed while lifting her skirts, "You know what happens to disgraced little girls, Circe. And you never did scream before, did you? Ever."
Then again why would some Holy intervention help her? Since she has, for years, silently been an unwilling accomplice of the most unholy deeds imaginable.
She was still acting like a brat and had completely turned her back at him. But lord he was a fool to still find her adorable. What is it about the thought that something belongs to you? Why does it make it even more attractive? Robert patted his coat to feel the letter he had as an idea to make that little hellion remember her own sentiments not a long time ago.
Hicks was the genius behind the idea in his usual, disrespectful way. While tying Robert's cravat he listened to his grace's addled confessions about the young lady's attributes, and muttered under his breath, "Write a sonnet already will ye."
The incorrigible sod. Since it inadvertently gave Robert an idea he again dismissed his valet's grumpiness. After days of careful planning and soliciting favor from Starks and Martels, he finally had cornered Lia to talk to him in a public setting no less. Only to ensure her best behavior. He had taken them to one of the pleasure gardens, where everyone knew each other and the chances some unwelcome person to approach them and say their hellos were high. He would not let her waste what precious time they have.
"Lia."
If it was even possible she turned more to the opposite side of the bench where he lead her as soon as Elia Martel left them to greet someone.
"Lord but you might snap your small back if you go any further."
"Then please stop trying to engage me in a conversation." She said behind her hand.
The girl didn't even want to be seen exchanging words with him. Enough was enough.
"Lyanna Elizabeth Stark! You will turn around this instance…" he loudly said without giving a damn that he startled a passing couple.
"Hush!" Lia stiffened and hurriedly turned to him, "Keep your voice down!"
"Like I give a damn about.." He carried on in same volume.
"Do you not have any social graces?"
"What the devil?" He said incredulously. He didn't have any polish? "Says the brat who has been ignoring her company."
"Unwanted company, your grace." then tsked, "That is beside the point. You are making it quiet hard you know? I do not even know how one goes about in such instances?"
"What instances, Mia Lia?" he softened suddenly at the uncertainty in her voice, thinking that she has finally accepted that she was being courted by him and had no experience in the matter to guide her. Adorable.
Like she had listened to his inner delusional musings she replied drolly, "In case you have not noticed your grace, you were being given a cut direct."
"Was I? By whom?"
"By me!"
He chuckled, "Oh my Lia. And what do you know about that hmm?" He leaned on his arm which he stretched behind the bench. He was finally at ease now that he had engaged her anger. At least she was talking.
"Enough to know that when one has been dealt the like they should not make a spectacle but gracefully accept and remove their presence from further embarrassment." then laughed mockingly and looked him up and down, "But of course you wouldn't be deterred, Robert Baratheon! Not a shameful bone in that huge body."
Before Lia's eyes the common phenomenon of Robert preening like a peacock occurred, "Nice of you to notice, thought quite direct, Lady Lyanna." It was his turn to mock her, "I do believe I have obtained this built by sparring at Gentleman Jackson's regularly." His voice took a deeper timbre, "At least my physical appeal is not lost to the woman you've become, Mia Lia."
"I am beyond words." She gaped for a while, "Nothing in my statement have I indicated…" She scrunched her nose to show disgust, "…all that you've just said! Huge: As in, a gin house is huge. A common park is huge. A horse is huge."
His eyes were twinkling and she wanted to smack it out of there, "So you mean to say I am majestically huge like a stallion."
"Oh bother!" She turned away and faced forward, "'Vanity is the greatest seducer of reason.' I see that applies aptly."
He threw back his head and laughed, "Settle down you shrew. I know something that can calm you down."
It was with great effort that Lia held her tongue and ignored him as he got up and left her there on the bench. In her anger she didn't even bother to look for Elia who was watching everything from a distance with a smile.
"For a second, I was about to march up there and shake the little twit for avoiding Stormend like that in public." Oberyn followed his sister's gaze to remark, "I thought I taught her better."
"Oh hush you. Let her be. I think his grace was thoroughly charmed!"
"I still cannot believe you were an accomplice in his clever scheme, Elia." then sniffed, "I suppose I am too, in an indirect way, being the acquaintance that you HAD to see and meet suddenly."
Elia's soft laughter tinkled behind a hand to smother the volume in order to keep their position hidden from their cousin, "But it worked did it not? After all these days Uncle was getting worried at her aversion to his grace. I would not have done it had I not been given a nod from him and also an assurance that the final decision shall be Lia's. He but only wanted Stormend to have a chance."
"If her sour little face is any indication I would say Stormend has his work cut out for him." He said in amusement, "Imagine our little Lia, a duchess! No. I cannot imagine her in a dignified position. With her unkempt, unfashionable hair and dirty feet, I imagine her in a more savage setting of the Americas. Yes." He looked contemplative for a second, "Perhaps one of our American landowner friends…"
"Do not dare, Oberyn." Elia interrupted his thought process hotly, "She shall remain here, in England. So, keep your rich savage friends well away from her and Uncle!"
"Oh sweetheart, how you forget, we too have that 'savage' blood in us." he rebuked fondly.
"Not at our behest." her smile wilted a bit as she turned to look back at Lia only to crow again, "Hush now he's coming back." then frowned, "But I do not know how much time is enough to keep a single couple unchaperoned."
"Not a well thought scheme then."
"Shut up, please."
'Look at talking to herself and preparing more words to spit at me.' Robert thought ruefully. Never has someone spoken to him like she did, and so shamelessly. He looked around the park and caught eyes of at least 3 ladies who coyly smiled at him in invitation. Openly. Any fool with a working vision can feel their palpable desire for him. Except for the little fool in a charming yellow dress he left sitting on the bench.
He should know by now that his Lia does not fall in the general category and does everything to set herself apart. Not once had she noted how many salutations he received while walking with her and Miss. Martel. No, she strolled with a lightness of a dreamer and had a peculiar smile on her face while searching corners and dark places. Which was odd, but her smile made her silence and nonchalance bearable. More than once his sentences broke while staring at her that Miss Martel had to prompt him to save him from embarrassment.
He got the ices and headed back towards Lia, when his eyes caught the brother and sister watching unabashedly while hiding from their cousin. He smiled when he remembered how the gentle and slight Miss. Martel warned her when he requested her help to talk to Lia in some semblance of privacy.
"Out of hearing, Your Grace. Not out of sight mind you." She wagged a stern finger but a secretive smile.
No doubt Lord Winterfell had already made her cognizant of the situation. He should feel sorry for Lia because the poor thing had no chance at keeping him out of her life, because since their childhood he came barging in that life and laid claim. She only has to acknowledge that fact.
He saw her stiffening at his approach and decided that 'offense is the best defense' was thought out for such instances and called out,
"You're not going to feign a sudden headache, are you?"
"No." she said in outrage. Then while trying yet failing to control that temper of hers she said with pinched lips, "That would be an unnecessary cowardice."
"Yes and my Lia is anything but a coward."
"I am not your Lia!"
He waved the paper cones negligently, "Debatable." then before she could speak the words boiling to be spat out he thrust the ices at her, "Here."
When she did not take them and kept on glaring at him he waved them in a circle before those grey eyes.
"What are you doing?"
"Tempting the tempest with ices apparently. Is it not working?" he looked at the cone, "It's lemon flavor, to match your dress. So, that it's not much visible when you drop some on yourself."
She kept on glaring but took it from him, "How sure you are I will drop it on myself like a child."
"Oh? I thought what with your behavior these past days that is to be expected."
'I shall not be goaded. I shall not be goaded. I SHALL NOT BE GOADED!' Lia chanted it in her mind, trying to calm herself in front of the one person to whom she had much to prove. What is it about rivals that one sparring with them and they could jostle your passion to take them out with any means necessary. She must realize this show of high emotion was unseemly and Elia would be disappointed if that traitor was here to see.
She took a hefty bite without thinking and immediately froze with the sudden headache.
"Oh no!" she faintly said with a frozen tongue and covered her mouthing with her hand while holding her cone towards Robert, to take. She could not spit out and make a display of herself in front of so many people.
Robert was laughing delightedly at her at which she turned her troubled gaze towards him. Looking at her wet eyes and red cheeks he immediately stopped. He dropped his cone to take out his handkerchief, "Spit it out if you must, tesoro." he held it out for her.
She shook her head and held her face in her hands and persevered through the uncomfortable sensation. "Dear God. It only happened once when Nan made them the first time when you told me about these."
He smiled, "Yes I remember you telling me about it."
"I was so excited that I took a huge bite then as well." she laughed ruefully while taking her ices back.
"So what were you excited about today?" he motioned for her hand with his handkerchief.
She gave him her hand not knowing what he meant to do and eyed him amusedly, "Not excited, your Grace, but I was struggling to reign my temper."
"And what a way to break the ice!" he chortled while carelessly dabbing the hand nearer to him which had some melted ice from her struggle to hand it to him. "Please do not be angry anymore Lia. I wanted to talk to you for just this reason."
"To induce a headache one way or another?" she raised an eyebrow.
"No." he smiled again, "To make you realize that we cannot go about pretending to be strangers, Mia Lia. We have much cherished memories among us and I would, that they do not turn sour because of a few unpleasant ones."
Her smile had already slipped at his words but managed to say achingly, "A few too many, your Grace."
"I wish we could go back to how we were." he said quietly and willed her to look at him and his earnestness.
Lia silently nibbled at her ices with a sad yet resigned frown on her face. Like it was useless to argue with him and no matter the words, he still would not understand her. He hated that look on her face. He would rather face her wrath then have this indifference that said something was not worth the effort.
'Well old boy, it's now or never.'
He quickly took out a wrinkled and yellowed letter from his pocket and made a show of unfolding it and clearing his throat.
"Dear Deer. Or should I say deer-est dear!…" He watched the cone falling from her fingers as she turned to gape him incredulously. He decided to keep going.
"…I hope you have realized by now how excited and happy I am today. I wish you could see how…"
She lunged for the letter which he had anticipated and moved it out of her reach. "Stop, damn you. Elia might return and hear your demented ramblings!"
"Ramblings!" He voiced aghast, "I would have you know this is a letter I received…" but broke when she tried to take it away again with a quick hand.
"Give it back!"
"Back? It's mine!"
She looked so worried, with her darting eyes that he thought he must allay her fear before she runs away to escape. "As for someone finding out, well, I have a sheet of some scientific drab with me. If someone is to come this way I shall surreptitiously exchange the pages. No problem."
"Oh bother you, Robert Baratheon. I wish you would not read it at all."
"Well tough luck, my Lia. Now you stay over there and brood while I read MY letter from a loved one from long ago. Where was I? Ah."
"…I wish you could see how my hands are trembling right now! …"
"Oh it was not hard to imagine since your writing had gone illegible a bit in this one."
"…Do you remember my cousin, Miss Elia Martel, recently told me how young ladies are introduced in the ton? She even explained to me what Ton was. Let me tell you, it is not a measurement of weight and it is a height of ignorance to think that. I am letting you know in case you have any confusions as well…."
Robert chuckled under his breath.
"…Anyway, so Elia told me about the coming and goings of this 'Season' business, which sounded absolutely splendid! Naturally, I had to ask father if I too shall have a Season and he said yes! Imagine me in all the prettiest dresses and hairstyles curtsying and dancing with all the elegant people like Elia! I can hardly wait though it may take some time for me learn to be more like them.
You would be there as well, no? Lord Dragaestone, all decked up in his pompous clothing!…"
"I imagined you giggling over here while writing that." Robert remarked fondly.
"…Elia mentioned a lot about dancing. Seems very tedious to be honest. Elia said people find it quite enjoyable but how could one enjoy while worrying about the steps and minding the other person's toes? This worries me greatly…."
"'Greatly.'" He crowed, "As if that is singly the most gravest matter in the world!"
"…Thus, I propose we promise that you partner with me as often as possible, till I gain more confidence and stop prodding on unsuspecting feet. Since I have already made you promise once, I must insist on others as well. Oh, do not frown at my words so, I but request that you show me the sights of London that you have mentioned before. Taste all the delicacies and do not forget the flavored ices! Ever since Ned and yourself explained the novelty of those ices, Nan and I have been trying to replicate them every winter. I would like to try those as well if you do not mind.
In all my excitement I forgot…."
He stopped at the sound of a sniffle that Lia tried so hard to hide. "Lia?"
She turned at him with aggravation shining in her tear bright eyes, "How could you?"
He was at a loss to even utter a word in his defense so she kept saying, "How could you embarrass me so? I did not believe that you could be so callous in your teasings. What are you trying to achieve, your Grace? Are you flinging a young girl's desperation for friendship so carelessly? Or her excitement at hope to be accepted? Well, complete your cruelty then and finish that letter."
He still winces while reading the last part. Her childish wistfulness truly gauged his heart even back when he first received it.
He folded it and placed it back in his coat, "You know I cannot." he assured gravely.
"Lia, you must believe me when i say that it was not my intention to embarrass you or make you feel ashamed of what I truly cherished all my life. I wanted you to know that i did not have a disrespectful disregard for your friendship. I still take out these letters once in a while to read them because I have treasured them."
Thinking how he thought of her a silly little girl throwing a temper tantrum and promising himself to discipline her, turned his own ears red at the tips. He decided to be honest with her, "I- ahem, I would not deny that i did think callously that you over reacted all those years ago. I must confess I did not handle it gracefully. But seeing you now, seeing how you abhor me and worst, seem indifferent to me, it made me realize how easily all can be lost. Only because I let you keep on thinking that I did not value you."
"The last time…at the creek, you were so cruel."
"I know."
"It was surreal to see you change so. It was a rude awakening, Robert Baratheon. No, do not interrupt me and let me say my piece."
It was inevitable, Lia thought. They were bound to cross paths and her childish notion of never wanting to see him again was just that, childish. Since he wanted to clear the air and was willing to listen to her without turning into a veritable ogre, she decided to let him hear the words that she had practiced in the last 2 years.
She sighed and decided to shed more of her layers towards maturity. Forgiving and forgetting.
"Things…do not revert back in a blink of an eye. I am not the same little girl as I was before, naive with idyllic expectations. People change and I wish to believe that I have grown up and out of that image, that I too have changed for the better if you look at it neutrally. I beg of you to let go of your pride for a second and acknowledge the wrong you dealt my younger self, Stormend."
When she saw him opening his mouth to debate that point she hurriedly asked, "Would you have tolerated a boy 8 years older than your sister or daughter…uh.. handling her like you did me? A little girl who in her innocence would have kept her confusions a secret from you? Actions have impacts and I believe how you conducted yours, it was very poorly."
"I never once crossed a line…."
Thinking that she still has not made her point clear she quickly blurted, "I felt betrayed by you." That immediately silenced him. "I felt ashamed to have trusted someone when I knew what you wanted or did was wrong. Please understand that I had no comprehension of evolved feelings. I only felt betrayed and hurt."
They both fell into silence again. It was a lot to take in for him, she thought, while looking at his frown.
Beneath that outwardly frown, Robert was deeply shaken at the extent of damage his disinterest in his actions has havocked. What an arrogant little beast he has been all his life. Why is it that her words only made him go through ALL the instances where he has shown tactlessness? And he just wanted to marry the chit and leave her in the country…
'Such mature words and wisdom.' Robert looked at her with a new admiration. 'That look, like she is growing in front of my eyes.'
Realizing the discernible gravity that has descended around them she decided to cry truce. Giving him a playful smirk she remarked, "Also manipulating my cousin and my family will not change how I've come to feel about you. I'm sorry but my person would not transform into my young adoration just because I have finally entered the real world. Forced to see and hear what a laudable duke you are."
He for a moment just stared at her but then Robert's expressions changed as only he could achieve, devious eyes with an innocent serenity on his face. He accepted the olive branch.
"That does not mean that I agree with the common consensus."
"Yet." He said with a confidence which made them both chuckle.
When they have quieted down she took a deep breath and let it go slowly. Keeping grudges takes a toll on one's mind and body. She was feeling lighter already. The reason behind his insistence at meeting her and all the floating whispers these days… that is a different and worrying matter. One that she shall straighten out when the time comes. She was not disillusioned that after all this time suddenly father would bring her to society just for her leisure. There was an air of finality when she drove away from Winterfell at the starting of this season.
But for now just like any other young and carefree person she decided to live in the moment, happy and grudge-free. Seeing her Artemis medallion attached to Robert Baratheon's fob watch helped making that decision too. Had he made a show of it in one of the parties, she would have never let herself be abandoned by Elia in his company today. She still remembers how saw him coming out of a shop on Bond Street, frowning at his watch, without a clue that she was within seeing distance with Elia. There, artlessly dangling from an intricate gold chain was a worn medallion. His reading of her letter today only made her suspicions clear: Robert Baratheon was an arrogant idiot, who shows his emotions and appreciation in his own way.
"It gets tiring, does it not?"
"Indeed." Robert sighed too.
"I'm sorry about your father. I know you were very close to him."
"Yes, well he died a happy man. Still miss him though."
She nodded in sympathy and asked after a moment, "Shall we signal Elia to come out from behind that tree? I think that's about enough time."
Robert threw his head back and laughed, "You minx! You knew it all along."
"I just told you, manipulating them would not work." She said dryly while waving at the solitary tree. Slowly as if in resignation two figures emerged from behind it and strolled towards them.
Oberyn did a very overly acted performance of shock, "Oh! I did not know you were here! Elia and I had so MUCH to talk about that we had no idea of the time!" Elia by now was blushing furiously.
"Hello, acquaintance." Lia drawled, deciding not to spare her cousin her embarrassment.
"Hello, brat." Oberyn smirked back delightedly.
Walking back from the gardens, the siblings decided to take lead while Robert held Lia back a little, "I know it is too soon to ask for your trust again, Lia, but believe me I will have that again soon. I did not understand from your point of view and always blamed it to be a tantrum that almost cost me a dear friendship with your brother." Lia was frowning by then.
"I think I am finally understanding a bit. I cannot tell you my point of view right now. I wish I could tell you… well… everything. But maybe in the future when we have rebuilt some trust in a new light."
….. In all my excitement I forgot to wish you well and hope everything too is well in the Baratheon household. Though I already know it is. You never speak of your family except your papa. Sometimes I wish I could visit your house and bother you like you do me, but I know papa would never allow it. At times I think I am being hidden away like a secret from the world. Since the only person from outside of the family I am allowed to meet is you. I do not know how that makes me feel but I do know I feel sad whenever I think about papa being embarrassed of me.
Do you think papa is hiding me in shame? Would you be embarrassed to be seen dancing with me during my season? Would your friends in the city laugh at me? I hope not. Papa's words today have given me much hope that i can go and see places as well, I just have to come to age. You have no idea how much scared I was before. Now, I shall see the world beyond the iciness of Winterfell! So I shall persevere and grow up as not to embarrass you and everyone.
Take care of yourself, please, and next time bring that black stallion of yours. I shall braid his hair.
Yours etc,
Ribbon Weaver.