Jeyne, 278 AC, The Twins
If there is one thing that can be said for House Frey, they are a numerous bunch. Lord Frey himself, a decrepit wheezing old man, had certainly been fruitful in his life. His bastard children outnumbered his legitimate children, but combined, they made for a formidable bunch. Lord Frey himself sat at the head of the hall, looking out over the assembled group of notables.
The hall had grown loud as more and more people had arrived. I noticed many young women and girls in attendance, and I recognized a few of them. It seemed as if Lord Walder had invited most of the eligible maidens in the Seven Kingdoms, or at least, the ones willing to come. Robert would have found such an event thrilling, even if he hated the rituals of courtship and matchmaking. He never passed up a chance to try to impress a large group of women, after all.
In addition to Bethany and myself, I recognized Mylenda Caron, who had once more affixed me with a death glare. I had not seen her for almost a year, but she still hung onto a dislike for me. There were many daughters of relatively minor landed knights from the Stormlands there as well, who I assumed were mostly there for Lord Walder's baseborn children. After all, a noble bastard was still an upgrade for some small houses. There were many other girls my age, although I had not met them before today. A Royce, a Waynwood, a Redwyne, a Vance, and I believe a Lannister of Lannisport.
House Swann actually did not stack up too badly against most in attendance. Perhaps that was a good sign. In addition, I believed I was probably near the top in terms of attractiveness, as well. Bethany perhaps had me beat, but that was probably it. Lord Walder stood, slowly, and rapped his cane down on the floor before he began to speak.
"My Lords, and to the young ladies present, I welcome you to The Crossing. Because of the many members of my House, I try to hold one of these events each year and see where we go from there, heh", he said, before continuing, "For some of the lesser ladies, my baseborn sons are all in attendance, and really, you're welcome to them. Seriously, I plan on making many more, heh." Nobody else in the hall seemed to find that as funny as Lord Walder did, with his wrinkled grin revealing a man who really was beyond caring about the views of others. His children especially looked away awkwardly, and seemed mortified by his behavior.
"Nonetheless, my son Merrett will be the focus for today, and you can find him outside training in a few minutes, most likely. Not that I care what the ruddy fool does, but there it is." A shocked gasp went up in the hall, and I could tell that Lord Walder's behavior was probably much more scandalous for those who had never met him before than for his children, who just shook their heads once more. He continued, "Now, Lord Swann, we have business to discuss. Meet me in the west tower in a half an hour."
The Maester for the Crossing stood up after that, and said, "Now, ladies, those who are here for Merrett, you will depart the hall and he will get to talk with each of you for a little while, just as a formality. If it pleases Lord Walder, he will make a match for the pair of you."
At that, the hall dissolved into a flurry of activity, as the highborn girls, myself included, were ushered out by the attendants and taken to the training yard near the edge of the Eastern Tower, where a bunch of squires and some of the Frey sons were training. A strong looking lad, with a brawny build, who had spent the last few minutes beating down a group of little kids, came over to the group of us, before taking Mylenda Caron's hand and kissing it. This must be Merrett.
Merrett and Mylenda went off on a walk for about ten minutes before returning, and then he took the next girl in line, Bethany, off for a while as well. She came back with a relieved look on her face. As Merrett departed with the next girl, I asked Bethany, "How was it? What was he like?"
"He was fine, I guess. I don't know why I was so nervous. He just showed me around the tower and asked me about my father's shipping business. He was probably told to ask those things, and that was the end of it."
Deep down, I knew that I probably didn't really want to marry Merrett Frey. But I did want to make House Swann proud, so I figured I would do my best. It was obvious that Merrett was told to look for a rich wife, and I wasn't going to make the cut. That at least took the pressure off. I knew that Robert would find this whole exercise in futility hilarious when I told him of it, and at least I could look forward to that.
I waited patiently for my turn, and eventually Merrett had moved through most of the other girls before getting to me. He approached me with some amount of weariness, as I was the last one, and he kissed my hand before rising to speak.
"My lady, could I have the honor of showing you around the castle?"
"Of course, I would be happy to come along", I replied.
Merrett took my hand and escorted me out of the training yard, and in through the entryway that led to the Eastern Tower. I noticed that he seemed to walk with some urgency, as if he just wanted to get this over with. I was a little bit insulted, to be honest, as I had gone to some lengths to look my best. He had not even looked at me once by the time we had gotten to the second level of the tower.
Okay, I had to say something before I was just shunted off and away.
"Are you going to ask me about how much money my father has?"
He turned around, shocked, and said, "No, my lady, I thought you had been informed already."
"Informed of what?"
"Of the real reason you were invited, of course", he replied. What was going on?
"So, you weren't told to just find some rich heiress or daughter to stake a claim to?"
He at least had the decency to blush a bit, before saying, "Well, yes, that much should be obvious. But you specifically, and Lady Rosby, are here for my father, whose wife passed away a few months back."
"WHAT?!" I nearly screamed. This was completely ridiculous! They seriously thought that either me, or Bethany, was going to marry that old lecher? Did my Father know of this? How could this have been allowed to happen?
"My Father was unsure if he wanted a fertile or barren woman to marry, so he picked two houses with divergent reputations on that front, and wanted to meet the pair of you", Merrett replied rather sheepishly.
"So all of this, the rich girl shakedown stuff, it was all a cover for-
"Really, our house is quite wealthy, I don't know why you are being like this about it", Merrett replied somewhat pretentiously.
I was absolutely seething, as angry as I had ever been before, but I needed some clarity. "Did my Father know of this before we came here?"
"I think not, as he is only here to sell those infernal siege weapons to Father. But I had thought that one of the attendants had told you earlier on. I mean, really, you didn't see this coming? Your family are little more than common tradespeople with impoverished tenant farmers paying tiny amounts of rent-
"With 4000 men sworn to Stonehelm! Who will gladly smash those who insult me in this manner! And I will not take this insult-
"Be reasonable about this, my lady" Merrett said, as he grabbed my arm rather forcefully and started walking us down to the courtyard. He had a strong grip on me, but I could easily slip out if need be. "You will be brought before Father later on, and he will, for a lack of a better term, evaluate you."
I shuddered at the thought of that.
"So, then what's your role in all of this? Are you actually looking for a wife?"
"Yes, I am to seek a rich wife. But you do not fit the profile", he said, rather contemptuously, before adding in under his breath, "even if she does have an amazing pair of tits."
At that, I lost it. Who did this… cretin… think he was?! I had seen him whacking a sword at boys half his age earlier and leaving them in the dirt, before going over to that wretched Mylenda Caron and choosing her first! Then, he had played off that rotten game to Bethany, and she had been none the wiser about the real reason she was here, before absolutely ignoring me, and now discussing aspects of my appearance, in my very presence, thinking I was too stupid to hear it.
I pulled my arm away from him, right as we reached the entryway to the training yard from the tower, and swung as hard as I could with my other arm at his face, letting out a loud yell in the process.
The surprise on his face was palpable, but sadly, I had not actually known how to throw a punch, and my closed right fist collided instead with his neck. My hand stung immediately, with the reverberations of the force I had swung with colliding back into the joints of my arm. The pain immediately became apparent to me as I jumped backwards.
Rather than leaving him with a black eye or a bloody nose, as I had wished, he instead collapsed to the ground, and looked as if he was choking. It seemed as if I had hit him in the windpipe. This may have been more effective, but it was a mistake, and one that might have been serious.
Immediately, the other girls, and the attendants with us, rushed over to the pair of us. We had been within visual range of them, and I realized that it looked as if I had swung at Merrett unprovoked. This, was, well, it was bad.
"Look at what the Swann bitch did now!" shrieked Mylenda, to no surprise on my part. "She attacked Merrett!"
"It was an accident!" I futilely protested, convincing nobody. Merrett was still coughing, and still trying to get his bearings, as he rolled around on the ground. I was immediately seized by two of Lord Walder's guards, and dragged back towards the main hall of the castle. Bethany had a terrified look on her face, and shrank towards the back of the group of girls, as if she didn't know me.
The guards ran smack dab into Lord Walder, and Father, as they were returning to the hall.
"-well, that works with me, Lord Swann. As promised, 2000 dragons will be sent to House Swann from the Iron Bank's next shipment. The raven has already left. Now, there is another matter I would like to discuss with you, and it involves-"
"What is the meaning of this?!" yelled Father, as he saw me being dragged into the main hall. "That is my daughter!"
"Lord Frey, the girl set upon your son, unprovoked, and hit him-
"Unprovoked!? He led me here under false pretenses!" I yelled back, shaking at the guards grip. Lord Walder's glassed over eyes took in the situation, and he seemed to find the whole situation amusing. I could see him take a sip out of the wine cup put in front of him, before looking at me directly.
"So you took a swing at that dumb bag of rocks, heh. I'll have no complaints about that. Let the girl go", said Lord Walder. The guards threw me to the floor, and Father immediately came over to me and picked me up, before leading me to a seat. I could tell he was furious, but I could not tell what had angered him most, my behavior, or my treatment.
"Now, Lord Swann, this is what I was going to get to. I need a wife, with Sarya gone, and your family has always been a place we Freys look to for such matters. This is your girl, here?"
"Lord Frey, you better have a good explanation for this-
"The Rosby girl, I was going to look at her as well. Thing is, my children don't want me to take a Swann wife, as women of your house always prove fertile, and they don't want any more competition. But I don't particularly care. The Rosby's aren't known for bearing many children, and my children wanted me to take a look at her as well", Lord Walder continued.
"How is it that I am just hearing of this?"
"Ah, I figured it might get out what I was doing, and Lord Rosby would keep his girl away. But no matter, I'd like to meet your girl over there", he said.
The deception and insult of this all was a lot for me to bear. I tried to maintain my composure, but I looked up at Lord Walder's grotesque and uncaring visage and shouted, "This is outrageous! Your son tried manhandling me back to the courtyard, and as a result, I struck him in the windpipe! And now, you sit there, and insult House Swann with-
Lord Walder started laughing a deep cackle, and said, "The girl forgets her place! But that is alright, Merrett needed someone to take him down a peg or two anyways. Now, let me look at you", he said, before rising up to his feet and putting down his wine cup, and taking a few strides across the hall towards Father and myself.
Father rose to his feet, and said, "Lord Frey, this is not what I agreed to-
"Ah, just give me a minute or so to look at her and make a decision. It won't take long", Lord Walder interjected, before stopping hunched over with his cane a few feet in front of me. He was virtually undressing me with his eyes, and was taking particularly long to look at my breasts, before glancing up at my face with a smile.
I was doing all that I could not to vomit right on the spot, as this was turning out to be the most humiliating experience of my life. Father was doing his best to keep his composure, but I could tell he wanted to rip Lord Walder in half.
"Now, Clifford, she has the look of Cyrenna, don't you think?" Lord Walder said, with a chuckle.
I was aware that he was once married to my Great Aunt Cyrenna before her death, but that was well before my time. The man in front of me had known King Aegon when he was still a squire for Duncan the Tall. He was a truly ancient creature.
"Jeyne, I must say, while your face is pretty enough, you are a bit thin. A pretty face does nothing for me, after all, as I'm generally not looking at you face to face when it comes down to it, heh" he said, with a deeply disturbing lack of care for what was coming out of his mouth. Father pulled me close at this moment, and started to turn to leave, when Lord Frey continued to speak.
"Childbearing hips are serviceable, but not extraordinary, as I have come to expect from your family. On the other hand, those breasts-
"I must get some air, Lord Frey", said Father, with the coldest tone I've ever heard from him before. I held on to his arm as we speedily walked out of the hall, with silent tears threatening to fall from my face the whole time.
Walder Frey cackled loudly, and called for ale to be brought to him. I didn't look back, not once, and I decided to cling to Father with every ounce of my being. I just wanted to go home, or to Storm's End, and forget that any of this had ever happened.
As soon as we got to the courtyard, Father sought out Ser Robyn and Gulian, and told them that we were leaving right now. Gulian took one look at me, and immediately went over to his horse, as did Ser Robyn. Ser Robyn rode out to the men on the Kingsroad, who were lounging in the grass with the now empty carts. That reminded me of our real purpose for coming, and I looked up at the ramparts on the Western Tower, where a coterie of men were maneuvering around one of our ballistae into a spot pointed due north.
Something was sticking in my mind, however, and I felt as if I was forgetting something really important. I pushed a strand of hair behind my ear as I tried to remember, as Father continued to grip me tightly.
"BETHANY!" I shouted out, remembering what was happening. Lord Walder would soon learn that he had his other desired bride still on his ground, and that would be a nasty situation.
"What about her?" asked Gulian.
"Gulian, trust me on this, you need to go find Bethany in the courtyard and bring her back here right now!" I replied. He didn't say anything, but he did start moving his horse in the direction of the courtyard.
Father yelled something to Ser Robyn, and the carriage was brought up to the gate of the Eastern part of the castle. Father walked the pair of us over to the carriage, and helped me in. I saw Gulian riding out with Bethany looking somewhat dazed on the back of his horse. She had no idea what was going on, and probably wouldn't for a while. Father climbed in the carriage, and I put my head in his lap and finally allowed myself to cry.
The men on the Kingsroad formed into a column, and our party made our way south as fast as we could I did not think that Lord Walder would try to pursue, but I don't think Father wanted to take any chances, and the men jogged most of the way rather than merely marched.
This was, without a doubt, the worst nameday I had ever had. That included my 9th nameday, when I had fallen down a flight of stairs, or my 12th nameday, when Gulian had poured a half crate of red dye over my head as a joke. I allowed myself to cry for a few hours after that ordeal, and it had probably been almost 10 years since I had last allowed myself to cry in front of Father. He looked quite morose, and just kept stroking my hair as I tried to purge the visit to the Twins from my mind.
Eventually, my tears abated, and I was able to sit up and try to reorient myself. It was pitch dark by this point, but I think Father wanted to get to the Green Fork before we rested even a bit. The men outside sounded exhausted.
"Jeyne, I want you to know that you did nothing wrong today", Father said, hoping that it would bring me out of my sniffles.
"I don't want to talk about it, Father", I replied. The sooner I put this past me, the better. Nothing was gained for me on this trip, other than a knowledge that I should ask Robert or Stannis some tips on throwing a punch. My hand was still swollen red with pain, and I was lucky that I had not actually hit Merrett in the face, as it would have likely broken.
"It's important that you know that. I didn't see anything like that coming. When I met you mother-", he began, and it seemed hard for him to continue. He never liked to talk about mother. "When I met your mother, we were told that she was to be my wife, and there was nothing like what happened today, not a whiff of it" he said, before taking a moment to pull me in close to him once more. It was rare for him to show physical affection like this.
"It was just how things were handled for us. I had seen her before at feasts, as she was from House Buckler, a relatively notable house, but I had never spoken a word to her before. I grew to love your mother, Jeyne, but I just as easily could have grown to love someone else."
"I promise you that I will never put you in a situation like that again" he said, before continuing, "but I don't want you to go through what I went through either. I married your mother, and a month later, I was marching to King's Landing with our levies to embark for the Stepstones. We had hardly spoken before I left. "
Father seemed to be lost in a memory of some kind, and his always weary face looked almost wistful for a moment. I had not known the details of my parents and how they met, but I figured it had been something like that. Father had only really spoken to mother in the last few years when they were alone, and she was always so weak and bed ridden after she had survived the Spring Sickness. I don't think he ever really processed his grief for real, or allowed himself to think about what her passing meant for Gulian and I.
The beginnings of dawn looked to be breaking before Father finally halted the convoy, and we were over the Green Fork and in the area of Lord Harroway's Town once more. I had allowed myself to sleep a bit in the carriage, so I was sitting in the confines of my tent with Bethany. She had been told what had happened by Father, and seemed on the verge of a breakdown. She sat up, holding her knees to her face, and rocked back and forth and morosely chattered with me, or rather, chattered at me.
"Gulian was so very gallant, coming in and swooping me onto his horse, before riding us out of the gates", she said. I actually think she just swooned for real. I suppose it might have looked that way to her, but I couldn't help but internally gag once more. Yuck.
"Oh, Jeyne, I'm so glad that your family saved me from that man. My father never would have allowed that marriage to happen, but being alone with him, I just-, I couldn't do it", she continued. Actually, her father might have allowed it to happen, not knowing Lord Frey personally, or possibly only knowing bits and pieces about him. But I didn't want to burst her bubble.
"Let's just be glad that we got out of there", I replied, wanting her to just stop talking for a while. I'd rather just sit in silence for a while. I liked Bethany, and all, but she didn't really understand how to read people's nonverbal cues, and it was getting irritating.
As upset as I was, at least I was going home, or rather, to Storm's End. Soon enough, at least, I would. I would not ever forget the insult that House Frey paid me, however, and I would not ever tolerate someone to make me feel this way again. That morning, as most of the guard slept, I tried writing a letter to Robert about what had happened. Truthfully, however, the words would just not come to the page, and I felt it was best if I waited until I was back at Storm's End before writing.
With a heavy sigh, I put away the parchment and prepared to move out once more.
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