Chapter 2

The Love of the People

Talia Forrester walked throughout the castle halls of Winterfell into the courtyard, amazed by all the different people she saw there. As she crossed the courtyard, something or someone caught her eye. A boy, who appeared to be a few years older than she was sparring with another. Talia looked away as quickly as she had seen him, but couldn't help from looking a second time. The boy was tall, a bit lanky, had chestnut brown hair and blue eyes. When he swung his sword, it appeared a bit choppy but it was clear that this boy was still learning.

Talia continued to watch for a while as she was entranced by this boy. She didn't know why, but something made her want to keep watching. Suddenly she felt the urge to go over and introduce herself. What should I say? Talia asked herself, she has never had to introduce herself before. All of the guests of Ironrath already knew who she was. She has never been in a position where others didn't know her, and it was both exhilarating and frightening. Talia crept over to the boys as they continued to spar.

"And take that Brod" the tall boy said as he held his sparring sword at his opponent.

"Alright Todd, you win" said the other boy who then turned to see Talia standing beside them. "Well, how are you sweetheart? Name's Brod, what's yours?" the opponent said to Talia.

"I'm Talia" she responded. Talia didn't want to give too much away, she doesn't know these boys and she kind of liked the fact that they didn't know who she was.

"Talia, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I'm Todd" the tall boy said smiling at Talia. She felt as though she might faint, this boy had a perfect complexion and he was very kind to her.

"Likewise" Talia responded, holding off on her more proper introductions.

"You ever spar before Talia?" Todd asked, still smiling that perfect smile.

"Todd, she's a girl. Girls don't spar" Brod replied. Talia ignored him.

"Once or twice, but I'm not very good. I've never had any training or anything" Talia stated.

"Ay, and who did you spar with?" Brod asked, looking at Talia questionly. Talia panicked slightly and gathered together what she thought to be a believable lie.

"My sister, we were always getting into fights when we were younger" Talia said, not indicating that she had received a few lessons from Ser Royland when she was younger.

"You have a sister?" Brod asked a grin appearing across his face. "Ay mate, we can take both of them. You get her and I get the sister".

"I apologize for Brod, he doesn't know how to talk to girls" Todd responded.

"It's alright, I actually must be on my way, but it was a pleasure to meet the both of you" Talia stated and she turned and started to walk back towards the castle.

"Wait Talia" Todd called out. "Brod and I have plans to spar near the water tomorrow, if maybe you would want to join us?".

"That sounds like fun, when should I meet you?" Talia inquired.

"At dawn, meet us at the edge of the Godswood. We know a perfect place" Todd responded.

"I will see you then" Talia said and smiled back at Todd. Her heart was racing like an arrow flying towards a target and she couldn't stop grinning. Talia walked through the courtyard and back towards the Master-at-arms chambers. Once she arrived, she gave a few sharp knocks at the door.

"Enter" Asher's voice rang out, as Talia opened the door and came inside. Asher looked up to see his sister standing by the doorway. "You know that you don't have to knock, for the time being this is your chamber as well".

"I didn't want to startle you" Talia said, mockingly smiling at her brother.

"Talia, everything you do startles me" Asher replied, joking along with his sister.

"Did you send a raven back to Ironrath?" Talia questioned him.

"I did. I'm sure both Mira and Ryon will understand" Asher stated. Talia just nodded and sat down at the foot of the bed. She yawned and eventually laid down and felt her heavy eyelids close. Asher looked over and saw Talia asleep at the foot of the bed. He got up from his desk and walked over, picked up Talia and placed her under the covers. He kissed her on her forehead and watched her for a bit before returning back to his work.

The Next Day

Talia woke up before dawn and got herself out of bed and dressed in clothes that she could spar in. She looked over and saw Asher asleep at his desk. She knew that she should let him know where she was going but she didn't want to. She decided to leave him a note so at least he wouldn't worry. On the page she wrote, Went exploring, I will see you later at the feast. -Talia and placed it by her brother's head.

Talia walked out of the castle and towards the Godswood, where she saw two familiar figures standing there. Talia smiled as she got closer and her pace picked up a bit.

"Nice to see you Talia, you ready to go?" Todd asked. Talia just nodded and said hello to both of the boys. Todd and Brod led Talia through the Godswood to a stream. Talia just had to take in the beautiful sights around her. The stream was crystal clear and Talia could hear the frogs croaking and jumping into the stream. The trees stood tall and strong with fallen leaves surrounding them. It was a peaceful place and Talia was excited to be there with her newfound friends.

"Would you like to start Talia?" Todd asked.

"You want to spar me first? Are you sure?" Talia responded.

"Yeah, do you want to give it go? Lets see what your once or twice sparring with sister has taught you" Todd smiled.

"Lets do it" Talia said grabbing a sparring sword and getting into her stance. Todd came at Talia with a strike and she avoided it swiftly. He came at her a second time and she blocked with her sword. Talia moved forward, planning to make her move. She swung her sword out but was blocked by Todd. She backed up, Todd came closer, picked up his sword and swung towards Talia's feet, Talia tried to jump back but lost her footing and ended up falling. When she looked up, Todd was standing over her with his sparring sword pointed at her.

"You are not as bad as you made yourself out to be" Todd said, holding out a hand and helping Talia up.

"Thank you?" She responded questioningly.

"Don't beat yourself up about it Talia, our boy Todd here is training to be a knight?" Bron said stuffing his face with biscuits.

"You're a squire?" Talia asked.

"Well, I guess yeah. Today is my first day on the job actually. I've been practicing so I can be ready". Todd responded.

"Well it seems like you are ready Ser Todd" Talia said coyly smiling. Todd smiled back and the group continued to take turns sparring one another up until Todd had to leave for his first day as a squire. The group made a plan to meet the next day to continue to spar and help Todd train.

Asher Forrester awoken and sat up at his desk. He turned to face the bed and noticed that Talia wasn't there. He looked around the room, still groggy and noticed a note on his desk with his name written on it. He opened it and read the note from Talia. Asher laughed to himself, he should have known to expect that Talia wouldn't want to just sit in one place. He got up and prepared himself for his first day as Winterfell's Master-at-arms.

After he got dressed, Asher went down to the Great Hall where he was once again greeted by Queen Sansa.

"Good morning Lord Forrester, I trust you slept well," Sansa said.

"Yes your grace, Winterfell is very accomodating" Asher stated.

"Glad to hear" Sansa said. "Now, I must ask a service of you Lord Forrester".

"Yes, your grace?" Asher responded.

"Since becoming Queen of the North, I have done what I can to gain the support of the northern people. Many of them question having a queen versus having a king, and I wanted to show them that I am here to fight for them. After speaking with a few of the townsfolk, I learned that many of them are getting mugged when traveling to and from Winterfell. Even though I promise to fight for my people, I am not as strong of a fighter as others and would like to ask you to accompany me to address the matter" Sansa stated.

"Yes, my queen" Asher stated bowing his head towards Sansa.

"Good" Sansa said. Asher watched as her hand leaned over and whispered something into the queen's ear. "Just in time" she said quietly.

"Lord Forrester, I would also ask that while you are here at Winterfell that you help train some of the next soldiers of the north" Sansa stated.

"I will do as you command my queen" Asher responded.

"Very well then, Lord Forrester, I would like you to meet your new squire Todd Follard. Asher turned and saw a tall lanky young boy walk into the great hall. The boy seemed cocky and Asher was excited to bring him down a notch. The boy stood at Asher's feet and kneeled.

"My lord, I humbly serve you" Todd said and he looked up to gaze at his new lord.