Arya sprinted through the halls as she headed towards the room Sansa sent lady Dayne to a few hours ago. As she ran, avoiding all of the other people wandering to and from destinations, she thought on the tan girl who stirred up such a ruckus in the training yard a few hours ago. She jumped out of the way of a maid running by with a handful of sheets as she wondered on the mysterious figure. Why was she here? Why did the king present her? Was she valuable to the crown or was she valuable to someone else? Arya supposed it did not matter much and she continued on her path weaving her way through the mass of servants.
The small girl rounded the corner and suddenly crashed into a hard chest. She stumbled a bit, but a hand reached out to steady her before she could fall over. She glanced up to see her brother, Jon.
"Why you rushing so fast down the hall?" Jon looked down at his younger sister.
She shrugged her shoulders, "I was distracted, sorry Jon. I have to go to lady Myria's room. Mother insisted." Jon quirked his eyebrow at her words.
"Would lady Stark not send Sansa or one of the maids, surely they can help lady Dayne get ready for the feast better than you?" Arya sighed at her brother's question.
"I was sent to bring her father's solar, not to help her with her hair you bloody dolt," Jon smirked at his sister's crude words. "Mother insisted she get there as soon as possible." Jon nodded his head and patted her on the back.
"How about I take her to father and you go get ready before Septa Mordane finds out you are not in your room." Arya's face paled a bit and she nodded her head before sprinting back down the hallway towards to her own room. Nothing like an angry Septa to get the small girl to dump the errand on her brother. Not that he minded, he had been wanting to speak with the Dornish lady and now he had a perfect excuse to. As he wandered towards the lady's room he could feel a slight flush of heat and his palms started to sweat. He tried to steady himself so he would not appear like a foolish child to the exotic woman, but just the thought of her soft black hair and purple eyes sent his mind reeling. He had never felt this way before, but he knew he had to pull himself together.
He came to a stop outside of the lady's door and took a deep breath in and out. He raised his hand and lightly knocked upon the door. A sweet summer voice replied to the noise, "Please come in." Jon pushed the door open and was greeted by the smell of flowers and a light spice he could not place. He could feel the heat from the roaring fireplace from his place at the door and noticed multiple blue and purple dresses lying on the large bed. A slight movement by the window caught his attention and his eyes landed on the purple eyes that ensnared him in the yard. The deep violet pools sparkled at him, beckoning him inside. He shuffled his feet, breaking eye contact to glance down at the floor.
"My father requests your presence in his solar, my lady." Jon heard a slight giggle and could see a small hand enter his vision. He could feel the warmth of her palm as she lifted his chin upwards to meet her eyes.
"I never expected a Northern man to be so shy around a lady," He smiled at her light tone of voice. "Would you give me the pleasure of knowing your name?"
"Jon. Jon Snow." He reached his hand up to lightly grasp her own. "It's lovely to meet you, my lady." Myria snorted at his comment and pulled her hand out of his, walking back to her laid out dresses. She started to pick one up and observe it, turning it to see how it looked in different lights.
"No need for the 'my lady' nonsense. You can call me Myria." Jon nodded his head and walked over to stand next to her. He glanced over her shoulder at the dress she was holding in her hands. It was a deep midnight blue with silver threading on the edges, and off the shoulder sheer sleeves which flowed down to the elbow. It also sported a sweetheart neckline with a soft embroidery of stars. He thought this dress alone would make every man who saw her wear it lose his mind to her beauty.
"That dress would look rather lovely on you." She turned towards him, holding the dress against her body. He could picture her in it perfectly in his mind and shuddered at the vision he was graced with. He swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded his head. Myria watched his reaction and smiled, laying the dress back on the bed and turning to the door.
"Well I suppose we should head to speak with your father now," Jon walked up to her and let her loop her arm through his before opening the door. "Thank you for the suggestion, I may wear that dress to the feast tonight." Jon nodded his head as they went out the door, but he personally thought no man deserved to witness her in that dress.
Not even himself.
They slowly walked through the keep, heading to the other side where Ned Stark's solar existed across from the great hall. They passed multiple people during their small trip: Bran and Rickon racing through the hall yelling at each other as they went, servants carrying fabric, food, and cases of wine, little Myrcella waving at Myria as she wandered past with her handmaiden, along with Cersei following her daughter while glaring at the Dornish girl as she passed by. Myria smiled at the queen ignoring the heated look she retrieved in return. She pulled Jon's arm slightly closer to her own, almost to shield her from the higher lady's hateful eyes. As she did she noted how Jon's solemn look brighten for a quick moment before returning to its normal state. She wish she knew why the queen despised her so, since she had never in her whole time in King's Landing done a single thing to step on her toes. Myria always tried to be on Cersei's good side, but always seemed to fail. It hurt her a bit internally when she was a little girl to see the grown woman glare at her with such contempt. She would most likely go to her grave guessing as the prideful lioness would never reveal her true feelings to the poor Dayne girl.
The pair turned the corner and entered the great hall, passing through the rows of large wooden tables lined with candles to reach the doorway on the other side of the room. As they were maneuvering through the tables both heard a female voice call out, "Lady Dayne." The two turned to see lady Catelyn Stark quickly heading their way. "Have you seen my daughter, Arya? I asked her to escort you to my husband." Myria toddled her head to indicate 'no'.
"Last I saw of Arya she was heading back to her room, lady Stark." Catelyn sharply looked at her husband's bastard. "She asked me to escort the lady to father so she could finish getting ready with the Septa." Lady Stark quickly tilted her head before turning her attention back to the lady on the bastard's arm.
"Would you want me to escort you the rest of the way, my lady? I am sure the company of my husband's bastard is a tad unrefined for your tastes." Myria heard Jon take in a sharp breath of air and could feel him attempting to remove his arm from her own.
She simply pulled his arm closer and shook her head at the lady of Winterfell. "I am sorry to disappoint my lady, but I am rather content with Jon's company. He was just telling me about how he spends time with his other brother, Robb. I am so happy to hear about two brothers having such a close bond." She quirked her eyebrow, "Do you not agree lady Stark?" She could see the veins in the older woman's head clench as she glanced down at the ground before squeezing out her next quiet words of 'Of course, my lady". After speaking the almost poisonous words she quickly exited the hall to assist her daughters with preparations for the feast.
Jon heard Myria sigh, "Gods I can not stand a woman with so much spite in her soul. She has no reason to hate you so, and since she will not do it herself I apologize for her harsh words ." He was dumbfounded on the fact of this tiny lady apologizing for lady Stark's long seated hatred towards him.
Jon quickly breathed out, "No need for an apology. I am used to this behavior from lady Stark and the others here in Winterfell. I am a bastard after all."
As they passed through the doorway out of the hall the Dornish woman shook her head at Jon's words, "In Dorne there is no shame being a bastard. They are children born from passion and every grain of Sand is special in their own way."
Jon rebutted, "But I heard you grew up in King's Landing, not Dorne."
"Truth to your words, Jon. However I am of Dornish blood and I wholeheartedly agree with their beliefs. Blame the parents if you must, but not the child." The Snow smiled at her strong beliefs, silently agreeing with them. The words dissipated as they drew close to the lord of Winterfell's solar as did their footsteps. "I suppose we have arrived?"
"Yes, my lady." She smiled at the Northern man.
"Myria."
"Yes, Myria." Her smile grew as her name slipped from his lips. She separated her arm from his and gave him a curtsy before knocking on the door. Jon gave her a bow in return before heading back in the direction they both came from. Her eyes followed his body until he was out of her line of sight. She silently waited outside of the door until she heard a soft 'come in' and she creaked open the door. She was met with the picture of Ned Stark sitting behind his large wooden desk along with king Robert sitting across from his friend with an empty chair next to him. Myria dropped into another curtsy with customary mutter of 'Your Grace, my lord' before moving to the empty chair parallel to the king. Robert snuffed as the girl used the polite phrases he heard almost every single second of his waking life. Ned gifted the woman with a small quirk of his lips before returning to his normal solemn look he shared with his black-haired son.
Robert broke the slightly tense silence, "Myria, glad you could make it. Sure you're wondering what exactly is going on." Myria nodded her head at the king, but remained silent. "With you being a ward of the crown I am personally responsible for your well being. I have not forgotten all of the times my damned wife has tried to sell you off to some godforsaken family and I have decided to put a stop to it completely."
Ned spoke up, "What Robert is trying to say is while you lot rode up here queen Cersei had written some letters to my banner man, Roose Bolton. Lord Bolton sent myself a letter concerning the queen's request."
"And what request was that, my lord?" She asked with a tremor of fear in her words.
"Roose said the queen wished to betroth you to his bastard son, Ramsay Snow. He wished to know about you and if the arrangement would be beneficial to his house at all." She froze at the word 'betroth'. She thought the queen cruel before, but if she was trying to send her to the crazed Bolton bastard then she truly wanted her dead. Before she could begin to panic about her situation Ned continued, "I wrote back to him telling how you were already promised to my son by order of the king, making the queen's deal null and void. I then swiftly sent a raven to Robert about the entire situation."
The king spoke up at mention of his name, "When I got the raven I wanted to beat Cersei to death with my own hands. Trying to send you to that crazy boy? Even I have heard about his depraved antics and would not wish that on an innocent lass like yourself. So Ned and I reached a decision, one that would protect you from Cersei once and for all, and it would give the heartless bitch what she wants."
Myria glanced up at the two men who held her fate in their hands. Ned looked upon the young woman who reminded him of his sister when she was younger with a fatherly gaze. "We have agreed to you wedding my son, it will be announced at the feast tonight." Myria breathed a sigh of relief. Robb Stark was as honorable as his father and she was glad to finally be free from the queen's scheming. "You will be wed before the royal family leave Winterfell and when I head south to King's Landing you will remain in Winterfell with your new husband." She nodded her head in agreement, but a cord of confusion struck her.
"Thank you for the honor, but which part of this situation will please the queen? It just seems to me she will be more enraged than ever." Robert scoffed at her words.
"Leave that business to me, just wear your finest tonight and try to enjoy yourself." He grumbled before pouring himself a drink from the pitcher on the desk. "I am sorry that you are getting stuck in the North so far from Starfall, but you will at least be close to the Eerie. Overall you will be far from this wretched game so many of us are trapped in." Robert downed the rest of his goblet, stood up from his seat, and extended his hand to her. She took his hand and stood up from her own seat, curtsied to both the king and to lord Stark before leaving the room.
She rushed back to her own room with all of her thoughts on her new situation on her mind. The king was correct in his observation. She would be far from Starfall, she may never see it in her lifetime. The thought did not concern her much since she would get to spend the rest of her life tucked away in the North. She would be the next lady of Winterfell, married to an honorable man who she could easily be happy with. That though however, seemed to bother her. Would she truly be happy with Robb, or would she long for something else?
Or someone else?