I've agonized over this latest chapter. It's taken me a hell of a long time to write, despite the fact that it's just over 5000 words in total. Oh well, I hope you like it.

Many thanks to Raiseth (on SV) for beta-reading for me. Much appreciated!

The Way Home

High up in the Mountains of the Moon, at the end of a steep and narrow trail, they at last reached the Bloody Gate. It was a bleak, forbidding edifice, scarred and pitted by centuries of warfare. Built out of gray stone, it consisted of twin towers joined together by a covered bridge, stretching from one cliffside to the other across a narrow pass. Clearly, there had been no attempt to prettify it or pretend that it was anything other than a military stronghold against which mighty armies had spent their strength in vain.

Beneath the bridge, blocking passage through to the other side, there was a large door, plated with black iron and mounted with spikes, streaked with centuries of rust and grime. Shadowy sentries manned the towers and battlements above. Only a few of them could be seen behind the thick stone walls and crenelations, and distance made them difficult to discern, but they were a silent, threatening presence as Katarina and her companions drew closer.

A heavily armed knight rode out to meet them, clad in shining armor, as if he were the protagonist of one of the storybooks Katarina liked to read. She observed him critically: he was a thin fellow with a sharply handsome face and graying hair poking out from under his helmet. If not for the ugly sneer that marred his features, he would have been the romantic hero of her daydreams.

"Who would pass the Bloody Gate?" he yelled, as his horse halted just ahead of them.

"Tom of Sevenstreams," said Tom, without enthusiasm.

The knight looked suspicious. "Never thought I'd see you here again. At least you had the decency to wear clothes this time."

"Such a shining wit. It's a pity the king already has a court jester."

"Your sharp tongue will get you killed someday." The knight sneered at him. "But will it be today?"

"I… I merely wish to pass through the Bloody Gate," said Tom. "Please. I have the money to pay."

"And who are these two little girls?" asked the knight, looking Katarina and Maria up and down. "Why are they with you?"

Katarina wanted to protest that she wasn't a 'little girl', but realized it would be better if she remained silent and let Tom do the talking.

"My apprentices," said Tom. "Someday, they will be numbered among the greatest musicians in all of Sorcier, if not the world."

"They look awfully young for it."

"Training a skilled musician takes many years. Best to start when they're young," said Tom.

The knight's smirk became a sneer. "Pretty little things, aren't they? How exactly do you 'train' them?"

Tom hesitated, for a moment. "Erm…"

At that, the knight crowed in delight. "You're a sick, depraved old man, Tom!"

"You misconstrue," said Maria, in a voice like steel draped in silk. "Master Tom has been nothing but kind to us."

"She even calls you 'master', haha!"

"Yes, well…" Tom took a deep breath. "We wish to pass through the Bloody Gate. I have money to pay the toll."

"I suppose I have no reason to stop you," said the knight, seeming to tire of this sport. "If you're so intent on being robbed and murdered by mountain clansmen, that's no concern of mine."

"Thank you," said Tom. "Very generous of you."

"Yes, it is, isn't it?" the knight agreed. "And, in a few weeks, I'll send out a patrol to retrieve your moldering carcasses, how about that?"

Katarina was sure Tom was being sarcastic when he said, "If it please you, sir," but the knight didn't seem to notice.

"Be off with you," he said, waving a dismissive hand. "Don't let me detain you." Wheeling his horse around, he sped off in the direction he'd come from. He did not look back.

Tom took this as permission to carry on through the Bloody Gate. He motioned for Maria and Katarina to follow him. There was a slight delay while he handed over a fistful of silver stags to one of the guards, but then they were allowed to pass.

Soon, they were on their way. Katarina waited several minutes, until she was sure that nobody could possibly be listening in, before asking, "Who was that knight who came to greet us? It seemed like you knew him."

"That was Ser Lyn Corbray, the Knight of the Bloody Gate," Tom replied.

"An unpleasant fellow. But very handsome," said Katarina, pouring all of her disappointment into her words.

"He's in his forties. More than a decade older than your father. Much too old for you," Tom warned her.

"I didn't say I wanted to marry him. Just that he's an attractive man." Katarina heaved a wistful sigh. "Besides, it doesn't matter how old he is. Plenty of young noblewomen are married off to aging lords."

Tom gave a derisive snort. "You can do much better than him. And anyway, even if you wanted him, he wouldn't want you. He prefers boys. That's one of the reasons why he accepted the role of 'Knight of the Bloody Gate' in the first place."

Katarina frowned. "I'm not sure I follow."

"He's a renowned and skilled warrior, but he has no lands of his own. His position as 'Knight of the Bloody Gate' affords him power and prestige that would otherwise be out of his reach. Also, he's the commander of an isolated fortress where there are plenty of servant boys, squires, and naïve new recruits. Since there isn't a woman around for miles, his predilections are tolerated, to an extent, so long as he doesn't make them too obvious."

"But…" Katarina was aghast and fumbling for understanding. "Surely none of his… um, conquests…" She took a deep breath and tried again: "Surely they can't give him an heir?"

"I don't think he cares about that. Just his own pleasures."

"So… there are men who prefer the company of other men… in bed," said Katarina, tentatively, just in case she had misunderstood what Tom was trying to tell her.

"Or on the floor, or up against a wall, or anywhere at all," he agreed. "Didn't you know that? You've lived a sheltered life, haven't you?"

Katarina flushed and looked away, only to see Maria regarding her with amused exasperation.

"Stop looking at me like that!" she cried, trying to hide her face behind her hands.

"Watch where you're going and keep your hands on the reins!" Maria scolded her.

"I'm sorry," said Katarina, meekly obeying these instructions.

"That's better," said Maria, giving her a brilliant smile that made her heart flutter with delight.

"Um, yes," she said, still blushing furiously. Hurriedly adjusting her sitting position, she took hold of her horse's reins and fixed her eyes on the road ahead.

Contrary to Ser Lyn Corbray's predictions, they passed through the Mountains of the Moon without incident. The weather was pleasantly clement, there was only a light smattering of snow on the ground, and the mountain clansmen were nowhere to be seen. Katarina suspected they were being especially cautious after she'd dropped an avalanche on some of their fellows the day before. Whatever the reason, it meant they weren't a problem. Also, they weren't waylaid by any bears, shadowcats or other dangerous wild animals. Instead, their journey was as smooth and uneventful as if they had been out for a brisk morning stroll in familiar territory.

As they came down through the foothills, passing by scrubby plains and stunted trees, Katarina began to marvel at the progress they had made in only a few short hours. Thanks to Maria's magical healing, their horses were able to move more quickly and with less need to rest, even over steep slopes and shingle, until – in what seemed like no time at all – they were halfway to their destination. If they kept going at this rate, they would reach the Claes Manor by late afternoon.

Also, after two days' hard riding, Katarina was feeling increasingly tired and unwell – and suffering from painful abdominal cramps – but her new friend was able to heal her just as easily as she had the horses.

"You really are extraordinary, Maria, in so many ways," she said, beaming at her.

"Um… thank you?" the light mage replied, sounding oddly uncertain.

"I could never have gotten here this quickly without you," she told her.

"I suppose that's true. Um, isn't it about time we stopped for lunch?"

"Oh yes, we can do that, if you want," said Katarina, with a nod.

After they had tethered their horses in a field of rough pasture and left them to graze, they sat down to enjoy the lunch Maria had prepared earlier. They offered to share with Tom, but he had brought his own rations and so politely declined. He finished his meal much sooner than they did and sat tuning his harp, strumming a few notes and singing a melancholy ditty:

"Early one morning, just as the sun was rising,

I heard a maiden call from the valley below:

'Oh, don't deceive me! Oh, never leave me!

How could you use a poor maiden so?'"

Katarina felt the hairs rise up on the back of her neck. She shivered, though it was not a cold day.

"Remember the vows that you made to me truly.

Remember the bower where you nestled close to me.

'Oh, don't deceive me! Oh, never leave me!

How could you use a poor maiden so?'

A sob issued from Katarina's anguished lips. Her eyes filled with tears. She couldn't help but see herself in the role of the poor maiden from the song – and Jeord as the feckless young man who had abandoned her.

Glancing over at Maria, she saw that her new friend was similarly overcome, presumably because she could see parallels between her own situation, or that of her mother, and that which Tom was describing in the lyrics of his song. She offered a hand to comfort her, which was gratefully accepted.

They sat together, holding hands, lost in their own gloomy thoughts, while Tom continued to play.

'Jeord, I would have been the perfect wife for you,' Katarina thought to herself, numbly, as tears cascaded down her face. 'I would have given you everything, done everything you wanted. But you… you would have betrayed and killed me. How could you use a poor maiden so?'

At last, the melody faded away and the harp was set aside. Letting go of Katarina's hand, Maria stood up and took out a handkerchief. Delicately, she dabbed at her eyes, blew her nose and said, "Don't you know any happy songs, Tom?"

He looked up and frowned to see their tear-streaked faces, but otherwise refrained from comment. "Plenty," he said, after a moment's pause, reaching for his harp again.

"A bear there was, a bear, a bear!

All black and brown, and covered with hair–"

"We really must be going," said Katarina, getting up and scraping a hand across her face. "There's no time to waste."

"Ah. Yes, of course," said Tom. "Perhaps later."

Sienna found herself in a large and empty ballroom. Shafts of light shone down through the high windows and the air was filled with myriad glittering specks of dust. The distant walls and far corners of the room were hazy and indistinct, as if they were shrouded in mist. Or perhaps they didn't exist at all.

"Where am I?" she wondered. "Am I still dreaming?"

A door opened. Footsteps echoed through the oppressive silence. A man entered the room. The most striking feature about him was his hair, which was dyed red on one side and white on the other, giving him an odd appearance, as if he were a painted mummer. He had a thin face, a wiry physique, and a crafty look about him. His fine silk garments would not have been out of place in King Robert's court.

"Who are you?" Sienna asked, more boldly than she would have under normal circumstances. She felt confused and uncertain, fearful of being trapped in this strange place, and suspected she was being toyed with and tormented by some supernatural being. All these emotions combined to fill her with reckless, foolish courage. "What do you want from me?"

"Sweet girl," he said. "This one has the honor to be Jaqen H'ghar. Once, he was… many things. Now, he is a girl's new dance instructor." He spoke of himself in the third person, which she had read was a common affectation among the people of the Free City of Lorath. Perhaps he hailed from that far-off city, but she fancied that his manner of speech was hinting at much more than that. In her febrile imagination, she considered many possibilities: perhaps he wasn't an individual, wasn't human – had never been human – and his current body was merely a costume to be worn and then discarded.

"That hardly seems necessary. I already know how to dance," she replied, when the silence went on for long enough to be awkward. "And anyway, I can't stay here for long. My friends will be worried about me.

"Time has no meaning in this place. Tomorrow will always be just around the corner," he said. "A girl may stay here for as long as she wishes."

"Why would I want to?"

"A man will teach her the dance of daggers and death, to dodge all the dangers that come her way, and to defy the darkness at the end of everything."

"How very poetic," Sienna sneered. Then, a moment later: "You… you can teach me how to defend myself?"

"A man can, if a girl is willing to listen."

"I…" Sienna felt a sudden surge of excitement welling up within her. Peculiar as he was, Jaqen H'ghar was offering her an opportunity she had longed for, which she knew that she must seize with both hands. I don't want to be a burden anymore.

"I'd like that," she said. "Please. What must I do?"

He looked her up and down. "First, a girl must learn how to stand. And how to fall."

An endless amount of time passed, though she was barely aware of it. While Jaqen H'ghar gave instructions, she listened intently and obeyed. Occasionally, he would adjust her stance or correct a mistake she was making. He made her practice certain 'dance steps' hundreds of times, for days, weeks and months without end, until at last he pronounced himself satisfied.

While this was going on, Sienna thought of little else. She was utterly dedicated to her training. And anyway, it was just a dream. No matter how much she wished it was real, that she could overcome all of her problems with hard work and effort, it was only in her imagination.

Katarina insisted on traveling back to the waystation where she'd left the horse she'd borrowed from Sir Rennifer Roebuck's stables. She was relieved to find it still there and that she could exchange it for the horse she'd borrowed from the last waystation she'd visited. However, when she and her companions reached Roebuck Keep, where she hoped to retrieve her own beloved pony, she found that it was already gone.

"We heard you'd disappeared," said the bald stablemaster, wringing his hands. "Sir Rennifer has gone to pledge his support to your father, taking his men-at-arms and your horse with him."

"That makes things simpler, I suppose," said Katarina, with a sigh of resignation. "I will need to borrow this horse for a while longer, if that's all right?"

"Yes, by all means. But where will you go?" he asked.

She gazed at him blankly. "I'm going home, of course."

"That's what you said last time," he said.

"Yes, well… I mean it, this time."

"I will accompany you," he decided.

"You don't have to."

"I do," he said. "My master was furious with me when I told him I'd seen you and let you go. I don't know what he'd do to me if he found out I'd let it happen again."

"Very well, then," said Katarina, seeing no point in arguing. "Come with us, then."

They continued onwards, with a new horse and rider in tow, until they reached the gate at the outer edge of the Claes Manor's extensive grounds, where they had to ring a bell and wait for someone to let them in. When the gatekeeper arrived, he recognized Katarina immediately. "She's back! Lady Katarina's back!" he hollered.

In no time at all, several guards came to investigate the noise. They reacted with similar surprise and relief to see Katarina had returned safe and unharmed. "We thought you'd been kidnapped, your ladyship," said one of them, as she and her companions were escorted along the driveway up to the manor house. "Your parents have been beside themselves with worry."

"I'm sorry," said Katarina, though she knew it was a lie. Yes, she regretted that her parents had suffered because of what she'd done, but if she'd done anything else she would've had no chance of being able to save Sienna. If she had wavered or hesitated, her best friend could have died while she was dilly-dallying. Instead, she'd been bold and decisive: she'd gone on a long and perilous journey to find Maria, a light mage, whom she hoped could heal Sienna and rouse her from deathlike slumber. Assuming she was successful, she wouldn't regret any of what she'd done.

A stableboy helped her dismount and took her horse away to be curried and cared for. Two of the guards led her inside, into the drawing room, to face her parents.

Immediately, she was trapped in a cage of warm, loving arms. Her mother had pounced on her and wrapped her in an all-enveloping hug. "My darling… my baby," she babbled, sobbing hysterically. "I'm so glad you're here! You've come back to us!"

Katarina didn't enjoy being spattered with tears or crushed against her mother's chest. Desperately, she searched around for a way of escape, but could find none. Behind her, Tom wore an amused smirk, Maria gave her a commiserating grimace but made no attempt to intervene, and Sir Rennifer Roebuck's stablemaster looked overwhelmed and unsure of himself.

"Let her breathe, Miri," said her father, coming to her rescue. "I want to hear what she has to say for herself."

Slowly, reluctantly, her mother released her. She took a step back and went to stand together with her husband, both of them looking at Katarina with expressions that were a muddle of mixed emotions: relief vied with anger, bewilderment, fear and guilt.

"Good evening, Katarina," said her father, in an oddly stiff and croaky voice. "We've been very worried about you. Since your disappearance yesterday, ah…" He shook his head, as if clearing it of an unpleasant memory. "Would you care to explain what happened?"

"I would," she replied, giving a fervent nod. "I'll tell you everything. Please don't be angry with me."

"That doesn't sound promising," said her father. "Nevertheless, we will listen to what you have to say. All of it, to the end."

That was as much as she dared to hope for. Tentatively, glancing back at Maria and Tom in the hope of receiving support from them, Katarina began her story: "You must know that I went to Hartshorne yesterday with Anne and two of our house guards. While I was there, I bought… um, I bought this coat, actually." She scrunched up the edges of the drab fur coat she was still wearing, which in no way improved its ratty-looking appearance. "On the way back, we were attacked by bandits. Except they weren't really bandits! Anne recognized one of them as a man who works for her father. I think he sent them to kidnap her."

"Why would he do that?" asked her father.

"Because he wants her to marry Walder Frey!" she reminded him.

"But why would he embark upon such a foolish and dangerous scheme? If his involvement was discovered, it could mean the death of his house. As his liege lord, I would be well within my rights to execute him and take his lands and property for my own. Surely his hoped-for marriage alliance with the Freys can't be worth that much?"

"I don't know, father," said Katarina, giving up. "Those men ambushed us, killed my guards and… um, I assume they managed to kidnap Anne? Unless she managed to escape like I did?" She glanced around as if expecting her faithful maidservant to suddenly appear from one of the side doors.

"If she did, she didn't make it back here," her mother informed her. "But how did you escape? Was it because you had help?" She looked questioningly at Katarina's travel companions.

"Not at the time," Katarina admitted. "I found them later. After I'd fled from the bandits, I… uh, I ran as far and fast as I possibly could."

"Yes, Sir Rennifer Roebuck told me you'd borrowed a horse from his stables," said her father. "After that, I was surprised you didn't get back home sooner."

Katarina cringed. "I got lost."

"So lost she ended up in the Vale," said Tom of Sevenstreams, with a gleeful grin.

"The Vale?" Her mother's eyes were wide and horrified. "But that's more than a hundred miles away!"

Tom nodded. "That's where I found her."

"What happened, Katarina?" asked her father, sounding fiercer than she'd ever heard him before.

"I… I had a vision," she squeaked. "The gods sent me a vision. They gave me a path to follow, showed me where I could find a light mage and… um, I found her." She waved a hand in Maria's general direction. "I brought her back. To save Sienna."

"You didn't think to tell us what had happened? Or ask for our help?" asked her mother.

Katarina fell silent, hiding her face behind her hands. There was a long pause.

"Answer the question, Katarina!" her mother snapped.

"I was afraid you'd stop me," she whispered, peeking out through the gaps between her fingers.

Deathly silence grew and spread around the room, as if a shadow had fallen upon the proceedings, sucking in light and warmth.

Trembling with rage, clenching her fists and holding them stiffly at her sides, Katarina's mother said, "Go to your room. If I have to look at you any longer, I'll…" She took a deep, steadying breath. Her anger was a wild beast she was struggling to keep leashed. "Ah, I don't know what I'll do, but I suspect I'll deeply regret it. So, please… get out of my sight."

Katarina looked at her father with an expression of mute appeal.

"Do as your mother says," he replied, looking sternly down at her.

"But…" Katarina wanted to protest that she was hungry and hadn't had dinner yet, but suspected that this wouldn't be well-received by either of her parents. And anyway, there was something much more important she needed to remind them of: "Is… is Sienna still alive? Has she awakened yet?"

Her parents shared glances, as if unsure how to answer. At last, her father said, "As far as I'm aware, she's still alive, but hasn't roused from sleep just yet."

"May I take Maria upstairs to see her? To heal her?"

"You may," said her mother, after a moment's consideration. "But after that, you should go to your room and stay there until we're ready to deal with you."

Katarina gave a grateful nod, seized Maria by the arm, and hurried away before they could change their minds.

In the upstairs bedroom where Sienna's body lay, Katarina was shocked to see how small, pale and gaunt her best friend looked. If it wasn't for the fact that she was still breathing, it would have been easy to believe that she had already died and begun to decompose.

Maria rushed over to her, pulled off the bedsheets and touched her bare skin with hands that were glowing with a warm, soothing light. Katarina watched as Sienna's skin lost its unhealthy pallor and gained a new and blossoming freshness, like a flower coming into full bloom. Her breathing became deep and rhythmic, her cheeks filled out and a few old scars faded or were sloughed off. However, she still didn't wake up.

"What's wrong?" asked Katarina, anxiously. "Can't you heal her?"

"I can and I have," said Maria. "She's fine now, just sleeping. She'll wake up when she's ready."

"But isn't she dehydrated? Won't that kill her before much longer?"

"Dehydration did some damage to her, but I've healed it. And I will continue to do so, if need be."

"Why doesn't she wake up?" asked Katarina. "What if… what if she never wakes up?"

Maria pulled her into a hug and began to rub her shoulders. "You've done everything you could. More than anyone could expect."

"But… it's still not enough."

"I'm sorry," said Maria, wretchedly.

Katarina's eyes filled with tears and she began to sob. Maria hugged her a little closer and stroked her hair, making vague consoling noises.

They stayed like this for several minutes. Then, a thought occurred to Maria. A mischievous smile spread across her face. "I think you should kiss her," she whispered.

"W-what did you say?" asked Katarina.

Maria let go of her, took a step back and said, "You should kiss Sienna. That ought to wake her up."

Katarina was so surprised she forgot why she was crying. She hastily mopped her face with her sleeves and stared at Maria in disbelief. "But how? Why would that help?"

"Oh, you know, in all good folktales, the beautiful princess is awakened by a kiss from a handsome prince. Because of true love and so on."

"But I'm not a handsome prince. I'm a girl," Katarina pointed out.

"Hmm, I'm not so sure," said Maria, giving her an appraising look. "If you cut your hair and dressed in men's clothes, I think you'd make a very handsome prince, my dear."

That was an intriguing suggestion, but Katarina managed to ignore it and focus on what was truly important: "This is real life, not a folktale. Sienna isn't going to wake up because of someone kissing her."

"You claim the gods led you to me. You rode more than a hundred miles in a day to reach me, through the mountains and many dangers, all for the sake of your beloved. Doesn't that sound like a folktale to you?" asked Maria. "I'm sure that, if you were a man, Tom would already be composing a song about your heroic feats. Or perhaps that's what he's doing right now." She laughed merrily at that. "If so, I'm sure he'll change a few inconvenient details such as your name and gender. Before long, tales of your love for the fair Sienna will spread all over the Seven Kingdoms and beyond. Centuries from now, you'll be a legendary hero."

"You're making fun of me," said Katarina, reproachfully. "Stop it."

"I haven't said anything that's not true."

"Well… you seem to think I'm in love with Sienna."

"That's the truth, isn't it?"

Katarina scowled. "No. It isn't."

"I'm sure she'll be very disappointed to hear that," said Maria, feigning sadness and wiping away a nonexistent tear.

"I love Sienna. She's my best friend. But I'm not 'in love' with her," said Katarina. "Not like I was in love with Prince Jeord."

"Were you ever in love with Prince Jeord? Truly?"

Katarina considered the question and came to an uncomfortable realization. But instead of admitting that, she said, "Anyway, we're both girls. We can't love each other. Not like that."

"Do you really believe that?" Maria stalked around her with feline grace, almost seeming to purr. "Tom told you about Sir Lyn Corbray, who 'prefers boys' and, as you so charmingly put it–" At this point, she gave a mocking impression of Katarina's voice, sounding shrill and pathetically naïve. "–he likes 'the company of other men… in bed.' In fact, he seems to have rearranged his entire life because of that fact. Don't you think there might be women who have similar preferences for their own sex, who seek pleasure in bed with other women and even fall in love with them?"

"Um. Maybe."

When it became clear that Katarina was floundering out of her depth and didn't know what else to say, Maria continued, "Considering everything you've done for Sienna, with no thought for your own safety or how much your parents would fret, don't you believe it's possible that you might be in love with her? Be honest with yourself."

Summoning her reserves of courage, Katarina tried to counterattack: "W-well, you left behind your mother and traveled more than a hundred miles with a complete stranger, just because I asked you to. Is that because you're in love with me?"

Maria shrugged. "What if I am?"

"Don't be ridiculous!" Katarina scoffed.

"What, you don't believe in love at first sight?"

"I… I don't believe you're in love with me. You're being silly."

"True," said Maria, with a sad smile. "Honestly, I don't know what love is. My father beat my mother and called it love. He did the same to me. If that's love, I want no part of it. But you… What you feel for Sienna, what you've done for her… To me, that seems like the kind of love I've only heard about in songs and folktales. Cherish it for as long as it lasts."

"I thought true love was supposed to last forever."

"Who knows?" Maria heaved a long, mournful sigh. "What if true love doesn't even exist?"

Katarina had no answer for that. She turned to gaze at Sienna's sleeping form. "So… if I kiss her… do you really think she might wake up?"

"It's worth a try, don't you think?"

"I don't know if she would want me to kiss her," said Katarina. "What if she wakes up and feels… um, like I've dishonored her?"

"You're not planning to 'dishonor' her, are you?" asked Maria, raising both eyebrows in an expression of alarm.

"No! Of course not!"

"Well… if you don't want to kiss her, you don't have to. I just thought, if we're living in a folktale, it might be just enough to arouse her from slumber."

Katarina glared suspiciously at Maria, unsure as to why she'd put so much emphasis on the word 'arouse'. The light mage gave her a winsome smile in return.

"Fine. I'll do it," Katarina decided, approaching the bed. Leaning over Sienna's unconscious body, she gave her a quick peck on the lips. Nothing seemed to happen.

"Maybe you need to put some effort into it," said Maria. "Give her a deep, passionate kiss. With tongue."

"Maria! I know you're joking, but… I can't do that! It would be wrong!" Katarina shrieked. "Stop tempting me!"

Behind her, Sienna's eyes opened. She sat up in bed, looked around bemusedly, and wondered what all the noise was about.

Author's Notes:
Ser Lyn Corbray is a canon character from ASoIaF. He's a very minor character, so he hardly appears in the books, but apparently he is "notoriously" uninterested in women and, according to Petyr Baelish, he likes "boys". For the reasons I've listed in the chapter above, I thought he might be considered as a possible candidate for the role of 'Knight of the Bloody Gate' after Ser Brynden Tully retired (in this alternate universe in which things have turned out quite differently from ASoIaF canon).

'Early One Morning' is a traditional English folk song that has been covered by various musicians over the years. The version by Nana Mouskouri, which featured in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, is probably the most well-known. Personally, I prefer Jim Moray's version, although I can see why some people don't like it: it's much more modern and 'rockified', if that makes any sense.

In HameFura canon, as the protagonist of the 'Fortune Lover' otome game, Maria was meant to be a blank slate for young girls to project themselves onto. In this fic, she's a different kind of audience surrogate, if you know what I mean.