Chapter 5
The next few weeks flew by in a rush of preparations. Winterfell was live with sound of preparations, everyone had a job that they had to finish by a certain time and there would be Hell to pay if it wasn't finished. I had been dragged into helping with the decorations around Winterfell with the other girls, personally I think it was just Lady Catelyn's idea of keeping me away from the training field and Jon. The day before the King and his party were supposed to arrive I was on my way to my chambers when I heard Catelyn talking to Jon, "You won't be attending the feast tonight, I do not want to take the chance that the King may be offended by the prospect of dining with a bastard." She spat out the last word as if it were a curse. Jon flinched at the mention of the word and simply nodded. Once Lady Stark had gone I walked up behind Jon and put my hands on his shoulders, he jumped slightly and whirled around. His features softened when he saw it was me. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." I looked down at the floor blushing. "Don't worry Kay, I'm fine." He gave me a trademark Jon Snow smile and wrapped me in his arms. I sighed and buried my face further into his chest. We stayed like that for a while until a shout was heard coming from the end of the hallway. "Kayla? Kayla where are you?" I shooed Jon away quickly, before he ran off he gave me a quick peck on the cheek and a smile. "Yes, who is it?" I called out. I was greeted by the sight of Lady Stark looking rather flustered, "Hurry child, the Royal party is nearly here and we have to be ready and waiting for them to arrive!" With that she spirited me out of the Keep and pushed into line with Jon and Theon, we were stood behind the Starks because we were not of the family. I was sandwiched between Jon and Theon, it was probably for the best because they were giving each other some really evil glares. I stood on my tip-toes and whispered in Jon's ear: "How did you manage to get down here so quickly?" he chuckled and looked down at me and mouthed "Magic" and ended it with a wink. I don't know why but I found myself blushing like an absolute fool, God's what had gotten into me? Before I could make another witty comment the Royal party entered the courtyard led by a field of golden soldiers clad in beautifully polished steel. I large man was helped down from his huge stallion, he had dark unruly hair and a beard to match, but his eyes looked happy and very friendly. He plodded over to Lord Stark and embraced him like an old friend. "Ned! God's you've got fat!" After that I switched off a little, I smiled and traded courtesies when needed but most of the time I just stayed quiet. I kept getting the feeling that I was being watched form the time that the Royal party stepped through the gates. I subtly turned my head to see if I could catch a glimpse of the person who was watching me and I was greeted by the sight of the one they call the King Slayer. Ser Jaime Lannister sat atop his sparkling horse, he had hair the same colour as mine and a tan to match. He seemed to sense me looking at him because he turned and stared at me straight in the eyes. I frowned and looked down at the floor, luckily that was the time that Catelyn decided that I needed to go and get myself sorted for the feast. I took one last glance back at Jaime he was smiling broadly at me and he gave me a cocky wink. I rolled my eyes and followed after Catelyn.
About an hour later I was dressed in one of Lady Starks southern gowns, it was a lovely shade of green that complimented my eyes and my hair perfectly, it fell from my shoulders slightly and revealed a bit too much of my chest for my liking but it hugged my figure perfectly. I smiled at my reflection in mirror. "You look beautiful Kayla" came Lady Starks voice, "Thank you my lady that is most kind of you, and also thank you for letting me borrow this lovely dress." I smiled at her and saw that she had a slight tear in her eye, this made me frown slightly, "Are you okay my lady?" she looked at me and nodded composing herself slightly. "Come, we still need to sort your hair out before the feast starts and we don't have long left." she quickly set to work styling my hair into intricate braids, she even put tiny green gems in my hair to go with my dress. After about half an hour we were all ready. "Right, I best go give the handmaidens a hand with Arya, you know how hard it is to get her into a dress." She started to walk out of the room, "Thank you Catelyn, for everything." She turned around and looked at me "That's my pleasure Kayla" she smiled and left the room. I stood and looked at myself in the mirror one last time and then I plucked up the courage to go downstairs and make my way to feast hall. I was just about to walk inside when I bumped into Jaime Lannister, "Oh sorry Ser, do excuse me." I tried to get passed him but he put his hand on my arm. I looked down at his hand and frowned at him. "You look very beautiful tonight, oh where are my manners? My name is Jaime Lannister but I think you've already figured that out." he grasped my hand and placed a gentle kiss on it. "And you must be the famous Kayla Pendragon." I chuckled at that which seemed to boost his ego. "I don't know about famous but yes I am Kayla Pendragon, know if you do excuse me I must be getting inside." I prized my arm out of his grasp and sauntered over to the hall entrance and inside.