Game of Thrones: Life on Canvas

Chapter 1 of my new Game of Thrones story, enjoy.

Disclaimer: Game of Thrones belongs to George R.R. Martin.

Chapter 1

The eighteen year old young woman sighed; huddling closer to the electric heater. She had long curly blonde hair and green eyes, as well as pale skin and a slender build. She was quite beautiful with a nice figure; although that was hidden by her clothes. She was currently wearing at least three layers of clothing and fingerless gloves, even though she was indoors.

The young woman's name was Myrcella Baratheon, she was the daughter of Robert Baratheon, the richest man in Westeros. However Myrcella walked a different path from her family; she refused to be like her older brother Joffrey and live off the family fortune. She wanted to make her own way in life, to be independent and pursue her dream. That was why she was here.

'In retrospect, not a great idea…but what choice did I have.' She noted to herself. 'It was this or…or give up on my dream, my mother wouldn't have understood. She would've stopped me, tried to make me do something else, even though I would have hated it.'

She shook her head; her dream was a direct response to the creativity that stirred inside her. She wanted to be an artist; she had worked hard, even managed to put up a few paintings for sale. Sadly they didn't generate much interest, mostly due to her not having a lot of people to contact to advertise her work. However she was still able to get enough money to survive, mainly due to a second job, which she despised, and to her Uncle Jaime Lannister, who actually bought some of her paintings.

While nearly all her uncles seemed to accept her desires, she guessed Uncle Stannis did, but couldn't be sure. She could never tell what he was thinking, him always being so serious all the time. She did not believe her parents would be so understanding, they'd think she was wasting her future, that she had great things ahead of her, without her art getting in the way.

In fact, the only person in her immediate family she stayed in regular contact with was her younger brother Tommen. She broke out of her thoughts when she heard the gurgling of water and a short clunking noise. She looked hopefully over at the central heating radiator but the noise died out without anything happening.

She sighed. 'Typical, central heating's still not working.'

Ever since she moved away from the family home to follow her dream she had moved to the North. She had hoped that it's somehow purer surroundings would offer her more inspiration. There were times when it did, but she paid a price for such a plan. She had little money of her own and so had to live in the small apartment she currently resided in.

It was not only small, but there were several things wrong with it, namely the central heating not working. In winter time, in the North, that was never a good thing.

In truth it wasn't the size that bothered her; it was everything else; with a sigh she got up and discarded the remains of her dinner. About the only thing that worked in the apartment were the electrics. She tried to wash her hands, turning on the hot tap, she stuck her hand under the water, before pulling it back sharply.

'It's freezing.' Her mind screamed as she gasped. 'Ugh, now I've got to tell the landlord the water's not working again.'

Shaking her head she returned to the relatively safe warmth provided by the electric heater.

She tried to make herself feel better about her situation. 'Remember Cella, you wanted to live your dream. You're strong, you can cope with this. Things could be worse after all…at least the electrics work.'

She knew that, given the state of her apartment; that was something. She also knew she wasn't in any trouble with the landlord; she was up to date on the rent. That reminded her that the next payment was due soon. She checked to make sure she had the money and, satisfied she did, pondered briefly on the landlord. She'd heard all sorts of scare stories about landlords and young females, yet she had got lucky.

The man who owned the apartment building was nice, he had been genuinely kind to her. Once, when she didn't have enough money for the rent, he had compromised and agreed to let her away with just half the rent that month. Thankfully the following month had been when her uncle Jaime started buying her paintings so she was able to make it up with that payment. He also knew about the problems with her apartment, all the apartments in the building had the same problems. Try though he might however, the poor man just couldn't keep up.

Shaking her head she walked over to her laptop, which she kept on the desk, next to all her art supplies. She powered it up and quickly opened her site. She bit her lip as she checked over it, no new commissions, no requests, nothing. She checked the artwork she had advertised on the site last week, her latest work. She noticed that both paintings had been bought. The buyer was using a screen name, however it was one she recognized.

She sighed, a small, sad, smile forming on her face. "Thanks Uncle Jaime…But really, I wish somebody other than you bought my work."

She sighed, wishing she could find some way to attract more customers. Sadly nothing came to her. She then noticed the time.

"Oh, shit." She muttered. "I'm gonna be late."

It was almost time for her second job; despite her dislike for it, she felt she had no choice. She quickly grabbed full gloves, with fingers, her hat and scarf and then her jacket and boots. Once dressed she left the apartment and, after locking it, headed out into the street, the evening sun was beginning to set. She then began walking to her workplace; once again feeling the dread and annoyance she always felt when it came time for her to go to this job.

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.