Even though her name day was to be celebrated the next day Thalina still spoiled Myrna with iced blue berries and cream that morning before they begun working. Their work was not the usual for they were getting ready for the party. Entertainers were coming down from Fairmarket along with some barrels of beer and wine. There will be a feast later at night, apparently the main dish being peppered boar which was quite extravagant for a simple village, and the baker was awaiting some orders from Thalina for a dessert.

"Ina, I believe apple crisps would be a decent dessert with summer ending and fall creeping up on us poor folk. What do you think?" she talked as she organized vegetables from the gardens their village kept outside the fence on the southern end. Carrots, leaks and other vegetables were lying on the counter Thalina was working on. Myrna believed they were going to be cooked with the boar.

She could not help but smile at Thalina. The woman was filled with life more than ever planning this special occasion. She was getting ready to watch her son take her husband's place. "Shall I tell the baker the dessert will be apple crisps?" Myrna asked as she stepped a little closer to Thalina and straightened out her green skirt. So far her new dress was suiting well with her.

"Yes. Apple crisps will do," Thalina finally decided as she took a long breath. "Go on now. The baker needs time to make them!"

Myrna bowed slightly and walked out Thalina's front door. She was sure she remembered where the baker was and walked down towards her lodge that she was going to pass and turn the corner to go down another lane within the village. The weather was slightly chilly but not enough to make Myrna shudder. It felt more soothing than annoying since she was northern born. Dealing with cold weather was in her blood, unlike the folk around her.

As she hustled past her house on the end of the lane she saw her reflection in the window. Or at least she thought it was her reflection, until she saw it was unmoving. Myrna stopped and squinted inside her home where the small table was with the little wooden chair. Someone was standing there but she could not see their face for it was veiled in the darkness. Then she began to blink and rub her eyes, but the figure remained.

Myrna marched to the front door. She shoved the door open and immediately investigated the left side of her small lodge. Nothing was to be found. Where the person was standing there was no one. "Who is here?" Myrna called out, and looked to the ladder. That was the only way the person could have escaped. However, after Myrna climbed the ladder and explored the small second floor she was positive no one went up there. The floor was covered in dust and it was not disturbed. No foot prints or anything to lead Myrna to believe they had escaped there. After climbing back down Myrna put her hands on her hips and stared around in disbelief. "Oh Seven save me, I'm going crazy…" she then rubbed her temple and began making her way back to the front door when she noticed a book lying under the table.

She got on her knees next to the table and grabbed the book off the ground. After standing back up she sat on her little chair as she examined what she found. Myrna had never seen it before. The cover of the book was made out of worn brown leather but there was no title. When she skimmed through it she saw it was a journal from the pretty handwriting that filled about a quarter of it. The rest was blank.

"I think I'll read you later," Myrna closed the journal and set it down on the table.

Putting what happened behind her, she closed her front door when she walked out and continued to turn the corner and walk down the next lane where the baker was. Myrna walked past a group of girls about her age that were standing at the very edge of the village where they could safely gossip. She recognized one as Katherine, the girl Ryler is supposedly going to marry. Katherine was pretty with golden curls and freckles standing out amongst her pale skin. Her dress was salmon colored and she wore a white bonnet. Although Katherine and the other two girls were pretty they did not come off as friendly. They turned quiet, putting their hands up against their lips to cover what they were saying. Myrna felt vulnerable and ignored their stares. Finally making her way down the next lane she noticed someone standing in her way.

"Ah, Ryler. Aren't you supposed to be in town with the men?" Myrna said when she almost bumped into him but then remembered about the previous day as she looked down at his leg. "Oh, my apologies. How are you feeling?"

Ryler sighed. "Fine," he replied. "I really owe Sandor for helping my sorry arse. Supposed to be a grown man but a bloody cart nearly killed me…"

So Ryler knows who he is? Myrna realized. "Do not say such things. Accidents happen!" she tried to console the depressing man. She decided to change the subject. "Are you excited about tomorrow's celebration? Will you announce your engagement to Katherine? Thalina talks about that a lot," she smiled at him and peeked over her shoulder to see if she could still see Katherine.

His mouth tightened and Myrna worried she brought up a bad subject. "There is no engagement," he said bluntly.

"What? But Thalina said-"

"I know what my mother says. But Katherine and I are just not a good match," he frowned harder and looked down at his injured leg. "Might we go for a stroll, Ina? I swear I'll be alright," he straightened up and began to limp towards the nearest exit of the village which was the one that lead to the pond.

This was not something Myrna wanted to do. She had to push herself to follow him. "Are you sure? I really do not think you should be walking so soon after your injury. Also your mother sent me to speak with the baker," Myrna held her hands in front of her nervously as she looked back towards the village after they exited since Ryler would not stop walking. Katherine and the girls were staring at them as they stood by the fence near the exit they just went through. None of them looked pleased. Myrna's anxiety only heightened.

"Please. Allow me to clear my head. This won't take too long…" Ryler insisted and she picked up her pace so she could be next to him. It was only after a minute or two that Ryler stopped. To her it was clear he was trying to hide that he was out of breath. "Beautiful day," was all he said as he glanced around at the green fields surrounding them. In the north there was a small shimmer from where the Blue Fork roared.

"Yes…" Myrna agreed and just stood there staring at him.

He turned to face her and returned her stare. "I am going to be upfront about this. You and Sandor… you two are not lovers. Am I correct?"

She refused to give him any answers by her expression but it was difficult for her to hide her emotions with her voice. "That's no concern of yours," she replied rather harshly.

"You two are not. I would have seen something by now. A hug. A kiss. But there has been nothing since you two arrived here. So I have a plan, Myrna…"

Myrna could feel this was going to be bad. "I get no say in this plan?"

Ryler continued on as if she had said nothing. "My mother loves you. You remind her so much of Tysa. And you are a beautiful woman. I know not if you are a maid but that matters little to me. If you wish to live here we might as well do what is best for everyone. I need a wife. You are due for a husband. My mother wants her daughter back. If we wed, we all get what we want," he explained.

"It sounds like you are telling me we are getting married!" Myrna yelled at him in disgust. "I have always thought of you as a brother! We shared a home without any attractions such as this! How do you expect me to just suddenly become your wife!?"

Ryler did not seem bothered by her outroar. "Well, I am the elder now. What I say goes. If we do not wed then I see no further use for you or Sandor in my village…"

"How could you be so unfair?" she said in disbelief.

"I am going to announce our engagement tomorrow. To be quite honest I think I am being fair for I am telling you what to expect. Try and look as nice as you can," he said with hardly any emotion in his voice as he began to backtrack back towards to the village. Then he stopped for a moment and turned around. "I almost forgot. Happy name day," he told her and then went back to limping down the trail. Myrna was left speechless.

Before the sun had begun to set the men had finally returned back to the village after almost a whole day had passed. A group was waiting for them by the eastern gate where she and Sandor had initially arrived a few days prior. Myrna went to join them and kept her eye out for Sandor. He was easy to spot, especially once they stopped their two wagons to unload. He was almost twice the size of the other men he was with. That morning Thalina had told Myrna they were out to Fairmarket to bring back what they needed for the celebration. Sandor was the one to carry the barrels of beer inside the village without breaking a sweat. In fact he did most of the unloading for his size made it easy. Myrna sat on the fence and watched him. He had not noticed her until one of the men he was with dismissed him. After finally taking a moment to relax he surveyed the area and spotted her.

"You can't greet me?" he mocked her and approached.

Myrna slid her rear off the low wooden fence. "You were busy, but now you're not. So now I can say hello," she teased him.

He wore his usual hard face. Sandor scowled as he looked at the sunset. "I'm bloody tired. Let's go back to the lodge," he demanded and Myrna followed him back.

Immediately after they entered the door his eye caught what Myrna had left on the table earlier that day. "What's that?"

She had almost forgotten the journal and her strange experience that led her to find it. Myrna decided to not tell him what happened to her. He may think her mad if she did.

"Oh, that. I was cleaning upstairs and found a diary of some sort. Perhaps tonight I'll read it," she grabbed it off the table and examined the brown leather cover. It looked like someone had been rough with it. There were scratches and folds on the leather.

When Myrna looked up from the journal she saw Sandor had made himself comfortable on the bed. He laid close to the wall so there was a small space for her along the outer edge like the night before. "Why don't you read some of it aloud?" he offered.

Myrna scoffed. "You interested in some young girl's fantasy?" she walked on over to the bed and sat on the edge of it, opening it to the first page. "Let's see…" she stared down into the page and read aloud:

This seems so strange, to write like this. There are no ears to hear

my woes so here I am. Writing words on a piece of parchment

like some sort of silly girl. Maybe I am just a silly girl. Mother

thinks I should feel lucky. I was hand-picked to marry a knight who

lives near King's Landing. Mother seems nervous. That makes me

nervous, too. He seems to be a well known knight but no one will

tell me of him. I tried to speak with those who live outside of the

village but they only stare at me. They are such pitiful stares and they

pierce through me. I am shaking. I do not want to leave home. It seems

I have little choice…

"How sad…" Myrna commented. She couldn't help but feel empathy towards this girl. In fact she felt as if she could have written this passage herself. Then she recalled the face she saw in the window. For a second she thought it was her reflection, but it turned out to be someone standing in the room looking at her.

Sandor did not seem to care. "It's the same bloody story for most women…"

There was something Myrna had completely missed. The front page was still open from what she had read, but on the inside of the cover a name was carved within it. "Wait one moment. There's a name here… Tysa?" Myrna discovered. "This was Tysa's journal!"

"This was her home before yours, wasn't it? Makes sense you'd find something of hers. Don't get so excited," he barked.

Myrna shook her head. "Thalina said Tysa died from a fever in this village. She never mentioned her moving away to marry a knight!"

"Well she could have died before her marriage," Sandor became more annoyed. Myrna felt him sit up and scoot around her to get off the bed. As he stood up he swiped the journal from her hands.

Myrna disapproved of that. "I wanted to read more of that!" she followed Sandor as he went to throw it on the table. When he turned around she was going to argue more until she saw him peer down at one of his hands. It was making a fist, like he was holding something. She wondered how long he had been like that.

That moment resumed what had been going on between them the previous evening before he left for work. Sandor seemed to be at a loss for words, and Myrna was not too sure what to say herself. She stared at his hand, and then back at his ruined face.

"Remember how I told you I am no good at these things?" he managed to cough out.

"I'm confused…" she confessed.

Slightly he raised his fingers to look at what he held. Myrna still could not see. "Today was your name day. So… ah, bloody hell, just take the damn thing!" he went with his free hand to grab one of Myrna's hands and opened it. For a second she heard the slithering metal sound of a chain and something cold fell into the palm of her hand. She pulled her hand back to take a look at what she held. It was a silver, oval pendant with a dark red ruby placed in it. A thin, delicate chain held the pendant. For eight name days she had not truly celebrated except for the previous one where she had been with Thalina. Yet that day only consisted of a better than average meal and listening to some of her neighbors play the fiddle.

She stared at it until her vision grew blurry. "Thank you…" she muttered softly.

"Listen, if you don't like it—"

"I love it," she interrupted but still remained soft spoken. Myrna began to remember that afternoon when she went for a walk with Ryler. His sudden proposal came out of nowhere. It was almost threatening.

"You don't sound like you love it," Sandor almost sounded disappointed.

Different emotions were building up, making her chest heavy. "Ryler wants to marry me," she was monotone despite everything she felt.

When she looked in Sandor's eyes she could see rage and hurt. "Well, tell him to fuck off!"

"We won't be living here if I don't agree. He is the elder now," she informed him now with a hint of the similar emotions he was feeling.

He rubbed his hand through his hair where it did grow. "He can't force you to marry him," Sandor rasped in a defeated tone and went to sit down on the chair, elbows resting on his knees. "Bloody hells…" he cursed to himself.

Myrna returned her gaze to the pretty necklace in her hand. Then back at the pitiful looking man. He was about her height when sitting down. Quietly she approached him and he looked up at her. "Put this on me?" she asked for help as she handed him back the necklace and turned around. His long arms wrapped around her while holding the ruby necklace and pulled the ends of the chain back behind her. It took him a moment for his large fingers to do the clasp. Afterwards she pulled her thick, black hair out from under the necklace and begun to run her fingers through her hair to fix it so it laid nicely. Impatiently, Sandor grabbed her arm and made her turn around to look at her chest.

"How does it look?" she asked him another question.

He stared awhile, and simply nodded. It seemed his mind was still preoccupied. Myrna wondered if he felt he made a mistake. At that time she found herself unable to rid her gaze upon him. The scars were not easy to look at but she still did. That half was just twisted mass of old burned tissue that always seemed to leave him scowling. The other half was that of a normal man, but one she grew slightly fond of. Myrna took a step forward and leaned in towards that half. She heard Sandor suck in air but he did not move as she gave him a peck on that cheek through his rough beard. Afterwards he looked down in almost a bashful way, as if he was trying to escape but did not want to. His mouth grimaced but she knew he was not in pain. He seemed lost, confused.

"I'm not marrying Gregor. I'm not marrying Ryler. I'm not marrying anyone who isn't…" Myrna's voice begun to tremble.

What she said drew Sandor's attention back swiftly. His eyes were wide open, and he placed his hands on her waist. The two of them engaged in a long stare…

Then there was a knock on the door.

"Ina?" they heard Thalina's voice call out for her from the other side of the door. It followed with more knocks. "Ina, I am so overwhelmed for tomorrow's celebration. I really need your help. I apologize for coming here so late!" she continued to nag and knock on the door.

Sandor gripped her waist tighter. "Stay…" his piercing eyes were glued to hers.

"I can't…" Myrna woefully replied as she tried to face the door but he would not let go. "They are doing so much for us. I can't let them think ill thoughts of me…"

Then he did let go, but what he did next Myrna did not expect. He stood up and stomped around her, and grabbed the door. He opened it but only enough so his body could shield what was going on inside.

"She's asleep. Do you mean to wake her?" he growled out the door. There was some mumbling Myrna could not decipher, but Thalina sounded apologetic. "Good. She will see you tomorrow," he barked and then closed the door. Myrna stared blankly at him as he motioned one hand towards the door. "There. Done. No more buggering interruptions…" he snarled as he marched back to his chair. Out the window Myrna could faintly see Thalina slowly shuffling her way down the lane towards her house with her head down. Guilt overwhelmed her.

"That was a little unnecessary," Myrna told him.

His hands went back to where they were before. He held onto her small waist, thumb brushing against the fabric of her green dress. Their eyes connected once more. "That son of hers wants to ruin your life just like my brother wants to ruin yours. Don't feel anything towards them but hate," he warned her. Softly she sighed, but that aggravated him more. "I don't need to live here, Myrna. I refuse to if I have to watch you marry some bloody peasant. You are worth more than that!" he yelled.

Her vision grew blurry again for the second time that night. Then she leaned in again, but his hands held her tightly in place.

"…And you're worth more than me," his voice pained.

She shook her head, black curls bouncing everywhere. "That's not true! My house is dead but yours isn't. There's still a chance that maybe-"

"I'm not talking about our buggering families! Curse them all!" he roared back. "I am talking about you. You are the most daring lady I've ever met, but still a lady. You've killed and impressed me, and you know how the world works. You're smart!" he went on. "You don't deserve anything that you have gone through. Including your times with me…"

Myrna paused to collect her thoughts. "Sandor. I would never trade our times together for anything. I've never met a man more true than you," she brushed his beard with a hand.

When he slid his hands off of her he did it slowly. He did not react to her touch. When he walked around her again he made for the bed this time. She looked at the journal on the table, then down at her feet. Her fist clenched but she was not angry. Just disappointed.

"At least face me tonight when we sleep," Myrna requested when she finally turned around to see him.

He sat down on the edge of the bed. "You don't want to wake up to this," he said bitterly and began to lie down on his side of the bed on his back.

She followed him and crawled on the bed. When she lied down she was resting on her left side, facing him. His melted, scarred ear was plain in sight. He was trying hard to ignore her. "It's my name day. Please," she insisted.

For a while he stared hard up at the ceiling then sighed. He turned to lie on his right side and finally faced her. With his head resting on his right side it covered most of his burn. "You're a pain in my arse sometimes," he rasped in a low voice.

Myrna laughed at that and she could have sworn she saw him smirk for a second. After he closed his eyes she decided to close hers, too. Tomorrow was going to be a rough day. Once Myrna declines her engagement to Ryler they may not sleep in this bed again.