A heavy fog had settled over the town, masking her presence to the three women she was spying on.
She had not meant to, truthfully. But when she had heard the words "arrow", "castle", and "kill" in rapid succession, her body had refused to move from its hideout behind the crates.
"Do we have to do it at the ball?"
"It's the only way to make them listen. We have been planning this for months, we cannot back down now."
"You never mentioned it was a name day celebration."
" That is what you are concerned about?"
"Silence, both of you. It matters not how or when we do it, merely that we do. Stone Hedge will be easy to enter during the ball - which is not truly about the name day, Mona, but about the castle's liberation. We can hide amongst the guests and get close to Harry if our original plan does not work. We will end this"
"A Blackwood, a Bracken, a peasant, and a bastard. What can go wrong?"
The voices moved down the street, swallowed by the fog and the darkness. Elle thought about following them, trying to find out more about that plan of theirs, when a sudden force threw her against a wall.
Her breath got knocked out of her the same moment a cold blade pressed itself against her throat. It all happened so fast, she had no time to defend herself in any way, being left to helplessly stare at the dark eyes before her.
"What are you doing out here, pretty girl?"
She was barely able to make out the woman before her, only noting her short hair and light cloak.
"Just taking a walk," Elle answered with a shaking voice.
"At this time of day?" The woman chuckled. "You were spying."
"That would necessitate a prior intention to listen in on a conversation, not simply overhear it when walking down an alleyway."
The woman moved her face even closer to hers, her breath caressing Elle's cheek. "Stay out of things that do not concern you, pretty girl."
And with that, she was gone.
Elle, of course, did not decide to stay out of it. She was the Golden Paladin, and despite her focus lying on helping the lowborn, she could not choose to look away when lords and ladies were threatened.
So, after listening around the town the following day and gathering as much information as she possibly could, she found herself a green dress and went about preparing herself in the inn's small room she was occupying.
Fixing her hair in the mirror before her, her gaze wandered behind her for just a moment, yet it was long enough to notice the woman from the alley standing in the shadows behind her.
How long had she been there?
"Like what you are seeing?" she said, trying to overplay her discomfort.
The woman scoffed. "Don't flatter yourself. I just wanted to check if you were still holding onto that idiotic notion of yours."
"You have given me no reason not to." She fixed the bronze chain around her hip.
"Is a dagger to your throat not enough?"
"I am not easily intimidated." Elle turned towards the woman, who was still hiding in the shadows. "So either you give me a real reason to abandon my plan, or you leave."
"You will regret this."
"We shall see."
Stone Hedge, the seat of House Bracken, was imposing. The castle sat on top of a hill, overlooking the surrounding areas, with two massive towers rising even further upwards. Before it lay a sprawling garden that might once have been filled with greenery, yet a fire had laid waste to everything. The castle had recently been liberated from Lannister forces, she had heard, so its state wasn't all too surprising.
She made her way upwards, careful not to be seen. Starlight stayed hidden amongst the trees as Elle slipped through a side entrance and into the castle.
Finding the ballroom wasn't very difficult. But she was not prepared for the onslaught of light and noises that greeted her as she entered the hall. Music and laughter and conversations and clinking and stomping layered onto each other and swelled up into one giant, unbearable clamour.
She took in a deep breath.
The man she was here to protect was named Harry Rivers. He was the bastard son of Lord Jonos Bracken, and an important leader in his father's army, if rumour was to be believed.
She disappeared amongst the crowd, hesitantly walking between the lords and ladies in attendance, each of them decked out in finery she had not seen in years.
On her way to the castle she had passed fields and towns, each of them destroyed by the war still raging around them. And yet these people preferred to spend their time dancing and drinking in a castle that rose high above the lands they abandoned.
Perhaps if they did their duty, she would not have needed to sacrifice her own life.
You're not here for this, she reminded herself. She would save Harry Rivers and then leave. And run far, far away from these people.
Thinking of- She had no idea what he actually looked like. Nor where she could find him. This celebration was held in his honour, but would he even want to take part? What if he preferred the quiet? The ball had been going on for quite some time, had he perhaps already retired to his rooms? It would be much easier to kill-
"What is a beautiful girl like you doing unaccompanied at a ball?"
A man appeared before her. He was not much taller than her, with brown hair, wide shoulders, and dressed in red, yellows, and browns. His smile seemed almost… predatory.
"What makes you think I am alone?" She cocked her head.
"I've been watching you. So, unless your chaperone is asleep under the wine table, I say you are on your own."
"Watching me?"
"I was told to be on the look-out for potential brides. And you caught my eye."
She had an inkling of an idea as to who he could be, but she needed to be certain.
"And to whom do I owe the pleasure?" she asked, raising her hand.
He took it and pressed a kiss to its back. "Harry Rivers, son of Lord Jonos. And you, my lady?"
"Ceryse," she said the first name that came to mind.
"Well then, Lady Ceryse, would you accompany me in this next dance?"
She let him pull her into the middle of the hall, taking her position, and started following his steps.
He was charming, in a sense - or tried to be. He pressed her a bit too close to him than was necessary for this dance, but did not seem like someone worth killing.
"Tell me, my lady, what leads you to Stone Hedge?"
"Just… curiosity, I suppose. I have heard quite a lot about this castle, I wanted to see it for myself."
"No other reason?"
He had his eyebrow raised almost in a challenge, yet she could not discern what he could possibly be hinting towards with his question.
"Do you want there to be another? I'm certain I could think of something."
He gripped her waist tighter at that.
As they continued waltzing across the floor, her gaze flickered around the crowd. Many of the assembled guests watched them, but she paid them no mind. What she was looking out for were weapons - bows, swords, daggers, and anything else to be used nefariously.
Yet she found nothing.
Had she misheard the women? Or had they abandoned their plan after all?
Perhaps she should leave. This was no place for her, had never been, and she didn't know how any of these nobles would react if they found out she-
Glass shattered, and Harry screamed out. An arrow stuck out of his shoulder a hair's breadth away from her hand. He stumbled back and out of her grasp, clutching his wound.
She ripped her head towards where the arrow had come from, towards the shattered window, ignoring her racing heart, and could only just make out a crouching figure against the darkness outside.
People had started screaming and running from the glass shards raining down on the floor. Harry stumbled, eyes fixed on his right shoulder almost in disbelief. She quickly grabbed his left arm and pulled him after her, fighting herself through the chaotic masses and towards a small side door.
He stumbled after her through the empty hallway, breathing heavily, and - from what it sounded like - trying to say something yet failing to.
She pushed him into an alcove by a window, and down onto a cushioned bench. He tried to move away when she drew her dagger, but she heeded him no mind as she cut two long pieces of fabric from her dress.
"I apologise, I thought I had been better prepared." She grabbed the arrow. "This might hurt a little."
He sobbed as she pulled it out of his skin and pressed one of the cloths to the wound.
"What- What do you mean? Did you know this would happen?"
She tied the second cloth tightly around his arm. "I- I overheard three women talking about wanting to kill you. I thought I could stop them."
"No one can stop us."
She startled at the female voice coming from behind her. She whipped around and only barely dodged the sword aimed at her chest.
The girl before her looked similar to the woman that had threatened Elle a few nights previously, yet she did not have much time to study her features.
Her dagger was a poor defence against the sword. Even pushing the girl away from her and Harry took far too long, and caused her to almost get skewered by the blade at multiple points. The dress did not help in that regard.
The girl threw her to the ground with ease, stepping over her and preparing to jump at the confused Harry, when Elle slashed out with her dagger and cut the back of her knee. She screamed out, her legs giving out under her, making her crash to the ground.
Elle quickly jumped up and grabbed Harry's hand, pulling him after her down the corridor.
"Who are you?" he screamed out.
"That really does not matter at this moment."
They rounded a corner she thought led to a passage out, when a woman with a spear jumped at them.
Once more, Elle pushed Harry to the side, drew her dagger, and went on the attack.
The woman's clothing looked old and dirty. Even the wood of her spear splintered already. Nothing about her made her look threatening, and with how easily Elle managed to disarm her she did wonder how the woman had gotten roped into this.
(With how much she was forced to move, she was quite glad she had left her necklace in Starlight's saddle bag.)
Harry seemed to finally figure out how to walk on his own again as she pulled him through a door and into the open.
"Where are you taking me?"
"Just-" Her skirt got stuck on some thorns, yet she quickly pulled it off the bush. "Away. Somewhere they won't find you."
"Too late, pretty girl."
The woman from the alley stood before them, and for the first time Elle was able to see her in her full might.
She was tall, with wide shoulders, and brown hair that went just past her chin. Her clothing consisted of dark, earthen colours, blending in with her olive skin, only interrupted by the saffron belt swung around her waist. She grinned.
"You're braver than I thought."
Elle was about to respond, when Harry spoke up.
"Zima?"
She turned to him. "You know her?"
"Yes," the woman, Zima, responded. "Quite well."
"Are you behind this vicious attack?" Harry asked.
She smiled. "Only partly." Then she drew her dagger. "Step aside, pretty girl. I have to finish this."
Elle guided Harry behind her and grabbed her own knife tighter. "No."
"Such a shame."
And so began an endless dance between her and Zima, full of slashing, hacking, stabbing, punching, and kicking, clothes being ripped and cut, blood spilling from wounds on both of their skins. At several points, she stumbled over her dress or was knocked back, yet Zima did not use this opportunity to get to Harry, instead continuing to attack her. It almost seemed like any good will or positive feelings she had towards Elle previously had vanished as soon as she had stood between her and her target.
Zima stepped on her skirt and ripped it backwards, making her drop her dagger and fall right into her arms. A blade was pressed to her throat.
"You just couldn't stay away, could you?" she hissed in her ear.
"Not when I knew what you and your friends were up to."
Zima chuckled. "Do you want to know why he needs to die?"
"So you finally think me worthy of this information?"
Harry had disappeared from his spot, having either run away or gone into hiding.
Zima tilted the dagger, ghosting the edge across her skin. "When the Lannister forces attacked Stone Hedge, Lady Barbara, the heir to this castle, was raped by the Mountain. And she has never been the same since. Before she was loud and ferocious and actively engaged in the happenings of her family's lands; now she has confined herself to her chambers, and has not spoken a single word. Harry sees this as his opportunity to usurp her seat and become Lord of Stone Hedge."
She did not dare move. "No, I don't- He would not be this stupid. He has true-born sisters-"
"He does. Though it seems he sometimes forgets about this. Just like he forgets that he isn't Lord Jonos' first born."
She just stood there, catching her breath, pressed against Zima, trying to process what she had just been told. "How would you know about all this?"
Just then, soldiers came running into the garden, led by Harry. The dagger was removed from her throat and she was unceremoniously pushed into the damaged rose bushes lining the path. A quiet scream escaped her lips as the thorns buried themselves into her skin.
"Follow her!" a voice shouted.
Harry appeared in her field of vision, concern on his face, with his shoulder still wrapped in her makeshift bandage. He gripped her hand and arm and pulled her upwards.
"Are you alright, my lady?"
She quickly pushed him away. "Is it true? Are you trying to usurp your sister's seat?"
"What? Who told you-"
"Zima did. Her story seemed rather convincing."
He exhaled. "You cannot trust what Zima says. She is jealous-"
"Jealous? Is that why four separate women tried to murder you tonight?"
"I cannot expect a lady to understand the intricacies-"
"I am no lady, I can assure you that." Suddenly, everything started falling into place. "You told me you were searching for a bride tonight. You. A bastard."
His mood shifted from one second to the next at that word. "We are in a war! The only way for House Bracken to survive is to have a strong leader at its head, a role women are not equipped to fulfil."
She let out a laugh in disbelief, one that sounded too much like a sob for her liking. "How could I have been so stupid?"
Why had she not simply listened when Zima had told her to stay away? Now she had saved a man who could not even show the most basic respect to the women around him, intending to strip them of the little power they had. Saved one man and doomed five women.
She quickly picked up her dagger and started walking away, when Harry tried to grab her arm.
"My lady-"
"Don't fucking touch me!"
He moved back a step, acting as if she had hit him. She should have.
A soldier appeared beside Harry. "M'lord, are you-" His gaze fell on her, eyes widening as he put a hand on the pommel of his sword. "M'lord, step back."
"What? No, I need to talk to her."
"M'lord, I would advise you not to. This is the Golden Paladin."
And in an instant, any sign of hurt or betrayal ( the audacity of this man) disappeared off his face, replaced by what could only be described as disgust.
"Take her captive. We need to send her to Riverrun for questioning."
As if sent by the Gods, Starlight came riding up beside her, knocking the soldier to the ground. She had mounted up within an instance, sending one last look to Harry.
"The next time I see you, you will not live to see the sun rise."
Her tears had long since dried up. Now she was simply exhausted.
She had made it back to the inn she had been staying at the previous nights, and had been sitting in front of the window, watching the moon make its way across the night sky.
"Not feeling so great, pretty girl?"
Zima.
How did she get in here again?
"Come to gawk at my failure?" She did not turn to her.
"Maybe. Maybe I also heard from a little bird that I have finally met the great Golden Paladin, and wanted to see her again with this knowledge."
"You're mocking me."
Zima laughed. "How could I mock the only person successfully driving the nobility on all sides into madness?"
"Why will you not leave me alone?"
She stood up, admittedly not quite knowing what her goal was, when Zima pushed her against a wall and trapped her between it and her arms, knocking the breath out of her.
"I cannot explain it." The woman's lips were a mere hair's breadth from her own. "You intrigue me. You fascinate me. I want to bury my teeth into your skin so that you will never leave me."
She should be alarmed by her confession. Should try to fight her off, run out of this room, and flee as far as she could.
"You tried to kill me. You refused to tell me about Harry Rivers' true nature and let me defend such a loathsome man, dooming you and your friends. You pushed me into thorns, left me to fend on my own, and broke into my rooms twice now. You have a strange way of showing your fascination."
"Gods, do you ever shut up?"
Her gaze flickered down to her lips, before meeting Zima's eyes again.
"Make me."
a/n: i based stone hedge off the festung hohensalzburg (castle in austria) bc i want the brackens to get nice things too :(
