A knock sounded on her door.

"Come in!"

Sunlight spilled past Elle as she entered the chamber. She was clad in one of the dresses Elia never wore, the dark yellow embroidery fitting quite well with her hair.

"Do you have a veil I could borrow?" she asked gently. "Elia and I would like to explore the city, and I don't… I don't want to be recognised."

Ellaria smiled at her nervous finger tapping. "Of course. Let me braid your hair as well, so that you can hide it better."

She pulled out the stool so Elle could sit down in front of the vanity. Her back was straight, her shoulders pulled back, and her hands folded perfectly in her lap, but Ellaria couldn't help but notice how she refused to look at the mirror. Perhaps it was the three scars of unknown origin marring her face, perhaps something… darker.

"How are you doing?" she asked as she took some still damp strands in hand and started braiding. Carefully, of course. She knew how sensitive Elle was to touch.

"Fine, I think." Her fingers tapped against each other. "Being back here is… merely a lot to take in."

"I can imagine that."

She picked up a hair brush to detangle some hair, before continuing her work.

"I know the truth. All of it."

Elle tensed beneath her.

"I don't wish to admonish, just tell you that you need not have secrets with me. We were all distraught when you disappeared, Elia most of all. And Oberyn as well. I believe him when he says he regrets involving you in his plans."

"Regret does not diminish years of lies."

Elle had always been a peculiar girl, ever since they had first met in the snows of Braavos. She had tried to be nice to her - as she had with all of her paramour's daughters - yet a distance had remained between them. A distance only Oberyn and Elia had been able to bridge.

"Perhaps not. But carrying such bitterness for the rest of your life will not bide well for you either."

Elle did not respond, so she decided to change topics. To something a tad easier.

"If I remember correctly, your hair was once longer."

"I cut and dyed it after I had left." She moved her head, but Ellaria's fingers gently forced it into position once more. "I wish I had kept it brown. Would have spared me a lot of grief."

"How so?"

She laughed. "Just look at me. I am a Lannister, through and through."

Ellaria had heard of the claims by Stannis Baratheon, of the accusations that had cost Eddard Stark his head - that Queen Cersei's children were bastards, fathered by her twin brother. An affront to the gods, sure to curse her House for generations to come.

She spared a glance at Elle's face in the mirror. Looking past the three scars, she could not imagine her having even a drop of Baratheon blood in her. Sure, Ellaria had never met one of them, but she knew enough from Oberyn's tales.

Perhaps… Perhaps this eternal sadness in Elle's eyes was because she knew the truth. Something like this could not be easy to swallow, even for someone raised the way she had been. To have one's entire life revolve around being a princess, in line to the throne, and then have it ripped away in a moment's notice.

"Where did you stay these past few years?" she asked to banish those thoughts from her mind.

"Nowhere and everywhere. I travelled from the Lands of Always Winter to Castle Black and further to the Riverlands. I have seen castles and magic and things others could only ever dream of." A spark had entered her eyes. "I have met so many different people of so many different flocks of life, ones I would have never encountered had I stayed locked in a castle for my entire life. And there was one…"

Ellaria recognised the smile forming on Elle's face, as well as the slight blush on her cheeks.

"What did you like best?"

"It all carries good and bad. Some things... some people poisoned my enjoyment of certain happenings after they had already occurred. It is difficult to look back on anything with an open heart."

She wondered if there was a full moon approaching. Elle always acted rather strangely around that time.

Before she could properly prepare, pins fixed some loose strands in place and the braid was finished. Ellaria wished she would have taken her time, to spend more time with Elle and inquire about her previous whereabouts, but she had to find another opportunity.

Picking out a green veil she barely wore, she quickly fixed it to the golden hair, hiding more of it than would have been usual.

"Thank you, Ellaria. I swear I will return it by tonight."

"Take your time," she said with a smile. "Enjoy the day."

a/n: sorry for the short chapter, exam week's coming up and i literally have no time for anything. next week's chapter will be longer. i hope