"Ah, she is clever after all," said Cersei, smirking.
"Wit is such a rare accomplice to beauty yet we
stand, alone, in a room crowded with only that."
Cersei lifted a thick strand of Eleonora's hair, ran it
through her fingers, and dropped it back o...
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Peace if possible, truth at all costs. —
"Kol, take two men and go further west," shouted Jory to his men as they dispersed into the darkness. "I'll take Lady Eleonora south for a bit longer. We'll stay close to the creek."
Stark men had been searching for Arya for four days, but the queen's men had been out hunting her as well. It was a race against time. Arya had apparently gotten into a scuffle with Prince Joffrey, Nymeria, and the butcher's boy Mycah. She had run off into the woods with Nymeria and no one had seen her since. Eleonora had not left Jory's side looking for Arya. She knew, other than her father, there was no one more dedicated to bringing her home safe and sound. She appreciated him for that. Jory and Eleonora held torches as the moon as their sole source of light otherwise. They left their horses back at camp, so they could scour the smaller crevasses throughout the wetlands. Eleonora was distraught. The idea of Arya alone in the forest made her ill. She worried for her, and she couldn't imagine anything happening to her youngest sister. Eleonora tripped over an eroded root, barely catching herself. Jory took firm hold of her arm to steady her. She had barely slept over the last few days or eaten for that matter, and she was in a foul mood.
"You should go back and rest," said Jory.
"I'm fine," she replied, heaving a deep breath.
"Nor-"
"I tell you, I'm fine," she snapped, jerking her arm from his hold then immediately regretting it. "Forgive me."
"It's alright," he replied, nodding and wisely choosing to drop the subject.
The pair walked in silence for a long while, alternating their calling of Arya's name. The wind had a chill that felt sweet on the cheeks of the northerners whom already longed for the cold of their home. There were creatures in the trees that sung haunting songs and dozens glowing eyes that seemed to follow them.
"Do you remember the last time Arya ran off into the woods?" asked Jory, attempting to distract his counterpart.
"No, she never runs away from anything," she retorted.
"Come now, of course you do," he replied, undeterred. "She couldn't have been too much older than Rickon is now."
Eleonora paused, a quiet smile growing on her lips as she fondly recalled Jory's memory. "It was just after my sixteenth Nameday feast. My mother thought it wise to invite House Umber, House Tallhart and House Forrester as a last stitch effort to match me with a fine, eligible northern lord."
"I remember," said Jory, biting his tongue in distaste from the subject but pleased with himself for bringing a smile to Eleonora's face. "I also will never forget the screams of your mother and Lady Elissa when you and Asher Forrester were found alone and naked in the fresh springs in the middle of the night."
"We were just going for a swim," she smirked.
"No one just 'goes for a swim' with Asher Forrester," he teased.
