GROWING STRONG ... j.lannister

chapter four; arborvitae

It does not spark anything inside of her but a gentle warmth that sits in her chest. The same sort of warmth she feels when Lunette braids her hair, or her sisters share their dresses, or her brother allows her to eat his apple.

"I cannot say no to that pretty face." His thumb traces the bone of her cheek. "How about a sword of your own? I shall find the prettiest gem to weld into the hilt." A sword of her own. No more flaying trees. Now, when her heart is threatened, she does not need to rely on a man to save her.

It is an oddly uplifting feeling.

She presses her lips to Trevyr's cheek and thanks him. He laughs as she does it over and over and over again. They have, surprisingly to Lunette, grown closer over the past few months as he has been teaching her swordsmanship. It is much deeper than that of a marriage. Actually, it seems to be friendship.

When Trevyr laughs, he shines his brightness onto Caecilia and she responds in kind. Two shining stars in the dark blanket of the night sky.

Their love will never be something to write ballads about, but it may be enough to just remember. It will leave Lunette feeling proud for the rest of her life. That she may have known them before they were ever like this and that she will know them forever after too.

A single drop of water falls onto her head and she springs up from the picnic blanket.

"Quickly." She cuts into their laughter and their heads snap towards her. "We have stayed too long, the rain is coming."

They canter back to Horn Hill on their horses. Ranger leads the pack like always, his hooves like the sound of falling trees. Daena is close behind, swift as an arrow let loose from the bow, a blur of ink in the distance. Finally, Lunette's ivory palfrey, Dreamfyre, named after a dragon of old lost to a raging war between family. She is not as quick as the other two, but she can jump higher than the other two and Lunette makes a show of it each time.

The three are always happiest when they are riding, their laughs echoing in the grumble of rain racing behind them.

The rain falls in pitter-patters as they reach the stables. Caecilia's soft curls cling to her soaked dress, but she waves off Lunette's concerns as she undoes the saddle on Daena's back. The horse whinnies and presses her nose to Caecilia's head. In the next stable over, Trevyr is soothing Ranger down, the poor horse far too afraid of the ever-growing loudness of the rain falling on the wooden roof high above them. Lunette leans over the stable door and hands over an apple she had picked on the way back. It does, surprisingly, do its job in calming Ranger down and Trevyr is free to undo his saddle and replace it for his favourite chequered blanket.

Every few days the routine is the same. Leave early in the morning before anybody can ask where they are off to. Take breakfast, lunch, and some extra food for snacks. Spend all day in the clearing; Trevyr teaching Caecilia swordsmanship, Lunette reading, the horses grazing. And then, the clouds grow too dark and they leave, arriving home in time for dinner. Nobody asks them where they have been all day and nobody cares. No Tarly cares too much for Caecilia anyway.

They probably would have liked to have her torn to pieces by wolves. She would not have minded much either if she had remembered the rest of her life was to be spent here.

The halls are full of ghostly hauntings – ah, that is just Trevyr's grandmother, whose gnarled fingers curl towards Caecilia as she passes, her reddening eyes narrowing into glares like daggers. If the Stranger does not come for her first, Caecilia might.

"You–" She coughs and splutters. A little bit of blood dots her lips. The Stranger's hand squeezes her neck but she refuses to go away with him – she will live forever to spite his cold embrace. To spite them all, really. Trevyr steps forward to help his grandmother through her coughing fit. When she is done, she shakes him off as if she never really needed his help. She points at Caecilia once more. "You have letters. And you should not spend so much time outside, there is too much redness in your cheeks. Very ugly."