Collection of One-Shots

》three and ten

Jory Cassel is a smol bean who doesn't get enough love.

JEYNE POOLE AND Sansa Stark were sitting next to each other at the autumn feast. The two girls were both nine, and their minds filled with stories of fair maidens and valiant knights. They were whispering to one another and giggling. "May I inquire as to what is so entertaining?" Serena Mollen whispered, catching the two off-guard. Jeyne flushed, and Sansa was quick to grow silent —caught amid their scheme.

The two girls exchanged looks and leaned forward. Serena leaned toward them too, brushing back a loose lock of dark hair. "We think Jory fancies you," Sansa admitted in an airy whisper, glancing between her friend, Jeyne, and Jory Cassel.

Serena found herself looking across the table at the Captain of the Guard. Jory met her gaze, offering a kind smile —his dark eyes sparkling in the warmth of the Great Hall. "Can you two keep a secret?" She asked.

They both nodded excitedly. "I quite fancy Jory, too." In the next weeks, Sansa and Jeyne would make her come near regretting having ever told them.

SANSA AND HER friends sat in a circle beneath the balcony overlooking the training yard. Serena had passed them several times during her daily duties. Each time they were daring one another to do mildly embarrassing but harmless things. This time Serena stopped at the circle of girls, carrying an empty basket on her hip. "Don't you all think you're a little too old for games like this?"

A few of the girls flushed at the gentle scolding, but Sansa looked up with her wide Tully-blue eyes and round face. "Won't you play with us, Serena?" Sansa pleaded.

It was not in her place to deny the daughter of her Lord and Lady of a silly game. "One round," she conceded with a deep sigh.

The group of girls all leaned forward, whispering back-and-forth with grins as though they had planned this moment all along. When they leaned back, Sansa Stark wore a proud smile on her round, rosy cheeks. "Wear a pair of Robb's boots for the rest of the day or kiss Jory." Each of the girls beamed at the trap they set for Serena.

It was an easy choice to make.

Serena gave the girls a smile and nod but did not give them her choice. Rising, she glanced around the courtyard. Jory was watching Robb and Jon train with his uncle. She stepped up to his side and watched as Jon tripped face-first into the mud. A young Arya and Bran both laughed at him from atop bales of straw. The bastard boy stood and shook the mud from his hands, then wiped it from his face with a scowl.

"It's a shame you weren't fighting the ground," Serena remarked as she approached the sparring session, "I think you would've won." Jon Snow looked over to Serena Mollen and returned her smile at the jest. She'd always taken extra care to treat Jon as she did the other Stark children.

Jory Cassel slipped close to Serena's side with a raised brow. "The girls are up to something," he commented, hands behind his back. He could see them all huddled together on the outskirts of his vision. They were watching Serena and he like hawks.

"A game of dares," Serena told him with minor exasperation. He raised his brow, knowing she had a habit of being suckered into playing Sansa's games. Oft times, even he would be drug into the games in one way or another. "Wear a pair of Robb's boots for the day or kiss Jory," she repeated, hiding her smile.

The corner of Jory's lips tugged upward into an anticipative smile. "I hope you chose me."

She shook her head, amused by his surety. "Maybe I came to compare my shoe to Robb's?" Robb was twelve and growing like a weed. Serena was not going to grow anymore, and her feet were rather girlish in size. After a moment, she nudged Jory's side and leaned close to whisper at his neck. "I don't think they realize we're married," she remarked, almost laughing.