KINGDOM FALL | ROBB STARK [1]

3

Annalys smiled softly, looking uneasy by Robb's response. She hoped he wouldn't figure out her plan too early on. He couldn't know, it was the only way the plan would work.

____

That morning, instead of eating breakfast with Robb, Annalys stood in fields near the castle, tightly gripping onto her bow. She had wooden targets sets out all around her, all of which she planned to shoot.

Over and over, she moved in a circular motion, shooting each target numerous times. Robb stood nearby, watching Annalys hit every target at ease. Greatjon Umber and the Blackfish stood alongside him, both of them smiling slightly as well, oddly enough.

"She's good," Brynden remarked and Greatjon nodded in agreement.

"The best," Greatjon corrected quietly, causing Robb's smile to become larger, "I don't think in all my life I've seen an archer quite like her."

The group continued to watch Annalys. She nocked her arrows and released each of them within a blink of an eye. None of them had seen someone to do the task so quickly.

Within seconds, she had already released five arrows and each and every one of them had made its way into the target she wanted them to hit.

Before the group could react, Annalys lowered her bow, making her way to a nearby squire. She whispered something to him, just before she walked off.

Once she was gone, the squire began to remove the arrows in the targets. Robb immediately knew that must have been what Annalys had told the young boy to do.

"Excuse me," Robb told Greatjon and Brynden, who bowed their heads to him as they watched him walk off in the direction that Annalys had left in.

Robb followed in the direction of where Annalys had gone. It had taken about five minutes until he found Annalys sitting under a tree. Her bow laid next to her as she held an oddly shaped piece of wood in her right hand and a knife in the other. It wasn't like the usual daggers Annalys always kept hidden in her boot. It was the kind men used while whittling things like arrows and crossbow bolts.

"What are you doing?" Robb asked Annalys, who didn't even bother to look up as he took a seat next to her on the grass.

"Whittling," She responded, moving her hand that held the piece of wooden slightly.

After she did so, Robb was slightly taken aback by the fact that the piece of wood truly looked exactly like a lion, "Where did you learn to do that?" Robb questioned Annalys curiously as she continued on with what she was doing.

Annalys shrugged, not breaking her concentration, "I taught myself, about two moons ago," She informed Robb truthfully, "I have perfect memory and a perfect eye for detail. I just picture something I've seen before and I begin to carve. My perfect vision helps with the details, the same as I do when I release an arrow from my bow. It's quite easy, actually."

"Maybe for you," Robb argued, chuckling at Annalys' comment.

Annalys playfully rolled her eyes as she smiled. "Perhaps you're right." She replied, finishing her last detail before holding up the lion.

"A lioness," She informed Robb as she handed the wooden lion to him.

Robb smiled, taking the lion from her grasp. He examined it closely, impressed by her skills. He looked up at Annalys, about to hand it back to her before Annalys spoke up, "Keep it. Call it a nineteenth name day gift." She told Robb, who quietly chuckled.