A/N- This imagine is for solomonreed. I hope you all enjoy it.
The road to Highgarden had been an almost silent one, and air of discomfort hanging between yourself and your new husband. It had been three days since you had been wed and you had said no more than a sentence or two to one another. Willas seemed like a nice enough man, but it was that sort of thought that seemed to bother you. You had only met him a week before you were married, and you had had very little in common from what you could tell.
You shifted in your seat, pulling your shawl from your shoulders and placing it across your lap, lifting your hand to fan your warm cheeks. "If you are too warm we can stop for a while, though we are not far from Highgarden now," Willas told you softly, pulling open the small door in the wall of the carriage to allow some fresh air to flow around the two of you.
"I'm fine, thank you." He nodded but remained quiet, giving you a tight lipped smile before returning his gaze to his lap. You felt somewhat guilty for your off hand behaviour and shifted your body to face your husband. "What is Highgarden like?" you asked him softly and you saw a proper smile come to his lips.
"It's beautiful," he started and you nodded softly as he delved into a description. "The gardens are some of the most stunning anywhere in the Seven Kingdoms, do you like walking?"
"I am partial to a walk in a pretty garden," you answered him, letting out a light chuckle, "though we have very few varieties of flowers so far north, it's too cold for most to bloom."
"In highgarden the flowers are always in bloom, perhaps I could show you around the gardens when we arrive?" He was smiling so sweetly that it would have been rude to dismiss his offer.
"That would be delightful," you told him softly, shifting slightly in your seat to rest more comfortably, allowing your eyes to drift shut. You could feel Willas' eyes on you as you rested and you felt a pang of guilt at spending so much of your journey practically ignoring him. You wrenched your eyes open again, glancing over at Willas who quickly turned to look out of the small window beside him. "Perhaps it would be best to stop for a while, I could use some air," you spoke and he nodded, leaning forward to call for the carriage to come to a stop.
Willas seemed to move pretty well on his damaged leg, able to keep up with you as you wandered a little away from the road you had halted on. "Where is it you plan on walking too?" he asked you with a small chuckle as the path merged with another to begin running along side a small creek.
"I don't know, I just like to walk," you answered quietly, stopping for a moment to watch the water running over the rocks that littered the floor of the creek. Small fish were darting about in the shallow water, disappearing and reappearing from view as if by magic. "Does your leg hurt you?" you asked suddenly, and you heard him let out another small chuckle.
"Sometimes, though not as often as it used to," he told you and you nodded.
"I would like to walk with you as often as your leg will permit, if that would be possible, it would be nice to spend time with my husband away from the prying eyes of the household." He nodded his answer and you gave him a soft smile, placing your hand through the crook of his arm and moving him back the way you had come from.
*Time Skip*
"What's this one?" you asked Willas loudly, pulling your arm from his to move towards the flower you had spotted. You were quick to crouch beside them, inhaling deeply before smiling back at him and waiting for an answer.
"I believe that is a Dendrophylax lindenii," he told you, smiling as you turned back to look at it, "though it is more commonly known as a Ghost Orchid," he added and you let out a light chuckle.
"It is like nothing I have ever seen before," you murmured, your smile softening for a moment, "I should have brought my sketch book with me."
"I can send someone to fetch it for you, if you would like," he started but you shook your head slightly.
"I didn't bring them to Highgarden, my Mother thought I would be much too busy for my drawing." You saw Willas' brow furrow for a moment, but he simply nodded. "Can you show me the Hydrangeas, your Grandmother tells me they are at their best at this time of year?"
"Of course, right this way," he spoke, his chipper attitude and smile coming back in an instant as he held his arm out for you to take, still leaning rather heavily on his walking stick.
*Time Skip*
You had grown to quite enjoy living in Highgarden; Willas had been right about how beautiful the grounds were and you spent much of your time wandering with him or dining with his family. You had been there for months when you first felt that you were at home. You were sitting on your balcony, over looking the gardens and enjoying your breakfast when Willas came hurrying out to sit beside you, a small parcel bundled in his lap.
"I have a surprise for you," he started, causing you to chuckle as you placed your tea cup back on the table.
"Well, I happen to love surprises," you laughed, smiling as he placed the heavy parcel into your hands. "Willas, you don't have to buy me anything," you started but he shook his head, silencing you.
"Just open it," he told you, his smile so wide that it made your heart begin to soar.
You pulled at the string holding the bundle together and dragged the paper back to reveal your old sketch books, each in pristine condition, and you felt your eyes fill with tears. "How did you," you started, lifting them one at a time from the paper and placing them carefully onto the tables surface.
"I wrote to your mother and she was more than happy to have them sent over with a courier." You glanced at him in shock.
"Thank you," you told him softly, throwing the left over paper onto the floor and moving closer to Willas to press a kiss to his lips.
"It was nothing, I would enjoy seeing some of your work," he murmured against your lips, lifting his arm so that you could tuck your body closer to his as you flipped through each book, showing him the progress you had made in the north.
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