Andrew
There was no sun outside when they came out of their little room, only a wall of shifting grey fog. The air had grown chill and Joy cursed her lady's finery, a red silk gown with ornate embroidery over the bodice, the line of the collar and the cuff around her dainty wrist. The gown was so fine and it fitted Joy perfectly. She was so beautiful in it but the cloth did nothing to keep her warm from the cold.
"I'm cold," Joy said as they climbed down the steps from their room on the top.
Andrew knew that the gown will not save her from the cold but he had thought for a better weather. Unfortunately the cold had risen that day. He moved over to Joy and took off his jacket. "Here, wear it," he said and draped the jacket over her shoulders. Joy held the jacket tighter around her and looked up at him. Her cheeks were already flushed pink in the cold and it only made her more beautiful in his eyes. Her glossy golden hair, so thick and wavy, caught the light from the lantern and shone like beaten gold.
"Aren't you cold?" Joy asked him, huddling beneath his jacket.
Andrew took her hand and walked to the canal where the boat he had got for them was chained. "I've been in conditions worse than this," he said. Her hand was warm and soft and he liked holding it.
"Is Winterfell colder than Braavos?" Joy asked brushing closer against him.
Andrew chuckled lightly and looked down at her. "Winterfell is hot, as hot as any castle in the south. There are pipes in the walls through which hot water is passed all throughout the castle. I've barely seen my mother using furs to keep her warm when she is in the castle. But the north is cold. The lands are cold and hard but they are beautiful."
The lantern in his hand showed its light for some two feet before them. The mists seemed to part before him and close up again as they passed. The cobblestones were wet and slick under his feet. He heard a cat yowl plaintively. Braavos was a good city for cats, and they roamed everywhere, especially at night. In the fog all cats are grey, Andrew thought. In the fog all men are killers.
Braavos was lost in fog. He could see the green water of the little canal and the cobbled stone street that ran on the other side of the canal, two arches of the mossy bridge... but the far end of the bridge vanished in greyness, and of the buildings across the canal only a few vague lights remained.
He heard a softsplash as their boat slowly swayed in the water of the canal. Andrew gave the lantern to Joy and knelt down to unwound the bindings of the boat. When he freed the boat he climbed onto it carefully. He got the latern back from Joy and hung it on the side of the boat. Andrew offered his hand to her and Joy took it with a smile. She climbed onto the boat gingerly using his hand for support. Andrew took the oars and pushed the boat away from the land.
The sounds of the oars splashing in the waters echoed hollowly off the swirling green waters and the walls of unseen buildings. It was easy to row a boat without his jacket on. His white shirt gave enough freedom and the cold was welcoming. It almost reminded him of the north, his home. He had always wished to go back there, to Winterfell. It was just as easy. All he wanted was to keep going in the north and he would be in the shores of it on his own. He wondered what it would be like if he ever reached Winterfell. He had known everyone in Winterfell and everyone had known and loved him in turn. They had always been good and kind to him perhaps they would still be good to him. They would not even remember you, a voice inside him said. You would've been buried in the crypts with your father and mother beside your grandfather and uncle. There were different paths before him but Andrew was not sure about which to take. Right now all he knew was to take Joy to the place as he had promised her to.
They had never been away from each other since the day he told her about him and his family. Andrew followed her everywhere and they spent their time together. She took him to all the places she went, to meet some people, or sick children and he went along with her. He enjoyed her company and was happy to be with her. She made him realize the things he'd been doing and the mistakes he had done in the past and helped him to change that. For days Joy has asked him about it and he had wanted to bring her to the place and he got the chance now.
He had taken Frost with him. Joy had kept the sword away from him and only gave it back two days before. It took a good deal of talks to get his sword back and he knew that he might need to use it again.
He had never seen a thicker fog than this one. On the largercanals, the watermen would be running their serpent boats into one another, unable to make out any more than dim lights from the buildings to either side of them. Andrew was glad that he had to follow the smaller canals. He need to be careful enough when he gets to the larger canals.
The street was so gloomy on either side that he could scarcely see them but their dim lights. He rowed them through the predawn gloom, wending down a confusion of small canals. Braavos only had three kinds of weather; fog was bad, rain was worse, and freezing rain was worst. But every so often would come a morning when the dawn broke pink and blue and the air was sharp and salty. Those were the days that Andrew loved best.
When they reached the broad straight waterway that was the Long Canal, he turned south for the port. Joy sat with his jacket wrapped tight around her looking at the fogs. She gave a smile when she saw him looking at her. Andrew smiled to himself and kept on with the oars.
The Long Canal took their boat beneath the green copper domes the the Palace of Truth and the tall square towers of the Prestayns and Antaryons before passing under the immense grey arches of the sweetwater river to the district known as Silty Town, where the buildings were smaller and less grand. Later in the day the canal would be choked with serpent boats and barges, but in the predawn darkness they had the waterway almost to themselves. Andrew liked to reach the port just as the Titan roared to herald the coming of the sun. The sound would boom across the lagoon, faint with distance but still loud enough to wake the sleeping city.
He swung them south to the docks and down the gullet of a great canal, a broad green waterway that ran straight from the port into the heart of the city.
They passed through the channel where a row of mighty statues stood along both sides of the channel, solemn stone men in long bronze robes, spattered with the droppings of the seabirds. Some held books, some daggers, some hammers. One clutched a golden star in his upraised hand. Another was upending a stone flagon to send an endless stream of water splashing down into the canal. The Sealords of Braavos, Andrew knew them. He'd seen these statues many times over.
The harbor and lagoon soon came to his sight. The sun was already up by the time they came up to the lagoon. The Titan roared to indicate the day break. They still had a long way before them. The isle was at the far end of Braavos away and isolated from the eyes of most men. The sun would be high up in the sky by the time they reach it.
The fogs gave out as they moved further and the sun rose higher. The color returned to the world and the cold was reducing gradually. By the time they hit the open sea Joy saw it fit to give back his jacket seeing there was no use for it without the cold. Andrew put it beside him and rowed the boat.
As he had thought it was near to midday by the time they reached the isle. The shores were filled with huge rocks and big stones as he'd seen them before but what was interesting about the isle was the main land. There were no trees in Braavos except for this island alone. He could see the trees, the leaves and feel the gentle breeze from them. Joy was entirely surprised to see it.
"It's so beautiful," she said never taking her eyes off of the island.
"It is," Andrew said and brought them to the shore. He hopped down from the boat and pushed it on to the beach. Joy jumped down from the boat and ran straight to the woods. Andrew laughed and took up Frost before following after her.
The smell of trees and leaves and earth was so strong and he found himself wondering how much he had missed the smell. The air was rich and fresh without even a hint of salt in it. Joy's laughter echoed off the glades of trees and he followed it. He found her near a stream and she left it as soon as he found her. Half the trees had brown leaves which indicated the end of summer and the beginning of autumn.
Joy enjoyed every bit of her time in the isle. She ran through the little streams splashing the waters. She laid on the forest floor covered with leaves. She covered herself with the leaves and came bursting out of the leaves, laughing. Andrew stood aside and watched her doing all her things. Looking at her so happy made him smile. Somehow he felt happy just looking at her. He went about and collected a dozen leaves from different trees. Green, yellow, gold, red, brown, the color varied with the leaves and so did the shapes and size of the leaves. He left her to her play and sat beneath the tree and started to wove the leaves into a crown. He had seen his father gift a crown of roses to his mother once, roses violet and beautiful as the stars in the twilight sky. His mother had put away her royal crown in favor for the floral crown that day. She had spent the entire day with the crown of roses on her head and she was very beautiful with the crown of roses upon her head. There was no roses to be had here but the leaves might be pretty too once it was set perfectly. One by one he put the leaves and bound them with grass. The first few times he had no success. Every time he put up the fourth leaf the grass binding would give out and his crown came crumbling down to a scatter of leaves. He tried again and again, at last the binding stood and his crown came up layer by layer.
When the crown was done, Andrew held it at his arm's length and tilted it to the sides to examine it. It has come out perfectly and more fine than he had initially thought it to come. He took Frost in one hand and the crown in the other and went back to Joy. She was collecting the leaves too. A cluster of them was in her hands, green and red and yellow and gold and every other colors the trees offered.
She smiled at him when she saw him there. "This place is amazing," she said as she picked up another leaf from the ground. "I'm collecting them as a keepsake."
"Well, to that," Andrew said, "I made something for you." He slowly brought the crown from the back and showed it to her. "I hope you like it."
Joy let the leaves in her hands drop and took the crown from his hand. She looked at the crown intently and then looked up at him with a smile. "It is so beautiful."
"Do you like it?" Andrew asked her.
She laughed at that. "I like it," she said laughing. "I like it very much. Thank you." She put her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly.
Andrew put his arms around her hesitantly and returned the embrace. He could swear that he was blushing hard right now and was thankful that Joy cannot see him now.
Joy got away from him and put the crown on her head. "So how do I look?"
Andrew looked at her and she was painfully gorgeous. The leaves matched with her gown and they stood out with her golden hair. He took a breath to calm himself and get his words. "You... You're beautiful."
They stayed there until the west sky turned to the color of bruise purple. They washed themselves up in the cold clear water of the stream.
"How do you know this place," Joy asked from behind as he washed up his hands.
Andrew turned back to look at her. Joy was washing her face but the crown he gave her was still on her head. "I would come here with Syrio to train. It was so peaceful and quiet and I learnt most of my skills from here."
"It's good that he brought you here," Joy said running her hand through her locks of golden hair. "Else I wouldn't have gotten to see it. Thank you."
"We might come here again," he said. "If you want."
"Oh, I would love to come here again."
The journey back to their building continued in the same way they came. Joy had not taken her crown down. Andrew lightened the lantern and continued to row the boat.
The rainfall came when they cut from the Long Canal to the smaller one which would take them back to their building. Andrew gave his jacket to Joy and asked her to cover her head with it. He hoped that it would not turn into the freezing rain. They were very well likely to be doomed to get caught in the freezing rain in an open place. He rowed as fast as he can to get away from the rain.
They were completely soaked by the time they reached their place. Joy had his jacket over her head to keep the rain away. Andrew took Frost and the lantern and they ran to their room. They climbed up the stairs in hurry, laughing and Joy opened the door. He hung up the lantern and placed Frost on the table and turned to Joy.
She was shivering and rubbing her hands together trying to warm herself up. "I can't feel my fingers," she said holding her hands out for him to see. "I can't feel them."
Andrew took her hands in his and kissed her fingers. Her hands were so cold and Andrew blew his breath over her fingers and kissed them again and again to warm her up. When he looked at her, his grey eyes met with her green ones. He leaned in forward to kiss her lips and Joy met him at halfway. Her lips were warm and so was her tongue and mouth. He took up the forest crown he had given her from her head and placed it neatly on the table all the while kissing her.
His hands were so eager to get the clothes off of her and her hands likewise did to him. His shirt went first followed by her gown until they both were naked as their nameday. She was so beautiful, her ample breasts and delicate curves and beautiful face made his heart race. Andrew kissed her again walking her to the bed. Joy pulled him with her to the bed and put her hands around him and kissed him harder.
Andrew kissed her mouth and trailed his lips down her neck, pressing kisses over her slim white neck. Joy moaned with his kisses on her neck and tilted her head back. He pressed hot open-mouthed kisses on her neck and trailed lower. He kissed both her breasts and returned back to her mouth.
Andrew kissed her mouth as he entered her. Joy gasped when he broke through her maidenhead. Andrew stilled above her giving her time to get used to the feeling of him inside her. When Joy nodded he thrust himself inside her again. He kissed her mouth, her eyes, her ears, her cheeks and all her face as he moved inside her. Joy moaned into his mouth and hugged him tighter to her. He kissed her again, kissed her neck, her throat, her breasts and her nipples as he made love to her.
Her skin was smooth beneath his fingers, as warm to the touch as the walls of Winterfell. Her hair was wet and thick and smelled of rain and leaves, a dark and earthy smell that made him move faster into her. He drove into her, again and again and again and soon, Joy made a whimpering sound and arched her back beneath him. Andrew thrust twice more into her and spent his seed within her.
He stayed on her for a dozen heartbeats, catching his breath back. He rolled off of her to sprawl staring at the ceiling. When Joy's hand found his cheek he turned to face her. He never knew what to say to her at that time but he knew one thing clearly. Andrew kissed her lips again and said, "I love you."
Joy smiled at him and leaned up to kiss him. Andrew kissed her back and held her close to him. It had been long since Andrew Stark got a good night's sleep without his dreams but that night he slept peacefully with Joy in his arms.