Talla Tarly woke up early the morning after her wedding. She turned around in the bed to look at her sweet young husband, perhaps to admire his prettiness some more. Because the boy was remarkably pretty. But when she gazed over towards Tyrek's side of the bed she found it empty. He wasn't there.
Talla looked around the room, wondering where he was. Then she waited for a little while to see if he would come back. He didn't.
Wondering where her new husband had gone she put on a robe and decided to go search for him. She walked the narrow corridors of Casterly Rock looking for him with no luck. So when she encountered one of the maids she decided to ask if she had seen Tyrek.
"Have you seen Lord Lannister?" Talla asked.
"He's probably in the girl's room," the maid said and gestured towards a door down the hall.
Talla got concerned upon hearing this, did her new husband have another girl he liked to sleep next to?
So Talla opened the door to the room the maid had pointed her to. And what she found when opening it surprised her.
It was a child's room. In a crib, a little girl was sleeping. All around the room were toys stacked. And on the carpet next to the crib Tyrek was laying sleeping.
Talla knew who the little girl was. Her name was Lady Ermesande Hayford. The orphaned girl that Tyrek had been forced to marry by when he was only 15 years old to claim her family's lands for House Lannister. That marriage had been invalidated since it, of course, had never been consummated. And the little girl was now staying as a ward at the castle. Tyrek had insisted on that when entering his new marriage but Talla had not realized just how attached he was to the girl.
She sat down next to her young husband on the floor and stroked his hair lightly. He started to wake up as she did.
"What are you doing here, my sweet husband?" she asked.
"I never said goodnight to Essie last night," he replied. "She must have wondered where I was, so I wanted to make sure to be here when she woke up."
He started to get up from the floor.
"Sorry, I'll come back to bed with you," he said.
"Tyrek, sit down. I'll stay here with you instead," she replied and patted on the floor next to her.
Tyrek came over and sat next to her. Talla grabbed a blanket and put it over both of them.
"You seem quite used to taking care of the girl," Talla said.
"Essie's been with me since she was a baby. My uncle Tywin forced me to marry her. I had no choice in the matter. I was supposed to be her husband. But what she needed was someone to take care of her. So I did even though I was a child myself. What else was I to do?"
"You could have left her to a wetnurse or a maid. Most boys your age would have."
"I couldn't do that. They wouldn't have cared for her in the same way."
"Sounds like you're basically her father."
"I guess I am... in every way but by blood. It was only her and me for years when we were stuck at Storm's End. She's never been apart from me."
"Well if you're her father, I'll be her mother. She needs one, and you need someone to help you care for her."
"I can't ask you do do that... that was not part of the deal when we married."
"You don't need to ask me, Tyrek. I'll do it happily. She's sweet, you're sweet. We'll be a family."
Talla put her arm around her young husband and embraced him. She had not expected this. For her teenage husband to come with a daughter. But it was a happy surprise.
Tyrek leaned in and kissed her. A soft, sweet and innocent kiss. Not passionate and demanding like the kisses during the night before.
"You're sweet too," he said. "I was afraid... afraid to tell you about her. That you would find it weird and keep her from me."
"I would never do that. I can see that you love her, and then I will too."
She leaned over and kissed him this time, still soft and sweet.
"I'm sorry if I came on too strong last night... I was kind of taken by how pretty you are. And I didn't expect you to not have laid with anyone before."
"You knew I was married to a child, right?"
"I did. But people lay with people they aren't married to all the time. I figured a pretty boy like you would have plenty of opportunities."
"I just... never really thought about it. It didn't seem right. I was busy taking care of the girl and holding the castle. And I've never known even how to talk to girls. People always tell me I'm so pretty but that doesn't mean I don't doubt myself. That doesn't mean I don't have to try. And it doesn't mean that I use it to my advantage."
"You really are too sweet, my dear husband."
"I've actually never even kissed a girl before..."
She looked at him in surprise.
"I'll be more gentle with you next time. I must have scared you, poor thing."
"I liked it. I just... didn't really know what to do, or where to go... So it was good that you showed me."
"I've just been stuck married to an old disgusting man... and then to get to marry a sweet pretty boy like you. It's a bit overwhelming for me too. I've never actually liked laying with a man before, but I liked laying with you."
"Even though I had no idea what I was doing... I guess my pretty looks give me some advantages."
She smiled at him.
"Well, you are darn pretty, Tyrek. Like remarkably so."
"So I've heard. It's the Lannister curse..."
"What would you have done if you had stayed married to the girl the rest of your life?" she asked.
"I would have raised her. I would never have any heirs because I would never have been able to... do that. No matter how old she would have been," he replied, sounding a bit uncomfortable even talking about it.
"Now you don't have to do it alone," she said. "We'll raise Essie together. And when we have our own children they'll be her siblings."
He nodded and took her hand, she leaned her head on his shoulder. Pretty soon they had both fell asleep, right there on the floor of Ermesande's bedroom.
***
They awoke the next morning from the little girl in the crib making a lot of noise.
"Ty! Ty! Ty!" she shouted.
Tyrek went over to the crib.
"I'm here," he said. "Did you miss me last night, Essie?"
The little girl nodded and put her arms around his neck. He picked her up and carried her to where Tallas was sitting and sat down with the girl still in his arms.
"She calls me Ty," he said. "She can't really say my name yet. And she can't say her own name, so Essie it is."
"It's sweet," Talla said. "And Ermesande is too much a name for such a cute little girl."
The little girl still looked sleepy but Talla managed to catch her attention and started cooing at her and make faces. Pretty soon they were both squealing and laughing of joy. And Essie put out her arms signaling that she wanted to be held by Talla. Tyrek handed her over.
"Looks like you two are getting along," he said with a smile.
Talla was too holding the little girl in the air and playing with her to respond. So he just leaned over and kissed her on the cheek instead.
***
One afternoon not many days later Tyrek wandered up to the upper garden of the castle. He had been engaged in war council meetings all day, planning the march to Highgarden.
As he got up to the garden he saw his wife and Essie running around playing catch with each other. It made him so happy that they got along so well. And it really was a relief to him to not have to take care of the girl alone. Many were the times when meetings had been interrupted because the little girl had been screaming for him too loudly. Essie certainly could scream so a whole castle could hear it. But now when Talla took care of her she didn't scream.
The little girl ran up to him when he entered the garden. He picked her up at her insistence and then sat down on a bench. His wife soon walked up and sat down next to them.
Tyrek looked at the little girl's hair that was braided in like eight different braids that all converged in the back. It was very similar to Talla's own hairstyle.
"Did you do her hair?" he asked his wife.
She nodded in reply.
"She's a lady, she needs to look like one. And I like braiding hair."
"I never managed to do more than two braids."
She looked at her husband in surprise.
"Did you actually do her hair yourself before? Didn't you have maids who could do that?"
"I did. But for a while, she wouldn't really let anyone else than me touch her hair. So I got used to doing it."
Talla leaned over and kissed him.
"Just when I thought you couldn't be sweeter... "
He looked around the garden. It all seemed so perfect. He had a sweet wife, a sweet daughter and a castle that was all his. But he would have to leave.
"We're marching towards Highgarden tomorrow," he said to his wife.
"Already? I didn't think you would for another few days."
He nodded.
"You'll take care of her, right?" he asked. "She's never been away from me for so long. She might scream for me..."
"Of course, I will," Talla replied. "I won't let her out of my sight. I will spoil her rotten."
He leaned over and kissed his wife. And they sat in that garden together for quite a while longer. Savoring the last moments of happiness before it was time for war.