The Knight of the Forest Series

Chapter 1

"Lillia!" a calm, patient but rather agitated voice called from the stoop of the kitchen door that led out into the back garden.

When no reply came, the dark-haired woman huffed and turned on her heel to go in search of her daughter in other places. Little did she know, the moment she closed the door behind her, a pair of lime green eyes flickered with mischief from where their owner was perched aloft a nearby tree.

A small figure leapt down from the tree and landed with firm solidness and while she landed firmly, not a sound gave away her movement to even the skittish birds amidst the grass. It was like she was a silent ghost walking noiselessly across the grass... but she did not walk with grace or daintiness. There were plenty of tomboyish girls in the whole of Westeros but none of them was quite like Lillia Antigone Arryn. The older sister of Robin Arryn, anyone who met her expected her to be of the same cloth as her brother: skittish, wimpy and hanging onto her mother's apron strings.

The truth was, when Robin was born, Lillia's parents would often think that Lillia had been born the man and Robin the girl because of their different personalities. Lillia's long golden curls that usually billowed about her hills was pulled back into a tight braid which Lillia had insisted her handmaiden braid for her till her scalp hurt. A few strands had come loose in her early morning games which was why Lillia insisted on the tightest of braids, but nothing could seem to hold back all the curls. One particular curl kept flopping right in front of Lillia's nose and would agitate her nose till she brushed it behind her ear where it would stay for a moment till, she made another sharp move and then it would bounce back in her face.

Needless to say, Lillia was a little on the rounder side compared to her brother. She was not skinny, sharp featured or dainty, however she possessed a beauty that her mother could not understand. When a person saw Lillia's big doe eyes, as green as freshly bloomed leaves, her plump pink lips, long naturally dark lashes and creamy lids and rosy cheeks, one would think that she was a perfect angel. Considering that Lillia's mother was not evil, she had never been called the opposite of angel but it certainly had passed through a few persons' heads including her mother's and her Septa Romilda. At least to Robin, Lillia was a pure guardian angel. Once or twice when Robin was bullied by other little boys his age, Lillia had stood up for him and had earned the title: Coury. This was Robin's attempt at saying 'scary' and 'courage' and due to his young years and slow use of words (due to his habit of sucking his thumb), it had come out as Coury and Lillia, loving her brother dearly, allowed him to call her thus.

Lillia trampled to the kitchen door and carefully pushed it open, peering inside to ensure that no one saw her. Seeing no one about, she slipped inside and sighed at the coolness that the stone kitchen gave off in comparison to the hot outdoors. She was just running her fingers across her sweating face when she heard a tap nearby and spun to look at the door opposite that lead upstairs. There stood her mother with Septa Romilda.

Her mother had a stern look on her face but Lillia recognized the laughter and amusement in her mother's eyes. Septa Romilda looked horrified at the state the six-year-old girl was in. Dressed in a simple brown dress with strap sleeves, Lillia wore nothing else other than a loose cotton shirt beneath the dress to cover her shoulders. The long sleeves were rolled up above the elbows and one of the sleeves was falling off her left shoulder, obviously not noticed. Her dress which usually fell to her ankles was rolled up and tied halfway up her hips, revealing a pair of Robin's breeches beneath which were also rolled up to the knees.

Her dress was coated in mud which was drying now and gave her a crusty look. There were leaves, twigs and dirt all in and amongst her hair and because of the heat and humidity, a handful of curls had come loose, framing her sweating face which was a ripe pink from the heat. The only part of her that was clean was her knees down which looked sparkling clean (Due to her taking a knee-deep dip in the creek out back which rinsed the mud from her lower legs).