Carliene Stark

II Chapter 30

Carliene

The music began and the food was brought forth. Pastries and tars, glazed onions and turnips, whole roasted piglets and lambs and sauces of every colour. In the middle of the high table a large plater was placed, with a roasted pheasant decorated with oranges and fire plumbs and smelling heavenly. 

"He should have announced the engagement as well" Olenna muttered at my side.

I watched Desmera talk loudly with a knight of house Fossoway, both of them laughing together. Maybe she had it right. Maybe we should enjoy ourselves even just for a night and laugh and dance and drink and forget all the horrors of the world. Of course the last time I thought like this, things didn't end well.

"Why do you look so nervous child, one could almost think you are miserable" the old rose observed. 

"Forgive me" I tore from my thoughts and picked up my wine glass. "I was just thinking that the last time I was at a celebration as large as this one, we were celebrating my uncle's wedding to a Frey girl"

She took hold of the hand I had laying in my lap and gently pulled me closer. "Listen child" her small dark eyes held my gaze intensely. "There is no Walder Frey here, there are no Lannisters here. No harm will come to you while under our roof, understood?" her tone was strict but I could tell that she cared. 

"It is not me that I am concerned for" I found myself saying. It had never been me. I had not held much value for my own life in quite a while. Ever since they had separated my father from his head. 

Her features softened in amusement. "I am flattered dear" she smiled. "But you needn't concern yourself for our sake. We have had our losses, but I for one am not so easily killed" she promised. "Not here, not in my own castle"

I wasn't even certain if I was concerned for her sake either. It was the joyful and unconcerned atmosphere of the feats that I feared losing. because if there was one thing I had learned in these last couple of years it was that joy could turn to despair within the span of a heartbeat. 

Lady Olenna squeezed my hand again before releasing it. 

I took another sip of my wine and gladly accepted when a servant offered to cut some pheasant for me. The food must have been the best I had ever tasted and I attributed it to the fact that it was all fresh from the fields. Surely all these meats and fruits and vegetables could be found within a days ride from the castle. It made me almost feel guilty when I thought back to our queen at Dragonstone and the simply meals we took there. 

"I heard you send back the jewellery I gifted you" Willas began , loud enough so that I could hear him over the music, but hushed enough so that the conversation remained private. "Did it not please you?" he pondered. 

I chewed and sallowed the pheasant in my mouth. "They were splendid, but I would not feel right wearing your deceased sister's trinkets" I admitted only sending him a fleeting glance. 

"Yes" he agreed. "I suppose that it is in rather bad taste"

"Not necessarily" I corrected quickly, thinking on how I could best describe it to him. "It's just- I've never had much jewellery and I suppose I am just a little overwhelmed by such riches. I don't think it would suit me"

The corners of his mouth curled slightly upwards. "Well, house Tyrell is not exactly known for its modesty" he pointed out. "But I'll take it to heart Lady Stark, surely one day I will find a gift you will like"

I gave him a grateful smile, although I really just wanted to tell him that I did not need any gifts and that there were surely other ways he could spend his time more usefully.