Carliene Stark

II Chapter 44

Carliene

Tansy was already saddled up and ready to go when I made it to the tables after changing. Ser Vortimer waited for me atop his own horse, the blunted swords fastened to his saddle. I found myself glad to see him and relieved at the thought that I would be leaving the castle and all the people in it behind, even if in truth I was just leaving the inner and middle walls. I noticed that my horse seemed far more nervous than I had witnessed before. Flinching as we rode through the pile of fallen leaves the large oak in front of the stables and produced. I tried my best to calm her, but it was almost like she sensed my distress. Calming her would mean calming myself as well.

The knight didn't say much as we rode through the outer streets of the castles, passing through the north-eastern gate. He lead me to the small gatehouse that guarded the direct passage through the labyrinth and dismounted his horse. I followed his lead, tying Tansy to the horse rail the guards usually used.

Ser Vortimer shouldered a bag and grabbed the sparring swords from his saddle before leading me into a path that lead into the labyrinth. The leave so the hedges had turned yellow and orange and red, the few flower buds that remained wrinkled and wilting from the cold. Some of the paths were covered in the small round leaves the roses were dropping and I liked the way they scattered when I scraped my boots through the small mounds of them the winds had gathered in some counters. I followed the knight in silence as he picked the paths in no particular order that was apparent to me. But I trusted that he knew where we were going. When I looked back I could see nothing but hedges, the same applied when I looked to the front and sides. Only above, white and grey clouds rushed across the sky. This would be a good place to murder someone, I realised.

Finally Ser Vortimer halted. There was a statue in an alcove in the hedges on who's pedestal he dropped his bag. From within he retrieved the padded vest, which he haded to me with a concerned look on his brow. "There is something bothering you" he noted. It was the first time we talked apart from the short greeting in the stables earlier. "You've seemed a little out of it all morning"

"It's nothing, I just had a bad dream" I admitted, brushing my hair from my face after I donned the vest. 

"A nightmare?" he undid his sword belt to lean his real sword against the pedestal as well. 

Worse. "Something like that" I looked up at the statue. Its features were worn and hardly recognisable. Not unlike the statue of the King's of Winter in the Winterfell crypts. This one also had a crown on its head, a few spikes already missing. 

"What did you dream about?" he sounded genuinely curious as he adjusted his gloves. 

"My family" my gaze fell to the leaves beneath our feet. "My dead family. They were all happily together and I couldn't join them" it felt a bit releasing to talk about it. 

"I am sorry" he offered, then stepped closer to me and put a hand on my shoulder, causing me to look up at him. "But I am certain you will be bale to see them again" he assured with a kind smile. "Once day we will be reunited with all our loved ones, but only when our time has come"

It was kind of him to try and cheer me up, but I wasn't so easily convinced. "I'm afraid it is more than that" I frowned hesitantly. "My dreams they... they usually have meaning" I bit my lip, unsure on wether I had said too much. He will think me mad. 

"What do you mean?" 

I could feel my hands grow moist inside my fine gloves. Did I really want to tell him. I had only just made a friend of him, this may well push him away. "You will think me mad" I mumble din defeat and shook my head. 

His hand moved from my shoulder to the back of my neck "Hey" he urged, holding his thumb firmly underneath my chin so that I remained facing him. "Try me" he challenged.