lover's mercy - jaime lannister

TWO

"...his hand was injured yet Florian, the great knight that he was, fought off twenty men at once. When he was done, he laid eyes on the beautiful maiden, Jonquil, and he became henceforth known as Florian the Fool as he fell deeply in love with her and she with him..."

Elyanna was telling a story to Sansa and Arya before bed. Bran and Rickon were younger and fell asleep far easier and earlier. But it was difficult picking out stories for the two girls that couldn't have been more different; she usually had to combine love with heroic tales for the two of them to be happy with it.

Sansa had a smile on her face but Arya was confused, "But why did he become known as Florian the Fool?"

"As Florian himself said, all men are fools and all men are knights for the maidens they love," Elya attempted to explain.

"And it's romantic," Sansa said.

"But why does love make one a fool?" Arya questioned.

"You're so stupid. How do you not know?" Sansa said.

Arya glared before whacking her, "You're stupid."

"Both of you, stop it!" Elya said sternly and they the two sisters looked away from each other. "Now, no one is stupid. Apologize."

"I'm sorry," they grumbled to each other.

Elya sighed before addressing Arya, "As for your question, you'll understand one day when you're older."

"Is Damion a fool for you?" Sansa asked with a smile and Arya peeked up at her curiously.

Elya was tongue tied for a moment. The feast had came and went. Marriage proposals poured in for her hand which her father was still considering (he wanted to let Elya decide). But she had her secret moments with Damion; they kissed more in the stables but their favorite spot had become the field on the hill with winter roses where they could kiss for what felt like forever.

"I shall hope so," she smiled a bit. "Now it is time for bed."

_____

After bringing the girls back to their chambers, she walked through the darkened hallway in her nightgown back to her own room. But she was ambushed by Theon.

"Where are you going so late? To visit Cerwyn?" he assumed. "I wonder what your father would say about that."

"Shut up, Theon. I did no such thing."

"Well, you sure like to suck his face a lot," he smirked and her face went red.

"And you only wish I did," she snapped at him.

Before he could say anything, a strong voice commanded, "Leave her alone, Theon."

Jon.

He came to stand at her side before Theon rolled his eyes and moved past them, "Snow."

Once he was gone, Jon looked at her with an amused smile, "You get into all sorts of trouble, don't you?"

"Never," she replied innocently as she batted her eyes dramatically.

He chuckled before he gently wrapped an arm around her, "Come on."

He walked her down the hall to her door as she looked up at him. He had hair as black as night (one thing they had in common) and eyes that were almost black. She remarked, "You know, I could've handled Theon."