Honey and Blood

Gawin's Law

Connor was tightly squeezed between the wall of one of the carriages and Lady Elys Arryn. He had hoped that at least Daerion would join him on the road but Lady Elys had different ideas for the road. He was now stuck inside of the least interesting carriage ride he had ever had. Gawin kept being slightly rude to him in subtle ways, Lady Elys kept disguising insults as compliments and Lady Amanda who was barely a teen couldn't even make eye contact with him. He now wished more than ever that Daerion was with him. He couldn't lie, he liked the way he had to take care of Daerion when he got seasick on the ship. It was fun to have someone he could talk to in a normal way, with no hidden meaning or double entendre. Daerion was also fun, he didn't know much about the world outside of Dragonstone and Connor enjoyed explaining to him the subtitles of the society they lived in.

Connor was perplexed. He had always been a loner. At feasts, at jousts, at court, he would rather spend his time enjoying the view, drinking a good wine or getting drunk without having to interact with anyone else. He had never been lonely when he grew up and during all those parties and all of those feasts he had never cared for the people around him. He had always thought that he would always be alone. Detached from his father who hated him for not being the perfect son like his older brother. Detached from everybody else at court because deep down they could sense that he wasn't like them. Detached from love... for obvious reasons. However, now all was different to him. He shared a secret with someone else and he knew somebody's secret. He now felt a little bit tethered to Daerion, even if he didn't want to. Even if he had never been lonely or even if he had never liked sharing his life with others, he was starting to like Daerion and it was nice to feel connected with someone.

Lady Elys' laugh broke Connor concentration and he was once again in the carriage. He had missed most of the conversation between all of the people inside of the carriage. Elys was talking about Gods know what, when she turned directly to Connor.

"-So what do you think of the Princess Daella? - Lady Elys asked him with a foney smile on her face. - Quite a sight ...

-She seems nice. - Connor answered with the same phoniness. He could tell that Elys was being rude for no reason.

-Well, I do not buy that act for a single second. - Lady Elys said quickly. She didn't care about his opinion she just wanted to give out her opinion in what looked like an organic way. - She acts like she is better than us. Holier than thou, the blood of old valyria. Did you know that she turned away someone her own age just because he worshiped the old gods? If you ask me she just went for my father because he is from a great noble house.

-A lot of people have said that it was an arrange marriage. - Lady Amanda tried to argue in favor of the Princess. - She is just doing her duty to her family. Like we are all expected to do at some point.

-That's not what I heard. - Lady Elys said with a mean tone. - I heard that she could choose from three people and she chose our father. She is also royalty. She isn't like us and she expects special treatment.

-She does seems like a prude. - Gawin agreed with a little smile. - She dresses almost like a septa, one could confuse her with her sister. She is very eccentric too.

-She had her wedding on Dragonstone because she thought that doing it in King's Landing would be too common. - Elys added with a rude tone. - She thinks she is better than us because she doesn't dream of having a perfect King's Landing wedding. My father seems to have fallen for her act.

-Maybe she just got a bad deal in her arrange marriage. - Connor interrupted. Usually he would let mean little comments like that slide but not lately. He didn't know why. He was a little bit annoyed by Elys and Gawin's conversation subject. - I am sure that she is just as displeased with the match as you are.

There was a silence, maybe for once Connor had been too determined or too loud and the other others had noticed. Gawin's lips formed into a grin and he let out a little smirk.

-Do not take it personally, Ser Connor. - Gawin said with his little fake voice. - I know that you were also dealt a bad hand when your father betrothed you to daughters of Lord Smallwood. You mustn't let your personal experience blind you to Princess Daella's peculiar attitude.

-You are betrothed, Ser Connor? - Lady Amanda asked in shock and with a little bit of disappointment. - I had no idea when are you to be married?

Connor didn't answered but stayed silent. His father had insisted that Connor marry someone and underneath all that pressure he caved.  Deep down, he still wanted his father to like him. He agreed to it and his wedding was set after Princess Daella's wedding. That's why he was drunk that day, he was drinking his pain away and saying goodbye to his single life. Now, however he had bought himself some time with the escort mission that the queen had given him. It was a welcomed side-effect and to be truthful he was a little bit thankful that Daerion had won all of those matches. He had maybe provided him with a way out of that marriage.

"-So what is your business in Iron Oaks, Ser Gawin?- Connor changed the subject.

-I was supposed there to go study under a good master at arms. - Gawin said almost bragging. - He is supposed to be one of the greatest knights there is. He participated in the overthrowing of King Maegor.

-Good to hear that you are not sticking along the whole trip. - Connor said with bitterness.

-I was excited about it but now I am not so sure. - Gawin said with a little manipulative smile. - At the time I arranged the classes it seemed like a good idea, however now it seems rather tedious. I don't wanna spend most of my time in a town where there is only fish and rocks.

-That is awful. - Lady Elys jumped in. - Well, if you want my lord, Lady Amanda and I are in need of some protection as we go thought the Moon Mountains.

-You have me, my lady. - Connor said a little bit hurt.

-Wrong, Princess Daella has you. - Lady Elys said with a little bit of anger. - The Queen appointed you to protect her and only her, and once again, my sister and I were not considered. To a lot of people were are now just the Princess' ladies in waiting. So what do you say, Ser Gawin?

Gawin turned to look directly into Connor's eyes with a little evil smile. Connor knew that it was now gonna take a lot of effort to get rid of Gawin. He would have to be very patient and ignore all of his jabs and insults and try to not explode on his face.

-I would love to, Lady Elys.- He answered."