Light the Way

CHAPTER 3. beneath the woven canopy

ALINA

"Alina." The stern voice of Septa Vera woke her up. They had been practising their needlework when Alina must have dozed off. She did not get much sleep last night. Her father's decision lay heavy on her mind. Her thoughts on the matter, however, were not important. If he had decided that she should go, then that was it. Were her parents really just going to put her on a boat and send her off to live with another family?

Of course, there would be no boat. No, the journey from Oldtown to Winterfell would be a long one. They would have to take the Roseroad to King's Landing, and then the Kingsroad all the way north to Winterfell. The journey from King's Landing to Winterfell would be a long and treacherous one, which by horseback would last more than a moon. And from Oldtown to King's Landing? Alina had only been once with her father. It had taken them twenty-five days to get there, and twenty-three back. Alina did not wish to go to the North. She loved The Reach. It was warm and beautiful, just like the people who lived here. Alina had heard the people in the North were a reflection of their weather, harsh and bitter.

Marriage was a topic that had crossed Alina's mind many times before. During the tournament her father had held for her 10th name day, Alina had met the sons of Mace Tyrell. Although she preferred Garlan, who was kind and strong, Alina had always thought she would end up marrying their eldest son Willas. Her brother would rule Oldtown after their father and her home would be in Highgarden as Lady Paramount of the Reach.

But that would not happen anymore. No, Alina's place was no longer in the South, no matter how much she wished it would be.

Her sister Samira was concentrating on her needlework, while their septa stood by watching. Alina could notice her slowly leaning further and further forward toward her work. It was a habit the younger sister had. She would become so focused on a task, she would forget all else. Their septa must have noticed it too, because she put a hand on her shoulder and pushed her back into the chair.

Alina had always thought Samira was an unusual name for a Hightower. Her mother had told them she had met a beautiful girl during her travels in Dorne whom she had named her youngest daughter after.

Alina remembers the day she was born. It was the fifteenth day of the fourth moon. When Alina found out it was a girl, she had begged her father to give her a name. She had chosen Arielle. The name was never used.

Looking at her younger sister, Alina knew what people meant when they said the two sisters could not be more unlike each other. While Alina was described as delicate and beautiful with hair the colour of spun gold, Samira bore the features of House Rowan. She has large dark eyes and long, dark hair that curls down her back. Where Alina is adventurous and brave, Samira is shy and reserved. Septa Vera claims it is because the girl is only nine years old, and will grow into her personality. Alina sometimes wonders if she is a Hightower at all, but she would never dare speak it into words.

As Alina's gaze drifted to the corner of the room, her eyes found Lanna Rowan, her cousin and closest confidante. Lanna had been sent to Oldtown when she was just eight, her parents deciding that her younger brother Lyonel would inherit Goldengrove, leaving no place for her in her father's court. Alina had a feeling Lanna's father was hoping to marry her off to either the son of House Costayne or House Bulwer, two houses sworn to the Hightowers. In truth, Lanna had become more like a sister to Alina than a cousin. She was two years older, with the same dark Redwyne hair as her mother, but her eyes were bright green, a trait of House Rowan. Though she was technically here as Alina's handmaiden, the two girls shared everything - secrets, dreams, and fears - and Lanna's quiet strength had always grounded Alina. When the time came to travel to Winterfell, Lanna would accompany her north, as much a companion as a protector in the unfamiliar lands they would soon call home.