Fire and Winter

Chapter 7

Alysanne pressed herself closer to Balerion's neck as she rode along the track. She had separated herself from the rest of the party to follow a horse track beside the Kingsroad, needing a moment to herself. It had been four days since they had left the wolves in the woods around Castle Darry, and Aly still felt a stabbing pain in her heart every time she looked down and did not see Meleys' white fur beside Balerion's legs. That pain only being compounded by the tension that hung in the air like a tight rope between Sansa and Arya. That was the reason she had left the tent before they awoke that morning and was riding as far away from the wheelhouse they were in as possible.

Balerion let out a whiny as they came to the edge of the path they were on, it joined back up with the Kingsroad here, and Aly could see the King's retinue moving slowly along the road. Alysanne pulled Balerion to a stop, watching as people rode past on their horses. Some slowed when they saw her, maybe recognizing her, maybe watching for danger, she could not tell.

Aly felt her breath catch in her throat when she spotted Prince Joffrey astride a bay rouncey, dressed in Lannister red and Baratheon black. As he neared the place in the road where it passed by Alysanne he seemed to spot her. His horse gave a jerk and slowed slightly, Joffrey's green eyes locked on her and Alysanne thought she saw him flinch. She raised her head and stared into his eyes, grey boring into green, until he had passed by her and was forced to look away.

Alysanne remained in her place by the Kingroad, waiting for the Stark retinue to reach her. Since the night the King had sentenced the wolves to death, her father had refused to ride with the king's men. Instead their parties remained divided, just as Alysanne had remained divided from her betrothed. Four days, the longest period since Bran's fall that the two had not spoken. Aly was conflicted by this, she was furious with Joffrey for attacking Mycah and Arya and even more for condoning Cersei calling for Lady's death, but she had to admit... she missed him in an odd, inexplicable way. She missed riding by his side down the Kingsroad, as they had done multiple times on the journey south. She missed his long rants about whatever annoyed him.

Aly let out a deep sigh before she was brought from her thoughts by someone calling her name. "Aly!" Tyla pulled her grey horse to a stop before Aly. "There you are."

"Tyla," Alysanne smiled. "Good morrow."

"Good morrow," Tyla smiled. "Your lord father was sure you had just taken a different path through the forest, I see he was correct."

"He was," Aly nodded. She pushed Balerion forward onto the road beside Tyla. "I needed to escape my sisters."

Tyla sighed, "understandable. I wish I had. They argued again this morning."

"Of course they did," Aly huffed. "Thank the gods I got away."

"Thank the gods indeed," Tyla huffed.

The two women trotted along down the road beside each other, mostly in silence. Every now and then one of them would begin to talk about something they had wanted to discuss previously, but mostly it was a comfortable silence. "Is it not your name day tomorrow?" Tyla suddenly said.

Alysanne blinked. "Is it?" She asked. Aly thought back to the time that had passed during their journey. "It is," she said eventually.

"Then we need to celebrate somehow," Tyla said. "You are turning six-and-ten, you are becoming a woman grown."

"We are travelling Tyla, what would we do? Throw a feast on the Kingsroad?"

"No, by the gods, Alysanne have some creativity. We could go for a ride through the countryside... or buy some jewels from a town we pass through."

Aly smiled at Tyla's excited eyes. "If we can," she said. Tyla grinned.