ᴀ ʜᴇᴀʀᴛ ꜱᴏ ɢᴏʟᴅᴇɴ, ᴀ ꜱᴜɴ ꜱᴏ ʙʀɪɢʜᴛ

xv. i can run from the people i love. my dreams cannot

┌─── ∘°❉°∘ ───┐

She skipped through the streets of the city, her hair flying wildly behind her. Her pretty dresses had been left in the Keep in exchange for a shirt and pants she had stolen from a servant. She did not want her own things to get dirty.

Her friends were already waiting for her. They must never find out who she was, or they would not treat her like they were the same. And she wanted to be.

They had shown her so much of the city. The sept, the big pit, the food stalls, and even some hidden tunnels. Those were her favourite place.

She was about to throw a small rock into the ring - a game her friends had taught her - when two strong hands grabbed her from behind.

"There you are."

She was lifted into the air, dropping her rock.

"Jaime!"

Her uncle held her close to his body as he walked off, not giving her the chance to say goodbye to her friends.

"Let me go, I do not wanna go back."

"You cannot scare your mother like that. What if something had happened to you?"

She thrashed in his arms, punching and kicking him, but only bruised herself on his armour.

A woman stepped into their way.

"Why are you taking the girl, Ser?"

"I am taking the Princess Cerelle back to the Red Keep, where she belongs."

No! He had told them her name! Now she would never be able to go back to them. Now they would be afraid of her.

She looked back to her friends, but they had already fled.

Tears welled up in her eyes.

- -☆- -

Elle regained consciousness long enough to see a woman leaving the room.

- -☆- -

"Cerelle! Get down here at once!"

Her mother's screams echoed off the walls of the courtyard. She groaned, but slowly started climbing towards the ground.

Why did she never want her to have fun? She was not allowed to leave the Keep, was not allowed to climb it, was not allowed to run around in it, was not allowed to do anything but sit still it seemed.

Her descents down the walls were getting quicker, even when wearing a dress.

"What were you thinking, Cerelle? Imagine if you had fallen!"

Her mother knelt on the ground before her, grabbing her shoulders tightly.

"But I did not."

"You could have been injured or even died! And then what? Do you really want to do this to me?"

"No..."

"You are a princess, and I want you to act like one. Do you understand me?"

Her mother rightened her necklace, pressed her close, and laid a kiss on her head.

"I don't want to lose you."

She was sent to her rooms afterwards, yet ran across Joffrey in the halls.