Winter's Fire → Game of Thrones

i. Pentos

a/n: the dress is similar to Sansa's but without the patterns in a lighter grey

The sun rose on the horizon, lighting the sky up in beautiful colours ranging from pink to orange to red to yellow. The highest point in the sky was turning a light blue and turning away from the darkness of the night sky. As the sun rose, the stars and moon began to disappear. I used to watch this happen back home at Winterfell, and even across the sea I have never seen a sunrise or sunset that is the same as any other I have seen before.

I longed to hear the birds begin to sing and for the noise of the castle as everyone would begin to wake up. I longed to see my brothers run around the courtyard with Theon Greyjoy, my father's ward. Arya, even as a young girl, would often join them while Sansa sat back and scowled. Mother would worry about Bran climbing the walls of Winterfell, and Father would try not to encourage him.

Winterfell will always be my home, even if I am never to return there. It will always be the place where I was happiest, and I do not think that I will ever be that happy again, unless I get to return home. No one person or place has even made me feel that safe and happy again, and I expected that when I was forced to leave. I expected to miss the castle I was raised in, as well as my family and friends.

I missed the castle, or perhaps it was my family and people. I can still remember the faces of my family and friends back home, and all of the castle. I remember how there was a tunnel that only Bran and I knew of that led through most of the castle, and the hidden doorway in the crypt that I could never open. I remember the eery quiet of the Godswood, and the way the drills that the men would go through to train sounded as they echoed off the walls in the courtyard.

As I reminisced over my family and home, I heard someone walking up behind me. My hand wandered to the dagger that I kept at my waist, but I stopped myself. I knew who was walking over to me, and I had a suspicion as to why. I did not let go of the dagger, but I did force myself to seem more relaxed. Pretending to be someone or something I am not is one of my few talents.

About two years ago I was exiled and sent away from not just my home, but from all of Westeros. I have been travelling the Free Cities since, relying on others to stay alive. I hate that I cannot just live by myself, but the easiest way to survive is to allow others to use me. They take me in with the idea that maybe my relation to House Stark will help them gain something, but it never does, and then I must leave.

I have been in the city of Pentos for three moons now, and have been staying in the manse of the incredibly wealthy Magister Illyrio Mopatis. I do not know what he wants or expects from me, but I do not wish to ask. He is showing me kindness, and my father taught me to always accept and acknowledge it. That, and asking why never ends well.

When I turned around I saw an incredibly obese man, who was tall and had a yellow forked beard and crooked yellow teeth. His eyes reminded me of a pig's, and when he laughed his fat would bounce and you could smell his stench in the summer heat, despite the heavy perfume. He wore a life time's worth of money and riches in rings, and owning three of those would be enough money to survive for the rest of my life.

Illyrio's manse is certainly beautiful and it looks out onto the sea. There is a pool with a marble statue in the middle of it, of a young man who I suspect to be Illyrio before he became fat. I would never speak of my suspicions, but I may be right. The gardens are beautiful and there is always at least one flower blooming when I enter.

"Alessia, we have guests arriving today," Illyrio informed me. "I thought it best to come and tell you myself. There is a dress from Westeros waiting in your room for you. I suspect these specific guests will appreciate it."

"I do wish you would tell me who was coming," I said, forcing my voice to sound gentle and not demanding. "Why would they appreciate Westerosi clothes? I cannot help but wonder."