Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
WAR had left Laila Ryswell felling indefinitely numb.
She had seen a lot; too much, some would say. Always being at Catelyn Stark's side during the War of the Five Kings left Laila with memories that she'd seldom to forget. Why was she punished with them? She had been a handmaiden for years, and that wasn't necessarily her punishment, but more so that she would forever be plagued with war-filled memories due to the persistence of the Starks. In some ways, she admired it.
Sometimes, she would think of her past, or all she had seen of this war as she wrapped her hair in braids. She would weave her olive-toned fingers through the strands, trying to hide the insecurities her thick hair gave. Her long, dark tousles would become knotted and ratty, but in a sense, that was what war did to Laila Ryswell. It left her feeling ratted, and her stomach would turn into knots.
Laila frequently resided with the other handmaidens in the camp. She didn't like to listen to them much, but she did take a liking to speaking with a woman named Selene. It was nice to talk to someone who shared her interests, and she, too, was working for someone close to the Starks. Laila remembered that she was the handmaiden to the new Queen in the North.
It was difficult to speak to the other handmaidens. Laila thought they were very self-centered, or idiots, for that matter. It had been an extreme victory for the Starks to capture Jaime Lannister and keep him as a prisoner of war, but the other handmaidens seemed to think of him as a slab of meat. "What a man of substance," she heard them say. It made Laila want to roll her eyes.
She had passed by his crate often, more of the times that she had to carry buckets of water for Lady Stark's bath. Sometimes they'd meet eyes, but most of the time, Laila was staring at him in fear. Mud and bruises coated his face. He hadn't bathed in too long, and he reeked of despair. Laila found it hard to understand why the handmaidens found him so beautiful. Both his appearance and personality were ugly.
They all spoke the same about Robb Stark, which Laila found more repulsive. Gods, this man was now married, and they went on gossiping about his manly figure. Laila didn't know if his wife, Freya Greyjoy, loved him the way a wife should, but nevertheless, he was bound to her by law. No other women should have the right to speak of him in such a suggestive manner.
Pushing Laila away from her own thoughts was hard, but she found solace in walking around the war camp. There were soldiers hustling around left and right, but it was better than striding around a camp littered in corpses. The scent of burning wood was near, and Laila took it in like fresh air. Up ahead, Laila caught sight of Lady Brienne sitting in front of a bonfire. Her armor hung heavy on her body, but Brienne wore it despite the weather around them. Laila liked that about her, as well as many other things, which was why she was glad Catelyn invited her to join them when leaving the Stormlands.
