The Long Winter | Jaime Lannister X Stark OC | GOT/ASOIAF

Tourney Knights

From where she stood, Morganna could hear the roar of the crowd, the splintering of lances and the thunder of hooves and metal. She was more than glad she was down here, not in the stands with the lords and ladies. With Morganna's uncle currently absent, and Septa Mordane preoccupied with getting Arya to sit still and behave, Morganna had been able to slip away with some vague excuse about the Princess wanting to see her. She hadn't, of course - the queen would hardly let her sit with the royal family - and had instead made her way to her brother. Ren wasn't competing until the melee the next day, however his friend Loreon Storm was due to ride in the next few rounds, and he was here to assist Ser Jaime Lannister, who was also jousting.

They had a good view from here, even though it was a short way back from the tilts. Loreon was already in full armour astride his horse. Ren stood on the ground beside him, tall and lean in comparison, as Morganna stroked the nose of the beautiful steel grey destrier, a powerful beast, worthy even of her mother. She understood it had been a gift from the king for Loreon's seventeenth nameday. The queen can't have been happy about that. 

Today was Morganna's twelfth birthday, and she was enjoying pretending the tourney was all in her honour. That morning she had received several gifts from her family; Sansa had made her an elegant green dress - Arya was credited with sewing on the fastenings at the back, with Septa Mordane's help - and Lord Stark had gifted her a new cloak, far lighter than her heavy northern furs and perfect for the southron climate. He had also carried a gift from her mother down from the North, a silver pendant that Morganna fell in love with immediately and was wearing now, as well as a present from Aileen (and supposedly Edrick) of an ornate hand-mirror made of bone.

She wished the rest of her family could be here now. Aileen wouldn't enjoy the tourney, but Edrick would. But Morganna wasn't exactly alone. She could pick out Sansa's red hair in the crowd from here, Jeyne Poole beside her, and then Arya and Septa Mordane; both of Morganna's cousins were excited for different reasons. Sansa loved the pageantry, the displays of gallantry and courage, whereas Arya was here for the blood and danger of the contest. Morganna was, as usual, somewhere in between. She didn't care for the giving of favours, but liked to show off by dressing up, and equally was excited by watching the tilts.

Of all the Winterfell men, only Jory remained in the competition even though they were still in the first round - Alyn and Harwin had both been unseated in their first matches - and Morganna found herself paying attention to the more likely contenders for the prize, helped by Ren and Loreon's careful commentary and assessments of all the other competitors. Ser Gregor Clegane, the Mountain-That-Rides, was an obvious choice, though his brother Sandor, the Hound - still a big man but nowhere near the size of Gregor - seemed to have more skill, rather than brute strength alone, decimating his opponents with brutal efficiency. The young Loras Tyrell, as girlish as he looked with his brown curls and flowery armour, was also a clear talent. Morganna had laughed to see him present a blushing Sansa with a red rose; she had heard the crude rumours about the Knight of Flowers from Ren and his friends, but her cousin clearly hadn't. Other strong contenders were, of course, Jaime Lannister and Barristan Selmy, both in the white cloaks and armour of the Kingsguard.

But Loreon had yet to joust himself. Morganna did not know the young knight well, but from what she had seen of him, she understood why her brother considered him a close friend; Ren didn't trust easily, which said a lot. At a first glance, Loreon would appear to be the young Robert Baratheon reborn, however Morganna had noticed that he seemed somewhat more calculating than the king ever did, and did seem to try to treat people with respect. Where King Robert had been born the elder son of a great lord and had had opportunities handed to him on a plate his whole life, Loreon had had to work hard to be noticed, to be taken seriously, and that there was the difference. There was something in him that the king lacked; Morganna saw a certain glint in Loreon's eyes whenever he saw his father drunk in public, or making a fool of himself, or shirking responsibilities. It was even more pronounced when he was around Joffrey. It was easy to forget what family the young man's mother came from, unless you were sharp enough to catch the ambition in his stare.