entranceway | (first gallop) | accidental video + action

...Benjen? [ when lyanna stark pushes herself into a sitting position a few twists and turns away from the maze's centre, her instinct is to call for one of her brothers: the youngest, first, and with a lilt of concern. with a groan, she brushes detritus off her palms and straightens her skirts (simple; in the northern style). and she tries to figure out why she might have been preparing her palfrey to ride in one moment, and sitting in dirt the next.

not that she minded the dirt -- not really. but she did mind the conspicuous absence of her kin. panic mounts: ] Brandon? Ned?

[ she scrambles to her feet and finds the strange small brick only a few feet away. lyanna picks it up and can now be seen peering suspiciously at its every angle. ] You're a funny thing. [ she mutters, tapping it gently and fingering (but not pressing) the buttons. but then she holds it loosely in her fist and raises her voice. ] By all the named gods and the unnamed gods -- Brandon Stark! If this is some trick or a mummer's game, I will have your hide. And without it, you can hardly hope to woo any pretty --

[ she stops abruptly because the brick chirrups like some odd precise bird. surprise catches the breath in her throat and she's forced to ask -- staring straight at the device: ] ...Are you alive, little brick?

[ grab her attention on the funny little brick-bird or else find her wandering the maze and the gardens. ]

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I pray for much the same -- [ she says in that casual way one has of saying when they likely make no effort to pray at all. not by some strict ritual or schedule. lyanna prays to the roots and to the sky. she prays when she rides and when she runs. ]

Yes, then. Let us. [ and she holds out a hand -- offering it to alayne. ]

[ it is like a dream. sansa stark would have kissed both her hands in gratitude and joy, to be able to walk arm in arm with an aunt she had never known. alayne feels grateful for the offer, honored by it and when she takes her arm, her hold is gentle.

( she does not think of margaery and her cousins who looked like butterflies. lyanna stark is of the north and she is more beautiful, more true than them all. ) ]

there are vast grounds near this Mansion, it might take days to travel through them all.

We ought to find us some horses, Alayne. And ride them. Do you ride? I hope you do.

[ lyanna's elbow hooks with hers. she pulls the girl close to her side and smiles.]

There are stables, my Lady; with some horses, I have seen them with my very eyes. A boy told me we could take them for a ride but we ought to ask how far we are allowed to travel. I was told we cannot go too far in Wonderland.

[ she was not told what would happen to her if she would try, she never dared ask. she would for lyanna, if she had to. she would not allow harm to come to her. ]

I ride, yes; only a little.

[ sansa hated it so, once. she had lied to joffrey and told him she enjoyed it immensely. alayne would not serve sansa's aunt with any more lies than she has to. ]

But I shall be glad to accompany you, still.

I don't want accompaniment. I want a good gallop. But -- [ a sympathetic waggle of her fingers. ] Accompaniment will do. Beggars can hardly choose, can we?

You would never be a beggar.

[ you are a wolf of the north, not one turned lion; they would never have you beg. it's said with a bit too much of emotion for a response for a simple figure of speech but alayne cannot help it. ]

There are others, I am certain, who can provide for a better company than only me.

[ but will she leave her aunt with them? ]

...But so far, none of them are from Westeros.

[ and so far, a great many of them had been rather...disparaging. rude, almost. as if they want to make her feel stupid for her roots. she will not abide by it -- so much so that she would dare befriending a bastard girl. ] And so I care not one fig about them.

[ she smiles a bit at the inappropriateness of it all. courtesy is a lady's armor, she was taught but lyanna stark is a true northerner and her shields are many. ]

I shall put my most vital efforts into our riding, then; though I fear competing among us shall always have predictable outcomes.

-- Then I shall always have to make it more of a challenge. Hands tied behind by back, and so on.

No, you must not, my Lady. Were you to fall, I would never forgive myself.

[ not after I vowed to keep you safe. ]

...I would not fall. Have faith, Alayne -- I have not fallen since I was a small child. Not off a horse, at least.

Forgive me, my Lady.

[ a quick, apologetic curtsy. ]

I simply speak of concern.

(first gallop) | accidental video + action

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