Flashback scene - Ser Arstan returns to Starfall

[ihateseagulls]

Random flashback scene.

Ser Arstan: ME (degausser on Fan Forum)
Lady Asheria: Sofia (MovieManiac on Fan Forum)

Comments

[ihateseagulls]

Ser Arstan EstermontWell played was all he could think once she dismissed her hand maidens. The dining hall fell to an uncomfortable silence. One could hear a pin if it dropped on the floor. Arstan could see now that the Lady Asheria was not going to let him off the hook so easily, though he could not even begin to wonder about her motives. Her face was remarkably inscrutable, and although he remembered the child, the woman before him now was a stranger. Perhaps that was why he was so hesitant to speak so freely as she bade him

[ihateseagulls]

Asheria Dayne
Asheria did not reply to his objection. No need to waster her breath. She could tell that he would speak of it either way. When he finally spoke her mask fell for the first time since he had arrived. Thankfully he was not looking at her surprised face. He loved this woman? The gossip just spoke of him bedding her. And no one said anything about him confessing it either. Asheria assumed that he had been caught. It was a pleasant surprise in this unpleasant situation.

"You confessed?" She asked this time there was the true tone of surprise in her voice that she did not bother to pretend before. "It is well known that in history... and most likely still, some men of the Kingsguard do not keep this vow. But unless they are discovered it is not spoken of in public. Why would you openly confess and shame yourself and be dismissed?" The lady asked and the former coldness in her voice was now replaced with honest curiously.

[ihateseagulls]

Ser Arstan EstermontArstan simply nodded to her first question. He searched her face for anything that might give away what she was thinking. Women had always been curious creatures, especially the women he had come across in King’s Landing. Most of his experience had been with the high-born ladies sent to court with the intent of finding suitable husbands. Naturally, these ladies were always on their best behavior and it had been difficult to surmise whether their words were ever genuine. With Lady Asheria he had hoped for a more transparent exchange, but so far their exchange had been rife with tension … the exact opposite of what he desired

[ihateseagulls]

Asheria DayneAsheria had to smile but she turned her head so he wouldn't see. Every man makes mistakes. Some bigger than others. But it took honor and bravery to be honest and deal with the consequences. She was glad to see that those qualities weren't lost to the Knight. Now believed that she could forgive him one day. "Send my dear handmaidens in again. I believe the stories that will now be told will be pleasant enough for them as well." She said

[ihateseagulls]

Ser Arstan EstermontMuch to his relief, Lady Asheria called her hand maidens back and the dinner conversation changed to a much more favorable subject. Arstan spoke of his initial thoughts of King’s Landing. He remembered the smell quite vividly. It smelled of rotting cheese and horse piss (he got a gasp out of one of the handmaidens with that one. The city sat on a harbor and so there was a perpetual ocean breeze that kept the city cooler than what he had normally been used to. He recounted the King and his royal family … and the many oddities he had experienced with Prince Aegon and Princess Alysanne. He was far more interested in what Lady Asheria had to say. She spoke first of her father and later of herself now that she had inherited Starfall. She would always speak of the illness that took the late Lord Dayne and the funeral rites that were performed for him. Arstan smiled sadly to himself. It seemed Lord Dayne had led a mostly happy life and he could see much of him in his daughter now. He raised her well

[ihateseagulls]

Asheria DayneThey walked in silence. She walked past several of her ancestors. Some she knew when they were still alive but the most only from stories. Once they arrived at Lord Edren Dayne's grave the silence between them seemed to grow even quite. She wasn't sure if Arstan spoke to her or her father. She eyes his actions curiously and was surprised for the second time this evening when she saw tears in his eyes though he did not let them fall. It was uncommon for men to cry. One of the only exceptions being when they grieved their father. She supposed he still though of her Lord father as one

[ihateseagulls]

Ser Arstan EstermontThe Lady Asheria spoke the words but it was as if they came straight from Lord Edren himself. Ser Arstan had a hard time forming a response. He thought back to King’s Landing and the woman he had shamed himself for. He thought back on her blonde hair and her fair skin and her sweet smile; he remembered at the time of their affair thinking she smiled for him and only him. It was the first time he had ever been in love, at least that’s what he thought it was at the time. Although he took no pleasure from being dismissed from the King’s side, there was a silver lining in the situation. He might have been able to take the woman for his wife. It would not have been easy, but Ser Arstan once heard that love conquered all things