HIGHBORN, Alys Lannister

ALYS LANNISTER

THAT FEELING THAT DOESN'T GO AWAY JUST DID

Under the shadow of two elder brothers, Alys grew up. She was a studious little girl who loved her books and watching steel and listening to music. She preferred shadows to sunlight, isolated in Castamere. Growing up, her parents put their attention to her elder brothers. Her eldest brother would be Lord of Castamere, her second brother would be fostered somewhere, intent to become Kingsguard, while she, she was the only daughter. The daughter of a lord in the Westerlands, she grew up in her own world. Her mother and father were passionate lovers, they decorated their court with glowing minstrels, and her mother was often pregnant and with child.

Following Alys, there were Thomas and Robb. Thomas and Robb took to their swordplay and archery, while Alys took to watching them. She worked well on her studies, took up the sewing needle and singing, and mastered learning her religious studies, keen about the religions of the world and their philosophies. She was fond of strategy, warfare and the political sciences, and was fonder of the poetry she read,  bought specially for her by her father. Her father favored her, and so did her mother, and she was betrothed three times in childhood - first to the Marbrand heir, then when they broke it off, was betrothed to the heir of House Hightower, and then, to House Redwyne.

Lady Marbrand, she thought at four, she'd be Lady Marbrand when she grew up. Then at ten, Lady Hightower. Then at eleven, when she learned her parents had tried betrothing her to the heir of House Redwyne, frustrated, she sighed to herself. So what would she do?

So, she accepted the uncertainty of not getting married. I'll be Lady Alys Reyne, a scholar in my own right, she thought jokingly, at ten and two.

Mind newly minted like a coin, she was already intelligent and accomplished, fond of poetry, of hunting, of archery, and witty, with a keen interest in strategy and political science and  natural keen to diplomacy. An accomplished girl with much to offer; her father was a goodly soldier, a passionate lover and man, who loved his wife, and went whoring. His wife, Lisbeth, Alys's mother, minded the whoring but yet she did not mind it when her husband put another child in her belly. Being rich, they were already thinking of marrying Alys off to a rich husband who would provide for her. The most sensible man would be the heir to Casterly Rock. But firstly, when would be a good time to introduce her?

Then at ten and three, they bought her to Casterly Rock. It was for a banquet thrown by Lord Lannister, celebrating his name day. Of course, being socially inept, Alys opted to remain seated, feasting on the food. When the time for dancing came, she saw him.

They called him Tyreal Lannister, he was the heir to the Westerlands, and he was eyeing her. The other maids swooned over him, but she did not. He was just another troublesome boy to her, so she minded it very much when he looked at her carefully, and she pretended that the said boy did not exist. Yet he approached her and did the unthinkable:

He asked her to dance and she snubbed him.

Later, he learned her name. Alys Reyne, ten and three and stubborn as a bull.

To make things more awful, her parents sent her to be a lady-in-waiting to Lady Lannister. She was a sore thumb there; she found herself strange in it, amongst gossipy girls, and in the den of a lion. She learned to love the library, and eventually became a regular visitor there. She played the lute for Lady Lannister, she read aloud to herself in the nighttime, and in the courtyard, took to shooting arrows for herself when no one watched.

Finally, I'm away from that wretch, Tyreal Lannister.

She was very much in the wrong - one day, in the sept, he started talking to her. What she did? She threw her prayer booklet in his face. The next day, he tried approaching her  at the library, she hit him with a book.

Of course, Lady Lannister minded it. The most quiet and well-mannered and bookish handmaiden of her ladies hitting her son! A talking-to was given, and after that, she tried to avoid him again, but then again, there was no escaping Tyreal. She mended her manners to him, becoming more polite.

He earned slowly her respect - she saw him train in the courtyard, and then she let him sit beside her in the sept. She let him ask her of what books she liked, and she slowly welcomed his acquaintanceship.

At ten and seven, it was already made clear to Alys that her parents had betrothed her to Tyreal Lannister, and that Lady Lannister wanted her to be his wife. She said yes, to make her family less worried, and yes because she wanted to do her duty. After the betrothal was made official, she started to visit Tyreal more often. While acquainted, she made the effort to get to know him better. They shared the same sense of humor, the same kind of brand of intellect that she enjoyed. In no time, they grew closer, fostered by the stability he bought in her life, her calm and good temper and her attractiveness of character. In the times her husband set out to defend the Westerlands, she wished him luck and sent him her love through long letters and love poetry. At thirty and three, her husband was now the Titan of the Westerlands, and that meant he had made mark on Lannister success.

Through time, she found herself happy. Her heart was set on a lusty pin and this joy and her, she delighted in it.  She considers herself now happy in her marriage to Lord Lannister, his best friend and confidant, a dedicated partner in crime and intellectual match.

Her love would be one of a kind, she had thought. Minstrels and bards would sing of their closeness and partnership. The world could only hope to emulate the kind of marriage she had with her husband. It was a successful marriage by all means, forged through pranks, through sweat, tears, fights, quarrels, a marriage that was fueled by common passion, mutual respect and love and the same tendencies.

She now hopes to stay with her husband till the end, and plot and make plans for the future of House Lannister. She makes sure her children are well-educated, and well-disciplined, and that their futures will be bright.


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