#the first one is Willa. tree leg person [this drawing is off her in the first part. so no tree leg yet]

[cookieslittleocs]

couple of random sketches?

[the-jade-cross]

Knight of the Forest - Chapter II

Lillia scanned the bedroom that would serve as her chambers for the next few years. T was simple but so different from her home which was more North than Highgarden, meaning that the clothes she brought would be too warm.

Margaery had already noticed that when Lillia revealed that the simple brown dress she wore was one of the coolest things she owned.

“Don’t worry your head about it,” the girl had assured her. “There are chests of clothes in the attic, full of things Maya and I no longer fit into. There’ll definitely be plenty of stuff you can fit into!”

Lillia sighed at the three dresses she had placed in her drawers, the only clothes she had brought that weren’t suited for winter. She would have to send the winter clothes back with Septa Romilda who would be leaving in the morning.

The girl looked around the room in admiration. A four poster bed was near a beautiful stain glass window that shone all the colors on the clean white sheets. There was a vanity dresser in the corner near the closet and across from that, a desk for writing which faced a window that overlooked the garden.

She was snapped from her thoughts by a loud knock on her door.

“Lillia!” Septa Romilda’s voice screeched through the door, “I know you’re in there! We need to talk about your atrocious behavior this morning! Open the door this instant!” Lillia might have been but a child but she knew that if she opened the door, she would get verbally scolded and then willow switched.

The girl’s eyes fell on the window above her desk. It would serve as a decent escape route. Tearing her shoes off, she pulled her hair back and tied it off, not caring that a few curls fell free from her hair tie which was situated near the nape of her neck. Hiking up her skirt, she tucked the hems of her dress into the top of her pants that she wore hidden beneath her dress.

Lifting open the window shutters, she climbed through before looking down. Roughly a ten-foot drop. Not too bad.

Leaping off, she remembered what her tutor had told her. having been a warrior in his earlier years, her tutor had been the one who taught Lillia the art of climbing and had awoken the girl’s love of freedom. He had told her that one could jump down from twenty feet or even more and not hurt themselves if they landed on their feet correctly.

When her feet struck the ground, she remembered to lean forward so half her weight wasn’t on her legs. The unbalance made her fall forward but she quickly rolled over, landing back on her feet.

“Lillia!” Romilda’s voice sounded louder, meaning she had entered the bedroom.

Lillia was about to scurry off to hide when someone grabbed her wrist and pulled her flush against the wall, hidden from view beneath the branches of a tree.

Lillia couldn’t see who it was but looking at the person’s hands, she could tell that it was a boy and she felt breath on the back of her neck. That meant that the person was probably close to her age and near the same height as her.

“Where are you!?” Septa Romilda screeched.

After what felt like forever, Lillia heard the Septa’s voice fade and she knew she had left the room. Lillia sighed and her rescuer released her.

“Do you usually run away from your Septa?” a boyish voice asked.

Lillia turned to face the boy and her eyes widened. He couldn’t have been more than ten or eleven. His eyes were a striking greenish blue, shaded by a head full of golden-brown curls that covered the whole of his head. He was rather handsome for his age with a crooked smirk, straight nose and firm jawline.

“I erm…” Lillia stuttered. “I mean…” The boy looked away from the girl, way up to the window she had escaped from before looking back at her in shock.

“Did you jump from there?” he asked in disbelief.

Lillia nodded, not sure if it was a good or bad thing. The boy looked back at the window before chuckling. “I thought I was the only one who would use windows to escape. Were you running from a scolding?” the boy asked, smiling at the girl.

Lillia looked down at her feet before nodding.

“Hey,” the boy said, touching her chin to make her look at him. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of. Women are often more frightening then armed men on a battlefield!” Lillia furrowed her brow in confusion, but the boy kept talking.

“You must be with Miss Arryn. I’ve never seen you around before. Are you a page or something?”

Lillia choked on a gasp. He thought she was a boy! True, her outfit looked like a boy’s and with her curls pulled back, she understood his mistake, considering that she didn’t have the body of a woman yet.

“I’m…. Robin,” the girl hastily lied, her brother’s name being the first to pop into her head.

The boy smiled, “Well I hope we become friends Robin. There aren’t really any other boys my age around here.” Lillia smiled, “I hope we become friends too.” This brought a huge grin to the boy’s face and Lillia found herself fighting back a blush. Why was this boy so cute!?

“Well I have to go,” the boy said, “See you around Robin!”

Lillia let out a breath of air she had been holding when suddenly she heard a voice above her.

“Lillia! I found something for you to wear for dinner!”  

*********

“Where were you earlier?” Margaery asked of Lillia when she and Maya emerged, all ready for dinner. “I went looking for you but I couldn’t find you!” “I kind of went through my window to escape Septa Romilda,” Lillia whispered.

The two Tyrell girls chuckled, “Did you run into her?” Maya asked. “That woman is scary.” Lillia shook her head, “No, but I met a boy in the garden…” “OOH! A boy!” Margaery squealed, “This sounds promising. Spill! Who was he?”

Lillia’s eyes widened, “I forgot to ask his name! Oh geez I didn’t realize that!” Maya chuckled, “Leave it to Margaery to find out who it is. What did he look like?” Lillia opened her mouth to describe him when the three girls entered the dining room to find Mace, Garlan and Willas there with a young boy. Lillia froze in her tracks which made the three males look up and when the boy met her gaze, his eyes widened, and his jaw dropped.

“Robin!?” the boy whisper screamed.

Maya and Margaery looked from the boy to Lillia in confusion till realization dawned on Maya.

“So he’s the mystery boy,” she whispered.

The boy was still gaping at Lillia till Willas grabbed his shoulder and brought him over to the girls.

“Lillia, since you didn’t get to meet hm earlier, this is our brother Loras. Loras, this is Lillia Arryn.” The two kids stared at each other till a single word dropped from Loras’s mouth.

“Uh oh.”

*************

Dinner was one of the most stressful and embarrassing things that Lillia had ever experienced and that was saying a lot. Being a girl who got in trouble constantly because of her rough and tumble activities, Lillia never thought she would be embarrassed since she had gotten used to being scolded but this was far worse. No one was yelling at her for being rambunctious. In fact, other than Maya and Margaery who were carrying on a conversation with Willas and Garlan, the table was absolutely silent which killed Lillia.

Loras sat across from her, his head bent over his food while his blond hair shielded his face from Lillia’s concerned and highly embarrassed glances. She was just waiting for the time she looked at him and he would meet her gaze and at least give her a sneer. That would make her feel better than this silence between them which was like a pile of bricks on her head.

“So Lillia,” Garlan chattered joyfully. “Father said that you were sent here because your mother couldn’t handle your energy… so to speak.”

Lillia felt her face heat up even more when Loras’s head moved just a smidge at the comment his older brother made.

“Erm…. Yeah… I suppose so…” Lillia whispered, poking her potatoes.

“Have you ever used a sword before?” Willas inquired, joining in.

Lillia’s head perked up at this and a small smile graced her lips while her eyes glowed with hope, “No… but I have used a battle axe a few times.”

Garlan almost choked on his drink which he had to spit back into the cup to keep from drowning in his apple juice, “A battle axe!? So, you have never wielded a sword, but you’ve wielded a battle axe!? Where did you get your hands on a battle axe your size!?”

Lillia shrugged, “It actually wasn’t my size. It was my father’s. I tried to talk him into letting me make one my size, but my mum found out and of course, holding a battle axe was not “lady like” so I had to just sneak my dad’s a few times. I liked it the best because it had drawings in the blade.”

Maya beamed before wrapping an arm around Lillia’s shoulders, “She’s a keeper! Willas and Garlan, you two should take her to the armory tomorrow! Maybe we can find you an axe your size.” Lillia’s smile grew and she almost bounced in her sleep, “Yes please!”

While Willas and Garlan began to discuss with each other the possible battle axes that would be Lillia’s size, Maya turned to Margaery who was having a hard time pouring another cup of milk which left Lillia alone and the girl turned to smile at her plate when she felt something touch her foot under the table. Lifting her eyes, she saw that Loras hadn’t moved but was shifting in his chair and Lillia didn’t have to look under the table to know that he was the one nudging her foot with his.

Slowly the boy glanced at her from beneath his head full of blond hair before looking back at his plate, a huge smile on his face which brought a blush to Lillia’s face.

**********

“Too small?” Willas asked, frowning when he saw Lillia move the battle axe around in her hand with an unsatisfied look in her green eyes.

Lillia nodded, “Sorry.”

Garlan shook his head, “Don’t worry about it! We should have tried a bigger one to start off. After all, you wielded your father’s. How about this one?”

Lillia looked at the axe Garlan held out which was just slightly smaller than the beast of an axe her father wielded. A simple brown handle that was about as long as her arm, a double headed blade that was thick and strong, the tips curving back elegantly. It looked both beautiful and strong. Garlan placed the axe in Lillia’s small hands but the girl didn’t even jolt at the heavy weight. Her fingers graced over the plain, untouched blade and gripped the boring brown blade.

“It’s perfect,” the girl said, turning to smile brightly at the boys.

Willas and Garlan beamed, their shoulders relaxing in relief while Maya and Margaery who were sitting nearby, cheered softly.

“Well then, let’s see your skills,” A voice said from behind.

Lillia turned to see Loras standing there, a sword in one hand and a smirk on his lips.

The girl shifted the axe in her hand so that her hand was gripping the very end of the handle while the axe dragged slightly on the ground behind her. Loras gripped his sword in both hands and planted his feet firmly as he watched the girl approach him with strong, steady footsteps. When Lillia was almost upon Loras, the boy leapt forward and took a swing at her side but Lillia swung the axe around as if it weighed nothing and met his strike with enough force to knock the boy back a few feet and Loras stumbled to regain his footing.

This time Lillia took the first swing and Loras had just enough time to lift his sword before the axe made contact with his head. This went on for about three minutes before Lillia spun around, bringing the axe with her and caught Loras under the feet and brought him onto his back before pointing the blade at his neck.

“Okay, fair enough,” Loras said, holding up his hands in surrender as Lillia held out her hand to help him up.

When their hands made contact, both stared at each other in shock at the spark that tingled through their hands. Lillia hastily pulled away while ducking her head and Loras scratched his neck nervously.

“It’s not the prettiest of blades…” Willas began but Lillia shook her head.

“I have a few ideas… that may take a while… but it is perfect.”

While Willas and Garlan took turns sparring for a while, Lillia noticed Maya giving her a suspicious look and the blond knew that she would have to explain what happened between her and Loras sooner or later.