Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Lily wondered if black had been worn to her funeral.

If she had still been alive in England, she would have no doubt worn such a color to James's. She would have had to as the last thing she remembered before that awful cloud of green was the sound of James' body hitting the ground.

The horrid memory still made her cringe.

But somehow Lily didn't think James wouldn't have wanted her to wear black. James had been a man who was as large as life. He loved to laugh and play games and pranks and tell jokes. He had loved all sorts of colors but red had been a special favorite of his. Partly because of his house allegiances while at school and partly because of memories experienced in his boyhood.

Maybe she would have worn red to his funeral.

But in any case it wasn't worth thinking too much about now.

It did bring back a sense of memory however as she stood in the tombs where the Tully ancestors were buried before them and watched as the large stone lid was lowered over her mother's very still form.

The tombs of the Tullys weren't actually in Riverrun at all but in an ancient cave at the mouth of the river several hundred leagues downstream. Two guards were always stationed at its entrance and the wooden casket containing the body of Minisa Tully had been rowed downstream by two other guards while the rest of the Tully had followed behind in another long boat.

Hoster had sat at the head of the boat with Cat just behind him, Lysa behind her and then Lily followed by Edmure.

When they had entered the caverns, they had gone down a long stone passage that had been lit by torches. Two guards had walked ahead of them and two guards had followed behind.

Walking down that passage that was only dimly lit had been cold, damp and depressing and Lily had wished Axel had been allowed to come with them.

But Hoster had grimly stated that such an event was no place for a child of eight months so they left him behind in the care of his nurse.

When they had finally come out into the dim light Lily had been confronted with an enormous circular cavern that bore a large stone fountain in the middle in which the water had long since dried up.

There was a round spire in the center of it with a large stone carved trout at the top leading Lily to believe that this place had been around since the time of the Andals.

Carved into the rock around all sides of the chamber were tombs which bore the inscriptions of the names and dates of past Tullys.

There was a faint light coming from high above them and because the cave they were in was at the mouth of the river but inside a large cliff face, Lily believed it to be the dim light of the sun shining through a crack in the top of the cave far above them.

The casket which was being carried by guards behind them was brought forth to a stone casket across from the entrance and the large lid was pushed aside.

At the moment they were saying their final goodbyes while the septon led a long eulogy on the life of Minisa Tully.

Standing next to Lily was a very somber Petyr, a tight faced Ed and Cat and Lysa who were both in tears.

Behind them stood their father who looked as stone faced as lily had ever seen him. His complexion was an awful shade of ashy grey but it was a color that Lily had grown used to in the weeks up until Minisa had died.

During her illness Hoster had ceased to smile and now with her death, the red head wondered if he ever would again.

His robes were dark, making his face stand out in the dim light but Lily couldn't bring herself to look at him for long without a lump gathering in her throat so she merely turned back to the tombs an swallowed it as best she could.

And standing next to him was remarkably Brynden Tully who had somehow made it back to Riverrun in time for the funeral.

When Lily had seen him ride in through the gates the following day she had almost wanted to collapse in a heap with relief.

The septon was still droning on about their mother and how she had proven to be a loyal wife and Lady of Riverrun, how she had given Lord Hoster five healthy children to carry on his line and how she had been a gentle king and compassionate woman to the poor of the Riverlands.

She was all of those things, Lily thought to herself. But you won't hear people talking about the funny things too. She was a stickler for anything that was unladylike. We had our differences…but she also gave birth to me and was very patient. Even if I didn't consider her to be a true mother because I already had one….I…I still cared about her.

The corners of her eyes were beginning to sting and she blinked hard, determined she wasn't going to cry until she had some privacy. Cat and Lysa were already wrecks and she needed to be strong for them.

But she as swallowed hard for what felt like the millionth time that day, she was surprised to feel a hand slip into hers and give it a slight squeeze.

It didn't take a genius to realize that it was Petyr.

She didn't look at him but she was grateful for the support even if he wasn't the most affectionate boy.

She would need it to get through today.

Lily glanced next to her and noted the tears streaming down Lysa's cheeks, reached out and took her sister's other hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.

To her surprise Lysa squeezed back and then held on even more tightly.

Finally the septon finished prompting Lily to blow out an unconscious sigh of relief.

Hoster nodded to the septon who turned and quietly left the cavern before turning to the six smaller people in front of him. "Children. Say your last goodbyes. I will be by the cave entrance."

Without giving any of them a chance to say anything else, he turned and strode out of the cavern, dark cloak swirling behind him like he was a storm leaving devastation in its wake.

It was a rather ironic analogy.

Lily released another breath upon the disappearance of her father down the long tunnel and in the next instant she felt a pair of hands settle onto her shoulders.

The red head looked up to find herself gazing into the sympathetic eyes of Brynden Tully. He had taken a step closer to all of the children and reached down to wipe the tears from Lysa's eyes.

"Don't cry my girl," he said in a rough voice. "I know your mother wouldn't want it."

"But she's gone Uncle," Cat whispered tearfully. "I don't think I can't not cry."

"She wouldn't want you to Catelyn," Brynden replied. "Your mother loved each and every one of you, even the child she didn't know for all that long, a child who will be counting on you as the years go by."

He turned to Edmure whose face was pinched from the strain of keeping all of his emotions together. "You will be the Lord of Riverrun one day my boy. This is an awful test you will need to weather. But don't feel as if you cannot grieve. The whole of the Riverlands will grieve for some time over the loss of its lady."

"What are we supposed to do now Uncle Brynden?" Lysa asked. "Mother taught us how to do everything."

"You follow her example," Brynden said looking at the three girls. "Be the women she taught you how to be. But don't try to be her. Be yourselves instead. Take care of each other, look out for one another and above all else if one of you is hurting be there when it is necessary. Do you understand?"

"Yes Uncle Brynden," four voices said at once, though Lily's was the quietest.

"Good," the Blackfish replied. "Come then. Your mother would want us to be out in the sunshine not in the dark of this place."

Somberly, Cat, Lysa and Ed turned to follow their uncle back down the passage and out of the cave. Lily however lingered by the stone casket.

She didn't realize that Petyr was still standing there until the boy had put a hand on her shoulder. "Are you coming?"

"In a minute," she said softly. "I want to say goodbye first."

He nodded but made no effort to leave either so the two eleven year olds just sat there in silence for a moment.

"You know," Lily said after a moment. "We have a lot of things in common, but now we have one more."

"What's that?" Petyr asked.

"We've both lost our mothers," Lily said softly placing a hand on the rim of the casket. "Does it ever get easier?"

"I can't really tell you," Petyr replied. "I never really knew my mother the way you knew yours."

"In some ways that makes it worse," Lily muttered bitterly. "I envy Axel. You can't miss what you never had if you never had it. He won't have any memory of mother….but the rest of us will. And it will be up to us to tell him all about her. We'll have to tell him about her smile and the way she'd want to pull her hair out when I'd rather fight then sew. We'll have to tell him all about how father's face would light up when she would walk in a room or how the servants said that her presence was like sunshine. We'll have to tell him all of that he'll have never known any of it."

"Which maybe makes you luckier than him," Petyr replied.

"What do you mean?"

The dark haired boy shrugged. "I never really knew my mother either. She died giving birth to a girl who died the same day. But I would have liked to have known about her. My father never talks about her though. So one day I stopped asking. You at least got to know her and what she was like for eleven years."

"What's your point?" the red head asked.

"My point is when you stop talking about her, you forget about her. Just make sure Axel doesn't grow up like I did."

"And how did you grow up?" Lily asked.

Petyr turned away and walked to the entrance of the cavern only stopping to look at her when he had reached the threshold. "I didn't know a thing about the woman who gave birth to me. Make sure he isn't like that too."

And then he turned and walked back into the tunnel leaving Lily alone in the cavern.

After a moment the redhead turned back to the stone casket, feeling the familiar burning in the corner of her eyes that she had been trying to hold back all morning.

She licked her lips and placed a hand on the top of the stone. "I know I wasn't like Catelyn and Lysa mother, but that didn't mean that I didn't love you. I wish I could have told you about my other mother. But I don't think you would have understood. But then again…maybe there are some things you would have."

And then, not certain if she could bear it any longer, the red head pressed a kiss to her fingers and placed her hand atop the casket as a final goodbye.

She was saying goodbye to Rose Evans as much as Minisa Tully. Both had known her and loved her.

And now both were gone.

Ω

Later that evening after Lily had sat with a tearful Lysa and made sure she was asleep before she had left to put Axel to bed, the exhausted red head made her way back to her own chambers. She was grateful that Cat had seen to Ed so she wouldn't have to. She had spent most of the day holding back her own grief and was eager to get to her own rooms before she completely fell apart in front of someone and made a fool out of herself.

But seemed that she was out of luck because the moment she rounded the last corner and turned down the hall towards her rooms, she was confronted with the sight of a tall figure standing outside her door.

Lily slowed down and sighed quietly. "Uncle Brynden, I thought you had gone to bed."

"I might have thought the same thing about you," the tall auburn haired man said. "I went around to every one of your siblings rooms and found them fast asleep along with Axel who was being watched over by his nurse. And you were not in any of their rooms. So I could only assume that you took care of them first and then came to your rooms when you were done. And as it turns out, I was right."

"Well," Lily said opening her door. "It seems you know me well Uncle."

"I do," the Blackfish said following her into the room. "In fact I know you so well that I know you wouldn't have allowed yourself to grieve until you had made sure everyone else had their time first. And I wanted to make sure you weren't alone when you did."

"Well that's very kind of you Uncle Brynden," Lily said briskly as she laid her cloak down on the bed and sat by her window seat to take off her shoes. "But I'm alright. I don't need to grieve. I said all I needed to when we buried Mother this morning."

Brynden Tully said nothing for a long time but Lily could feel his eyes on her. She wished he would stop looking at her like that. He was one of the few people in Riverrun who knew her so well that he never had to guess what she was thinking but also always knew what she was hiding and when she was lying.

And it wasn't fair.

She could feel herself beginning to crack and the last thing that she wanted was an observer when it happened.

Finally her uncle spoke. "I never told you how your grandmother died did I?"

Lily had a feeling she knew where this was going but at the moment she didn't have the energy to call her uncle on his coaxing. "No, you didn't."

Brynden sat down on the chair by her desk and leaned forward so his elbows were resting upon his knees.

"Your father is several years older than I am," he said. "So he remembers her better than I do. But I do have memories of her smile. She was also a very strong person, much like you."

Despite herself Lily felt a lump begin to gather in her throat.

"She fought long and hard for what she believed in which was family. She fought her illness for many years so she could see your father and I continue to grow. But after a time, her body could no longer cope with the ravages of the disease and it simply shut down. It was far more devastating for your father than I because I was still a child at the time and she contacted the illness only a year after I was born. But after a while he realized that that she held on for as long as she could and the only reason that she had lasted like she had was because of him and I."

Lily blinked hard. If her uncle didn't leave soon she was going to burst into tears and that would be beyond embarrassing.

"What's your point Uncle Brynden?" she asked tersely.

"My point is," the auburn haired man said in his gruff voice. "Is that sometimes its alright to let go sometimes. A person cannot be strong forever and you have been a pillar for this family all throughout your mother's illness Lilian. But its alright to let someone else bear the burden at times."

At that point however, Lily had stopped listening. She had gone back into the past about a week or so when a servant had brought a message to her, saying that Lady Minisa would like to see her youngest daughter.

It was with some reluctance that Lily went as she was certain the news was either very good or very bad. If her mother who was critically ill wished to see her to tell her something, there was no middle ground perspective to the quality of information.

And as it turned out she was right.

"Mother?" the small red head said tapping on the door of the Lady of Riverrun's chambers. "The servant said you wanted to see me?"

Truthfully Lily had been standing outside the chamber door for a good five minutes debating whether or not to knock. She could still get away if she ran now. Maybe her mother would forget whatever she wanted to tell her and things could go back to normal.

But somehow the twenty one year old in side of an eleven year old's body knew that no matter what happened her mother would still be waiting for her to come to her room, open the door and sit down by her bed.

To say that she was nervous was a bit of an understatement.

What could Minisa possibly have to tell her? And would it be good news or bad? Did it have something to do with her illness? Or was it even important at all?

Well….there was only one way to find out.

You're a Gryffindor, the red head thought to herself. And you can't call yourself a Gryffindor if you're too scared to go in there. You faced down Voldemort and even though you died you stared him right in the face.

And then she finally managed to summon her courage and opened the door.

The room itself was dim but Lily could see a slit of light in between the curtains on the far side next to the bed. It lit the room in a dull glow making the red head want to pull the drapes aside and let the sun in.

Why on earth had Vyman ordered them closed anyway?

The sunshine might do Minisa some good.

Lily glanced at the bed and noted the still form of her mother lying beneath the sheets. A closer look revealed the steady rising and falling of her chest, indicating that all was well and that the Lady of Riverrun was fast asleep.

The red head breathed an unconscious sigh of relief and then turned to tiptoe out thinking that whatever her mother had to tell her could wait until after she had had some well deserved rest.

But just as she turned to make her escape, a quiet voice called out, halting her in her tracks.

"Lilian Tully, just where do you think you're going?"

The small red head grimaced at the sound of her mother's voice and then after a moment turmoil pivoted back to the bed.

Minisa was very much awake and looking at her daughter with a pair of amused deep blue eyes.

Lily grimaced, she really did know all of her tricks didn't she?

"Nowhere mother," she said somewhat sheepishly. "I just thought you were sleeping and I didn't want to bother you."

"Mmhm," the older woman said sounding more amused by the moment. "Why would I be asleep when I asked the servant to find you and ask you to come to me?"

"You might have gotten tired waiting?" Lily asked suggestively.

Minisa chuckled and patted the seat beside her on the bed. "I'm not so ill yet that I can't wait up for you to come to me."

Lily frowned. "What do you mean yet?"

"Well," Minisa said as the eleven year old sat down on the bed. "That has something to do with what I wanted to talk to you about."

Dread like icy fingers wrapped around Lily's heart and began to squeeze. She knew right away that this conversation wasn't going to end well.

She slowly began to twist her hands in her lap, anxious for something else to focus on than the words she had a feeling were coming.

"Why did you call me?" she asked finally.

Minisa gazed at her for so long it began to make Lily feel uncomfortable. Her blue eyes were searching and Lily sensed that they were looking at her every thought and every emotion.

"You're a strong girl Lily," she said finally. "From the moment I looked at you after you were born and you didn't cry I knew you were going to be the strongest that I had. Cat may have been my firstborn, but you….maybe its something about the child that's born in the middle that makes them more resilient than any other child. People always think it's the oldest, but I happen to think it's the child born in between the others. You see they need to balance the ego of the older ones and put them in their place but they need to help take care of the younger ones too."

"Why are you telling me all this?" Lily asked.

"Because I don't want you to forget it," Minisa replied reaching a somewhat shaking hand down for Lily's. "I don't want you to forget who you are. You're different from your sisters but different isn't bad. You're fearless Lily and I want you to stay that way. This world….its not kind to women and in order to get through it, you need to be strong. But I think you know that. Being strong doesn't mean you wear a mask to protect yourself or you carry a sword around and fight with it when necessary. Being strong means making the hard decisions when there is no other way. Being strong means putting your family first, but being strong also means that you must stand your ground because doing what's right isn't always easy. You can't compromise on that. Promise me you won't."

"I promise," Lily whispered. "But Mother, why are you talking like this? You're talking like….like you're not going to be able to tell me this again."

"We can't predict life Lily and we can't predict the gods. The Stranger is a creature that walks to the rhythm of his own bells. But when they chime for us….we can't ignore them."

Lily knew a little too much about the Stranger and his activities and anything that reminded her about that horrid encounter she had had in that room with the tall fireplace caused her to cringe.

"I just wanted to tell you," Minisa continued, jerking her back to reality, "that its okay that you're different. In fact I'm glad you are. Life would be very boring if all three of my daughters were exactly the same. Your father and I had to have had one child to keep us on our toes and my darling you were it."

Despite the situation and her own anxiety, this statement always caused Lily to laugh. And Minisa joined in for a long moment of giggles before a coughing fit seized her, forcing them both to sober up.

"You've always marched to the beat of your own drum," Minisa said, her voice sounding a bit more hoarse from all the coughing. "But that's what sets you apart. Before long your father is going to choose someone for you to marry."

Lily grimaced causing her mother to chuckle again. "It's going to happen my girl, just you wait. But you're strong, you know that anything worth doing in this world takes hard work. And I'm proud that you're that way. You keep that attitude and there won't be anything in this life that can stop you, man or no."

The red head grinned again. They had had their differences in the last few years but Minisa seemed to have finally accepted that Lily was different from Lysa and Cat and never would like sitting around in an ivory tower waiting for a man or some fairy-tale future. Her own experience with Voldemort had taught her that there was no such thing as a happy ending and if you even wanted something along those lines you had to work for it.

"Promise me you'll stay strong and work hard at whatever you want to do," Minisa said. "Promise me Lilian."

Her hand on Lily's had grown tighter almost to the point of pain but the red head had simply held on and squeezed back. "I promise Mother."

"Lily?"

The eleven year old jerked back to the present at the sound of her Uncle's voice. "W-What?"

Brynden Tully narrowed his eyes down at the smaller girl. "Where were you niece?"

But Lily wasn't going to answer as the memory of her last conversation with her mother became clearer and clearer.

Stay strong….be brave….be true….and work hard.

They were things eerily similar to what Rose Evans had always told her and in that moment Lily felt her carefully constructed façade begin to crack.

Her uncle must have realized it too because he reached out and put a hand on her shoulder. "Oh child."

A strangled sob rose from Lily's lips as she finally gave herself permission to grieve.

And Brynden Tully simply pulled her into his arms and let her cry.

Ω

Three Years Later….

"Come on Petyr keep up!" the red head yelled over the rush of the wind. "We're going to be late!"

"Will you slow down?!" The fourteen year old shouted from somewhere behind her. "We're not going to be late!"

"You don't know that," Lily called out as they raced their horses through the woods and along the riverbank. "Father said that Uncle Brynden was arriving today. He hasn't been back to Riverrun in months!"

"Do you think he's going to waltz in and then waltz right back out before we get there?" Petyr demanded. "He's probably going to stay for a few weeks!"

Lily ignored her best friend and urged her horse faster. She never felt more free than when she was riding.

It wasn't as good as riding a broom and soaring through the skies but seeing as how she didn't have access to one, riding was good enough.

In the three years that Minisa Tully had died, most of the children had thrown themselves into different activities to keep their minds off their grief.

Slowly but surely they had all healed but there was still a lingering ache left behind from Minisa's departure.

To this day even three years later Hoster still rarely smiled and the lines around his eyes had grown deeper, the hair at his temples greyer.

He had become obsessed with the running of the Riverlands and furthering his influence. One of the many ways in which this had been accomplished had been with Cat's recent engagement.

She was only seventeen but their father had determined in two years she would be wed to Brandon Stark, the heir to Winterfell and future Warden of the North.

She had been beside herself with joy at the prospect while Lily and Petyr had simply rolled their eyes.

It wasn't long after that that he had moved on to sixteen year old Lysa and had sent a letter to Tywin Lannister regarding his son and heir Jaime as a potential match for Lily's second sister.

Unlike Cat Lysa hadn't been as happy about this prospect but she had agreed as she often did.

And as for Lily, well he hadn't really talked about her marriage yet but seeing as how she was only fourteen there was at least two to three years wait on that.

But Lily had been proactive and demanded of Vyman to let her know the moment her father began considering options for her and she would take it from there.

What she intended to do was meet every single one of these "option," if there was more than one and see if they were to her liking.

But seeing as how she was the third daughter of Hoster Tully, she just might have a lot more freedom and be overlooked for a while longer.

And that was quite alright with her.

But speaking of marriage there had been a lot of talk throughout the realms in the last few years about one marriage in particular.

Prince Rhaegar Targaryen.

Lily remembered about the customs of the dragon lords that she had read about when she was younger and knew exactly what the outcome of a Targaryen marriage would be.

Needless to say the thought had turned her stomach.

But seeing as how Queen Rhaella had only produced two sons from her marriage to her brother Aerys, the crown was in need of a queen.

And there were a few of the greater houses that had put forth their daughters as potential candidates.

The first was the most obvious choice and one many had been certain would wear the crown. After all her father had been Hand of the King for almost twenty years and the girl in question had been practically raised at court. She had the looks, the charm, the grace and from what Lily had heard the arrogance to match.

If she succeeded in wedding the prince that meant that her family would have a lot of connections which was why Hoster was so keen to see Jaime Lannister wed Lysa.

However lately it seemed as if the old lion had fallen out of favor with the king and instead a potential second choice was becoming clearer.

About a year and a half ago, King Aerys had sent his cousin Steffon Baratheon to the Free Cities to find a bride with Valyrian ancestry for his son. Needless to say the man had not been successful and on his return journey a tempest had struck just off the coast of the Baratheon stronghold of Storm's End and sunk the ship, killing Lord Baratheon and his wife Lady Cassana.

It had been a horrible tragedy but one that had been quickly overlooked by the royal court.

King Aerys had then turned his attention to the south where he had decided that Elia Martell would be a good choice as the next queen as she was the closest woman in Westeros to Valyrian ancestry.

As a result Aerys saw to it that his son and the Martell girl were betrothed and she had been sent to King's Landing to become accustomed to her new life.

The wedding was to be in a mere ten weeks and many nobles had been invited though most were turning up anyway.

Some were curious about the Martells, some wanted a taste of power and some just wanted to be at court.

All of the Tullys were going as well but Lily was hardly interest in a royal wedding which was why she was so thrilled that her Uncle Brynden was turning up. If he was going to stay at Riverrun or if he had some errand to accomplish for her father than Lily wanted to be with him.

A royal wedding sounded downright dull.

And she didn't want to give her father any ideas about finding a match for her too soon. If she wasn't there, the less she would be on his mind.

She and Petyr clattered through the gates of Riverrun to the cries of welcome from several of the groomsmen.

Lily vaulted off her horse with Petyr right behind her and dashed up to Ser Desmond Grell who was in the process of chewing out of some of the young squires who had come to Riverrun with her uncle. "Ser Desmond!"

He turned at the sound of her voice and gave a swift bow when he saw who it was. "Lady Lilian, Lord Petyr."

"Is my uncle here Ser?" Lily asked breathlessly.

"Aye my lady he is, he arrived no more than a quarter of an hour ago. He and your lord father are currently holding council in the Great Hall and – "

But that was all Lily needed to hear.

She grabbed hold of Petyr's arm and began tugging him towards the keep. "Hurry up!"

"Gods woman do you ever slow down?" the teenager muttered. "What's your hurry?"

But Lily didn't pause to answer. Her uncle was her most favorite person in the whole world and he had been gone for months. She couldn't wait to see him.

And it was in that excited manner that she burst into the Great Hall where several people were gathered. "Uncle Brynden!"

Sure enough the tall auburn haired man who had been standing in the middle of the room talking to her father with a few peoples sitting on the benches around him turned and gave her a familiar grin. "Lilian!"

The fourteen year old dashed up as quickly as she could and flung her arms around his neck. "I missed you!"

Her uncle uttered his booming laugh and spun her around. "I missed you too sweetling."

When he set her down it was only then that Lily noticed Cat glaring at her from her seat. "Lily sit down. You're interrupting father!"

Lily stifled the urge to roll her eyes and plopped into a seat next to her sister. "Very well what boring thing were we talking about now?"

Cat's eyes widened. "What are you wearing? You look like a stablehand!"

"These are my riding clothes," Lily explained in an almost long suffering manner. "I can't very well ride in a dress now can I?"

Edmure who was now twelve snickered and three year old Axel who was sitting on the lap of Lysa let out a shriek of laughter.

"If the five of you are quite through, your uncle and I had business to finish," Hoster snapped shutting them all up.

"Don't worry children," Brynden said winking at his nieces and nephews. "There will be plenty of time for reunions later."

"Yes," Hoster said dryly. "I hope you plan on explaining all after your trip to the Vale brother."

"You're going to the Vale Uncle?" Lily interrupted her eyes beginning to sparkle. "What for?"

"Lily!" Cat hissed but the younger red head paid her no mind.

"I have to business to attend to for Lord Arryn," her uncle said jovially.

"Yes business," Hoster muttered. "It's always business."

There was an awkward silence before Lily spoke up again, suddenly possessed of a clever idea. "Well if you're going to the Vale Uncle perhaps it would be a good idea to accompany you."

"Whatever for?" Hoster demanded.

"Lily!" Lysa burst out. "Don't you want to go to the wedding? There's going to be all manner of wonderful things to do there!"

"Other than dancing you mean?" the red head asked dryly.

"Besides," she said turning to her father, knowing she was taking a gamble. "It might be a good investment."

"In what?" Hoster asked.

"Why my future," Lily said knowing she was about to lie through her teeth. "Isn't Elbert Arryn still unattached? Suppose I were to like him. Odds are Lord Arryn won't be leaving for the wedding as yet if he has business with Uncle and it will give me a chance to meet his nephew. Think about it father. Cat will go north, Lysa will go west and I could go east."

All of her siblings were looking at her as if she had sprouted a second head and all of a sudden a dark look had come over Petyr's face.

But the face Lily was looking at the most was her father's. She had appealed to his ego and his desire for power and it might have just come back to bite her.

But she also knew she had the tool of compulsion on her side. If her father ever asked about her meeting with Elbert Arryn all she had to do was tell him Lord Arryn had already chosen a girl of the Vale for him and that would be the end of it.

His attention was already focused on Cat and Lysa anyway. He didn't need anymore power.

Sometimes it was good to be a witch.

She didn't even intend to get to know Elbert Arryn. Her whole purpose in going was to get some freedom and have some fun in the process.

A peculiar gleam came into Hoster's eyes as he thought about the idea.

"Yes," he said slowly. "That would be a golden opportunity."

Brynden had raised an eyebrow and sized his niece up as if to ask what on earth she thought she was doing.

"Very well then," Hoster said finally. "Lilian you will accompany your Uncle to the Vale, however as soon as his business with Lord Arryn has been concluded you will return to King's Landing with him for the royal wedding, do I make myself clear? And try to look your best."

"Yes father," Lily replied.

She wanted to grimace as she really hadn't wanted to go to the wedding at all but at least this would give her some freedom before she did.

And who knew? She might even like Elbert. At least she would be proactive about her future and not simply do everything her father commanded. At least if she chose who she would marry first and he was an appealing match, both her and her father could be happy.

She didn't expect to love anyone, she had already met the love of her life and lost him. But marrying was inevitable and running away wasn't an option for Lily.

At least this way she would have some say.

"Is that alright with you Uncle?" she asked.

"Yes my dear," he said giving her a pointed look as if to say that they would discuss this later. "I would be very glad of your company."

Ω

Finally the story is beginning to get going lol. Lily is going to meet Robert in the next chapter. I know she's taking a risk but at the moment she isn't interested in getting married and she thinks using a bit of compulsion to make her father forget about something isn't the worst thing she could do. Granted she won't use any unforgivables though. I really wanted Lily to meet Robert first though. They aren't going to by any means be friends, but I do want to give you guys a taste of what's ahead lol. Also there's been a bit of a plot change regarding Brynden. In chapter four I mentioned that he had rejected the marriage proposal that Hoster had suggested for him because he was already married. However I had a better idea for the character so I removed that bit of dialogue between him and Lily. So Hoster is no longer married and is blissfully single once more. The plot point has been removed entirely. In the next chapter is Lily and Robert's meeting, an interesting surprise and the trip to King's Landing for the royal wedding of Rhaegar Targaryen and Elia Martell who happens to be one of my favorite characters in the entire world of ASOIAF. Don't forget to review and happy reading everyone!