Eddmina's first morning in High Garden was bright and sunny, though she was grateful for the slight breeze as she tried to find the kennels.

When she'd woken up and seen the letter resting on her pillow next to her the emotions of the night before had come rushing back to her, and surprisingly she wasn't nervous at all to see Willas. If anything she was excited, though as she'd gotten ready that morning, braiding her hair and getting dressed into one of Margaery's old dresses, this time a mint green dress that gave her a little more coverage than the one before, she decided that she would not make a big deal over it. She wasn't going to mention it, not wanting to seem overly eager like a soppy lovestruck girl. She'd wait until Willas brought it up, and if he didn't that was fine too, she was just glad she now that the insight of the letter to better understand him and how he felt.

The thought of the letter was enough of a distraction for her to not start worrying when she realised that she had no idea where she was going or where the kennels were. She'd initially assumed they were near the stables, and she'd been there yesterday when they'd first arrived to drop Flint off safe, but as soon as she'd gotten to the stables she realised she must have assumed wrong. With a small sigh she wondered if that was how she was going to spend her whole morning, wandering around lost, too stubborn to ask for help, until she heard a quiet whistling coming from one of the stalls.

Deciding to check it out, Eddmina wandered over to the stall, recognising the tune of the whistle, though she wasn't exactly sure what it was. The tune became the least of her worries the moment she realised it was coming from the very man she was looking for, catching sight of Willas grooming one of the horses, so focused on his work he hadn't noticed her at all. He was frowning in concentration, the very facial expression that Eddmina admired the most, though she stopped herself from admiring for too long as she leant against the closed stable door.

"Good morning," she called, offering a small smile and wave at her betrothed, who quickly looked up from his horse the moment he heard her voice, his eyes wide in surprise until he realised it was just her, when a smile of his own grew onto his face. "I didn't mean to interrupt you,"

"No, don't apologise," he smiled, struggling to meet her eye as he looked between her and the horse. "It's me who should be sorry. I didn't think you'd be up so early so I thought I'd have time to come to the stables first, and I didn't even give you directions,"

"What can I say, I'm a morning person," Eddmina shrugged, earning a small laugh from Willas. "Do you want a hand with anything?"

"I'm just about done actually," he said, stroking the horse's nose as it let out a slight whinny. "We can head over to the kennels now if you'd like?"

Eddmina nodded, and once Willas had locked up the stables the two of them were on their way, Willas leading her down a path behind the stables. She heard the kennels before she saw them, and couldn't help but smile as Willas headed off slightly in front of her to open the gates up, and as he did so four excited hounds came running out, all of them barking and running circles around him as they jumped up at him. He seemed just as excited to see the dogs as they were to see him, grinning as he petted them with the hand that didn't clutch his cane, and as he saw Eddmina standing back behind him he beckoned her over, and the moment the dogs noticed her they made a beeline to her.

She took a step forward, smiling as the hounds jumped at her. They weren't like the dogs they kept in Winterfell, the big dogs that appeared like wolves with thick fur coats to keep them warm through the northern chills, these were long legged to the point of being gangly, with shaggy fur, floppy ears and long tails. Even though they all came up to Willas' hip, Eddmina didn't realise quite how big they were until one of them jumped up at her, placing their front paws on her shoulders, licking her face.

"Monarch, get down!" Willas called, though Eddmina laughed, running her fingers through the dog's coat. "Get down, boy! I'm sorry,"

"It's fine, don't worry," she grinned as the dogs jumped down, instead kneeling so she could et the other three dogs. She looked up at Willas with a raised eyebrow before she asked, "Monarch?"

"Monarch, Emperor, Copper and Admiral, I named the after different species of butterflies," he told her as he gestured to the respective dogs. "I thought it was a good idea at the time, they were last years litter and they're the best ones I've bred, but my brothers found the names hilarious,"

"I like it, I like them," she said, laughing again as another one licked her cheek. "You never mentioned them in Winterfell, I didn't know you bred dogs,"

"Well I didn't want to bore you," he shrugged, watching her as she got up, dusting the dirt off her skirt. "There's a small forest just behind the kennels where I usually walk them, shall we go?"

Eddmina nodded, following Willas' lead as he led her to a trail path, the dogs running after them eagerly, and after a while they got to the woodlands. It reminded her of where she used to go riding in Winterfell, except it felt a lot more open, the sunlight streaming down through the gaps in the trees. She looked up, admiring how vibrantly green each of the leaves were, each of them a different shade as the sun reflected off onto them. Even the ground of the wood was different, feeling the earth crunch underneath her boots, but she liked it.

She was surprised how much she liked it all. Compared to how she felt yesterday walking through the gardens, so out of her depth and uncomfortable, she felt almost serene walking through the woodlands. The only place she ever felt so happy was Winterfell and the nature surrounding the castle, and she didn't even feel that comfortable in Riverrun during the few visits she had made to her mother's old home. Perhaps her calmness came from the company though, as she glanced over from the trees to Willas only to see him watching his dogs carefully as they ran wildly with each other, and as she caught sight of his expression she couldn't help but smile slightly to herself.

"They aren't normally such barbarians," Willas laughed, shaking his head as one of the dogs bounded into another, and Eddmina grinned, especially as he looked over to her with a smile. "How did you sleep last night? I hope you weren't too overwhelmed with everything,"

"Other than it being hot I was fine, thank you," she answered, and smirked slightly before adding, "It certainly helped having something nice to read before bed,"

She'd not been planning on mentioning the letter, but as soon as the opportunity arose she couldn't help herself, and she watched Willas carefully to see his reaction. At first she could tell he didn't really understand what she meant, and then she had to fight off a laugh as she saw the truth dawn on him, his eyes widening ever so slightly, his face going a light shade of pink. He quickly tried to compose himself, but it was too late, his reaction already noticed by Eddmina, and he knew that as he chuckled quietly at himself.

"Was it too much?" he asked quietly, daring to glance at her. "I didn't want you to think I was ignoring you or..."

"No one had ever said such nice things about me," she told him genuinely, offering him a small smile. "Maybe it was too much, but who cares, I liked it,"

"Well, that's all that matters then," he said with his own smile, trying to hide how he was still embarrassed that she'd had that insight into his feelings.

Thankfully the dogs were the perfect distraction, the four of them running wild. Eddmina bent down and picked up a stick, tossing it for them to chase and they ran off after it, howling at each other. One of them, she thought it was Monarch, came running back over to her with it, dropping it at her feet, wagging his tail at her enthusiastically at her. With a laugh of amusement she threw the stick again, and all four dogs ran off. Her whole focus was dedicated to the dogs in that moment to the extent she didn't notice Willas or the way he was looking at her.

They carried on walking in comfortable silence, listening to the dogs and the calls of the birds. Every so often Willas would look up to the trees to try and spot the birds, or he'd try and mimic the calls with a whistle of his own. He used to do that when they went riding in Winterfell, except back then he used to marvel at all the different species that were up north.

"What are you doing with the rest of your day?" Willas asked after a while, deciding it was about time they headed back as he whistled the dogs, all four of them running to him eagerly.

"I have a fitting... for my wedding dress," she told him, looking down at the ground, though as she felt him place one hand on her shoulder as he laughed she looked up at him with a small frown. "What is it?"

"I have a fitting for my wedding outfit too," he explained, and she raised her eyebrows in understanding. "I believe it's only two weeks until the wedding. Are you alright with that?"

"There's not really much I could do if I wasn't, but honestly yes, I'm okay," she nodded, moving one of her hands up to her shoulder, placing it on top of Willas' hand before she could stop herself. "I think what bothered me most was the shock of it all happening so fast. One moment I'm sat in the godswood praying and the next my father is telling me I'm to be betrothed to some southerner I've never met before. Naturally it was all rather overwhelming but I think now it's set in and I'm here marriage doesn't worry me as much as it originally did,"

"Is that how your father told you, whilst you were praying?" Willas asked in shock. "I never knew that,"

"It was the only place he could talk to me alone," she explained. "The rest of my siblings all follow the Seven like my mother, but Jon and I prefer our father's gods. I'd go to the Godswood most nights, not always to pray though, it was just a peaceful place. He didn't drop the conersation on me spitefully or anything, I knew something was going on since he and my mother were acting odd at dinner. He just said that there had been a betrothal offer, and that you were all coming to visit. I think he was expecting me to take the news worse than I did, but my father is a good man and I'd never spite him for the inevitable, I knew it would be coming eventually. How did you get told?"

"It was dropped on me like it was for you, except a bit more sudden, and my family didn't really save me the spite like your father did," he recalled. "I was coming back from hawking with Garlan and the whole family was waiting for us, and I mean the whole family. Before either of my parents got the chance to break it to me gently it was my grandmother that spoke up and told me quite bluntly they were all bored of me evading responsibilities and living as a careless bachelor, so we were all going north to visit the Starks,"

Eddmina couldn't help but laugh, as bitter as Willas sounded when recounting the story. Nothing about him seemed careless or irresponsible, so she couldn't imagine any member of the his family calling him such. It seemed far too harsh, and she couldn't help but wonder if there was more pressure on him for this marriage than there was on her, despite the social gender expectations. She'd always thought as the eldest Stark girl she would have to represent her house as well as the north, but for Willas as the future Warden of the Reach he had just as harsh expectations placed on him.

"Okay, you win, you got told in a worse way than I did," she joked, hoping it would reassure him.

"I wouldn't worry, I'd say things are working out fine," he told her, moving his hands from her shoulder, instead looping his arm through hers, not waiting for permission but doing it just because it felt right.

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Word count: 2217

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