The days since their arrival flew by, the wedding growing ever closer.

Eddmina tried to be as helpful as possible, staying out of the way as not to be a burden but helping where ever she could with the wedding arrangements. She tried her best to settle into life in High Garden, trying to settle into her soon-to-be family. She'd eat dinner with various members of house Tyrell each night, trying to get to know them all, though she still felt like an outsider. That wasn't hard though, as every night she was reminded of the vast differences between her upbringing and life in the Reach. She might have been highborn and the daughter of the Warden of the North, but life in High Garden was far more grand than anything she'd ever encountered.

The only ones who didn't make her feel a little like a spectacle - other than Willas, of course, who was also treated as something exciting among his family the closer they got to the big day - were Garlan and Leonette. The two were so settled into their own marriage that their presence felt more calming, more like they were advisory figures and the guides of how to have a successful marriage. Sometimes when Willas took her out walking with his hounds he would tell Eddmina about how fond he was of his brother and his wife, but he never went into exact detail, making her wonder if he spared her from them on purpose, knowing that the relationship he had with Garlan was so similar to the one she shared with Robb.

Leonette often invited Eddmina to have dinner with her, which was nice considering that Willas couldn't see her in the evenings thanks to his parents trying to keep them separated. At first Leonette had been almost intimidating to her, but soon Eddmina realised she was not only one of the most beautiful women she'd ever met, but also the kindest. Eddmina liked Margaery, but somehow she seemed to get on far better with Leonette, as if the woman understood her far better. Margaery had always seen Eddmina through the lens of a future sister-by-law, but Leonette seemed determined to be her friend; Eddmina had never really had a proper friend before.

Willas wrote her more letters, a new one each night. Even if she could not see him in the evenings he certainly made sure she did not forget about him, a knock coming at her door at the same time each night, a folded piece of parchment awaiting her. She didn't know who was posting them under her door but she was so grateful, his letters bringing her such sweet words, sometimes even more complimentary than the original. She never wrote back, not knowing where to send them to, but if anything that made them feel more exclusive, more precious, as if it was just his feelings she had to think about, rather than her own. Sometimes she would commit phrases he had written to memory so that she could reference them whenever they saw each other the next day. Subtly quoting his own words often made him flush bright red, a sight that Eddmina enjoyed a lot more than she thought she should do. He never said anything similar to his written flattery, which made it sweeter, as if when they were parted he was left to dwell on how he felt until his feelings overflowed into his letters.

Sometimes she wondered if he was falling in love with her, but that thought seemed utterly absurd. Why would he love her? Their betrothal was their parents doing, and only the truly lucky ones fell in love with their betrothed. Eddmina didn't feel as though she was destined to be that lucky. If he didn't love her though, what were his feelings, and what were his intentions through all the letters? Eddmina hoped that they were good, that he was just trying to make her feel safe in her new home, make her feel appreciated and at ease about their wedding, which was only a week away. That was her hope, anyway, but the cynic in her whispered constantly that she was thinking too positively about it all. The realist in her wanted to sneer at her anytime she felt dizzily happy reading his letters, and in the back of her head she heard Theon's voice mocking her.

'Thought you always said Sansa was foolish to fall for the idea of a good betrothal?' she sometimes heard Theon subconsciously mocking her one night as she tried to fall asleep, the pile of Willas' letters on her bedside table. 'You always refused to sing her the pretty songs about knights and princes, the ones where the girl would be a hopeless damsel and relied on the kind and handsome men around her. Who's the hopeless, stupid damsel now?'

Whenever that thought would come to her, Eddmina would always try and push it away. She wasn't a damsel, and Willas wasn't a bad person either. He had treated her with kindness, shown her nothing but polite manners and charm, but the doubts crept into her head regardless, until she could barely sleep, tossing and turning in her bed. She'd always prided herself for being a good judge of character, but each night as the sun set and the wedding became another day closer, she panicked, worrying that perhaps Willas and all the Tyrell's had tricked her, perhaps he was awful and she was going to discover his true nature once they were married. By then it would be too late, she would be trapped, stuck forever as Eddmina Tyrell with no choice but to comply, and if she didn't she would bring never-ending shame to house Stark. With those horrific thoughts in her head, she often slipped into nightmares, the fears for her future inescapable.

Whilst the sun was up, her fears seemed ridiculous, and each morning when she woke up she had to remind herself that she had to stay positive and not give in to being scared. Willas was kind to her, he had been from the moment they met, and his family were all welcoming to her, the fears she felt were imagined, influenced through years of hating the idea of marriage. Getting married wasn't just a distant idea anymore though, it was very real, and she shouldn't let her childhood fears scare her away from the inevitable.

She never told anyone how nervous she was for the wedding, but both Willas and Leonette had probably noticed the way she went quiet anytime the topic was brought up. Leonette had been there at her wedding dress fitting, she'd seen the way Eddmina treated it silently and stoically, as if she was a soldier being measured for battle armour, and Willas had noticed the way she always looked away whenever he dared to bring the subject up on their walks. Neither of them had voiced their knowledge of her fears though, which she was grateful for, but she knew that other members of the Tyrell family might not be so understanding, namely Lady Olenna.

Occasionally Willas asked Eddmina if his grandmother had interrogated her yet, and so far she had gotten off lucky, but that day she sat out in the gardens with Lady Olenna, knowing that it was the day. She'd tried to make a good impression so far, but she knew the old woman was highly opinionated, and having lunch alone with her left Eddmina wondering just what she was going to say to her. She made sure she was dressed nicely for the occasion at least, in one of Margaery's old blue dresses with her hair free of it's usual braid, falling down her back in long curls with the front twisted up into a knot on the top of her head. She'd practiced the style once on Sansa back home, her younger sister's flaming hair suiting it far more than her.

"You seem rather determined to blend in," Lady Olenna had remarked when she saw how Eddmina had dressed, a dry smirk on her face as she noticed Eddmina sigh ever so slightly. "I thought you were meant to be a wolf?"

"I don't really think furs are weather appropriate here," Eddmina answered quickly as she took her seat across from the old woman, her face staying flat. "If the Reach decided it would like to snow, then I have plenty of winter dresses to demonstrate how much of a wolf I am,"

"Well that would be interesting, I'd hate to think you'd become boring and southern so soon, especially after I pushed for a northern match to get someone interesting here for once," Olenna remarked, her smirk of amusement replaced by one of almost admiration; almost. "So tell me, how are you finding High Garden so far?"

"It's warm," she answered truthfully, her comment earning a single laugh from Lady Olenna. "It's beautiful, too, I've never seen anything like it,"

"Does it make you nervous?" she asked her bluntly, and when Eddmina paused, Olenna laughed again, not giving her the chance to answer. "I'd think you a fool if you weren't. How old are you exactly, dear?"

"Ten-and-eight," Eddmina said, thinking about how her next nameday was months away, and it would be the first one she would celebrate without her twin. "My brother and I were born near the end of Robert's Rebellion,"

"Ah, yes, that rebellion," Olenna rolled her eyes bitterly. "The Tyrells and the Starks were on opposing sides back then. I wonder what your parents would have thought back then, knowing that their daughter would be marrying into the family they were fighting against,"

"King Robert was a good friend of my father's, they're like brothers," Eddmina said simply, remembering the few war stories her father had told her. "Besides, I thought that was the whole point me being here, I thought the King advised my father of a Tyrell match because of your allegiance during the rebellion?"

"So you are as smart as Willas said," Olenna said, a mixture of amusement and relief in the old woman's voice. "He speaks very highly of you, it's almost as if he's known you for years. Funny really, considering how opposed he's been to marriage. What are your thought's on my grandson?"

"He..." Eddmina began, but she stopped herself, trying to organise her thoughts, trying not to focus on how warm her face had gotten at the mention of Willas calling her smart. "He's been very kind to me, my lady. He seems like a good man, I'm sure he'll be a good husband,"

"Yes, I'm sure he will be," she nodded approvingly, and Eddmina noticed the faint look of pride on Olenna's face. "He's a good man, and he'll be a good Lord when the time comes. He's much smarter than my other grandchildren, and much wiser than his oaf father. He knows his own mind, that's for sure, it's why we thought we'd never find him a betrothed he approved of,"

Eddmina tried not to be bothered by that last comment. She'd often thought that since Willas was a couple of years older than her that it was odd he hadn't already been married, but Olenna's words made it sound like there were predecessors to her. The thought of Willas being involved with someone else bothered her more than she thought it would, but she tried not to let it show. The short laugh of amusement that came from Olenna told her that she'd not managed to keep it hidden well enough though.

"Of course there have been other girls suggested to him before, though he refused them all," Olenna explained, and Eddmina tried to keep her expression straight, pretending she was unbothered by it all. "All of them except for Amariah Oakheart,"

House Oakheart was a small one, but Eddmina still knew about it, and what she knew was a pure contradiction of herself.  They were a Southern house, their keep somewhere in between High Garden and Horn Hill, and what they lacked in power they made up for in wealth and charm. There was an old song about an Oakheart lord that Sansa had made her sing plenty of times, and not only were their men known for their chivalry but their women were famed for their beauty. Eddmina didn't have to know just who this Amariah was, but she already knew she would be more beautiful than her.

It wasn't hard, what with Eddmina's strong northern features that didn't fit with the usual expectations for southern beauty, not to mention her accent. She bet that Amariah would have a perfectly eloquent accent, a voice like ringing bells. Amariah probably didn't have two left feet when it came to dancing either, and was probably much more of a typical lady than Eddmina. She was probably the sort of lady Willas had expected to marry, and his kindness towards her was simply out of sympathy, knowing she would never compare to the girl who had come before her.

"You're frowning," Olenna pointed out, and Eddmina cursed herself for not hiding her inner turmoil. "I don't suppose Willas or the others have ever told you the Story of Willas and Amariah? They had been engaged for months, the wedding had been planned too, though it turned out to be a rather sad story. Not that it really matters, it was in the past, after all. I wouldn't let it bother you,"

Olenna had just told her Willas was meant to marry someone else, someone beautiful and everything that she was not. Of course Eddmina was bothered.

***

"That was so cruel of her," Leonette muttered annoyedly at dinner that night when Eddmina had told her about her conversation with Lady Olenna. "I thought she was harsh with me when Garlan first proposed but, Gods!"

"It's fine," Eddmina lied with a shrug. "She was only telling me Tyrell family history,"

"Amariah Oakheart deserves no place in Tyrell family history," Leonette said bitterly, getting up from the table to fetch more wine, pouring herself a full goblet and returning to Eddmina's side with the flagon. "Here,"

Eddmina initially shook her head, holding her hand over the top of her goblet, but Leonette raised her eyebrow at her daringly, and with a sigh Eddmina moved her hand, letting the woman pour her some more wine. That had become a ritual of theirs, drinking several cups of wine together after dinner, and Eddmina loved it. She liked the feeling of having a friend that wasn't also her sibling, and she liked how the wine wasn't as strong as that at home. She could drink far more of it without getting as intoxicated, remaining almost sober whilst Leonette often ended up giggling a little drunkenly. The two of them would talk about anything and everything, and for once Eddmina didn't have to feel so sure of herself, she could just talk honestly and not feel as though she had to represent her family all the time. Talking with Leonette made her feel as though she could just be a teenager, that she could have fun, that she didn't have to be serious about everything all the time.

That night, however, didn't seem to be one of those fun nights, and Leonette wasn't pouring more wine for their enjoyment. It was as if she'd sensed how secretly upset Eddmina was, and was using their usual bonding tool of wine as a gesture of solidarity. She'd not been able to keep her conversation with Lady Olenna a secret from her future sister for long, telling her everything the old woman had said over their dinner of roast quail and pomegranate salad, and she was glad to see Leonette was just as annoyed as her, though mostly at hearing Amariah's name.

"When Garlan proposed to me, Lady Olenna invited me to lunch too, just the two of us, and she told me a great tale of how gallant he is, of how many ladies would love to be in my position," Leonette explained as she sat down across from Eddmina again. "She wanted to make me uncomfortable, she wanted me to prove that I wasn't good enough for Garlan, and that he should just let his parents find someone suitable to marry rather than marry me out of love. It didn't work, clearly,"

"I thought the two of you were an arrange marriage?" Eddmina frowned slightly.

"No, Garlan decided as the second son he wasn't important enough to deserve a betrothal," Leonette shrugged with a smirk as she sipped her wine. "It drove Willas mad since it put more pressure on him being betrothed, but there was always a lot of pressure anyways. Lady Olenna is fiercely protective over all four of her grandchildren, but she's even more protective over house Tyrell. She just wants to make sure that the future of the house is in good hands, but that does not excuse her dragging up the past like that in a way to make you feel like you're inferior to someone who's name isn't even worth speaking,"

"Who was she?" Eddmina asked, feeling something stir deep within her, something that came close to resembling jealousy and self-doubt. "You keep saying she doesn't matter but she clearly did matter if Willas was going to marry her,"

"Her mother and Alerie were childhood friends, apparently they'd had some sort of pact that they were going to marry their children off together so that they could truly be family, so Amariah and Willas seemed to be perfect for fulfilling that," she began to explain, though her voice was bitter, as if she hated the story with all her heart. "Back then, Willas didn't want to think about getting married, there had been plenty of girls suggested to him but he was just as stubborn then as he is now. He would have rather focused his time on his horses and his studies, not to mention Mace was still pushing him to be a knight,"

"This was all before..." Eddmina interupted before fading off, not knowing how to phrase it, but Leonette understood what she was trying to ask, giving her a small nod.

"You know how you feel as though you have responsibilities to uphold to bring your family honour? Well, back then Willas was the same, to the point he didn't want to think about marriage, he saw it as a distraction from becoming a great knight and a good future warden of the Reach," Leonette continued. "Garlan and Loras were both seasoned in tourneys, and Willas wanted the same honour and glory. He wanted to be a great role model to them, just like you want to be for your siblings, and he wanted to bring glory to his house. He was quite different back then, but the only betrothal suggestion he would listen to was the Oakheart offering. Willas loves his family, and he knew how much the match meant to his mother, so he agreed to meet with them.

"The Oakhearts came to High Garden for a visit only two weeks after Garlan and I got married. The Tyrells hosted feasts and dances, and only an idiot would have not noticed that Willas was instantly smitten with Amariah. She was beautiful, in fairness. She was shorter than me, but she had long blonde hair and eyes the colour of the Dornish sea. Her chin was too pointy for my liking, and Margaery reckoned her nose was too small, but Willas took a shine to her. They danced together every night, and after the feasts were done he'd tell Garlan that he thought she was lovely. Mace and Alerie were thrilled, even Olenna was impressed, but his siblings and I... we didn't like her or her family. Garlan was happy just to see Willas happy, but Amariah was rude to Margaery and I and when Willas wasn't watching she was constantly trying to flirt with Loras. She acted as if she was already the Lady of the Reach, and I overheard her once walking through the gardens with her handmaid talking about all the changes she would make once she ruled over High Garden.

"Ironically the only one who didn't seem to notice how awful she was was Willas. I think he liked the attention, though he never noticed the way she rolled her eyes at how he talked about his falcons or his dogs. Maybe he did notice and he just decided not to pay it any attention, knowing the match meant too much to his parents. They planned the wedding for a month after they first met, but first there was a tourney in the Stormlands that we'd all been invited to and Willas was put down for the joust,"

Eddmina noticed the way Leonette grimaced at the mention of the tourney, and instantly she forgot all about her own feelings and how the sensation had grown from her stomach to all over her body. The small stirrings of self-doubt and jealousy had spread all over her body to the point she felt as though she was underwater. She'd not realised just how much she liked Willas until she was forced to imagine someone else in her place, picturing someone else as his bride, but the way she felt soon went forgotten as she saw Leonette shudder to remember the joust.

As bad as it sounded Eddmina hadn't given it much thought. Even though Willas had been badly injured she often forgot about his bad leg, especially since he was still so active, and he'd never told her the story of how it had happened. No one had, it was like an unspoken story that none of them wanted to even mention, but it didn't seem important either since Willas himself didn't dwell on it. She assumed that once he was ready Willas would tell her, but Eddmina assumed that he just didn't want her to know the details just yet. Even upon mentioning it, Leonette didn't seem as though she wanted to talk about it, not wanting to relive the memory of it.

"Well, I'm sure you can figure out what happened with that joust," she said simply with a shudder. "Amariah and her family had been watching too, but she fled the crowd the moment it went wrong. We were all too busy to bother trying to find her, but that night when I finally managed to convince Garlan to leave the medic tent so he could get some sleep, we saw her kissing another knight. I'm not quite sure how Garlan managed to pull me off her, but I made her little nose a bit more crooked than it was before,"

"What did Willas think?" Eddmina asked, surprised at how angry she was at some woman she'd never met.

"Oh, he was heartbroken, but he had the rather convenient distraction of a crushed leg to take his mind off her betrayal," Leonette told her. "I don't think he loved her, not at that point, but he certainly liked her, and to know she did that whilst he was... well, whilst he was so close to death, it hurt. The wedding was called off the next day and none of us have seen her since. Alerie's still in contact with her mother though, and we were all invited to Amariah's wedding, but none of us went, not since it was only two months after the joust,"

"That's awful," Eddmina muttered, taking a swig of her wine.

"Yes, it was," she nodded in agreement. "It did change him, just as much as the joust did. He was still Willas, still my funny brother-by-law, still the same love for animals and the same big heart, but he was more cautious. He didn't want to go seeking glory in tourneys, not that he could anymore, he left that to Garlan and Loras and instead spent his time learning how to become the best Lord he could be, and he never again entertained the idea of getting married. That was, until the northern visit was suggested,"

Eddmina felt her cheeks flush red and she sipped her wine again, wishing it was stronger. She felt terrible for being jealous of a woman who was so awful, a woman who caused Willas pain at the worst time in his life. It had been a long time ago, but she felt overwhelmed that she was the follow up of Amariah when she had left behind such wreckage. She felt guilty for all the times she'd been short with Willas, the time she had shouted at him after their wedding was brought forward, because surely with his history he would be just as nervous as her. On top of everything though, she wished she was with Willas, that it was him who'd told her all of that, just so she could tell him that he was far better than Amariah realised, that he deserved far better than her, and Eddmina wished that she was the one he deserved.

"He's different with you though," Leonette began speaking again, as if sensing how Eddmina felt. "He seems happier since he was in Winterfell, and I think he really likes you,"

"But if Olenna still mentioned Amariah..." Eddmina thought outloud, making Lenoette lean over the table and take hold of both of her hands.

"Then Olenna is an idiot, same to anyone else who still thinks about what could have been with that match," she told her firmly. "And I'm sure they'll soon realise that you're one of the greatest things that has happened to him in such a long time,"

***

Word count: 4557

***
Authors note:

Hey guys, thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Sorry it was such a long time coming!

Obviously not a lot is known about Willas since he's not properly featured in the books yet so I've taken some creative liberties over his past, though I've done some research so what I've written is as close to what's been said in the books as I can make it. I have however created both Amariah and house Oakheart just to add a bit of a twist, this won't be the last time she's mentioned though so keep an eye out for her ;).

Again, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, please vote and leave me some feedback if you did and hopefully the next one should be coming soon!
~Olivia