It took them another three weeks to get to High Garden, and by the time they'd gotten to the Reach Eddmina was exhausted. She'd never travelled so far before, and her anxiety over being so far away from home didn't help her tiredness. Not that she let any of her emotions show though, remaining as stubborn as ever as she held herself strong.

Stubbornness, however, couldn't protect her from everything though, and the fact that she'd begun spending most nights in the inn taverns with Willas and Garlan meant her betrothed had begun to see through her facade. It was only natural that she wouldn't remain a closed book to him forever, but she didn't think he'd be able to see through her until months after they'd gotten married. Unknowingly and without really meaning to, ever since she'd played the lute and sang for him she'd opened her emotions up to him, and with that he felt as though he was able to understand her a great deal more than he did before. With this new knowledge of her, he spent the days watching her ride, giving her space until he saw the crease appear between her eyebrows, knowing it to mean she was trying to fight some thought or emotion away. That would be when he'd ride over to her and strike up a conversation. He did it for his own good, not wanting to spend every second with her before they got married because he knew if he did the wait would become unbearable, but also for her good too, knowing she probably didn't want him bothering her all day.

To her though, he wasn't a bother. She enjoyed his company as he was a welcome distraction from the lonliness that had begun to set in. Before setting off for High Garden, Eddmina had hardly gone a day without seeing her siblings, and to go from constant company with her brothers and sisters that she knew so well to being surrounded by people who were still practically strangers was rather jarring. Willas wasn't a stranger though, and she felt comfortable with him, much more comfortable than she did with the other Tyrells, with whom she remained polite with. The were to be her family after all, but on the journey she had not managed to bond with any of them as much as she did with Willas and Garlan.

Perhaps it was because her family were all so close that she found the dynamics of the Tyrells initially quite difficult. Her family ate together every night, and they often broke their fasts together as well. Most of her time in the day was spent with her sisters sewing, or with her brothers watching them fight, not to mention the days they took off from lessons and training to go out riding. The Stark children held a close, tight-knit bond, and Eddmina couldn't imagine her life without them. She thought every highborn family was like that, and she thought every highborn child held a good relationship to their parents, even with her difficult relationship with her mother. Being around the Tyrells however, proved all of that wrong to her, and she couldn't believe how naïve she felt when she realised how wrong she was.

Willas and Garlan were close, that was for sure. There was only three years between them and watching them together when they were bantering made her almost jealous she didn't have Robb or Jon with her. Their brotherly bond was sweet, but their close friendship didn't extend to the other two Tyrell siblings. Margaery and Loras seemed to share a similar relationship, and though the four of them were all friendly with each other and Eddmina could tell there was a lot of love between them, they didn't always mix. They seemed to split off into two separate groups, and it made Eddmina miss the unity of her family, even though the Tyrells would soon be her family.

If they were only a few hours away from reaching High Garden, that meant it would only be a few weeks until their wedding. That thought, as much as she liked Willas, terrified her. It was surreal how quickly her life had changed, and the thought of no longer bearing the Stark name as well as being married scared her just a little, not that she'd admit it.

"You've gone quiet," Willas spoke on their last day of riding, a small smile on his face as he was riding through familiar territory, knowing they weren't far from home.

"Sorry, just thinking," she replied, looking around her surroundings as if trying to get aquainted with the nature that the Tyrells seemed to know so well, trying not to seem as though she was feeling so lost amongst all the new scenery.

"I remember when we were so close to Winterfell, it felt so surreal that we were actually there after so long," he said, before realising mentioning her home might hurt Eddmina. "Sorry, I didn't mean to bring up Winterfell, I just thought-"

"It's fine," Eddmina let out a small laugh at Willas' sudden nerves. "I'm not just going to burst into tears because you mentioned my home. It's nice to know you still think about Winterfell."

"Of course I do, it's your home, and it was beautiful," he said, though frowned when he heard her laugh again. "What is it?"

"Sorry, it's still just a surprise to me that a southerner actually liked Winterfell," she told him, though she glanced around the rest of their riding party before lowly adding, "Though I think you may have been the only one."

That was true, much to Willas' annoyance. His entire family had breathed out a sigh of relief once they'd gotten out of the cold, and it was his sister being rather vocal about her relief of going back to the south which had led to him having a heated argument with her. It was unfair in his mind for Eddmina to have to hear them all complain about the cold when she was having to leave behind everything she knew for them. If their complaining did bother her, she didn't say anything, and her resillience and determination in the situation of her moving far from home were a source of great admiration for him.

"Do you think I'll like High Garden as much as everyone says I will?" she asked quietly after a moment of silence.

That was when Willas realised that maybe she was beginning to let her guard down a little more with him, sensing the nerves in her voice. He wondered just how long she had been thinking about that question, and hated the thought of her worrying about what her life would be like once they were back in his home.

"I hope so," he offered her a small smile, and if they weren't both on horseback he would have liked to have taken hold of her hand to show her his support.

***

There was no welcoming party upon their return to High Garden. Instead, Eddmina was shown straight to her chambers, a room that was at least twice the size of her old chambers in Winterfell, and far grander too.

In fact, all of High Garden seemed to have a certain level of grandeur that was unimaginable back home in the North. Eddmina always thought that Winterfell was the most beautiful castle she had ever seen, and it was to her, but High Garden was a work of art, a pure white monument standing tall and proud amongst the greenery of the reach. In the Reach everything seemed so full of life, the sun constantly shining and the wildlife flourishing. It was a nice change from seeing nothing but the result of cold weather and frequent snowfalls, but it was also quite intimidating to her how different things were.

This was nothing like where she was from, she was a northerner. She didn't belong in High Garden. Perhaps her sister would like it here. Sansa had always dreamed of going south, being far away from the cold and dreariness that Winterfell was known for. Eddmina, however, was a northerner. She was made for the North, and in High Garden she just felt out of her depth.

She might not have felt so out of her league if she wasn't alone, but sat on the balcony of her chambers, looking over all of the reach, she felt so tiny, and so alone. For the first time since leaving home, she felt properly scared. Not just a little worried or anxious, Eddmina was afraid. She wanted her family, but they were all so far away. She wanted her parents, she wanted her sisters, she wanted her brothers. She'd never been away from her twin brother for so long before, and she couldn't remember a day since childhood that she'd been apart from both Robb and Jon. Part of her even wanted Theon, just for some sort of normalcy, but she loathed to think about what witty remarks he would come up with to spite her.

'I thought this whole marriage thing was your duty to the family?' she heard Theon's voice sneering in her mind. 'I thought Starks were fearless? What good is a cowering wolf?'

As much as she hated it, Eddmina actually agreed with what the voice in her mind was saying. It may have been Theon's voice, but it spoke some sort of sense to her. What good would it do dwelling on being scared of what was inevitable, what good would it do wishing to be with people who were so far away? She took a deep breath, and decided to try and put home far from her mind. Winterfell would always be a part of her, being a northerner was who she was, but none of that mattered now. All that mattered was the fact that she was in High Garden, and this was her life now.

What also helped her was the small knock on the door, tearing her away from her thoughts. Eddmina quickly hurried to the door, opening it with the hopes that it was Willas, waiting to offer her a tour of his - or, their - home. Instantly she knew that was an impractical hope, knowing that her chambers were on the third floor, impossible for him to get to with his bad leg, not to mention the fact that his parents seemed fixed on keeping the two apart until the wedding whilst they were travelling. After only conversing with each other on the road whilst riding and the occasional meet up in the evenings with him and Garlan, Eddmina expected that separation to extend to their time in High Garden before they were married. That was why she was disappointed but not surprised when she opened the door to reveal Margaery, her future sister-by-law offering her a warm smile as she opened the door.

"Welcome to High Garden!" she greeted her enthusiastically, coming into the room without invitation, but Eddmina didn't mind, just glad for some company. "What do you think?"

"I haven't seen much yet but..." she began, drifting off as she considered her answer, before continuing, "It's nothing like Winterfell."

"No, that's true," Margaery nodded, a sad look flickering across her face as she looked into Eddmina's eyes, trying to figure out where the girl's emotions were at. "Are you homesick yet?"

"I don't think so," she shook her head, trying to hide the emotions she'd previously been dwelling in. "I miss my brothers and my sisters, but other than that I'm alright. I'm looking forward to seeing more of the keep,"

"It's only natural, there's nothing to be ashamed of," Margaery told her kindly, and Eddmina, as much as she appreciated the kindness, couldn't help but be irritated by how easily the Tyrell's seemed to see through her façade of strength. "Perhaps I can show you around? I was just going to go for lunch with my mother and my grandmother in the gardens, I'm sure they would love for you to join us,"

"I wouldn't want to intrude," Eddmina quickly shook her head again, not knowing, despite being lonely, if she was ready to be in the company of others. "Besides, I don't look good enough for a social occasion,"

As she spoke, Eddmina gestured down at her dress, a dark blue garment that Sansa had sewn for her. She knew her sister had spent hours on the embroidery with little dragonflies and butterflies dancing around the collar, and it was one of her only summer dresses she had thought to bring to High Garden, the only one suitable for warm weather. She loved it, but she'd been wearing it all day, even on the ride, and compared to Margaery, who looked as lovely as always in her fine, revealing dress, she felt inferior, as she usually did when it came to comparisons between herself and the only female Tyrell child.

Sensing this, Margaery merely laughed, pointing across the room to where, in the corner, there was a wardrobe. Her eyebrows creased into a frown, Eddmina crossed the room to it. She'd spotted it when she'd first been shown to the room, but she'd just assumed it was empty, there for decoration. She'd assumed wrong, however, as she carefully opened one of the doors, revealing several grand dresses, the sort she could have only dreamed about in Winterfell.

"I know you're an excellent seamstress, but no one can sew a full wardrobe for themselves in the time it takes to travel from Winterfell to High Garden," Margaery explained, taking a seat on the stool at the foot of the bed, crossing her legs and propping her elbow up on her knee, her chind resting in her palm. "A lot of them are my old dresses, but we're similar sizes so I'm sure it'll be no problem,"

Swallowing nervously, Eddmina withdrew a long grey dress. She was drawn to it because the rest in the wardrobe seemed to be bright, summer colours. Grey was the colour of house Stark, and she felt as though she needed a little reminder of home. The reminders of home ended at the colour, however. It was sleeveless, embellished with silver detailing and a long skirt that reached the floor. It was just a casual day dress to someone like Margaery, but to someone like Eddmina, it was far too grand just for casual wear. That was the mindset of the northern girl inside  but she was no longer in the north.

"Are you sure?" she asked hesitantly, turning to look at Margaery, who nodded eagerly at her.

"Of course!" she told her, closing her eyes, covering her face with her hands, and for good measure, turned her back to Eddmina, giving her all the privacy to change she thought she needed.

Holding back a small laugh, Eddmina gently placed the dress onto the bed, quickly undoing the ties of her own, letting it fall to the floor. She sighed in relief, knowing the dress she had been wearing, as much as she loved it, was unsuitable for High Garden temperatures. She quickly changed into the new green dress, knowing it was nothing like anything she had worn before. It was low cut, the neckline practically coming down to her cleavage, and left her arms entirely exposed. She would feel self-conscious, but she was too concerned with how warm it was outside. The clothes she was used to wearing were suited to the cold, not to the non-stop sun of the south.

"What do you think?" she asked, never used to asking other people's opinions on her appearance, but she knew she needed the help of someone who knew what life was like in the south to get used to her new life.

Margaery turned round, opening her eyes, and upon seeing Eddmina stood wearing one of her old dresses, she let out a gasp of joy. The Tyrells were nothing if not courteous, and so Eddmina decided Margaery was only trying to flatter her, make her feel comfortable, when actually she genuinely did look rather beautiful. The dress flattered her in all the right places, embracing her curves in a way that thick cotton dresses and furs did not. Margaery knew from their first meeting that her future sister-by-law was a lovely looking girl, but dressed in a fine southern dress, the beauty that was hidden under furs was now unavoidable.

"Do I look a Southerner?" Eddmina asked before she could stop herself, her worry of people forgetting her roots overpowering her.

Margaery let out a small laugh, going over to the girl and taking hold of her arm, squeezing it reassuringly. Eddmina, as fine as she looked, could never look southern, even if she tried. She would always look northern, her thick dark hair and icy pale skin being a constant reminder of her roots. The strong northern accent didn't help either, but none of those things really mattered. They were just a part of who she was, and they were all a part of why Margaery knew her brother was falling slowly in love with the Stark.

"Never," Margaery replied lightly, letting out another laugh as she led her out of her room. "Come, let me show you High Garden,"

***

Word count: 2904

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