𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐋𝐎𝐆𝐔𝐄 — ❛ high top ears ❜

warning act of attempted r@pe and explicit language!

◊―――――― ♔ ――――――◊

𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐑𝐘𝐒𝐄 𝐑𝐄𝐃𝐖𝐘𝐍𝐄 came out of her mothers womb, she was as quiet as a mouse. never fussed, never wept unless she fell or hurt herself in some type of way. unlike her siblings darrick, the twins and desmera who were all outgoing and adventurous, she preferred to stay in walls of their home either tucked away in the library or standing by her fathers side while he did his noble duties as the head of house redwyne.

claryse's quiet nature was rather troublesome, her septa always seemed to forget her presence and even without the intent she had somehow always managed to scare some poor worker tending to their duties.

she heard more than such a girl her age should never hear. so many secrets lingered in the air around her and somehow it found it's way to her. by the time she was old enough to brush her own hair, she'd known most of the little secrets those around her kept.

one time she had found that her own brother, darrick, had been sneaking out of his bedchambers to practise sword fighting for he had a dream to become a knight. darrick dreamt of one day leading an army on the battlefield, fighting for his kingdom and protecting the people of westeros. 

the two came to an agreement, if darrick would give claryse his dessert for the rest of the year then she would keep her mouth shut. the next day she found herself with more dessert than she was normally served.

as the siblings grew older claryse confided to darrick about her latest findings, what she heard when helping her father with his duties, what she heard the maids bickering about and what the guards laughed about during their break. resulting in her earning the nickname 'high top ears' by darrick.

however not once had she taken advantage of her 'talent'. she only negotiated with her brother because she was being served less dessert than the rest of her siblings. but she was never prepared for what she was about to see.

it was a time for celebration, a nameday more specifically her younger sister desmera's nameday. with their closest companions and ally nobles invited, the redwyne's home filled with laughter and joy. although claryse normally stayed by darrick's side she wondered off bored. 

finding herself in the garden maze seemed to get her mood up, she wasn't exactly worried. she had been in the maze so many times that she believed she could complete the maze with her eyes closed.

however she heard muffled voices and shuffling near her, curious as to who it could be she followed the noise, slowly striding through the maze. 

in the corner of her eye she caught sight of a man holding his hand tightly around a woman's mouth. eyes widening she watched as the woman fought against the man to no avail, the mysterious man's hand bunching up the woman's skirts up her legs.

hearing the woman's muffled cries, claryse quickly walked out from her hiding spot and shouting to the man.

"get your hands off her!" she shouted, earning her the pairs attention. the man looked to claryse but kept his hands on the woman.

"keep your mouth shut and walk away, little girl. unless you wish to take this whore's place."

"i beg your pardon?! i am no little girl, i am claryse redwyne, the daughter of lord paxter redwyne and you will unhand her!" claryse hissed, moving closer to the pair.

in realisation the man quickly removed his hands from the woman and took large steps away from claryse and the lady but could take no more as their were no other way out expect for corner claryse came from. 

claryse ran to the woman and wrapped her arms around her to stop the crying woman from falling to her knees. glaring at the man, she wiped the woman's face with her navy blue sleeve uncaring of the snot and wetness that connected with the sleeve.

"m-my lady, i beg for your forgiveness. i did not know it was you." the man stuttered, she watched as his legs and hands trembled. she knew it wasn't because he was afraid of her but of what could happen to him.

"whether it was me or not, you should have unhanded her the minute you heard a voice," claryse spat "obviously you intended to continue, with witness or not."

she turned to the crying woman taking in her appearance. the woman's dark black hair messy and had leaves stuck to it, the bodice of her nicely detailed dress untied, a lightly dirt covered olive face, red eyes and a snotty nose. 

claryse then realised that she had seen the woman before, the woman was a seamstress for their house who came from myr. her mother favoured the woman's work and ordered dresses from her at least every month.

"it's alright, i'll take care of him nesaya." she whispered, nesaya nodded in response.

"she seduced me, my lady. it was not my fault, you must believe me." the man blurted, claryse looked at him disbelief and scoffed.

"is that so? well it seems i have accused the wrong person," she replied, watching as the mans shoulders fell from relief "tell me, my lord. what is your name?"

"jon merryweather, my lady." he hesitantly declared, bowing clumsily.

"if you would accept, perhaps you could escort me somewhere private?" she proposed, in response the man looked to claryse in confusion but nodded rather eagerly. 

swiftly grabbing the man's offered arm, motioning nesaya to leave the pair. claryse lead the way out of the maze and towards the redwyne home, asking the man questions to keep his interest. 

instead of returning to the dining hall where the nobles and her family celebrated, they took a turn to the hallway that lead to the west wing where it was undisturbed and quiet.   

claryse pulled on jon's arm, leading him to a bench that was placed in the long and dark hallway. she pushed down on his shoulders to sit him down.

"i wish to surprise my lord, if you are so willing, would you close your eyes." she spoke in an innocent tone, batting her eyelashes at him. 

jon listened and closed his eyes immediately, he felt claryse's hands leave his shoulders and he tensed from the cold that lingered in the hallway.

the sound of soft footsteps left him and he sat still awaiting for her return. soon enough the sound of footsteps return and jon softly smiled. 

slowly he opened his eyes with a soft smile still on his face but the sight in front of him revealed not only claryse but a tall young boy beside her and before he could react his sight turned black and he fell to the floor unconscious. 

◊―――――― ♔ ――――――◊

yeah i did that. ANYWAYS!  

this is the prologue for the darkest flames! sorry for the long wait, i just wasn't motivated enough but now i am!!!!! the faceclaims for the rest of claryse and darrick's siblings are added to the cast.

what did you guys think? who do you think was with claryse? what do you think will happen to jon?

credits to zuleszn for the gif manip! <3