where : second tyrell wheelhouse , the king's road
when : half a day's ride from winterfell
with : lady elanur tyrell / @gildedscage
the road north grew worse with every cold mile. as if the land itself were losing interest in being crossed. the wheelhouse rattled over old ruts and frozen mud, and even the horses seemed to walk with less patience than they did in the reach.
" and lady vance's cousin, people say she's been lying about being with child for over a year... a year, elanur — they say she keeps changing the moon she's due in so no one notices. "
her sister did not look at her, defne watched her for a moment, waiting, and when no answer came she went on anyway. her voice was bright, as it always was when she had something to say and no one to interrupt her.
she did not mind the travel as much as she thought she might have. there were always people on the road: septas, merchants, knights with tired faces, ladies traveling between keeps — they told her things without seeming to mean to, little pieces of gossip and half-finished scandals that she could keep.
by the time they had reached the north, she had heard so many stories that she no longer remembered which ones had remained as they were in earnest and which ones she had made better in telling.
" some say that she had a lover once. a noble bastard, or an ironborn raider, or something of the kind — regardless, they say one day he just ... disappeared. just like that. " she made a small motion with her hand. " and so she began saying she was with child because, truly, no one else will marry her if she is ... and she thinks that if he hears about it, he might come back for it. "
no reaction: nothing. elanur tyrell sat very still in the corner of the wheelhouse. her face turned to the narrow window. the glass was filmed with cold. beyond the carriage window and into the barren northern landscapes, a long dull sweep of grey and brown could not look more unremarkable. yet her own sister would rather give it her whole attention. " by the gods, elanur, you're not even listening to me ! "
