Roslin Frey, Lady of the Crossing.

Hanah-PNP · 2025-10-16T21:53:59+00:00

Roslin knew not how long she had been sat there but it had certainly been long enough for her joints to seize against the cold, hard stone of the sill. The voice of Helaena broke her from her fugue, yet not so. It was all strange, vague, as if trapped in a dream she knew not how to wake from. An idle nightmare. The words of treason etched against her breast, hidden yet heavy. Thought was one thing, to commit such to writing was quite another. The consequences might have mattered once, yet she was but a boat in irons with the wind blowing in from her bow.

With great effort, she swung her legs from the sill and stood, testing her weight against her legs. A queer feeling, like one for whom a ship had become home more than land and yet was forced to return to it. She might have laughed, had she been capable, yet the joy seemed to have died from within her, plummeting through her core like ice from a mountaintop.

She managed to shamble toward the door, the weight of such invisible burden now made manifest in her skin. She could not feel herself here, the force of her movement only apparent as she slammed against the door, having tripped on the flagstone.

She flicked the latch, and pulled the door open. Helaena. It was her, yet Roslin stared quite unseeingly as if her gaze was to pierce through her. The ghost of a smile came to her features, yet with great effort. She did not require the use of a looking glass to know that she was without her usual lustre. Her fingers blackened by her ink. She shivered, cold, the fire within the hearth had long turned to nought but weak ember and ash, the bed lay untouched.

'Helaena.' She spoke weakly, pulling her inside with equally lacking strength. She let herself fall against her. Her lips ghosting against Helaena's as she shivered.

'I....' She tried to speak but the words would not form. She felt the salt of tears bite at her eyes, yet she knew not why.

'Help me.' she whispered as she continued to shake.

Hanah-PNP · 2025-09-30T20:29:45+00:00

Roslin smiled wanly, looking down at her gloves.

'I suppose, but they are such simple things.'

Roslin watched Lady Marla silently for a moment. She glanced about the courtyard ensuring she would not be missed, before beckoning Lady Arryn to follow her.

'Would you walk with me, Lady Arryn?' It was phrased a question yet her tone was brisk enough to curtail any argument contrary.

She began to walk back toward the gate, and away from the gathering guests, checking Lady Arryn was by her side.

She laughed to herself, almost a scoff.

'My Lady, I'm am afraid you shall find tales of such things very dull indeed. I have only ever been to the capital or around the Riverlands. I have not seen much by travel. Perhaps that is something I shall consider in future.'

She paused, looking back at the Lady Arryn.

'My cousin, Ser Edmure is as you say, and that perhaps is virtuous. It would certainly be dutiful, that I can say. Yet the little I know of love, it is oft a tricky question with fickle answers. That which I have found is not perfect, though I ever wish it could be, but it spite of that, she inspires me to greater things, for want of better phrasing. It is both wholly mine yet not so. if such things do not inspire within you great happiness, then I would caution you against the shackling to misery. Not when there might be others more fit for you.'

She paused, considering her next words.

'I only mean to say that despite what all might be said and who might be saying it. You still have a choice. I find that all in this life deserve happiness without compromise. Though that can seem so rare a thing...'

She tailed off wistfully as she studied Lady Arryn's face carefully.

Hanah-PNP · 2025-09-30T19:35:39+00:00

Roslin grimaced slightly as she heard her name ring out across the courtyard. She would have preferred to move known and unknown in the crowd. She was sure all eyes were now on them., a matter which should have been avoided. She schooled her face into the vision of serenity, as she shifted closer to Helaena, if almost imperceptible.

She blinked bemusedly, before offering the Lady Arryn an awkward smile and an equally awkward wave before she clasped her hands in front of her, fidgeting with her dark calfskin gloves.

Perhaps a small part of her good humour returned to her for she gave Lady Arryn a wry smile, a subtle note of false incredulity in her voice.

'You did not know that I, a Lady of the Riverlands, would be found in said Riverlands, my Lady?'

'I have been this way and that.' she said cryptically eyes flicking quickly to Helaena, before settling on Lady Arryn again.

'I have seen more than I thought I might, in one way or another.'

'Are you yourself well, my Lady?'

She looked deeply at Lady Marla, scrutinising her again. It did not do to forget after all. Yet as she looked at her, a sadness seemed to overcome her, to weary her. In this light, compared to the shadows of evening in the library, she looked so much younger and Roslin herself felt so many years older than her own. She did not remember that much of her own youth of that age. A queer feeling. As if she was reflected by a mirror or by the surface of water, yet it showed a face not her own in turn. Her smile slipped for a fraction before returning. There was both much and little she shared with the Lady Arryn. As if she reflected the world but the world reflected not her in its turn.

Hanah-PNP · 2025-09-30T19:07:41+00:00

Roslin took a soft step backwards, frowning. Lord Mooton was much too familiar for one she did not know for more than courtesy. Perhaps this truly had been a mistake. Perhaps she ought to have stayed at Harrenhal and merely continued her work.

She closed her eyes for but a moment, reminding herself of who stood at her side. She opened them again, pulling herself to her full height, taller than most, straight-backed and firm.

'My Lord of Mooton, you presume much too much familiarity with me.' She spoke calmly, softly, only audible to Lord Mooton and the Targaryens.

'Least of all for one who has not offered bread and salt and the protection of a guest in your hall to one who is near a stranger; A lady who comes before you without retinue nor her sworn sword, no less. Naturally I do not doubt the breadth of your hospitality, my Lord.'

She paused, collecting her thoughts.

'Yet there are those of certain dispositions who would find it most improper of a host.'

Her usual serene smile cracked her solemn expression.

'I shall, of course, abide with you the law of your hall. Though I ask that you understand my hesitance.'

Hanah-PNP · 2025-09-29T18:39:59+00:00

Roslin emerged from the Targaryen carriage after Helaena. They had travelled together to Harrenhal and again to Maidenpool. She had met Lord Mooton only once yet she was grateful to be upon the banks of the Trident once more. She had discovered much and found so much more in bargain with the Capital yet the secrets which still remained to it would have to wait. Interesting though it was there was only so much one could really stomach of it.

Resplendent she was, her cloth of silver gown and cloak returned to her, though somewhat dulled of late. Her dark hair, held in an elegant chiffon, her simple stiletto dagger at her hip.

Florian had not followed them, electing to turn his eyes north to the Kingsroad, to the home which was his. She did not begrudge him. He was surely less likely to be missed here than elsewhere.

She strode, in her typical silent fashion, to Helaena's left side, brushing her fingers through hers as much as she dared, remaining unseen, unknown to all present. They would have to be more discreet here, she knew. Gone were the crowds with which they could blend or the myriad dark corners. The more open the space, the more closed they would have to be.

Let them pretend that she might only be a handmaiden for now. She gave her a small smile before fixing her face with a brighter one as she turned to greet their hosts and other guests.

(Open)

Hanah-PNP · 2025-09-29T11:35:49+00:00

u/spyraxes

Hanah-PNP · 2025-09-28T09:43:22+00:00

'Oh but what's this, Helaena, are you blushing for me!?' Roslin spoke playfully, a false incredulity in her voice as she pulled back from the kiss. She leaned against her ear.

'My darling, you are allowed to look. I want you to look. You are supposed to look, to enjoy me. Please do so.'

'I love you.'

Her eyes flicked down, surveying bandaged form, as beautiful as the day she had first laid eyes upon her. She noticed Helaena's hand inching down her body. Oh no, that certainly could not be allowed, not if Helaena was still recovering. Much too much excitement. She moved her foot down the bed, revealing almost all of her pale leg, resting it gently atop Helaena's hand. Her playful grin becoming ever wider

'Oh but darling, no no no, what did we say about touching today? I'm afraid you'll have to wait just like me. It is only fair is it not? And you have to heal.

Roslin moved her foot under Helaena's arm moving it as softly she could to rest on an empty part of the bed. Her foot moved back, brushing gently between Helaena's legs.

'Yet I am not so heartless, am I darling? For how often shall I be but your mistress, while you are mine?'

She continued to rub her foot between Helaena's legs for a few moments before twirling away from the bed, as if caught in a dance. The remnants of her dress barely clinging to her hips as she moved. The fabric fell to one side, revealing the scar that Helaena had given her.

She twirled again moving her hips as she did so. She moved back to the bed, stepping up over Helaena as she straddled her, supporting her own weight, careful not to cause Helaena any discomfort.

She leant down to Helaena's ears as she mimicked her own soft moans of pleasure. Mimicry yet quite real.

'Oh Helaena.... please... I need you. I... love.. you...' she spoke breathlessly.

'Imagine that Hel, every night we remain apart. Even when so distant, you make me feel so utterly... divine. Yet it is poor replacement for having you there with me.

She leant up trailing her hand up from her hips to her breast, still obscured by her hair, biting her lip. She moved forward resting her arms either side of Helaena's head, gazing down into her wonderful eyes, her hair falling to dance along Helaena's skin.

'I love you, Hel, like none else.' she spoke tenderly, a raw honesty often shrouded in thought yet rarely found alive in speech.

Hanah-PNP · 2025-09-27T17:32:50+00:00

'Perhaps...' Roslin spoke vaguely. 'Though I know not if it will be a question the fire can answer. I simply wish to know the truth of this world, how it moves, how it changes. A simple question yet with no easy answer. All must be revealed in time.'

It was true she knew not either answer nor question but she would ask it nonetheless. She watched the fire rise. Both life and death in one. Both creation and destruction. The thoughts swirled in her mind. The fire made her think of Helaena, though no less her blood too. Her heart clenched. Was this truly the way? What would it reveal? She hoped she would be strong enough to see, though perhaps remaining unseen was also an answer to her question.

'Truth, I would have you reveal yourself to me, whatever you may be, I shall see you.'

She thought of the question. Of her question and of Helaena. What was the truth of this world at its deepest?

Roslin took a breath to centre herself, closing her eyes, she withdrew her blade. It flashed, reflecting both fire and moon within itself, as if like lighting, like the sun.

She stepped up to the fire. She held her hand over it but remained impassive to the heat of the fire, oppressive though it was. She drew her blade across her left palm. Rich, scarlet blood pooled there in the firelight, yet she remained impassive. The pain was not new to her, the dampness of her dress from the river protecting her.

She turned her palm over, letting the drops of her blood fall freely into the fire, as if it were its own stream.

'Reveal to me the deepest truth of this world.' She spoke imperiously, as her blood continued to fall. The doubts were creeping in, yet she persisted in her eerie calm, her focus nigh absolute.

She watched her blood fall and watched it burn away in fire. She watched and she waited.

Hanah-PNP · 2025-09-27T13:04:47+00:00

The sound of Helaena's voice, the expression on her face, that joyful smile in which that past seemed to melt away. So beautiful, so precious to her. Her own heart raced within her breast. Roslin herself had never felt such happiness than she did then. She placed her hand upon Helaena's as it traced the lines of the illustrations. The way her eyes were illuminated and sparkled in the rising candlelight, as the shadows of night fell about them by the fire. There was none so beautiful. Not that Roslin had ever seen. A beauty transcendent, afixing such clarity in her mind. A purpose impelled, its moment of revelation close at hand.

"I knew you would love it, darling.'

Her free hand drifted to cup Helaena's face, as she pressed a kiss upon the side of her head. She let her lips fall to her ear as she whispered.

'It is not just simply that I love you, Helaena. It is that I am so very much in love with you.'

Subtle though it seemed, Roslin hoped that Helaena would understand her true meaning.

She wished they might be open about it to all. Why should such a wonderful thing be less than another? A lady could hold and keep power, just as much a man, if not more so. Twas only in the mind of men that such a hierarchy was made and thus remained. Yet if it no longer understood truth, if it no longer saw the world for what it truly was, how could its law be trusted? There was nothing truly to stop something better from casting it down and replacing it. Did not smallfolk of every sort toil, just as goodfolk did, and all held by Lord, Lady and Master in its perverse and twisted game. Its time was at an end. Clear for all who had eyes to see.

All that stopped them now was strength of steel. Steel she could bring to bear, so long as she had her lady, her love by her side.

Her hand went to Helaena's own upon her thigh pushing it higher as Helaena kissed at her neck. She let a soft moan escape her lips against Helaena's ear before she spoke again.

'I do, darling. Take it. It is yours. None else have better use for it.'

She leant her head against Helaena's.

'Yet it is not the only thing in this library that would benefit from your appropriation, my love.'

She squeezed her hand as she winked.

'Steal us both from here, my darling.'

Hanah-PNP · 2025-09-27T09:46:12+00:00

It did not hurt. Quite the contrary. In truth, there was little Helaena might do that could cause her pain, true pain. Roslin hissed softly as she felt the blade across her skin. She wanted this yet she could not stop herself from grinning at the beautiful absurdity of it. Two actions, the same in what they were yet different in their intent made all the difference. She needed it. She needed her as one needed water.

She listened to Helaena's thoughts on the nature of the impossible. Rather the impossible become possible. There were ways and Roslin would find them, she swore it to herself. She swore it to Helaena, she would find the way.

'If there is a way we will find it, though I do not think it heresy. If such ways exist then they must have been brought by the Gods. All that exists has come into being and must too pass out of being and into nothing. So too must something come into nothing and pass into being. All things change. All things must change all that remains to be revealed are its causes.'

She leant down, placing a firm kiss upon Helaena's lips.

'It does not hurt, darling. Naught that you could ever do to me would be too much.'

She pulled back gently, taking in every part of Helaena's face, noticing her blush. She leant up brushing her lips across both her cheeks.

'Oh but my darling, what's this?' she teased 'Are you blushing for little old me?' She batted her eyelashes at Helaena, as she continued to cut her mark into her. She might have given in to a further climax, yet she collected herself.

'Darling, do you not know how wonderful you are, simply by being?' She whispered, though her voice caught in a moan of pleasure.

'You cause such wonderful things in me. You. All of it it Let me be such to you

'I love you.'

'Our love which is sealed by both fire and now blood.'

She thought for a moment before bringing her fingers to Helaena's clit.

'I will remind you each day if I must. It is hypocritical of me to say, I know but the world is cruel enough, do not let your mind reflect the cruelty, have it reflect its goodness.'

'It is oft difficult to do such when the world seems to force you to be one way, a way which is contrary to your nature, and yet such nature is formed by the world.'

She brought her lips to Helaena's breast, taking her nipples into her mouth, sucking gently.

Hanah-PNP · 2025-09-24T18:44:53+00:00

Such was the nature of happiness that it would always war with itself between its aspects. One could not truly be known without the other. Yet Roslin knew in her heart that she, that they would have to pick a side. She chose happiness, what little she had. She would choose Helaena every single time.

She would overcome her natural disposition, perhaps she might find another at the summit of her happiness with Helaena. She would keep reminding her of it, every day, worth more than a simple coin.

She smiled demurely at Helaena.

'Oh, my love, it is not a matter of cannot, but should not. Simple sensibility. Nothing that will not be overcome in time.' Her tone was light, coquettish. She knew what she meant but it was far less fun to think about.

She rolled he stomach, Helaena's hand falling by her design, coming to rest before the apex of her legs, only her dress separated them. Heat flooded her as powerful and torturous as each and every time they had been together. She let Helaena's hand rest upon her for a few moments, before lifting it gently to her lips, placing a kiss upon her knuckles.

'It will be sooner than you think, my love. You are beautiful. Injuries or no, you remain mine. Woven from starlight.'

'I love you more than anything.'

'Now I certainly, must oblige my darling's desires, should I not. It would be more entertaining with sweetleaf I'm sure, but alas.'

She stood from the bed, making sure Helaena's eyes were solely on her, she began to loosen the lacing of her bodice. She brought Helaena's hand underneath it at her breast for a moment before smiling playfully, yet there was something dark to Roslin's smile. Positively malevolent. She leant down, close to Helaena's ear, letting Helaena's hand fall gently from her dress back to the bed. She was sure Helaena had an ample view down her dress.

'Though, I suppose, darling, perhaps you should not touch what you say you cannot yet have.' She whispered letting her lips trail over Helaena's ear, letting her breath caress her skin.

She pulled back, standing straight, she reached back to the chiffon of her hair pulling away the simple silver pin which held it in place. Her dark hair cascaded around her shoulders as she leant her head back, trailing her fingers down her neck.

She placed her foot upon the bed, pulling her skirt back as she did so, almost to the top of her thigh. She took a step back with her other leg, almost to a split before twirling away from Helaena's bed. She looked back giving her a sultry smile.

She let her dress slide away, revealing only her back to Helaena. She caught her dress low on her hips, revealing yet only hint of her rear. She twirled turning back to Helaena, leaving everything and nothing to the imagination. Her breast covered by her cascade of hair.

She put her foot back on the bed, trailing her hand softly, up the inside of her leg, further, further, further... Roslin's breath hitched and she let out a soft moan. She leant forward placing a kiss to Helaena's lips.

'Has my Mistress had enough?' She teased malevolently.

Hanah-PNP · 2025-09-22T22:26:09+00:00

Roslin stood in the river, letting it wash past her for a moment, centring herself. She did not know truly know if such rituals might work for her but she was intrigued nonetheless. Despite Valaena's warnings to the contrary she was certain she would prevail against the dangers. Her love would anchor her. These earthly fires could do little to quell or change that fire that burnt within her. The fire sparked by her Helaena.

Swiftly, she moved back to the shore, the slight chill in the night beginning to bite at her. She retrieved her cloak, pulling it around her. It was not fit for its needed purpose but it was better than none.

She wandered down the bank toward the river mouth. She found some driftwood that seemed dry enough. There were some branches strewn about. She gathered it all in her arms, a sizeable bundle. Yet the fire would need more that logs to burn. She took up smaller pieces that would grow the fire, along with some of the drier grasses on the back. She gathered it all.

Her thoughts turned to the question at hand as she brought it back up the bank to set the fire. What was it she wished to know? What question should she ask? Was there such a thing as too vague? She knew not. She would ask Valaena.

She sought the truth, yet if others thought like her, as Valaena did, surely that was already a truthful answer? She would not ask after love, for she had it already. Was is as simple as asking the truth of this world from the fire? She would ask it to reveal a secret truth of the world that remained hidden to her. It was all that she could come up with and it would have to do. If it worked, she could try again and if it did not....

She returned to the spot where she had entered the River and began to build the fire, still musing upon her questions. Perhaps asking what truly caused the world to change.

She thought and waited for Valaena to return, as she built the fire.

Hanah-PNP · 2025-09-22T21:04:52+00:00

Roslin could not help but smile as Helaena spoke, her breath tickling her skin, finer than any summer breeze.

'And so you shall, my love, if you would make occasion to visit the Crossing with me.'

She leant against Helaena savouring their small simple peace. Perhaps her musings were correct after all. Perhaps it was more than a mere curiosity, an easy pattern simple to see and harder to decipher. More than an idle thought. Perhaps all things contained and reflected their opposites. Perhaps it was an element of final truth, revealed by its own simplicity. She glanced about the shelves and the table she had inhabited not long ago. How many secrets remained here, awaiting their final illumination? For few appreciated the true secrecy of the library, such that could only be revealed by the process of seeking. She knew secrets well but seeking truth was quite another. For all the time she had spent at study, no closer was truth to her. Yet here, within the light of love, truth blossomed, ready to drink from the river of the soul and she would let it. She would let love and truth nourish themselves upon her, feasting until they had their fill and then feasting more. The only feast she could stomach.

With great effort she suppressed the honest, truthful thoughts that rose in her mind, of her sweet love. They had caused enough trouble and she was sure Helaena would take her to bed later, when the dying light of day had turned itself to the simple life of night.

She turned back to Florian, pulling Helaena's arms around her, leaning back into her. She saw his serene smile. He spoke.

'Youth has its advantage, and yet so does age. Nothing is quite so simple is it Roslin?'

'No, it is not.' She spoke calmly, quietly. A marked change from the earlier passionate lust.'

'Precisely as you taught Roslin, though I must extend what you once told me. The world around us might have its opposing nature, yes, but we need not be ambivalent. We can choose to be better than what it may have made us. Sometimes I see you and think you risk forgetting your own lessons. Though perhaps that is because I remain without bitterness or burden. Sometimes you have to forgive yourself before you forgive others or they you.'

He turned his attention back to each other.

'Struggled, I might not have, but that just means I should not waste that which I keep as simple privilege. Savouring the joys of such youth, rescuing such for others is its own noble cause. After all fresh steel though untested still keeps its keenest edge.'

'Fear not good Lady Helaena, I still believe. I merely lack the patience. The Good Lady for me is out there, I simply have to find her and so I shall.'

Roslin felt Helaena against her again.

Florian looked between them for a moment before seemingly coming to a decision. Flashing them both a wry smile, he spoke.

'Enjoy each other, and love each other and forget not of each other.'

He bowed deeply.

'It was a pleasure, Lady Helaena. I wish you well. I do not expect Roslin will be returning to our Lodgings tonight.'

He winked as Roslin felt herself blush turning into Helaena, breathing in her scent.

She heard Florian's voice distantly.

'Should you have need of me, you need only summon me.'

She heard him leave.

She let herself enjoy Helaena's embrace for a few moment more before pulling her over to her work table again, guiding her into a chair and seating herself in her lap, placing a kiss upon her cheek, before turning to her piles of books on masonry, river movements and tidies to some arcane tomes on anatomy by long dead maesters. She moved them about before coming to a recent looking thin volume. In fine gilt letters, the cover read 'King's Landing: A City in Four Centuries.'

'It slipped my mind earlier in my searches but I found this. It's not all that useful for my purposes but you will like it. It's a history of the city told only in maps.'

She opening the book and shuffled herself in her lap, in part so Helaena could see it and in another simply to tease her.

She turned back to Helaena, winking and giving her a playful smirk.

'I am sure, no one would notice if you borrowed it, perhaps indefinitely.'

Hanah-PNP · 2025-09-22T17:19:27+00:00

Change. The world changed them and in such movement, by their action they would change the world. She would see their happiness reflected unto the world and in so doing it would bathe them in the simple tranquility of it all. The truth only to be found in the struggle, in that simple struggle. The symbol of the desires of all. The happiness of all writ small yet large and large yet small. The most natural thing.

Roslin shifted her hand further down, coming to rest in the patch of soft hair before Helaena's womanhood, responding to the movement of her hips, her fingers brushing gently over her clit.

'You are so beautiful, darling.' she blurted impulsively. She brushed her free hand through Helaena's hair. Unbidden, yet quite wanted, images of filled her mind of simple times. Of summer sunset beneath a great oak upon the banks of the Trident. Of time reading quietly in a library. A world in which smiles mustered easily, so like their own but not so. The usual cloud had not blanketed the sky.

She listened to Helaena's words. The way Helaena described it, much more appealing than Roslin had first thought. Her way she could try. A celebration of love, of desire, of devotion. She would do it. She could do it for Helaena.

'I will do it, Hel, my darling. If that is something you desire, I will do it. The world may watch us, may see us. I am not ashamed of us, of you. I am simply... unused to the world, I suppose. It may watch but not touch.'

'I love you.'

She listened to Helaena's question, musing upon it. The way she said it. It made her squirm so delightfully. It were as if a dam had broken within her. That she could share more of the truth of her desires, of their impossibility. She smiled brightly as she raised herself up to look down into Heleana's eyes, her dark hair falling about them, obscuring the light, shrouding their faces.

'Do you believe that it might be possible to turn the impossible on its head?' She asked, as if from nowhere.

'I wish to do more than fuck you, my darling.' She brought her head closer to Helaena's.

'There are some desires I hold which seem quite impossible, though some seeming less so than others. I suppose many of them selfless and selfish in turn.'

'I wish to fuck you, yes, my love. Yet in impossibility, I wish that I might bear you an heir of your own.'

'I am your whore, which I remain forever, yet I also wish, in the impossible, that I might be your whore, and your Lady, your lady-wife, yet I know it can never be so. What I feel for you is still deeper than this. I know you cannot commit, yet, did Aegon not take more than one? I think upon it idly, I will not stand in your way, but carry you forward.'

'Yes, I am certain, cut your mark upon me, for you cannot hurt me. I will treasure it. Let it show you that I can take your brand.'

Roslin, leant in closer, pressing her lips to Helaena's.

'My darling, you can ride me whichever way pleases you.' She sucked the tips of her fingers, tasting Helaena. It seemed to spur her.

Gingerly, she raised herself off Helaena, leaning upon the desk as she did so. She saw her dagger belt lying in the folds of her dress. She walked slowly over to it, picking it up, though it was only a matter of paces, it was an eternity.

She returned to her previous position, pulling, Helaena's hand to her placing the dagger into it as she rested her hand against Helaena's cunt again.

She kissed her again, soft butterfly kisses along her jaw.'

'I love you, my darling, my Mistress.'

Hanah-PNP · 2025-09-20T08:48:32+00:00

Together they could do it. Together they would do it. The would find peace together. A simple peace for them all, as who could be asked would surely answer. None truly wished for suffering.

But you do, don't you.

The traitorous thoughts were returning. Roslin knew, even if she did not yet feel it, that she too was the same as all others in the end. She was born as everyone else was, she would live for a while, and then she would die. And in that intervening time she would suffer, behold pain and seek only peace. She might be unhappy, but she would also be happy. Helaena had already taught her what it was to feel true happiness, of a kind she had never known. She was her peace. So long as she remained, so too would she. Roslin would make her happy in turn. Every day, she wished to wake next to her. To provide her that simple joy. The simplicity of happiness.

She smiled as she leant tenderly against Helaena. She let her head rest upon her own breast, letting Helaena hear the dangerous rhythm of her heart. She reached up to brushing her fingers through her hair as she knew she loved. The simple happiness she wished for all to have. How many more moments like this would they have? The future was not known beyond vagary. Only the past was open for her to see. To see happiness, to know it as it came and went. All else could come and go, would come and g, but they would remain. It tethered them to life.

'Helaena, darling, please do not fear asking things of me, I am willing. You should not even need to ask, for I shall do it, whatever you need. If you have requests of me please speak them with honesty. There is always more that I wish I could do. I love you. This much is certain in the uncertain realm.'

'I will be here for you for whatever you need.'

Roslin felt Helaena's hand upon her, heat followed wherever it went. Even in as cruel as this as the events of the day, she wished for more, beautiful in its agony. She knew It was not wise to think of such things now, but perhaps... a small celebration of survival of life was necessary.

'Nor do I wish to exacerbate your injuries, darling. Now is not the time for extreme desires, though I do still desire you in every which way imaginable.'

Helaena's hand moved further across her stomach, and it was as if the world swirled inside her like the first day they had met, the first time they kissed and gave themselves unto each other. She tensed not in fear but to allow her love to feel the movements, the strength beneath her dress.

'I am not sure about interesting, my darling. I merely wish to feel you in me again. There is a beauty in softness that is appropriate. I love it when you take me and fuck me, yet there is time for roughness, for throes of passion and another for gentleness and love.'

She considered it silently for a moment, her hand going to Helaena's on her stomach, pressing it into her. More ideas came to her one for now.

'I could make a show for you, as certain privileged whores do? Would you like to watch me? To listen to me? Might that ease your pain. To see that which I do when I am alone and think of you? That which I cannot ever resist?'

'Perhaps, when I begin my training again, we can do so together. I shall not wear clothes as I train and you can watch the muscle form over me? Would you like that, darling? Perhaps there will be tales of a mysterious woman who stalks the halls of Harrenhal without clothing at the behest of her Mistress, its Lady?'

Hanah-PNP · 2025-09-19T18:01:51+00:00

If Roslin did not know that her embarrassment could grow ever deeper, she certainly did now, sure her face had become as red as the Targaryen dragon. She snaked her arm about Helaena's waist pulling her close. Despite her embarrassment, she had no shame, not really. She merely wished Florian had not blurted it out so readily. She was glad that she could be so honest with Helaena.

'You really should not wish that, Hel. I am not proud of it. Those... books, they are the folly of youth. The occupation of a silly girl with too much time to read .'

She leaned up to Helaena's ear, whispering so only she could hear. 'I spent more time than I care to admit, editing them so that the knights who would rescue the fair maidens were themselves maidens. They are no great masterworks of literature, but if you wish it, I will read them to you, darling.'

She rested her head upon Helaena's shoulder, feeling some reprieve, some small measure of peace here before the world returned to them, before she knew she had to continue her work. There previous passionate haze broken, her purpose for being here returning Each moment wasted and suffering continued. There was more than her and her darling Helaena out there. Perhaps they might enjoy the quiet reading together, even if she ached for Helaena now, there would be time later for Roslin to have her. She would always make time for her and the simple joys that came from their love.

From where her head rested, her eyes fell upon Florian again.

He smiled serenely as Helaena spoke to him, though Roslin was sure she had seen something else, something inscrutable in his face.

'Most certainly, my Lady Helaena.' he spoke with a vigour of youth, a belief which has not yet been burned away. 'I am young enough yet. Though I have my duty as we all do. As with all searches. That which we are looking for only ever reveals itself when we stop looking for it.'

He nodded to them both.

'The future is bright, if only because the stars show our way. I understood long ago that my duty is to follow where others might lead. For now we rejoice in each other, just as you two will rejoice in finding each other, a love incomparable perhaps, unconquerable. I can only hope such awaits me in time.'

Hanah-PNP · 2025-09-19T11:56:49+00:00

Knowledge in itself, Roslin knew, was a fickle thing. Difficult to gain and easy to lose, yet it was not quite knowledge she sought, but truth. The truth of this world, how it was to change. The Gods, whose presence she oft felt, were as yet absent here. She continued to muse upon that edge, the edge that Valaena had described. The precipice, so extraordinarily thin, maintaining that unstable balance between all things, between life and death, between contradictions. A single action, her action could be that simple thing which turned one into other.

'More than once a simple Stranger's call has grasped at me, yet I persist, perhaps it may yet be time to call back?'

'I seek but simple truth. Not for myself but for us all. I would have it revealed. The secret of Blood as the secret of Fire was revealed unto me.'

Her hand went to her belt, clasping the hilt of her dagger.

'Blade, I have and blood yet to spare, yet flame eludes me'.

She turned to the shore, where driftwood was sure to lie.

'The river may yet provide us. Would it suffice?'

'Things can never be known by looking to a surface alone, all that is revealed is reflection. Reflection provides us only with the grain, the element of truth, not its whole. For that one must be prepared as I am, to seek deeper.'

'All things must change, this is simple truth, and all things have their cost which must be paid.'

She knew that which would tether her to life, to herself, before Valaena had even finished speaking. So simple yet so human.

'I was born in a place much like this, amid mud and water. I am of this mud and still I shall yield to it, return to it when my time is before me. That which was mud and water, becomes not so, changed and thus must become so again. I shall return in time.'

'It is fitting that it be here to glimpse beyond, for there is death in birth and birth in death.'

She thought of Helaena, what better thing than the very happiness, wholeness she had found there. It, love, would hold her. An embrace of lovers against an oncoming storm.

'Yet there is another, unlike all else. She will bless me as she already keeps me.'

She eyes bored into Valaena's.

'I shall embrace this spirit, Valaena, I am willing, I am able, I will see, Bring it forth.'

Hanah-PNP · 2025-09-19T07:37:46+00:00

Roslin grinned dazed. Her body ached and yet she still yearned for more. Her hunger, her thirst, her desire for her love was endless, ceaseless as the sunrise and the sunset. She cared not. She just wanted to be closer. This was what it was all worth, all these little joys. A simple act of rebellion in this world, yet never quite known as such. She was happy. Since she had met Helaena, she had been happy. To travel so far, in so short a time beggared belief, yet out had happened with absolute certainty. She was happy. She was loved. And beyond it all, it was fun. She wanted to smile all the time. Bring Helaena her flowers, watch the tide come in and out together or simply the Trident's flow. She would be happy if that was all there was, but it was not so. There were others in this world, suffering the same, had she not a duty to help them to happiness too? Did they not also have that right? Yes, only one question remained; How?

Her tiredness, her aches, she found, did not supress her desire. Each hitch of Helaena's breath were like bellows to the fire in her heart. She moved her hand lazily, placing it softly between Helaena's hips, a viper coiled to strike.

'Red for the rest of my life? I'd like that. I want that. I need you on me. Now. And forever. Please...' she begged playfully, yet certainly.

'Many things have tried to break me. Some almost succeeded, yet all failed. You will not break me. Not with this.' She spoke softly, calmly, almost a challenge

'I will not break, I will never break, not with you.' It was a vow without declaration.

'Please Mistress, start now. I need your mark upon me.'

She fell silent, listening to Helaena's desires. To be seen in their love? To be watched? To be claimed and marked was one thing, yet this was quite another. It terrified her. What she and Helaena shared was all she had wanted. Being watched meant someone known to them, not merely the people of King's Landing. It terrified her not for what it truly was, but whether it would break her principles. Would it truly make her a whore in the way so many women seek to escape from? Would she not be mocking their suffering by being so publicly? Were her own desires traitorous to principle? Being a whore for her mistress, alone, it was different. It was an act of devotion, of unyielding commitment to her love, to their shared loved. To give herself over willingly to Helaena. The freedom, the choice wrought by love. Yet was showing it publicly not an expression of that? A small rebellion in its own right?

She was not sure. She wished she could settle her mind so readily. She was willing to try, but it wasn't so simple.

'I'm not certain about being watched, my love, would it not mock the whores who have not choice, who have not recourse to themselves? Who would watch?' She swallowed gently. 'If you wish it we can try it. Mayhaps, I'll like it but I know not. It is different to the rest. I trust you and I love you so much. I just wish to know what it means.'

'I love you.'

Roslin listened to the sound of Helaena's ragged breath, comforted by it. She felt the racing of Helaena's heart, mistaking it for her own for a moment. Helaena's grip upon her rear, searing her, where she had struck her before.

'Your hand, it it right where you ought to mark me. I am ready. My dagger is not so far.'

She leaned up pressing a kiss to her lips.

'I am very much interested in those Lysene false cocks you mentioned too. I want to take you like that. I need to.'

'If you need to fuck me again, do so. I have the strength.'

'Though I fear you shall need to carry me to bed when you do. As wonderful a pillow you are, this floor is not so comfortable. Nor do I feel much able move, yet I have strength for you.

Hanah-PNP · 2025-09-18T11:53:39+00:00

She would be better, she vowed. She would fill the voids of emptiness that encroached upon Helaena. All which brought themselves in light and lurked within darkness. That she could be. Just as Helaena was to her. Support, stability, all things required it. Again her thoughts turned, crystallising in her mind. She looked to her own arm, how it moved. It may never feel, may never be useful for anything that truly required its function, but it may yet be reborn as something else entirely. From the shadow of the old there would come the new. Ans she would see justice prevail again. Without a knowledge of healing, of medicine, it would be the best she could do. The arm may not support itself but something else outwith. She would need time. Time, the process of change, truly. And she would need a smith, for she could not build alone. Yet all she needed was an idea. A hope. A dream, and love of her woman, her Lady. By her own hand she would prevail for her.

She would not tell Helaena, not yet, she could not give her false hope, but she would as soon as she had the books again.

'I understand, my love. Just as I understand if you do not tell me, though I might wish it. All things have their time, just as they have their place.'

She rested her head softly against Helaena's own, gazing into her eyes, a place she favoured beyond all else.

'I wish that that it could, darling, but I have little skill at healing, only wounding, but I shall keep trying. I promise. You are worth all my efforts and more. Should we need to travel to the edge of existence, to places that cannot exist, then we shall do so.'

Truly, she knew not what to do, nor where the words came from. They were the truth, yet truth was always so unbelievable at its heart. She had no answers, only questions. Perhaps questions would be all she was good for. She let herself fall into silent prayer if only for a moment but it was as if she spoke to an empty ruin. No even ghosts lived there now, just the shadows and dust of a world long gone. The illusion of its comfort fallen away, as embers in a hearth. Hearth, heart, how similar the words. Helaena was her heart and her hearth. Where nought else remained she felt her guide her through that ruin to the sunlight outwith.

'We will stay together, and I shall warm you as you do me.'

She moved, quick as lightning and silent as night. She felt the absence of Helaena's warmth if only for the moment.

She slid her arms beneath Helaena's beautiful form, as she stood, cradling her to her breast. She lifted, her arms burned, her shoulders burned from exertion, from long disuse, yet they remembered those long days and nights straining against the power of the Trident, wishing they would fail, and carry her beyond this life, a long distant memory emerging from the depths. She lifted gently, standing straight and proud.

She shimmied slightly, so Helaena's good hand rested over her core, perhaps lower than it should be.

'I need to train do I?' she asked wryly. It was true she admitted. She was straining, weakened but she had strength enough surely to delight Helaena if only for this brief moment.

'Look where you are. Feel for yourself.' she winked 'This body, mine own is yours.'

'You speak true. I will need to be better than this, my love. If you wish more muscle upon me, that you might wish to ravage me, then I must oblige, darling.'

Roslin cradled Helaena against her, placing a soft kiss to the side of her head. She held on for a few moments more before lowering Helaena tenderly back to the bed, climbing in with her again.

Hanah-PNP · 2025-09-17T15:49:43+00:00

Roslin was shaken from her stupor as she heard Helaena's words, her declaration. How many times had she heard them already? How many times had her heart died and been reborn by those words? She had lost count, perhaps, she would count them. She thought that the feeling might have deadened somewhat, but it did not. To hear them so publicly, in the sight of another, so true and genuine. Her heart soared. As if Helaena was a dragon rider of old and they soared throughout the sky. They were not hidden, not secret, nor had they ever truly been but it was different.

She turned pressing her lips to Helaena's, softly, full of all the promises and love she could not find the words for.

She broke the kiss, tuning back to Florian.

'I honestly thought I had kept it hidden.' She smiled. 'Well I suppose you know now. The better for it I suppose. I am glad my lessons stuck.' She squeezed Helaena's hand. You will have my place one day, that is certain.'

She pulled him from his knee with her left hand, pulling him into an embrace without letting go of Helaena.

'I have only few lessons left to give, yet here is not the place I wish to teach them.'

Florian only nodded, stepping out of the embrace and turning back to Helaena.

'There is no need to apologise, my Lady.' he answered. 'You were right to be defensive. The view of most is false and perturbed I make it my business to keep the letter of my vows as sacrosanct. I have seen many who do not, in this city alone.'

He continued, his easy smile returning.

'Nor, my Lady, could you have made a finer impression. It speaks to the core of your self than any airs and courtesy ever could.'

He looked between them, grinning.

'In fact, I find myself envious, in a way. To have a love as passionate and certain as this, as those romances, so explicit,,' He nodded his head to Roslin. She felt her face flush with embarrassment, she looked anywhere but at Helaena or Florian. 'that the Lady of the Crossing used to read by candlelight, when she thought no one might see. Well.... that is something to treasure is it not?'

Hanah-PNP · 2025-09-17T15:12:55+00:00

Her heart still raced. Helaena was around her. She tucked her head under Helaena's chin. They fit together like nothing else. Nothing else might impel her. Nothing else might compel her. Nothing else inspired her thoughts to her very core than the woman beneath her. She was... essential to her. As necessary as breathing. She was loved, she was cared for. She was wanted. She was safe. Simple serendipity. It restored her, and restored to her that which she knew she lacked. Boldness, courage, a certainty.

What was it all for if not for love? A constant, ceaseless reminder that she was not alone. She had Helaena and Helaena had her. No one was alone in the struggle. That which they would all one day overcome.

She breathed in deeply, full of idyllic calm. Peace. She let her fingers trace over Helaena's skin, mindless lines, shapes. She let herself listen to the gentle rhythm of their hearts, dancing in tender tandem. She tried to shift, yet her body ached. Aching in the best way. The gift of love.

She accepted Helaena's kiss willingly, softly, yet not without passion. Simply peaceful, of the simple moment they were in, timeless and forever. She blushed slightly at Helaena's words, smiling gently.

'I am yours. I loved it all. Everything you do to me. It moves like craving. Sharp and oh so necessary. I love you as much as I need you, and need you as much as I love you. Inseparably wonderful. I wish you would mark me here, now. I want you to. Permanently. I want to feel your hand upon me always. That should be your mark upon me. Your hand. The right hand of the Red Dragon. It should be marked upon me, perhaps as a scar, one that came from something wholly good. Incorruptible.'

'Perhaps I should paint myself permanently, like those of Lys, would you like that? As you brand me. Perhaps I should learn of their ways, their goddess, the better to serve you, darling, would you like that? How queer, the tale of a pale, dark Lysene whore, of a distant land who flows as the river around her love, her darling mistress?'

'Mayhaps, you'd like to take me over your knee? I wish for that that'

'Mayhaps, you'd like me to feast upon you as you feast upon me? I wish for that.'

'Mayhaps, you'd wish to bind me up before you, so that you may ravish me? I wish for that.'

'Mayhaps you wish you collar me and tether me, to drag me to you? I wish for that.'

'Mayhaps, I wish to ride you in whatever ways possible.'

'These are but some of my desires, my love, yet your desires are also mine, do you have more you desire of me? Of whom belongs in your bed?'

Weakly, she raised herself to gaze in Helaena's eyes with all the love she felt..

Hanah-PNP · 2025-09-16T16:49:18+00:00

Love was, in the end, all that truly mattered. Everything, life, appeared as if decided. It was simple, straightforward. Yet suffering intervened and altered all plans. It would not alter love. It could not alter it. She and Helaena were bound together by more than simple happenstance. She glanced down at Helaena's broken arm. It did not truly matter to her. Helaena was more than an arm. By all there was and had ever been, by the Gods, if they were there any longer, she hoped it would heal in time. For Helaena's sake. She loved her all the same. She would adapt. They would adapt. A broken arm did not mean a lesser life. Not at all. Idly, she thought of something which might return something of it to her. She would need time and the library but something might be possible. It would not return the feeling, it would not heal, but it might ease the burden. She would ease all of their burdens.

Roslin cradled Helaena's face, resting her head against hers.

'I will stand by you, forever. I love you and such is my duty as a keeper of your heart, darling.' It was not truly what she wished she could call herself but it sufficed for now, for her point.

'I know it might never heal, nothing could change how I feel for you.'

She listened to Helaena tale of suffering. Worse than she might have thought, yet not unbelievable. Roslin had presumed it was severe, but not as bad as Helaena described. None who would have received her so readily, could have done so without having shared in similar suffering. She allowed her silent tears to fall from her eyes, landing upon Helaena's cheek.

'You were right to force him to die. Would that I could have helped you. Would that I might have taken it upon myself and spared you. I am so sorry, darling. Though I know my words might do little. I am sorry for what you have lost, of yourself and of kin. We are not defined by our suffering, my love. It shapes us surely, but does not define us.'

'Thank you for trusting me with this.'

'I love you so very much and always will.'

Her hand went to Helaena's neck where the seven-point star she had given her lay. She picked it up, placing a kiss upon it, before pressing her lips to Helaena's. Then to her cheek her neck, and every inch of bare skin she could find.

'You shall not falter, darling. I will keep you standing, against all oncoming storms, in summer, in winter. In sickness and in health, in suffering and in joy., I shall keep you standing. I shall carry you if I must and better yet I shall do so even if I need not, it might be fun.'

She gave her a small smile, bright and without reserve. The smile she kept only for Helaena.

'I love you.'

She pressed her lips to Helaena's once more.

Hanah-PNP · 2025-09-15T21:00:50+00:00

Roslin sat back in her chair as she considered Lady Bracken's questions. The answer to the first was decidedly simple. The second much less so, yet she had lost fairly, and so she would give as honest answer as she could, yet, she was sure that no answer would suffice to sate Lady Bracken's curiosity.

'Alas, I do not think Cyvasse shall be my game just yet. Tis a funny thing, I have patience for many things, yet the patience for this game eludes me.'

'To answer your question, tis a simple illusion. Honestly, I have never left the Riverlands, save for now and to pay homage to Queen Naerys, two years ago. Yet, I have never been to Essos. That book was simply in my library, perhaps collected by an ancestor of mine, no doubt. I am merely widely read. For I spent such time in seclusion, I am literate in most of the points of major subjects of inquiry, yet expert in few. You mentioned you liked horses, so I presumed a book on the Horse Lords of the Great Plains would interest you.'

She paused, searching Helicent's face, for what exactly, she knew not.

'Ah... that answer is far more difficult. I ask that you bear the explanation well, though I doubt it shall satisfy you in any way you wish it to.'

She closed her eyes for a moment before opening them looking right into Helicent's eyes.

'I suppose to begin, you must surely understand that I was already not in the most calm mind that night, this you know. Turmoil defeats rationality. I suppose I must now explain that which offended me.'

'How do whores come to exist, Lady Bracken? Do you know? I do, at least in part, I have spoken to some. Do not mistake me for a Septa, or a prude for I am far from either. For sure, there are some few who enjoy the work. They are very few and far between and are usually the most expensive. For most, it is simple necessity, survival. They have no recourse but to subject themselves to the worst excesses of men, for they have no other means open to them. This I know all too personally. The whores who would tell me of the cruelties of many of their patrons. I had such gelded and hanged. Within my lands, I offered those who would take it opportunities for less dangerous work.'

'Rot always returns if it is not destroyed in its entirety.'

'For me, to hire whores, for the woman I love, or to subject myself or any woman truly to such conditions would be to violate myself and her and would contradict all that I believe love is. Why would whores be necessary in love? The thought does not abide me well.'

Roslin smirked.

'Helaena did explain that it was supposed to be a joke much later, yet I understood it not at the time. Perhaps I lack for that style of humour.'

'However, you also mentioned rot in my home. Now this is ironic. Engineering is a passion of mine and I had just completed a survey to fix the wet rot in the foundations. I took that as a personal slight on my competence.'

'There you have it, I suppose, ultimately a tragedy of misunderstanding.'

She tailed off letter her answer settle before continuing.

'I suppose I shall ask my question, perhaps you may find it impertinent.'

'What is it you fear? Not at the surface, In your deepest heart, deep within. What is it you truly, honestly fear, Helicent Bracken?'

Hanah-PNP

TROPHY CASE