Festival of Roses

The smell of cooking had reached peak deliciousness, and it seemed to be making people restless, eager for the feast to start. The high born were starting to drift towards the Hall, awaiting when they would be allowed through to wash their hands before finding their seats. One of these restless souls was the fair-headed Lysa, who was drifting between the Market Stalls, looking at the ribbons and the long chains of inexpensive beads that the young girls liked to drape about themselves in place of real jewellery. Nothing seemed to be catching her attention, touching a ribbon here, a little velvet purse there, her thoughts turned inwards.

Another young woman was doing much the same, moving between market stalls at a slow pace, still in her orange dress as she wanted to make sure the other didn't get muddy while she waited, occasionally spacing out or sighing to herself as she was lost in thought. Fortunately, she's at least aware enough of her surroundings not to bump into the the tow-headed young woman, though she does have to repress a small jump of surprise when someone is suddenly near her. She recognized her from the previous evening, at least, and had the presence of mind. "Ah, pardon me... Good evening, Lady Meadows." It wasn't particularly good, but it was a matter of politeness.

The young woman turned and smiled reflexively, curiosity spreading over her features as she began to take in Alicent's appearance. A warmer, more genuine smile replaced the first, and she dipped the barest indication of a curtsy, "good evening, I don't believe we've been introduced."

"My apologies... I'm Alicent Feyther, from the Westerlands. My sister-in-law, Dyanna, is one of Rayley's cousins," she replied with a smile in return as she illuminated why she would be so far from home. It made things a little clearer from the start.

A slightly mean turn shadowed Lysa's lips at the mention of her sister-in-law, "well, you have come such a long way, I do hope that our little Festival can do justice to such travel."

Well, she looked thrilled. Her appearance may just have been the Gods' sick joke, but she was at least Queen of Messing Up. "I'm sorry," she sighed, not entirely sure what to say to that. "Your family has been very hospitable so far... The Reach is just as beautiful as I've been told."

"Oh, pay me no mind," Lysa moved to Alicent's side and threaded her arm through the girl's, gently steering her towards one of the stalls, "tell me, were you shopping for anything in particular, or just hoping something might catch your eye?"

And suddenly her arms was in Lysa's and they were moving. "Well... I mean... I have to pay some mind, I don't want to trouble you..." She shrugged and answered her. "Just hoping something might catch my eye... Mostly finding something to do until it's time to change. And yourself?"

"I needed to get out of the Keep for a bit. The smell of all that cooking," she grimaced slightly and gave the other girl a sly look. "And what's your taste? Tall and fair? Broody and dark? Seen anything you like so far?" She smirked and looked at some glass beads cut to look like sapphires and emeralds.

"I can see that," she admitted, a small half-smile appearing. At the question she almost looked a little baffled. "Well... not broody and dark, anyway. I get more than enough of that from Caim."