[D4 LA] A Gem Among Roses

[Mariessa Tremaine]

Mariessa giggled as Harben returned to her, and as she turned her back to the septa, she could pass him a lemoncake as they resumed the posture of her holding his arm.

"Just like old times, hm?"

[Ser Harben Varner]

“You’re as light on your feet as ever, and a hundred times more beautiful,” Harben gave Mariessa his arm and accepted the treat, flushing as he began to realise the words that had tumbled out of his mouth.

[Mariessa Tremaine]

Mari suspected she could manage to camouflage herself in the garden if her dress was green, as her face by now was probably matching the roses.

"And you've become quite the charmer since we were young, Harben," she leaned a bit closer, taking a small nible of the freshly-baked treat. "To think, when we were children, I was only thinking of how I could best you and the other boys..."

[Ser Harben Varner]

“And best us you always did. None of us were a match for you and your brother, especially not when you teamed up.” Harben took a small bite of lemon cake, remembering the scrapes and bruises from overly enthusiastic games of being knights with wooden swords and toy shields. Remembering how Mariessa always played the knight, never the princess.

[Mariessa Tremaine]

"Lawrince and I always did make quite the team," she sighed wistfully, but the smile remained as she was thinking of those good childhood memories. "But... I guess I am more like the princess these days, than the knight."

She had after all been the damsel-in-distress already once now.

[Ser Harben Varner]

“Don’t let Lysa hear that,” Harben jested, “do you remember when Lord Tyrell gave her that tiara? when she five? She didn’t take it off for a month.” He chucked wonderingly, “what happened to that thing? one minute she won’t take it off to let her handmaiden brush her hair, and the next it was nowhere to be seen.”

[Mariessa Tremaine]

Mari pressed her lips together as she laughed, considering she had lemoncake in her mouth.

Swallowing, "I had almost forgotten that! Hmmm... now I do wonder what happened to that tiara... maybe she got bored with it? Or maybe Elwood took it?"

[Ser Harben Varner]

“I bet she lost it. And I’ll bet she was too proud to tell anyone that she had,” Harben shook his head a little. Things were so much simpler as kids.

[Mariessa Tremaine]

"That... does sound like something she would have done," she giggled once more.

"So... now that you have seen the competition in dressage and wrestling, will you be competing in the melee or observing?"

[Ser Harben Varner]

“I will definitely be in the Grand Melee. It wouldn’t feel right not to compete in that. Though, I never was any good with a blade.”