The Gardens - 598

[Princess Lyssandra Martell]

"Keep a calm heart Master Doryn, I am sure there are a few women here that would be moved by you."

[Jherek Doryn]

"Such as?"

[Princess Lyssandra Martell]

"I don't know. Sometimes love comes from the last place you would look. That's just how it is. It's unexpected."

[Jherek Doryn]

Jherek chuckled at her philosophy.
"But one must expect the unexpected, therefore making the unexpected the expected. Once all is expected, there will be nothing to be unexpected, and nothing can jump up on you and slit your throat unexpectedly."

[Princess Lyssandra Martell]

Arya shrugged, she did not like talking about philosophy. "Oh well, take heart Master Doryn." She smiled and started walking along the path again.

[Jherek Doryn]

Jherek smiled at the leaving lady and withdrew his flute once more. He blew into it, playing a song rife with his heart, one that brought out his true feelings and set them free among the trees, one that would hopefully call his love to him.

[Ser Kyle Payne]

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Kyle entered the gardens, wearing a simple tunic and trousers, his five-piece spear hanging in a pouch by his side. He looked up at the trees and sighed. Nothing could compare to nature as far as he was concerned, even if it was as carefully planned as this. He sat on a bench and pulled out one of his staff's pieces from his belt pouch, spinning it between his fingers as he inhaled the scent of nature, the sublime beauty that only the Mother and Maiden could deliver.

[Marie]

A man entered the gardens. He was tall and broad-shouldered with black hair to his shoulders and deep purple eyes. Targaryen eyes.

"Who are you?" He asked the stranger.

[Ser Kyle Payne]

Kyle replaced the spear fragment in the pouch by his side. He stood and approached the tall man. "Kyle Payne. I am here from the Western lands. Yourself?"

[Marie]

"Benjen Blackfyre, sworn man to Queen Joanna."

He spoke with the accent of a northman despite his name. he held out a hand.

"Well men. Is it 'Ser' Kyle?"

[Ser Kyle Payne]

"Aye. I suppose you could call me that." Kyle shook the man's hand. "Tell me, Benjen, how well do you know the queen?"

[Marie]

"Very well. I'm her sworn man and kinsman. I go most everywhere with her unless Her Grace has a commission for me, the same as any member of her household. What concern is that of yours, Ser Kyle?"

[Ser Kyle Payne]

"Just out of curiosity, since I was not expecting you to be here, and therefore have no conversation topics that come to mind. Would you mind if I queried you about life here in the Red Keep?"

[Marie]

"Not at all," Benjen said. "Are you new to the capital then?"

[Ser Kyle Payne]

"Aye. This is my first time in the glorious capital of Westeros, and I would just like to survive long enough to inherit the family name. I figured that if I came here and learned the ways of the King, I could better serve him through my actions in the West."