This Garden Was Once Perfect (Callista)

[Rickard Tarly]

Rickard Tarly ventured out into the gardens during midday, dressed in a green tunic and brown trousers, a somewhat eyesore for those who looked at him. He was out of his usual kingsguard light armor, except for his Valyrian steel sword, Heartsbane, strapped to his back and of course the white cloak that concealed his lost arm.

He was searching for the new boy king, Aedan Baratheon. It was a wonder what the new king would be doing out here. This was not his place, nor had he ever shown any interest in it. But lately, there were rumors of him being spotted out here from time to time, speaking to a girl his age. What a poor knight of the Kingsguard Rickard had been, losing the boy king like this. Before, when the boy's father was still king, Rickard had never left that man's side. King Richard was a man Rickard had admired so. The former king had offered the position of Lord Commander to Rickard, but the thought of a cripple being the commander of the most prestigious order of knights in the Seven Kingdoms would have made them the laughing stock in all of Westeros. So Rickard rightfully declined. And still he served, but failed to protect the king.

The garden was once perfect, but in the wake of Richard Baratheon's untimely death, a gloom cast its shadow across the courtyard. Flowers left untended, bushes outgrown, and filth ran through the streams. The servants were too busy with other matters to tend to the gardens, although Rickard had seen several of them going about their work in here. Something else must be at work...The Seven no longer want this place to grow. See what your death has done, Lord Richard?

[Callista Lannister]

Heaving a quiet sigh of disappointment, Callista glanced around the untended garden of the Red Keep. When she had first arrived in King’s Landing to be part of the court of the new king, the lady assumed that the grounds of the castle were well tended. Sadly she found that the bushes, shrubs, and flowers were left to fend for themselves. It was a most devastating revelation.

With her queenly cousin busy ruling by the side of the new king, the young Lady Lannister took it upon herself to return the gardens to their former glory. She would have to rouse the gardeners and groundskeepers out of their grieving stupor, but that should not be too hard of a task. Callista intended for all those who walked through the gardens to be comforted and uplifted, and in it current state it would not do at all.

Gracefully gliding along the paths, the lady daughter of the Lannisters of Lannisport surveyed the ground, mentally noting everything that needed to be repaired and redone. She was dressed simply in flowing robes of Lannister red with her only adornments being a set of ruby drop earrings and, of course, her ruby ring. Strolling through the courtyard, she mused, ‘Well… none of this can be saved. Stupid servants. How could they have let it reach such a state of disrepair?’

[Rickard Tarly]

Rickard noticed a golden haired girl who stood out among the servants in the garden. She had on a red robe, simple, but elegant in a way that told Rickard she wasn't one of those red priestesses he had heard so much about. She was unfamiliar to him, but her status and birth was clear as day to him.

Lannister. Rickard didn't particularly like the Lannisters. Perhaps it was because of the influence the form king had on him. When King Richard drowned himself in drink, the man always had something to say about the golden haired family of the west. That wife of his must have been the cause of the king's discontent. The Queen Regent, what a terrible woman she must have been. Now that the king was dead, the queen fancied herself as a ruler. And she had brought her court from Casterly Rock with her. All of them, as seen by this fair lady in front of him.

A casual stride across the garden brought the one-armed knight to the girl who was the only bright spot in the courtyard.

"My lady Lannister," Rickard spoke in a polite and courteous manner, "I have not seen you around before, but it must displease you to see the garden in this state. Please, allow me to take you to another part in the keep that you might enjoy."