[Musebox] The Court of the Stag King - The Gardens

[thekittenqueen]

Margaery had kept her distance for several days, granting Robb the space she assumed he needed to digest and mull over the news she had given him. Though there seemed to be little time for him to truly enjoy any sense of solitude or time to process, Renly kept him in meetings often, quibbling over the reasons that the North should not be its own separate kingdoms. He kept from outright insulting Robb, but he had made his displeasure more than clear about losing such a large section of the realm. If there was peace to be found and a compromise to be made, Renly didn't not present any options, only standing rigidly by his belief that all should return to how it was under Robert's rule. Robb would be Warden of the North and Renly would be King.

During it all, Margaery occupied herself with her daughter. Cassana had not been summoned again or used as an ornament for Renly to display. As it often was for mother and daughter, they were left for most of the day (and in Margaery's case, the night as well.) They lived in the same warmth and bliss that they had shared in High Garden, though Cassana was too young to remember it.

Winter had come and the heat of summer was rapidly departing King's Landing. The flowers would die soon and their beauty and warmth would leave only chilling reminders of a beautiful memory. Seizing upon the moment and the chance to enjoy what would be left of the gardens before the snow fell, Margaery dismissed Cassana's nurse and took her daughter to play among the flowers. Robb's balcony overlooked the garden, allowing him to see the pair together, though this had fled Margaery's mind.

She laughed and called after her daughter, chasing her among the rose bushes and the hedges carefully trimmed, but now growing brown around the tips. When she caught Cassana, she swung her daughter around, spinning wildly until they collapsed together in a giggling heap. The child would stumble to her feet and run again, her squeals leaving a trail for Margaery to follow.

Once their energy had run its course, Margaery and Cassana gathered a handful of roses, those that had not yet wilted or grown soft from the shifting seasons. They sat together on the ground, their skirts pooled around them as their voices carried through the garden as they sang "The Bear and the Maiden Fair." Carefully, Margaery wove a crown of roses for her daughter, at last placing them on her head.

It was only then that she heard the approach of another figure, pulling her out of the gentle peace that she had found. Upon spying the visitor, Margaery gestured for her maids to withdraw and guard the entrances to the gardens. She had no interest in this meeting to be intruded upon.

"Your grace," she said softly as she met Robb's with surprise.