Chapter 1: The Garden Rules

Leaves rustling and heavy breathing. There was nowhere to go, nowhere to escape. She wasn't familiar with these woods. She didn't know where she was. She was panting now, carrying her skirts and picking up her legs to run faster. But from what? She didn't know either but she could hear it following her. Was it a wild bear? No. It was lighter than that. Suddenly she tripped, her ankle got caught in one of the fallen branches that surrounded her and she fell on the ground. She couldn't get up, no matter how hard she tried. She realized now what it was that was following her. She could see it. A black stallion stood over her, its hooves up in the air one minute and the next it was falling on her chest.

Faye jolted up from her bed, panting, beads of sweat formed on her forehead and the sheets pooled around her waist. It was dark, barely dawn, but she knew she wouldn't be going back to sleep. These dreams she's been having were getting worse. Perhaps it was because of the war, or the recent battle that the North has won. She's been asking too much about it, down to the last detail. Maybe the war was not a place for a Lady after all.

She shook her head and got out of her bed to dress. Thinking about such things only made her headache worse and the camp was moving in a few days. She couldn't be sick when that happens.

Faye grabbed her bow and sheath of arrows which have been neatly put away underneath her bed, and she set out for the woods. The woods of Riverrun were harmless, she decided early on when they settled there, but still she wasn't allowed to stray. She wasn't alone in the woods though. She was never alone.

When she reached the clearing she's quickly grown familiar with she spotted him. Robb. Her best friend first and foremost, and the King in the North. His head was hung low and his back was turned to her but she knew he knew she was there. He always knew. And so did she.

"Up so early, my Lady," he turned to greet her, a smile gracing his lips. He only ever smiled when they were alone.

Faye curtsied, smirking, "Good morning to you too, your Grace."

Robb made a face, walking towards her. "I've told you a thousand times never to call me that."

"Oh? I apologize, your Grace," she started walking backwards, away from him, knowing what'll come next. Robb then broke into a run as she did, chasing her around the clearing like a child back at home, telling her repeatedly never to call him your Grace. He hated it. He hated that his friends who once just pushed him around and played with him had to call him that. He didn't want to be a king when he was with them. He only wanted to be Robb, the boy from Winterfell.

Robb finally caught her, pinning her against a tree with his body pressed against hers. "Never call me that," he said, panting.

"Or what? You'll have my head?" Faye maintained the smirk on her face, knowing he will never harm her, no matter what she does.

"You know I don't need your head," he said. He was serious now, she could tell. Robb's hand came up to brush the hair away from her forehead before cupping her face. "I just need you," he whispered before pressing his lips on hers, kissing her as softly as possible. Faye slowly closed her eyes, savoring the moment, trying to remember each flutter of her stomach and the warmth of his lips, knowing they have to put an end to this soon.

Faye was the one to pull away first, leaning her head back against the tree with her eyes closed. Robb only knew little of the things that Faye thinks of, but when it was about them it was always the same. It was that this wasn't right. He was to marry the Frey girl. A girl he didn't, and would never love. At least not as much as he loved Faye. And it pains him to know that he was the one who put her in this situation. Robb rested his head on her shoulder, sighing. He had to carry her pain with him too, which was probably the heaviest pain of all to carry.

Faye wrapped her arms around him, smiling to herself. The war was weighing down on him. He was too young for this. They all were. She started humming a song from the North, one they were both familiar with, one that reminded them of their childhood. Faye never sang for anyone, not even her own father, but she didn't mind singing for Robb. She only ever sang for Robb.

"Once this war is over, we shall go home and you will be the Lady of Winterfell," he whispered against her neck. Lady of Winterfell. Even as a small girl she's dreamed of it, ruling the North with him, marrying him, being happy with him. It was just a distant dream now. One she will never reach.

"Hush, Robb Stark," she said firmly. "We made a deal. We aren't going to talk about the future."

He pulled away from her, only to see her eyes. They were beautiful. She was beautiful. She was the most beautiful girl he's ever known and her heart was his… if only he could claim it. "Now is what we have," Faye began.

"Now is all that matters," Robb continued before planting a kiss on her forehead.

"Now is all that matters," Faye repeated, forcing a smile on her face. She never did like it when things got serious. She wanted for him to forget the seriousness of it all, even for just a moment. She pushed him off of her and started skipping back into the woods. "Come on now your Grace. I'm sure your people are looking for you."

"I'm sure they could manage breakfast by themselves," Robb said, following her.

"Are you kidding? They wouldn't know how to handle a fork without you," her grin was the last thing he saw before she disappeared into the thick wood for him to run after and find. Maybe he won't try this time. Maybe he'll take his time trying to find her, if only to delay their having to go back to camp.

DISCLAIMER

I do not own Game of Thrones / A Song of Ice and Fire and The Vampire Diaries. Those shows/books and their characters belong to their rightful owners. But I do own Faye Salvatore, her entirety (her background, her personality, and her mother Genevieve who will be mentioned in further chapters) and this plot. Some rights reserved.