Alliance || Bran Stark

Chapter Two

The warm fire that was burning lit up the great hall when Seren entered and sat down at the large table, her place between Bran and Sansa. Butterflies filled her stomach as she wanted to make a good impression; this would be the first dinner of many.
"So Seren," Ned drew her attention away from the drink before her. "Your father said that you wanted to finish your studies when you're here. What exactly did you do back home?"
"Well, my father trained me and my sister in combat. I also love to horse ride. But other than that, I did normal things that Ladies do like sew and read." Seren explained as the Stark children watched curiously.
"It's strange that you learned combat." Sansa exclaimed. "I heard that women on the Iron Islands usually learn to play more traditional roles."
"You're right for most women. But my brothers weren't there so my father trained my sister and I instead." She looked around and noticed another boy at the table. He looked slightly younger than Robb.
"Oh, this is Jon Snow." Ned explained quickly which made the room feel slightly awkward.
"Oh, of course. Well, it's nice to meet you as well." Seren gave him a kind smile and he responded with a shy smile.
"Anyway, I'm sure we can sort out lessons for you still." Ned tried to save the situation.
"Thank you, I am very grateful."
"We can sew together, Seren, since Arya doesn't like it much." Sansa suggested while Arya just rolled her eyes.
"I would like that." She nodded, just as food was served.

—

Just as the sun was coming up the following day, Dana stormed into the room, pulled open the curtains and started sorting through the clothes in the wardrobe loudly. Seren groaned into her pillow.
"It's your first proper day here, you should be excited. Let's get you down to breakfast."
After getting ready, Seren managed to get down to breakfast on time. Ned explained to her that she had lessons in the morning, but in the afternoon she could do archery and go on a horse ride to explore the land with the Stark children. She thanked him, and the little Greyjoy was actually feeling very excited about the day ahead.

Sewing usually didn't bother Seren; it wasn't the most exciting thing but she mostly enjoyed it. However, she decided that her new tutor, Septa Mordane, was the most frustrating women ever.
"You are not precise enough. I don't know if this is how they embroider on the Iron islands, but it isn't how we do it here." Mordane had explained and after turning around, Seren had made a crude gesture at her. Sansa had gasped but Arya just giggled, but by the time she had turned around, Seren was sat doing her embroidery innocently. She thanked the drowned God when that lesson was finally over.

She entered the courtyard and found Bran doing archery. Robb and Jon were with him too, but he was still not hitting the bullseye.
"Hello." Seren said as she walked up to them, suddenly feeling quite shy.
"Seren, my father said you would be joining us and asked me to help you." Robb responded and he handed her a bow and a set of arrows. She moved to the left of Bran so they weren't shooting at the same target. Seren took the first arrow and placed it on the bow. She pulled the string back with her three middle fingers and even though she was feeling under pressure, she lined it up with the target as best she could.
Taking a quick deep breath, she let to.

The arrow hit the red ring, just outside the bullseye. Seren turned back to the others beaming.
"Maybe you could show Bran how to shoot a bit better." Robb said and he seemed impressed, Jon snorted about the Bran comment.
"A bit better? He needs more help than that."
"I'm not even that bad." Bran retorted, but his face was going red.
"Shoot an arrow, and I can tell you if you're doing it well." She asked giving him a kind smile. He gulped before he fired quickly. The arrow only quite far away from the bullseye, but there was definitely potential.
"That was really good, but I know a few ways you can easily improve." Seren complimented him because she was hoping to improve her friendship with him, since they were technically engaged.

She instructed him pull bad the bow. He nodded but he was quite stubborn in following her orders since he was embarrassed. Bran has wanted to come off as a man; he felt stupid having to take orders off someone else.
"Always pull back your shoulders. It gives you a better chance of hitting the bullseye." He did as she said, and then Seren continued. "Look down the arrow, and line it up with the target." She watched him as he aimed the arrow and shot it. It wasn't an exact bullseye but it was much closer than before. Seren cheered and Bran blushed profusely before turning to her.
"Thank you for helping me, I think you're really good at archery." Bran said, his face as red as a tomato. Seren's face quickly turned the same colour as she smiled shyly. Jon and Robb just laughed at their awkwardness, even though everyone knew they would be exactly the same in that situation.

After doing archery for a little bit longer, Seren went to the stables where Ned had told her to go in the afternoon. She smiled to herself; she was beginning to really like it here.