closed starter for @harlonvflowers
location: an inn by the river mander
mina tarly gazed out the window, watching the bustling town square on which the inn they were staying in was located. they had the best room, though it was still cramped and dark, so unlike the accomodations she was used to keeping. it couldn't be helped. they could not be caught travelling in luxury, olyvar was always saying, and the money she had brought with them was not endless. there would be more when they reached longtable, when they explained everything to seffora and she welcomed them, as mina was certain she would.
they only had to out run her brother first. once they were married, and safe within merryweather lands, there would be nothing he could do, but until then, they remained in danger. they stayed nowhere long, passing from village to village, renting rooms, sleeping in barns, camping out beneath the stars. every day carried them further from horn hill and towards their future.
she knew that harlon would be furious at her for this, would see her as no more than a foolish, impulsive little girl, but she had more thoughts in her head than many gave her credit for. this had all been planned out, every little thing accounted for, from her escape from her guards to the way they’d press harlon and the king to legitimise olyvar. she would not have it said that she was being manipulated into this. olyvar was not some passing flirtation. he was the first man to ever see her and understand.
it was sat at that window, contemplating their imminent success that it all came crashing down. olyvar had caught her up in an embrace, by mina knew the look of tarly men from a mile away, and even the depth of his kisses could not prevent her from noticing her brother and his guards as they clattered through the square. she drew violently away from him, panic overcoming her.
“my brother,” she whispered, as olyvar looked her over with questioning eyes, and she saw the same fear come over his eyes. they were not yet close enough to longtable to claim seffora’s protection, nor were they wed, though they had certainly consummated their relationship.
there were raised voices in the inn below them. mina recognised harlon’s as the loudest among them, and clutched at olyvar, burying her face in his neck as though that would prevent everything from unravelling around them. he kissed her hairline, and they stood there, defenceless, waiting.
it was harlon alone who came through the door, doubtless wishing to keep mina’s so called shame as private an affair as possible. his face was writ with fury, and mina found all words of planned defiance catching in her throat, rendering her mute. the silence hung in the air for a long moment, before olyvar drew gently away from her, starting towards her brother.
“do as you please to me, but if you hurt a hair on her head, i’ll hunt you though the seven hells, you tyrell bastard. don’t pretend you’re any better than me. at least i still have my honesty,” olyvar declared, and with those words the last fragile structures of mina’s world collapsed.