Seven kingdoms united or no, it remained clear that northerners and southerners retained their differences — some of which could be acknowledged with no more than a cursory glance.
Despite efforts made, each night's feasting in the great hall saw those who were born north of the Neck lingering around each other — safety in numbers, mayhaps — while the remainder of Valaena's subjects entwined themselves in one another. Bethany did not mind this entirely; there was a comfort amongst her own people that she could not claim existed in other circles.
The arrival of an outsider was all the more notable with such invisible lines drawn. A golden head held high stood out clearly amongst the others, and as the young lord moved Bethany could not help but to observe. "Are you perhaps lost, my lord?" She called as the man approached the long table where she sat with others, "you have wandered some way from your own kind."
@ofgildedlions