[center][h1][color=9FF781]LADY SARISA SWANN[/color][/h1][/center]
[center][i]Castle Tarrow[/i][/center]
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Sarisa had woken a short time ago, and was now just laying in bed letting her eyes adjust to the darkness. The only light in the room was a soft glow from the embers in the fireplace. It had been about two weeks now, since she arrived at castle Tarrow, and she had yet to get a full nights sleep. Tossing and turning, wide awake with a million thoughts going through her head at every moment. [i]Will I ever feel comfortable here? Will it feel like home, or am I perpetually an outsider? When will Lord Cade return? What happens if Lord Leoric doesn't like me? Or what if he dies in battle, and I actually am cursed to never marry? Is he similar to his brother...?[/i] 

She pushed the covers off, and sat up out of bed, frustrated that she couldn't fall back asleep. Her thick brown hair, was always a wild mess of curls when she woke up. She fidgeted with the ends of it, and sighed. It was colder here in the Riverlands compared to the Dornish Marshes where she grew up. As she placed her feet on the ground the chill from the stone floor crept up her legs. She shivered and quickly grabbed her woolen robe from the end of the bed. Sarisa shrugged it on over her nightdress. Most of her clothes were meant for warm humid summers, and with the rumors of winter on its way, she would need to start on sewing a new wardrobe. The shorts sleeves, Dornish silks, and light cotton were going to have to be traded in for more sensible wool, and fur linings. Luckily sewing and embroidery was a talent of hers.   

She stumbled in the darkness as she made her way over to the window to open it. The shutters squeaked open and the cold night air slithered its way into the room. Sarisa pulled her robe tighter around herself as she crossed her arms over her chest to fight the frost. Looking down at the courtyard it seemed that other then a pair of guards, and the steward, everyone was still asleep. The moon was high in the night sky, and she was just as restless as the night before. Anxious about the war, getting married, the wedding night, becoming a wife, and the coming winter. She prayed that she would soon feel settled here at castle Tarrow. For the short time she had been here, she only felt out of place. Using the moonlight Sarisa was able to lite all the candles in the room she could reach. The candlelight flickered, making dancing shadows on the wall. After closing the window she knelt down to open the chest at the end of her bed. Sarisa smiled, as she unlocked the chest and opened the lid. As she ran her fingers along the soft ivory material, and traced the embroidery, she imagined herself walking down the aisle. Admiring her wedding gown, always made her feel better.

The journey here from Stonehelm took over two months, and with battles ragging all around, it was a wonder she and her party had made it here in one peace. Why her father thought it was a good idea to send her off during a time of war, was something she would never understand. Her uncle Clifford's prompting most likely had something to do with it. Sarisa had brought with her fifty of the Swann's household guard, her personal belongings, her horse, and a rather substantial dowry. Her father had gone all out for her dowry this time around. It was rather large, especially compared to what it had been three betrothals ago. Two chest full of coin, a goose feather bed, 8 casks of the finest arbor gold, her mother's jewels, six fast horses, and multiple bolts of Dornish silks, and soft linens. 

After closing the chest she sat down on the bench in front of the fireplace and got lost in daydreams for what seemed like hours as she stitched away at her needlework. A knock at her door startled her out of her thoughts. She placed her embroidery aside and walked over to her door. She checked to make sure her robe was tied shut, and then opened the door to Maester Illric in the candlelight hall. She remembered her first day here, when she spotted Castle Tarrow's young maester. He was the youngest maester she had ever met, and she thought he was rather amazing for having so many chain links, and being just about the same age as her. A raven from Lord Cade. She felt worried and excited all at once. It was the first correspondence from her betrothed she had gotten in months. The only other time being his agreement to be married. [color=9FF781][b]"Good news?"[/b][/color] She asked him quietly trying not to wake anyone.