Jeyne did not dare lift her eyes to meet Rhaenys's smiling violet gaze. She could only tuck her chin toward her chest, letting a few stray locks of dark brown hair slip down to hide her burning cheeks.
Only after a long silence did she answer. "Yes, you're right. Because of Lady Arya's letter, I saw His Majesty from afar the first time he flew over King's Landing on his dragon. He swooped down through the clouds on that golden, three-headed dragon, his long silver-gold hair gleaming in the sunlight, his whole figure bathed in warm light."
She paused, then continued, "Back then, I was still hiding in a tower in the Red Keep, only daring to peek out through a crack by the window. In that moment, I fell for him completely. My father had died at the hands of the Lannisters, and I had nowhere else to go. So I thought that if I could stay by his side someday, even as an ordinary maid, I would gladly do it."
"Later, His Majesty retook King's Landing and killed all the Lannisters, and I fell even more deeply in love with him. But Sansa and Arya, my two childhood friends, loved His Majesty too. Back then, I couldn't see past that. I kept thinking I shouldn't compete with them."
"So, to give them their chance, and to make myself truly forget His Majesty, I chose to leave King's Landing and return to my family in the North. Unfortunately, my family only wanted to trade me for supplies. At my most desperate, I heard news of His Majesty again, and that was why I came to Winterfell."
"I already knew a little while I was in King's Landing. The North is in a difficult position now, and the Others from