Also posted in Crazy Crossover Concepts:
Margaery Tyrell was a girl who liked beautiful things. She did not consider there to be any shame in that, most people were fascinated by beautiful things, whether they be art, jewels, women… Tastes differed of course, but they fact remained that most people enjoyed gazing upon things that they considered aesthetically pleasing.
To that end she occasionally enjoyed viewing the various items on display in Highgarden.
She wasn't a fool, her grandmother had made sure of that, she knew the history of her own house. That many quietly questioned the legitimacy of House Tyrell as the Lords Paramount of The Reach, especially when they had been elevated above the Florents, who had a blood link to old House Gardner. Numerous Lord Tyrells had chased wealth, treasure and renown, in order to prove that they and theirs were worthy of being counted amongst the great houses.
Margaery's favourite of all House Tyrell's collected treasure lay in the vault, which was where she stood now. It was not in there because it was believed to be particularly valuable, but because it none thought it to be beautiful. Margaery disagreed.
It was a gauntlet; a wicked looking thing that was almost black, with fingers that tapered and stretched so that they end in claws. There was a round, amber jewel set in the back of the hand that she sometimes fancied looked a bit like an eye. This wasn't an item that she would have thought herself enjoying, and certainly not something suitable for a young, noble lady to obsess over. Yet, she thought there was an elegance and a finesse in amongst the sharp edges, a hidden beauty that defied convention. The flickering light from it lantern gave it an almost otherworldly appearance.
She wasn't quite sure what drew her to it, but a times, she felt like it was singing to her; a foolish, childish notion, not least because she could hear no sound coming from it. Sometimes when she was on the verge of sleep, she would think that this was because she wasn't listening to it with her ears but with her soul.
It was such a thought that had compelled her to come down here in the middle of the night.
Caught by a sudden whim, Margaery cast her gaze about the room to make sure she wasn't being watched and that the door was closed; then she reached out and touched it. First she ran a single dainty finger along the edge, feeling the cool metal beneath her fingertip. Suddenly overcome by a sense of mischief she set her lantern down on the ground, lifted the gauntlet from where it lay and placed it over her right hand.
She had just a moment to feel a strange mixture of surprise and satisfaction over the fact that it fit perfectly, almost like it had been made for her.
Then the burning began.
It grew gradually in her hand, and Margaery immediately tried to pull the gauntlet off but it was no use, it wouldn't budge. The sensation spread up her arm, across her chest and through the rest of her. The heat kept growing until it felt like her whole body was aflame. Clutching desperately at her hand she fell to her knees; she tried to scream but it caught in her throat, which was suddenly hoarse. Then the darkness claimed her…
Eventually the darkness began to recede. At first she wondered where she was, she felt like she was waking from some sort of nightmare. She heard someone groan and it took a moment to realise that it had come from her. She felt a cool breeze against her skin and was puzzled for a moment, before realising that she was laying on something that cold, hard and uncomfortable, so she couldn't be in her bed.
She prised her eyes open and after her vision adjusted, she found herself staring up at a rose quartz ceiling that was being lit by a flickering light.
With some effort she was able to force herself to sit up. She clutched at her stomach and froze when her hand came in to contact with bare skin. She looked down at herself and found that her clothes were in rags. Panic began to rise inside her, but she forced herself to push it back down.
Quickly she cast her gaze over to her right hand, only to find that the gauntlet was gone. In its place was a dark, metal bracelet, with a single amber jewel set in it.
A storm of questions whirled through her head, too many for her to deal with right now, so she elected not to for now. She did as her grandmother taught he, forced down the panic and tried to focus on the practicalities.
If anyone caught her in this state there would be questions, questions she would find difficult to answer. Therefore, she needed to get back to her room without anyone seeing her.
Quickly she struggled to her feet, clutched the tattered remnants of her nightclothes to her and lifted her lantern from the floor.
She peeked her heard out of the door and found the guard was still a sleep. She crept out, closed and locked the door.
Sucking in a deep breath, she set her lantern on the ground and crept over towards the guard. She reached down to the keyring on the guard's belt and slowly, carefully attempt to reattach the key. Finding it difficult with one hand she was forced to release her grip on her tattered garments in order to use both. Her heart almost stopped when the guard grunted in his sleep and when her task was complete she padded quickly across the room in her bare feet, extinguished her lantern and fled for her room.
GoT x WitchBlade
