"Hardly noble," she replied with a wave of dismissal. "When I arrived, it was not long after the first that were brought here. There only a few in the village and we had no crops, no animals, we had to fend for ourselves. The choice was either work or starve. Survival has a tendency to show us our priorities." It wasn't the first time that she learned it either. Loras had outweighed ambition in the end.

"The animals were in the forest, it was only a matter of herding them to the makeshift pen that Jon built for me. After my home was destroyed, they were moved to the jailhouse." But she was prattling on about nothing. "Forgive me. What I mean is that your words are kind, but I have not earned them. Your family has shown me how ineffectual the southron lands have prepared me for winter."

She grinned at him, leaning forward. "Apparently it does come after all."