Dander

Over the last few weeks, nothing much had changed and the only company he had were maester Carsen and Lord Sumner. He had been bored out of his mind, with nothing to do but stare at the ceiling and listen to the squires sparing in the yard. The maester had even asked him if he wanted a book, but being illiterate, they would be no use to him. The thing he hated most about the room though was the mirror, through which he could see a horribly burnt monster with bandages wrapped around it hiding everything but its mouth and eyes. It stared at him with disgust, the same feeling he felt towards it. He despised it, for its weakness, for its fear, and for its incompetence.

"Dander… Dander!" He clutched his head as Nalia's voice drifted in through the door, she sounded desperate calling out to him for help. Her voice slowly became louder and more urgent. He began to shake uncontrollably and curled up into a ball, weeping, "I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry." he kept repeating to himself as the voice slowly grew louder and louder.

He heard the door creak open, and suddenly Nalia's voice disappeared. For a second he stayed still waiting for her voice to return but when it didn't he sat up straight expecting maester Carsen to be standing there ready to replace his bandages. But to his surprise, it wasn't maester Carsen nor Lord Sumner. It was a boy of about his age with long golden locks and a feminine face.

"Are you alright?" the boy asked, stepping towards him. Dander frowned and shifted back in his bed, wincing as some of his skin which was not covered in bandages rubbed against the bedsheet. The boy stopped in his tracks and raised his hands, "Hey, no need to be nervous, I'm not here to hurt you." Dander's eyes narrowed, as theories of why this highborn boy would visit him whirled around his mind. His first thought was that he might want to mock him, but then a more plausible thought came to mind, "What, you wanna see the freak, the monster, the burnt boy?" The lordling shook his head, and sat on the edge of the bed, "No," he then hung his head, "I heard Lord Sumner talking about you with the maester. So I thought I might meet you, talk to you."

Dander looked at the boy in confusion, "Why?" That caused him to chuckle, "I don't really know, maybe I was just interested as you say, but I had this feeling that I should at least get to know you a bit since we're living under the same roof." A small smile appeared on Dander's face, "Thank you." he then stretched out his hand before pulling it away a moment later, "I'm Dander by the way." The boy grinned and nodded in his direction, "I'm Jaime, Jaime Lannister."

The small smile on his face instantly vanished only to be replaced by a look of horror, "My Lord I'm so-". "No please don't!" Jaime cried out, arms raised, his voice then softened, "please, you're injured, and I don't want our relationship to sour just because I'm a lord's son." Dander looked at him confused, why would the heir to the second most powerful family in Westeros want to be friends with him. It made no sense, he had everything, power, prestige, and looks. Yes, Jaime had told him that he wanted to get to know him a bit better but still, he would be out of here in a month or two.

He was shaken out of his revelry by Jaime's sudden proclamation, "Alright, I've decided, I'm going to make my goal for today to bring you outside to the fresh air." Dander's eyes widened, "How?" This made Jaime grin, " I have an idea."

He had only been gone a couple of minutes when he reappeared, a large basket in hand. "Get in!" Jaime ordered, grinning. Looking at it with apprehension Dander glanced at the young squire, "I don't think you'll manage." Jaime's grin widened, "Oh I'll manage."

After padding the basket with his blanket, Dander gently and hesitantly got out of his bed. Pain exploded in his foot and he nearly fell over but after enduring weeks of that, he endured it and walked on. As he stepped into the basket, the stinging pain surrounding his foot diminished slightly but still, was as present as ever. Jaime smiled and grabbed hold of the basket by one of its handles, "Ready?" Dander nodded, "Ready."

Reaching the door leading onto the yard, Jaime, who by this point was completely out of breath, swung the door open, "Let's get you outside." Dander grinned, and slowly stepped out of the basket. Hissing as his feet touched the ground. His eyes travelled to the yard which he could already see from where he stood and a smile formed on his face. "I can do this." he muttered to himself as he put one foot in front of the other. He grabbed hold of the doorframe and in one fluid motion pulled himself into the sunlight.

He winced at the heat but still, nothing beat the smell of fresh air. "I missed this." he muttered as he moved over to the balustrade. "I'm glad I could help." Jaime, who had just moved up next to him, said. Leaning onto the balustrade, Jaime turned to him, "Would you like to become a knight?" This ade Dander frown, "I can't, not in the condition I'm in."

Jaime chuckled, "Actually from what I've heard you might make an almost full recovery." Dander's eyes lit up with hope, "Then I'd be honoured."