"I'm going to be sick" Brienne hung her head between her knees, overwhelmed by the thoughts and feelings jumbling around in her head.

"I know, I know" Shereen groaned, pacing the length of the room. "Ten days to plan a wedding – this is madness!"

The relief that had flooded her when Jaime told her about the accepted proposal was quickly replaced by anxiety and restlessness. It was one thing to be distantly dreaming of a wedding, but to suddenly have it jump in your face like an unsuspecting maid being ambushed on her way home was a completely different matter. The last time she had envisioned herself as a bride had been decades ago, the foolish hopes and dreams of a little girl, revolving around ivory dresses and gemstones in her long, flowing hair. But then puberty – and consequently, reality – had set in. The only thing about her that turned out to be long and flowing were her limbs. By now, ivory dresses were the stuff of her nightmares.

It would be impossible to procure a suitable dress in ten days. Other brides who did not have time to get anything tailored might be able to just purchase an existing dress and make some alterations to it, but her height made that impossible. Dresses made for regular women did not cover much more than her knees, and the waist of the dress would sit somewhere between her breasts and her hips, with the trail swishing around her ankles. She tried to push the images away, but like a pestering fly, they returned with company. Suddenly, the image contained not only herself in a pale monstrosity, but also a flood of gloating visitors, gaping back and forth between her and the most beautiful, handsome man of Westeros standing next to the septon. Instead of announcing the wedding, maybe they could just pass it off as a travelling circus opening sequence.

She sighed deeply. Due to her clogged up throat, though, the sound that arose was more of a wet gurgle, conjuring up a déjà vu of the sound her boots had made when she pulled them out of the bog's deep muck.

Shereen shot her a look full of compassion. "I know this might not be the wedding of your dreams, but I'll do my best to put together something halfway decent. There's just so little time! Planning the menu, preparing the food, decorating the castle, getting the guest rooms ready... there is too much to do! I've sent ravens to all noble houses that are close enough to travel to Tarth in ten days, but there are not many – basically just the nobles from the Stormlands, maybe the Naharis from Tyrosh, but I that's it."

"Thank the Gods for small blessings!" Brienne mumbled. "If I had it my way, it'd just be a simple ceremony with only closest friends and family, without all the fuss."

"Oh no, no! We're going to make this as big as we can! You're father deserves that! The people of Tarth deserve that! … I deserve that!" Shereen shot her a cheeky grin. Only because she had known her for so long and well now, did Brienne pick up on a hint of melancholy behind Shereen's happy face. "If I have to watch the woman of my dreams marry another, the least you can do is let me go all out with the ceremony. You know how I love that stuff. It's such a shame that it takes two weeks to travel from Myr to Tarth. I could have invited my parents." Her eyes started to glaze over, probably imagining flower arrangements and table settings.

Brienne sighed. "It's just… the dress. It's the epitome of evil. There is nothing that makes me feel more insecure than having to wear a dress. And if it's an ill-fitted one on top of that…"

Shereen came to a stop in front of her, putting her hands on her hips to scowl at her. "How well do you know me?!"

"Huh?"

Shereen started pacing again: "How long has it been since you confirmed to me on the ship that Jaime proposed to you?"

Brienne counted back the days. "Maybe four weeks?"

"What do you think I've been doing in my spare time?"

Brienne stared at her, astonished: "You couldn't have! You didn't even know until last night!"

Shereen waved one of her hands in the air as if swatting away the argument. "I've seen the way Jaime looks at you. Now that he finally confessed to his feelings, it was just logical that he would want to tie the knot as soon as possible. There never was a doubt in my mind… so I'm almost finished. Four, maybe five more days for the embellishments." She looked at Brienne expectantly.

"That is incredible, I cannot thank you enough!" Brienne was immensely grateful, but she couldn't shake all of her unsettlement.

Shereen pinned her with a stare and Brienne felt as if she could see right through her. "So what's the problem?"

Brienne intensely studied a fleck of dirt next to her right foot. Even the nicest dress would look… wrong on her. Shereen had put so much time and effort into it and the overall result would still be just shy of ridiculous. "I have to admit, even in the best dress I'm going to feel just as bad in public as if I had to walk naked. I'm just not a dress person."

"Well, it's not technically a dress"

Brienne stared at her, perplexed, and incredibly relieved: "It's not?"

"Not really, but it'll work, I promise!" She rubbed her hands together excitedly. "I can't wait to dress you up!"