Alyssa Flowers

Alyssa Flowers (known as Alyssa Yarrow), is the bastard and only child of Grand Maester Cyrus. She is a resident of King's Landing and courtier, posing as a daughter of a minor lord from Oldtown.

## Appearance and Character

Alyssa has the appearance of a twig that will fall from a tree at the slightest breeze. Years spent sickly and indoors have given her skin a pallor, with pink only rising to her cheeks in times of exertion or emotion. Her hair is palest blonde, untouched by the sun, and her eyes the same shade as her father's gray-blue. She has a small frame with long, spindly limbs and tends to hold herself with the awkwardness of adolescence.

Her unique childhood has built in her a uniquely whimsical, childish personality that is resistant to most of her father's teachings. Despite his inability to instruct her in many subjects, and belief that she is somewhat simple, Alyssa is quietly observant and possesses a practical intelligence that cannot be learned from books. Despite her tendency for daydreaming and idleness, she knows how to care for herself independently. She shares her father's love for plants and herbs and is often found pressing flowers or brewing a special tea. Alyssa's life of isolation has made her ill-equipped for life at court, where she is intensely shy and often frightened, though at the same time intrigued and bewitched by the splendor around her.

## History

Alyssa was born in mid-366 AC to a mother whose identity she has never known, and who perished in childbirth. Her father was a maester of the Citadel, sworn to a vow of celibacy, and thus from birth she was an illicit and vow-breaking secret. Her father, then known only as Maester Cyrus, managed to place her in the home of an old peasant couple, plying them with coin to raise her in comfort and safety. She remained with this family for a number of years, until a plague took the old couple and nearly took her life as well.

From then on, Alyssa was bounced from house to house, and usually teetered on the edge of health and illness, despite her father's many attempts at curing her ailments. For long periods of time she lived alone, with a single caretaker coming perhaps once every few days, and thus she learned how to take care of herself while keeping her identity hidden. She took comfort in stories and songs and daydreams, and sometimes in what simple lessons her father could provide, though she often found them too difficult to grasp. Despite her father's climb into the Citadel's upper echelons, she was able to remain a secret, knowing that one slip could expose him and send them both into poverty and wretchedness. And despite this constant fear, her father did dote upon her as much as he could, casting aside his hardened exterior to care for her deeply.

## Recent Events

At the time of her father's election to Grand Maester, Alyssa's future was uncertain. Cyrus would not abandon his daughter to the streets of Oldtown, and assured her that he would find some way to care for her in King's Landing. It took several moons, but the man was able to secure a small manse on the outskirts of the city in the name of a fictional Lord Yarrow, a minor noble family in Oldtown, and Alyssa was coached to present herself not as Alyssa Flowers, but as Alyssa Yarrow. She was introduced at court shortly after their arrival, and now lurks about the outer rim of nobles, attempting not to attract attention. She spends most of the time in her manse, tended to by a small contingent of servants who are sworn to secrecy.

## Family

Alyssa is the bastard daughter of Grand Maester Cyrus, thus the granddaughter of the late Humfrey Hightower. She is a distant cousin to the current line of Hightowers and to the queen, though neither know of her existence.