driftfleet | We're Riding Solo

Cersei.

[ she will not call her queen. margaery tyrell is queen -- twice over, in a sense, and sansa wishes she could be happy for the woman who had (for a time) showed her such kindness. but there can be no happiness in king's landing while lions prowl, and so sansa only feels a fleeting desperation for the families left behind to squabble over the iron throne. her path has become a different one, in the vale.

or so she believes. ]

And Tywin Lannister, too. [ there's a note of pleading in her voice. do not blame me, dear brother. if pushed, she might even defend the imp. but for now she does not even say his name. ]

[In a way he could’ve expected that. The Lannisters did want their hands on Winterfell.

His hands slide to her shoulders, his grip firm and warm at the same time. Actually, he wanted to tell her this at another time and day. Not when he was having a hard time biting back tears, believing that kings should not cry.]

I have heard that you have wed the I... [A pause.] ...lord Tyrion. [Robb realizes he cannot tell her about Jon’s position in all of this. How he has made him his heir instead of a trueborn child of their parents.] I will not have him in Winterfell, Sansa.

[The look on his face is a downright sad one. From what he has heard she has suffered enough and guilt is eating him alive at this point.]

I am sorry.

[He is more sorry than he can even express and squeezing her shoulders does not help much.]

We wed.

[ she confirms what he dreads. leaden words, barely whispered. now her eyes fill with tears of their own, threatening to spill but never quite reaching the point of falling. she knows she disappoints him; she feels like parts of herself are being stripped away.

i never wanted to be heir, she wants to scream. beat futile hands against his chest. but instead she breathes deep. her eyes flutter, dislodging wetness. ]

But he and I -- [ she swallows, painfully. it will not do to discuss her maidenhead. her face flushes, and she grows craven. ] Neither of us welcomed the marriage. He was as strong-armed into it as I was, brother.

[Robb nods slowly, a thoughtful expression on his face.]

Aye, they have told me that.

[He does not expect it to be a wedding for love or anything like that. It is just a disgusting idea from the brain of Tywin Lannister. To ensure some sort of claim on the North through Robb's captured sister and the Imp.]

But I take it lord Tywin and that damnable... [Once again he corrects himself.] ...the queen, did not take no for an answer. [Slowly he moves a hand to wipe a tear away from her face.] I promise your suffering will end, sweet sister. From now on.

[ his fingers on her cheek are like a balm. for once, she believes things might indeed improve. she knows lord tyrion will make a difficulty of himself -- not for spite, it seems, but because his opinions are too loud and too brash. she sniffles. ]

I was fatherless, and a ward of the Crown. My betrothal was the king's to arrange. [ she speaks with so little emotion. sansa has learned to grow dispassionate at such a young age. ]

[Robb keeps wiping her cheek, even when the tear has already dried. It is still odd to have her right in front of him again. Some sort of dream.]

You are not without a mother. Or without a brother. [But he understands the workings. There is not much that he could have done. A deep frown appears on his face as he holds her close.]

Is it true that Joffrey has died? The Imp has told me. And I do not think Lannisters speak the truth.

[ childishly, she'd wanted robb to stay blissfully unaware of a world that went on without him. but lord tyrion has seen fit to put that desire to the torch.

not without some hesitation, sansa nods. ] Dead, Robb. At his own wedding.

[ the irony is not lost on her and the tears begin again -- crying for a brother and mother slaughtered at another feast. ]

[Robb is not sure if he is amused by the fact that Joffrey met his end at his own wedding. That, and why he did not even know of that death at all. He even knew of Sansa’s wedding.]

I take it he did not died from a bad heart. [He tries to keep his voice light but there are too many questions. Eventually the frown returns on his face and he starts to look overly serious again.] Did the Lannister queen try to blame you for the death of that...? [A pause, followed by a deep sigh. There is a lot of anger aimed at that craven sitting atop the Iron Throne.] ...her son? [Like they did with their lord father.]

I have heard what he has done to you.

Edited (html fail) 2016-01-20 17:17 (UTC)

[ fear flutters in her eyes. not fear of him -- she trusts robb with all she has, and is more than prepared to throw her support behind his dead campaign however futile it is inside this fleet. but she fears what he might think of her, transformed into a thing little better than a whipping boy. her jaw moves, but it's tight and aching. she can remember what it felt like for the back of a gauntlet to connect with her face. the flat of a sword against the back of her legs. ]

Please. [ she pleads with her brother. ] Don't tell Bran. Don't tell anyone.

[ it's her pain to carry -- and she doesn't want to inflict it upon anyone else. bad enough that lord tyrion must have spilled these details to robb. how dare he. but at least so long as she's pleading for this favour, she can avoid answering robb's more pressing question: did the lannister queen blame her? ]

[Robb looks at her, recognizing the fear in her eyes. Gods, he wishes he could stop it. All of that. It had to stop.]

I will not. [He nods while saying that.] But you need to tell me of it. I need to know if it is true that lord Tywin died. I need to know who killed Joffrey.

All of that, Sansa. It is important that I know.

[A pause.]

And your hair. Why is it so?

[ she squirms. lost. how can she tell him things that will only grieve him? things that will be of no use because he will never live to make use of them. sansa can feel a rawness in her throat. and in her eyes, there is the look of a cornered animal. her attention darts back and forth -- like she's trying to find an easy escape. ]

Lord Baelish bid me dye it. [ she answers, sadly. glad at least that robb asks her so many things that she can continue to avoid answering the ones that vex her. ] It's my disguise. In the Vale, there is no Sansa Stark. He calls me his daughter. Alayne Stone.

Edited 2016-01-23 20:38 (UTC)

[It is obvious that Sansa is not comfortable at all and he does not entirely know what to do or say. He wants to help her but in a way he stands powerless. She is not the little lady he grew up with anymore. The one who enjoyed heroic stories, dreamt of knights in shining armor and believed in handsome princes. The Lannisters took that away from her.

He is not quite sure if he should thank lord Baelish or not. From what he knows the man isn’t the most trustworthy one.]

It does not fit you. [But he can understand why. The Lannisters may never know that Sansa escaped. But then again, it would give lord Baelish a lot of power to have her under his wing.] Our lady mother would not be pleased with such news. I take it he wanted to deliver you to Riverrun? [Robb is sure lord Baelish would not deliver Sansa just because he has such a good heart.] For coin?

[A pause.]

And what about King Joffrey and lord Tywin, Sansa?

[ to be delivered to riverrun might once have been a fantasy -- something to be deeply desired. but now. now, she begins to understand why lord baelish keeps her safe. in his eyes, she is the heir to the north. stretching the chasm between pawn and player, and awaiting another marriage.

her voice is little: ] I did not kill King Joffrey. Whatever Lord Tyrion told you -- I swear, he's lying.

[ her throat tightens. how easy it would be to tell the story baelish would want her to tell. the crown blames the imp. but she cannot bring any more injustice on lord tyrion's head. ]

[Sansa is not answering half of his questions. And if she is she avoids the most important part of them. For a moment Robb has to do his best not to show a bit of frustration. He can only help her if he knows. If he knows and can return with that knowledge. Mayhaps he would not need the Freys. He wasn't overly fond of them...]

The I... Lord Tyrion did not. [It would not surprise him if the blame would be placed upon Sansa's head. But he knew his sister well enough. She would never do such a thing.]

Sansa. [A sigh.] You need to tell me. All of it. If not today, I will ask it the next one. [It aren't kind words but she needs to understand the urgency in all of this.]

-- Only, I fled that same night. You understand, don't you?

[ she trembles. it's a secret she's had to keep for a while, now. buried under other secrets. excavating them now is a painful process. ] It looked like I did it. Like Tyrion Lannister did it. But it wasn't him either.

[ she grows adamant about this: ] He was charged and found guilty of a crime he did not commit.

[Robb nods, letting her know that he understands.

Apparently she lives in a world where Tywin and Joffrey are both dead and where lord Baelish has some plan. Why doesn’t he know of this? The death of the king who sits in the Iron Throne should be something that would reach him quite fast. By raven or word.]

That would explain the Imp’s anger... [He is muttering to himself more than to his sister.] I do not expect you to do such a thing, Sansa. [And is she would have done it, he would not hold it against her either. For what Joffrey has done to her. Gods, if he were her the punishment would be far more severe.]

Lannisters are quite good at placing the blame upon others. After all, according to them it has been our lord father who killed king Robert. [There is a huge amount of bitterness in his voice and he does not feel like hiding that either.] Joffrey is a bloody monster. I am glad the realm is rid of him.

[In support he reaches out and covers his sister’s hands with his own.]

Many are.

[ glad. and with that narrow sort of admission, she sidles one step closer to telling the truth of things. she steels herself with a deep sort of breath. by now, she's decided upon the line she wants to walk between the truth and the fabrication. ]

Lord Baelish knows who did it. But he never told me. [ -- technically the truth. ] He wasn't at the feast, so it wasn't him. If he should ever arrive -- [ and part of her wishes he would, much to her shame ] -- it's him you ought to ask.

[Robb nods slowly at her words. He does not expect that lord Baelish would ever appear here, but if he would, he would have a talk with the man. He does not know him as well as his lady mother and uncle do but he is sure they could agree on some matters.]

I will. [The smile around his lips is a reassuring one. And then there was that one other important thing... He reaches out again, touching her shoulder.] And what about Arya? Is she still in King’s Landing?

[ a quick and certain shake of her head. ]

She hasn't been seen in the city since the day they killed our Lord Father. [ indeed, it had been sansa alone on the steps -- surrounded by enemies, but alone. ]

[Robb’s eyes widen a little at his sister’s words. There were rumors that Arya had been lost. Sometimes I feared her dead.]

She escaped? Or did they kill her? [She would not survive outside King’s Landing. There was chaos everywhere. A little girl like her would stand no chance. So he sighs deeply and bites his lower lip.] Gods be good...she must be dead.

[ there is reproach in her eyes that he should ever suggest something so morbid. must be dead, indeed. except didn't sansa already believe that in her heart?

but, instead, she shrugs. ] I cannot say. Except that had she been killed by King Joffrey he would have -- [ her voice stalls. pain overcomes her expression. ] He would have delighted in proving so, brother. So I pray instead she escaped.

[She is dead. It is all he thinks and he can feel guilt tightening his chest. Of course, he could not march for King’s Landing within a day. But he should’ve traded the Kingslayer.

Now she was gone.]

If Joffrey is dead it would be rather difficult to take his head. [He could take the capital, that is for sure. But only if he would call forth all his men. Make more allies. Still, Robb believes that he can do it. As stressful as it might be.] But I will march to the city and I will bring them to justice. [He has no desire to sit on the Iron Throne but he’ll see about that when he will stand in front of it.]

[ -- she wishes she had the courage to beg him off his quest for justice. but what would it matter? regardless of any of their choices, robb stark dies at the twins. ]

I believe in you. [ breathless and sad. ] I think I always have. You will not disappoint us.

[ even in death. ]

[Those words cheer him up a little and his eyes seem to become much brighter for a moment. It is important that he hears that, if only to clear the guilt that makes his heart feel so heavy.]

Thank you, Sansa. [An uncomfortable sort of laugh escapes his mouth.] It pleases me to hear such a thing. I will not let you down, I promise you that.

[He curls his fingers around his hand, squeezing lightly.]

We're Riding Solo

[action]

[action] [rule should be reign in my previous tag :c]

it's all good!

c:

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