"Did you pack some warm clothes?" Catelyn inquired, a frown on her face.
"Mom!" Sansa groaned. "No — it's King's Landing! It's warm there!"
"Well, King's Landing or not, you, young lady, will be packing some warm clothes. Winter is coming," Catelyn said in a voice full of determination.
Sansa could only sigh. If her mother wanted her girl to have winter clothes in the South, she would end up having them regardless of her protestations. She did not voice any more objections, however, wishing to indulge her: she knew Catelyn was taking to the separation harder than anyone had expected, especially considering that Robb had gone to college a year earlier and Jon the year before. But it was more than that: Catelyn Stark was far from liking the idea of her sweet, innocent girl entering the Lannister Ballet Company, regardless of what wonders this would do for Sansa's career.
A nest of vipers, Catelyn thought. And I don't care that they say Jaime Lannister is the most talented ballet dancer ever to have graced the world with his presence; nor that his brother — what was the Imp's name, again? Tywin? No, that was the monstrous patriarch of the Lannister family, completely separated from the artistic world — nor that the dwarf is a genius director like his brother, capable of creating the most magical productions and who has connections to the entire artistic world!
Sansa's mind, meanwhile, went back to the red and golden envelope that had arrived several months before, shaking the quiet Stark family life to its very core. Sansa had applied to the Lannister Ballet Company without telling her parents (or her siblings, for that matter). She did not care that her father disliked Tywin Lannister, once his business partner, with all his honorable Northern heart. The dancing company had nothing to do with Tywin. On the contrary, it had been created from the ground up by the Lannister siblings: Jaime and Cersei Lannister were the principal dancers, who shared the responsibilities of director with their younger brother, Tyrion. The company wavered the storms set by Tywin Lannister, who had been desperate to bring his heir back to his senses, so that instead of "jumping around in tights" he could one day head Lannisters & Co; withstood the scandal occasioned when Jaime was accused of murdering Aerys Targaryen. Even when Cersei left the stage to marry Robert Baratheon (a marriage that was heartily disapproved of by Ned Stark, who wanted better for his close friend), the Lannister brothers continued to divide the responsibilities of director: the older in charge of the dancers and choreography, Tyrion responsible for the music, mise en scène, and all that constituted the company's relationships with the outer world, which was despised by Jaime Lannister. Despite Cersei's departure, the Lannister Ballet Company continued as the most successful and prestigious ballet company in the Seven Kingdoms, and any dancer (Sansa Stark included) dreamed of nothing but getting his or her foot in the door.
When her senior year at the Winterfell Academy of Ballet had brought the excitement and horror of applications, Sansa submitted her portfolio for consideration to the Lannister Ballet Company. She did not allow herself to hope and was taken entirely by surprise when she had been invited for an audition. Lest her parents prevented her from going, she enlisted the help of Ygritte, her brother Jon's girlfriend, to drive with her to King's Landing for the audition. Ned and Catelyn labored under the impression that their daughter went traveling with her friend over break.
Walking down the corridors of the Lannister Ballet Company for the first time was a breath-taking experience for Sansa, a moment between dream and alternate reality. To her disappointment, most of the dancers were away on a tour in Dorne, but she was auditioned by none other than Tyrion Lannister himself. Sansa took an immediate liking to the little man, whose kindness and wit compensated for his small stature. Her performance was more than usually inspired: it seemed as though her pointes never touched the luxurious flooring, as though she floated, wrapped in music, as she danced in the light-filled studio. Tyrion was impressed. Two weeks after her return from the audition, the red and gold envelope had arrived, leaving her overjoyed yet facing the necessity of confronting her family.
"Out of the question!" had roared Ned Stark. "My daughter will not step foot into the hell-pit they call King's Landing and into Lannister jaws! Over my dead body!"
Of course, a few days later, the father relented. And now his precious little daughter was going away; away into a world he knew was cruel and unfair — especially where the Lannisters were concerned. Sansa thought she was about to enter a world of dreams.