Sansa stood rooted in her spot by the window for hours after Tyrion had left her. Unmoving, she had watched as the sky grew pink as the sun set over the horizon and then faded into a lovely lilac and then a deep blue as the last light of day disappeared. She had vaguely recognized a knock on the door about an hour ago as a handmaiden had probably tried to deliver her dinner. Whoever it had been had waited a short amount of time before trying the door, finding it locked, and then leaving her be.
With no one to light the candles, Sansa stood in darkness, trying her best to process what had just occurred. She was a fool. A stupid little girl with foolish dreams who never learns. She had thought... for just a moment she had thought that someone had looked beyond her pretty face and had seen something of worth. Seen her as more than just a pawn in this game of thrones. Her fists tightened enough for her neatly trimmed nails to cut into her palms as she shook slightly, finally turning away from the window and taking a seat at her vanity. No, Tyrion had just been more clever than most. Working to trick her into letting her guard down enough to gain her trust. She should have been able to see that he was only interested in taking both her maidenhead and her claim. She should have known that nothing good could come from associating with a Lannister-they were all conniving and cruel. Tears bubbled up in her eyes as she remembered how stupid she must have looked-how naive. She cursed herself for being such a fool. She had allowed him in and had told him so many things about her family and about her old life and she would bet everything she owned that he was sitting with the queen and the hand every night, laughing at her. He had conspired with Lord Tywin to steal the north from her brother.
Sansa looked up and met her own eyes in the mirror and saw fire raging behind the blue. She rubbed away the tears on her cheeks and picked up a brush, running in through her tangled hair. She rose from her seat, moving throughout the room lighting candles. As her chamber filled with a warm glow, she moved to the door and cracked it open. As she suspected, her handmaiden had left a tray of food and she picked it up and carried it to the table. She picked lightly at the cold roasted chicken and took a few sips of the honeyed wine that had been abandoned earlier. When she moved back to the mirror and surveyed herself, she saw a true lady, polished and refined. But as she looked into her own eyes she could still see the blaze of fury and determination, and she was hell bent on never losing that again.
...
She didn't remember falling asleep, but the next morning a rough knock on her door shocked her awake. Groggily, she stood from the bed and made her way to her door, cracking it slightly, hoping it was not anyone blonde. She rolled her eyes when she saw it was Chella. She tried to close the door in the tribewomans face, but an arm much stronger than hers forced it open. Sansa glared at the woman, but was met with only a pitying glance.
"I'd like to be alone." she growled, hoping to send Tyrion's minion away. Chella was only a tool used to gain trust and Sansa was done accepting it. When Chella didn't move, Sansa decided to try something a little less ladylike. "Go away!" and she tried again to slam the door.
A soft chuckle and a hard push denied Sansa her privacy as the woman made her way into the chamber, brushing past her charge with ease. Although a small part of Sansa panicked at this, she couldn't fight the knowledge that the woman would not harm her. Still, to have her desires so casually dismissed annoyed her.
Once Chella was inside, there was no use fighting her presence, so Sansa closed the door and turned to the woman with a scowl. Chella was making herself at home, taking a swig from the flagon of ale on her hip and leaning up against the bed post.
"I heard about your new betrothal, little one. May I be the first to congratulate you." Chella gave her a toothy grin and Sansa felt outrage surge in her.
"Congratulate me?" She snarled. "Congratulate me on being conned into becoming a Lannister toy? For forever tying myself to that family of liars and murderers?" Unfortunately, this was the first person she was coming into contact with after learning of her betrayal and combined with the false kinship she felt with the woman, all of her anger came flooding out. "Let me guess," she sneered, "You've been reporting any and all actions of mine to your master since the moment you were put with me...You're nothing but a Lannister dog!" She spat hatefully. "Get out of my rooms, you are dismissed! I don't want to see you again!" She threw open the door again and stood before it, panting from her outburst. But Chella just stared at her in wonder. She had never seen her pretty little charge act in anyway that wasn't perfectly ladylike and to see such a hurricane of emotion was surely out of the ordinary.
"Sansa-" Chella started gently, but was cut off.
"Lady Stark." Sansa interrupted straightening her back and standing tall, even if she only came up the Chella's shoulders. "You will address me by my proper title!" she demanded heatedly. Allowing the woman to ignore her titles had given in to the informality of their friendship and Sansa had to put an end to it.
Chella only bit back a grin before making a big show of bowing mockingly. "Lady Stark," she sneered slightly before looking at Sansa seriously. "I'll go alright, but I'll not go far. You can send me away from you as is your right, but my orders still stand. You're in the middle of a lions den, little one, and I won't be leaving you alone to deal with them. That sniveling boy king of yours still has it out for you and I'll be damned if you go traipsing around the keep unprotected." Chella passed Sansa and through the open door before turning around for one last thought.
"Just keep in mind, little lady: there's only been one lion who has had your back through it all. Only one has protected you." Sansa scowled at her before starting to close the door. She barely caught the last thing Chella said. "And keep in mind that he's surrounded by enemies too."