The introduction chapter of Sansa. This is the first time I write a chapter from Sansa's POV before her father dies, back when Sansa is still an innocent girl who believes in charming princes and valiant knights. I hope I'll give an appreciable characterization of who she was at the time.
SANSA I
She saw Lord Tyrion leave the high table. Sansa had never seen someone like him. He made her think of Hodor. He was small while Hodor was tall as a giant, and he could speak when Hodor could only say his name, but he was strange. He didn't behave like a lord should, and he didn't look like a lord should either. Lords were supposed to be handsome and tall, to speak well to the ladies and to have good manners. Instead, this one mocked everyone and everything, made japes and comments of doubtful taste. Sansa had to admit his compliments about how she looked much like her mother and that she would break many hearts later were kind, but they weren't done in the right way. Worse, he wasn't rebuked when Arya shook his hand, and even less when she said she could kiss his hand. He even allowed Sansa's younger siblings to call him by his name, and not by his title. He looked like everything but a lord.
Sansa didn't know what to make of Lord Tyrion Lannister. She felt uncomfortable to the prospect of being in his presence. He could laugh at her, and she wouldn't know what to do in such circumstances. He was a lord, after all. What was she supposed to do when a great lord japed inappropriately in her presence?
His wife, on the other hand, was everything Sansa thought she would be. Lady Margaery Lannister was a beautiful woman, a great lady, kind, good-mannered, though she said something about her father when she arrived that puzzled Sansa. Still, she was exactly like the great ladies out of the stories. Sansa had to admit she could have confused her with the queen, had she not known who was coming today. The king, the queen, the princes, the princess and their retinue were riding for Winterfell in this very moment. They would arrive in a few days. The Lord and the Lady of Casterly Rock had, by some fortuitous event, found themselves to visit Winterfell about the same time, but they arrived before the royal party. Sansa had nothing against it. They would have two welcoming feasts this way.
Sansa was supposed to present herself before the Lady of the Westerlands during dinner, but she was afraid of being introduced in the presence of her lord husband. Now he was gone. Sansa exchanged a look with Jeyne. They both smiled in conspiracy. Sansa stood up and walked to the dais. The Lannister men were roaring at their table.
Before she could realize it, Sansa was standing before Margaery Lannister of House Tyrell, Lady of Casterly Rock and Lady of the Westerlands. Her hair was curled in a way Sansa never saw before, and she had a braid arranged in such a way... Sansa felt she was insignificant next to this woman. She was discussing with her lady mother when Sansa arrived, but she turned to look at Sansa the moment she stood before them. Sansa made a light curtsy.
"Lady Sansa," were the first words the Lady of Casterly Rock addressed to her. "I'm glad to finally meet you. I heard some tales about you when I was in the south and I was eager to see you in person."
Sansa almost reddened, though she managed to keep her composure. She didn't know people were talking about her in the other kingdoms. She thought about a story she read not long ago, about a beautiful young woman kept inside a tower and that all knights kept trying to save. A charming prince finally succeeded where all the others failed.
"It is my pleasure to meet you, Lady Lannister," Sansa replied.
"You're very beautiful, you know." Sansa couldn't control her smile. "My lord husband is right. You take a lot after your lady mother. Please, approach."
Sansa did as she was told. The Lady of Casterly Rock looked at her closely. Did she see something inappropriate on her? Sansa feared for a moment that Arya ruined something on her dress that she didn't notice. Her sister always did everything to humiliate her.
"Did you make this dress yourself?" Lady Lannister finally asked.
"Yes, my lady."
"May I have a closer look? Give me your arm." Sansa did as she was told. She felt the gaze of her mother on her. Lady Stark wouldn't accept any misdemeanor. Lady Lannister passed her hand on the fabric for some time before releasing Sansa's arm. "This is very well made. You have a talent."
"Sansa was always very good at sewing, from the age of three," said Sansa's mother.
"I wish I could say the same. I was never much good when it came to embroidery. I'm better at dancing. You know how to dance, Lady Sansa?"
"I do, my lady. I can sing, too."
"And do you play music?"
"The harp and the bells."
Lady Lannister looked quite impressed. "Well, you really are a talented girl. I can't wait to see you play or sing."
"It would be my pleasure, my lady."
The Lady of Casterly Rock was smiling fondly at her. "Would you have some time tomorrow, Lady Sansa? We could sew together, and you could show me a few tricks."
That wasn't something Sansa expected. She looked at her mother, unsure of what she should say. Her mother discreetly inclined her head, smiling all the while. "Of course, my lady. I would be very pleased."
"Very well. What about next morning? Is there a good place for this?" The last question was for Sansa's lady mother.
"The glass garden. It's quite warm inside."
"Then, I'll see you there. I'll bring a few friends with me. You could bring your sister and your own friends as well, Lady Sansa."
"Yes, my lady. Thank you, my lady."
Sansa turned away on these words. She needed to remind herself all her courtesies to not jump all around. Lady Lannister had invited her to spend time with her and the ladies following her. Sansa couldn't believe it. That was exactly like in the songs. She sat down with Jeyne.
"And? What did she say? How is she?" her friend asked her.
"She invited us to sew with her tomorrow," said Sansa, all excited.
Jeyne was all smile. "Really? I can't believe it. But what dress am I going to wear? This is my best, and I can't look like that before Lady Lannister."
"Don't worry. We will make you look wonderful, you'll see." Sansa had to reassure Jeyne. As a lady, it was her duty to reassure her friend. Sansa looked among the Lannister retinue. There were a few women, all richly dressed. Sansa wished she could have a gown like these.
She noticed that the Imp had returned. He sat back at the seat he left not long ago and kissed his lady wife. Septa Mordane always told her that a lord and a lady should never kiss in public. Sansa herself never saw her parents share a kiss. Lord Tyrion Lannister spent his time making jokes Sansa couldn't hear. Looking at the Imp, Sansa wondered how Lady Lannister could live with him. He was small, and was all the opposite of his wife. Her own lord father looked so lordly in comparison. His wife had to be indeed a very great lady to live with him without showing any sign she disliked it. Instead, she spoke with him and laughed with him, though in a more restrained way.
All of a sudden, something splashed on her cheek. Sansa turned to the other side of the table to see her sister holding a spoon, an uncontrollable laugh on her face.
"Arya! It's not funny!"
Her sister had come back and thrown smashed potatoes at her. She didn't have the right to do this. This was Sansa's favorite dress and she had worked so hard to make it. Now it would be all ruined. Jeyne helped to clean her cheeks while people were laughing all around. She looked at the dais to see the Imp laughing without control. His wife, even if she was more discreet, laughed as well. Arya had spoiled everything. Robb came to bring a groaning Arya out of table. He should have brought her out before.
Sansa spent the rest of the feast talking to no one. It was so unfair. She had made a good impression to Lady Margaery, and Arya ruined it all within a few seconds. Couldn't her sister behave like a lady once in her life? When their guests left the high table, the Lady of Casterly Rock didn't spare a look at her.
Back in her rooms later, once she had put on her night dress and that her handmaiden was gone, she said to her now sleeping sister what she thought of her. "I hate you."
"I'm awake, you know." Arya's reply surprised her. She really thought she was asleep. She shouldn't have said that. A lady should never say such things, especially not to her sister.
"Sorry, Arya. I didn't mean it."
Her sister scoffed and went back to sleep. Sansa wished so much that things were better between them. Arya was her only sister, but she didn't know how to behave. Couldn't Arya be sweet? Everything would be so simple. No, instead Arya preferred to ride, get dirty in the smithy, the mud and outside the walls of Winterfell. All that was Arya's fault. Sansa tried to help her, to correct her, to make her in a passable if not fine lady, but there seemed to be nothing to do. Jeyne shouldn't call her Horseface, but she wasn't entirely wrong. Arya was more a horse than a lady. She wanted so much for things to be different between them, but she couldn't see how. Arya was impossible to manage.
She fell asleep and dreamed of Margaery Lannister. They were sewing together, and everything was fine and perfect, until Arya jumped in with a horse and covered them all with mud. Then she dreamed of the prince. He had come to Winterfell, and he looked perfectly like a prince ought to be. He spoke with ceremony and great courtesy to her, calling her my lady, and everything was perfect again, until Arya stole his sword from the scabbard at his belt and ran away with it. The prince ran after her, Sansa being left all alone in the courtyard.
"Wake up, my ladies. It's time to get up." Septa Mordane's voice got Sansa out of her sleep. As usual, Arya groaned. "Arya, a lady does not groan," the septa lectured her.
"Is a lady allowed to do anything?" her little sister asked, sounding annoyed.
"Get up and prepare yourself. It is very important that you are presentable today."
"Why?"
"Because you are to spend time with Lady Lannister this morning."
Sansa realized she forgot to warn Arya about it. Now Septa Mordane would pay for her omission. "Ahh."
"Arya, what did I say?" lectured the septa again.
"Arya," tried Sansa, "Lady Lannister invited us both to sew with her this morning in the glass garden. We cannot refuse her."
"I would rather spend time with the Imp," retorted her sister.
"Don't call Lord Lannister this way." Arya well earned a new rebuke from their septa.
"Why not? That's how everyone calls him, and I don't think he would mind. He didn't when I shook his hand."
"Be glad he didn't. He would have been in his rights to not ever speak to you again, or even ask your lord parents to not allow you at the feast."
"Well, he didn't. And at least he's kind with Jon."
That was another mystery for Sansa. Lord Tyrion Lannister had been very kind with Arya, despite her misbehavior, and with Jon too. He even asked to be introduced to him, a bastard, while he mocked her mother's family, Robb and even Sansa herself to an extent.
"It's not with Jon we're going to spend time now, Arya, nor with Lord Tyrion," Sansa said. "We will be spending time with Lady Margaery Lannister, the Lady of the Westerlands. We must behave well this time. You cannot make any false step like yesterday."
"What did I do?" asked her sister.
Sansa felt herself grow angry despite her better sense. "You pitched food at me! You ruined my dress! You humiliated me in front of everyone!"
"Oh, I see. I mustn't embarrass you in front of Lady Lannister."
"Stop now, both of you," said the septa. "Get ready. You must be in the glass garden before long."
Arya only did the minimum before she slipped away. Sansa, on her side, combed her hair the best way she could and put the second nicest dress she could find after Arya soiled the first one. When Sansa went down to the Great Hall, Arya wasn't there. Bran told her she ate quickly and left, almost without a word. Sansa didn't linger for the breakfast, but she didn't press herself. It wasn't fitting for a lady.
Jeyne joined her and Sansa had, once again, to reassure her. She was afraid that her appearance before Lady Margaery wouldn't be good enough. Sansa was afraid that the great lady wouldn't look so well at her after yesterday's accident. She secretly hoped that Arya wouldn't come. When the time came, Sansa left the Great Hall with Jeyne and Beth Cassel, Ser Rodrik's little daughter.
Sansa didn't know if it would be better to find Arya and risk to be late, or to go immediately to the glass garden and take a chance to believe she wouldn't make her dream of last night a reality. In the end, she didn't have to choose since Arya was in the courtyard with a very small man. Sansa recognized Lord Tyrion after some time. He and Arya were close to the practice grounds where Robb and Jon were sparring together. Arya always skipped her lessons to see them fight.
"I never understood why I couldn't wield a sword," Sansa heard her say from the distance.
"Because you're a lady," replied the small lord.
"I don't want to be a lady."
"Do you think I want to be a dwarf? We do not choose who we are, but like Margaery says, we must make the best of our circumstances. Being a lady has its advantages, Arya, just like being a dwarf has its own."
"What advantages?"
"People underestimate you when you're a dwarf or a lady. They don't expect you to be clever, or to be a danger for them. This served me well when I played tricks to my sister."
"You played tricks to your sister?"
"I did. Just like you did to your own sister yesterday. One day at a feast, I noticed a misplaced plank, and my sister and I just happened to sit at the opposite extremities of it. I put all my weigh on it. I never found my sister funnier than when she was entirely covered of turtle stew."
They both laughed. To Sansa, it was everything but funny. Cersei Lannister was Lord Tyrion's sister, the queen of the Seven Kingdoms. You couldn't do that to the queen. She stood away. She didn't want to talk with the Imp.
"You know, when I really am angry with Sansa, I hide sheep shit in her mattress." Sansa flushed red. "She never knows where the smell comes from. I get the shit out after some time, then put some back when I'm angry again."
The Lord of Casterly Rock laughed with Arya. Now Sansa knew where that stench she sometimes had in her rooms came from. She would say that to their mother. "Poor Lady Sansa. That must hurt her sensibility a lot."
"She's so stupid, always there to tell me what I should do, and how, and where, and when… Always saying I don't do the things correctly."
"At least you have a sister who cares about you, Arya. I wish I could say the same about mine. I would rather have a sister like yours than the one I have actually."
That was so misplaced. He couldn't talk this way about the queen. Sansa also felt outraged he didn't rebuke Arya for speaking ill of her. A young woman with a green gown and brown of hair appeared at this moment before the Lord of Casterly Rock.
"Lord Tyrion," she said.
"Lady Sera. How are you today? I hope you don't miss your friend Mira too much," the Imp replied.
"I'm well, my lord. Everything is fine. I wish Mira was here, but I don't blame her for visiting her family."
"It's true she doesn't have much opportunity to see them." Lord Tyrion turned to Arya again, but Sansa had the impression he looked at her for a short time too. "I think it's time you see Margaery. Please be kind with her, Arya. My wife may not fight with swords, but she's gentle. She's not that different from your lady mother. Now, I have to see your father."
Lord Tyrion ruffled her hair, then bowed to her and left. Arya looked around and seemed to realize that Sansa was close.
"My ladies," said Lady Sera. Sansa thought she remembered her to be in the service of Lord Tyrion's wife. "Lady Margaery Lannister is waiting for you."
Sansa and her friends followed the young woman. Arya followed them as well. None dared to speak. Jeyne and Beth were anxious to meet in person Lady Margaery, and Sansa was afraid of the impression she would make after last night, and the impression her sister would make. Arya said nothing either. They walked through the glass garden, all warm inside thanks to the hot springs. Sansa had often wondered if it was warm like that in the south. She may ask Lady Margaery about that. No, she couldn't. She would have to limit herself to the usual courtesies, to not risk to aggravate the things more than they already were.
In a square open space, the Lady of Casterly Rock was waiting for them. Two other girls were with her. They looked to be twins, with blond golden hair and green eyes. Sansa noticed that the gown Lady Lannister wore today was lighter than the one she had when she arrived. It even let her arms bare. She welcomed them much warmly, even Arya. She didn't seem to remember at all the events of last night. Sansa decided to not make any mention of it.
Soon, they were all sitting together, working with needles. Sansa had the place of honor next to Lady Lannister. When she asked her, Sansa showed her how she worked on her embroidery. Sansa noticed, not without pride, that she was indeed better than the Lady of Casterly Rock at needlework. Lady Margaery's works were nice enough, but she lacked the skill to finely do it. Sansa spent some time showing her how to do it. It was strange to teach something to a great lady, but Sansa was glad she could. After all, the king was coming soon, and everyone talked that he was planning to make her father his new Hand, and probably to marry his son to Sansa, or his daughter to Robb. Sansa wished the better for Robb, but she hoped fervently that the king would offer to marry her to Prince Joffrey. She already saw him every night in her dreams.
"You really do it well, Sansa," Lady Margaery said. "I'm impressed. I saw no one in Highgarden who could stitch like that. Or in Casterly Rock, for that matter."
"How is it, my lady? I mean, Casterly Rock, and Highgarden. How are they?" That was the first real question Sansa dared to ask to the Lady of Casterly Rock since they arrived. Everything was going well. Arya stayed silent in her corner, but she didn't cause any trouble.
"Well, how to say?" She hesitated. "The two are wonderful places. The Rock is a mountain more than a castle, so large that you can explore it all your life and still ignore some of its secrets. It is divided in two hills, one with the main buildings, the Great Hall, the armory, the godswood, the sept, the yards, the rookery… But the northern hill is more like a place for pleasure and relaxation. When we want to get away from the life at court, my husband and I go there. The castle is next to the Sunset Sea, so we can watch beautiful sunsets and have the scent of the sea coming to us in permanence. Every room is decorated with ornaments made of gold and silver, and the city of Lannisport in its shadow is beautiful too. Ships from all around the world stop there to sell their goods in its markets. I often go there to buy a few things."
Casterly Rock looked like a wonderful place out of the stories as Lady Margaery kept talking about it. Sansa found it odd that the Lady of Casterly Rock went to buy things herself in Lannisport. Why not let her servants do it in her stead? But who was Sansa to question that? Lady Lannister was a great lady, and she had the right to do as she wished.
Lady Lannister spoke for a very long time about Casterly Rock, but she spoke even longer about Highgarden. It was the place where she was born, and it looked even more wonderful than Casterly Rock. The gardens, the festivals, the feasts, the tourneys, the knights, the godswood, the sept, the white stone walls and towers, the fields were fruits and vegetables grew everywhere… While talking about her home, Lady Margaery asked questions to Sansa about her own. Sansa did her best to describe Winterfell, but it looked dull in comparison with the two high seats of the south where Margaery Lannister lived. If the Lady of Casterly Rock thought so, she showed no sign of it and looked quite interested by what Sansa told her. Sansa was impressed by her. She really was a true lady, all courtesy and smile.
"Have you ever heard about my brother, Ser Loras Tyrell?" she asked Sansa. "The Knight of Flowers?"
"Yes, I have." Everyone in Winterfell had heard about how Ser Jaime Lannister had been defeated by the young Knight of Flowers at the tourney organized for Prince Joffrey's name day. "How is he?"
"Quite handsome, I have to admit it. Loras is two years younger than me, but he's already promised to become a great knight. There are many young women who are keeping an eye on him," she added.
The Lady Cerenna and the Lady Myrielle giggled together. Sansa wished she had been there for the tourney, and that she had seen the final confrontation between Ser Jaime and Ser Loras.
"What about Prince Joffrey? How was he? How does he look like?" Sansa wanted to know more about her prince.
"There isn't much to say," answered the Lady of Casterly Rock. "I didn't get to know him quite well. With his name day and the tourney, he had too many people around him. I spent more time with his brother and his sister, Prince Tommen and Princess Myrcella. They are very kind and sweet children. You would like the princess I think."
"I'm sure I'll be pleased to meet her."
"My lord husband loves them too. He's very close to them. I'm afraid Prince Joffrey is not so fond of his uncle like his brother and his sister. Tommen loves cats very much. He spends a lot of time playing with them. I gave him one when I visited him."
The idea of a prince playing with cats was quite foreign to Sansa, but Prince Tommen was certainly very young, of an age with Bran. Joffrey was older, certainly very different and gallant, but Lady Margaery didn't seem to know much about him. That was a pity.
"Are you done with your stitches, Lady Arya?"
Lady Lannister had noticed that Arya had stopped to sew and looked everywhere. She didn't participate to the conversation and looked bored.
"Aye." Arya shouldn't answer like this. A Lady said yes, not aye. Furthermore, she said it on a gloomy tone.
"May I have a look at it?"
Arya didn't refuse and Lady Lannister stood up to look at Arya's work. Septa Mordane once said Arya had the hands of a blacksmith, and it was true. Arya had no talent for sewing. She was only good at riding, and she often rode away from them in a run when they went outside the gates. Sansa prayed to the Old Gods and the New Gods that Arya wouldn't ruin everything.
The Lady of Casterly Rock took the cloth Arya was working on and looked at it. She smiled. "How old are you, Lady Arya?"
"Eleven, my lady." Sansa almost sighed in relief. Arya remembered her courtesies.
"This looks like the type of embroidery I made when I was your age."
"Really?" Arya looked dumbfounded, and Sansa was too.
"Of course. Do you think I knew how to sew at the time? I didn't. Even now, I'm not that talented. I often skipped my sewing lessons."
Sansa exchanged a look with Jeyne. That was so unexpected. Cerenna and Myrielle Lannister were giggling in silence with Lady Sera. Lady Lannister had allowed her handmaiden to join them.
"My grandmother, the Lady Olenna Tyrell, is not very good at embroidery either," Lady Margaery resumed. "One day, she decided to run away from one of her embroidery lessons, and she bumped into someone while going back to her chambers. The next morning, this someone asked for her hand. I'm quite happy she didn't like embroidery, or else I may not be there."
The ladies accompanying Lady Lannister all burst into laughs, and both Jeyne and Beth joined them. So that was how Lady Lannister's grandmother had met Lord Luthor Tyrell, the father of the actual Lord of Highgarden Mace Tyrell, who was the father of Lady Margaery and Ser Loras. Sansa wondered if that would be how she would meet her future husband, in a corridor, at the moment she expected the less, or in a more official way, with formal presentations.
"Don't worry, Lady Arya," said one of the twins, stopping her giggling. "One of our cousins stitch so badly that it looks more like a cobweb than sewing."
"If you're talking about Joy, then you could say her name, Cerenna," commented Lady Margaery. She came back to her seat beside Sansa.
"I'm sure Lady Joy will get better with time," offered Sansa.
Her comment was followed by new giggles from the Lannister twins. "Lady Joy?" She thought it was Lady Cerenna who spoke. She seemed to be the one to talk the most. "She's not really a lady, Sansa. She is…"
"Joy Hill is the daughter of Ser Gerion Lannister," intervened Lady Margaery. "Ser Gerion was the favorite uncle of Lord Tyrion, and the brother of the previous Lord of Casterly Rock."
Hill. That was the name given to bastards in the Westerlands. Snow, Waters, Rivers, Flowers, Storm, Sand, Pyke, Hill. All different names used for boys and girls who had highborn parents, but were born out of marriage. Sansa had wondered some time ago if Arya was a bastard. She and Sansa were so different, and Arya looked like Jon. Her mother had assured her that Arya was her sister as much as Robb, Bran and Rickon were her brothers. Sansa's mother was always distant with Jon. Sansa regretted that he was a bastard, but there was nothing to do about it. She had to keep her distance from her half-brother, though she remained in good terms with him. Truth be told, she liked him more than Arya, and she pitied him. He was sometimes so shy that Sansa told him what he should do and how he should behave in front of a lady. These times were funny in some way, and Jon never mocked her. He was always kind, and tried his best, unlike Arya.
"Does Joy sew with you?" asked Arya to the Lannister ladies, a little too rude.
"She does," confirmed the Lady of the Westerlands. "Your half-brother Jon spars with your brother Robb. Do you think this is any different in the Westerlands or the Reach?"
"It's not," added Lady Sera. "Someone isn't thrown away because he has the wrong father or the wrong mother."
They kept sewing for some more time, but at some moment Lady Lannister decided they needed to take a little walk. She told Sera and the Lannister twins to accompany Arya, Jeyne and Beth. Sansa had the chance and the honor to walk with the Lady of the Westerlands all alone. This excited her even more than everything else since the Lannisters arrived. The embroidery session had gone very well. Even Arya's bad stitches proved to be almost a blessing in the end. They walked in silence for some time.
"This is a very beautiful garden," Lady Margaery said.
"Yes, it is, my lady. I sometimes walk there," Sansa said.
"You do love gardens, don't you?"
"I do, my lady."
"I'm sure you would love the gardens in Casterly Rock and Highgarden. Perhaps I could ask your parents to let you accompany me when I travel back there."
"You would? Hmm… That would be a great pleasure for me, my lady."
"Call me Margaery, please. There are only the two of us here, and anyway there are some rumors that we could become related before long."
Sansa flushed. "These are only stories."
"Stories can be false… or true." She smiled in a conniving way, and Sansa couldn't do anything else but follow. "Have you ever left Winterfell, Sansa?"
"No. Not really. I sometimes rode around, but nothing more." Arya was the one to travel with their father most of the time. Sansa preferred to stay here and learn under Septa Mordane's and her lady mother's guidance. It was more important.
"I would like to go to the town outside, the one you call the Winter Town. Would you like to come with me in the afternoon?"
"I'm afraid I can't, my lady. I have lessons to attend to." It was Arya's style to skip lessons, but not Sansa's.
"Of course. By the way, I told you to call me by my name."
"Sorry, my… Margaery." Sansa rectified at the last moment. She wasn't used to call a great lady only by her name. The Lady of Casterly Rock smiled fondly at her, then looked at her right.
"Are these winter roses?" she asked.
The blue flowers emerged from the earth on meters. "Yes, they are."
She caressed the petals of one. "I wanted to have some at Casterly Rock, but the weather doesn't allow the gardeners to cultivate them. Do you think your lady mother would mind if I took one?"
"No, I'm sure she wouldn't."
The Lady of Casterly Rock took it and smelled it deeply. "Sweet." She kept it in her hands and looked again at Sansa. They resumed their walk. "I'm sure you would love the gardens in the south."
"I'm very eager to see them."
"I'm surprised you never left your home, at your age. At five, I was already travelling through the Reach with my parents, and since I got married, I spent more time on the road than at the Rock."
"The Rock?"
"That's how we call Casterly Rock, sometimes, between Lannisters."
"Well, I'm sure I will have my time to see the Seven Kingdoms. Margaery," she added in the end.
"You should really come with me. I have to go back to Highgarden anyway, but we will stop at Casterly Rock on our way, and even at Riverrun, your mother's home. I'm sure you would like it."
"I would, my lady. But it is to my lord father and my lady mother to decide."
"Yes, you're right. You called me my lady again."
Sansa rebuked herself inside. "Why are you going back to Highgarden? Aren't you the Lady of Casterly Rock?"
"A cousin of mine is getting married. Willas Tyrell. We were very close in our childhood. He's like a second brother to me. He's marrying a handmaiden of mine."
"Is he marrying Lady Sera?" Sansa asked, curious all of a sudden, by the talking on marriage.
"No. Sera is not betrothed. It's another of my handmaidens, a dear friend of mine. I wish I could introduce you to her, but she's visiting her family right now."
They kept walking, discussing about that thing and another. They had a very pleasant time, and to the opposite of Sansa's dreams, Arya didn't come on a horse to spoil everything. Sansa got used to calling Lady Lannister only Margaery after a time. She felt very privileged to call this way one of the greatest ladies in the world. She wondered if the queen would allow her to do the same when she would arrive. She reflected that Lord Tyrion said to Rickon, Bran and Arya to call him by his name as well. Maybe he and his wife were not as different as Sansa believed.
"Tell me, Sansa, is everything all right between you and your sister, the lady Arya?"
Sansa was surprised by the question. She didn't expect that. "Yes, everything is all right."
"Are you sure? I could feel a little strife between you this morning, and last night at the feast too."
Lady Margaery had an inquisitive look. Sansa couldn't avoid the subject. "We… We have differences. That's all."
"I have many differences with my brother. It doesn't stop me from loving him. As for my husband… My marriage would be an ordeal if I let our differences get in the way. You have to look at us standing together."
The Lady of Casterly Rock laughed about it, and Sansa timidly joined her. It wouldn't do to not laugh when the Lady of the Westerlands did. "We have a few quarrels sometimes. Nothing serious."
"When I had quarrels with my brother, we made peace after an hour at most. It didn't stretch over the next day."
Lady Margaery Lannister had a sad and concerned expression upon her face. Sansa tried to explain. "Arya… she doesn't behave well, sometimes. I'm trying to tell her, but she doesn't listen, and… And she makes things she finds funny when they're not."
"Like when she ruined your dress. I saw her throwing food at you at the feast."
"That was my favourite dress. I had worked on it for hours."
Sansa looked at the stones on the ground. If only Arya understood and stopped mocking her. Jeyne and Beth mocked Arya sometimes, and although Sansa was tempted to join them from time to time, she never did. Se never gave any cause to Arya to behave so horribly with her.
"You know, Sansa, my husband has a sister, and truth be told, they hate each other. When I met the queen in King's Landing for the first time, I tried to mend the fences between them, only to find out that she had no wish to get along with her brother. Tyrion seldom talks about it, but he regrets it. I know he does. He would like his sister to love him, and to understand him, instead of always looking at him as if he was a monster." Sansa understood to some point. She wished Arya could understand and love her too. "I never had a sister, Sansa, and Tyrion has one, but he lost her a long time ago. Don't lose Arya."
"I don't want to lose her, but she… she's impossible." How could she explain that? She couldn't find a way to get things well between them. Arya was everything a lady shouldn't be, and she refused to be anything a lady should be.
"She ruined your favorite dress last night, you told me."
"Yes, she did." Sansa heard some anger piercing through her voice. She had made this dress especially for Lady Lannister's arrival.
"You can get another one, or even make a new one, I suppose."
"Yes, of course, but…"
"Can you get another sister?" The question startled Sansa. "Can you replace Arya like you can replace a gown? Is a dress worth losing your sister?"
Sometimes, Sansa wished she could replace Arya, but it was true, she couldn't replace her. Her father refused to give them separate rooms when Sansa asked him, and he refused because they couldn't live together.
"No," Sansa answered. "But… that's not only the dress. She…"
"Are all the little quarrels you had enough to sacrifice her? Arya is your only sister, Sansa. You won't get another one. If you lose her, you are unlikely to ever get her back. Is a ruined dress or a wrong behavior or a couple of unwanted jokes worth losing someone of your own blood?"
Sansa thought about that. It was true. The way it went, there could be a permanent break between her and Arya. Sansa didn't wish it. She wanted Arya to be her sister, but they were so different that she almost felt sometimes that they were no sisters at all. And yet, they had good memories together. She remembered a snowball fight they had years ago. Arya and Bran had ambushed her when she emerged from the keep one morning and thrown dozens at her. Sansa had chased Arya through the stables and around the kitchen until she slipped on some ice. Arya had come back to see if she was hurt, only to throw another snowball at her face when Sansa told her she wasn't. Sansa then had grabbed her sister's leg and rubbed snow in her hair. They were both laughing when Jory pulled them apart later. There had been good times between them, and Sansa had loved them.
As she kept walking with Lady Lannister, Sansa thought she should try to make things better between her and Arya. After all, Arya wasn't evil. She laughed at Sansa, but Sansa did as well, even if that was less often, and she never really tried to stop Jeyne from calling her little sister Horseface, even if she knew that wasn't kind, or to stop the other mockeries towards her sister. Arya was two years younger than her. Her sister wouldn't marry before long. Maybe she could allow some violations of courtesies from time to time. After all, in the stories, there were often women who tried to ruin the life of the lady or the princess, but what Arya did was nothing in comparison to what these women did. She would try to mend the fences between her and Arya. She had to. If the Lady of Casterly Rock said so, it had to be the right thing to do.
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