It was only a few days later that the Queen Regent finally seemed to recall Sansa and summoned her. Rhaena prepared Sansa to go, dressing her and styling her hair, shaking her shoulder and whispering her name until Sansa roused herself enough to be able to walk without being guided but still clung to Rhaena's arm. Ever since that day Joffrey had demanded that Sansa attend him in court, he had forced her to walk the wall where they put the heads of traitors and forced Sansa to look upon the head of her own father, as well as a number of the Stark household whom Sansa had known all her life. From that day, she had returned to being little more than a ghost, and so Rhena treated her tenderly, but now they had no choice but to obey the summons of the queen. When they approached the queen's chambers, Rhaena was forced to let go. "I cannot enter, Sansa."
"What? No, you have to…"
"I cannot, she has not called for me but for you. In any case, my presence will not help you. Only remember what I told you." Rhaena counselled in a quiet voice, soothing the panicked girl. "Be pitiful and innocent, proclaim your love for you king, and do your best to lie about your feelings concerning your father's death. They must never know your true thoughts." Leaving a kiss to her cheek, Rhaena slid her arms free of Sansa and pressed a hand to her back in order to keep her moving forwards even as Sansa looked back with a pleading expression. All Rhaena could do was wait outside, though she continually paced as she waited. This was torture. She did not know what to do, but still Sansa refused to escape with her. Now she was too weak and also too afraid to think about running away. Sansa was terrified that if they ran and were caught, she too would lose her head. Rhaena understood her fears, but she did not know how else she could protect Sansa. She had no allies here, no friends who would secure her safety of protect her from Joffrey who had now revealed himself to be a bloodthirsty boy-king. Rhaena wanted nothing more than to put his head on a spike.
Sansa remained with the queen long enough for Rhena to feel anxious, but eventually the door did open and Sansa walked through, seemingly drifting as if she was no longer a part of this world. "Sansa?" Taking hold of her friend, Rhaena looked beyond her and caught a glimpse of the queen seated with a drink in her hand whilst the other held her head. Clearly her son was causing her as much grief as Sansa was feeling. "Come away, sweet Sansa. Let us take some air, it will do you some good." Putting Sansa's hand upon her arm once more, Rhaena led the way to the gardens so that Sansa would at least enjoy the warmth of the sunlight and the scent of the flowers around her. It did nothing to rally her spirits but at the very least Sansa did place her hand over Rhaena's and draw a little closer. "What did the queen have to say?"
"She gave me her condolences and told me that Joffrey had not done what he did to hurt me. She said that he had to project the image of a strong ruler in order to command the respect of his subjects." Pitiful excuses and poor ones at that. Rhaena pressed her head against Sansa's for a moment to share in her misery before continuing their walk around the gardens. Eventually they came upon the laughter of young children in the form of Tommen and Myrcella who were also out in the fresh air, playing as their nannies and guards watched over them. Their golden hair shone brightly in the sunlight as they ran with trailing ribbons behind them, making them dance and weave upon the batons they held however when they spotted Rhaena and Sansa they immediately called to them by name.
"Sansa! Rhaena! Come! Come play with us!" Since they had been called directly, they could not ignore the children, so walked over slowly to the little ones who both beamed up at them. Tommen and Myrcella were perhaps the only unaffected and genuinely sweet children in the entire Red Keep. Their natures were kind and gentle, always smiling and laughing as both ran forwards and Myrcella took Sansa's hand whilst Tommen put his arms about Rhaena in order to embrace her. "We have not seen you in so long Rhaena, where have you been?" He questioned her winsomely as his bright eyes gazed up at her and Rhaena surrendered a smile to him as he clung to her.
"I have been looking after Lady Sansa, Prince Tommen. Do not worry though, I have missed you for every second I did not see you. Of course, I have missed the beautiful Princess Myrcella too." Settling easily into her character of an affectionate and caring friend to the young prince and princess, Rhaena felt genuine affection for them both as they pleaded for her to play. Sansa did not have the energy for such things so Rhaena persuaded them to let her rest in the shade and instead joined them in their games despite the looks of disapproval from the nannies and nursemaids who watched over them. Cersei never liked it when Rhaena was close to her children but when it was what the prince and princess demanded, who was to argue with them? Rhaena laughed and danced with them, sang them songs and played their games until both the prince and princess collapsed against her on the grass, both of them settling for a little rest as she stroked at their hair.
"Rhaena, now that Joffrey is king, are you going to be his queen?" Myrcella asked in all innocence as Rhaena stroked gently at her hair, the girl's head resting upon her leg. Before she could even answer, her stomach twisting sickeningly at the mere thought of being forced to marry Joffrey and become his wife, Tommen suddenly sat upright and frowned at his sister.
"No, Rhaena is going to marry me!"
"How sweet of you my prince, I am honoured by your affections." Rhaena chuckled softly as she kissed Tommen's head then had him settle once more against her. "But it is not me your older brother will marry. He is promised to Sansa, remember?" She told them truthfully though both children did not seem to care much for this fact.
"I would rather have you as my sister, Rhaena." Myrcella told her so Rhaena tickled her nose with a flower she had picked from the grass, a daisy. "Sansa cries too much and always looks sad. You sing us songs and play with us. You are a much better sister than Sansa."
"Princess, you will hurt Sansa's feelings if she heard you say such things for she loves you both very much." It was always a delicate task to speak with Tommen and Myrcella, for Rhaena had to be certain she did not say anything that might bring trouble back upon her later. Now that she must take care of Sansa also, she had to think of Sansa whenever she spoke to the little prince and princess. They would never intentionally bring harm to either herself or Sansa, but they were young and innocent to the games of the adults. A mere slip of a word might bring the executioner's sword down upon her neck. "In any case, we are all far too young to be thinking of marriage. Is it not better to think of games and having fun each and every day? You do not want to grow up too quickly, little prince and princess. The adult world is dreadfully dull, you would be rather bored I think." They giggled at her, thinking that Rhaena was merely joking with them and instead asked her to sing them another song. Rhaena obliged, holding them both to her as they bathed in the warmth of the sun.
They remained nestled against Rhaena until their nursemaids came to fetch them and bring them back inside for their lessons, though they protested heartily until Rhaena soothed them and with a few softly spoken words, both the prince and princess agreed to return to their tutors obediently. She saw them off with a smile, fondly waving to them until they were ushered away out of sight, allowing Rhaena to returned to Sansa. "They adore you." She noted quietly as Rhaena touched her face to feel her cheeks and neck, ensuring that she had not caught the sun and was not feverish.
"They have grown up with me in their lives, they know me as well as they know their nurses and tutors, and they like me because I will play with them and sing them their favourite songs. However, that is as far as their affection goes. Were I to vanish from their lives then I doubt they would miss me excessively, and eventually they would forget me altogether." At this Sansa quickly clutched at Rhaena's hand with a pained look in her eye, telling Rhaena that she would never forget her and under no circumstances was she ever allowed to disappear. A sad smile graced her lips. "I make no promises, sweet Sansa." She said to her honestly before helping her rise to her feet. "Come. We should go now." No doubt the queen would have already heard that her younger children had spent the morning playing with Rhaena so she wanted to be as far away as possible before she could be dragged before the queen to be reprimanded and threatened to keep her distance.
When the interrogation was over, Rhaena retreated to nurse her injures and sought to hide them from Sansa afterwards, pretending that she was well and fine as she continued to act as her handmaiden. Gradually Sansa began to come back to life, little by little so that she could at least take care of herself in most aspects, relying on Rhaena mostly for her meals and simple tasks such as managing her hair. Each meal they would share together as otherwise, Rhaena would barely have the opportunity to eat. The servants were more terrified than usual and kept their distance from Rhaena, too frightened to even slip her food so Sansa instead shared what she had with her friend. A lady was always given more than she could eat alone for variety of taste and palette so there was always more than enough for the both of them, and Rhaena was grateful that she did not starve. The girls depended on one another, for they had no one else to rely on.
Her mind often thought of Arya, wondering where she was and whether or not she had escaped. Rhaena hoped that she had, and since no one had brought Arya back to the Red Keep she could only assume that she was not captured but instead free and living wildly as she always preferred. She also thought of Ser Barristan, trying to think of where he might be. Had he already crossed the Narrow Sea, or was he still in Westeros, searching for information of her sister to find her location so that he could find her and offer her his services. She would then think of Jon in the far North and how she still had received no word from him, and Robb with his bannermen who had raised an army to avenge his father's death. He was winning, as far as Rhaena could tell. He had met the Lannister forces and was pushing them back. This at least gave Rhaena comfort and satisfaction, thinking perhaps Robb may yet stride through the main gates in order to rescue his sister and perhaps herself also. Nothing would bring her more pleasure than to see Cersei and Joffrey's heads on spikes, which would be their inevitable fate if Robb were to succeed in his war, as not only had he declared against Joffrey and the Lannisters, but both Stannis and Renly too. They had declared Joffrey a bastard of incest and both insisted that they were the rightful heir to the Iron Throne.
So much fuss over an ugly chair which looked entirely uncomfortable. If Rhaena had her way she would melt the entire thing down or have it tossed into the ocean. It had caused enough grief and strife over the years. For an inanimate object people fought and schemed so much for it, it was the cause of death for millions of innocents and brought enough tears that a new ocean could have been made by the sheer number of windows weeping for their lost husbands and sons. Yes, Rhaena would definitely choose to be rid of it were it up to her. If her sister Daenerys ever made it across the ocean with her army, she would entreat her to do just that. Perhaps she could be persuaded to take a comfier throne in its stead. These however were just more mere fantasies, and the longer Rhaena remained under the tyranny of the boy-king and his mother, the less she imagined any of them coming true. Each day was a battle for survival, avoiding being sighted by anyone who might take advantage of her lowly situation and remaining as close to Sansa as possible. Dying her hair had been the correct choice for she drew less attention, meaning that she could often go days without being seen or called upon to be a source of entertainment in one manner or another. According to Lord Varys, discussions were still being held as to what Rhaena's fate should be but generally at the current moment, as long as her sister rode with an army at her back with the threat of crossing the Narrow Sea to claim the throne, Rhaena would be kept alive to be used as leverage.
It was a small comfort but being alive did not mean she was left in peace. Her body soon became a motely of bruises that even Sansa began to notice, as fresh ones would appear before the old ones would even fade. Soon enough she was dubbed 'Rhaena the Purple'. The moniker suited her well. After having experienced such a sweet joy of happiness and comfort under the care of Lord Stark, it was almost too much for Rhaena to return to her old life, but she bore it as best she could. She strived to remain strong, hoping that one way or another, someone would dethrone Joffrey, kill his mother and his grandfather, as well as his true father then she would be left in peace. She believed that Renly would release her from her imprisonment and so wished for him to win this war, for she suspected Stannis would kill her simply for being a threat and not care what use she might have in staying her sister's desire for the throne herself. Everywhere she turned Rhaena seemed to come face to face with an enemy, it was quite dizzying. However, there was no one she hated more than Joffrey at present for the way he treated Sansa.
Rhaena had been there when Joffrey had brought Sansa to the ramparts that awful day and forced her to look upon the severed head of her father as well as her septa, Septa Mordane. He did it to terrify her, to watch her suffering and pain and take delight in it. Rhaena did not think it could have been possible, but she was beginning to hate Joffrey even more than he had hated Robert. At least Robert had the excuse of being bitter and drunk. Joffrey did what he head because he took pleasure in it. The boy was touched in the head and Rhaena wanted nothing more than to bash out his brains with a rock for how he abused Sansa. Other than to make her life miserable and remind her constantly that she was completely beholden to his power and whim, Sansa was mostly left alone and Rhaena saw to it that she at least had some comforts, bringing her what little news she could glean from rumours and the occasional missive she received from Varys concerning Robbs's invasion. They were now calling him King in the North, to which Rhaena then curtseyed to Sasna and called her princess jokingly just to try and make her smile. Since Robb was doing so excellently and was not only claiming victory after victory but also held Jaime Lannister himself captive, it meant that Sansa was that little bit safer. Cersei would never risk her brother's life by allowing harm to come to Sansa. So long as her brother was in chains, Sansa had a reprieve.
Yet still Rhaena could not persuade her to run.