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Face Claim for Lady Sanira Tremaine: Caitlin Stasey.
Chapter Five: Lady Sanira Stark.
Hearing a noise to her left, Sanira slowly opened her eyes feeling a little disorientated about her location as she stared at the strange room that she found herself in. It took a moment for her to remember where she was and a small frown formed on her face for a moment as she glanced over her shoulder to where her husband should have been.
The space where Robb had slept the night before Sanira was surprised to see that it was empty, she could not help but wonder where he had disappeared to that morning. There was no doubt that no one would expect them down in the hall to break their morning fast, they would all expect them to be enjoying the fresh start to their married life together.
Moving to get out of bed, Sanira paused as the bedroom door opened and Aiana stepped into the room holding a tray; she was followed by another maid who was carrying fresh bedding. Sanira was just relieved that she did not have to deal with her mother, there was no doubt in her mind that sooner or later Arlenna would come to see how her night had been even if it was just to complain about the lack of consummation.
"Good Morning my Lady," Aiana greeted setting the breakfast on a table, she smiled before moving to open the window and allow the morning light to stream in. It was a beautiful day and there was little point in staying locked away in the bedroom when everyone was in such wonderful moods after the wedding; the celebrations had gone long into the night even after the bride and groom had left.
Climbing out of bed, Sanira moved to sit at the small table so that she was out of the way of the other maid; she looked like one that served her mother and Sanira could only guess why she was here.
"Lord Robb sent me to make sure you have a relaxing morning," Aiana continued to talk while the other maid started to strip the bed, she paused for a moment seeing how clean the sheets were before she continued on with her work. Helping herself to her breakfast, Sanira nodded her head wondering where Robb had slipped away to; it would surely make the people talk if he did not break-fast with her the morning after their wedding.
Aiana set about getting clothes ready for Sanira, she peeked over at the other maid knowing that Arlenna had sent her to spy; she could not believe that anyone would agree to do that woman's dirty work. They were all silent until the other maid had done her work and left, leaving no doubt in Aiana's mind that she would go running to Arlenna with whatever she had been sent to discover.
"Your Lady Mother would like to dine with you for lunch," Aiana murmured looking to Sanira, she was almost glad that Arlenna would not be hovering about and she knew that the woman would likely plant worries and doubts in Sanira's mind while she could. Sanira now held a position of power that Arlenna had only dreamed of it was no secret that Arlenna had always hoped to marry into a powerful family herself.
House Tremaine had once been a great family, one that had seen many great marriages take place only for its luck to turn a couple of hundred years ago and still the House was trying to recover from such things. House Tremaine had been a fairly good family name to marry into, anyone in Westeros could say that but it did not have the power that House Stark or House Baratheon had gained.
Sanira by marrying Robb would one day be Lady of Winterfell, her husband would become Warden of the North and Lord Paramount of the North giving Sanira power that only Arlenna had dreamed of. Her mother had never been silent about her dislike for a match that she saw below herself, she had bemoaned the fact her fool of her father had married her to a man beneath her.
Slowly nodding her head, Sanira held back a groan at the idea of having lunch with her mother and having to listen to her negative comments on whatever she wished to speak about. For not the first time, Sanira wished that her mother had been more accepting of her, that perhaps she was more like Lady Stark and loved her children for what they were not what they were not.
Aiana patted Sanira's shoulders before moving to prepare a bath for her, she did not know what Arlenna wanted but it was clearly going to be about her new position in life.
Sipping on her wine, Arlenna stared across the table at Sanira displeased with her only daughter's actions; she had hoped that the wedding night would have gone as expected but her maid told her otherwise. There was no sign that Sanira had consummated her marriage to Robb and Arlenna could not believe that her daughter would take such a risk.
The Starks could annul the marriage at any time especially when they realised how disturbed she was and what that might mean for future children. Silently across the table, Sanira tried to act confident knowing what was coming; there was no way around the talk that her mother had in mind.
"Marinah tells me that your sheets with clean this morning," Arlenna mused starting off simple, her blue eyes watching Sanira trying to sense any sort of discomfort at her questioning. It was one thing that she had drilled into her daughter that needed doing, she needed to secure this alliance with a child before anyone could cast doubt.
"That is true," Sanira confirmed carefully, she did not dare meet her mother's eyes instead focusing on her plate; she did not feel hungry and just wanted to be dismissed so that she did not have to be here. There was no point in avoiding her mother since Arlenna would just track her down and make it worse; it was better if Sanira just went along with her wishes. Sanira nibbled on her lip, she wondered how much trouble Robb had gotten into for not consummating their marriage when his parents had discovered this news.
"You didn't consummate your marriage?" Arlenna asked already knowing the answer to her question, she sat back in her chair knowing that this simply would not do. Having been brought up to do her duty, Arlenna could not believe that her own daughter was failing to do so; she almost wished that she had sent Sanira off to the capital as a young girl to live under her niece.
Cersei Lannister was Queen of the Seven Kingdoms and would have been a great help to Arlenna by fostering her daughter, she would have learnt how to be a true lady and to do her duty instead of hiding away from it. Instead, Rolan had refused stating that his daughter would be raised as a Northern lady and she would not need to know the stuffy teachings that the South would teach her.
"Robb assured me that was fine," Sanira replied trying to be confident in her answer, she peeked at her mother's face unsurprised to see the disapproval that covered her face. Nothing Sanira seemed to do pleased Arlenna and she was only glad that in a couple of days that her mother would be traveling back to Aeredale; she was just sad the rest of the family had to go with her as well.
Clicking her tongue, Arlenna did not say anything for a moment watching Sanira closely; she could not help but imagine what would happen if this little secret came out, it would ruin everything. Arlenna would rather leave her daughter here than have her back at Aeredale getting under her feet, she would not miss Sanira when they headed back to the small keep that belonged to the Tremaines. It paled in comparison to Casterly Rock and Arlenna was a little ashamed that was her lot in life, she had always pictured something grander but instead she was a minor lady while her niece was a Queen.
"You are Lady Stark now Sanira. Act like it," Arlenna hissed knowing that the last thing that they needed was any sort of trouble; Sanira would be expected to give Robb a son sooner rather than later. One that would inherit Winterfell one day rather than a brother that was further down the line than Robb's two sisters.
Eddard Stark would not live forever and one day Robb would take over for his father like Sanira would take over for Catelyn when the time was right. There was going to be a lot of responsibility on Sanira's shoulders and Arlenna knew that her daughter was far from ready for that sort of pressure that would come with the position.
Sanira did not say a word, she was a Stark now and she would learn how to do what was expected of her; Catelyn seemed a lot more patient than Arlenna and Sanira had no doubts that this would make it easier for her to learn her role. Perhaps without her mother breathing down her neck, she would actually be able to succeed and find her own feet without the idea that her mother was around the corner waiting to scold her for failing. The sooner Arlenna returned to Aeredale the better and Sanira would not miss her when she was not in Winterfell anymore.
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