24. Vows Are Spoken To Be Broken.

Three days later, the day of the wedding arrived.

The day had been crazy so far; from the moment Sansa had woken up she had started getting ready for her wedding, which was that day in only a few hours.

Professional hairdressers had done her hair for that special occasion. Her beautiful auburn hair had been carefully washed and dried and brushed and combed until a bright and perfect red cascade of curls fell down her back, and then it had been put up in an updo that had a romantic style to it, and it was been decorated with a few small white flowers. Then the make-up artist made her make-up: it was very natural, and instead of making her beauty look artificial it just enhanced the extraordinary beauty that she had been born with. Sansa looked sweet and dreamy and gorgeous, and when she smiled she looked like an angel.

Her mother Catelyn and her sister-in-law Talisa helped her put the dress on. It was the last thing that she did because she didn't want to ruin it before leaving the mansion to go to the cathedral where the ceremony was going to take place. Personally, Sansa didn't want that wedding to be perfect. She had prayed for the weather to be bad or for some disaster to happen so that the wedding was cancelled; but she was out of luck. The skies were clear, the sun was shinning even though it was almost winter, and everything was going as planned. It almost made her cry.

On one hand it was good, though. If the wedding was canceled she would have to go through all the process all over again and she would end up having to marry Joffrey sooner or later, so at least she was getting it over with. However, it would have been easier to hide her extreme sadness and despair if there was an obvious reason for her to be feeling that way, and she wouldn't have to work so hard all day to keep smiling perfectly. If her dress got stained or the weather was bad or the flowers were not of her liking she couldn't have started crying like she wanted to cry...

"You are beautiful," Catelyn said, getting emotional, when Sansa was done getting ready.

Sansa looked at her at the full-length mirror. She did look beautiful, and for a moment she stared at her own reflection with surprise. What she saw in that mirror in front of her was everything that she had always dreamed for her wedding. It circumstances were different, that would have been the most perfect day of her life...

But it wasn't.

"Thank you, Mom," she said. Even though inside she felt she had a hurricane destroying her, on the outside her smile was flawless.

"Joffrey is going to faint when he sees you," Talisa said, and she winked. "He's such a lucky man."

"Robb is luckier, he has you!" Sansa said, and Talisa giggled as blushed.

She straightened the skirt of her dress and put on her earrings, two pearls in the form of teardrops, and then she waited until they were all ready to go downstairs and get out of the mansion. They were the only ones left in the Red Keep, apart from the bodyguards. The Lannisters and Baatheons had left early in the morning with Joffrey and they had left Sansa with the professionals and her family. Joffrey never allowed Sansa to stay alone with her family, but with the threat that he had given her the other day she knew that he knew for sure that she wouldn't do anything foolish.

They left the mansion and entered the limo, which drove then to the other side of the city, to the Sept of Baelor. Because that was the place where all important events happened, and the entire country had it's attention on that wedding, the ceremony was going to take place in that glorious and ancient cathedral. It was been decorated with flowers and the steps had been covered with a long red carpet that led all the way to the entrance, and the altar.

When the limo stopped in front of the Sept of Baelor, one of the bodyguards opened the door for them and helped Catelyn and Talisa out first. The last one to step out of the car was Sansa, and she was greeted by the cheers of thousands of people that were standing outside of the cathedral. They had all been waiting there for the moment when the bride would arrive so that they could be the first to see her and the dress. The whole country was indeed completely focused on that wedding, and they were excited to witness the union between the Baratheons and the Starks. It was a very awaited event, and they all wanted to express their support to the Stark bride. Sansa looked at all of them in shock at first. She had seen that people through the windows of the limo while they were driving there, but she had never expected them to be so enthusiastic and loud. The wave of cheers hit her like a truck, but she quickly blinked and recovered. Even though she was still shocked and, instead of feeling supported, she felt even more suffocated than before (she realized now that everyone wanted to see her married to Joffrey, and it just made the nightmare that she was living feel even worse than it already did,) she smiled and raised her arm and waved her hand in the air to greet them. Those people were trying to give her their best wishes, after all, and most of them were her fans and loved her. She should at least try to thank them for being there. As she waved and smiled, the sound of the cheering intensified. Moments later she turned her back on them and walked up the steps of the Sept of Baelor towards the main entrance, which was open for her.

Once inside, Talisa left the group to go to her place among the guests, and only Catelyn remained there at Sansa's side. They were behind the doors to the main chapel of the cathedral, which were closed so that no one would see the bride before she was ready to walk in. Catelyn used that time to fix a few details of Sansa's hair and her dress and her long veil, and then she handed her the flower bouquet that she had been holding for her. Sansa noticed a few tears peering on the corner of her mother's eyes, and she chuckled.

"Mom, are you crying?" she asked, and Catelyn quickly wiped the tears away.

"No! Well... Yes, but it's because I'm happy! It's not everyday that a mother gets to see her daughter getting married..."

"You saw Robb getting married."

"Robb is not my daughter."

"True," Sansa chuckled. Despite everything, her mother could still make her laugh. That served to make her a little bit less miserable.

"Your father would be very proud," Catelyn suddenly said. She meant it as a compliment, obviously, but Sansa's misery returned with all its full strength, and she almost broke down crying, but she didn't. She had managed to be strong up until that moment, she wasn't going to ruin everything right before walking down the aisle.

Naturally, Catelyn thought that Sansa's sadness was due to the memory of her father. Sansa was indeed crying because of it, but because of reasons different than what Catelyn thought. Her mother took out a handkerchief to clean Sansa's tears.

"Carefull now," she murmured. "You don't want to ruin your make-up..."

"No," Sansa agreed, and she made her best effort to stop the tears to stop streaming down her face. She succeeded.

Her brother Robb arrived soon after, entering the small hall in which they had been waiting for him. Once he was there, Catelyn left, leaving her two eldest children there. Because her father had died, Robb was going to be the one to walk Sansa down the aisle that day. Robb smiled and hugged his sister.

"I can't believe you are getting married today!" he exclaimed while he hugged her, and she shrugged.

"I know! Neither can I... You are so handsome today," she said once she let go of him.

"And you're beautiful!" he said, just like everyone else had been doing that day. Sansa thanked him, and then Robb became a bit more serious. "I have to ask you , Sansa... Do you really want to do this?"

Sansa frowned upon hearing that question. She immediately beams worried. Had she let anything slip out? Had she not played her part well? Had she not fooled them? Had her brother figured anything out? If he had, then Sansa was doomed and her family was doomed. She nodded, trying to keep calm.

"Yes, of course."

"I just want to make sure that you are happy. You are my little sister, I want the best for you."

"I know, Robb, and I love you for it."

"I love you too," Robb said, and he smiled to her. Sansa loved that smile. It brought her back memories from her home, from Winterfell, and from old times when she was younger and she was happy with her siblings and her parents. Life was easy, and it was all safe and good. That smile gave her the courage to go on, to take her brother's arm and stand in front of the doors that separated them from everyone else in the main chapel.

I'm doing this for you, for all of you, Sansa thought. She knew that her wedding was a sacrifice that was needed for her family's sake, and she was willing to do it. I can't fail you now.

"Ready?" her brother asked.

She took a deep breath, and then she nodded.

"Ready."

The doors opened and the nuptial march started playing. All the guests turned around to look at the main entrance and they stood up to greet the bride. Then she walked in.

Sandor had thought he was handling all the emotions of that day more or less alright, until that moment. He had been following Joffrey around all day while the groom got ready and went to the Sept of Baelor to wait for the wedding to start. Sandor had been trying to focus on his duties as a bodyguard so that he could ignore the voice inside of him that was screaming with rage, and so that he could ignore the way in which he seemed to be ripping himself apart from the inside out. He tried not to think that that day he was going to lose Sansa forever. The day of the wedding had arrived, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. He had tried to convince himself that it did not matter, that a wedding was just a wedding, nothing else. A ceremony and a piece of paper, it didn't change anything... He had almost succeeded at thinking that, he had almost succeeded at shutting off the pain inside of him, until Sansa walked inside the cathedral. As soon as he set eyes on her he knew that he was ruined.

Sansa was an angel of beauty that day. Sandor managed to see her well from the place that he had been assigned as one of the bodyguards, and he had to control himself so that his mouth wouldn't hang open in awe. Everyone's reaction seemed to be the same, but it was impossible not to be amazed by Sansa that day.

She was walking down the aisle in a full-length white dress with a trumpet silhouette. It had an off-the-shoulder neckline and sleeves made of delicate lace that went down to her elbows. There was lace on the bodice of the dress as well, giving it an elegant, romantic and sophisticated look, and there was lace covering Sansa's bare skin up to her collarbones and her back too. Her long veil didn't cover her face, allowing everyone to appreciate her beautiful face, but it did fall over her back and the floor behind her. On her hands she held a bouquet made of white and red roses.

As he watched her walking down the aisle to the rhythm of the nuptial march, Sandor caught himself wishing with all his strength that it was him at the altar waiting for her. He wanted it to be him the one she was marrying, not Joffrey... He hadn't realized how much he wanted that until he actually saw Sansa there, and he knew that she was completely out of his reach now, and in a few moments it would be forever.

Turns out that wedding did matter after all...

Sansa reached the altar and gave her brother a kiss in the cheek before he left to go to his seat next to his wife and son, and she took her place on the altar next to the groom.

Joffrey had the biggest smile that no one had ever seen on him ever, but it wasn't a real smile. Sandor knew it for what it really was: a smile of victory, or power, of dominance. He was celebrating in his mind his victory over Sansa, he had finally gotten what he wanted. Sansa was doing a brilliant job in appearing to be excited and nervous and happy, and Sandor thought that it was no wonder that she had won an Oscar for her acting. Oh, how he wished that someone would see through her act and stop that farce...

Please... he begged in his mind. For such a non-religious man, he had caught himself praying more often than ever since he met Sansa. His gaze rose to look at the enormous cross on the wall of the cathedral: the Sept of Baelor had been a temple to pagan gods in ancient times, but when times changed it had changed it's purpose to serve the Christian God. Please stop this...

He prayed for a miracle. It was foolish, he knew it, but he did it nevertheless. He had to at least try.

He set his eyes on the altar again, looking at Sansa and Joffrey. They were not facing the priest, who had started to officiate the ceremony. Sandor felt a pang in his chest. That could not be happening. He didn't want it to happen. He had never thought that it would hurt so much. The feeling was suffocating.

Sansa, look at me... he thought. Look at me, please...

But she didn't. Sansa was looked to the priest that was speaking at that moment.

A short mass came first. Later, the actual marriage ceremony started.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered together here in the sight of God, and in the face of this company, to join together this Man and this Woman in holy Matrimony." He went on an one explaining something, but Sandor wasn't listening. He couldn't care less about the priest's words, he could just focus on the look on Sansa's face. From where he was standing he could see her a bit sideways, and it was enough to see that her smile was fading and that was becoming much more difficult for her. "Joffrey and Sansa, have you come here freely and without reservation to give yourselves to each other in marriage?"

"Yes," they both said.

No...

"Will you love and honor each other as man and wife for the rest of your lives?"

"Yes."

Stop.

"Since it is your intention to enter into marriage, join your right hands, and declare your consent before God and his Church."

What consent? Sandor thought, enraged. She's being forced into this, you witless fool! How can you not notice it? How can't any of you buggers notice?! She doesn't want this!

Joffrey and Sansa turned to face each other and they held each other's hands while they looked into their eyes. Sansa gave her bouquet to someone so that she could hold Joffrey's hands, and then Sandor could see her breathing deeply. He had known how brave she was since long ago, but being there at that moment watching her suffer through that wedding with such composure confirmed to him that she had a backbone made of steel. The question was: did he have the same strength to remain saw until the end of that ceremony? Would he be able to endure it? He thought it would be easier than that.

"Joffrey, do you take Sansa to be your wife? Do you promise to be true to her in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, to love her and honor her all the days of your life?" the priest asked Joffrey.

"I do," it was amazing how quickly he said those words. It was as if he couldn't wait a second longer to have full power over Sansa, to be her husband and own her, and all that came with her. Sandor felt sickened.

It was now Sansa's turn...

"Sansa, do you take Joffrey to be your husband? Do you promise to be true to him in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, to love him and honor him all the days of your life?"

Sansa didn't respond as quickly as Joffrey had. In fact, it seemed that she wasn't going to respond at all. Moments passed, and she was silent. She was finally hesitating. Because of how she was standing, Sandor could now see her face perfectly and he saw her hesitation, the doubt in her eyes. No one else saw it, but he did see her fear. She wanted to say no, and she was finding herself in a struggle that had left her completely frozen.

She tried to say something, but the words were caught in her throat. To everyone else it was just nervousness because of everything that was happening, but Sandor could see that she was panicking. Joffrey saw it too. He tightened his hold on Sansa's hands, crushing them inside his. For a split second Sansa gasped in pain, and Sandor couldn't help it and he took a step forward. No one noticed except Sansa, and she did look at him then for the first time since she had entered that place.

For a moment it seemed like she was going to crumble down to pieces. Sansa had been avoiding his gaze to avoid the same pain that he was feeling, but it wasn't possible anymore. She held herself together, though, and when she realized that Sandor was about to intervene she quickly shook her head in a very, very discreet way. He caught the message, and even though it seemed impossible he manage to stop himself and stay in his place. He didn't say anything.

Sansa looked at him for one more second before looking at Joffrey again and gathering enough strength to nod and say:

"I do."

The place was filled then with murmurs of the guests. They were happy murmurs, and murmurs of relief. A lot of tension had built up during those moments of silence in which they were all waiting for Sansa to reaping to the priest's questions, and now that tension was gone. The ceremony continued, the guests fell silent, and the priest proceeded with the blessings.

"May the Lord bless these rings which you give to each other as the sign of your love and fidelity."

The rings were given to Joffrey and Sansa, and Joffrey took Sansa's hand and placed the ring given to him on her finger.

"Sansa, take this ring as a sign of my love and fidelity."

Everyone smiled happily, but Sandor was fuming. Lies, it was all lies!

It was Sansa's turn to do the same. It took her longer, just like it had taken her longer to say "I do," because her hand was shaking. It was shaking so much that she almost dropped the ring to the floor, but she managed to avoid that. She chuckled.

"I'm sorry," she excused herself, looking at the priest and at the guests and at everyone except Joffrey, who was getting annoyed and tried to hide it. "I'm so nervous..."

Everyone laughed softly, thinking that it was all so romantic and sweet, and Sans chuckled again.

"Don't worry, my love," Joffrey said. His voice was sweet, but his tone was menacing, warning her not to mess up anything.

Sansa gulped and studied her hand, and she finally placed the ring in Joffrey's finger.

"Joffrey... take this ring as a sign of my love and fidelity."

No!

The priest said more things, but Sandor was definitely not listen anymore, not until the man joined the couple's right hands together and said:

"Those whom God hath joined together let no man put asunder."

More blessings came, and then Sansa and Joffrey quickly signed the legal papers that were provided to them so that they would be wed by the laws of men as well. There was no going back now, there was no undoing what had been done. Joffrey and Sansa were married in the eyes of God and men, and Sandor was powerless to do anything.

I lost her.

Nothing could have readied him for that moment. He knew it was coming, he knew he was going to feel like shit. He was going to feel even worse than that. If he had to compare that feeling to that of being burned, he would say that he preferred to be burned a thousand times fold than to watch Sansa get married to Joffrey. The knowledge that, even though Sansa was bow someone else's wife, her heart belonged to him was a small consolation. But it wasn't the fact that she was someone's wife that hurt him so much. What hurt him was that he hadn't been able to save her. Before there was a small chance of getting her to avoid going through that hell; now it was impossible.

Everyone awaited the final words of the priest, the ones that would completely mark that Sansa and Joffrey were now completely united. Sandor prayed again, he prayed one last time so that the man would not say the words. He prayed so that everything was a bad joke, or one of his nicknames. He wanted to wake up screaming in the middle of the night and find out that it had all been a nightmare, and a terrible one at that. He wanted to wake up in Tarth, with Sansa still in his arms, so warm, so soft... His. Only his. And safe. That's what he wanted.

But of course. This was reality. And his prayers got him nothing.

The words were going to be said. He looked at Sansa and saw that she was crying; her invisible armor was finally broken. Tears streamed down her face like coursing rivers, but she disguised them as tears of bliss.

"You may now kiss the bride."

And with a kiss, Joffrey and Sansa officially sealed in front of everyone their union as husband and wife.

Sandor closed his eyes. He couldn't look at them anymore, he just couldn't.

Slowly, a solitary tear escaped from him and ran down his face, leaving behind a wet trail for many more that were to come to follow it.

The wedding finally happened! Nooooo! xD

I took the title of the chapter from the song Enjoy the Silence by Depeche Mode.

Also, I decided to write the wedding as a Catholic ceremony cause I'm Catholic and those are the ceremonies that I'm familiar with, not for any other reason.

Next chapter will be about the wedding reception! This is not over yet haha!

One last thing, this chapter is not beta'd. I haven't seen any outrageous mistakes around there but it's too late and I don't trust myself. Autocorrect hates me.

I hope you liked this chapter! Review? :D