Sera bustled to the Queen's chambers, she was quietly praying for an uneventful morning. Also desperately hoping the bed's headboard wasn't broken again. The original wouldn't be repaired for a week at least and the gossip already was inescapable. She felt a shiver of dread at the prospect of what the gossip would be like if replacing pieces of the Queen's bed became a usual event.
She gave a light greeting to Wagstaff and Loras who both clearly were quite looking forward to their replacements arriving so that they could sleep. The faintly glazed look in their eyes rather gave it away. All was right with the world however if they were feeling tired, it meant they hadn't had cause to be more alert than needed. Sera quickly opened and slipped into the attached solar. It was the safest option for entry since her Queen had taken a lover.
This morning apparently the solar was not the safe option. Instead, as the door closed a high-pitched scream nearly left her throat. She only just managed not to release it…mostly from sheer shock. Because staring at her with gold eyes was Nymeria. There was no doubt which direwolf it was. And if there was a wolf that should be feared it was Nymeria, as terrifying as its master, only significantly larger.
The she-wolf's gold eyes were fixed on her, ears flicked back as it lay by the fire. Nymeria made almost no sound as she rose and approached.
Sera's heart was thudding so fast she hadn't known it could beat that fast as it pounded in her chest. If it'd been Ghost or Shaggydog she'd have been fine after the initial jolt. But Nymeria looked at you and you knew she'd tasted human flesh and she would do so again.
Nymeria didn't come too close, only enough to hold Sera's eye for a silent moment, and then turned, tail swishing behind her as she disappeared through the open door into the bedroom.
She pressed her hand to her chest, grabbed hold of the table near her, and wheezed. Sweet gods preserve her. She'd thought that'd been it. Sera stared at the open door. Wonderful, she'd have to brave the beast again. A hysterical part of herself wanted to know why the hell that animal was in Queen Sansa's quarters. Ghost made it a habit, but Nymeria rarely came within the walls of Winterfell at all.
Closing her eyes she forced herself to calm down. She was a servant to the Queen and a direwolf, no matter how terrifying, was not going to stop her from doing her job if a living breathing god walking about half-clothed didn't.
Sera straightened but then turned as the door behind her opened again. She frowned as Osha, the wildling woman who served Prince Rickon entered. Her voice was low, conscious of the open door into the bedchamber. "What are you doing in here?"
"The Little Wolf isn't in his chambers, figure he must 'ave stayed here." Osha replied like that was utterly obvious.
Which…would also explain why Nymeria was in the Queen's chambers. If the wolf had just fallen asleep while the family had been spending time together it'd make sense. "Well, the she-wolf is in the bedchamber, don't lose your hand."
"Bloody wargs, the lot of 'em." Osha shook her head and then eyed the fire. "Want to get the fire goin' before we drag the royals out of bed?"
Sara blanched at the thought of dragging Sansa Stark out of bed like a disobedient child…although that explained why Rickon Stark was scrubbed clean, dressed, and out of his chambers at a reasonable hour every day. She wasn't sure what she thought of the methods. It was…ridiculous, but the boy was half feral? She shook her head, now wasn't the time. "Yes, fire first and get those shutters open, before we see to anything in the bedroom."
With a sharp nod, Sera set to the windows, as Osha crouched by the fire. She knew for the first few weeks after he'd returned home Rickon had spent a few nights in his sister's bed, Jon asleep in a chair just watching his siblings. It was all very tragic really, and really rather sweet.
Sera left Osha to the fire and went to go see what they were dealing with. Though it was at least a change of pace to be worrying about the Queen possibly sleeping in a chair so her brother could have the bed, instead of worrying about walking in on a god ravishing the Queen. This position, while an honor to hold, was certainly never boring. She rather wished it was a bit more boring.
Slipping into the bedroom she…it couldn't be boring for once? Not once? Because no one was in the bed, and it wasn't just the Queen and her youngest brother. It was all of them, wolves and people, oh, and the god. They were in a giant pile of blankets, fur, pillows, and limbs on the soft rug before the fire. The signs of the roasted chestnuts they'd been making plain to be seen.
It took a minute to figure out their general configuration. The Queen was sound asleep, half on and half tangled with her god, but Ghost was on top of most of them. Rickon's foot had to be digging into Sansa's side, from where he was curled up into his giant black wolf Shaggydog. Princess Arya was half on top of Bran, Nymeria laying next to them, the she-wolf's eyes fixed on a suspiciously empty cast iron pan that must have held nuts at some point. And really it was all a bit mixed beyond that. Bran had a hold on one of the god's legs, and Ghost's tail was nearly in his face. And Arya certainly had a hand fisted in the fabric of Rickon's shirt, and an elbow in his gut. But they all seemed..peaceful and completely out.
Sera considered. There was no point in getting the fire, she'd end up stepping on someone, and she couldn't do a thing about the bed, half the bedspread and all the pillows were on the ground. She could open the shutters? It still…struck her as a sad thing to disturb this for them. It was so plain to see they all loved each other so fiercely and grieved the hurts and deaths surrounding them all so very deeply. To end this moment of closeness seemed…wrong.
The choice was taken from her hands at the suddenly sharp grey eyes of Arya Stark snapping open and holding her own. It sent a shiver down Sera's spine, same as the look from the wolf had. But with the human she responded by dropping into a curtsy, her eyes flicking to the ground.
"Fuck." The Princess said finally. She partially rolled off of her brother only to, well, end up mostly on her other brother who let out a sound far too like a growl for a boy.
The god's eyes snapped open, her arm that was around Sansa tightening slightly before relaxing again. Which is when Sansa groaned, clearly woken from her brother's foot kicking into her more as he tried to shove Arya off of him.
Sera's lips twitched despite herself as she rose from her curtsy. There were some hissed and groaned insults. Prince Rickon's voice cracked out a grumbled "Get off!" Shaggydog made a yipping sound as someone stepped on his tail.
"ENOUGH!" Sansa glared at her siblings as she sat up. "I believe we can all get up without trampling each other?"
Even the wolves seemed slightly cowed.
With a laugh, the god lept to her feet with an ease that Sera would have thought inhuman if the princess hadn't immediately done the same. The god offered out her hand to the Queen, a smile on her lips, even if the lines of the blankets were still pressed to her face, and her hair quite a mess. Arya just kicked at Rickon who glared up at her as he scrambled to his own feet.
And Sera, for all that watching the royal family when they were so clearly half asleep was amusing and they might all be a bit of a bunch of mavericks; they were the North's maverick royal family thank you very much. For all that though, what caught her attention was the Queen and her lover. Which…the god had been here sleeping on the floor, letting a giant direwolf drool on her, and a prince hug her leg.
Daisy smiled at Sansa as the Queen set her hand in Daisy's. "My Queen," she drawled, as she easily helped Sansa rise to her feet, her free hand finding Sansa's waist as soon as Sansa was on her feet.
"Urgh, can you two not make eyes at each other for five minutes?" Arya snarked while ducking a light attempt at revenge for the kicking from Rickon.
Bran cleared his throat. "I cannot get up."
"I got you." Daisy swooped down, lifting him with a terrible gentleness and helping him to his chair. "Want a pillow for the chair?"
Bran blinked sluggishly, huh, sleep slowed even his strangeness. "No."
Daisy gave a nod of acknowledgment, giving Bran's shoulder a light squeeze before moving to separate Rickon and Arya, neatly moving around Shaggydog who was loping out of the bedchamber, Nymeria at the direwolf's shoulder. Clearly, the wolves were as done with their masters as the Queen seemed to be.
Sera moved and began to open the shutters. A fond feeling was in her chest as she listened to the quiet marshaling and yawning of the various members of the royal family. She wondered at the god slinging an arm around Rickon's shoulder and pulling them out to the solar with a final wink at Sansa. It was…not Sera's place to think about what it meant. No matter how remarkable, and awe-inspiring it might be. Terrifying in its weight.
She moved to begin pulling a gown out for the Queen. The royals would sort themselves out. And well, at least the gossip mongers would have naught but the royals falling asleep while roasting chestnuts to speak of. It was rather sweet. Sera's eyes flicked to the new, and far lighter wood, of the temporary new headboard on the bed, at least it wasn't as interesting as yesterday had been.
"Sera," Sansa's voice called, "For your discretion, thank you."
Sera laid the dark grey court gown on the bed. "Of course, your Grace."
"If you need help to put things to right, just ask for it." The Queen's eyes cast to the…well disaster of bedding on the floor intermixed with nut shells, and tufts of wolf fur. There was a faint pink to the Queen's cheeks.
It struck Sera in that moment how young the Queen was, only just the age most village girls thought of marrying and mayhaps having their first babe if even that. Daughters often were allowed to reach two and twenty before their families grew anxious to find them a match. Sera stepped to the Queen and waited for a faint nod of assent before assisting her in getting out of her gown from the day before. The whole dress was wrinkled to pieces and slightly damp from wolf drool on one sleeve. Honestly. "Shall I call for a bath to be fetched this evening?"
"Please." Sansa allowed.
Sera wondered at servants who spoke freely with their masters or mistresses. But then, perhaps her lack of question was in part why she was permitted to retain this role even now when plenty of more highly trained and well-positioned servants were available. Still, she spoke carefully. "If I may, perhaps some additional preparations could be done when his Highness, Prince Jon returns home, your Grace?"
"That would be…" Sansa's characteristically sharp gaze was shockingly open and unpracticed, "I would appreciate that very much if you prepared such a thing."
Sera smiled slightly as she helped her Queen step out of her gown. "Very good, your Grace."
/
Daisy kept her voice kind as she gently reached out and pointed at the report on a recent spat of gossip about some of the more ribald tavern songs about the Queen. "Is that another version of The Letch, The Leech, and The Lady?"
"It's a popular rhythm, they're all copying each other," Walter grumbled.
She huffed in amusement. "Well, you've flipped your 'b's and 'd's. The circle goes to the right on a 'b', to the left for a 'd'."
"Shite." Walter hissed glaring at his letters in sheer frustration only to freeze. He looked wide eyed at her. "I didna mean that!"
Daisy actually laughed, her hand easily falling on his shoulder. "You totally did, and it's fine." She gave his shoulder a pat before moving toward where Hogg was.
"Holiness!" Hogg quickly grabbed a stack of pamphlets and offered them out. "I was thinking about having the men start writing these? To practice, ya know?"
Daisy looked at the careful, slow, and deliberate lettering that said Hogg had written these himself. And as she skimmed it she realized what it was. It was a short series of folk stories. "This is great, when did you have time for this?" She looked up at him.
He puffed slightly in pride that nearly glowed from him. "In the evenin' sometimes we have time. I thought, well it'd be good to write something that didn't feel important maybe?"
"You're not wrong. This is…it reminds me of children's books we had in my world. Really, this is very cool." She wondered what else her cult would get up to with her not watching them regularly. They certainly were actively planning on growing, a thing that was slightly concerning. But she'd structured them right, they were shockingly self-contained and self-reliant. Her presence was hardly needed at this point for more than carefully making sure they weren't heading towards crazy religious land. But they'd gotten the 'no blood sacrifice' thing pretty solidly. Also 'don't overthrow governments'. "I'm sure some of the other men would have their folk tales to add if you wanted to maybe record more?"
Hogg beamed. "I thought it might be good to add to the library. Ya know, it just… doesn't have Northern legends in it really. Maesters don't like our people much, never bothered writing our stories down."
Daisy's fingers absently touched the wolf ring that was set on her left hand, it was a habit that she found herself touching the ring throughout the day. "I'm sure Sansa would be glad to see your legends recorded. And well, half of them seem to be like, just actual history."
"There is that." Hogg nodded before pausing. "Forgive me Holiness, but you leave for Highgarden again in the morning yes?"
She looked at his round and reverent face. "Yes? Did you guys need something before I go? I don't think I'll be away long this time."
"It's just…" His cheeks heated with embarrassment, eyes set on her chin. "You are very respectful of her Grace's time. Other than the occasional late morning, ya mostly wait to spend time with her when she is at her leisure." He somehow was getting even redder.
Daisy raised a brow, one hand settling on her hip as she watched him. "She's kinda busy being Queen?"
"Well, aye, very devoted. Don't think there's been such a good Queen or King as her. Doesn't leave the ruling to anyone. She cares." Hogg nodded, his honest admiration for Sansa clear to be heard. It was striking in its honesty. "It's just…her Grace was so happy after you stole her for the afternoon. An' when you're here she's…lighter. An' you are too."
Both of her brows rose up, a warm bubble of affection in her chest. "Are you suggesting I go distract the Queen from the business of state?" Her tone gently teasing.
Hogg's spine straightened, his shoulders set. "Aye, I think I am."
And well…Daisy couldn't deny she didn't want to be anywhere except by her…wife's side. Wife, just the word made something in her bones settle, the buzzing of the vibrations in her bones lowering to a contented hum. "You're a sweet man."
"Just saying the obvious." Hogg's cheeks were still scarlet.
She reached out and covered his hand with her own and squeezed gently. He looked up and so clearly got the point, and just smiled at her. And she found herself smiling back. If she was going to trust in a cult not turning into something nightmare inducing, well she trusted him with it. His kindness was more important than other skills or abilities or talents. And maybe…he was sort of a friend, even if he did worship her…which was never going to not be weird. But yeah, he was a friend.
/
Sansa looked up from her draft of options that would be acceptable for terms of trade with the Reach at the sound of her door opening. She wouldn't have thought Lords Manderly, Mallister, and Blackwood as well as Lady Dustin would have reached her solar so quickly, she'd only just sent for them to ensure everything was in order before her terms were sent to Lord Willas Tyrell. "Daisy?" Her shoulders relaxed.
"So, Hogg thinks I should bother you while I'm here. Something about most businesses being able to wait." Daisy had a fondness to her as she lightly closed the door behind her that gave away that Hogg had said something far more personal than how Daisy was paraphrasing it.
Sansa considered her. "What did he actually say?"
Daisy's face was soft. "That you're the most dutiful Queen to have ever lived and business of state can wait since we make each other happy."
"Oh." Sansa lowered her quill. "And what do you think of that?"
Daisy smiled as she circled Sansa's desk and hopped up onto it, her feet leaving the ground. "Well, Jon and Marlon did teach me cyvasse, and I don't know, I did promise to teach you how to waltz sometime."
"You are a terrible influence." Sansa smiled despite her words, her hand reaching out and taking Daisy's where it lay on the edge of the wooden desk. "My lords might not forgive you for distracting me so often."
Daisy just looked smug. "Good. Also, I don't know if you've noticed but I'm helping your brother bring peace to the realm and all that. And as Hogg pointed out, you do know as Queen you're horrifyingly competent and dedicated?"
"Hmm." Sansa hummed, letting the quiet warmth of Daisy's presence warm her. "Dancing and games instead of business, wife?" She knew she could easily give what she was currently working on to Manderly or Dustin. Either of them were perfectly capable of ensuring nothing had been missed. They'd already assisted in what was done of it already.
At the word 'wife' Daisy's expression went from smug to genuinely brilliant before she bent forward, her lips barely touching the shell of her ear, her short hair brushing against her cheek. One hand gripping the back of Sansa's chair behind her other ear. "Well, as much fun as other things can be, I wasn't planning on scandalizing your court by dragging you to bed in the middle of the day." Her tone lowered ever so slightly. "Although I could be persuaded."
"Tempting." Sansa felt a warm flutter in her chest. The quiet teasing wasn't serious, she could feel the lightness of it. She stood slowly from her seat, Daisy mirroring the movement by leaning back, though not lessening the distance between them.
It was easy how her hand fell to Daisy's lower thigh, gently adjusting her so that Sansa could stand between her legs, their fronts barely a hands width apart. Her eyes closed, their temples pressed together. "Alright then."
"That's to the cyvasse and dancing, right?" Daisy checked, her smile audible in her voice.
She huffed. "Yes to the cyvasse and dancing." Sansa felt a quiet longing for the simplicity of what Daisy was suggesting, the idea of a few hours of simply being allowed to exist together without war, or food production, or trade, or separation looming first in their thoughts. A small window of time that would become more and more impossible to carve time out for as this short breath of peace came ever closer to an end.
"Awesome." Daisy shifted, kissing her softly.
Sansa sighed into the simple sliding of lips. It was unhurried or leading. She found her hands drawn to Daisy. Her hand on Daisy's lower thigh, trailed up to Daisy's waist, pulling them closer as her other hand rose to cup Daisy's jaw. Sansa found nothing but contentment at the feel of Daisy pressing back ever so slightly, one of Daisy's hands on her lower back…very low, and the other at her neck as her mouth began to softly slide across her jaw.
She bit at her bottom lip a hum in her throat at the feeling. Even with the light touching of Daisy's lips, Sansa could feel this quiet moment passing, Daisy to pull back in a few moments. Only several things happened all at once.
The door to her public King's Solar, opened, poor Briennes's voice cutting off sharply halfway through. "Your Lords, your Gra-"
"Good gods, I am so sorry."
Sansa's eyes snapped open and could feel her face turning a brilliant red as there in her doorway was half her small council…who she should have been expecting. What was…there was nothing to say to this.
Arya, why was Arya there? had the stupidest grin on her face. "Sister."
Daisy let out a helpless laugh, her forehead falling against Sansa's shoulder as her own shoulders shook with laughter.
Oh gods, she was going to have to say something. "My apologies…" What…for gods sake Daisy was laughing with her head against her shoulder. It was so far past propriety Sansa hadn't the faintest clue on what to do.
Daisy slid off the desk. "What her Grace means is that she's just agreed to a game of cyvasse with me." Her laughter was still painted across her face, as she caught Sansa's hand and pulled her to the door while grabbing the stack of notes on the trade deal and stuffed them into Arya's hands. "I'm sure you can handle the final notation on that without the Queen?"
"You owe me." Arya's eyes were twinkling with laughter as she gave a faint tip of her head to Daisy.
"Naturally, you can try and stab me some more later or something." Daisy just grinned and pulled Sansa straight past her advisors and out of the solar.
Sansa was fairly sure her face had never been so red in her life, her throat closed in sheer mortification as her poor Lords and Lady Dustin were forced to bow as she was whisked away without further ado or chance of in any way attempting to salvage some dignity. Two corners later, and headless of the servants about, Daisy turned, bringing them to a halt. She had a stupid smile on her face. "Sorry."
She couldn't help it, she just pressed her face into Daisy's shoulder and giggled helplessly. "No, you're not." Her face was horribly hot. "I'm never going to be able to look my council in the eye again.
"Nope." Her wife laughed high and bright. And it was wonderful and mortifying all at once. So really rather perfect.
