A Holiday by Decree

~~Day 2 ~~

Fortunately for Sansa, her eyes soon fell across the mirror and vanity table in the corner of the room. The maid had apparently unpacked her cosmetics and hairdressing items the day before. When Sansa had requested them to be packed for her, she realized it was silly. Knowing that the holiday home was vacant and secluded, which was why she had agreed to come in the first place, she knew that there would be no one to see her hair or makeup or lack thereof. Even as Queen of the North, Sansa had her minimal hair and makeup done almost the same every day - basic plaiting, a light dusting of color to her eyes and cheeks for a slight disruption to her natural, icy paleness.

An idea struck her, and she called the maid to dress her. A lightly embroidered dusty blue linen affair of the Queen's with a flowing floor length sheath skirt layered with white silk, half-length butterfly sleeves, and otherwise decent coverage, except for a v-neckline that nicely showed the top of her cleavage, was Sansa's choice for the day.

Dressed, Sansa sent the maid away and sat down at the vanity. It had been forever since she had really done her own hair and makeup.

For the next couple hours she pinned and braided her hair into different forms and rifled through her makeup. She had thought it would be a safer task than it was and had not expected to struggle so much to decide what to do with herself. She wanted to do something different than she normally did - This was a vacation and a chance to be herself, wasn't it?

However, her looks kept turning out like the ones she had liked best when she had lived in King's Landing. Even when she finally told herself that she had finished, and she got up to view herself in the mirror, she felt her heart plummet - from the half-up-half-down style of her hair to even the cut of the dress, she couldn't help thinking of Margaery.

Suddenly, in the quiet of her room, alone and for the first time in years, the flood gates opened and Sansa wept.

Despite being so constantly surrounded she had had no real choice but to stay busy keeping everyone and everything at arm's reach. Now that she was alone, she spiraled as she wondered if she could ever manage just being on her own?

The walls seemed to crowd in, as Sansa sunk to the ground in front of the mirror, now not only alone, but also very lonely with only her demons left to haunt her. It did not help that there was one very big specter among them, which had made itself known not six months ago to Sansa. Ever since, she had been in the emotional haze, which had Jon send her off her on this holiday to begin with.

Meanwhile, outside, the indifferent crash of the ocean waves beat on, unaffected by her turmoil…