Myrcella stepped down from her stool and spun in her dress of woven red silk and golden thread. "How do I look?" She asked with a beaming smile on her face.
"You look lovely," Daenerys replied with a smile.
"And you, Princess Sansa?" Myrcella asked. Dany fought to keep her own smile up at how quickly Myrcella had gone to Sansa.
Sansa smiled down at the princess in her own gown of ivory with a hairnet of emeralds. "You look gorgeous, Myrcella, you may even outshine the bride," she said.
The younger princess squealed in delight and hugged Sansa tightly around the middle. Daenerys was still getting used to people calling Sansa 'princess'. But now that her brother was recognised as king, she was a princess and so her court title had changed. No fuss had been made, but one day, everyone just started referring to her as princess, and now it was done.
"Sansa, Myrcella, Daenerys!" They all turned to see plump little Tommen racing into the room. He was dressed in Baratheon black and gold, with a velvet tunic buttoned up to his chin, with black stags sewn on either breast. He had a half cloak thrown over one shoulder and his belt and boots shined with polish. He raced past Daenerys and hurried to join his sister and Sansa. "Look at me!" He said, standing strong and spreading his arms to show off his full wardrobe.
"Very handsome, Prince Tommen," Sansa said, kneeling down with a smile. "Are you hoping to steal all the eyes from your brother?" She asked teasingly.
Before Tommen could reply a page boy burst into the room, eyes wide. "Prince Tommen, there you are!" He said, clearly relieved. "The dressers say you can't run off like that, you might trip and spoil your robes!"
"Sorry," Tommen said, abashed. "I just wanted to show Myrcella, Sansa and Daenerys."
"They can see you again at the wedding, now let's go." The page boy guided Tommen out of the room. The prince had just enough time to give Dany a quick smile before he was ushered from the room.
"We should disrobe as well," Sansa said, "we don't want to attend the wedding with crumpled dresses or we'll be the talk of the court for all the wrong reasons."
"And we wouldn't want that," Dany said.
The three of them stood and waited patiently while the dressers took off their dresses for the wedding ceremony and feast. For Daenerys this was a simple matter as she only had the one dress that had been provided for both. It was a fine gown of white and blue that would never stand out in a crowd. The jewellery was a simple pendant that got lost among the folds of the dress and small hooped earrings that would be hidden beneath her hair for the most part, all of it borrowed. She suspected the colours had been chosen for her because they were the opposites of her house's colours of Red and Black. Besides, it wasn't like she had any money of her own, apart from the coins she had found when she first entered the tunnels. So there she was, in the simplest gown next to two princesses who might outshine the queens that had planned this grandest of wedding days.
She changed back into her pale cream dress and waited for Sansa and Myrcella to finish changing from their more elaborate wedding gowns. "How shall we spend the rest of our day?" Daenerys asked when they left the room.
"I need to go and see Margaery, we need to discuss my role in the wedding," Myrcella said apologetically.
"Of course, we'll speak again another day, princess," Sansa said sweetly.
Myrcella nodded, giving Sansa a quick hug and Daenerys a quicker one. "Be well," she said with a wave, before leaving them the room, the servants following with the dresses. They would be stored safely until the day of the wedding.
"So," Sansa said, turning to her with a smile. "How should we spend the rest of the day? WIth the court busy we have no one to hold us back. Shall we go to the godswood or perhaps sneak some food from the kitchens? I know the dressers want us to keep a strict diet, but a single piece of cake shouldn't go amiss."
"They both sound lovely to me," Daenerys replied.
Sansa's forehead creased in a frown for just a second and then it was wiped away with a smile. "The godswood then."
They walked together through the corridors of the Red Keep, being decked out in flowers and the combined livery of the noble houses of Baratheon, Lannister and Tyrell. No one paid attention to the two ladies walking through the castle arm in arm. Not the servants decorating or the guardsman walking the halls. Only one of the Kingsguard spared them a second glance as they passed in the corridors, but he kept marching, his hand on his sword and they kept moving into the godswood.
Gone were the days when they had it to themselves. With the war all but over, the court had more relaxation time and they were taking advantage of it. They passed ladies gossiping while doing needlework, a knight in Lannister red trying and failing to flirt with a young maiden and her entertaining him. But by the heart tree, they were away from everyone.
Dany expected Sansa to kneel and pray, as she often did, but instead, she sat down with her back to the tree and looked at her. "What's going on Dany?"
"What do you mean?"
Sansa patted the ground beside her with her stump. "You've been sullen all day, normally you enjoy our time with Tommen and Myrcella."
"I do, I did. But I shouldn't."
"What do you mean?"
"It's not me they are here for, they come for you," Dany said. Even more than before, the two of them sought Sansa first and Daenerys second. Tommen especially, but she didn't blame him. "Even more so now, since you have little time to spare."
"And now you think I have less time for you?"
"No!"
Sansa wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her in close. "I'm sorry if you think I've been spending more time with them than I have with you."
"That's not the problem, Sansa," Daenerys said, leaning into her. "I don't care that you spend time with those children. The problem is that you aren't going to be here." She whispered those last words, voicing them for the first time since the news had arrived of the peace treaty with Robb Stark. "I'll be alone."
"You won't be alone, Tommen and Myrcella will still be here."
"But it won't be as it was. They'll go back to their lessons, one-day Myrcella will be married off, Tommen will have to fulfil his duties as a prince, and I'll just be… here. Until someone decides I'm too much trouble to keep." What was her future to be then? Would she be quietly removed, married off to someone for her blood or just kept here for the rest of her days to be a presence, a trophy until she grew older into a spinster, denied a chance for love, a family, friends.
Sansa kissed her temple and squeezed her. "If the worst comes you can always find your way out of here, come to me in the North. I'll keep you safe."
Daenerys laughed dryly. "Yes, just sneak out and cross a continent and walk until I get to Winterfell."
"It's not hard to find. Just follow the Kingsroad north. As long as the sun rises on your right and sets on your left, you know you're going the right way."
"And when a message arrives from King's Landing demanding you send me back?"
"I wouldn't." Sansa held Dany's head between her hands and stared into her eyes. "If we had to change your name and hide you, we would. I wouldn't let my brother send you back. If you break free from here, I won't let you be sent back."
It was a lovely dream, but just for now, Daenerys allowed herself to think it would be possible, that she had a future outside of the dark.
But she returned to the dark that very evening. Sansa had been offered her own room when the war had ended, but she had refused violently, telling lord Loren that she would claim untold abuses of her person if they separated her and Daenerys, so the two of them still slept in the same bed in the same room. That night Daenerys waited until Sansa was asleep, then gently lifted Sansa's arm from her waist and slipped out. She didn't bother changing into her blacks tonight when she went down the hidden door into the tunnels in King's Landing, for tonight she wasn't travelling. Instead she just sat down at the base of the iron rungs and waited, pulling her knees into her body and resting her forehead on them.
It was dark here, dark and cold. The lamp she normally took with her was upstairs, the dagger waiting for her, as always down here. Ever since the inspections that had followed the death of the High Septon, Daenerys had kept the dagger secret down here, in case their rooms were searched suddenly.
She hadn't had to use the dagger in a long time. It had been close, encountering the man in the tunnels had been a surprise, it wasn't like the boy. He had just been sat there eating pastries. Had he seen her face? Her hood had been pulled up, and from his words he didn't seem to recognise her, not that she'd seen him around court, but his face had been common and she might have missed him. Daenerys on the other hand couldn't get lost in a crowd with her silver hair and purple eyes. What had he been doing? Who had he been waiting for? She had been tempted to wait and find out from the shadows, but decided against it, especially since she had no idea how far away this unknown stranger was. She had said he would be there soon to put the man with the sword at ease, but what did she know. Instead she had taken a longer route back to the rooms, hoping to not cross the man again.
It had been a stupid mistake. The man was clearly not the kind who spent time in the tunnels. He was there to meet someone, which almost certainly meant he had come in from the outside. If she'd been cleverer, she could have followed him and found an exit, perhaps it would have taken her outside the city walls.
She picked up the dagger and ran her fingers over the intricate hilt, finding the dragon heads and stroking them. There she waited and waited and waited.
"Daenerys!" She woke with a start, banging her head on one of the iron rungs behind her.
"Ow," she said, clutching the back of her head and looking up. Daenerys could make out the outline of a head in the shadows above her. "Sansa?" She asked
"Come on, quickly," Sansa said, beckoning her up.
Daenerys scrambled up the iron rungs. How had she fallen asleep down there? She got up and dusted herself down as Sansa lowered the rock again and folded the carpet over it. She panted heavily. "Are you alright?"
Sansa glared at her accusingly. "You try lifting a stone door with one hand," she replied, holding up her one hand to make a point. "Now come on," she said. Sansa took her hand and dragged her back into bed, pulling the covers over her. "Are you alright, are you cold?"
"I'm fine," Daenerys said. "I didn't mean to sleep down there. It just happened." She curled up tighter, working herself closer into Sansa's warm body.
"And when I'm not here?" Sansa asked her. "Will it 'just happen' then?"
"No," Daenerys said. But she could tell from the silence that neither she nor Sansa believed it.
The next morning, Sansa told Daenerys to sleep in a little while she went to pray. Daenerys tried to object, but ultimately was persuaded to wait. So she rested a little longer and broke her fast a little later waiting for Sansa to return.
But when the door opened it was not Sansa who entered but a beaming Princess Myrcella. "Good morning lady Daenerys." She was wrapped in a heavy cloak, with white silk gloves that went up to her elbow on each hand.
"Good morning princess," Daenerys replied. "How can I help you?"
Myrcella sat on the chair opposite Daenerys. Behind her two guards had stepped into the room and flanked the door. "Once you're done with breakfast, I was hoping you might join me today."
"Join you?"
Myrcella nodded, reaching over and stealing half a fish from Daenerys' plate. "I am heading into the city today. Mother has finally given me permission to go and see some news jewellers on the Street of Sisters, and I wondered if you wanted to go with me?"
"I fear I have no money to spend with you, princess."
Myrcella smile turned mischievous and she unhooked a small leather pouch. "I don't think I'd be able to spend all of this myself."
"I couldn't-" Daenerys began.
"Please Daenerys, please please please!"
Daenerys sighed. "Shouldn't we wait for Sansa, she might want to come?"
A moment of hesitation flickered across the princess' still child like face. Then it was gone. "I'm sure she'll be fine. Besides, I don't know if I can afford for three people with this."
Daenerys opened her mouth to object, then closed it again. "Alright, let me get dressed and leave Sansa a note and I'll join you in the courtyard."
Myrcella grinned in delight and gave Daenerys a hug on the way outside, followed by her guards.
Daenerys sighed and finished her breakfast, before picking out some clothes to go shopping in. She left a note for Sansa, but in truth, she knew she didn't need it. After their talk yesterday, she was sure that Myrcella had come to her because Sansa had asked her to. That was what Sansa had been doing this morning, instead of praying. Daenerys loved her for that.
A/N: CMY187- At this stage, no one, even Tyrion or Cersei, suspects foul play in Tywin's death who wasn't involved in the conspiracy or present in the room.
