authorsnote: sorry for the delay but I have 0 excuse.

I'm trying to update all my fanfics before the end of the year and then get on some consistent schedule, which means I have *checks* 8 days to update 15 WIPS. SORRY SLEEP YOU'RE NOT HAPPENING FOR A WHILE.

anyway, do enjoy

songrecs: chemtrails over the country club - lana del ray 'I'm in the wind, I'm in the water, nobodys son, nobodys daughter...'

There was a roaring sound in her ears.

She wasn't sure if it was because of a large crowd outside, perhaps there was another riot? Perhaps as Prince Oberyn had entered the room, and she'd fumbled and near dropped her sewing stuff, pricking herself with a needle, perhaps a riot had broken out?

Perhaps the people of Kings Landing had decided they'd had enough. Perhaps Queen Cersei's head was being dashed against a wall, and Lord Tywin was being torn apart, perhaps they'd stormed the Red Keep and she'd be next, held down and killed, darkness rushing for her, peace at last.

Or maybe, she was sick, or about to faint, she could see Prince Oberyn's lips moving, could hear the words, 'accepted', and 'concessions', and 'fuck them', and 'don't worry', but she couldn't really string them together.

Perhaps it was shock, as she near keeled to the floor, and it was only sheer determination that kept her standing, and it all came rushing back as she felt a shake of her shoulders, and kept herself standing, as Prince Oberyn grasped her, and brought her back to herself.

My skin has turned from porcelain, to ivory, to steel.

I am a Stark, I can be brave.

If what Prince Oberyn was saying was true, she'd have to be, for a while longer.

But only for a little while longer.

She'd be free.

It was scary, that she'd have to stay for a while longer, but she'd been convinced for a while Kings Landing would be her graveyard, had, had nightmares about being buried in the Sept, so far away from Winterfell and the Old Gods, even in death so far from home, her bones crumbling to dust in Southern soil.

She had long feared being buried in a Southern ceremony, snow to never touch her body again, to never be blessed by Northern earth, to be so far from her family put to rest, unable to reach them, in whatever came next.

And now … it would likely be the same in that she couldn't go home, but she wouldn't be here. She could accept that, she could accept living and dying in Dorne, as it wasn't Kings Landing, it wasn't the viper's nest she'd come to hate, it wasn't the place that had turned her from innocent girl to terrified woman.

And she allowed herself, just for a second to have hope, that if she left Kings Landing, if she was no longer a hostage, perhaps she would return to Winterfell one day. Surely Prince Oberyn was marrying her to inherit Winterfell for the Martell family? She could swallow that, weep for the loss of the Stark name but accept it, if it meant returning home.

Home.

The thought near made her weep.

"Lady Sansa?" She shook her head then, as though coming up from water, as Prince Oberyn took her by the shoulders, gave her a gentle shake, to take her out of the spiral of her own thoughts. "Are you alright?"

She could do a lot worse.

That was the thought that came to her. Prince Oberyn was kind, strong, handsome, a Martell. He would take her away from this awful place. It scared her, marrying him, or marrying at all in truth, it was no longer something she dreamed of. And he was older, more experienced, and she wanted to die at the thought of him being with other women, but she knew that was his and the Dornish way, and she'd accept it in a heartbeat to get away from here.

She'd accept almost anything.

"I'm okay" She said quietly, and nodded, because she was, she really was … okay maybe not completely, maybe she never would be again, but she felt reassured, if they weren't leaving now, they would eventually.

And even stuck here, Joffrey was gone, and if she married Prince Oberyn, surely, she'd be protected? She'd already moved to his guest wing of the Castle, surely it would be safer for her here now? No longer battling to be Queen, no longer a traitor, no longer alone. Married yes, but under the protection of her husband.

She gulped at that; husband. But she had meant it; she would accept almost anything.

"You are?" He asked, sounding doubtful, which she could understand, but she nodded. She wasn't fully but it was enough.

"Yes" She said, "I… I never thought they'd accept, and even if we have to stay here for a little while longer" Her brow furrowed, "It is worth it"

"I wish I could take you from here now" He said, and she wanted to believe him, but as good as Prince Oberyn was she couldn't trust him, she would never be that foolish again. "But my power here, the power of Dorne is limited"

She nodded, "I understand" She said, and she did, even if she didn't like it, even if she wished she could leave now, she would grasp freedom, or a type of it, the second it came, just not now.

"The second we can leave we will" He said, his accent curling around the words, "I give you my word"

At that she nodded again, coming back to herself now, remembering her courtesies, it didn't matter if she felt safe around Prince Oberyn, if she'd slipped in front of him, she had to be careful. She could only trust herself.

Yes, he had saved her, been kind to her, and she desperately wanted to trust him, hence her slip ups but she'd learned that lesson once and learned it the hard way.

Her walls were coming back up, as she looked at her shoes, but Prince Oberyn wasn't accepting that, and he gently placed a thumb under her chin, to her gasp and lifted her gaze to meet his.

"My word" And it sounded not like a half-hearted promise, but a vow, and she nodded, her eyes Tully blue, meeting his, black like vipers, and for a moment she trusted him, rueing herself for doing so, but unable to stop.

Come morning Sansa's walls were firmly back in place but she was feeling oddly optimistic.

There was a strangeness that it had all seemed too good to be true, too unrealistic, she would have of course preferred to leave Kings Landing, but being forced to remain grounded her, this was really happening, perhaps not in the way she had hoped, but it was.

She was going to become Sansa Martell.

She knew, she had never really been Sansa Lannister, their marriage unconsummated. She remembered Tyrions kindness to her in that regard, his attempts to make her smile, to be kind to her, but she had thrown it all back at him, unable to bear him in any sense because of his name, even though he'd never fully given it to her. She thought of him for a moment, escaped, and hoped he was well, his kindness to her she would not forget.

She knew, as she walked through the long corridors, a Martell guard a step back from her, shadowing her, that Prince Oberyn would not show her the same kindness. This marriage would not go unconsummated.

The thought terrified her, but also, she knew it was necessary, and almost wanted to do it, not for the act itself, which she'd always been told was unpleasant at best, but because this time she wanted the protection of being Prince Oberyns wife, not just in name, easily broken, but wedded and bedded, unbreakable, even by the Lannister's.

She would ensure this marriage could not be annulled, they couldn't marry her to another dreaded Lannister, keep her here forever and see her remains cursed forever by the Capitol.

And so, she walked, alone but for her guards, thinking on what that meant for her, the fear that chilled her. She hoped Prince Oberyn would be kind, she thought he would, but she had no way of knowing, and the nerves ate at her.

Until, her thoughts were interrupted by a voice she hadn't heard at least direct to her, in a little while.

"Sansa!" Lady Margaery stepped forward, a woman she'd once hoped and considered to be a friend, came into her view, followed by her own Tyrell guards, as she always was, no one was truly safe here. "I have been looking for you"

"My Lady" Sansa said, for Margaery was no Queen, not yet, she had been briefly, but now she was a Lady again, though she assumed Lady Olenna and Lord Tyrell were working hard to see her married to Tommen, she wondered whether they would succeed, if Lord Tywin decided it, surely so.

Sansa had once had that ambition to be Queen, to be beloved by many, to be married to a handsome King. That desire had died when Joffreys cruelty had been revealed and she had realised being Queen surely meant a lifetime of suffering.

Even the Queen couldn't be protected from the King.

And yet despite her best efforts not to get carried away, she thought Prince Oberyn could protect her.

"Walk with me?" Margaery asked with that dazzling grin and Sansa knew she could not say no, and so she nodded, and the guards fell into line behind them, one Martell behind her, one Tyrell behind Margaery, two steps back to give their Ladies some space.

That was odd to phrase in her mind, she would be a Lady of House Martell, and soon.

"How are you?" Lady Margaery asked sympathetically, and yet Sansa did not let down her guard, not as she once had.

For Lady Margaery had been her friend once, a close friend she'd confided in and liked immensely. And yet, after she had married Lord Tyrion, Margaery had disappeared. Not because of wedding planning, but because Sansa had realised, she was no longer useful, no longer a chip to be bargained to marry into the Tyrells and become one of them.

Not just one of them, but to bring the North under their control.

Sansa knew that was her value as a hostage, to be the key, and the Heir to the North. With Robb dead, Bran and Rickon too, Sansa would inherit, and the Tyrells had wanted that, Margaery had wanted that, for her family, so much so she had faked a friendship to try and get it, and that hurt.

Sansa had been taken advantage of time and time again, and each time the hurt didn't seem to lessen, and that hurt flashed in her eyes as she spoke.

"I am fine" She said gently as they walked the same path they had when Margaery had suggested a match with Willas, conspiring they'd be sisters, Sansa so overjoyed to have a friend, and to maybe leave this place tears had rolled down her cheeks and stung from the wind, now it felt like a mockery, to be played so easily.

Had she learned nothing? Was she still that foolish girl?

A stupid girl who never learns…

"Sansa" Margaery said with a frown, it didn't suit her beauty, "I'm worried about you, I care about you" She sounded so convincing, Sansa wanted to believe her, but she couldn't.

"Do you?" Sansa said, not intending to bite back, but alongside her hurt was a bit of anger, she was part wolf after all, "I don't think so"

"Why would you say that?" Margaery asked though there was something in her gaze that told her she knew, and Sansa could have sworn she was sincere, after all what did she have to gain from friendship now?

"You were only friends with me when I could become a Tyrell" She said, and Sansa remembered the absence of Margaerys friendship, taking her cousins and her retinue with her, all alone again in Kings Landing, she'd had to get used to it all over again.

They approached the coast now, and Sansa looked out at the bay, at the ships rolling past, she wondered which were going to Dorne, and wondered when she would be on one, sailing away from here, from all of this.

"I know" Sansa turned around at that, raising an eyebrow, she hadn't expected honesty, and Lady Margaery looked truly abashed, even a little sad, "But it wasn't all about that, I did-" She paused then, and smiled, taking Sansa's hands, and squeezing them, "I do want to be friends"

"Why?" Sansa asked, she so hoped to have a friend again, she did like Margaery, immensely, and though Sansa knew she couldn't trust her, not again, could they be friends? Could she trust her once more?

Was she to condemn herself to loneliness to be spiteful? Or because like so many other girls Margaery had done as she'd told?

And Margaery had never been unkind to her, and so Sansa decided to listen as Margaery spoke, with an open mind.

"Because I think we could both use one" Margaery said sadly, as she turned to look back at the Capitol, "I think we will both be here for a while"

And wasn't that the truth.

"You're to marry Tommen then?" Sansa asked, cautiously.

"Nothing is final yet" Margaery said, giving a little, and Sansa managed a small smile, Margaery responded with one dazzling, had she come here to repair the friendship for no other reason? Sansa's smile grew, just a hint. "But I presume so"

"How do you feel about that?" Sansa asked, they were limited to what they could say here, even with the spray of the sea, the whistle of the wind, and the guards stood far back, they could still never know who was listening.

"It will be easier" Margaery said ruefully, and Sansa nodded, easier than Joffrey indeed.

"And you" Margaery said with a smile then, it was a tentative restart to their friendship, but Sansa didn't want to swear it off, not when Margaery had been right – they could both need this. "They made the announcement this morning, that you'll marry Prince Oberyn, become Princess Sansa Martell" She paused then, searched Sansa's eyes, and offered her a hand, "How do you feel about that?"

Sansa took her hand as they turned to the sea, just two girls, in Kings Landing, trying to understand how to survive, "Nervous, but … it will be better too, more … secure" Sansa wasn't sure how to phrase it but Margaery nodded.

"You shouldn't let this one go unconsummated" Margaery said honestly, and Sansa flinched, but nodded as Margaery squeezed her hand. Margaery's voice dropped to a whisper, "Don't give them any chance to annul it"

"I know" Sansa said, though she felt those nerves in her stomach again, "I thought the same thing, but … I don't know …" She stumbled then, cheeks flaming, though they paled just as easily, "I'm scared" She whispered.

"It's okay" Margaery said, and pulled her close, dropping her hand but to wind her arm through hers, as they continued to look out at the bay, "Prince Oberyn is experienced, he won't hurt you, and he'll I'm sure make sure you have a good time" She said with a smile then, teasing a little, "Better than good even"

"Good?" Sansa's nose wrinkled, "I've heard the best I can hope for is unpleasant" Sansa said with a frown.

"I'm sure Prince Oberyn will strive for better than that" Margaery teased, and Sansa giggled, as did Margaery.

Yes, they had both needed this.

don't think too harshly of margaery, she too has been behest to her circumstances

more sansa/oberyn next time, and a wedding? maybe...

do fav/follow and I promise a swifter update next time!