Sansa kneels at a rocky overlook, praying. Margaery approaches. Margaery clears her throat and says, "Ahem. I didn't mean to disturb you."

Sansa said, "You haven't."

Margaery said to the guards, "We'd like some privacy, please. If you wouldn't mind waiting back inside the keep. Or if you'd be kind enough to give me your names, I'll ask the king to speak with you himself." The two guards step away.

Margaery asked, "What did you pray for?"

Sansa said, "I can't tell you."

Margaery asked nosily, "Why not? I'll tell you what I prayed for in the sept this morning. Let's see, for my family's health and happiness, for an end to the war, for a short winter. Boring and traditional, I'm afraid. And you?"

Sansa said, "I'm sorry, I just can't."

Margaery changed the subject and said, "My cousin Alanna was the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen. When I was 12, I was all elbows and knees and Alanna looked like a goddess sent to torture me. Pig-face, she called me."

Sansa was taken back and said, "Pig-face? That's ridiculous."

Margaery said, "I think it had something to do with my nose. Whenever she passed me in the halls, she'd oink." Sansa laughs.

Margaery said, "So I prayed that she'd catch a horrible skin disease. A sennight after that, she came down with porridge plague."

Sansa asked curiously, "Porridge plague?"

Margaery said, "You don't have it in the North? Your skin starts to look like boiled oats and eventually your face slides off and you die in agony."

Sansa said, "But that's awful." Margaery nods and laughs.

Sansa said, "You're… I believed you! Porridge plague. I'm an idiot."

Margaery said, "Don't say that. No, you're not."

Sansa asked, "So what happened to Alanna?"

Margaery said, "Oh, she grew up to be the most beautiful woman and married a handsome lord and they have darling children and live in a castle by the sea. It's all terribly frustrating." They arrive at another overlook.

Sansa said, "I'm sure she's jealous of you now. You'll be married here in the capital and she'll have to come watch and pretend to be happy that you're queen." Margaery takes both of Sansa's hands.

Margaery says, "I want us to be friends, good friends." Sansa was wary after the other day.

Sansa said, "That would be nice."

Margaery said, "You must see Highgarden. You'd love it there. I know you would. We have a great masquerade the night of the harvest moon. You should see the costumes. People work on them for months." Planting the first suggestion to her.

Sansa said, "I- I don't think the queen would let me leave King's Landing."

Margaery said, "The Queen Regent, you mean. Once I marry Joffrey, I'll be queen. And if you were to marry Loras... Oh, your place would be at Highgarden, wouldn't it? We would be sisters, you and I. Would you like that?"

Sansa nods saying, "I would like to see Highgarden one day." She didn't want to say anything about committing to marriage. She would tell Aldarra about this encounter and see what she thinks.

—--

Tywin stands by the head of the small council table. Pycelle, Varys, and Baelish enter silently. Tyrion enters next. Tywin sits, then the others join him. Tyrion remains still, while Cersei enters and surveys the room. She pauses, then walks to the table. She picks up one of the two remaining empty chairs and places it directly next to Tywin, then sits while the others smirk. Tyrion comes forward, and drags the final chair noisily and comically to the opposite head of the table. He sits.

Tyrion says, "Intimate. Lovely table. Better chairs than the old small council chamber. Conveniently close to your own quarters. I like it."

Tywin asks, "What news of Jaime?" No one answers.

Tywin said, "Twenty thousand unwashed Northerns have known about his escape for sennights. Collectively, you control more spies and informants than the rest of the world combined. Do you mean to tell me that none of you has any notion of where he is?"

Varys said, "We are trying, my lord."

Tywin said, "Try harder. What do we have, then?"

Varys said, "Robb Stark and most of his bannermen are in Riverrun for the funeral of his grandfather Lord Hoster Tully. In Stark's absence, Roose Bolton holds Harrenhal, which would seem to make him Lord of Harrenhal, in practice if not in name."

Tywin said, "Well, let him have it. The name suits our purposes far more than that useless pile of rubble. The Lord of Harrenhal will make a worthy suitor for the widow Arryn.

Baelish said, "For which I am extremely grateful to you, my lord. Lady Arryn and I have known each other since we were children. She has always been positively predisposed toward me."

Pycelle said, "A successful courtship would make Lord Baelish acting Lord of the Vale."

Baelish said, "Titles do seem to breed titles."

Tywin said, "You'll leave for the Eyrie as soon as possible and bring Lysa Arryn into the fold. Then the young wolf can add his own aunt to the list of people who have taken up arms against him."

Baelish said, "I would stay to see your wedding, Lord Lannister." Tywin nodded.

Cersei said drily, "Yes, something we are all looking forward to."

Tyrion said, "Far be it from me to hinder true love, but Lord Baelish's absence would present certain problems. The royal wedding may end up being the most expensive event in living memory. Summer has ended, hard days lie ahead. Not a good time to leave the crown's finances unattended."

Tywin said, "Fully agreed. Which is why I'm naming you the new Master of Coin." Cersei laughed.

Tyrion said, "Master of Coin?"

Tywin said, "It would appear to be a position that best suits your talents."

Tyrion said, "I'm quite good at spending money, but a lifetime of outrageous wealth hasn't taught me much about managing it."

Cersei said, "I have no doubt you will prove equal to this challenge."

Pycelle said, "Hear, hear."

—--

Aldarra and Sansa are being transported through King's Landing in a palanquin borne by the soldiers. One of the two guards in front says, "Halt. Down." Sansa and Aldarra look out the window and see several children running being chased by a few men with weapons. Aldarra and Sansa step from the palanquin and step into the streets.

The guards shout, "My ladies! It is unsafe!" They both walk quickly with purpose.

The guards are running behind them shouting, "My ladies! Wait for us!"

Aldarra sees a group of children cowering from the adults about to beat them. She shouts, "See here! What is happening with these children?!"

The four men turned and looked at them. One said, "What's it to you fancy ladies? These beggars stole bread from my bakery."

Aldarra asked, "If I take them back and pay for the lot, will you not harm them?" The baker looked at her strangely.

He said, "I spose so."

Aldarra approached the children and said, "If you come back with me to the bakery. You can pick out what you like and I'll pay for it? Come on, it's ok now." She took a couple hands of children and Sansa did too and led the crowd of children back through the streets to the bakery.

She gave each of the children little sacks the baker had and helped them get what they wanted to fill the sacks and each child took off one at a time with their food. Aldarra paid for what the children took and asked how much more an entire table full of bread was. She paid the baker and said out loud to the crowd that gathered, "Please, one at a time. I have free loaves." She handed one at a time with Sansa to the people until the entire table of bread was empty."

A little while later, Aldarra with Sansa sits surrounded by children. One, a young boy, is speaking to her.

He said, "He was a soldier. He went to fight on the walls when the ships came into Blackwater Bay. He never came back."

Aldarra asked, "And your mother?"

He said, "She died when she had me."

Aldarra said, "Bad men wanted to come into this city and do terrible things, but your father stopped them." She hands him a toy soldier carved from wood from a basket full she bought from the wood carver shop she passed.

Aldarra said, "Whenever you look at this soldier, I want you to remember your father and what a very brave man he was protecting us all. Soldiers protect the weak and uphold the good. Your father did that. Be proud of him." The little boy grinned at her and the toy. She turns to another child.

Aldarra asks, "Was your father a soldier, too?" The child nods.

Aldarra hands him a toy soldier and passes out them and different animals to the other children.

Aldarra said, "You should be proud, too, because your fathers saved the city. They saved us all. From now on, we're going to take care of you. All of you. I'm going to try to see if I can do something to help you down here." Women begin to hand out food to the children. Aldarra bought crates of fruit and vegetables.

Aldarra and Sansa were talking with the children and holding hands with two children at a time as they walked. Children laugh and play around them. She spoke to their caretakers and said, "Come to me for whatever you need to feed them, clothe them, or house them. Directly to me. I'm going to see about easing some of the conditions down here."

—--

The doors open in the King's dining room. Joffrey and Cersei join Margaery and Ser Loras Tyrell for dinner.

Margaery says, "Your Grace."

Loras said, "Your Grace." They both rise and bow.

Joffrey said, "Please, sit. Sit. I do apologize, my lady. Small council meetings. At what point does it become treason to waste the king's time?" Margaery laughs.

Joffrey looks at her and says, "That's a lovely gown, my lady."

Cersei says, "Yes, it suits you perfectly. I imagine you might be rather cold." Her dress is revealing with cutouts.

Margaery said, "The climate is a bit more forgiving back in Highgarden, Your Grace."

Joffrey asked, "Shall I have them bring you a shawl, my lady?"

Margaery said, "I am touched by your concern, Your Grace. Luckily for us Tyrells, our blood runs quite warm. Doesn't it, Loras?"

Loras said, "Yes."

Margaery said, "Loras, isn't the queen's gown magnificent? The fabric, the embroidery, the metalwork. I've never seen anything like it." They all sit at the table, and servants begin to pour the wine.

Cersei said, "You might find a bit of armor quite useful once you become queen."

Cersei said, "Joffrey I heard that Aldarra Blackthorne walked around down in Flea Bottom today. I figure she feels more comfortable among her own kind. They said she was dragging around Sansa Stark too."

Margaery said smiling, "I heard she paid for bakery goods, a wood carver and fruit and vegetables in crates to provide food and toys to the families and children out of her own pocket. Later she visited an orphanage and the High Septon told me about it.

Cersei said, "An open heart and bleeding to death is what you'll get in Flea Bottom if you're not careful. Not long ago, we were attacked by a mob there. We had a full complement of guards that didn't stop them. The king barely escaped with his life."

Joffrey said, "My mother's always had a penchant for drama. Lady Aldarra is borrowing trouble. If she causes a riot again I'll have her head for it, wife of my grandfather or not. It's dismal enough that we have to attend her and my grandfather's wedding day after tomorrow."

Cersei said, "You're right, of course. But you are your father's son. We can't all have a king's bravery like you have shown in troubled times. There is an awkward pause as the main course is brought to the table.

Margaery said, "Hunger turns men into beasts. I'm glad House Tyrell has been able to help in this regard and temper the masses. They tell me 100 wagons arrive daily here now from the Reach. Wheat, barley, apples. We've had a blessed harvest. And, of course, it's our duty to assist the capital in times of need." They all ate their dinner.