A Holiday by Decree
~~Day 11~~
With midday not far off, the sun shone down hotly from overhead. Sansa stepped down from the wheelhouse and off the extra step placed by the servants, followed by Tyrion. Here inside the gate, everything was green and lush. The sweet smell of the grass invigorated Sansa from where it grew thickly around the rows of full, leafy trees that stood to the right of the lane ahead of where the wheelhouse had stopped.
A short distance behind them, guards were closing and locking the massive gates. Adil was translating for the compound's guards and Tyrion's and her four Westerosi guardsmen. The men had ridden out with them for protection, though they themselves seemed alert but relaxed enough. The comparatively calm, secure environments their charges kept within surely posed fewer challenges to their job than usual.
Beside Sansa, Tyrion shielded his eyes from the sun with his hand, looking around with interest until a brightly smiling Bisaam, who had joined their trip, handed him a small basket. "My lady," Hirat said in her soft, sweet voice, approaching Sansa. "Would you like the veil removed now? It is mainly worn out of one's home and on the road. Here, it is no longer needed, unless you want," she offered, and Sansa noticed that a long piece of simply embroidered aqua-dyed material, likely her own lowered veil, laid over Hirat's shoulders, coming into a tie at her chest.
Sansa took one edge of her own ornate veil in hand to admire it. It was lovely, but too delicate and easy to shred if it caught anything. She asked Hirat to remove it fully for safekeeping and bent, so the shorter woman could reach.
Out of the corner of her eye, Sansa noticed how Tyrion appeared to be inspecting the basket in his hands but was really stealing glances her way, as the maid carefully replaced the sunburst pins in Sansa's hair. Though she was still nervous about unintentionally disregarding him, Sansa caught his eye and smiled playfully. Her heart warmed, when he startled slightly at being caught and returned her smile in a way that seemed to say he still did not fully believe her smiles were for him.
The thought that she could inspire such humble looks from a man otherwise considered so formidable in his own right, sent chills through Sansa's body. It spurred her again to find a way to show him that he was safe to be vulnerable with her - something which she was realizing he needed perhaps as much as she did.
Once Hirat returned from stowing Sansa's veil in the wheelhouse, Adil joined them too, now holding a canteen, while their Westerosi guards were now escorted by another. After Adil offered them all fresh water, Bisaam and another older, male member of the staff, who was similarly hearty and showed signs of a life spent outdoors, showed them up the lane and down one of the first rows of trees.
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Hi, I'm back, dear readers! Unfortunately chapter updates will need to be more or less once a week for now though. The last couple weeks have proved I need to be on the go a while longer. On the bright side, it's not so bad though :) Hope you enjoyed this chapter ✨