AN: Nothing you recognise is mine. Mostly it belongs to GRRM. Apologies for any mistakes regarding form, but I think I got practically everything.

TRIGGERS: Mentions of drunkenness, combats (nothing explicit, there isn't even blood), the smallest mention of a male being better than a female, mentions of sex, mentions of choosing a children's spouse, mentions of organized marriages with wide age gaps and lacking power of election, mentions of adultery and venereal diseases. Overall, a terribly boring chapter with very mild triggers (to be in the ASOIAF fandom).

Abuse of random capitalization of letters, but I'm too lazy to fix it.

I think that's all.

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Lady Sansa's Tourney (part 2)

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By the fourth day of the Tourney, everybody was having a blast (as well as getting blasted each night). There had been a Melee, a Squires' joust competition and each night a feast with dancing took place. Sansa, as the person the tourney was thrown for, was allowed to remain awake each day for the whole dinner and part of the dancing with the concession that she was to take a daily nap after the midday meal without protest. Most of the nobles with children had followed this idea, and each night the ballroom was divided into adult and children sections.

Lysa was very touched by the fact that Jon was throwing this celebration for their daughter. While Lysa's father had thought and expected for a while that Cat would inherit his lands, he had never made such an enormous show of support and adoration. When asked, Lord Arryn had simply said "For the longest time I had no heir of my blood. To have one, male or female, is a blessing and we both are teaching her right. The Vale has been led before by a woman. If we have a boy that reaches adulthood, all the best, but if not, I trust Sansa to rule the Vale with wisdom and fairness" Lysa, having never thought a man, especially a Lord Paramount, could have such progressive thoughts, was moved. She had kissed him passionately after that, and that night they had bedded each other with more feelings.

Next morning, Lysa visited Sansa when she was getting dressed with the help of the nurse and a maid.

"How are you liking your Tourney, my dove?"

Sansa giggled at that. They were still trying to find a nickname for Sansa that related somehow to a bird. A Summer Islander trader had brought a Menagerie to the Court some weeks back when he was blown off course by a storm. His ship was full of exotic birds and monkeys, citing that they were wonderful pets for some of the wealthier citizens in the Free Cities. Sansa and Lysa had gone to visit them several times, oohing and aahing in every jail. Sansa had decided that she wanted a nickname related to a bird, and Lysa and her together with some friends were trying their hand at name picking, but more often than not they ended up with ridiculous names.

Dove, Lysa tasted it again in her tongue. It wasn't as terrible as some of the names proposed, but for some reason it left a bitter taste in her mouth. As if in another story it had been used with poisonous intentions. Something similar had happened when Lysa had called Sansa Little Bird. Still, better that than a lady that proposed to call her a tit. The snickering had been long and tiring after that one. Other options had been canary, sandpiper and Skylark. None had stuck.

The boys in Sansa's friend group had tried to name her something more frightful and menacing, but Sansa was certainly more of a social and playful bird than a haughty falcon, however much Lord Arryn and Lady Anya had tried to turn her into a colder and more distant person.

Nevertheless, her friendliness had served her well so far into her Tourney. The children tried their best to be kind and malleable to Lady Sansa, and multiple invitations were sent each day for Lady Sansa to have play dates with the children of this or that family. Almost as many as Prince Joffrey, but when his invitations were rarely repeated, and never at the instance of the children, Sansa's rapport with the other children was widely mentioned and bragged about. Courteous, eager and easy to please. She and her nurse had organised games for each day that came from all the regions, so that no kind was to be left behind.

Sansa's theoretical lessons have been exchanged during this fortnight for practical lessons regarding the organisation and planning of great events. Hosting such a massive number of nobles and their entourages required much pre-planning if it was to be done alright, and the Stewards of the Red Keep were overrun with work. Sansa shadowed her mother while she discussed and organised rooms, menus for the feast, entertainment for the guest and schedules. One day, she had been sent together with her nurse and Lady Anya to meet the Stewards who were taking care of the Tourney's planning. It had been enlightening to see how many things must be taken into account, and she had been duly appreciated when showing her knowledge of heraldry of the knights competing or the houses they were from.

Days later, the Tourney finished with a great Banquet and dance til sunrise. Sansa's been so excited that she had remained awake and dancing until the hour of the Wolf and then gone to sleep like a baby. It was convenient that she had been dancing with her father at that moment, and that he, noticing her incoming tiredness, had proposed to her to sit with him and have a lemon cake. As soon as she was seated, she fell asleep, and with a head gesture, Lord Arryn had her nurse take her to the castle. Lysa had been about to follow, when Lord Arryn had taken her hand and asked her for a dance. She had blushed.

"How have you liked the Tournament, Wife of mine?"

"Very much, my Lord" she said "I know I have said it before, but I'm really thankful that you remain so supportive of Sansa"

"She is very dear to me. Any children would be a blessing, but Sansa is really special. Some only see her kindness and amiability and beauty, and those qualities are good, but they do not see her desire to improve herself, her strength, her patience. She grows more and more deserving each day. I hardly expect any man to deserve her ever" he made a pause and then smiled "we would have to veto the ones we like and then let her choose for herself. Otherwise, I'm afraid I would never let her go and get married".

Lysa, who had had very rarely any power of election until she was well and truly married to a man three times her age, was really touched, and that night when preparing herself to sleep, she prayed to the Seven to let Jon Arryn live as much as possible to enjoy and protect Sansa and her choices for many years yet to come.

Two days later, when most of the nobles were preparing to leave the capital, delicious rumour expanded its wings for a last laugh before parting. It seemed that with the end pf the Tourney, King Robert was done trying to work his way into whores' and barmaid's beds alike, and he had gone to the Queen's chamber to demand his husband rights, but she had barricaded him outside of the room, citing that after having provided the Realm with a heir and a spare, she had no need to continue to compete for his arousal with lower women. If he was so eager to bed wenches and whores, she had no need to be visited by all the venereal disease in the Seven Kingdoms, she said. The rumours had run wild in the Red Keep and beyond.

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