eachdraidh | (sixth lemon cake) video ✧ open to both courts

[ before the lockets sits a well-composed and well-turned-out lady: her face is set with discipline -- though below it she wants to crack and cry. but sansa stark has a duty -- some imperative -- to speak calmly of grave matters. nothing about this is comfortable; nothing about this is within her conventional grasp. she could compare it to her makeshift trials before the lords declarant or her audiences with the king, but this stage is far wider. out of frame, her fingers tremble. ]

Dear Shardbearers of either court --

[ if her voice shakes then it is by design. some honest fear is permitted into her tone, for what better to move the hearts of strangers than to express genuine dismay at this great knotted problem? she would not have thought to even sell it as injustice until living here and meeting many a person who appeared outraged over these alliances. these marriages. these common cages. ] One turn of the moon ago, High Queen Morla delivered onto me an ultimatum: to marry some Unseelie lord of her choosing, or else invite war upon the Cothromach. Whatever your loyalties, I beg you all to recognize the attempt for what it was --[ and do please fill that blank with your own outraged conclusions. ] I call for aid and support.

[ some words are permitted more of a quiver than others: morla; marry; aid; war. ] But I fear war has come already -- has long already been present -- and today I will refuse the proposal offered, because I fear it was only ever a blade's poisoned edge. I would prevail upon some soul from that queen's court to speak my refusal to her. [ powerful men have met her vulnerabilities with laughter, only to turn and shake their heads when she took small careful steps towards decision. what else is she to do? if she will not play the game by their rules, she must try to write her own. but even now, she hinges her action upon the passion of someone else's protest. someone else's judgement -- for better or worse. ]

The Lady Keeper of the Cothromach will not swear away her city to another court by marriage vows or by vows of any kind. [ except for other partial vows made in quiet rooms with would-be neutral parties. but those meetings are a secret and her announcement today comes instead to engage the hearts and sympathies of prospective champions who might grow incensed over a bully's tactics. lady sansa is not above playing upon their pity if said pity will protect her, her family, and her new city. anyone's pity will do: seelie or unseelie alike. ]

High Queen Morla's dogs are at the gate; let us be wolves when we meet them.

( ooc; i know some efforts have already been made re: the unseelie camps by lancer and others -- there's also a fresh log for the battle itself. )

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You speak well, my lady.

[ And he is smiling. He might not be her father, true, but he has cared for her these last months; he is proud to see her growth, her strength. ]

I am glad to see you taking matters into your own hands.

My own hands are shaking. [ a soft confession. ] Had I taken her offer -- and that lord's -- I would have to ask no one to bleed on my account. Our account. Yet...

[ she presses her lips together. makes an uncertain humming sound. ] What if I lose the Cothromach?

Let me tell you a secret, Sansa Stark. The fact that your hands still shake means that you have overcome fears to find your courage. That is something to be admired, not shamed.

[ He shakes his head, leaning back. ]

Robert feared losing Storm's End when he rose against the Mad King. I feared losing it too. Stannis, I am sure, feared losing Dragonstone and your brother feared a loss of the North when he came to fight for you. We all fear losing what we have gained, but it simply means that what we seek to earn is just as worthy as what we might end up without.

But I am not a rebel! [ she treads a careful line -- letting panic touch her words. she does not mean to say the old king and his brothers were traitors. nor her lord father neither. except they were for some time... ]

I aim to do right by my Court. [ hah. a gentle easy lie because for now it's as true as anything else. ] Certainly, it must stand behind me. Won't it?

[ His expression barely flickers and he tilts his head, just listening. ]

That does not negate the balance you are striving for. Risk versus gain is a battle that we all must face, no matter who we are, from the simplest of men outside the walls of King's Landing to the king himself.

[ Finally, he shakes his head, looking up. ]

Certainly. None can fault you for doing what you can, my lady.

[ she allows some misery to show: ] I nearly played their game. Very nearly.

Sansa. [ He leans forward, into the camera, face solemn and careful. ] We do what we must to survive. You have found a means to be proud in the face of the dangers forced against your hand. You should be proud of that, and know that I am for you.

My lord. It was your own nephew who turned the tide of that decision. [ ... ] I owe him my pride.

[ if not her city's safety. ]

Gendry is as stubborn as the mantle he wears, I think, my lady, that I cannot deny, but I am certain that you would have found your way. You are as brave and bold as the North ever was.

(sixth lemon cake) video ✧ open to both courts

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