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

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(seventh lemon cake) video ✧ (sorta) open to both courts

( SEELIE ONLY )

I -- [ hmm. sansa presses her lips together and wonders (briefly) whether it is a foolish request in the face of war. and yet she pursues it for an honourable cause. she wishes to gather certain tales for certain purposes. ] I want to hear stories. Stories of grand adventures undertaken by brave Seelie heroes. I cannot be the only one who's struck by such curiousity. Please -- share what you've learned.

[ and for every legend well-told and well-lauded she will make a point to include it within a very...pointed celebration in treun. perhaps encouraging even the shardless to think upon the bright bold tales of the seelie court will further endear that court to their hearts. it's a little like letting the right song be played at the right moment, falling upon the right ears. she wants to inspire treun -- or else certain parts of it -- to think more kindly on caer glaem. and she needs fellow shardbearers to help her. ] Tell me of the Seelie court's fabled champions and its well-mourned martyrs. What have you heard recounted by the hearth-side? Whispered on the road? Stories even the natives have told for centuries, mayhaps.

( BOTH COURTS )

[ some hours later in the day an 'accidental' feed broadcasts. it consists of the locket falling open and catching sight of a pile of books. sounds of rustling. a cleared throat. and at long last a mild: ] Seven have mercy. What a troublesome thing you are and how -- [ sansa addresses the locket she had flipped open on purpose, pretending to be clumsy. this is a quiet way in which to invite conversation with those she might not otherwise feel brave enough to seek out -- unseelie friends, soon separated from her by a roiling oncoming war. ] -- How stupid of me.

[ a novice ruse! however, she has such an earnest and gentle face it might just be worth believing by most, if not by all. ]

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Even if the ending isn't overly happy?

[He is warning her...]

[ ah. this sounds serious. so she asks the locket to keep the tale just to themselves. locked. it lets sansa speak a little more honestly. ]

Happy endings are for the other stories, Ser Loras. The ones that doubtless never happened.

[Well then...]

There once was a boy who loved his family very much. He had already lost so much, so his family was all he had left. His sister was what he loved most of all, and would have done anything for her.

But he was a foolish boy, as well. While he had begun to learn that his life was far from a summer song, he still forgot, at times, and allowed his pride and arrogance to get the better of him.

There was an evil queen, of course, who gave birth to a good prince. The young boy wanted to help the prince learn to fight, to be a good man, so that he could serve well at his sister's side.

The queen didn't like that. And she plotted to get rid of the boy.

[He watches Sansa.]

Shall I go on?

Please. Do.

[ sansa knows the way this story starts. she knows the characters. even down to tommen, who she'd long thought much sweeter than his brother. and she knows the songs and stories that brought ser loras to bear upon his fate -- she knows who had slipped the singers extra silver just to tell them and move the hearts of the tyrells.

i should tell him, she thinks. but not yet. maybe not at all, if her courage fails her. ] I promise I will not be surprised.

[ saddened, perhaps. but not surprised. not shocked. sansa knows the queen's wicked ways. she knows the lion's den. ser loras (she thinks) cannot accidentally harm her with horrors she already knows. ]

...don't promise things. Promises never are kept.

[Loras glances at her with golden eyes, then looks down again.]

The queen didn't know how to do it, of course. Then the perfect opportunity came into her hands.

There were a sea people, Krakens, attacking the boy and his sister's flowers. Without help, those flowers would wither and die--they didn't have enough to protect themselves. There were ships that the Queen controlled, but they were at the castle of a tyrant, who had killed the boy's lover.

Distraught, worried that his home would fall, angered that the Queen would not release the ships, he offered to win the castle for her--for if he won the castle, the ships would be free to help his people, his flowers.

It was what the queen wanted. The boy couldn't know that, of course; and what else could he have done? He had to try and save his people.

But he was foolish, brash. He thought he was better than he was. So after leaving with flowers in his hair, and people's kind words in his ear, he pushed hard into battle--too hard, too fast, rushed by the need of his people.

[He paused, and then--]

He took an arrow to the leg. To the arm. A mace to his ribs. And then...he took an entire pot of boiling oil to his body.

He won the day, but failed himself. And the story does not say he survived. Or will ever be able to protect his sister again, his people, even if he does.

[ so after leaving with flowers in his hair--

her breath catches in her throat. she knew (of course) the whole time that ser loras spoke of himself. but it's the details that pulls apart her heart. makes her eyes feel wet and her blood heavy. and all of it made worse because she can untangle to cods: flowers; lovers; the terrible queen. sansa wishes she shared space with the knight. she wishes she could curl her fingers delicately 'round his own and offer better sympathy than words.

her words never feel like her own. ]

Ser Loras. You-- [ died? her throat contracted. ] The boy with flowers in his hair deserved better. He ought to be rewarded to so dutifully serve his kin. Not -- not hurt.

[ not killed. ]

There are a lot of people who deserve better.

The boy with flowers in his hair, the stag prince, the redheaded wolf.

But he's here, with the stag, his sister, and that bright wolf. He's happy, now.

I'm happier now.

I just wish I had a happier story for you.

I confess my own would not be much more pleasant. [ but she won't tell it. not all of it. he doesn't need to know what happened to her after she was whisked away from king's landing. ] I wish yours was happier, too. I wish all of ours was.

But we have these lands, now. I hope our families will make good use of them.

I think they will. You have already done so well. No one who knows you, and cares for you, could not be proud of you.

They do not know all the reasons that would make them feel otherwise --

[ except ser loras knows at least one, she imagines. how she lets a husband be chased for treason he did not commit. and still he seems to like her well enough. ]

As someone who has done less that reputable things, in the name of love, and self preservation, I think they would not feel otherwise.

I would not think different of you, my lady.

You are so kind, Ser Loras.

[ and so much kinder than the knights she'd grown accustomed to. ] I wish it weren't -- I don't want to have to grieve for another good knight. Again I am reminded we are all better off if we remain here.

I am not as kind as some might believe.

But I am glad you think me as such.

[Because he wants to be kind to her.]

I agree with you. Even with the struggles here, we have each other.

[And they have honesty. Something they usually don't have.]

Perhaps not as kind as others believe but -- ser -- [ she doesn't know how to remind him that she has met with such cruelty from other knights. so she bites her tongue instead. ]

I am pleased to know you. Here.

[ it's about as close as she can get to saying something truly sentimental. ]

I am pleased to know you, as well.

[He smiles, softly.]

And you should find me, soon. I have a gift for you.

A gift!

[ ah. see. this truly does knock her off balance: surprises her. ] Ser Loras, I feel I hardly deserve--

[ she stops. waits. listens. ]

You very much deserve it.

But it's a surprise. You have to see me, to get it.

Ah. I would say you go from kind to cruel in mere breaths, but I cannot ever think it cruel to be summoned into your company. Whatever the reason.

[ now and then she flatters as well as the rest of them. it is easier to do with ser loras, who is an ally of sorts. ]

I know.

[He's kidding.

Maybe.]

So many wish for an audience with me. So few get it. And yet, my metaphorical door is always open for you, my Lady.

How fortunate for me. [ ... ] I cannot imagine you lack for admirers in these lands, Ser.

Perhaps not; but I haven't been paying much attention. I have all I want here; my sister, Renly, people like you. All the rest matter little.

It is almost unbelievable, isn't it? The things this land offers us: the things we thought we'd never have.

It truly is. You can understand why I thought I was dead, when I first arrived.

[ what sadness is this! when death is preferable to life-- ]

At times I wonder whether my Lord Father feared the same while he was here.

I have no doubt that he did. I am sorry he is no longer here; he was a good man. [Though foolish.]

(seventh lemon cake) video ✧ (sorta) open to both courts

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