(third lemon cake) voice ✧ open to both courts

[steeledskin]

( VOICE: OPEN TO BOTH COURTS )

Fellow [ ... ] shardholders. Seven blessings upon you all.

[ sansa is back in caer glaem, but there is no visual recording to accompany this address. (perhaps foolishly) she believes she may be somewhat protected from joffrey's attention. she would avoid an address altogether, but she feels there are those in the opposing court who ought to be quietly warned against the evil presence in their midst. trouble is, she doesn't know their names. and so here is a quiet attempt to draw out some of those people she'd spoken with at the very outset of using these lockets. ]

These lands are impressive. I have spent the larger part of two turns of this moon travelling them. Their roads are hard, perhaps, but I find myself oddly...pleased that I made any progress at all. [ there is a quiet (and honest) reverence in her voice. improvement and daring is not a thing she expects of herself, and so the mere understanding that she can now build a fire or ride a horse for days? it kindles something in her heart. a spark of pride. ] Seelie. Unseelie. Both territories boast beautiful landscapes -- I should like to see them painted, perhaps. Are there any artists in either court? Painters? Sculptors? [ ... ] Have we any musicians? These kingdoms must have their own songs. I would fain learn them.

From what played at the first feast, I imagine fairy music must always be a delight.

[ a protracted conversations, perhaps. but she hopes to catch the ear of wary allies and would-be friends. and as for her public behaviour? ah, well. she will be alayne stone a little longer. she is not ready to reclaim herself in one headlong rush. small steps and little leaps must be made. ]

(ooc: this post comes on the evening of june 27th. if your character is in caer glaem and is more apt to find here somewhere around the castle, go ahead and hit me with an action thread instead. i'm good with it. )

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audio

[steeledskin]

Seven blessings for seven gods [ ... ] my lord.

[caditquaestio]

Oh, no - no, no, but you wound me. Or honour me. The same in this. I'm no lord. See, I am what they call a courier. A man with a patron.

And you? You're too quick to give a man his lordship. What are you, a tavern a girl?

[steeledskin]

[ to her credit (perhaps) she shows some measure of vexation at being called a tavern girl. ] N-no! Merely courteous. [ a strained tone of voice. ] My lord father taught be to be polite, and you spoke with such wit--

[ she assumed he was of some gentle birth. ]

[caditquaestio]

...ah! Wit. Yes. It is a need of...

[ Think think think think think think - ]

...the trade! The courier must open a path before his lord, after all. We must be learned and know our words. Though, I suppose I cannot be said to know much: you, a lady, and I, unaware. Apologies.

[steeledskin]

A lady only on sufferance. [ she corrects him gently. barely corrects him at all, really. ] My name is Alayne Stone.

[caditquaestio]

On sufferance...?

[ Wait, how _ oh. ]

Ah! You are... also of a trade, then?

[steeledskin]

[ he cannot see the shake of her head. this is so much easier when she speaks with the westerosi: they understand that a name like stone means more than it seems. ]

My father is a lord. This much is true. But he was never married to my mother. And so...

[ don't make her say it! ]

[caditquaestio]

...and so, you are a bastard, yes? A daughter-bastard. Well met. From one to another.

[steeledskin]

[ oh! her surprise catches in her throat. and she feels guilt for her lie -- as if she paints herself with his bastardy. absorbs it. makes a mockery of it. maybe ser gendry has absolved her that liberty, but she doesn't know if others will. ]

It seems we are a common occurrence in these lands. [ then again, bastards seem common everywhere. hence their curse. ]

[caditquaestio]

Yes. So we are. I almost... wish - almost, I wish my sister were here to see it. She is... we are. Both of us are, and my brothers. But she is young, and she has learned the word, but not its meaning. Not for a woman.

[ A somewhat uncomfortable cough, because this is a little close to truth. ]

As you understand better than I, I trust.

[steeledskin]

I am fortunate -- [ she is quick to assure him. dispel his doubts. make solid her position. ] My lord father provides well for me, despite my...circumstances.

[ ... ] Is it difficult for your sister?

[caditquaestio]

No! No, she is a child. She does not... yet... understand. She will want for nothing, beyond the - ...it is different, see, donna. Different, for sons and daughters. This will not follow me, where I go.

But when it comes to her marriage, there will be questions. And questions want answers. And...

[ A pause. ]

But she is beautiful now. If she grows as she has... beauty silences. I would not wish it - to be a woman and an ugly thing. I would not wish it at all.

[steeledskin]

[ sansa thinks on her dark hair -- the hair she'd had, dyed, before asking the fairies to restore it to its vibrancy. it had not made her ugly, but it had been meant to make her duller. baelish would praise her beauty in private and encourage her to be boring in public. beauty, she thinks to herself, is not always a saving grace.

she hears joffrey's voice in the back of her mind. ]

Where is it you go, my-- [ lord. but she ought not to call him that. sadly, she realizes, she has no real title for him. what does one call a courier? ] Where is it you go?

[caditquaestio]

Wherever I am told to. I am in employ, remember, Helena?

[steeledskin]

[ but she doesn't understand. how is it that his circumstances will not matter if he --

oh! ] Where you're sent...they do not always know you. You are free, perhaps?

[ what a pretty thought. ]

[caditquaestio]

Yes. Precisely. I have a duty: I am the courier of don Lorenzo. I am the man who will bring the word they want, or the want they fear. They do not see past past my purpose. They do not judge past my work. I am what I make of myself.

[steeledskin]

So now I ask, Ser Free Man -- what is your name? What ought I call you?

[caditquaestio]

...Valentino. For the saint, or the Spaniard citadel. As you like, Lina.

[steeledskin]

Valentino. [ ... ] It is a pretty name. But you should call me Alayne Stone -- for all these other names you use [ helena. lina. even donna, which she mistakes for a name... ] are too pretty for me.

[caditquaestio]

They are only names. They could have been any other, Alonza.

[steeledskin]

[ having two names is painful enough-- ]

No. Please, Valentino. It is Alayne; call me Alayne.

[caditquaestio]

Hmmmmm. Well. Well, well. Must I?

[steeledskin]

Please.

[caditquaestio]

As you say, as you say.

[steeledskin]

[ all this desperation makes her heart beat painfully. she wants to calm down. she wants a distraction.

softly: ] Would you tell me more about your beautiful sister?