(fourth lemon cake) voice ✧ open to both courts

[steeledskin]

Fellow Shardholders. [ of either court! ]

I would speak to a man of law -- should any find himself amid our numbers. [ such a profession is unknown to her, but stiles has explained some occupations and tenets of his world and this one in particular piques her interest. sansa stark could make use of such a man who might be bound by her confidentiality. of course, she does not quite understand the ins and outs of the arrangement.

but that's why she asks today: to learn; to plan; to piece together little patches of her defence. ] Anyone who would call themselves lawyer. I would speak with you. That is the word for it, yes? [ lawyer. ] My apologies if I've gotten it wrong; I'm only a simple girl and I am unwise in these matters. I want to learn about the things that are mysteries to me.

[ like whether a lawyer's strange binding powers of argumentation would even apply in these lands. once her conversations are finished, she snaps the locket shut and can be found in the library -- where she organizes books she doesn't care to read, because the practise soothes her and distracts her mind from its darker thoughts. or else come the evening she sits in her chambers, and allies of hers are welcome to stop and knock. ]

Comments

[caditquaestio]

...very well. I'll teach you no more. Nothing. Nothing at all. You've spoken.

[steeledskin]

[ she holds her tongue a moment. in truth, sansa cannot tell whether this is a victory or a defeat. perhaps it's neither; perhaps they are merely in some stalemate -- blissfully distant, yet still drawn to the careful way in which they had to speak around each other's meanings.

he humiliates her at every turn, and yet she feels herself growing sharper for it. ]

I have. I did. I spoke. [ her heart beats. ] Is that all it ever would have taken?

[ speaking up. asking. telling. could she have dissuaded him from the very outset with so simple a refusal? ]

[caditquaestio]

It only would have taken more if - ...but no. That would be teaching.

Yes. That is all it took. All it would have ever taken.

[steeledskin]

[ but no. that would be teaching. and a current of guilt and shame runs through her. ]

As you say. [ ... ] Unless you know of one of these lawyers and might furnish me with an introduction, I imagine our business is now concluded.

[caditquaestio]

So it is, Madam. Fair tidings to you. And your lord.