(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

haha so the perpetual-drizzle UK weather stereotypes were lies, eh?

[baseborne]

"No more than father's is his," they were family. And anyway, after inheriting the crippling poorness of the Watch, it feels nice to find a problem that needs solving with coin and not having to go to sleep guilty over how he'd managed to pay it.

fortuitously so. though i come here a lot and have seen my fair share of stereotypical downpours

[steeledskin]

"Neither of you should have to pay for my stupidity. Not you, not father..."

Her voice cracked with feeling. And Sansa, nervous of betraying even the good emotions, clenched her teeth and swallowed her love. "I have a little wealth of my own. Most I gave to Ser Gendry to replace what he lost in escorting me...but I have a little bouquet of golden flowers. Maybe it will be enough."

:) i'm glad it worked out for you this time! and i'm stoked we got a chance to tag this made my nigh

[baseborne]

Jon doesn't actually know why Sansa might blame herself for her situation, to his ears it seems just another terrible thing that the Lannisters beat into her. He swallows, a bit hoarsely: "You didn't want to marry the Imp. It's the Lannisters who should pay, but they wouldn't, because they've got no decency." The idea of her giving up some pretty trinket is unsettling, in any case. He could see her being so pleased with a bouquet of golden flowers, for the beauty of them, and she'd given up enough things already, hadn't she? "I don't mind it, Sansa, truly. I've not done anything with it, anyway."

ahhh! I'm so pleased as well. I confess I have a lot of Jon's threads tracked and have been reading!

[steeledskin]

Sansa liked it when things were made...simple for her. As when Petyr had whisked her away. As when Ser Gendry had given her his protection and promises. Despite this flimsy refusal, she liked being cared for. And so it was easy enough to relinquish her argument and give in to Jon's proposed aid.

"How fortunate I am. And how kind you are."

Because even now she can consider herself lucky when comparing her lot to others. It's easier done in the company of her kin.

haha he's spending half the month camped out in her room hoping she'll wake up tbh

[baseborne]

It works out well, because Jon has the constant need to sweep in and save people - to assuage the guilt he feels over the things he's done and said and felt through it. She can't see his expression, but it's pleased - relieved.

"When you find your lawyer, I'll talk to him." And probably haggle like a fishwife.

soon soon!

[steeledskin]

Talk to him! She smiled.

"I suppose it only does my cause good to have the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch as an ally--"

And yet she spoke with trepidation. Sansa was raised on the glory tales of the Wall. Whatever concessions she'd made to Southron culture, she would not shake that Northern admiration for Jon and his brothers and his vows. Especially now that knights have failed her. But she felt trepidation because she knew those vows -- promises taken to absent one's self from bond of kin and politics. Sansa did not want to encourage her half-brother to budge on those vows she still believe he kept sacred.

yesssss

[baseborne]

He feels a punch of guilt at that, but it's nowhere near as big as it had been when he'd said I have no sisters, only brothers. So he pushes it away now, as he does when he looks upon their father and thinks of the vows he left behind. Vows that Lord Eddard Stark would have been obligated to execute him for breaking, once.

"You've a brother, it seems to me. I've nothing to command, here." It feels like such an empty title, these days.

[steeledskin]

Nothing to command. Sansa wondered if their past responsibilities could be so easily set aside for new lands and opportunities. Already, she has had Stiles muttering in her presence -- no, not muttering but shouting! -- that she ought to be free to take more for herself in Caer Glaem. But Sansa did not know how. Or why. Or what she'd want to take at all. Except she wanted her marriage broken. Maybe once that was done, she could breath a little easier...

"I thought of you often, Jon. In the Vale--" she began to confess.

[baseborne]

There's a small, surprised pause. In truth, he'd thought of Sansa mostly when Stannis tried to give away her birthright, to hand off Winterfell to the first man he could - or when he'd thought of all of his siblings at once. It was Arya he dreamed about at night when he didn't walk as a wolf, or watch Ygritte die: it was his grubby little sister more on his mind and taking up most of the space in his heart, as she always had.

It seems rather unfair of him in retrospect.

He is curious, though - and maybe a tiny bit shy for all his hard-won confidence from the Wall. She'd told him Alayne is nothing like you, once, and he hadn't known what to make of it, then or now. Was it an insult? A compliment? An apology? A criticism? "What sort of things about me?"

IT'S SO OKAY i do it all the time.

[steeledskin]

Oh it would be sweet to see him once again.

She would not begrudge him his preferences. Indeed, it was already a hard fact in her heart: Jon Snow loved Arya Stark more than he might ever love his other sister. And Sansa had learned to trust in and depend upon and crave her brother's support despite this truth. She did not need all his love to trust him. She only needed a little sliver; a little sliver of love would do.

"My one brother remaining to me. Alayne had no brothers, but Sansa had so many. I missed you. I wanted to be brave like you."

Bastard brave.