eachdraidh | (first lemon cake) voice ✧ seelie & unseelie

I offer my gratitude to those fighting the worms. [ here is a voice both measured and composed, albeit young. ] And gratitude is all I can give, barring my prayers. And they are given whole-heartedly for all of us. May the Warrior give you the strength and courage required for your victories. And may the Mother bless us all.

[ sansa stark has long come to doubt the efficacy of the seven new gods. she isn't entirely certain the old gods listen, either -- but their rustling leaves and independent ways give her more peace of late than anything the seven offer: incense and rituals. however! she has resigned herself to being alayne stone to those who are not immediately known to her or trusted by her. and alayne stone worships the new gods, not the old. she is meant to be exactly as petyr baelish described her: a pious bleater, whose ardent faith discourages unwanted questions. so she speaks of blessing of the seven, but holds the old gods in her heart. she only hopes that arya and her allies will forgive her this identity fraud across the lockets.

most of all, sansa doesn't want to disappoint the people to whom she'd promised her help. like in maegor's holdfast during the blackwater, sansa hopes to lift spirits and rouse bravery. perhaps if she voices her thankfulness, others will follow in kind.

before she ends, she has only one question -- the paranoid fugitive in her needs to know: ] These pendants are truly remarkable. Magic, is it? But more efficient by far than any raven. [ ... ] Can they be used to talk only to one person, and privately? If anyone has managed it, I would thank you to tell me how.

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I'm not sure I'd find it fun to tear a dress. Or hose.

Well, of course you don't do it in a dress! Can't climb half as well or as quickly in one. Haven't you ever climbed a tree?

Never. I've no reason to. [ her sister had! but alayne doesn't have a sister. only sansa does. ]

Suppose not.

I could teach you when the bailey's a little less... wormy.

I...

[ the offer is kind. so kind. and yet -- ] I don't think you should. Thank you, but my father -- likely, he wouldn't approve.

[ Her brows knit, briefly, but it isn't her place to comment on how other families are. She knows that. ]

That's all right. [ Then, on a lighter note, ] My brother Percy wouldn't, either, I'll bet.

[ lie upon lie upon lie. oh, she does indeed suspect alayne's father would frown at the thought of her clambering trees like some errant jackdaw. but that father is not sansa's father. and he isn't here.

i miss him; he would know what to do with this place. ]

Percy. A lovely name, as well. What are the names of your other brothers?

[ Ginny would understand, if she knew; the need to lie is something that cuts through what the war is back home. There's no hiding who she is, who her family is, that's too far gone now—but the friends of hers who have disappeared (she hopes into hiding), people like Dean Thomas who never knew who his real father was, it's a safer thing to lie. ]

Well. [ She smiles, warm and happy; it's clear she loves her brothers very much, even when Percy betrayed them. ] The oldest's Bill—William, but no one ever calls him that—and then Charlie, then Percy. Then the twins are Fred and George, then Ron, who's just a year older than me.

[ so many of them! she tries to commit the names to memory -- because names are important things. ]

You are blessed to have so many brothers. They must love you so much: you, the youngest. And you their only sister. You must feel very cared for.

[ Ginny laughs. ]

A little too cared for, sometimes, but I know it's out of love, yeah. Overprotective, you know? Even when I can do things myself. And when I had boyfriends! [ She shakes her head, as if to say, Ridiculous. ] But I wouldn't trade any of them for the world, even when they're being idiots. [ PERCY. ] Have you got any siblings? You sound like you know what I mean.

I have a...[ hm. how does one explain this part of the lie? ] My father's wife's son. Only he is the issue of her first marriage. We are not blood relatives, if that's understood?

Oh, yeah, your stepbrother. That's still family.

Stepbrother. I wasn't aware there was a word for it. Then yes -- I have one of those.

Are you close?

I read to him. And when he misses his mother, he comes trailing his blankets to my chambers. So I suppose we are as close as we could be -- considering we're not flesh and we're not blood.

[ except...she is sweetrobin's family. she is his cousin, only she cannot even tell him that truth. ]

You're there for him, that's important. Sounds like you're doing wonderfully—as a younger sister, believe me, I know that much.

He isn't well -- [ she explains. ] He takes fits. Shaking fits. I try to do what I can...

[ within reason. ]

That must be hard. What's his name?

Robert. [ ... ] We call him Sweetrobin.

I love that.

You do? [ a smile. of course, the name had not been hers to make. she'd merely inherited calling him by it. ] I'm afraid it's a bit poorly chosen. I care for him -- I do. But he isn't the sweetest of children.

Well, neither was I when I was little.

Oh! Don't speak so of yourself.

I was a menace! Still am!

Still?

[ and you take pride in it?! ]

video;

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