(fifth lemon cake) video ✧ open to both courts

[steeledskin]

Fellow Shardholders. [ what follows is a rehearsed speech, likely written beforehand and committed to memory. sansa stark (better known by most as alayne stone) sits before her locket in troichean beinn. she has, pinned to the shoulder of her fine silk dress, a direwolf. every instinct in her body tells her she should not say what must be said. should not announce what must be announced. but before his absence, her father had been giving her gentle instruction in how to meet these responsibilities. it makes her weep to imagine disappointing him -- yet she is far out of her depth. she needs help. but the speech she must do on her own. ]

With a heavy heart I tell you that Lord Eddard of House Stark -- Lord of Winterfell, Warden of the North, and a Keeper of Cothromach -- has left these lands. H-he is gone. [ she does not elaborate upon the very grief of his absence, but the cause cannot be too difficult to surmise: else why should anyone's heart be heavy for a man returned to his own world? ]

Yet if Lord Stark has made you promises or oaths of any sort, no matter your court, I wish to see them honoured and fulfilled. [ it takes tremendous will not to beg for the opportunity. she swallows hard. ] And if any have in turn have sworn service to him, I tell you now that I am his eldest daughter and the noble city of Cothromach has deemed me heir to his title. And to his duties. I would be humbled if those sworn to him would consider entrusting me with those same vows -- though I understand asking you to put your trust in a daughter of his house is not a thing easily done.

Likewise, if any in these lands wish to take refuge or make their homes in Cothromach, I would speak to you. My Lord Father wanted to see the city built up to its proper glory, and any Shardholder willing to join us in the task will be welcomed within its walls. For now, Lady Meera Reed sits as castellan while my family travels. Once my efforts in Troichaen Beinn are finished, I look forward to to returning as Sansa of House Stark.

[ by now her voice is shaking and it was a challenge merely to say her true name. it had been a lie, of course: she does not look forward to being herself once more. she knows such honesty runs against every lesson taught to her in the south. honesty leaves her open. vulnerable. but in the south she'd not had jon. nor arya, really. nor any manner of true ally -- none like those allies who have helped her in these lands.

it is for those sweet supportive souls that she speaks her final piece. it is the most difficult thing to ask, and it isn’t hidden behind rehearsal. it is not courtly. ] To those who knew and cared for the girl Alayne Stone: I apologize for my falsehoods. I swear I meant no harm. Please -- forgive me.

[ this confession is done. and so too was alayne stone. ]

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audio

[caditquaestio]

[ Oh, to hell with reverent awe and flattery for most joyous occasion - take indignation. ]

...you have rule of a city.

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[steeledskin]

[ him. it is hard to keep that requisite distance -- that courteous removal that she only of late realized her father handled with aplomb. ]

Is that now how an inheritance functions? [ the question is rhetorical. she's learned the painful lessons of inheritance long before now. ]

[caditquaestio]

You - and rule. You.

Video, Permaprivate

[gordianknots]

[Waver would have simply written a polite very nicely done to Sansa's message if she had not mentioned Cothromach. But she has, and that means there's information vital to her tenure as keeper of the area.]

My sympathies regarding his departure. I am certain you'll do very well in his absence.

With that said, I have information that you need to be aware of in respect to your new duties.

[steeledskin]

--My Lord?

[ very well. she is not certain. but what she does know is she wants waver's counsel. and it seems she does not need to ask for it, for here he offers it already. ] What information is this?

[gordianknots]

I apologise that this is to the point, and unfortunate news at that.

But to the point: Morla's got designs on Cothromach. A recent arrival's been promised the chance to rule it after completing a particular errand for her. The individual is a man named Saralegui, you can pick him out by the fact he has long blonde hair and a pair of glasses. Young, probably goes up to my shoulder.

private.

[tensed]

[ while he gets the gist of it there's enough that flies over his head to leave him wary of speaking. not on something that sounds so personal. rather he listens for a while before he sends sansa a short message. ]

When you're done with this, mind helping me with something?

private.

[steeledskin]

[ she has so much to do. so much that needs tending. and yet...and yet there is a small piece of defiant stark that cannot listen to the mild request for help -- however inconsequential it may be -- and not feel compelled to answer.

besides, it may take her mind of other matters. ] I would be glad to help you, Gale. What might I do for you?

[ the question holds an implicit and do you need my company? ]

private.

[tensed]

It's not that important. But I could use your opinion.

[ she wandered almost nowhere in the ship unaccompanied so after a little pause he adds: ] I can come to you if you want.

Permaprivate

[dragmire]

[Had Ganondorf known that the man he met at the gates of Caer Glaem was the man spoken of here, he might have hesitated in speaking. But he did not make or know the connection between the two. Though the sigil of the wolf was of note. The boy king Joffrey had spoken of wolves. He had his own wolf at home that needed dealing with.

His tone remained diplomatic all the same.]

You are young to inherit so early. [So he says! But he was born a king and so always had that weight upon him.] But I expect you will manage all the same.

I am Ganondorf Dragmire, Lord of Castle Mair. When you have returned to your rightful place, I would speak to you on matters of trade. Our courts may be at war, but that is no reason our people should go without.

[He was keenly interested in the capabilities of the dwarves. He had seen hints of what they could manage from his time in Redgate. Troichean Beinn was a long way to go for trade, but Cothromach was close. Too close to Caer Glaem to be easily captured and held, but close enough he could still make some benefit from it.]

[steeledskin]

[ he may not know her, but she knows him. he was the one who had threatened stragglers in unseelie lands. and sansa believes she and gendry had been in genuine danger under that threat. waver, too, had spoken of one ganondorf.

she feels her throat constrict. the past few days -- as she'd wrestled with the necessity of announcing herself -- she's understood this gamble. that those who might indeed be enemies might respond. and then she would have to hold conversation with them as if it did not make her blood roar and her pulse tremble. ]

My lord. [ sweet. polite. that will never change, she promises herself. she will deal as sweetly with them as she always had with the lords and ladies of westeros. ] Mair and Cothromach share so little distance between them. It's only fitting you would want to speak of trade. [ her poise stays stiff. she barely flickers in the locket's frame. ] Perhaps some delegation ought to be decided upon.

[ would he rather the unseelie saralegui have my seat? trade is well and good, but she cannot trust this man. ]

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[enthraller]

[well. when he was promised the city of cothromach, he wasn't aware that it was already owned. not that that's ever stopped him before, but it certainly changes how he handles things here.

at least he should get to know this "keeper of cothromach". for now, he'll go with simple sympathy and improvise from there as needed.]

I am sorry about your father. You're taking on a great deal of responsibility for someone who has just lost that much.

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[steeledskin]

[ it is not my first loss; nor, indeed, my first loss of him--

but such weakness needs not be shared. she sits prim before her locket and accepts the sympathy with a gracious nod. ] I take on only as much responsibility as the eldest child present owes her father at the time of his passing. But thank you.

video; private

[greywater]

[She's sitting in a fine hall, smiling at the video. The other name never suited Meera well, but she's never overtly judged Sansa either. They've never much talked about home, but knowing enough of what has happened, they all have done things to survive.]

He would be proud.

video; private

[steeledskin]

I pray you're right. It is time I do better by him.

action when she's done!

[baseborne]

[Well... some of these responses have been worrisome. But the speech was good - save the trust in a daughter bit, that was a stumble, but not a large enough one to ruin it utterly. He hopes the reason he can tell that her confidence is tremulous and hard-won is only because he knows her and leaves it at that, when he pokes his head in the room.]

Have you need of anything? [Is anyone being mean?? Jon can take them.]

[steeledskin]

[ she startles. unfairly so -- but she seems to jump when a voice cuts through her room. but when she cuts a look over her shoulder and sees it's jon, she finds her heart calmed. her blood unboiled. sansa stands quickly from her stiff seat at a side-table and (now that the moratorium upon affection had been broken back on the ship) she rushes to take his hands in hers. ]

You will be, won't you? [ she digs her fingers into his wrist. she's already proven she cares little for the glove or the scars beneath. what matters is him. ] My...Lord Commander, if it can be called so. Captain of my Guard.

[ the request has not been formally made until now. indeed, she'd named jon snow to valentino before she'd secured the position with her brother. yet she knows he must have seen it because she knows he made a reply of his own. but now her voice houses a careful panic as she asks it of him. she needs him. for there are more dire considerations than valentino's mere teasing. ]

[Video]

[scramasax]

[That explains some of that, doesn't it.

The meaning of all the talk - an alias, activity in Troichean Beinn - is lost on him, but the simple bottom-line message isn't. And the difficulty of the message isn't difficult to surmise, indeed, especially for one who's probably in the same position...

His brow's tensed when he establishes connection. Voice is quiet, and dipped, and so is his head. Not much his place - but the sentiment's one he nonetheless wishes to offer.]

-- My sympathies as well, my Lady.

[And now this might be overstepping.] I -- spoke with your father... on only a few occasions. He - seemed a Lord, indeed.

[Video]

[steeledskin]

You did? [ her smile is sad but genuine. ] Tell me your name. Please. I would know all who were in my Lord Father's life, here.

video;

[chromosomes]

Your father sent me a fresh horse once, when I went to help a friend. I never did have the chance to repay him.

[ He doesn't comment on her lie. He supposes he can understand why. ]

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[steeledskin]

Ser -- Sergeant -- John. [ titles are more important now than ever. ] I'm pleased to know he could help you. Perhaps in the future we can continue to help each other.

[ there. her voice shakes, but she imagines that sounds pretty enough. ]

private text »

[aliased]

I will come with you.

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[steeledskin]

You will have whichever room you like!

[ take the biggest. take the bestest. take the one closest to the smiths' quarter she does not care so long as her family is together and arya will smile at her. she will try so hard from here-on in to win that smile. ]

video;

[boutant]

Perhaps you'll get a chance to build one of those great bridges, now.

[ In other words, congratulations. ]

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[steeledskin]

-- Ah.

[ that memory is a sweet one. almost too sweet. sansa sighs. ] Cothromach has many of its own bridges. But perhaps it could use a new one.