(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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[dragmire]

He is born to be their king. No other king or queen can claim a birthright so divine.

[And it HAD been divine. Even before he was corrupted by ambition, he had been treated as though he were a god. It was little wonder he began to believe that was the case. Every ruler's life had been by accident or by coincidence, but his had been preordained before he was ever conceived.]

[steeledskin]

Your Grace.

[ it is instinctive. it is ingrained. she understands the thin threads of the conversation and understands that he is that king -- though it's no title he used here. and yet she will fall upon it and use it until told otherwise. she thinks she knows how to talk to kings. ] Your people -- [ your women ] -- must miss you awfully.

[dragmire]

[The courtesy is appreciated, especially when he finds it so often lacking among the Seelie who claim to hold chivalry so high.]

I miss them greatly. There is little a king would not do to be reunited with his own people.

[And in that, he explains the scope of what he is willing to do. There are no lines that cannot be crossed when something so important is what awaits him.]

[steeledskin]

[ little a good king would not do. but her correction sticks in her throat. sansa is not convinced that the mere word imparts perfect love for a people. she knows king joffrey did not love his subjects the way she would have loved them as queen -- wanted to love them. and be loved in turn. but now being the mere keeper of one city for one day has already overwhelmed her.

perhaps it is just as well she never managed to ascend so high. the fall would kill her if she did not learn to fly. ]

Then I take it you did not leave them by choice. [ a soft breath. she is fitting pieces together in the space between words. ] I've heard it said that those taken into the Unseelie court are not asked honestly for their participation in this war...?

[dragmire]

[He makes a deep, unhappy sound to confirm her question.]

They are not. We are bound by unfathomable power to be carried away like hunted beasts so that we might kneel at the feet of a foreign king and queen to try and curry favor with them. Our king does not speak or acknowledge we exist, while our queen speaks sweetly to us as though she acts for our own benefit.

[Ha! And yet he plays the part expected of him, because how else does one play the game. For each time he demeans himself in another's court, he is given only more desire to one day rip them both off their thrones and claim this land as his own. He did not choose the drabwurld, but its rulers would pay the price for making their war into his own.]

[steeledskin]

[ and yet you hold mair for her. but sansa knows better than to talk on the lockets as if the kings and queens could not hear them. she imagines their magic might let them tap into the very thoughts of shardholders.

instead, she speaks around the problem: ] It was my Lord Father's wish to stand apart from either court. [ and yet depend upon caer glaem all the same, but she will not tell this lord of mair so. let him imagine her as one who would stay neutral, she thinks. ]

[dragmire]

The self-titled Lord Magister who ruled this castle previous tried to do much the same, before I was bade welcome to lay claim to it. It is those who seek peace that suffer the most in times of war.

[If there is any kindness in him, it is to tell her that she will fare better to choose a side than to have one picked for her when it is too late.]

[steeledskin]

[ quietly: ] I know there is another such Unseelie shardholder who has been promised a claim on my Lord Father's city.

[ she is not yet prepared to call it mine. another weakness. ]

[dragmire]

I was unaware. [And how curious it to discover this. His concern was not for an Unseelie victory. No, what he wanted was a long drawn out war to deplete both sides while he grew in power and influence. He frowned.] Why tell me? Queen Morla may bid me raise my own armies to win this city for another.

[steeledskin]

[ she remembers the map. she knows where mair is and where cothromach is and where caer glaem is. she and jon have gone over the details -- and she has leaned upon his wits so heavily since her inheritance was made known. mair had been their chief concern but she doubts any lord -- wise or foolish -- would dare take an underground city so close to caer glaem with on so small a rumour. ]

I imagine -- [ she uses the word carefully -- not wanting to sound strong. it isn't a hard sell, seeing as how she hardly feels strong. ] I imagine armies will come from one direction or another. What I say now won't change it.

[dragmire]

Do not underestimate the power of words, Keeper. Do you suppose it is in my interest to see your city fall to another among my court or for it to remain as it is, separate from this conflict?

[This in itself is a trial for her. He already thinks of her as weak, but he will see if she is stupid as well. He can forgive neither, but he can respect cleverness when it exists.]

[steeledskin]

[ keeper. her breath catches when she hears the title. hers, now. she has others: in these lands, she is the lady of winterfell so long as her brothers are absent. but keeper of cothromach is hers. ]

I imagine -- [ that word again. she hides behind it like an excuse. like saying i am only a girl do not mind me ] -- that your interests change dependent on how loyal you are to your court. You speak of it with cold terms but...

[ but words are wind, whatever power he suggests they have. ] I would not presume to ask you whether you look to advance yourself or your High Queen. You have no reason to answer honestly, your grace.

[ or to answer at all. ]

[dragmire]

My loyalty to Queen Morla is absolute, Keeper.

[He says this convincingly enough, for whatever that may be worth.]

But rivals... Those are tedious things, don't you agree?

[steeledskin]

[ lady sansa has never had a rival. not a true one: not in the wider world. she has had oppressors and she has had enemies and she has had terrors. but she has not had rivals. and yet --

my house has rivals. and look what those rivals have done to the great name of stark. ]

Tedious would not be the word I would use, your grace. Especially if words are to be as powerful as you say they are.

[dragmire]

Well spoken. Presently, I stand now at the front lines of this conflict. Should Cothromach fall, I will be safe and secure in my castle with little fear of the war reaching me. It may yet be advantageous to allow another to suffer the brunt of the war. Why waste armies and resources when another is eager to do the same in my stead?

[steeledskin]

[ sansa does not panic her way into a monologue. she endures the fact that she is visible through her locket and yet not speaking -- but she would rather digest the lord of mair's words in full before spouting some knee-jerk response. hers will not be a minor reign filled with thoughtless threats and claims. she will agonize over every word: a strength and weakness both.

eventually: ] Should Cothromach fall once, it may yet fall again. Does your grace truly believe something so slight as a city changing hands will keep war from your borders?

[ no. she doubts it. she doubts it very much. too many castles have changed their lords in westeros these past years: there is no such thing as certain rule any longer. harrenhal has shuffled a half-dozen times and even now its lord by one side is different to its lord by another. she wonders even now if petyr baelish even believes the cursed towers his, or whether that title is appended to his name as a mere courtesy. another playing piece. ]

[dragmire]

It would be a relief all the same. The city would fall to one side and back to another in an endless cycle. I am told in previous wars, that was the very fate that befell my own city. How much preferable it would be to let that fate befall another.

[steeledskin]

Perhaps your towers are cursed, your grace.

[ haha good luck with your drabwurld harrenhal. ]

[dragmire]

I think not. If there is one craft I know only too well, it is the power of curses.

[Lucky drabwurld that he hasn't cast any yet.]

[steeledskin]

Too well?

[ a soft echo. a chirp. a bird, repeating and repeating -- pecking for more seeds. ]

[dragmire]

[He smiles thinly.]

They have their uses for tedious rivals.

[steeledskin]

[ that word again. tedious. it falls about her shoulders like a cloak too heavy. ]

Then it is a good thing we intend to be partners in trade, your grace. [ his smile is thin; hers is indulgent. hollow. a pretty lie that she knows she does not have to sell, because his threat has already been levelled. ]

[dragmire]

Indeed so. I shall look forward to your return.

[And there he allows her opportunity to end this conversation. Certainly he himself has nothing else to say.]

[steeledskin]

As do I. [ look forward to my return. for a hundred little reasons. ] Good day, your grace.

[ and the locket snaps shut and she can lean her head on her desk and scrunch her eyes shut so hard they burn. but she does not cry. ]