The next morning, Sansa found herself waking up earlier than she normally would. The sun had only just peeked over the horizon when she opened her eyes. She groaned and rolled over, so that she couldn't see a single ray of sunlight. She tried, in vain, to get back to sleep for a few more minutes, but in the end gave in and decided to just get up. She dressed quickly and wondered downstairs, in the hopes of getting some food before the normal set breakfast time.
When she wondered out of her room, she found the large castle in which she lived to be almost silent. This was strange; she was so used to see the halls bustling and full of life that it seemed odd for it to be any different. She could faintly hear shouts and laughter from outside, but guessed that was just some of the morning guards.
As she walked through the large empty stone corridors, Sansa thought about the previous night. Part of her still couldn't believe that Theon had called her beautiful. It seemed so unreal. Had of her night had been spent wondering how he would act today. Would he be indifferent? Or would he be nervous, like her?
Of course not. Sansa thought bitterly. He's handsome, young, privileged and had ladies falling all over him. Why would he be flustered over her?
Sansa knew very well about all of the night times trips Theon made to be with beautiful young women. Robb often scolded him for it, saying it wasn't proper, or honourable. Of course it wasn't, but when it came to whores, Theon didn't care to much about honour. He just made sure to clean up his mess after he was done.
After Sansa had visited the kitchen and got a few slices of bread, she decided to go for a stroll outside and till everyone else woke up. She pulled her cloak closer around her body, so to shield herself against the cold northern air, and then set off on her track around the castle. Sansa could she nobody as she made her way around the castle, but the laughing she had heard in the corridors was slowly becoming louder and louder. Curiosity got the better of her, and she decided to change her route so that she was now heading towards the source of the commotion.
After a few more paces, Sansa soon realised that the noise was coming from the training area, where the boys learnt new battle skills and practiced their swordsmanship. Sansa tiptoed towards the area, careful to make no noise, and peered round an edge of castle that was jutting out. She saw Robb, Jon and Theon, laughing and swinging swords at each other. They had obviously woken up early to practice before their actual lessons that day.
"Come on Robb," said Jon, as Robb took a shot at him and missed. "You can do better than that."
Robb let out a hearty laugh and tried again. He was successful this time, and Jon had to quickly block his swing to avoid any damage.
"Now gents, we can't just keep on swinging and blocking," said Theon. "We need to do a variety of swings -like this!" he then smacked Robb on the back of the legs with his sword. Theon and Jon almost fell over laughing. Sansa herself couldn't help but giggle a little bit at his actions. She then decided it was probably best to leave before they noticed she was here. Lord knows, she didn't to talk to Theon after last night. She knew she'd only embarrass herself is she did.
Sansa turned so that she could make her way back up to the castle, bust as she did so, she slipped on a patch of ice. As she fell, she let out a loud cry, before landing hard on the ground.
"What was that?" asked Robb and Sansa heard the stomp of footsteps. She then looked up from her spot on the icy floor to see three men standing over her, each with a very confused expression. She did notice that Theon also looked slightly amused, which made her feel even more mortified.
"Sansa?"said Jon in surprise. "What are you doing here?"
She opened her mouth, but no words came out. She was too embarrassed to even speak. When she didn't answer he tried again: "Would you like a hand?"
She nodded and took the hand that he had extended out to her and he pulled her up easily from the ground.
"Now," began Robb, looking down at his sister with a raised eyebrow. "Are you going to tell us why you were hiding behind this wall?"
"I was not hiding!" said Sansa, suddenly finding her voice.
"Sure you weren't."
"Robb Stark why would I hide behind a wall and spy on you?"
Robb grinned. He loved winding up his sister. "Fine. What were you doing out here then?"
"I couldn't get back to sleep so decided to go for a walk. I heard you laughing and wondered who else was up this early."
"You know, you could have just joined us Sansa." said Theon. Sansa tore her eyes away from Robb as he spoke. She had been trying to avoid acknowledging he was here.
"No she couldn't." Robb snapped at his best friend. "Sword fighting is not for ladies. It's dangerous and she could get hurt."
"Relax. It's not like one of us would hurt her, is it?" said Theon with an eye roll.
"Accidents happen. Besides, Sansa doesn't even like sword fighting." Said Robb in a form voice.
Sansa narrowed her eyes at her brother. Maybe she was a tomboy like Arya, but that didn't mean that people should just assume things about her. "I wouldn't know, I've never tried."
"You could have a try now?" suggested Jon, coming into the conversation for the first time. He looked like he genuinely meant what he was saying. It made her feel another pang of guilt. Another nice thing, when she had been nothing but horrid.
"Jon, I said no!" Robb said, his voice raising at his brother. Jon stood his ground, however, and wouldn't back down.
"She's not going to get hurt. If anything learning how to fight will help her in the future."
"Ladies don't fight." said Robb, dismissively. "Besides, she's just a little girl."
That caused Sansa's blood to boil. Just a little girl? That obviously summed up exactly what Robb thought of her. I bet he doesn't think that about Arya.
Sansa just gave her brother a stare was icy as the wind, and turned on her heal to march back to the castle, leaving the other three staring after her. From past experience the silent treatment worked best on Robb, so that was exactly what she was going to do.
Just a little girl she thought, I'll show him.
