Sansa knew that people saw her as quite a girly girl. After all, she made sure that she always acted proper, and behaved. But she didn't know that that made people think she was weak and in capable of doing a simple task. She didn't know people saw her as a little girl. It made her feel silly and foolish. A part of her couldn't help but think that they wouldn't call Arya a little girl. She could handle herself, despite the fact that Sansa was a few years her senior. Obviously her lady-like air, made people think that she was completely incapable of even holding a sword.
Another thing that made her completely mortified, was that Robb had called her a little girl in front of Theon. She knew very well that he probably saw her as nothing more than a little sister, but she defiantly hoped he didn't she her as a little girl that was completely helpless. Sure, she had dreams of castles and knights saving ladies, but that didn't mean she couldn't look after herself.
By the time she reached the castle, almost everyone was up. She could see staff bustling around the corridors, and could hear people laughing and making conversation as they worked. Too annoyed at Robb and too mortified by what he said, Sansa decided that she would skip breakfast that morning. She knew she would get in trouble, but she would just tell her parents that she was ill. Before she could start to make her way towards her chambers, Sansa heard someone calling her name behind her. She turned to see Jon running down the corridor in an effort to reach her.
"Sansa," he said as he reached her. "Are you okay?"
"Of course, why wouldn't I be?" she said trying not to make it obvious how angry she was. Jon wasn't who she was mad at after all.
"I know you're not okay. What Robb said wasn't very nice."
Sansa nodded, narrowing her eyes at her half-brother. She was suspicious as to why he was being so nice to her. Or why he'd even cared about how she felt.
"I'm fine. It was silly idea after all. I shouldn't even consider holding a sword." She almost sounded robotic as she spoke, a dead give-away for Jon that she was defiantly far from okay.
"Sansa there's nothing silly in wanting to be able to defend yourself," he hesitated for a moment. "I could teach you if you like."
Sansa's mouth opened in shock. Had Jon really just offered to teach her to fight?
"Why would you do that?" she couldn't help but ask.
Jon shrugged his shoulders. "Because you shouldn't be prevented from doing what you want just because Robb said no."
"But...but I've always been horrid to you. Why would you help me?"
Now it was Jon's turn to look shocked. "Sansa, you're my sister. It doesn't matter how horrid you've been to me, you're my sister. If you need help, I'll give it to you."
At his word Sansa felt a lump rise in her throat. He really was the nicest person. He had never deserved anything she said or did to him.For the first time in her life, Sansa felt proud to say that Jon Snow was her brother.
"Thank you Jon. That's so sweet of you to say." She hesitated a moment before her next sentence. "I would love for you to teach me how to use a sword."
For a moment Jon seemed slightly shocked at the fact Sansa agreed to have lessons with him. "Okay" he sadi after a moments silence. "We can start tomorrow. Oh, but Sansa, please don't tell anyone. I don't think this will be very approved of. Lady Stark won't like it."
Sansa smiled at him, and felt most of her anger wash away. "Thank you again Jon."
He smiled back at her, before turning and walking off to his own practice.
With a new sense of happiness, Sansa decided that she would go to breakfast after all. After her talk with Jon, she felt like she could face Robb without feeling like she wanted to rip his head off. This didn't mean she had forgiven him (after all she hadn't forgotten that Theon had witnessed the entire thing) but decided to bide her time until she could get some type of revenge.
Everyone was there when she entered the dining room. "There you are Sansa." said her father, giving her a friendly smile.
"Why are you late?" asked her mother, as Sansa took her place at the table.
"I just went for a walk." As she spoke, she could have sworn she saw Theon smile, just a little. It made her groan inwardly. He found her embarassment funny. It couldn't get much worse than that.
Stop it. She scolded herself. You're probably going to end up married to Joffery. Why should you care what Theon thinks of you?
It was question she had asked herself over and over gain the night before. Why did she care. She hated to admit it, but she knew the answer.
"Well now you're all here," said Ned, putting down his knife and fork. "I need to talk to you about something."
"What is it Father?" asked Robb, seemingly worried about his father's solemn expression. Ned paused for a minute, trying to find the words to say what he was thinking. "I got word today that the royal party have been travelling here for the past month. They are set to arrive tomorrow." He stopped and sighed, rubbing his forehead for a moment. "They apologised for the short notice but said they wanted it to be a surprise."
"Well it certainly is!" said Lady Stark. She was outraged that her family had not been given anywhere near enough time to prepare for a royal visit. "How will we get all the rooms ready overnight?"
"I don't know. But I'm going to have to ask the staff to work longer than normal. I'll pay them for the extra work. And children, you're going to have to help out to get the work done."
"Of course father." said Robb.
While everyone else burst into chatter about the upcoming arrival of the royal family, Sansa sat in silence. She couldn't help but think that Joffery was the exact distraction she needed.
