The Traitor's Wedding

Chapter Two

"Come, Lady Sansa, King Joffrey is bidding for you." They had come for her midday. She had no clue why Joffrey would call for her on the day she was usually alone. What was even more confusing was the fact her handmaidens had brought her a new dress that the seamstress had been busy designing earlier that week. She'd thought she'd finally solved the mystery before and had figured that the dress would be for Margery's wedding.

Was this supposed to be some sort of gown simply for Sandor's execution? She knew that Joffrey would claim him as a deserter, a traitor and have him killed. She figured he was supposed to have been judged and most likely executed. It should have been don ein the morning though so Joffrey could have a happy start to his day. She hadn't thought he'd have waited, would call upon her to be there as a witness. She could hear her handmaidens, aside from Shae, gossiping quietly about Sandor. It sounded as if he hadn't even been brought forth yet. Was she going to have to listen to the entire testimony?

Was Joffrey going to execute him in front of her too?

There was no way he could have found out Sansa had grown fond of the Hound, of the man who was so brutally honest with her in this cruel world. She prayed under her breath, so quietly that no one in the room could even tell she was murmuring. Only Shae, the only maid not under Cersei's thumb, gave Sansa a look to say she couldn't fool her. But she simply smiled fondly at the foreign girl and attempted to distract herself. Her hands had started shaking badly again, so she clasped them in front of herself and quietly recounted some history in her head to distract herself. Eventually, her thoughts drifted to Margery Tyrell.

Ever since she had appeared in King's Landing, it was very rare that Sansa was called upon. She only appeared in court when Joffrey expected her, which was usually when he decreed his cruelest punishments. Occasionally, Margery called upon her to "keep her company in such a lonely place". She found it wasn't the worst thing ever to be with the new betrothed, but she sometimes wondered just what the girl wanted out of her. There was only one reason to be kind at King's Landing and it certainly wasn't for friendship.

It didn't matter what anyone wanted from her right now. She couldn't stop shaking, she was so nervous for Sandor. Did Joffrey have something planned for him that was as terrible as she was imagining? Would he execute him like her father, beheaded in front of a crowd? Would he do worse and burn Sandor to death like the Mad King?

Just the thought made her sick to her stomach. She swayed slightly and quickly put out a hand to stop herself from falling. "Milady, are you feeling well?" Shae asked, pausing and looking at her with concern.

"I'm fine," she said with a wave of her hand. "Let's go. I don't want to be late for King Joffrey."

"Oh yes, Milady, he's always quite eager to share whatever news he has," one of the other handmaidens murmured, with one final touch to her hair. Sansa had wanted to keep it simple today and, for once, she wanted to wear her hair more of her Northern style. She kept it lower on her neck than the Southern styles, her hair braided and weaved carefully to look beautiful. They even weaved some flowers into her braids, although she was a little curious as to why they were making her look so pretty. When she asked, the same maid said brightly, "He said he wanted you to be absolutely stunning this morning. Perhaps he's changed his mind and is reconsidering you as his betrothed?"

She remembered her courtesies and chirped back, "Oh, I doubt that he could ever want to marry a traitor such as me. Especially with someone as beautiful as Lady Margery. I'm sure he's got something else in mind." Which was undeniably true. That scared her the most out of all of this. There had to be a reason he was keen on getting her so prettied up.

"Well, our final touches are done Milady. Shall we get going?" a sweet girl said. Truly, Sansa wished she could trust this one, with her childlike smiles and almost innocence, deep chestnut hair and shorter statue, but she refused to let herself be trapped with any looks or smiles. It had happened once. She wasn't a child now.