Winter's Fire → Game of Thrones

xlv. King's Dead

I was less than pleased about my schedule for today. After the words I exchanged with Lucien, I now had to go and sit with a bunch of Southerners and act as if I wanted to attend their king's wedding. The only reason I was going was because I suspected Sansa might need the support and because unless I could convincingly play ill I really had no other choice.

The wedding was not what was bothering me at the moment, however. I was more worried about how Daemon was going to handle the situation between Lucien and I. After all, Lucien could go snitch on us for planning treason - though there's no actual plan in progress - and then it would be off with my head for sure and quite possibly Daemon's.

I doubt the Lannister's want another Baratheon traitor on their hands. Especially not the man who is technically Lord and Warden of the Stormlands.

My head belongs on my shoulders. I need it there to piece the rest of my family and our legacy together. I need it to restore honour to the Stark name and to regain the Stark lands, even if it is just Winterfell. To be entirely honest with myself, I was not even planning any treasonous actions at the moment and would most likely not for years.

There was a knock on my door and a serving lady called out to inform me that I had to head to the feast for Joffrey and Margaery Tyrell's wedding soon. I was not happy about having to attend this stupid wedding, but at least I did not have to attend the wedding breakfast or the actual ceremony.

I got out of the wedding breakfast because Lord Tyrion spoke to his father about it and convinced him that having me there would be a waste. After all, the whole point of the breakfast was to bestow gifts that I could not afford.

As for the actual ceremony, that was the work of the High Septon. He seemed to think it was inappropriate to have a traitor and someone who openly does not follow the Faith of the Seven in the most important Sept in Westeros. Not that I really minded he did not want me there anyway.

Letting out a small sigh, I gave up on trying to fix my dress. I then walked over to the wooden chest in front of my bed and opened it. Beneath the first two dressed was a dagger and a sheath for my thigh. There was also one to hide up my sleeve.

Both daggers were attached to keep me safe. I know it is against morals to have weapons at a wedding unless you are a guard, such as the Kingsguard, but I do not care. I will never attend another wedding without a means to defend myself.

No one was in the halls as I moved through them. It was eerily quiet and reminded me of stories Old Nan told my siblings and I when we were little. She always said that there were ghosts in old castles, but especially in The Red Keep. She told us it was because of all the misery and death that has occurred in the entire castle.

Old Nan was an old fool, but I believe she may have been right about the ghosts here. I would not rest in peace if I were killed in this castle either. I would happily haunt the inhabitants for as long as I could.

I imagine Old Nan is probably haunting Winterfell right now. She never would have just accepted her death at the hands of either the Ironborn or Ramsay Snow and I doubt she would have died naturally. The old woman had been there since at least my grandfather's childhood, if not his father's before him. She would have nowhere else to go.

As I got near the largest courtyard in the garden, I was greeted by the noise of people talking. I was not particularly excited to deal with the idle chit-chat or the sneers of the Southerners. I was not excited to see another look of pity or a snide comment that they feel they can so easily put upon me just because I cannot do anything physical.

For some reason my standing in a corner did not seem to satisfy Cersei. She just had to come over to me.

"I trust you did not try to murder any serving people whilst my son was being wed," she said.