So in Love

Chapter 2

All Starks, apart from Arya, stood in front of him while the clattering of hoofs echoed in the distance. Ned's shoulders were slightly tensed as if he was truly nervous and Catelyn sounded frustrated when her youngest daughter was still missing. Sansa clearly couldn't care less if Arya would be there in time or not. She had her chin lifted and stood on the tips of her toes to have a good look at the gate.

Theon stood behind her, next to Jon Snow. He couldn't see her face, but he had seen more than enough of her childlike wonder whenever the crown prince was mentioned to have a clear picture of how she looked right now in his mind.

She looked pretty. She was wearing a beautiful light blue dress that matched her eyes and her red hair waved over her shoulders. Over the years she had grown that fast that she was now almost as tall as her older brother Robb. Maybe she would even outgrow him eventually.

Somehow Theon chuckled when the image of Robb having to look up at his younger sister for the rest of his life appeared in his mind. He knew that it meant that Sansa might be towering over him too one day, but he wouldn't mind. He didn't think there was anything he would mind concerning Sansa.

Apart from that stupid crush she had on the crown prince, of course.

And while Arya, with a helmet she shouldn't be wearing on her head, rushed across the courtyard to accompany her family, Theon crossed his fingers behind his back and prayed once more that Sansa's love for Joffrey would be over as soon as she'd see him.

A few seconds later the first rider and his horse of the royal caravan rushed through the gate and right behind him followed a blond haired young man. He wore bright red armour and a blood red cape around his shoulders and his glance wandered over the waiting Starks.

Theon clenched his jaw when he realised that all his prayers had been for nothing.

Crown Prince Joffrey wasn't ugly. He surely wasn't the most handsome person Theon had ever met either, but he was beautiful enough. When he noticed Sansa a smile spread across his face and Sansa turned her face to keep her glance locked with Joffrey's.

She was smiling. Of course she was smiling. The prince she had been dreaming about for weeks now had just rushed through the gate on a beautiful black stallion and had smiled at her. This was all she wanted. This was all she had wished for. This was what she had been talking about all this time. She would without a doubt believe that this was love at first sight, just like in those old songs she liked so much.

As if that one look she and the crown prince now shared was more special than each and every moment Theon and Sansa had shared over the years.

Joffrey hadn't seen her crying when Arya had hid her favourite doll and had refused to give it back. Joffrey hadn't listened to her endless ramblings about brave knights and handsome princes marrying damsels in distress and beautiful princesses. Joffrey hadn't applauded for each and every song Sansa had practiced, assuring her that she had a lovely voice and should sing more often. Joffrey hadn't taught her how to ride a horse while forcing himself to not laugh when she fell off in a puddle of mud. Joffrey hadn't rushed to her room in the middle of the night to soothe and calm her when she was screaming because of a nightmare.

Theon almost forgot to kneel when the King eventually rode through the gate. Quickly he sank down on one knee and bent his head, but he buried his nails in the palms of his hands when Sansa still managed to keep on staring at the crown prince high on his horse.

Maybe in a few years Joffrey would follow in the footsteps of his father. The King, who needed ages to come down from his horse, was nothing like the King Ned used to talk about. King Robert had clearly gained a lot of weight over the years and his hair and beard were more grey than black.

Would Sansa still love the crown prince then? If his horse was almost buckling under his weight? If his blond hair had faded to grey? If he would no longer be handsome and charming? If he would no longer look like all the princes and kings and knights from her songs?

"Greyjoy..." Jon grabbed his arm when everyone was already standing again and Theon was still kneeling on the floor. "If you're gonna stay down, you're gonna miss princess Myrcella's arrival." The bastard grinned and Theon forced himself to smile back while he pushed himself up again.

At least he could dream about marrying a princess. After all, he was almost a prince himself. His father ruled the iron isles. He was high born and noble. He stood a chance with literally every girl in the kingdom. He could marry whomever he wanted.

The bastard would be stuck with a servant girl, if he was lucky enough to get married at all.

Theon watched how the King greeted Ned and every one of the Stark children. But when the King told Sansa that she was pretty, Theon couldn't help but swallow the groan of frustration that was about to escape his lips.

Of course the King would notice that Sansa was pretty. And of course to the King that was all she was and all that was important. She had to be pretty so she and Joffrey could get beautiful babies together.

"What the hell's wrong with you?" Jon hissed in his ear.

"Shut up, bastard." Theon hissed between his teeth.

Yes, Sansa was pretty, but she deserved someone wanting and loving her because she was so much more. She deserved to be loved because she was emphatic and kind. Because she was polite and caring. Because she had a beautiful voice and dared to put a part of herself in every song she sung. Because she was determined to live up to her parents' expectations. Because she could lose herself in stories and wasn't ashamed of it. Because she was intelligent, even though she didn't always dare to show it.

He wanted and loved her because she was the most amazing person in the entire world, both in the known and the unknown parts. He would make her happy.

So much happier than that crown prince and his King, who only cared that she was pretty, could ever make her.