The Long Winter | Jaime Lannister X Stark OC | GOT/ASOIAF

Ghosts

Morganna spent her days in a perpetual state of frustration. Though Sansa spent much of her time outside their rooms praying, in the sept or in the Godswood, she herself had never been so devout, and could not remain still that long. Weeks passed, where all she could do apart from sit in her chambers was pace restlessly around the walls and yard of the castle, trailed by Lannister red cloaks.

She and her cousin were given freedom of the castle, a reward more likely due to Sansa's good behaviour - and her compliance in writing the letter to their family - than anything Morganna had done. It was a laughable sort of freedom, though. Cersei had set an 'honour guard' to follow them, supposedly to protect her future gooddaughter, but even Sansa could see that it was to make sure they didn't try to escape.

Not that escape would be possible, with the walls heavily guarded, and nowhere to go even if they did make it out. Having found the room they were housed in to be unescapable after only a few hours in there, Morganna spent three more days trying to disprove this, to no avail. Even she wasn't stupid enough to try slipping past the guards when the maids brought their meals. If she made it past the door, she wouldn't make it out of Maegor's Holdfast, and she certainly wouldn't make it out of the Red Keep, unless she fancied throwing herself off the walls into the sea. That was still an option, of course, but one she had shelved for the moment. So far, living under King Joffrey was not quite so bad as suicide.

When they were allowed out of the rooms, albeit guarded, the girl she was less than a month ago would have used the opportunity to slip away. Or try to, at least. Morganna hated to admit it, even to herself, but she was wary after her disastrous attempt at fleeing the city. She still bore the marks from that day; the back of her head was still tender even three weeks later, and where she had hit the ground, her face had been an attractive shade of purple, dotted with grazes and scrapes from the debris on the cobbles. The cuts had mostly healed, but the bruises had faded into an even lovelier shade of greenish-yellow, as had the ones on her arms where the men had hauled her to the castle.

Her mood hadn't been improved by how the other courtiers acted towards her and Sansa. They avoided catching her eye, as though she had a contagious disease, but stared curiously after her, muttering behind their hands about traitorous Starks and the barely civilised Northerners. Morganna didn't want to see them affecting her, so made a point of smiling her widest, most dazzling smile at each one. She hoped it was unnerving. Sansa also put on a mask, though hers was blank, demure and ladylike.

Morganna usually avoided the gardens of the keep, preferring the relative solitude and trees of the Godswood, or even better, walking on the walls with the sea breeze blowing in her hair and looking out at leagues of nothingness. However, that day, she was passing the entrance and saw a flash of golden hair moving through the archway, immediately making a beeline to follow without waiting for her guards to catch up.

"Myrcella!"

The Princess looked up from the flowers from where she walked with her septa, face breaking into a smile even as her eyes darted over Morganna's shoulder at the two red cloaks. Morganna had not been permitted to see her friend since her uncle had been arrested, and she doubted that had changed at all, but before her guards could stop her she was already striding forward.

"Lady Morganna," The girl quickly hugged her, an deliberate move; what Lannister guards would dare lay a hand on the Princess to separate them? Even when Myrcella broke the embrace, she still linked their arms, turning to the guards and her chaperone with convincingly innocent eyes. "You don't mind if we take a short walk around the gardens, do you septa?" Despite the sweetness of her tone, it was an order not a question.

"The Bolton girl is not to speak with anyone save her cousin," One of the guards grunted, even as the other looked uneasy.

Morganna pulled a face; despite herself, she did get along with a lot of the guards they assigned her. She bored easily without someone to talk to, and figured she might as well make the most of the company she was stuck with. Most of them seemed surprised she was bothering to talk to them at all. But this one was new, and had shut down any attempts at conversation she had made, scowling as she laughed at her own jokes and tutting at his fellows whenever he spoke with her.