Vitoria Martell had one goal in her life: gain revenge for the murder of her aunt and cousins.
𝙰𝚛𝚛𝚢𝚗. 𝙱𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚘𝚗. 𝙻𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛. 𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚔. Those were the names on her list (in no particular order) and that's why she sees the com...
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When the girls reached Vitoria's rooms, she had already called their brothers. Bran and Jon were by their table, with Leila on the latter's lap playing with his shirt while Alia and Artos played with Dawn on the floor. Sansa and Arya quickly took their seats on the table and looked to Vitoria and Robb, who were standing by the fireplace, Grey Wind sitting next to them with Dawn by his side.
"First of all, this is not a punishment. I am educating you, all of you. Some of the blame lies on me. I should have had this talk with you before the Royal party arrived. I should have prepared you all better." Vitoria spoke, crouching down to move Shadow away from Artos, ignoring the look of dismay Arya shot her when she saw what was happening. The younger Stark girl had proved to be quite enamored by the wolves and it broke her heart to see the wolf forcefully moved away from her nephew. Yet, try as she might, Vitoria was not fully comfortable with the beasts near her children, considering how young they were. She knew they would protect them, but the sight of such beasts near her defenseless children was not one she enjoyed.
"Vitoria..." Sansa began, not liking where the talk was heading.
"Let my wife finish, Sansa, this is important" Robb said sternly, immediately making the younger girl lower her eyes submissively, understanding the importance of the situation. Robb never scolded them, he left that to their parents or to his wife. When he did, it was because they had truly crossed a line.
"It is a significant distance from here to King's Landing. This trip is not without reason," Vitoria sighed, brushing a stray strand of hair back. "The King would not have come here with a great host simply to reunite with your father. He wants Lord Stark to go down to the capital and act as his Hand as we told you before. There has been no announcement, but Robb and I are confident he will accept. And the most likely scenario is that your mother will go South with him, along with most of you. Robb and I will have to stay here to hold the North with our children and Rickon, since they are all too young to travel such a distance. So, you must learn how to survive in the court. You must be smiling and graceful, paying compliments to other members of the court, but be wary of the Lannisters and use your reason when speaking to the royal children, rather than your heart or your daydreams."
Bran looked bewildered. "Vi..." he said in a weak voice."The Kingsguard is made up of knights. Knights are honorable and kind. Can't we trust them?"
"Not all of them, Bran," Vitoria's face softened slightly. "The South is different from the North. The Lannisters are very different from the people you are used to. Honor does not have the same meaning south of the Neck. Few lords and knights actually value their vows and their honor. During the Rebellion, Tywin Lannister ordered the Sack which killed countless dornishmen and women, so his daughter could become queen. The idea of knights and gold is very pretty, until you come face to face with it."
There was silence for a few moments, then Sansa stood up, her face flushed. "Prince Rhaegar had kidnapped and raped our aunt Lyanna."
"Countless innocents were murdered to pave the way for a new king needlessly. What crime had those in the Red Keep committed? Apart from serving the royal family, what had they done to deserve death?"
