paradisa | Twenty-Eighth House of Westeros ♛ Filtered/ Action ♛ The North Remembers

Are you terribly busy? [She doesn't know who else to really turn to. Lucrezia is the closest thing she has to a friend, and even then she doesn't know what to say. The king is here, but that does not help much. Sansa's brother is back, but who is she to Sansa Stark? Even after her truth loss, it hasn't made her open up any more.

But even having Lucrezia close would mean something to her. Not when it feels like someone ripped open a wound that would never heal.]

[She doesn't know what to say to him either. She should thank him for letting her stay for a time at his place, but she hasn't even been able to think of that. Not now. There is never a reprieve of this place.]

Mayhaps after dinner, if you're not previously engaged, we could walk into town? [Again she doesn't know what to say to him either, but he says they are friends, and this is what friends do, is it not?]

[For most of the day, Alayne will be sitting in the lobby. There is needlework in her hand, but however she tries to sew, her hands shake terribly. She knows Robb is out of the clinic now, but it does not ease her any more. The last two days have done a number on her nerves, and try as she might to stay calm, her hands give her away.

She has a far away look in her eyes, dreaming of home again. A time when the North was whole, and a family was never parted. It makes her fingers tremble when she thinks of it. Her head is dipped, and her wolf nudges her, whining softly. Lady can feel it, the sorrow that still beats in her heart.]

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Damn. .... Did he have to go to the clinic right away? Is he okay?

He is resting, yes.

That's good. It ... gives you both time. [time for him to heal, and time for her to think]

Are you okay?

[She keeps her head down.]

He's my brother. [She finally admits to someone.]

He --

[and suddenly it's very clear to him why she's kept everything such a secret. why she hasn't told anyone about herself. if she's part of a royal family ... that has so many enemies back home ... of course she's not going to want anyone to know who she is]

I see. ... I won't tell anyone. It's okay. ... Is there anyone here you're worried about? That might try to hurt him, I mean?

[She nods gently, but clearly she still looks like a deer in the headlights.]

Thank you, and no. Not currently. But-- there have been two in the past who-- may. [Even if Tyrion said he didn't want to hurt Robb.] Jaime and Tyrion Lannister were here briefly. But there are others. Freys, Boltons, Greyjoys.

[he quietly commits the names to memory. Lannister, Frey, Bolton, Greyjoy. they're easy to remember, names that sound a lot like the sort of names they had back home]

I'll let you know if I hear anything about any of them. And if they do come to the castle, you and Robb can come and stay with us if you need to. If he needs a safe place to hide.

[he knows how important it is to protect family, after all]

He is not my only family here, Gale. [For she has a mother and sister as well.]

And should that day come, there would be war here.

Hes not? [this is news to him, and while he's glad she's sharing all of a sudden, it worries him at the same time. she's been so secretive, and now he's learning so much....]. They're okay, too, right? No one else was hurt or anything?

[She feels like she's barely revealed anything, but she knows how important it is. She has told him without saying so that she is not Alayne.] My mother and sister are well. My brother will protect them when he heals.

He will protect me, too.

[he looks around the town idly as they walk - it's less awkward than staring at her, especially when he realizes the implications of what she's told him. or rather, what she took so long to tell him the truth of. all this time, and she'd hidden something from him. ... he supposes he can't blame her, though.]

You really feel like you're in that much danger, here, don't you ... even without any of them here...

[She doesn't know how much she should really tell him. She's given up enough already. She wants to turn away, ashamed at the fact that he must think ill of her.]

Please, Gale-- I-- would you swear to me you would tell none? [She isn't asking a pledge for his sword or whatever else he has, surely he wouldn't anyway, but she needs some validation.]

My husband was here once, and-- and if I never see him again alive, it would be safer for me.

[ill? no. he thinks she's cautious, and that's not necessarily a bad thing, especially not in a place that likes throwing bad things AT you. he stays calm and level, no hint of patronizing or judging in his voice - just support]

Of course. What would I have to gain if I did? I'd have more to lose - I'd lose a friend. [he reaches out to put a hand on her shoulder] Remember, what I said right after I met you? I keep my friends' secrets for them.

[tastefully avoiding talking about her husband, since - he can only guess as to the problems there. not everyone's lives back in the Seam were roses - he knew women with bruises, both visible and invisible, heard the gossip. the thought of Alayne - of anyone - being married to a man who'd treat her like that makes his stomach turn]

[She knows he means well, but this place has made it hard to trust, her past has made it hard to trust. But she's been here nearly a year, and things have gone from complicated to worse. She can manage on her own, but the more she's isolating herself, the more she's realizing how wrong it feels.

Still self-preservation isn't easy to drop. So she gives him a slow nod.]

I've put my faith in the wrong hands before.

Then I'll just have to make doubly sure I prove that you haven't, this time.

[She's touched by those words and takes his hand.]

Thank you.

Twenty-Eighth House of Westeros ♛ Filtered/ Action ♛ The North Remembers

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