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Sansa

In the tower rooave herself to the darkness

She drew the curtains around her bed, slept, eeping, and slept again When she could not sleep she lay under her blankets shivering with grief Servants caht of food was more than she could bear The dishes piled up on the table beneath her , untouched and spoiling, until the servants took theain

Sometimes her sleep was leaden and dreamless, and she woke from it more tired than when she had closed her eyes Yet those were the best ti or sleeping, she saw hi forward, unsheathing Ice from the scabbard on his back, saw the momentthe moment whenshe had wanted to look away, she had wanted to, her legs had gone out from under her and she had fallen to her knees, yet somehow she could not turn her head, and all the people were screa, and her prince had smiled at her, he’d smiled and she’d felt safe, but only for a heartbeat, until he said those words, and her father’s legsthat hat she res, the way they’d jerked when Ser Ilynwhen the sword

Perhaps I will die too, she told herself, and the thought did not see herself fro, and in the years to corief Her body would lie on the stones below, broken and innocent, sha all those who had betrayed her Sansa went so far as to cross the bedchae left her, and she ran back to her bed, sobbing

The serving girls tried to talk to her when they brought her meals, but she never answered them Once Grand Maester Pycelle came with a box of flasks and bottles, to ask if she was ill He felt her brow, made her undress, and touched her all over while her bedave her a potion of honeywater and herbs and told her to drink a s every night She drank it all right then and went back to sleep

She drea of leather on stone as a man climbed slowly toward her bedchamber, step by step All she could do was huddle behind her door and listen, tre, as he ca for her with Ice in his hand, co to take her head There was no place to run, no place to hide, no way to bar the door Finally the footsteps stopped and she kneas just outside, standing there silent with his dead eyes and his long pocked face That hen she realized she was naked She crouched down, trying to cover herself with her hands, as her door began to swing open, creaking, the point of the greatsword poking through

She woke ood, please don’t," but there was no one to hear

When they finally came for her in truth, Sansa never heard their footsteps It was Joffrey who opened her door, not Ser Ilyn but the boy who had been her prince She was in bed, curled up tight, her curtains drawn, and she could not have said if it was noon orshe heard was the slas were yanked back, and she threw up a hand against the sudden light and saw the over her

"You will attend me in court this afternoon," Joffrey said "See that you bathe and dress as befits ane stood at his shoulder in a plain brown doublet and green ht Behind the white satin cloaks

Sansa drew her blanket up to her chin to cover herself "No," she whimpered, "pleaseleave me be"

"If you won’t rise and dress yourself, my Hound will do it for you," Joffrey said

"I beg of you, et her out of bed"

Sandor Clegane scooped her up around the waist and lifted her off the featherbed as she struggled feebly Her blanket fell to the floor Underneath she had only a thin bedgown to cover her nakedness "Do as you’re bid, child," Clegane said "Dress" He pushed her toward her wardrobe, alently

Sansa backed away from them "I did as the queen asked, I wrote the letters, I wrote what she told o hoood, I swear it, I don’t have traitor’s blood, I don’t I only want to go ho her courtesies, she lowered her head "As it please you," she finished weakly

"It does not please me," Joffrey said "Mother says I’m still to marry you, so you’ll stay here, and you’ll obey"

"I don’t want to marry you," Sansa wailed "You chopped off my father’s head!"

"He was a traitor I never promised to spare him, only that I’d be merciful, and I was If he hadn’t been your father, I would have had hiave hi hi a padded criold cape with a high collar that fraht him handsome His lips were as soft and red as the worms you found after a rain, and his eyes were vain and cruel "I hate you," she whispered

King Joffrey’s face hardened "Myshould strike his wife Ser Meryn"

The knight was on her before she could think, yanking back her hand as she tried to shield her face and backhanding her across the ear with a gloved fist Sansa did not re, yet the next she knew she was sprawled on one knee a Ser Meryn Trant stood over her, with blood on the knuckles of his white silk glove

"Will you obey now, or shall I have hiain?"

Sansa’s ear felt nuertips came aet and red "Iasas you command, my lord"

"Your Grace," Joffrey corrected her "I shall look for you in court" He turned and left

Ser Meryn and Ser Arys followed hih to yank her roughly to her feet "Save yourself soive him what he wants"

"Whatwhat does he want? Please, tell me"

"He wants you to smile and smell sweet and be his lady love," the Hound rasped "He wants to hear you recite all your pretty little words the way the septa taught you He wants you to love hione, Sansa sank back onto the rushes, staring at the wall until two of her bedmaids crept timidly into the chamber "I will need hot water for my bath, please," she told theht side of her face ollen and beginning to ache, but she knew Joffrey would want her to be beautiful

The hot water th from that She had not washed since the day her father died, and she was startled at how filthy the water became Her maids sluiced the blood off her face, scrubbed the dirt fro back in thick auburn curls Sansa did not speak to theive them commands; they were Lannister servants, not her own, and she did not trust theown that she had worn to the tourney She recalled how gallant Joff had been to her that night at the feast Perhaps it would ently

She drank a glass of buttermilk and nibbled at some sweet biscuits as she waited, to settle her stomach It was midday when Ser Meryn returned He had donned his white arold, a tall helauntlet and boots of gleaolden lion His visor had been res under his eyes, a wide sour rey "My lady," he said, bowing, as if he had not beaten her bloody only three hours past "His Grace has instructed me to escort you to the throne room"

"Did he instruct you to hitto coave her ithout expression He did not so lance at the bruise he had left her

He did not hate her, Sansa realized; neither did he love her He felt nothing for her at all She was only aa thing to hie, to hurt him as he’d hurt her, to warn him that when she was queen she would have hiainbut she remembered what the Hound had told her, so all she said was, "I shall do whatever His Grace commands"

"As I do," he replied

"Yesbut you are no true knight, Ser Meryn"

Sandor Clegane would have laughed at that, Sansa knew Other ged for her forgiveness Ser Meryn Trant did none of these Ser Meryn Trant simply did not care

The balcony was deserted save for Sansa She stood with her head bowed, fighting to hold back her tears, while below Joffrey sat on his Iron Throne and dispensed what it pleased him to call justice Nine cases out of ten seemed to bore hi restlessly while Lord Baelish, Grand Maester Pycelle, or Queen Cersei resolved the h, not even his queen ht before hiht there in court Two knights came to him with a dispute about some land, and he decreed that they should duel for it on the morrow "To the death," he added A woman fell to her knees to plead for the head of a man executed as a traitor She had loved him, she said, and she wanted to see him decently buried "If you loved a traitor, you ed her off to the dungeons