Game of Thrones: King of Magic

Sansa Stark. King's Landing.

- Lady Margaery, are you sure this is appropriate? I haven't even picked out a suitable dress..." I asked in a slightly concerned tone as I followed Margaery Tyrell, the granddaughter of Olenna Tyrell, who was quite well known among the Seven Kingdoms.

Margaery was a really beautiful young girl that seemed to be three years older than me. She had mesmerizing blue eyes, long brown hair, flowing long brown hair, a slim waist, delicate and well-groomed skin, and a rather cunning personality.

As Lady Kinvara had taught me, in King's Landing, especially at Red Castle, no one did anything for nothing. And this statement, as well as my observations confirmed it, because Lady Margaery "accidentally" passed by Arya and I's room and went in, and then invited us to "meet" her grandmother and other nobles. And we'd only been here for two days, and even the Queen still hadn't called me to join her.

Luckily or unluckily, Arya had gone to her father's house with Fow at this point to talk about the fencing teacher. These days, our company was kept only by the sept of Mulloyne, performing the same duties as the sept of Mordain, who had been kicked out of Winterfell. And Prince Tommen and Princess Mercella were busy with their own training already with another sept.

Of course, neither I nor Arya took this in a positive light. And while in my case I pretended that I was fine with it in terms of maintaining a decent and ordinary lady, as the Seven Kingdoms said of me, in Arya's case it was much more complicated. And this was intensified by the presence of our direwolves, who were "advised" to keep either in her room or walk with them.

Septa Malloyne was absolutely displeased with Arya's character, which resulted in a rather loud altercation. But the septa realized she was lower in rank, and so she kept her temper in check so she wouldn't get in trouble, which Arya did. My little sister could think with her head, so she used her father's name as a shield every time.

- No, no, no, Sansa. Grandmother doesn't care about little things like the color of a dress or its style," Margaery smiled amiably. - "And I asked you to call me 'Margaery,' didn't I?" she said.

She was too friendly, and yet her demeanor matched everything I'd heard about her. She was considered a role model not only in Red Castle, but in the rest of the city, for, as I'd learned from Septa Malloyna, she was a frequent visitor to the orphanage in Flea End, the largest slum district in King's Landing.

And all that reputation was built up in just a few months, which I found a little too... right. And given that this is the South family, as well as Olenna Tyrell, my speculation that there was some sort of personal gain for House Tyrell for all of this makes sense.

- That... would be rude of me, after all, we have only just met, Lady Margaery, and....

- I understand," she said calmly with an unchanged expression on her face. - 'Then, Lady Sansa, we will return to this when you are ready.

- Thank you, my lady.

- Not at all,' she waved it off in a friendly manner. - And so we came.

Margaery and I entered one of the gardens of the Red Castle, which was filled only with maids of honor and servants I could tell were from House Tyrell, judging by the colors of their outfits. They were chatting in groups and took up about a fourth of the garden, but there was a definite distance between them and the gazebo at the end, apparently so that I couldn't hear what was being talked about.

We walked deep into the garden to the gazebo overlooking the Blackwater, where an elderly lady in rich robes, apparently Olenna Tyrell, was already seated, along with two others, a man and a woman, clearly standing out from the crowd.

- Lady Olenna of House Tyrell," Margaery introduced the elderly lady.

- Pleased to meet you, Lady Olenna," I bowed slightly. - Sansa of House Stark. I apologize for coming like this. It was so sudden, I didn't have time to choose an appropriate outfit.

- Oh, child, if I cared about such trivialities, I'd be with my late husband by now because of Margaery's nitwit father," she said.

- Grandmother," Margaery called out to her in an embarrassed tone. - What will Sansa think of us?

- That we are not brainless, unlike most," Olenna replied. - Come in, my dear. Meet the others.

- Oberyn of House Martell. Greetings, Lady Sansa, you are as humble and beautiful as they say you are here in the South," the man said with a smile on his face and kissed the back of my hand as Margaery and I made our way to the gazebo. - And this lady's name is Ellaria Sand. The love of my life and the mother of my four beautiful daughters.

- It's a pleasure to meet you all. I'm honored," I said a little embarrassed but with a note of admiration, but inside I wondered.

Martell and Sand? What was Dorne doing here? As I remembered, relations between the Martells and the Lannisters were very bad, and now the Tyrells were here as well.

Looking at it from a certain perspective, it seemed as if the Tyrells and the Martells had formed an alliance, even if that might not have been the case. And the mere thought of it might have alarmed the Lannisters.

On the other hand, why did they call me here, too? What was their purpose? What place did the Starks have in their game? Besides, the queen would not take such an event well and would surely want to talk to me about it.

- What do you think of King's Landing, Lady Sansa? - Lord Oberyn began. - I am sure it is very different from Winterfell, especially the smell and noise.

- Don't remind me of that, Lord Oberyn," Lady Olenna added. - 'A worse scent is very hard to find. 

- Fortunately, things are a little better for the people of Red Castle," Lady Ellaria smiled. - But still, we didn't give Lady Sansa the floor.

- Yes," Margaery supported her and looked at me. - I hope you will forgive our rudeness, Lady Sansa?

- No, no, it's fine," I shook my head quickly. - It's just that there are so many important people here that it's hard for me to find the words.

So, based on their words, we can already assume that they have formed some sort of alliance or some semblance of an alliance. In their phrases, generalizing with the word "we" didn't make them uncomfortable. Or am I winding myself up after all, and it's all wrong?

- You can speak freely, my dear. You're going to run into this kind of thing more often here than you'd like. And at some point you'll realize that most of the nobility are nothing but arrogant snobs or mindless chickens," Lady Olenna said, to which I nodded and looked thoughtful, Lady Ellaria smiled, Margaery gave her grandmother a slightly judgmental look, and Lord Oberyn chuckled.

The rumors about Olenna Tyrell proved to be true. One really didn't hold back in her words, which looked rather rude from the outside, but also true. Lady Ellaria was more of an observer than a player, Lord Oberyn was somewhat like Jon, and Margaery was more like her grandmother.

- It's beautiful here, even if there is a rather... unpleasant odor present. Lots of very different people from all parts of the Seven Kingdoms, and everyone had a story to tell. Not that I want to hear them all, but I think I have a lot to learn from them," I began. - And yet Winterfell and the North are closer to my heart. I was born and raised in the snow. So King's Landing is a bit unfamiliar to me.

I didn't know their motives yet, or my part in all of this, so it was worth it to take a neutral stance, a stance I had taken with the Queen as well. It gave me time to get to know them better, to talk to my father and the Red Men at the castle if they contacted us. And if I said the right things, I should look like a curious but somewhat cautious young noblewoman to them.

- I see your point," agreed Margaery. - I, too, like the green meadows of Highgarden better than the stone and dusty streets of King's Landing.

- Or the sands of Dorne, as in the case of Oberyn and me," Lady Ellaria encouraged her.

- You are a good child," Lady Olenna said. - Home is always closer to the heart.

- An expected answer, Lady Sansa," Lord Oberyn nodded. - My next question may sound unusual, for all the Seven Kingdoms know of the relationship between the Martells and the Lannisters, but I will ask it nonetheless. What do you think of the royal family?

I took on a thoughtful look again, but inside I frowned.

Why would Lord Oberyn ask such a question? What does he want to hear? We were in Red Castle, the residence of the royal family, and any mention of them would definitely reach the appropriate ears. How should I answer? Or should I continue to show a certain amount of honesty and play innocent?

- It's... difficult for me to answer that question," I said, to which those present listened to me. - Of the entire royal family, I've only interacted with the princes, the princess, a bit with the king, and also with the queen on my way here. The king's children are kind and helpful and a pleasure to spend time with. The king is fair and firm, as I saw at Winterfell, and the queen is caring and gentle.

They were silent to my answer, but I was able to study their reactions to it as Lady Kinvara had taught me. Lord Oberyn clearly found my words amusing, though he hid obvious signs of it. Lady Olenna, it seemed to me, wanted to snort, Margaery wanted to roll her eyes, and Lady Ellaria wanted to laugh. Apparently their opinions of the queen were the same as mine.

- I see, thank you for your answer, Lady Sansa," Lord Oberyn smiled.

- Shall we talk about something more mundane? - Lady Ellaria came to attention. - 'I hear you like someone. Is that true?

- Well..." I hesitated and lowered my head. - You're right.

- The sorcerer who lived at Winterfell? - Margaery was interested. - Can you tell us about him, Lady Sansa? We've heard many things, and we're curious to know what is true.

- Lord Stark was very complimentary of this 'sorcerer'. But if he really could guide his son to make the king envious and create steel out of nothing, then the Tyrells would like to get to know him, too," Lady Olenna said.

- Grandmother! - Margaery laughed, covering her mouth with her hand.

- What? It's all right to look for new and interesting people to meet," Lady Olenna said and looked at me. - Well, child, will you share this with us?

-0-

Oberyn Martell. King's Landing.

I watched as Sansa Stark was escorted away by Olenna's granddaughter and grinned, turning the conversation that had taken place through my head, and then looked at, in fact, the head of House Tyrell.

- What do you think of the eldest daughter of House Stark, Lady Olenna? I believe we agree that she is quite interesting?

- That much is clear as day. She's a master at leaking information, if she did it on purpose. If Margaery had a sister, I'd like her to be Sansa Stark.

- The sorcerer mentored the Stark children while he was at Winterfell, and it's fair to assume that the eldest daughter was affected as well. It's too early to conclude, though; we haven't watched her enough," Ellaria said. - But I agree with you, Lady Olenna, my snakes could use the presence of such an intelligent girl.

If that was the case, then we have an extra pair of hands. Besides Lord Stark himself, Sansa Stark was also willing to support us without knowing it. And she was definitely in love with Solomon, not the prince.

Unless she was lying, which I highly doubted, she didn't care about the throne, just the North and her family. That was a good sign, for then it would be even easier to push Margaery Tyrell through than before. While we would take on the distraction of the queen, Olenna's granddaughter could get closer to the prince. We had managed to prepare before the royal family arrived, and now all we had to do was wait and watch.

- I suggest we get back to business, my lady," I began. - How long do you think it will take Cersei to react to this?

- Soon," Olenna answered. - But we need to hurry things along a bit. Cersei won't be able to do anything, but if Tywin gets here, things will get more complicated.

I nodded briefly.

It was true. As long as the king lived, Queen Cersei could not have much influence over the state of affairs, for Baratheon always had the last word. However, the old lion was particularly good at preserving his family's interests, which meant he would not let Sansa Stark go to form an alliance between the Lannisters and the Starks.

- In that case, I suggest we make every effort to do so," I said and stood up, and Ellaria followed me. - The Small Council will meet tomorrow, and I will attend as befits my nature. Your work, however...

- How could I have forgotten it? My granddaughter is smart, and she will do what needs to be done," Olenna said in her usual tone. - And I hear Stannis is arriving tonight at the King's request. I expect tomorrow's meeting will be interesting.

- Yes, there can be no doubt about that," I grinned and kissed the back of her hand. - Good day, Lady Olenna. And may our plans succeed.

And with that, Ellaria and I left the garden and went to the town brothel to unwind and prepare for tomorrow.

Let's see how that goes, shall we, Ellaria?

-0-

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