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003 ♒ ᴠɪᴅᴇᴏ

[ alayne is always nervous and fidgety when speaking through her looking mirror as she calls it; but today there is an extra frown on her brow that betrays her concern.

her manners, however, are as splendid as ever; she tidies down the blue silks she has found in her wardrobe and dips her head in greeting. ]

Good people of Wonderland,

[ the manners are there but her voice betrays a hint of urgency ]

There are those among you who have made by acquaintance. I seek those who have come to my aid before, those who I have met and have come to know in the duration of my stay in our Mansion. I have a request to make of you; I will be -- endlessly grateful if you shall hear my words, though I have little to offer you in return.

[ and she doesn't like this; does not like to ask for something she cannot repay for but she has little choice in this manner. ]

-- thank you.

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I am certain they would find it ever so easy to love their Lady Aunt.

[ she had loved her upon sight and much too easily for her comfort. how she wishes she hadn't and then this would have been less difficult. but unlike bran and arya stark, alayne remembers another lady aunt and her gratefulness for lyanna stark is mayhaps a tad different.

it is an intimate thing, a secret she would never share; but it is a sweet one. so few of her secrets are sweet.

unseen, her hands tighten around the fabric of her gown when she heard of eddard stark, a distant name, he must be, for you. why, alayne stone would never even know some called him ned. ]

Mayhaps the Lady -

[ breathe, alayne, breathe. ]

Perhaps the young Lady Stark could prove to be a worthy company for riding.

Riding? [ asks lyanna, oblivious to the girl's turmoil. blind to her hurt and her anxiety and her pain. ] Mayhaps. Mayhaps. I shall have to ask her if she's any good at it. She's so young--

[ and yet so old, too. when lyanna thinks about how she is her niece and how when she last saw ned he'd still been making eyes at ashara dayne. much to the family's amusement. ]

She would not have a better teacher, surely.

[ a small smile; it is alarming how easily it is to remember how to smile despite it all. she wants to say, she would surprise you, good lady, she may yet win the race. arya was always fond of riding and much too good at it. ]

Though I cannot pretend to know the proper age for a young lady to learn how to ride.

I imagine it depends a great deal upon the lady in question. [ ... ] Would you still intend to join us, Alayne?

[ she cannot hope for this to work but she cannot say no either; in secret, she will admit she doesn't quite want to refuse, not truly. ]

If it pleases my Lady. I did not wish to intrude or offer any disturbance.

And if she will accept I will offer a saddle to Princess Daenerys, as well.

[ because lyanna knows no other royal family than the targaryens. ] We will make an odd company -- [ royals and ladies and a bastard girl! ] But we must make do.

[ dragons and bastards and ladies, oh my. she looks about 50 shades of startled but she does not. ]

It would certainly be the finest company a baseborn girl could ever dare to imagine for herself.

You're a Stone, are you not? And so at least some of your blood must be noble -- [ for if not, she wouldn't have a name at all and that would be all the more tragic. ] Therefore we may call you at least half-suited to our company.

[ it's meant to be teasing. a gentle means to wave away what is otherwise an awkward and unseemly subject. especially for lyanna. ]

[ alayne would cry if she could; for the sweetness of sansa's lady mother. it is not a sweetness that sansa herself had ever shown; she was much too punctual on the difference between herself and her bastard brother, jon snow.

she could have learned some lessons from her lady aunt, certainly. ]

We could ask the tearoom for snacks to take with us.

[ not so sweet, really. not at all. for there is another stone out there that vexes her and puts bees in her bonnets. robert's child, and the source of all her doubts. love is sweet, dear ned. but it cannot change a man's nature ]

And skins of watered down wine.

[ alayne oft thinks of mya stone who is the baseborn daughter of the king, she thinks of the queen's bitterness and her mislike of her husband. mya stone is on her mind since lord robert baratheon had mentioned her. wonderland had called upon so many of westeros; alayne wonders if she is the next one to arrive.

she smiles, nods her head. ]

I shall prepare those, Lady Stark, you need not be concerned.

And you don't mind? [ hmm. such an agreeable little thing. ] Careful, Alayne. Before you make yourself so indispensable that I will be forced to sink to my knees and beg you to be my handmaiden.

Of course not, my Lady, it would be an easy task.

[ especially in a realm which produces goods upon request. Alayne smiles and it is always a bit sad but this time it is almost cheerful. ]

You're much too good to me, Lady Stark; I would always be of help to you, I have promised.

How prettily you deflect my offer without making it seem like a refusal at all. [ but she's laughing. smiling. not minding one whit. ] No. It doesn't matter. What would I do with a handmaiden? This mansion seems to do everything for us. And yet I treasure your help all the same. If only I had some way to reward you for it--

[ she blushes a bit at being caught. ]

I would be a poor handmaiden, you would be cross with me in days. I can mend your gowns easily enough if you ever find one torn, however or make you a new one if the wardrobe would supply one you find unpleasant.

[ she ducks her head and the gesture is humble. ]

Your kindness is all the reward I need, truly.

Kindness! Even pretty girls can't live on kindness alone.

If I shall ever have a favor in mind, I would be certain to ask for it, Lady Stark. Truly. There is naught that I miss, the Mansion supplies us with so much already.

[ it has allowed her to see arya and bran and her lady aunt, even if it has to be done like this. even if she must be alayne while seeing them. ]

Nothing? No home, no treasures, and no family?

[ even bastards have family. and homes. and this girl is gently reared; lyanna can tell. ]

[ I no longer wish for home, nor for family, none remains, sansa would say but that is not true, is it? for arya is here and bran as well and she cannot make sense of it, not truly and mayhaps she doesn't try to. mayhaps just seeing them is a sweet dream that requires no explanation, alayne has no right to ask as it is. ]

I do not know that Wonderland can grant me those. They say we are meant to stay within these borders and - it would feel vain to wish for my family to be trapped in this realm.

[ but that does not hold for sansa's family. ]

Then paint me vain, for I pray to absent trees that mine will continue to join me.

You are much more capable than myself, my Lady.

[ humbly. ]

I cannot hope to protect my family within these borders as well as you do.

Am I? What, pray tell, makes me more capable than you?

[ she knows. or she thinks she does -- this girl is so timid! so frightened! but she wants to hear what alayne's own mind thinks of the reason. ]

[ alayne pauses, looks as if the question had caught her by surprise. there are many things that she could say; lady stark is a fine jewel, sharp and beautiful and alayne feels dim and humble when speaking to her yet she finds herself at loss for a moment. ]

You are brave, my Lady and bold. You ride well and you are kind. I cannot hope to be as capable as you, Lady Stark.

Is this what they teach the girls of the Vale? To bow and scrape and call themselves incapable? [ ... ] Or are only the natural-born girls so instructed?

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003 ♒ ᴠɪᴅᴇᴏ

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