Beasts of Lore ♕ GOT

Southern Wolves

Nights in Kings Landing were gradually becoming torture to the residents of the Red Keep. Not a single night was quiet since Andriella Bryne's and Robb Stark's wedding invitations were received. 

Hour after hour was filled with the artificial howling of the residents. Some even swore to all of the gods that they had seen giant beasts wandering fleas bottom during the haunting hour. No evidence of the beasts was ever found by the investigating guards. 

There was one person who was comforted by the howls. The echo of her former life returning to her in the night hours. 

Sansa, red hair glowing in the candlelight, sits on her verdant. Having returned from a dinner with the Queen Mother and her children, Sansa can still feel her stomach-turning.  The howls of flea bottom lessen the queasiness slightly. 

Tears line her bottom lashes. Her hands clutching tightly to the doll her father had gotten her what felt like ages ago. 

A knock on the door frightens the young teenager, her grip on the doll faltering as she dashes to her feet. She hides the item behind her back as she calls for the person to enter. 

"Who are you?" Sansa observes the dark-haired woman skeptically. 

"I'm Shae, my lady. Your new handmaiden." 

"I didn't know I needed a new handmaiden." Sansa bites back, the howls of wolves echoing her. "You're not from here."

"No." 

An awkward silence spreads through the room. Sansa waiting for Shae to say something or do something while Shae waits for the perfect opportunity.  

"What are you doing?"

"Waiting for you to tell me what to do."

"I shouldn't have to tell you to do things. You should just do them." Sansa scoffs. She is sick of the capital. Sick of the people waiting for her hand and foot only to report back to the Lannisters all of her doings. She wants freedom. 

She wants to run through the streets of flea bottom and join in with the cacophony that brings the Lannisters to a standstill. 

She wants to make them afraid. As afraid as they have made her. 

"What things?" Shae feigns ignorance, playing the role that was assigned to her by the Agaligian woman. 

"Change my linens, wash my clothing, scrub the floor, empty my chamber pot, brush my hair." 

Complying, Shae shuts the door behind her and struts to the young maiden's dresser. She picks up a hairbrush while subtly dropping a small pendant in its place. 

"No." Sansa groans, dropping her doll behind one of her pillows and going to stop Shae. 

"You said to brush--"

"Not now!" 

Shae sighs. This is going to be harder than she thought. Sansa is damaged and trusting. Taking her anger out on those who don't truly deserve it. But Lady Marilla was right in her assessment of the girl upon their arrival to the Red Keep. 

At the moment, Sansa needs someone to command. Someone she feels she has control over. 

The dark-haired woman replaces the brush, knocking the pendant more into the light. A flicker flashes off of it for a moment but it goes unnoticed by the young Stark. Shae's fingers clench around themselves. 

"Your chamber pot is empty."

"Clean the table," Sansa demands. 

Shae, slightly ticked off, goes to clean the table. She grabs generous handfuls of the food and snacks on it while working. 

Sansa watches incredulously. One of Cersei's girls would never. So that brought the question of who exactly Shae was working for if not for the Queen Mother. 

"Have you ever been a handmaiden before?" 

"Yes." 

"For whom?" She pushes. 

"Lady Gogi Waya. [Summer Wolf]"

"Lady Gogi Waya?" Sansa repeats, the name foreign on her tongue and the pronunciation tripping her up. 

Shae levels the girl with a pointed look. She knows the girl wouldn't understand but she also knew curiosity was a powerful thing. "Lady Gogi Waya." Shae repeats, making sure to pay special attention to the pronunciation of the Agaligian code name for their Lady. 

"There is no Lady Gogi Waya in this city." 

"She wasn't in this city. Not yet at least." 

Sansa doesn't pay attention to the last part of Shae's remark. She's still stuck on the strange name or the lady and the behavior of her supposed handmaiden. "Well, I don't know how they did things in that city but in this city, handmaidens wait on ladies, not the other way around. And I don't have time to answer a thousand questions and teach you how to do your job." As the intensity of her voice grows so does the howling in the streets. 

Shae pities the girl. She really does but at the moment she can't do much more than leave little hints and clues. Not until Sansa can trust her. "Do you want me to leave?"

The two stare at each other for a long moment.  

The young Stark girl didn't want to be alone, not while lions still prowled around her sleeping chambers waiting for that exact moment. 

She also didn't want some foreign handmaiden snooping around her and reporting back to someone. Whoever that someone may be. 

But what was worse. 

Facing Joffery's torment or a handmaiden's curiosity? 

"Just brush my hair." Sansa finalizes. She sits in front of her vanity, handing the brush to her new handmaiden and knocking something metal into her lap. 

The small metal pendant stands out against the pale blue of Sansa's nightgown. The pendant was no bigger than the pad of her thumb and no thicker than a gold dragon. A small hole was drilled into the top of the pendant allowing for a chain of some sorts to slip through. 

The metal was unlike anything Sansa had ever seen before. 

Her fingers clasp around the glowing gold metal, turning it over in her lap as Shae continues to brush through her hair. 

Sansa had never seen metalworking before but she could just imagine this is what gold would look like before it cooled to a solid. It was almost like fire was trapped inside the metal. 

But that's not the part that got her heart racing. 

No. 

It was the two wolf heads facing each other with a weirwood tree in between them. 

Sansa didn't know where the pendant came from but she felt something she hadn't since her father's death. 

She felt comfort and reassurance. 

She wasn't forgotten. 

.

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not edited