LIMERENCE. | M. TYRELL

Elinor

"So, you're Sansa Stark," Elinor said glancing at the young girl. Sansa's blue eyes shot to Elinor and widen in surprise.

"Princess Elinor," Sansa said, causing Elinor to laugh.

"Please just call me Elinor," Elinor took a seat beside Sansa, glancing at the ships leaving the port, "This place is horrible."

There was a hint of a smile on Sansa's face, "You just got here."

Elinor shrugged, "I know, but I can see it in your eyes that this place is horrible."

She looked over at Sansa and saw that her smile was no longer there. Fear filled the girl's eyes and Elinor wondered what kind of abuse she had suffered at the hand of the Lannisters.

"I – I love it here in King's Landing," Sansa attempted to lie, but Elinor saw through it.

"No, you don't," Elinor said softly, "I know they took your father's head. I'm sorry for your loss."

Sansa seemed surprised at the sympathies and Elinor wondered what they had truly put this girl through. Sansa didn't say anything as her gaze fell to her lap. She was clearly frightened of saying the wrong thing.

"Sansa, I mean you no harm," Elinor says, "I too am scared to be in the capital."

That caught Sansa's attention, "You are?"

Elinor leans back on the bench, "All my life I was taught not to trust a Lannister. And until recently, my husband's family hated mine. If you ask me, I'm at the heart of enemy territory. As are you."

"Why are you telling me this?" Sansa asked, her eyes curious. In a matter of minutes, Elinor had learned that Sansa was very expressive. Everything could be seen in her beautiful blue eyes.

"I can see that you need a friend. One that sympathizes with your struggle," Elinor tells her, "I know what it's like to fear for your life. Afraid to say the wrong thing."

"How'd you get over your fear in Highgarden?" Sansa asks though Elinor knows what she's really asking. She wants to know when Elinor knew that she could trust someone else, the moment she knew that she was safe.

Elinor laughs softly, "I had a friend."

"Lady Margaery," Sansa says, with a hint of a smile, "She told me you were her best friend."

The past tense felt appropriate. What Elinor had once thought to be one of the most important relationships in her life had evaporated into nothing. They still spoke to one another, they really had no choice on that, but it wasn't in the way that they were used to. Elinor kept her distance and Margaery did as well.

"Did she?" Elinor asks and Sansa nods.

"When Margaery becomes queen, she'll do her best to make sure that you are taken care of. She may even be able to arrange for you to be sent back to your family," Elinor says and Sansa lights up with hope. Elinor truly hates that Sansa has ever been hurt.

"Really?"

Elinor smiles at Sansa, "All I ask in turn is that you tell me the truth about Joffrey. Margaery protected me in Highgarden, and I want to protect her here in King's Landing as best as I can."

There's a storm of emotions on Sansa's face and Elinor can see it that she wants to tell her the truth, so Elinor decides to give her a little push.

"I know what it's like," Elinor says, "To lose a family member at the hands of a Lannister. Tywin Lannister ordered the death of my aunt and cousins. Who ordered the death of your father?"