They rode South for over a month until they finally got to King's Landing. There were many events, unfortunate events, that took place during their way to the Capitol. The most remarkable one was the death of Lady, Sansa's direwolf. Since Joffrey was mistreating the butcher's boy for swords fighting with Arya, and Nymeria, Arya's direwolf, attacked him and then ran away, Queen Cersei insisted that one wolf had to pay the prince and, unfortunately, Lady was killed.
Winter Rose was sparred, much to her relief and happiness. Sansa was really sad so, her sister decided that she could share Winter Rose with her. She knew it wasn't the same, but she also knew it was the best she could do. She had heard that the Queen wanted both Lady and Winter Rose dead but that, by the interference of Ser Jamie, who made his sister see that neither the wolf was there nor its owner, and by the interference of the good King Robert, who learnt about it in time and stopped it.
What hurt her the most about that moment was the way that her father obeyed blindly, as if there was no reason for him to blink at all. As much as she wanted, Lilia was finding it hard to honour the oath she had made to her mother. She had promised her that she wouldn't hold anything against her father, but the more time she spent riding South, the more she held things against him, and the butchering of Lady was the most remarkable motive. She felt as if her father had stopped being himself and as if he was now some puppet that did everything the King commanded.
As they passed the gates to the Capitol, the weather was sunny and very warm, unlike the cold, icy North that they only knew. Septa Mordaine was with the girls, sitting in some sort of wagon. Lilia stood in between her sisters, who as usual was in some sort of cat-dog fight. Ser Jaime was now dismissed from protecting her since she was now 'safe'. In Lilia's mind, there was no such thing in that city. What place could she be safer at than home?!
Then, they stopped, finding a man standing in front of them. Her father got out of the horse and talked for a bit with the man. It sounded like they didn't really know each other, which was actually a good thing. It would make things easier for her since she didn't have to go through another awkward moment where she gets compared at her aunt. It would be very uncomfortable like it always is.
"Get the girls settled. I'll be back for supper" her father commanded the Septa turning back to face them. Those words made her figure what she already knew was going to happen, sooner or later. He would be absent most of the time, handling matters for the King, pretty much being the King himself, and they would be required to do anything else just because they had to be distracted. Once she thought about it, there was some irony to it. He obeyed King Robert blindly, yet he was the one who would actually rule and be the King. "Jory, you go with them"
"Yes, My Lord," the horseman said. Jory had always been one of Ned's most trusted man, which was the reason that led him to choose him to escort them to the Capitol. And then again, she knew that the northern man would give his life for the Starks if needed it be.
Once they got inside the Tower of the Hand, she looked around, paying attention to every single detail. Everything had brighter colours, and the sunlight invaded the building, almost blinding her. She wasn't used to the sun, all she had ever known all her life was the grey, dark sky filled with fat clouds. For many people, that was the meaning of discomfort and suffering, but to Lilia, it was cosy and it felt like home. However, she did have to admit, that the sunrays were something that she was enjoying so far, perhaps because they were something rare to her.
As she was shown to her chambers, she looked around only to find the room of what she felt was the room of a Princess. It had everything she could ever dream of, a luxury that she never even thought existed. Everything was perfect and everything felt like a fairytale told by the Old Nana when she was a child.
After getting settled in her chambers and changing into one of the dresses that was provided for her. A beautiful dress that somehow remembered Lilia of the warmness of the South. It felt appropriate to be worn at the moment. Sansa was still upset by Lady's death, as it would be expected, and Arya was still upset at Mycah's death. When Lilia got to supper, both girls and the Septa were already eating.
"It smells so good and I'm starving" the eldest Stark girl confessed, attracting everybody's attention. She sat next to Sansa and she was already sitting against Arya... big mistake, Septa Mordane... big mistake...
"Lilia! Don't you think that the dress you are wearing is a bit too much?!" the religious woman says scandalized. Sansa was looking at her just as shocked. The Queen never wore dresses with her shoulders showing and she is from the South, why would her sister do it? "Perhaps you should go change into something subtler"
"Perhaps I don't care because I like this dress way too much to take it off" she sarcastically smiled. Nevertheless, the Septa didn't say anything else about it, since another argument came up.
"And you... enough of that, young Lady! Eat your food!" she reprehended Arya, who was still sticking her knife of the table. The girl was furious and she didn't care about what people would think of her for doing that. All she wanted to do was to be left alone and in peace, doing her thing. Arya didn't want to be a Lady, she wanted to do boyish things, which infuriated all the women around her but her eldest sister, her father and her brothers.
"I'm practising!" she yelled at the woman before she could say another word. Arya Stark was definitely not a girl to mess with, she had the guts to fight whoever she needed. In the middle of it, Lilia was way too focused on the discussion to come than on the Septa's warning on her clothes.
"For what?" Sansa asked as she ate. The girl was able to maintain such a strict posture that would make any needle jealous. Lilia wondered how her sister managed to maintain such a straight position all day without having her back-breaking bit by bit.
"For the Prince!" the reply earning a soft giggle from Lilia, which she tried to hold down, earning a disapproval look from both Sansa and Septa Morgaine.
"Arya Stark!" the old woman reprehended, making Lilia eagerness to laugh even major. As much as she wanted to keep that to herself, it was obvious that she wasn't too fond of Prince Joffrey and, given the fact that he was betrothed to his sister/best friend and kept trying to seduce her, which was extremely cringe, she figured that the furthest he was from her, the better. She didn't want to get into her sister's way to the throne, neither did she want that stupid chair made of Iron that, by some odd reason, people would kill to sit on. Please, if you want an Iron chair of your own, why don't you purchase one?
"He's a liar and a coward. He killed my friend!" the girl said as she kept on doing what she had been doing for the whole meal. Sansa didn't like it, she hated it... in fact, she hated her older sister's reaction to Arya's despising of the little, scared cat lion pretender. That was another nickname Lilia had managed to create based on the story Arya told her, which by Sansa's hesitance, showed nothing but the transparent truth and Sansa knew it.
"The Hound killed your friend!" the auburn-haired girl tried to reason with her. Poor, naïve Sansa still believed that Joffrey was a kind, young Prince. Lilia felt sorry for her, she felt bad that her sister didn't listen to her when all she was trying to do was help her through what would be her future.
"The Hound does whatever the Prince tells him to do!" the tiny girl argued back. It felt like war with cannon. One fired and then the other backfired with some pauses to recharge. That pauses would be Septa Morgaine's attempt to control the whole situation. She was obviously failing graciously...
"You're an idiot" and then it came, the war of the insults. Back home, Robb would generally take Arya away when that part would start, and I would calm Sansa down. Either that or mother would yell at them both and each one would follow different paths for the rest of the day, apart from the family meals, of course.
"You're a liar! If you told the truth, Mycah would be alive!" and then, at last, she stabbed the table furiously, making it shake. Just when things were starting to get juicy, Septa Morgaine stood up and manage to put an end to the discussion between the two sisters.
"Enough!" the woman pushed Arya out of her seat and as she was taking her away, their father showed up, imposing some respect into the room, which was something that was lacking.
"What's happening here?" he calmly asked a bit confused by the environment lived in the room. It wasn't unjustified as, even though she was standing at the table and accompanying the whole situation, Lilia was still a bit confused by it. Not because both of them were upset but by how they always fight. She didn't understand why they would fight when they had so little family in King's Landing. Of course, Sansa had been brainwashed by her eyes and the Royal Family along with all the other southerners, and by that reason was pretty much blinded by an illusion, but that still didn't explain why they would always be fighting one another.
"Arya would rather act like a beast than a Lady" the Septa replied very upsettingly and she could see right through her father's expression that Arya's behaviour was at the bottom of his concern list. The man was tired and needed to rest, not to stand in the middle of some stupid fight between his daughters.
"Go to your room, we'll speak later" he stated and she did as she was told. Arya respected Ned, she loved her father and even when she was punished or anything like that, she would never put her love for him in question. "This is for you love"
"Sansa, it's beautiful!" Lilia pointed out once her sister opened up the gift.
"The same man who made the doll makes all of Princess Myrcella's toys," he said expectantly. Lilia knew that the reason why he was giving her a gift was to make her feel better about Lady. In her eyes, the doll was undoubtedly beautiful, but showering Sansa with gifts was a crappy way of making her feel better. Then again, it wouldn't surprise her if it had been the King's idea. From what she had seen, he lacks in experience with girls and women in general. If it were a side effect of his beloved Lyanna's loss? That she couldn't assure but it was quite probable. Sansa as emotionless, making her father feel even more anxious. It was given from the heart, of that the brunette girl was sure.
"I haven't played with dolls since I was eight!" the ginger responded harshly. It was so indelicate from her sister's part that it appalled the eldest she-wolf. How could someone be so cold at such a genuine gesture? Okay, it was out of second intentions but ignoring the nature of the gift... any girl would die to have such a beautiful doll! Besides, if she were that smart, then she would see that the doll was meant to be a brief gift, for her to use as she wished, not some sort of toy. Disappointment washed over the man's face. He didn't deserve to be treated in that manner. "May I be excused?"
"Oh, but you've barely eaten a thing..." Septa Morgaine tried to reason with her. Sansa was getting on her nerves, still, Lilia managed to keep herself calm. She would speak with her sister once everything would die down and she had the opportunity.
"It's alright. Go on" Ned allowed his middle child to leave and she retired to her chambers. Then, Lilia touched her father's arm out of comfort, making his eyes fall on her. "War is easier than daughters"