Chapter 23: Winter is ing, My Lady

  —

  Seventeen years. That was how long it’d been.

  For the first few minutes, I still couldn’t believe I was walking through its halls again. Back then, I wasn’t heir. It was Rhaegar, my older brother, who was the prino matter how much I bragged about it, I was never fated to i any of this. But now, I was w toward it.

  “A few more, and I’ll have it all back…” I muttered to myself. I observed the area well, recalling the ges pared to when all of this beloo my family. The winding and byrinthine corridors seemed to swallow all warmth, shadows stretg out as if eager to e those who dared to enter.

  The early m light did little to pee the walls of red-paione, and the few torches flickering along the corridor were nothing more than trembling fmes. The air was chill, the atmosphere charged. This ce where whispers thrived ah came in silence.

  I walked slowly through these hallways, reag out a hand to plu occasional flower or two from the garden that reached to this floor through the rge windows. There was no rush. Just a man stretg his legs, expl the ers of a pce that held far more secrets than most could fathom.

  The Red Keep was a maze. A pce built on old, twisted bones, each corridor leading to more doors as. I didn’t know what I was looking for, but that was the fun. I was just wandering, searg for fate to hand me a situation on a ptter.

  I moved lightly, avoiding the guards and their suspicious stares. My hood pulled low over my face, and the thick carpets beh my feet muffled my steps.

  Turning another er, I paused. My long walk finally came to an end. There, standing before one of the tall windows, her gaze fixed oy below was a lone figure. Her auburn hair caught the early light filtering through the dusty gss, glowing like fire.

  So many girls around me are red-heads, I ted as I watched her. She was dressed in rich silks, deep greens and somber blues, the fabriging heavily, almost swallowiall frame. It took me a moment tnize her. Sansa Stark, Queen to be of Joffrey.

  I stepped closer, my steps slow. She seemed lost in thought, her eyes distant as they traced the skyline of King’s Landing. I could almost see the turmoil in her—a thousand worries pressing on her shoulders, weighing her down, even iillness. I closed the distance, my lips quirking as I watched her.

  “Very dangerous to stand so close to the window,” I said, my voice cutting softly through the silence.

  She startled, her head snapping around, her eyes widening in surprise. Fear flickered across her features for a moment—a fsh of vulnerability that was easy to read. The daughter of Eddard Stark, alone in the lion’s den. She bli me, her gaze trying to make sense of my sudden appearance.

  I smiled, tilting my head slightly. “You might fall, my dy,” I added, keeping my tone light.

  “I…” Her voice came out in a soft breath, her words caught off guard. She straightened, stepping back from the window’s ledge, her hands nervously smoothing the front of her dress. “Who… who are you? I haven’t seen you in the castle before.”

  “Just a visitor,” I said, giving her a small nod. “Vis is my name,” I added after a pause. No titles, no introdus. Let her wonder who I was. “And you… you must be Lady Sansa.”

  She blihe wariness irely leaving her expression. “How do you know my name?” she asked, her voice soft, almost timid. That was a stupid question, but I just guessed she was startled.

  I smiled, stepping closer, my gaze flig briefly to the window before returning to her. “Everyone knows your name, my dy. You’re quite famous—a Stark of Winterfell, here in King’s Landing.” I kept my voice smooth, my wentle, as if I were her some small fort.

  Her lips pressed together, her gaze dropping briefly to her hands. She was nervous, unsure of me. The girl was far from who she’d bee one day, merely a step down a brat, but she was getting there. Also, she looked older. How could that be? In the show, the only reason her marriage with Joffrey ostponed was because she hadn’t started to bleed yet. But here, she was definitely an adult already. Why was the marriage not held yet, then?

  “You shouldn’t be here,” she said, her voice gaining a little strength. “It’s dangerous to talk to me. If what you’d e to the pace for is dealt with… leave.”

  “Dangerous?” I echoed, my smile widening. “For whom, me?” I ughed.

  She hesitated, her brow furrowing. “For you, yes. If J- the King finds you here—”

  I waved a hand, dismissing her , my eyes glinting with amusement. “I’ll be fine, Lady Sansa. Besides, I rather enjoy the thrill of it. This pce…” I gnced around the dim corridor, the heavy stone walls, the tapestries lining the halls. “It feels familiar, although I ’t pinpoint why.”

  “Huh?”

  “If Eddard Stark was here, he’d have been able to ahat, I’m sure,” I said, smirking at her as she frowned in fusion. I was just pying with her, but her eyes searched mine, her lips parting as if she wao say something, but she held babsp;

  I could see the questions ihe curiosity, the uainty. She was wary of me, a, she was drawn in by what I was implying. That her father would reize me if he was here. It wasn’t often that someone approached her like this—with no clear agenda, no demands, just curiosity.

  “You’re not from… here, are you?” she finally said, her voice quiet.

  I smiled. “Iing questio’s just say I’m… passing through.” I let my gaze drift back to her, my smile softening. “And you, my dy? Do you enjoy being here? In the heart of it all? You, who were so very excited to be Queehe prospect was first proposed. You, who begged your mother to vince your father to accept King Robert’s deal.”

  “...” She hesitated, her eyes flig away. “I… it’s not what I expected,” she admitted, her voice barely above a whisper. There was a sadness in her eyes, immense sadness. “I am curious about who you are. Are you not going to answer?”

  “Today is not the day, my dy. As for your failed expectations, the Red Keep has that effe people,” I said, my tone shifting as if I were sharing a secret. “It’s not quite as grand as the stories make it out to be, is it? It’s like a prison.’

  She looked up at me, her eyes widening slightly, a flicker of something like agreement passing through them. For a moment, just a moment, she seemed to let her guard down, her lips curving into the fai of smiles. “...Yes. It’s a prison, indeed. A rotten one.”

  I ughed and blinked. My eyes gnced down the corridor. Footsteps—the heavy, deliberate tread of guards. I saw Kinvara walking with them, smiling calmly. Her talk with Cersie seemed to have gohout any issue, meaning my time here .

  I turned back to the older Sansa, giving her a small, charming smile, my gaze meeting hers. “Take care, my dy,” I said, my voice soft. “Stay away from dangerous windows. Even if you don’t fall, you might catch a cold. After all,” I smiled, “Winter is ing.”

  Her eyes widened, fusion turning to hope, but before she could say anything, I turned, my hood pulled low as I slipped into the shadows.

  The guards came into view, their eyes sweeping the corridor, but I was already gone from Sansa. Just anhost in the byrinth of Red Keep, who soon joined with Kinvara.

  “Where were you?”

  “Plug flowers.”

  So, we left the Keep. Pity I didn’t stumble upon Joffery today.

  Then again, perhaps this wasn't the best time for me to kill him. As a king, he's more of a troublemaker, not useful. If I were to kill him, it's not as if I could just sit down ohrht there and take it. No, I'd be hunted by the entire try, first, and sedly, the Lannister would just Tommen instead.

  After all, this wasn't a "kill the king and take the world" type of power fantasy.

  Tyrion Lannister was in King's Landing, serving as the Hand. Tommen would listen to the man, which would immediately make him a more petent King than Joffrey ever was. I didn't want that.

  In a sario like this, the best course of a is to wait for the best opportunity to kill Joffrey. Not only when it was safe for me, but when killing him would do the most damage.

  For example, maybe when the fleets of Stannis Baratheon would attabsp;

  That'd throw the etlefield into chaos, after all. And I could just kill Stannis, unworried about a Tommen situation there.

  If not that, then some other perfect time to kill the twat that was Joffrey. Sadly, today was not that day.

  **

  **

  **

  e find fellow fans on Discord and more chapters on Patreon!

  Patreon: Patreon.aster4thWall

  Discord: https://disc/dQeu27jBvf