Homeplot - for Caspian

[lifeisnotasong]

When Sansa had woke alone, it didn't immediately panic her - Caspian may have been inclined to let her sleep if he woke early though Eddara was not one to make this possible if she had her way. It was only when she sat up and noticed first the light - different from that which woke her on the island - and then the other details sunk in. The

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[caspianthetenth]

Caspian woke in a small tavern that was entirely unfamiliar to him. It was certainly not in Narnia, he knew instantly, for he knew the feel of Narnian air and the feeling it gave you when you breathed it. No, this was a more ordinary type of air, and Caspian realised very quickly it must be some sort of island trickery. (He had experienced such before, you see.)

He had neither sword nor appropriate attire, but he knew he could not go about in his nightshirt if he expected not to draw attention to himself while he worked to discover where he was. Being an honourable man it pained him to do so, but he told himself it was necessary, and slinked through the tavern to pilfer what items he must have. Fortunately it was still early and the tavern's inhabitants were mostly asleep, so this unpleasant task was made much easier.

Caspian left the tavern on foot and went to another, where he sat in the common room and listened to the talk of those around him. It did not take him long to determine that he was, in fact, in Westeros, and not only Westeros but King's Landing. What a trick for the island to play, he thought. He was not able to tell much from the idle chatter about the current events, but he decided that if Sansa--Sansa from the island--were anywhere in the city she would likely seek refuge in the godswood.

There had been a map of King's Landing in the books of Westeros he had found on the bookshelf, and he had a vague rememberance of it--enough to help him find the godswood. It took a better part of the morning to find it, given his unfamiliarity with the city, but find it he did, and as he entered the godswood he saw a woman that could very well be Sansa kneeling before the tree. Uncertainty gripped him--what if it was not the Sansa he knew? In any case, she was likely being watched, so it was best to be cautious.

He knelt in the leaves some few feet from her, his cloak pulled up half around his face but leaving enough for her to see. "Pardon me, my lady," he murmured, pretending to dip his head in prayer. If she was his Sansa, then she would recognise him; and if not, well, he would deal with it if it happened.

[lifeisnotasong]

Sansa had no notion of how long she had been praying and weeping - she was merely glad Ser Dontos has not shown up to talk at her about home. There was no going home. She stiffened and wiped her eyes at the sound of footsteps but it was only someone else coming to pray - rare enough in itself. She was not expecting the familiar slightly accented tone and if she were not kneeling the shock might have had her fainting. "Caspian?" she said her voice a tremble as if it might not be real and then she looked at him and even hidden by the cloak it was obviously him. She flung herself at him, hope flaring through her. "Gods, it's really you," she murmured, "when I woke alone I thought. . . " She trails off and clings tightly to him, relief overwhelming her.

[caspianthetenth]

"I know," Caspian whispered, stroking her hair and thinking as fast as he could. "I know." He gently let go of her after a moment, wondering if that man with the spies, the eunuch whose name Caspian could not immediately recall, had had Sansa followed. If so, he had perhaps put her in more danger by coming here. "Do you know if you were followed?"

[lifeisnotasong]

"No," Sansa said understanding why he asked. "The walls in the keep have ears everyone knows but there is nowhere to hide in the godswood." Ser Dontos had made her aware of that, the wood was open enough that movement would be obvious and no-one had ever caught her here before. She could only hope that Caspian's prescence here meant this was a dream even if it had just happened - and not that Caspian had been trapped in Westeros. "We can speak here freely - else I would never have left King's Landing before I came to the island."

[caspianthetenth]

Caspian took her hands in his, rubbing his thumbs over the backs of her hands in reassurance. "Where did you find yourself when you woke?" he asked, though from her manner of dress he could only assume that she was in Lannister hands. He could only hope that they were at the point where the Baratheon boy-king was enamoured of his new bride-to-be and paying less attention to Sansa.

[lifeisnotasong]

Sansa held to Caspian's hands so tightly her hands hurt and she managed to force herself to relax her grip. "In the chambers I shared with Tyrion," she said. "I think there is a little time until Joffrey. . . " she stumbles over that not knowing whether to call it his wedding or his death. "The keep is full of the Dornish and talk of them and they arrived a little while before that," Prince Oberyn and his mistress and the lords and men and that's when it occurs to her, she brushes a bit of dark hair away from Caspian's face. "You could pass for Dornish," she said, "it's only days of dreaming I hope but you could be close." She wants him close and she'd leave with him but it would not take the Lannisters even two days to search King's Landings with the Tyrell's men at their command.

[caspianthetenth]

"I want to get you out of this city as soon as possible," Caspian said. Even knowing that Tyrion was not likely to trouble Sansa to share his bed, Caspian didn't like the idea of her having to share chambers with him, and liked the idea that Joffrey was still about even less. "But it will take planning, if we don't want them to find us straight away." And he did not want them found. Things would be even worse for Sansa then than they were now, if they were caught. "We'll need horses and supplies. If I can pass as a Dornishman, it might be easier to manage." Caspian hadn't liked stealing from innocent people who had nothing to do with their trouble, but stealing from the Lannisters... he had no absolutely compunctions in that.

[lifeisnotasong]

Sansa could not shake the worry that this was not merely the island dream trick, she had been to Winterfell and she had been to Narnia and she had wanted to be in both of those places. She had never wanted to see the Red Keep again - it had been home for the worst years of her life. So she did not argue with Caspian. Merely nodded once her throat tight with how much she wanted to leave this place. "If you said your name was Sand, there would be less questions." It would make him Dornish without tying him to a house, which would mean less questions. He would just have to avoid anyone actually Dornish but they were obvious enough. She struggled to think what supplies they would need. "Things are scarce outside the city," she admitted thinking of the riots only the Tyrell's food had quelled. "But I can get money, and jewels we could sell." It was not as if she wanted to keep anything the Lannisters gave her.

[caspianthetenth]

What Caspian wanted more than anything else in the world right now was to simply steal her away from this city and hide her somewhere safe until this latest island trick was over. He had to remind himself, repeatedly, to be careful. "Then we'll make sure to get what we need before we go," he said. "I'll try to get into the castle to keep watch over you as best I can, but I dare not speak with you anywhere but here. I don't want to cause any questions you'll have to explain. How long do you think you will need to gather the money and jewels?" He wondered if he could get her away by nightfall--but then anyone leaving the city in the dark would be suspicious. Was it better to leave in broad daylight with hundreds of people about? By the Mane, he wished he'd read the books more closely and knew more about the city!

[lifeisnotasong]

Sansa wanted to leave as soon as possible as well - "a day," she said, "mayhaps less - I could not bring them all at once but in several trips in one day - if you are in the Castle I could slip them to you and you could sell them in the city." Money would be better than jewels she knew - easier to spend and harder to trace. "I could fetch them now and meet you," she paused - Caspian did not know the castle of course. "By the white sword tower," she suggested, it was obvious and there was little reason for the Kingsguard to be closely watched - though they were watched no doubt but for Sansa to exchange passing courtesies with a knight or man at arms in public was not so unusual. She could say she was asking about Dorne to better converse with Prince Oberyn later.

[caspianthetenth]

"All right." He put his arms round her and held her close for a moment. "Be careful, Sansa--we don't know what will happen to us back on the island if something happens here." Caspian was assuming, as he had since he woke in the tavern, that this was exactly like the times he had been sent to Narnia only to return to the island a few days later. He could not imagine that this was any different.

Letting go of her, he took her hands again and kissed her. "You must leave the godswood first, and I will find a way into the castle later. I don't want to keep you too long; if you are away more than they expect, it will rouse suspicion. Keep your eyes and ears open and if you feel anything is amiss, don't try to find me until you feel it's safe. We can't risk being detained."

[lifeisnotasong]

Sansa almost told him then that they had yet another reason to be careful but she managed not to blurt it out. It would only worry him more and she would be able to tell him when they were safely home instead. She nodded and clung to him until he released her.

"I used to pray for a much longer time than this," she said quietly though she knew he was right that she must go - the sooner they started their plan the sooner they could leave. "I'll be careful," she told him before kissing him in farewell and reluctantly leaving the godswood glancing back at Caspian and wanting nothing more than to stay with him.

Returning to her rooms she was glad but unsurprised to find Tyrion absent, she did not dread seeing him the way she did Joffrey but if anyone was likely to notice the change in her it was Tyrion. She remember how he had used to look at her, wanting something she could not give then and certainly would not now. Best to say away from him - she went to the wardrobe and picked through the jewels there. She was young and had been a hostage so she hadn't as much as some ladies yet she had married a Lannister and had to look the part and there were the betrothal presents Joffrey had given her. A glimpse of the moonstones makes her feel nauseous and she can't bear to touch them yet though she knows she will have to. It would be enough - it would have to be, she put the better pieces in a small purse with what coin she had. She could not fit them all in but it was something.

After that it was hard to go about her day as normal, she could only pick over the food the maids brought her and she was glad enough to avoid company. She slipped out much later that evening and wondered if what she had might be enough that they could just leave now. Yet the yard was busy as she crossed it and caught a glimpse of Caspian. She put on her best court face and smiled catching him with an enquiry about the Dornish weather and asking solicitously if he missed the heat - meaningless small talk that would hopefully cover the clinking noise the purse made as she dropped it along with a small hair ribbon.

[caspianthetenth]

Caspian had spent the better part of the day sneaking about, listening for useful information and scouting places he might be able to obtain what they needed to get out of the city. It went against his nature to be so sneaky, but was completely necessary in this case. He briefly considered stealing horses from the stables, but there were too many stable lads about for them to be able to take two horses unnoticed. Besides, Caspian wanted them to be inconsipicuous, blending in with the masses, and the well-bred and well-cared-for horses of the Lannister stables would stand out far too much. He would use what Sansa could find to buy plain and sturdy mounts and enough food to get them through the next few days--which he hoped would be enough for the island trick to wear and get them back where they belonged.

And if it wasn't an island trick--well, he had already decided their path would take them north, just in case. If it wasn't a trick and they truly were in Westeros, the further north Sansa was, the safer she would be.

It was beyond bizarre to make small talk with Sansa as if he did not know her, speaking of a land he knew nothing of, but he was no more a stranger to mindless court-talk than she was, and he played it well enough. When she dropped the purse and ribbon, he stooped to retrieve it, slipping the purse into his sleeve and returning the ribbon to her. "I believe you've dropped something, my lady," he said, and as he did so he got the feeling they were being watched. He dared not turn his head to look, fearing it obvious, and instead gave Sansa as much of a warning look as he could manage.

[lifeisnotasong]

"Thank you Ser," said Sansa a thrill of nerves running through her as Caspian gave her a meaningful look and then she caught out of the corner of her eye the worst possible person beside a Lannister. Prince Oberyn. His dark eyes fixed on them and Sansa knew she should retreat but now that she'd seen him it would be rude. And then it might get back to Tyrion who might not care but might be curious. That she did not want. "Prince Oberyn," she said with a curtsy and a polite yet blank smile.

"Lady Lannister," he said with a courteous bow, he barely looked at her her though seeming quite fascinated with Caspian. He was staring and it made Sansa uncomfortable in a way that had nothing to do with being scared. It wasn't right for someone to look at a married man that was - certainly not another man.

"You've certainly Rhoynish blood," Prince Oberyn declared. "Are you with my party? I find it hard to believe I never noticed you before."

Sansa was horrified and it was only worse when Podrick Payne interrupted them to inform her, her lord husband requested her presence and she had to excuse herself with no more than a brief glance at Caspian in case she gave herself away.

[caspianthetenth]

Caspian very much disliked hearing Sansa referred to as Lady Lannister, though he did his best to keep his mouth shut and his face expressionless as he scrambled for any scrap of information he remembered about Prince Oberyn and the Dornish.

"Yes, my lord," Caspian said with a little bow, trying to look as inconspicuous and forgettable as possible. What did he remember about the Dornish other than their tendency toward... freeness? Nothing. Just that and that Prince Oberyn was not one to be trifled with. Damn it, he had wanted to get in and out and draw no attention. "I was accompanying one of the ladies in your party on the journey to King's Landing, but I feel my company is... no longer required by the lady in question." Was that vague enough? He hoped so.

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"That does happen," Prince Oberyn told Caspian flashing a wicked grin. That which burned hot often burned fast and she would not be the first lady of Dorne, his eyes flicked over Caspian. "Still I am sure there are many who would require your company," his voice hardened, "though not the Lady Lannister - a pretty face like yours might be a welcome respite from her husband but offending the Lannisters in that manner is not in my nor my lord brothers plans."