asgardeventide | o1 ♔ voice

( Alayne fiddles with the bracelet around her wrist for a moment before speaking - she's hesitant about addressing the whole of a city that she cannot see. After all, it's dangerous to be Sansa Stark these days, now that she's a traitor accused of regicide. But amongst the midst of all these voices, it's unlikely that hers will be recognized ( or so she thinks, as she does not know details of the network yet ). She is Alayne now, not Sansa. They will not know her. Lies and arbor gold, Alayne thinks. No one takes notice of a bastard girl. )

Gods of Asgard, I wanted to thank you for choosing me for such an important task. This is an honour that I did not expect. But I must think of my lord father - he worries so, and I wouldn't want him to fret. I'm only a young girl - surely someone more gallant should be chosen for a deed like this.

If it please you, I would ask that you send me back to him.

( but alayne doesn't expect much: no one gets what they want without a price. all she can do is ask. )

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( once, sansa had believed everything she was told - especially by the queen. why would she lie to her? good, noble, beautiful people didn't speak falsehoods. it had been disgustingly naive, creating a sense of burning shame upon recollection of it.

now, alayne questions everything she's told and sees the strings of manipulation through the lies. it's better this way. she's still a pawn, but now at least, she's aware of it. )

It seems to me that your pessimism has kept you alive and well, ser. There is no need for apologies.

Yes, well, survival is not always the most reputable existence.

[Erik can't read her body language through just her voice, but he can sense there is something more under the surface. Something that hold his attention. Curiosity, maybe.]

( alayne laughs. it's a warm laugh, utterly feminine in its sound, and part of the mask alayne has crafted. of the bastard-brave young woman who speaks boldly and easily. some of it stems from a well of bitterness, a recognition of the truth - to survive, one has to sacrifice nobility. her father and her brother had refused. )

Perhaps not. But a reputation can only be built if one is alive to do so.

[that laugh falls under the same, curious feeling. Like there's something she's hiding, something that a girl of her age wouldn't, shouldn't, have to hide.]

If one can't stay alive long enough to build one, I question whether he should be alive in the first place.

[Survival of the fittest and all.]

( a harsh man, alayne thinks. but he is not wrong. it seems like an odd conversation topic, one that the courteous lady should shy away from. but there's a spark of curiosity that arises from the personal aspect of this topic, and how much it weighs on her. )

If the world were kinder, I suppose. But I'm only a girl, and I know little of such things.

[Kinder. That in itself is a joke. The world is not a kind place, never has been and never will be. It's all a matter of how quickly one can thicken their skin, how quickly they can adapt. Evolve. Survive. But not just survive, as he mentioned before, but thrive.

He stops before he can comment again on the world, staring at his bracelet as if this conversation weren't over the audio function only.]

Is that so?

[He's not as surprised by her comment as he should, or at least, as he thinks he should. But that can also be attributed to the fact he doesn't believe her when she says it, and instead grins a bit on his side of the conversation. Not that she can tell, of course.]

Do you wish to learn?

( this is dangerous ground, and alayne knows it. words are in and of themselves deceptive, and petyr has taught her to keep her hands clean at all times. no matter what she does in the world, there is value in being perceived as guileless and innocent. )

That depends entirely on what is being taught.

I assumed that would depend on what you wished to learn. Those things which you claimed yourself to be ignorant of. The world at large.

[he gives a bit of a chuckle, fairly amused at the turn this conversation has taken.]

Though I cannot say much to how your own world might work, seeing as my own is most likely quite different.

May I ask why you would take on such a burden?

( petyr baelish reaps a potential benefit from her, if his plans are successful. alayne isn't foolish enough to think otherwise; nothing is free. nothing comes without strings. though, she is alone in this land as far as she knows at the present moment. it might not do to cut them all at once. )

[at first he almost asks why she is so wary to accept his offering, why she is so guarded. most girls her age are much more trusting, he thought, unless their past has raised them otherwise. instead his curiosity grows.]

It pains me to think that there are people who can grow up and not know the world, for all its pains and glories. [pains. yes, pains. mostly pains and heartbreak and war.]

( sansa had grown up with no knowledge of the world. sheltered and secluded from the rest of westeros by the high walls of winterfell, she never knew what it was like to want for anything. never saw a man die until she left home. guarded is the right word, but what alayne hopes to convey is caution, prudence. the past always shines through, however hard one attempts to hide it. )

I should like to know about the worlds beyond this, though I fear I have very little to pay in kind.

( and a pause - sansa always remembered her courtesies; alayne does the same. )

Would you tell me your name? I am Alayne Stone, of a land called Westeros.

I have little interest in the material, Miss Stone. Consider it an act of kindness.

[or debt, as Erik sees it. It never hurts to have favors, to have people owe him. Not that he especially wants her in his debt.]

Erik Lensherr.

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