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XII LUCELLA "the road to king's landing" ⚜️
It seemed as if months had passed since they'd last been on the king's road, but it had only been four weeks. This time their destination was different, and as the days went on, the weather grew warmer, and the snow-lined roads melted into lush greens and fresh daisies. Lucella welcomed the change readily, spending most of her time roaming ahead on Lann just as she had on their way to Winterfell. Sandor had been noticeably absent, remaining close to the Prince, but it hadn't mattered.
Arya Stark was as good company on the road as she had been at the keep. They grew into a steady routine, spending most of the morning and evening together.
It was in the early afternoon, when they stopped for their first break of the day, that Lucella would be left to her own peace. Sometimes she would find her brother and his squire, stealing their food and listening to their stories until Sandor grew sick of their company. But most of all she would walk, leaving Lann by the river the road closely followed, heading west away from the road south.
She still remembered the day she'd stumbled across Sansa Stark in the woods. Much changed after that.
It was Lady, who spotted her first. The silver direwolf brushed against Lucella's legs, soft fur prickling the skin that was exposed by her wrist. Despite being around Nymeria so constantly, she had not grown used to the large wolves. They seemed to grow larger by the day, especially Arya's, but even Sansa's pale direwolf was larger than any dog in the kennels, with teeth as sharp as a knife. The bow that was wrapped around the direwolf's neck did nothing to relieve the unease she felt around the animal, but Lucella choked the worry back until she could speak.
"Hello, Lady," she said, gingerly placing her fingers deeper into the direwolf's coat. It was softer than any garment a woman would wear and the wolf welcomed the touch. "Where's your lady?"
It took a moment to spot the spark of red hair that peaked out from the base of a tree but Lucella followed the wolf toward her. Sansa leaned out to look back towards her direwolf, eyes coming to lastly lay upon the girl. There was a blanket spread out beneath her, void of any dirt or sticks, keeping the powder-blue dress as pristine as Sansa liked it. Even still, she looked out of place alone amongst the trees.
"She likes you," Sansa said, watching her direwolf thoughtfully as she left Lucella's side and came to rest by her feet again. She seemed to second guess her words then. "Though Lady likes everyone."
"Lady Sansa," Lucella greeted, a grin finding her lips again. "May I sit?"
"You're going to anyway."
"I suppose you're right," she said, leaning against the tree opposite, backside planting into the mud without a care. Sansa grimaced. "What are you doing so far from the main gathering?"
"We're not that far. Father is just up there." Sansa turned to lean around the tree, finger moving to point across the forest. When she found nothing in that direction, her face fell. "Oh."
