Liana had begged Alethea to stay in Gulltown for the full festivities of her wedding and Alethea felt regret for denying her youngest child; though it had been far from a noble's extravagant affair, there was honest love and cheer amongst the families gathered there. Much less could be said about the court at Kings Landing.
The journey back was tiresome, the sea was rough and Pennywise had several times nearly fallen off the deck in her meandering exploration of the ship. The crew had looked at Alethea as though she were mad, chasing after that scruffy mutt of a dog. There had been a merchant with a high-bred hunter, the other dog had been friendly enough with Pennywise but the merchant sniffed and turned his nose up.
Alethea was tired, but most of her exhaustion was her own doing. Meera always warned her mother that she would work herself into her own grave. She had not taken one moment rest since arrival, first waylaying herself to visit the captain of the goldcloaks and thus becoming distracted by the concerns of Kings Landing itself. It was only when he mentioned the assassination in passing that Alethea remembered her true purpose.
She sighed as she quickly made her way through the halls of the Red Keep, Pennywise keeping easy pace beside her. She had to find Lord Polonius and review any documentation of the locus delicti and the testimonies of the witnesses and those suspect. Perhaps it was futile, but it would be compounding one injustice with another not to establish the facts of the crime.
A familiar, if somewhat disheveled, figure drew Alethea's attention. He moved in a distracted, careful manner of a man having been to long in his cups and suffering in the morning. She recognized him immediately, having a keen memory.
"Ambassador li Saverio?" The uncle of Queen Aeria who had served as ambassador from Lys. He had left, and now he returned, no doubt in part to the accusation borne of Princess Elia. Alethea remembered him as quite the rake. "Sandro?"