The sun was hot. Even on the warmest of days in Winterfell it was always cool enough for a shawl, not so in her husband's coastal home of Casterly Rock. The sea breeze made the heat tolerable but Sansa could hardly remember a time before when she had need to close her eyes so tightly against the bright sun. She was lying on the balcony of their private quarters, a book laid forgotten in her lap. She suddenly smelled the dusty scent that accompanied her husband any time he managed to leave his study that was overflowing with books and scrolls. A smile danced across her face as he bent over her and placed a soft kiss on her forehead.

They had been married for many years, but only had been reunited for the one after he had rescued her from her time in the Vale. Lord Baelish's demands on her physically had been becoming more depraved the older she grew, and she prayed every day that the gods would send her a savior. Then came Tyrion; riding an actual dragon landing the beast in the courtyard of the castle in the Eyrie and she had never been so happy to see anyone in her life. She didn't even blink when she had recognized her little husband and ran forward while the rest of the castle ran in the opposite direction. Tyrion had been shocked at her appearance- dark hair, sunken-in eyes; she was hardly the lovely maid who had abandoned him in Kings Landing all those moons ago. She stood in front of the dragon looking into her husband's mismatched eyes and after a moment he extended his hand and she quickly took it and sat behind him on the great beast, wrapping her thin arms around his chest. "Brace yourself wife" was all he had said when he put his hand to the creature's back and it quickly flapped its wings and in the blink of an eye the castle was a dot below them. He shouted to her that he had been there to have the Lord of the Vale take the knee to the new Dragon Queen, he had no idea that Sansa was there. Sansa remembered smiling into his hair, knowing that finally the gods had intervened for her.

They had decided to stay married, more so because they were both tired of playing the game then for any real affection- at least that is what Sansa had told herself at the time. Little by little they had come together; they were both older, both broken in their own ways and they found solace with each other. Sansa didn't know if they would have been able to find love for each other if they had not been separated by everything they had been through in their years apart, but what could have been hardly mattered anymore.

She squinted up at him, eyes grazing over his deformed features that now held her heart "it is hot." Tyrion laughed his deep laugh "my lady wife you know nothing of heat. In the East is the true heat, this is practically winter weather there." Sansa pouted "I won't disagree with you husband, but your wife is of the North. Had I less modesty I would take this gown off and lay about in my shift." A wicked grin spread over his scarred face "that would be a sight to behold my lady." She swatted him playfully at his lecherous jest "oh you would say something like that." She resumed her position on the chaise when he spoke again "my lady I think that you should perhaps not lay in the sun for very much longer. Your ivory skin while beautiful is a delicate thing in such a harsh light." She waved him away "I have been forced into darkness for too long Tyrion, let me enjoy the sun." He sighed as he stood stretching and left her be, not wanting to deny her anything.

Later that night when the skin on her forearms, chest and face were covered in blotchy red marks she scowled at her chuckling husband. "You could have warned me Tyrion" she whined delicately touching her bright red cheeks. Her husband came up behind her looking at her in the mirror "I vaguely remember doing exactly that Sansa." She rolled her eyes "well now you are going to have to look at this red face for the next few days." Tyrion placed a kiss to the back of her head looking at her eyes in the reflection "I would gladly see your face in any shade of color for the rest of my life." She turned in her chair to face him and kissed him full on the mouth, only leaning back when the pain on her face reignited. "Ow" she said scrunching her face. Her husband smiled and pulled from behind his back a jar of aloe "I thought you might need this." She fleetingly thought of how lucky she was to have him to take care of her as she let him apply the cooling poultice to her burns.