Greetings, all! This is a little project I started on AO3 (username kattymaj), then promptly forgot about in the midst of life. I decided to throw it up here to keep it with the rest of my in-progress fics. If you're so inclined to read, I hope you enjoy!

SETTING: GOT, S2. Events will differ to accommodate the inclusion of Merlin characters. Inspired by YouTubers chloeclee's and prideandprejudice05's Sansa/Arthur videos.

DISCLAIMER: If you recognize it, I didn't make it up.

FACT OF LIFE: Sansa Stark is QUEEN.

1. PROLOGUE

"You're a Kingsguard. Your vows are for life."

"I don't need to be reminded."

"Are you sure?" The Imp tilts his head, then shrugs. "Well. You could have fooled me, Pendragon."

Arthur keeps his gaze on the window and his arms crossed. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You don't?" There's the head tilt again; Arthur can practically hear it by now. "Well that's something. Tell me, what is it that keeps your attention out in the yard?"

"Nothing's keeping my attention," Arthur snaps. He'd meant to be dismissive, but Tyrion has a way of riling anybody up when he wants to. "I'm not looking at anything."

"Now that's no way to talk about our… guest, is it?"

Arthur snorts. He can't help himself. Anyone else might think it's a humorous sound, but those who know him know better — it's nerves. Tyrion's got him backed in a corner, but Arthur won't admit it to him.

"What exactly are you getting at, Lannister?"

"You'd do well to watch your step," Tyrion advises, "lest you want Cersei to know where your loyalty lies."

Arthur is hard-pressed not to grit his teeth. "My loyalty is to my king."

Tyrion swishes the wine around in his cup. "Or your queen."

"My queen?" Arthur snorts again, an almost panicked sound as he dances around Tyrion's gentle taunts. "What affections could I possibly have for the Queen Regent? Come now, Lannister — "

"Oh, I didn't say anything about regent." The Imp swigs his wine now, evidently satisfied with himself. "Incidentally, that queen isn't blind, you know. She'll figure it out, if she hasn't already."

"There's nothing to figure out." Arthur straightens, unfolds his arms only to lean one against the window, using it to block his face from Tyrion's view as he continues to watch exactly who Tyrion had accused him of watching. "I haven't done anything."

"But would you? That's the question."

"I'm a knight of the Kingsguard, as you've already pointed out. Astute, by the way."

"Yes," Tyrion says with his characteristic gusto, "you are, and at Cersei's decree, no less. How do you think she'd thank you if you failed to protect her beloved son?"

Arthur really does grit his teeth this time, and speaks through them, "I've no intention of failing to protect the king."

"Very well," Tyrion says, unconvinced. "Allow me to present you a scenario — "

"I'm not interested in playing games, Lannister," Arthur snaps. He finally turns to face his tormentor. "You've presented me your scenarios before, and again I'll remind you that I'm not the only Kingsguard — there are plenty of us to keep both the king and his lady safe. It won't be a choice between the two."

"No, I suppose not," Tyrion concedes. He swishes his wine a little more. "But who keeps the lady safe from her king?"

"She has nothing to fear from him," Arthur lies, and he knows it.

As does Tyrion, who laughs without mirth. "My accursed nephew is, for all intents and purposes, the most powerful man in the Seven Kingdoms. Everyone has something to fear from him." Tyrion takes a long draw of rich red wine. "No one more so than Lady Stark. She is his."

"She is no one's."

"Least of all yours." Tyrion raises his cup in Arthur's direction. "Keep your sword out of the king's back, Pendragon. There are better men to take charge of the Stark girl's safety."

Arthur is about to protest, but Tyrion cuts him off. "The Starks are our enemies, despite the betrothal, which means little now that Joffrey's taken Ned Stark's head. Sansa is our prisoner. Your loyalty lies with her captors. That is the vow you've taken, no matter how much you've regretted it since you saw her."

"You've had an awful lot to drink today, haven't you, my lord?"

"I always have a lot to drink." Tyrion straightens in his seat, proud of this admission. "It's how I concentrate."

"Do me a favor and concentrate on something else."

Tyrion shrugs, unaffected. "Just trying to keep you alive, Pendragon."

Arthur turns away from him again, leans against the windowpane. His eyes find her instantly; it's like picking a bloodstain out of a crisp white sheet.

Just trying to keep you alive...