"The damage to Winterfell has been perhaps the worst I've ever seen, My Lady, I doubt that renovations will be quick…" A man mused. Arya and Sansa have been in the hall for an hour now, listening to the demands and wishes of those who survived and remained in Winterfell after the long winter.
"I am aware of that," Sansa said, trying to supress the annoyance in her tone, "But we will need the help of everyone here, and the support of other houses…"
"Support of other houses?!" The man chuckled, and a few others joined, "My Lady, with all due respect, we have little to no support in the realm. Everyone is trying to pick up the pieces of their lives as much as we and the Starks aren't as loved as they were before…"
Arya rolled her eyes as she continued to scratch something into the wooden table. The man continued, "If your brothers were here, we would have an easier time trying to fix this. But they ran away and let a woman do the commanding."
"Enough!" Sansa bellowed, her hand up in protest.
"Forgive me, My Lady," the man sighed, "But this is not something that a young girl like yourself should be handling. You and your sister are little girls who know nothing of war and the effects it leaves behind…"
"We are not little girls!" Arya almost shouted, glaring at the old man.
"Arya, hush, please," her sister whispered, "I'll handle this…"
Arya muttered something under her breath.
"I understand your concerns, but it is late and I have a terrible headache. We'll reconvene tomorrow afternoon and continue the planning for our restoration. I thank you for your time, but we must go now."
"Yes, my lady" the old man bowed his head solemnly and left. The rest of the room followed.
Arya sighed and buried her head in her arms, "Finally"
Sansa chuckled, "You need to get used to this, you know," she said, "If anything happens to me, then you'll have to take over…"
"Do I have to?" Arya whined.
"Yes, you do."
"Can't I just live with our brothers instead?"
"No," Sansa shook her head, "There must always be a Stark in Winterfell…"
Arya rubbed her eyes, "What happens if I leave? What happens to Winterfell?"
Sansa bit her lip, deep in thought, "I'm not really sure," she said.
There was a brief period of silence until Arya said, "Will our brothers ever return?"
Sansa dropped her eyes and softly said, "I don't know. I wish they would come back though…"
"Why did they even leave anyway? It's like they just abandoned us…"
Sansa gulped, "They didn't make it very clear, something about I was going to be a better ruler than they would ever be…"
Arya noticed the sadness in her sister's eyes so she put her hand on Sansa's shoulder and smiled, "Well, you are a pretty good ruler. Bossy sometimes, but good…"