Sometimes Sansa Stark resurfaces from the façade of Alayne Stone despite her efforts to conceal her, especially on days when she hears news of the North and of the Wall. Admittedly those days are few and sparse in between, but when they do come, nostalgia and longing threatens to overwhelm her mask, creating small fissures.

It's on these days that Sansa, not Alayne, composes a letter. A letter addressed to her half-brother – her only remaining brother. Despair for all that they have lost moves her hand across the parchment, but it is with resilient hope that she signs her name at the very end.

Today Alayne hears talk of Winterfell, of the Boltons who are living in her home, in her birthright. She hears of Arya Stark marrying the legitimised Bolton bastard. However, it is Sansa who remembers Winterfell and her sister. Arya has not been seen since Father's execution. It cannot truly be her. Her heart goes out for the imposter, as Ramsay Snow-turned-Bolton's cruelty is whispered by the smallfolk of the Vale. She has known fear and cruelty from men, and she hopes no woman must experience it as well. She knows better now. But she still hopes and she still prays.

Sansa enters her chamber, a fire already crackling in the fireplace. She sets down her parchment, quill and inkpot on her small table and deftly dips her quill into the inkpot before beginning her letter.

Jon Snow – The Lord Commander of the Night's Watch,

Do you remember a life before you forswore your past and your birth? Do you remember your father and your brothers? Or are the black brothers the only brothers that you have? Do you remember a time when you had sisters? Or are they the sisters of a boy who no longer exists?

Maybe I'm no longer your family, but you are the last member of mine. Father was executed on the steps of the Great Sept of Baelor, his life's blood staining the sacred steps. My mother and Robb were slaughtered by treachery and betrayal. Bran and Rickon were murdered for the sake of Winterfell. Arya may yet be alive – I have not seen her since Father passed. I hope she survived these past years, but the possibility is slim. I doubt that it is Arya who is married to Ramsay Bolton, but I still pray for the girl who is trapped under the games of those in power.

We are the last two of an ancient House, but I'm the only one who carries the name; I am the last Stark. How I loathe that title. How am I the last one standing out of all those who were braver and smarter than I? Will the Stark bloodline fade with me? For I am only a girl, who was forced to marry a Lannister. Even now, I am only Alayne Stone, a bastard of Petyr Baelish. Will I ever reclaim my birth name and my birthright?

If I cannot resurface as Sansa Stark, please know that Winterfell should be yours. Maybe you are a Snow, a bastard of Winterfell, but you are still my father's son, and therefore a Stark in blood, if not in name. Don't let them take Winterfell - your home in a past life. But I know that you are now the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, and so you cannot own lands or father children. No matter how much I wish it, I can never ask you to abandon your vows.

It seems that the Stark legacy may very well end with us. But I will try my best to survive and continue the Stark bloodline and legacy for the sake of our fractured family. I hope to take back Winterfell and rebuild our beautiful home. Will you be there to aid me in that endeavour? But also to grieve for all that we've lost and to rejoice in our survival?

I know that we were not close as children and that I often brushed you off. I cannot tell you how sorry I am for the way I treated you. I hope you can forgive the foolish young girl who knew naught of the life of a baseborn child.

Now I long to meet you once again, Jon – to reunite with the last surviving remnant of my home. Until then and beyond, I pray for your wellbeing, my brother.

With love,

Sansa Stark

She stares down at the letter that contained a piece of herself, of Sansa Stark. She entertains the idea of sealing the letter, attaching it to a raven and sending it off to Jon on the Wall. But it can never be. The risks are too great lest the letter was intercepted. She is still wanted for regicide afterall.

Sansa closes her moist eyes and takes a deep breath, reforming the mask of Alayne Stone when her eyes reopen. She folds the letter and carefully places it amongst the burning logs. The letter quickly catches fire and burns to ashes, destroying any evidence of the presence of Sansa Stark.

One day, Sansa whispers, I will be free.