Author's Note: A short second installment. Enjoy.
Disclaimer: See Chapter One.
W.I.N.T.E.R.I.S.C.O.M.I.N.G.W.I.N.T.E.R.I.S.C.O.M. I.N.G
Dolemea came in a while later, intending to help Sansa dress for dinner with Lord Lannister. She knew this was an important dinner for Sansa, and really her only chance to make a favorable impression on the harsh man. She saw Sansa sitting at her vanity, brushing out her hair with a shaking hand. She frowned.
"Sansa? Whatever is the matter?" She asked and touched the girl's shoulder. Indeed the girl looked as if she was preparing for her own execution.
"Nothing's the matter." She said softly, looking down at her hands as her hand maiden took the brush and started to braid and twist sections of her hair.
"Sansa….I understand if you can't tell me, but I can see that you're upset." She said softly. "Everything will work out in the end, you have to believe that. Especially in the times when it feels like nothing will."
"How can I believe that?" Sansa raised her eyes and met the other woman's in the mirror. Tonight could see the death of what little was left of her family, and she was terrified of what her life would be like if she succeeded in saving them.
"By having faith, Sansa." She said gently, seeing all too clearly that Sansa had learned something terrible in the short hours they'd been apart. "Be it the old gods, or the Seven….have faith that they will take care of you."
Sansa nodded and took a shaky breath. "Which gown do you think I should wear tonight?" She asked Dolemea.
"What about your new blue gown, it really brings out your eyes." She smiled and finished pinning Sansa's hair up. The dress she had in mind also made Sansa look more grown up. It was one of several that had been made for her in the last few weeks.
Sansa nodded. "All right." She trusted the older girl, as much as she could trust anyone in King's Landing. She let the simple act of getting dressed distract her from the realities of tonight. She had to focus on her goals and try not to linger over the costs. It was the only way she could possibly hope to survive this.
Dolemea settled an intricate silver filigree belt around her waist and smiled. "There, you could rival any woman in the Seven Kingdoms now." She stepped back and took the entire picture in. This gown was a far cry from the girlish, modest gowns that had become favored at court. She looked like a woman now, not a scared little girl.
"Do I look all right?" Sansa asked a little nervously.
"You look like a Queen." Her handmaiden said and led her to the mirror. "No man could refuse you tonight, not even Tywin Lannister himself." She smirked.
"I hope you're right." She swallowed nervously. "I should go…I wouldn't want to keep him waiting."
Dolemea nodded. "Ser Carras will escort you. Good luck tonight my Lady." She said. "Remember, be brave."
"I will try." She said and turned and walked out of her chambers and into the hallway.
Ser Carras smiled warmly. "My Lady." He had often been her guard when she had ventured out of the safety of the Tower of the Hand. He was an older knight, and one of Tywin's red cloaks. Despite his age, she felt safe with him and something in his manner reminded her of her father at times. "My Lord Hand is awaiting your presence."
"Then let's not keep him waiting any longer." She smiled and walked with him, not to the hall but to Tywin's private quarters. He opened the door for her, but did not follow her in and shut it firmly behind her.
Sansa restrained the urge to jump as the door closed at her back. "My Lord." She said respectfully and nodded to Lord Lannister.
"Please, sit. We have much to discuss." Tywin said without ceremony, eyes evaluating the young woman. She had changed in the short time under his protection, and if possible her face seemed even more closed to him.
"Yes, I believe we do." Sansa said in kind and sat down, making herself meet his eyes. "And I believe it must pertain to the raven you received from the Twins this morning." She was proud that her voice didn't quaver as she said it.
Tywin's eyebrows rose at that. "You are surprisingly well informed Lady Stark." He said and stood, walking around the table to stand beside her. "I wonder who told you of it." He fixed her with a hard look.
"It is in my best interests to be well informed my Lord." She said, not faltering. "Especially as concerns what remains of my family." She didn't crumble under the intensity of his presence, though she wanted nothing more than to crawl under the table.
"Since you are so keenly interested in the workings of my office, perhaps you would care to read it yourself, and advise me on the best course of action." He reached into his doublet and laid the letter down by her hand and then simply returned to his seat.
"As you wish, my Lord." She said and picked up the letter and unfolded the parchment. As she read, Sansa couldn't help the tremor that overtook her hands, nor stop the color draining from her face. She made herself read to the end and then calmly refolded the letter and put it down. She raised her eyes and met his, a glimmer of tears making them shine. "I can see the….appeal, of Lord Frey's plan…but you cannot do this."
"Really? I think I could very easily see this done, marry you to my son, and rule the North through you. It would be a very easy thing, what makes you think that I cannot?" Tywin said shrewdly. Now was the time to see what the little wolf was made of. Cersei painted her as a lack-wit, not worth time or notice. He had begun to suspect she was quite the opposite.
"Guest rights go back more than eight-thousand years to the first men, if you do this…or allow it to be done on your behalf, nothing will ever remove the stain. There isn't enough gold in all the seven kingdoms to remove that shame, and it will taint your legacy for generations to come." She said softly. "I misspoke, while you could do this…you should not. Not when there is another alternative, with the potential for even less bloodshed." She swallowed and looked down.
"Pray continue, Lady Stark. What alternative do you speak of?" He asked, noting the merits of her argument. She had not pleaded with him for the sake of her family, but attempted to appeal to his desire to create a dynasty. It was a smart tact, transparent but smart.
"Take me as your bride, and I will bring my brother to the peace table. He could not continue the war without publicly taking sides against his own sister. I know my brother, he will listen to reason." She said, not stopping even as her spirit broke. "Your family owes me a great debt, and I demand no less in payment, than to be Lady of Casterly Rock. I will not marry the son you openly despise and forfeit the protection I currently enjoy as your ward. Only as your wife would it continue."
Tywin had to stop himself from scoffing at the girl's request. At its face it was ridiculous, but the more he thought on it...the more appeal it had. There would be a bloodless end to the war in the North, and he would have a young and beautiful wife. "I am willing to entertain the idea, with certain conditions." He said and sipped his wine. "I would need your brother's word, in writing, that the marriage would buy both peace, and the safe return of my eldest son. You will provide me with at least one son, a suitable heir for Casterly Rock. You were correct in your assessment that Tyrion will never inherit." He said. "After dinner you will write to your brother of the engagement, and you may include Walder Frey's letter as proof of the plot. A show of good faith. Be clear on my terms and we will await his decision. You will speak of this conversation to no one until your brother returns word. Am I clear?" His sharp green eyes almost bored right into her.
Sansa nodded and took a sip of her wine. "As you wish, my Lord." She said.
"Now, eat your meal before it grows cold." He said and turned to his own, as if the matter was dismissed from his mind. He watched as she gathered herself and obediently turned to her meal, as if she too considered the matter closed. He wondered very much what thoughts were running through her mind, and hated that he could not say with certainty.
Sansa was just starting on dessert, when there was a knock at the door. A heartbeat later, a servant entered and went directly to Lord Tywin, whispering quietly. The servant left immediately and Tywin wiped his hands on a napkin.
"Finish your dessert and then Ser Carras will return you to your chambers. I will come for your letter once I have finished with the Small Council." He said and nodded, sweeping out of the room without another word.
Sansa managed a few more bites of her dessert and then couldn't take it any longer. She stood and left the room, letting her knight return her to the relative peace of her own chambers. Her handmaiden was waiting and didn't press her for details, simply helped her out of the gown and into a nightgown and dressing robe. She unpinned the girl's intricate hairdo and left it loose.
"Do you need anything more tonight Sansa?" Dolemea asked the quiet girl.
"No, just a little time alone to think." She said softly. "Thank you." She said softly.
"All right, try and get some sleep." She said and left the young woman to her thoughts.
Sansa went to her writing desk and pulled out a piece of parchment, beginning her letter to her brother.
Dearest Rob,
I am writing to you on a matter of great urgency, one of life and death. Included with my own letter is one written by Lord Walder Frey to the Hand of the King, Tywin Lannister. In it, he plots your death at the wedding of our uncle to his daughter. He mentions an unnamed conspirator within your own ranks, and I cannot caution you enough to be careful. I have been allowed to write this letter in the hopes that peace can be found through less bloody means.
I have agreed to marry Tywin Lannister. All that he requires is that you agree to discuss terms for peace, and return his son to him unharmed. If you agree to these terms you need to send word quickly. Lord Lannister has treated me with respect and protected since his arrival in the Capital. I beg you to agree, I don't think I could survive losing you and mother too. Please do this Rob, for me and for the North. There must always be a Stark in Winterfell, and winter is nearly upon us. The people will need you to return and rebuild before the worst of the winter settles in, or the losses will be catastrophic. Be the Warden of the North, as father would have wanted.
Know that I love you, and am doing this only out of that love.
Your Sister,
Sansa
She fought back tears as she signed it, and folded it around Walder Frey's letter. She sealed it and then settled into the chair near the fire to wait for Tywin to come and retrieve her letter.
At some point of the night she must have dozed off, because she jumped when someone knocked firmly at her door. She got up and went to open it, noting the faint light brightening the sky, it was just the time before dawn. She opened it to reveal a very tired looking Tywin Lannister.
"Your letter my lady?" He said, seeing that she had not yet been to bed either. "Pull on a cloak and come with me, you should see this sent." He said and waited, walking with her in silence through the empty halls as they headed to the tower where the Ravens were kept. "You have not asked about the reason for my abrupt departure from dinner." He said to fill the silence.
"I didn't want to pry, but if you wish to tell me?" She said, looking at him.
"Danaerys Targaryan is dead, murdered in the night by an assassin." He said. "Her dragons are rampaging wild across the countryside across the Narrow Sea." It had been a night of good news all around. With the girl dead, and her dragons no longer a threat it made the ending of the war in the north all the more welcome. That would leave only Stannis in rebellion, and he could be dealt with easily enough.
Sansa nodded. "One less threat to worry about now." She said quietly as they climbed the steps together.
"Indeed." He said as they entered the small room where the birds were kept. "Your brother is encamped in the Riverlands, having attended the funeral of your grandfather."
She nodded. "Here it is." She said and handed him the precious letter, watching as he attached the letter to the bird and sent it off. "I hope we will hear from him soon." She said eyes on the quickly disappearing form of the raven.
"I am sure that we will." He said and watched her. "How old are you girl?" He finally asked. He knew she was young, but her actual age escaped him.
"I'll soon see my sixteenth name day, my Lord." She said and turned back to look at him. It seemed an age since she had come to King's Landing with her father, and she felt a lifetime removed from the silly girl she had been.
"I see." He said and gestured to the door. "I will return you to your rooms, I am sure that you must be tired."
"I am, thank you my Lord." She said politely and walked with the imposing man back through the quiet halls. The silence between them stretched, broken only by the sound of their feet across the stones. He left her at her door with merely a nod and Sansa escaped to her room, needing to sleep.
W.I.N.T.E.R.I.S.C.O.M.I.N.G.W.I.N.T.E.R.I.S.C.O.M. I.N.G
"My Lord! A letter from King's Landing." One of the men was running towards Rob and his advisors.
Rob took the letter, a frown on his face. What could the Lannisters possibly have to say? He started to read and his frown deepened. This was from his sister, and what she had to say was disturbing.
"Anything wrong, you Grace?" One of his men asked.
"Bring my mother to me at once, I'll be in my chambers." He said and tucked the letter inside his doublet, over his heart. He felt sick inside, both for the knowledge of his narrow escape of Walder Frey's wrath, and what his sister was willing to sacrifice for the safety of her family.
He was pacing in front of the fire, Grey Winds watching him with impassive eyes, when his mother was shown in.
"Rob, what has happened?" She asked, having seen the urgency in the eyes of the man that had come for her.
"I've had a letter from Sansa, it seems that you were right to advise against trusting Lord Frey." He handed the letters to his mother and made himself sit down.
Catelyn Stark read the letter from her eldest daughter twice over, a hand tracing the beautiful script. "The other letter is in Walder Frey's hand…and it is his seal. Can you honestly be surprised, after you broke your word to him? Now your sister is having to pay a greater price." She said softly.
"She is not marrying him, I'll not have it!" Rob said, furious.
"What other choice do you have?" His mother said in kind. "Do you think I want my daughter married to that monster? Of course not, but she is right. This war cannot be sustained through the winter, and your first responsibility is your people in the North. Sansa understands that sometimes doing your duty to your family has its costs. You married that girl without a thought to the consequences, and now your own sister must pay them." She met his eyes. "You will write to Tywin Lannister, agreeing to his terms and to the engagement."
Rob looked down, shamed by her words. "Yes mother, we will meet and discuss terms for peace. I will make sure that the men know what she has sacrificed for the North, and for me." He whispered. "I will however insist that the marriage take place on neutral ground, I will give my sister way. I owe her that much." Never had Rob felt so helpless.
"You will need to release Jaime." She said.
"At the wedding, and not a moment sooner." Rob's jaw clenched. He's lost good men recapturing the Kingslayer after his mother had set him free. He did not relish releasing his prize.
She nodded. "She makes no mention of Arya. Perhaps we can finally discover what has become of her." Catelyn sighed. "You had best begin your reply, and I will return to my chambers."
"Mother…you'll no longer be under guard." He said quietly.
"Thank you." She said and left her son, still not ready to forgive him entirely yet. Once she returned to her chambers she sat down and allowed herself to cry softly. She wept both for her daughter's future, and for the unknown fate of the other.
TBC
