A better World than the one we knew

Chapter 2 – Planning for kings landing

The next day after the feast, Dany and Jon were in one of the rooms in Winterfell, along with Missandei, Greyworm, Tyrion, Varys, and Yohn Royce. Sansa, Arya, Brienne, and Bran were there as well, although Jon was not sure why. Bran rarely ever contributed anything, minus when he helped Jon and Arya kill the Night King by using his powers to take over the Wights around them. Sansa, Jon flat out did not trust, not to mention, had never been trained on how plan for a military campaign. Out of all the Starks, only Jon and Robb had been allowed to learn from Ned on how to wage war. Jon had never gotten the chance to shine like Robb did, unless you count when he planned the defense of the Wall when Mance Rayder attacked. The Battle of the Bastards does not count, as Sansa committed what for anyone else would be treason, by keeping crucial information from him, which caused him to plan a bad strategy.

"Half are gone," Grey Worm said solemnly as he removed half the markers from the map that represented the Unsullied, so they lost about 4,000 men.

"Half the North men as well," Jon said as he removed those markers, which meant the North could still field about 5,000 men. Of those men, about 1,000 had serious or debilitating injuries that would take too much time to heal. The rest were relatively uninjured or had minor injuries that would heal within a fortnight.

Yohn Royce, removed 1/2 of the markers that represented the Knights of the Vale. They once had 40,000 men that they brought to the table. Now, they only had about 20,000 men left.

"How many of the Dothraki are left?" Daenerys asked.

"Of the 62,000 you brought with you, about 4,500 are left, Your Grace" Tyrion said as he placed a horse marker down near their forces.

'Hmm, so that leaves us with roughly 32,500 men capable of fighting combined, plus 2 dragons, though Rhaeghal is injured pretty badly. He will need time to heal.' Jon thought, filing that away for later.

"And the Golden Company has landed in Kings Landing, courtesy of Euron Greyjoy's fleet." Varys said as he placed the marker representing the Golden Company near Kings Landing.

"How many men does that give Cersei, Lord Varys?" Jon asked. It was something they needed to know, especially if they were going to plan an effective military strategy.

"The Golden Company gives Cersei about 20,000 men. She has what remains of the Lannister Army holed up in the city, about 11,000 men. Add the 10,000 or so Ironborn that follow Euron Greyjoy, and she has 41,000 men and naval superiority. The numbers, at first glance, are not in our Queen's favor." Lord Varys said.

"There are not more men in the Westerland Army? What about generals?" Tyrion asked.

"There are no generals or officers with any notable military experience left. Those men, including Ser Addam Marbrand, Ser Harys Swift and countless others, were all burned to ash or kill by the Dothraki when our Queen ambushed the Lannister and Tarly army on the Gold Road." Varys said. Jon thought that was a god send. Basically, Cersei had no military commanders left, and she had no great ability to wage war herself. Yeah, she duped Tyrion, but he's no military tactician either.

"When the people find out what we have done for them, they will rally to Her Grace's side," Missandei advised but Daenerys was not so sure.

"Cersei will just make sure they don't believe it." Daenerys said, rebuking her trusted friend and adviser as they turned back to the map. "We will hit her hard and fast. We will rip her out root and stem."

Jon, meanwhile, struck with a moment of inspiration, felt the cogs turning in his head. Propaganda was useful tool, if used correctly. Like many boys, he had studied Aegon the Conqueror and Daeron the Young greatly. One of the things Aegon often did that helped stabilize his 37 year reign, was the royal progresses, where he traveled throughout the 7 kingdoms, visiting the various lords and villages. Aegon devoted half of every year to making these royal progresses. They also allowed the Targaryens to make themselves known, loved and respected by their subjects, or to be feared if necessary.

'Maybe we could do something similar.' Jon thought as he stroked his chin. He would see what the others had to say first.

Tyrion looked uncomfortable and swallowed, saying, "The objective here is to take Kings Landing without destroying the city." Daenerys looked at him and Tyrion felt even more uncomfortable under her gaze, his constant failure's and her earlier warnings ringing in his ear. Thankfully for him, Varys broke the silence.

"Thankfully, Cersei is losing more allies by the day." Varys said. "Yara Greyjoy has retaken the Iron Islands with her 10,000 men, in the name of our queen. Quentyn Martell, the last son of Doran Martell, someone we all thought was dead, has miraculously returned to Dorne, and pledged his support to Queen Daenerys."

"You are certain it is him?" Daenerys said.

"My spies in Dorne confirmed it. The Lords of Dorne are also not questioning it, so that adds further legitimacy to his claim." Varys said.

"How many men is he pledging?" Daenerys asked.

"About 7,000 men, your grace," Varys said, "Prince Quentyn doesn't feel comfortable pledging more support since Dorne borders 2 kingdoms that currently are undecided on who they are supporting."

"And what is the situation with Stormlands and the Reach, Lord Varys?" Yohn Royce asked.

"Currently, the Stormlands are in chaos. Large groups of bandits have been popping up all over the tumultuous region. There are only about 5000 available troops left in the Stormlands, after they lost so many at the Battle of the Blackwater, and those troops are being used to root out the bandits. At the moment, the Stormlands don't even have a Lord Paramount."

"And the Reach?" Daenerys asked.

"With the death of House Tyrell, and the betrayal and extinction of House Tarly, the Lords of the Reach have agreed amongst themselves to wait out the conflict to see who wins. They won't support Cersei after what she had the Tarly's do, and they are using their armies to close off the Rose Road, but they are hesitant to support you, Your Grace. I have been looking for a male Tyrell relative that we can raise up to Lord of the Reach so we can gain their support, but my spies have thus far been unable to locate any."

"Keep looking for one, Lord Varys. But even with all that, it doesn't really matter how many abandon her, she can still call herself Queen. We need to take the capital." Daenerys said.

"I watched the people of Kingslanding start a riot that almost killed Joffrey when they went hungry, and that was long before winter started." Tyrion said. "Give them the opportunity and they will cast Cersei aside."

"If they were going to cast Cersei aside, they would have done it when she blew up the Sept of Baelor. And the food and gold the Tarly's stole from the Reach has likely improved the people's opinion of her." Daenerys rebuked, which was a good point. "They won't rebel on their own."

"According to my spies, your grace, they don't actually know Cersei was responsible." Varys said. "Her adviser Qyburn, a disgraced Maester who took over a small portion of my spy network when I went to Essos, has managed to suppress those rumors."

"Then we need to un-suppress them." Jon said as he turned to Varys, "Your spies, you can get them into King's Landing without this Qyburn fellow noticing?"

"With all the common folk Cersei is bringing into Kingslanding, I could easily get a good number of my spies in King's Landing, My Lord." Varys acknowledges.

"Then I would suggest having your spies go into Kings Landing and begin spreading rumors that Cersei blew up the Sept of Baelor, along with Queen Margaery and the High Septon with Wildfyre, as well as pushing King Tommen to his death so she could take the Iron Throne for herself. It is known that only the Royal family can purchase wildfire from the pyromancers. She would naturally have access to it." Jon recommended. Jon then turned to Daenerys and said with a nod of respect, "It's only a suggestion, of course. Lord Varys is your spymaster, so it's your call, my Queen."

"And this would turn the people against Cersei, Lord Varys?" Daenerys wondered.

"Most certainly, my queen." Varys nodded, "If I have learned one thing since coming to this land, it is that the Westerosi are a deeply religious people. From what my spies tell me, the previous High Septon was the smallfolks favorite Septon in living memory, being seen as a man of the people, and Queen Margaery was beloved by the common folk by helping to take care of the poor in Kingslanding, using her money to buy them more food and clean clothes. The smallfolk loved her. And kinslaying is one of the worst taboos that can be committed in Westeros. And if Cersei tries to silence these rumors, which knowing her, she likely will, it will only inflame them and make more people believe them."

"Then do it, Lord Varys," Daenerys said and he bowed.

"I will send out the orders after this war council is concluded, your grace," Varys bowed.

"We need to let our men rest. Give them time to recuperate." Sansa said causing everyone to slowly look at her. Jon looked at her in annoyance for interrupting them, yet saw an opportunity to remove them from the council. While it was a viable concern, Jon was certain Sansa had ulterior motives for bringing it up, considering she brought it up right as they got Daenerys to agree to a well-thought out strategy. The previous times Sansa had undermined him and betrayed him left a bitter taste in his mouth. Daenerys was also visibly annoyed as well.

"How long would you recommend?" Dany said tensely. Everyone in the room could feel the tension.

"I can't say for-" That was all Sansa got out before Jon interrupted her.

"A fortnight, Your Grace," Jon said, causing everyone to look back at him, Sansa annoyed that Jon was interrupting her and her super-obvious plan to undermine Daenerys. "I had a chance to speak with the officers this morning. 4/5 of the men have relatively minor injuries that will be mostly healed within a fortnight. The rest are too injured to fight again for a few years or ever again. We'll have to leave those 1000 men behind, but it will give the ones that can still fight sufficient time to rest and heal, and it's not like Cersei is going anywhere. That massive army of hers, combined with the 500,000 or more civilians in King's Landing, will burn through all that food the Tarly's stole for her in a few weeks."

"Lord Jon speaks the truth about Cersei, my Queen," Varys said, "My spies around Kings Landing informed me a few days ago that she has been fortifying the outer walls with modernized scorpion launchers, to shoot down Your Grace's remaining dragons. Her army is not likely to leave their protective range, and they will stay close to the city."

"Is that acceptable, my queen?" Jon asked and Daenerys thought it over, before she nodded. She realized she had nothing to lose by waiting, while Cersei weakens herself by foolishly keeping her army too close to the capital with such limited food supply's.

"Yes, it is." Daenerys said.

"Sansa, Bran, leave the room." Jon ordered, deciding now was the time to get them out.

"Why are you asking us to leave the room, Jon?" Sansa asked, confused at where this was coming from.

"You three have no place on this council." Jon said as he turned to them. "Arya is an assassin, trained by the Faceless Men. We may end up wanting to use her skills. Bran was never trained to military or political strategy like Robb and I were, so he has no place here. Sansa, the same reasons for Bran apply to you."

Jon looked back at the map and said, "And it was not a request. It was a fucking command."

"Jon, I was on your war council during the battle of the Bastards and I have served as your regent while you were gone. I have a right to be here." Sansa argued but Jon was not having it.

"A mistake I won't be repeating. Guards!" 20 Stark guards came in. These were men who were personally loyal to the Lord of Winterfell aka Jon. "Escort Sansa and Bran back to their rooms. And confine them there for the rest of the day."

Bran made no attempt to resist protest and Sansa was ordering them to let her go and she had to be dragged out of the room. The reasoning for Sansa was honestly bullshit, as he had trusted her to rule while he was gone. She had kept the Northern Lords in line while he was gone, but she had undermined him time and again as well. He didn't trust anymore, so he would not have people that he did not trust and people who may have subtly tried to have him killed knowing of their plans.

"You as well, Brienne of Tarth," Jon said as he glared at her, his eyes turning the same red color as his direwolf for a moment. Brienne decided not to push her luck and left to join up with her lady.

The doors closed and the room was silent.

"Jon, what the hell!" Arya shouted.

"That seemed uncalled for, my Lord." Yohn said.

"I agree, there was no real need for that, Jon." Tyrion piped up.

"My reasons stand. Everyone on this council either leads part of the forces, has something to contribute to our war, or they are personal advisers to the Queen. Those three have nothing to contribute nor do they lead the affected parties, and I gave them no place on this council. They do not belong here." Jon rebuked. "Now with that dreadful business out of the way, let's continue."

"So, if we are all in agreement," Tyrion said as he started moving the pieces. "Jon and Ser Davos will ride down the Kings Road with the bulk of the remaining armies. A smaller group of us will ride to White Harbor and sail for Dragonstone with our queen and her Dragons accompanying us overhead."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold up," Jon said as he moved the pieces back to where they had been before Tyrion moved them. "What the fuck are you doing?"

"I'm making sure everyone is in agreement with the plan." Tyrion said.

"This was not the plan we just agreed to. How many times has Euron Greyjoy taken your forces by surprise? He ambushed Yara Greyjoy and the Sand Snakes the first time around and then a month later, he snuck up on you and destroyed the ships the Unsullied used to attack Casterly Rock. And now you want to risk not only most of our high command but also our queen and both her Dragons in what will likely be another ambush by Euron Greyjoy? What the hell is wrong with you!?" Jon demanded. Tyrion, realizing he just screwed up again, had the decency to look ashamed and sunk beneath the table.

"My Queen," Jon said to Dany, "with Euron's fleet still running around, it is a bad idea to sail back to Dragonstone. He will likely be waiting to ambush you. He has already pulled off a successful ambush against your forces twice, weakening your army in the process. There is no reason to think that he couldn't do it again. And this time, he might actually bring you down. We cannot risk you or the dragons."

"And besides, Euron's not going to go too far past Dragonstone." Jon said as he moved around next to Dany, pushing Varys to the side, and pointed to the various ports. "Where else can he possibly go? Whiteharbor in the North, Planky Town in Dorne, and Gulltown in the Vale are protected by their own fleets. The Storm Lands have Shipbreaker Bay protecting them, and any port in the Reach, Westerlands, Riverlands, or the Iron Islands is too far away for his fleet to resupply and effectively protect Cersei at the same time. So, let him sit in Blackwater Bay. Let his fleet waste away as they eat through Cersei's limited supply of food."

"I take it you have something in mind for what we will be doing," Daenerys said with some amusement.

"I do, my Queen," Jon replied back with a smile as he traced his finger along the Kingsroad. "We will all travel by road to King's Landing. But we will do it at a slowed march, take 2-4 months to get there. This will give Lord Varys's agents sufficient time to rile up the people of King's Landing and turn them against Cersei."

"The trip down the King's Road will also be a political statement." Jon said. "We want to show the people that our Queen is the rightful ruler of Westeros. That she is powerful yet benevolent." Jon looked to Missandei and said, "We can achieve this through carefully planned propaganda, like Missandei proposed earlier."

"O-Your ancestor, Aegon the Conqueror, did this for the last 24 years of his reign." Jon said as he caught himself before anyone but Dany noticed. "He called it a Royal Progress, where he basically traveled throughout the 7 kingdoms, visiting the various lords, nobles, and smallfolk, hearing plights, concerns, and just winning the support of the people for his dynasty. Aegon devoted half of every year to making these royal progresses. They also allowed the Targaryens to make themselves known, loved and respected by their subjects, or to be feared if necessary. It was part of the reason his reign was so stable after his failure in the First Dornish War."

"First, we must determine the order march. At the head of the column must be Queen Daenerys and her dragons. Behind her will be the leaders of her various supporters, in order of importance." Jon said, and everyone pretty much guessed it would be Jon trailing right behind Daenerys, as through him, Daenerys gains the North and the Vale through him. He still was her biggest supporter.

"We can show off the dragons power at several point on the journey, by having them blast some useless pile of rocks or something like that." Jon said.

"Maybe we could melt down Harrenhal some more too." Tyrion joked and Jon acknowledged him.

"That's not a terrible idea." Jon said as Missandei picked up.

"To compliment your suggestion, Lord Jon, we could also have mason's carve out reliefs of her Grace and her great deeds, such as freeing the slaves of Slaver's bay." Missandei said.

"Another excellent suggestion, Missandei," Jon said with a smile.

"You mentioned benevolence?" Tyrion asked.

"We should have the onlooking crowds plied with food and gold, paid for by our army. It's winter, so a little charity in regards to free food and gold will definitely be deeply appreciated." Jon said. "I'd also recommend having her interact with the crowds, naturally under the watchful eyes of some bodyguards. She might forgive debts, console war widows, give blessings, and of course, kiss babies."

"Kiss babies?" Dany asked with some amusement. She had never actually done that in Essos.

"Especially the babies. Showing you are good with kids can go a long way in making you relatable to the people. I think Margaery Tyrell did the same thing in Kings Landing." Jon said and Varys nodded his head as Margaery had done that.

"And what about assassins?" Greyworm asked, concerned about the safety of his queen.

"Then we'll fake it. We'll plant some trusted actors in every crowd that she can interact with." Tyrion said, offering something useful, since by the look on Daenerys's face, she was really liking this plan.

"To answer your concern about Cersei making sure the people won't believe it, My Queen, this propaganda move would ultimately overcome anything that Cersei might try to use against us. After all, what does a mass-murdering, narcissistic, kinslaying, illegitimate whore, have on the Mother of Dragons, the Breaker of Chains, the Guardian of the Realm?" Jon asked rhetorically before he looked at Daenerys. "This would also alleviate concerns about not having the love of the people, My Queen. After all, Cersei might be able to sway the opinions of those in Kingslanding, but she can do little to nothing about everyone else. Time is on your side, and we must use it effectively."

Daenerys was really liking this plan. It would get her the support of the people, and Varys's agents would have time to turn the people of Kings Landing against Cersei. It was a perfect plan. "I like this plan. We will go with this one." Daenerys said confidently.

"We can reconvene to hammer out the further details tomorrow. We've been planning for 3 hours straight." Jon offered with a smile to Daenerys and they wrapped up the meeting.

"We have won the Great War." Daenerys said to those gathered. "Now we will win the Last War."

Daenerys left with Missandei, Tyrion, Grey Worm and Varys. Jon made to follow but Arya made to stop him.

"I need a word." Arya said.

Jon pushed her aside, "Not interested."

"We need to talk, Jon." Arya insisted.

"No, we don't." Jon said before he stopped and turned to Arya. "Whatever we might still be to each other, I am still Lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North. Sansa forgot that and needed a sharp reminder. I hope I don't have to remind you as well." As Jon said this, his black eyes shifted to the same red color as Ghost's and this time they stayed that way for several moments, before they returned to their normal color and Jon turned around, leaving Arya stunned at his new attitude.

Jon moved into the courtyard, to see the Maester's Dany had asked to tend to Rhaeghal's wounds not doing their job. Rhaeghal's deep wounds in his belly that were caused by the undead Viserion were still bleeding. Jon walked up to them and asked, "What's going on? Why are his wounds not being tended to?"

"We've tried, my Lord, but he will not let us get close to him." One of the Maester's said and Jon got the message. Rhaeghal wouldn't let anyone but maybe Dany and him close to him.

"Give me the stitches, I'll do it." Jon said, holding out his hand.

"My Lord, he might hurt you." One Maester said.

"He won't hurt me." Jon said as he looked at the Maester, "And that was an order." The Maester reluctantly gave him the stitches and needle.

Jon walked up to Rhaegal and pets Rhaeghal's head, "How are you doing?" Jon asked as he tired to help his dragon relax, and Rhaeghal relaxed somewhat. Ghost came over and stood next to Rhaeghal putting his paw on the Dragon's head.

"What I'm gonna do next is gonna hurt, Rhaeghal. It's going to hurt a lot. But you will get better, alright?" Jon asked, and due to his bond with his rider, Rhaeghal understood him.

Jon went to work and began stitching up his dragons deep wounds on his underbelly. Jon got the first wound stitched up and started on the second of the three wounds when Rhaeghal started roaring in pain just as Daenerys came into the view.

"What are you doing to Rhaeghal!?" Daenerys demanded to know why her lover was causing her dragon/child pain.

"I'm trying to stitch up his wounds, cause the Maester's couldn't get close to him. I still have two more to stitch up, but I can't do that and keep him calm at the same time, so can you please calm him down!?" Jon exclaimed back and Daenerys, seeing that the wounds her dragon suffered against Viserion were not healing on their own, moved over to Rhaeghal and began to calm him down by pet him and whispering soothing words in High Valyrian, which Jon could kind of understand. Anyway, Daenerys's actions allowed Jon to finish stitching up the dragon that bears his father's name.

Nighttime

Jon and Dany were in bed, Jon dressed in a pair of loose black sleeping clothes and pants, while Dany was sleeping in purple silk nightgown, her head resting comfortable on his chest. Jon had an arm wrapped around her waist while they held hands. They hadn't had sex, but their relationship wasn't going to repair itself, so they figured it was better to start sleeping in the same bed and spend more time with each other.

"That was nice, what you did for Rhaeghal." Dany said in appreciation.

"He is the dragon that bares my fathers name, and I am his rider. I should take care of him." Jon said, feeling guilt well up inside of him. "He was only injured because I was dumb enough to get trapped by the Night King and got Viserion killed."

"Do not blame yourself," Daenerys said sternly as she stared into his eyes, "I chose to save you. You are not at fault for a decision I made." Daenerys rested her head back on his chest. "Besides, it's was Tyrions stupid idea to have you go North and get a wight to convince Cersei the threat was real. What did that get us? 1 Lannister."

"That's is something I do not understand. The Tyrion I remember was witty and smart. This new Tyrion seems to be making a bunch of dumb decisions. I chalked it up initially to him just not being a military strategist, but some the things he's done don't make sense either." Jon said.

"Maybe I should make you Hand of Queen," Dany said offhandedly, smiling when Jon stuttered in surprise a bit, before he calmed himself.

"Why?" Jon asked.

"Well, your brilliant strategies are going basically win the throne for me, and we almost won't have to do much work ourselves. Just let Cersei destroy herself while building myself up." Dany said with a smile.

"Honestly, I'm just taking what worked for our ancestor and re-using it." Jon said. It was just common sense, to him at least. If it worked for Aegon, no reason it's couldn't work again.

They stayed silent for a moment before he said, "You didn't answer my question from yesterday, Dany."

"It's a lot to ask me Jon. Marriage…the last time I married, it was political. And it ended terribly for my husband. Like you…I need some time to work out my issues." Dany said, and Jon accepted the answer. He was dealing with his own issues, working past the incest and his insecurities about not deserving her love, so he could not expect her to just say yes.

"I will wait as long as you need, Dany." Jon said as he kissed her forehead.

It was then that the door opened. Varys walked in looking for Jon and Daenerys, to find his Queen in bed with Jon.

"Don't you know how to knock?" Jon asked in annoyance at their private time being interrupted.

"Apologies, My Lord, My Queen. I was searching for the both of you. I discovered a matter of great urgency that requires your immediate attention." Varys said, eyeing their position. "However, if you wish to be left alone…"

"No," Dany said as she pulled the covers off and got up. Jon did the same, crossing his arms. "What is it?"

"Your Grace, My Lord, I have discovered something terrible." Varys said before he collected himself and told them. "Sansa Stark has betrayed us."

Silence reigned supreme for several moments before Jon clenched his hand into a fist, his turning permanently red as he growled like the direwolf on his sigil. "What?"

Chapter end

I am firmly of the opinion that Sansa is a traitor, to both Jon and Daenerys.

1st- she broke the oath to Jon concerning keeping her mouth shut about his heritage that she swore in front of the Heart Tree, and told Tyrion about Jon's heritage which caused dissension among Dany's top advisors. An oath in front of the Heart Tree is a very serious oath. Her own mother made a similar oath to Old Gods and paid for it with the life of her eldest son, her grandchild, her daughter-in-law, and herself. Also, like her mother did to Robb when she let Jaime go against Robb's orders, Sansa undermines Jon by arguing with him in public and making him look weak.

2nd- she gave up on Rickon and didn't tell Jon about the Knight's of the Vale. Admittedly, there was probably not a chance to save Rickon, but at least Jon didn't give up on his little bro. Not telling Jon that an extra 40,000 troops were on their way, which could be considered treason, because she basically sent him to his death. She withheld information that could have saved his men's lives by helping to plan a better strategy. I wouldn't even put it past Sansa at this point to have been hoping for Jon's death, as she came in at the literal last moment.

3rd- when the Northern Lords are bitching and moaning back at Winterfell while Jon is trying to secure the alliance that would ultimately save their lives, Robbett Glover said in front of everyone that maybe they should have chosen Sansa to lead them. Okay, this IS treason, and they are doing it in the open, in front of all the Lords of the North and the Vale. Sansa also does NOT reprimand them, and Arya points out in a later scene that Sansa was obviously thinking about being in charge, and the telling part is that Sansa DOESN'T refute Arya. This all tells me that Sansa wants the North to be independent, with her at the helm as Queen in the North. Of course, only way that can happen is if all the male heirs to Ned Stark are all dead. She knew Ramsay was going to kill Rickon, and Jon was likely to die too, give she knew how he acted, and figured he would probably charge to his death.

4th- There is no logical way that Euron was expecting Daenerys to show up at Dragonstone. Unless somebody tipped them off, somebody who was at that War Council. Obviously, Dany, Missandei, Greyworm, Brienne, and Jon didn't do it. Ser Davos didn't, he's not a plotter. Bran doesn't do anything, Tyrion and Varys had only just learned of Jon's Heritage and wouldn't risk their lives in having their ship attacked. Arya doesn't care about politics. Yohn Royce is an honorable Vale Lord, so he's out. But then we come to Sansa. She learned by observation from 2 of the most deceitful, back-stabbing individuals in the Game of Thrones, Cersei and Littlefinger. Some of those traits obviously rubbed off on her. Sansa also is mirroring Cersei with that whole armored-dress thing, so there's also that.

I also checked the GOT wiki, Jon is still technically Warden of the North, which is a higher title than Lord/Lady of Winterfell, so the Stark soldiers would still be loyal to him and follow his orders above Sansa. The other Lords of the North are a different beast.

Shoutout to Invicta on Youtube for coming up with this strategy