4. Peace Terms

The days went by and Lady Stark was getting stronger. She had become used to Tyrion and Bronn's company. The Imp could be very funny with his sarcasm and sometimes even made her smile. Bronn, however, did not say much, except for funny side comments to Tyrion. She felt as though he seemed uncomfortable around her. She saw the tent flap open and Lord Tywin walked in.

"Morning Lady Stark. My son tells me you are feeling much better."

"Yes, Lord Tywin, thank you very much"

"Oh, so we are also feeling civilized this morning".

She decided to ignore the comment, so Tywin continued.

"Are you ready to discuss peace terms with us?"

"Yes, Lord Tywin, I am. What do you propose?"

"The North and the South have not been getting along for a while. The bond was being held by a thread under my good-for-nothing son-in-law who thought ruling a kingdom involved drinking, jousting and whoring. He took the kingdom from the Targaryens and did shit with it. The realm owes me more money than I could count. That idiot of a grandson that I had continued to tear the kingdom apart. Killing your husband was just plain stupid. It's a good thing he was murdered. The kingdom is-"

"Murdered?" Catelyn interrupted. "Was King Joffrey murdered? When? How? Who?"

"Ha, you've been out of the loop Lady Stark" Tywin smirked. "Yes, he was murdered at his own wedding. Some people say it was my son Tyrion. Some say it was his wife-to-be, sweet Margeaery Tyrell. Some even say it was the lovely lady Sansa Stark"

Catelyn's heart skipped a beat at the mention of her daughter's name.

"No, she couldn't. She would never …."

"Wouldn't she?" retorted Tywin. "You have no idea what my grandson put her through. Did you know that he had her beat and humiliated? Did you know that after your husband's execution he found a much suitable match for a Queen and annulled the engagement? Did you know he forced her to marry someone else? Did you know he forced her to marry my son Tyrion?"

With every word that came out of Lord Tywin's mouth Lady Stark felt like falling deeper and deeper into an abyss. She barely had the strength to look into the Imp's eyes.

"Lady Stark, if it's any consolation, I swear I didn't touch your daughter. The marriage was never consummated. When we were both accused of murdering Joffrey I took her away and we fled King's Landing. My brother Jamie talked to my father and he agreed to give us shelter".

"Where is she?"

"She's here" said Twyin. "So, as I was saying before you interrupted me, the Kingdom is a mess. My youngest grandson Tommen is the King now, with my daughter Cersei acting as Queen Regent. She's as useless as a blind archer and too stupid and greedy to realize so. We can't hold the North as it is. The North has crowned its own King. The King is dead. They can crown a new one. I'll take care of the South and King Tommen."

"I want to see Sansa"

"All in due time. Do you agree to my terms?"

"So, we rule the North, you rule the South, we build another Wall to separate us and we never see each other again. Is that it?"

"I wouldn't be so drastic, but in a nutshell, yes".

"Where do we draw the line?"

"The Neck"

"And Riverrun?"

"South"

"NO!. We draw the line at Riverrun."

"Lady Stark, you're not easy to deal with. Riverrun belongs to the South, it always has, and you know it. Your uncle is the Lord of Riverrun now. Your brother is currently being held at the Twins. He will be released and named Lord of Riverrun where he will live with his Frey wife. Your uncle can go back to the Eyrie to live with your sister, whom my son says could use a bit of guidance. .. So, there you have it. Two separate Kingdoms. North and South. A friendly separation between two friendly Kingdoms. You will live in your beloved Winterfell and you will be able to visit your family in Riverrun whenever you wish. Or you can stay in the South. For all I care you can go live in Casterly Rock."

"Sounds fair. Will you meet with the North to tell them?"

"No, you will"

"You will come with me"

"Sounds fair"

"Can I see Sansa now?"

"Tyrion, go fetch the girl"

Catelyn and Tywin stared at each other in silence. My daughter is alive. My daughter is alive. My daughter is alive. That was all that was going through Lady Stark's head.

The flaps of the tent opened again and a beautiful young lady walked in, tall and slender with long wavy auburn hair.

"Sansa" Catelyn whispered.

"Mother? Oh, mother! What are you doing here? They told me you were dead! I can't believe this. How did you get here? And Robb? Is he with you? Have you seen Arya? I never saw her again after they killed father. Mother! I have missed you so much. I can't believe you're here! How did you get here? Were you really at the Twins? Where's Robb?"

"Sweetling, oh, my dear Sansa. Come here".

Oblivious to the other three men in the room, they hugged, cried, kissed and embraced each other for the longest time. Catelyn told Sansa about the war, Robb, the wedding at the Twins, but she didn't tell her daughter any details about her time with the Freys. They both cried again as Catelyn told her about how Theon had killed her two young brothers. They talked about Arya and where she could be. Sansa told her mother about her time in King's Landing. She confirmed what Tyrion had told Catelyn about their own marriage and Catelyn felt an odd sense of respect towards the Imp.

"We'll be home soon, sweetling, I promise".

TBC