AUTHOR NOTES:
- The next few "vignettes" will be about their life after the wedding (or that's the plan). I see Sansa as "polite" and Stannis as "excessively reserved" – in a way that comes off as being cold, but I personally don't see him as cold . . . just certain no one wants warm from him. As such, it will take time for either of them to show any passions toward each other.
- Thank you to those who have posted reviews! I apologize for the times I stray very far from the island and appreciate those of you who have tried to pull me back toward Westeros.
- The characters all belong to GRRM and while I'd say the story belongs to him too, he'd never want to claim it the way I'm telling it.
Sansa
After her lady mother left to return to Riverrun two days after her wedding, Queen Sansa's first fortnight was spent establishing a pattern of routines. Some were tried and abandoned, while others stuck. Her King did not sleep with her the second night after their marriage, but once Lady Stark was gone, he returned to her bed and had not been absent a night since. By the end of the first sennight, his entry into her bedchamber ceased to be an awkward event, although still not what Sansa expected occurred between a man and wife who were at ease with each other. She learned quickly that Stannis Baratheon could not make small talk. However, he would talk about the more interesting aspects of his day as long as you did not press for details he felt were confidential.
One thing they had in common was their commitment to Princess Shireen's welfare. The King made an effort to join them for supper and on the two nights he did not; he sent her word in time for her to invite Lady Marya and her sons to join them sense his absence would similarly mean Lord Davos would not be joining his family. At the Baratheon family suppers, the King was content to let Sansa lead the conversation and focus it on Shireen's day. It left them able to talk about their day when alone together and searching for something to say. The times that warmed Sansa the most were when she would prompt the Princess into telling a story about the part of her day spent studying or playing with the Seaworth boys, for there was always some amusing anecdote and Shireen positively beamed like the sun when her father's mouth would widen slightly at the telling.
During the morning while Maester Pylos was engaged with the Small Counsel, Sansa and Lady Marya had devised a plan where the two youngest Seaworth boys were sent to watch and learn with the squires in the training yard while the Princess and Lady Marya joined her for needlework and taking care of items a lady was required to do, such as approving menus. The King has been agreeable to Cercei's dresses being used as material for clothes and patchwork blankets; Sansa hadn't even needed the argument she had prepared about how it would benefit the people's view of him and his reign. It also gave her project where she was able to teach the Princess needlework she had, up to this point, never done.
When the boys returned from the training yard, Sansa saw to the lessons for the three children on etiquette and the history of the houses of Westeros. Maester Pylos agreed that she was more knowledgeable in these areas than he. After midday meal, the children left her for their studies with the young maester and Sansa concentrated on her duties as queen, such as winning over the other ladies of the court. To her consternation, few of them were interested in projects that were of benefit to those of lower birth, such as sewing for the orphanage or visiting them. It was something she hoped to change, but she knew better than to press. It took all her might to not fall into the trap of engaging in gossip and playing favorites among the ladies . . . with the exception of Lady Marya, of course.
After supper, Sansa and the King formed a ritual of returning Shireen back to her chambers and seeing her safely inside with her handmaid. Each night, Sansa bent down to embrace the Princess and was hugged tightly in return. At first, the King would only watch and then bid his daughter good night with words. Sansa considered it slow, but steady progress when he began to smooth his daughter's hair as he said his goodnight.
King Stannis would escort his Queen to her apartment after they had bid the Princess goodnight and about an hour later, she would hear a light knock on the door adjoining her bedchamber to his apartment and he would enter. He was always dressed in an undertunic and robe while she never put on the sink nightgown, favoring the more modest linen ones. Sansa knew this modesty as there had been several nights when this gown ended up somewhere on the chamber floor and she slept fully naked in his arms. It was she who established the routine of their sitting on the bed, each telling at least one story from their day, starting with him. She was aware that he studied her as intently as she did him, although she has no idea what he learned. On her part, one thing she picked up on quickly was that he wouldn't begin to touch her until she had smiled or laughed. She wasn't sure why. It left Sansa wondering what would happen if she had a day where there was nothing amusing to tell at the end of it.
He was always gentle and brought her to a release before entering her. She soon felt less inhibited about touching him and she relished the times when he relaxed to the point where his body didn't feel as though it was made of stone. Sansa was never sure at what point of the night or morning the King left her chamber and returned to his room. He held her until she fell asleep and she slept so deeply that she did not wake until the morning to find him gone.