Sansa

The army that returned from battle was not the army who had left Winterfell. They had been only gone for four days and yet so much had changed. They had lost three thousand men and women, seven hundred of that figure had been North men. She had stood at the gates as the wagons of the dead rolled past. She did not allow herself to cry, she did not allow herself to show emotion, until the last wagon rolled past and she saw the broken little boy, only eleven years old, lying peacefully, his sword in his hands and his cloak on his shoulders. Lord Ned Umber had sworn his allegiance to house Stark, allegiance to his King and he had died for it. She thought of Ned's little sister Ashara, a small girl of only six, now the Lady of house Umber. Sansa thought of Ned's mother Elyssa, her husband dead, her son dead. Her tears fell thick and fast as she went to close the gates of Winterfell and braced herself to inform the families of the dead of their Kin's great sacrifice.

Jon was in no fit state when he returned, but no one seemed to be able to explain how he had survived such grave injuries. He had a wound through his leg rendering bed ridden and hole in chest drowned him in fever. Maester Wolkan was confident that he would make a full recovery with rest and recuperation. The Queen had been quick to recover however, despite her broken leg. She walked around Winterfell with a crutch still but she was healthy and happy.

Tyrion had informed Sansa of the pregnancy, but it was not with happiness it was with warning. Before Jon and Daenarys had left for war they had named Sansa their heir, if anything were to happen to them she would be Queen of the Seven Kingdoms and her children would sit the throne after her. It was a burden she was willing to accept but it was in no doubt a heavy one so when Tyrion had come to her solar and announced the pregnancy Sansa had asked him why he looked so sad.

"The Queen has never had good pregnancies." He had said reluctantly. "Her first, I am told died in the womb and was half formed, and she has had multiple miscarriages since, not that she considers them to be miscarriages, the queen has been under the impression that she could conceive, she was convinced that she had been cursed by the woman who murdered her first husband."

Sansa had sat and reached for wine as he explained this. Taking a sip, she had looked at her former husband. "What does that mean for me?"

He reached for the wine, it was a common pastime between them. "It means that under no circumstance should you mistake your position, until that child is born and is pronounced healthy, you are your cousin's heir."

"he's my brother" Sansa said sharply. "He will always be my brother."

Tyrion looked darkly into his wine. "The Jon Snow that left for battle is not the same Jon Snow that returned."

Sansa snorted "Of course not, Tyrion I am not unintelligent, I know what war does to –"
"He died Sansa" Tyrion muttered. "The night king killed him. I saw him dead on the ice"

The blood drained from Sansa's face, the hand on her goblet began to shake. She set it down firmly on the table "How…. how is he alive?"

"How was he alive after his brothers stabbed him in the heart? I don't know the ins and outs of it Sansa I truly don't all I know is that they took the Dead Jon Snow into a tent and it burned. It went up in flames before us, before all of us and your brother emerged from the flames unscathed with a dragon on his shoulder and every man woman and child fell to their knees. I have never seen anything like it."

Sansa could not breath, she clutched her chest. "He has blood of the dragon."

Tyrion nodded "Yes, but I don't think it's just his blood, he has a power within him, a reverence that cannot be destroyed. I don't entirely understand it." He paused drinking down more wine. "They call Daenarys the unburnt, the mother of dragons, the breaker of chains, even the princess that was promised, for she drew Longclaw from her husband's heart and it flamed bright as the sun. But Jon, Jon commands the flames, he commands the dragons, he commands the armies, he is unlike any Targaryen or Stark before him, and I truly believe that together, they are an unstoppable force, that is why I tell you that he is not the Jon Snow who left Winterfell. I believe he fully understands the extent to his power and how he can control it. I believe that he has chosen who he is now. I believe that it will be Aegon Targaryen to lead the fight against my sister, not Jon Snow. His people, they seem him as some sort of God."

Sansa stared out the window into the darkening sky. "Then we must stand by him, we must stand beside our King and Queen through everything. We must protect them. We must win."

"Daenarys plans to remain here until she births her child and then they shall go south, I think it is a promising idea."

"I agree" Sansa said. "If Cersei finds out she's pregnant, it is a weakness that she will use against Daenarys, but that should not be her first concern. She needs to win the hearts of my people, every person poor or rich. They support my brother because they love him, even worship him, but if he falls? They will be left with Daenarys, and the people need to love her as much as they love my brother."

"Very eloquently put, I agree, the people that follow her love her, she needs to show her softer side, she needs to show them that she is a woman, a mother, a sister and a friend." Tyrion shifted in his seat. "But it has to come from her, it cannot look forced, we can't wheel her out to kiss every child and pray at the bedside of the injured, the people of the north are intelligent, they will see through the act."

"Then we must channel her emotions" Sansa said. "Start with the funerals, we have a lot of people to burn and bury, her own people included, she should attend every funeral."

"She plans to" Tyrion whispered. "Ser Jorah Mormont fell in battle, he has been with her form the beginning, her closest friend is gone, his funeral is the first of many. We can start there and build."

Sansa laughed sardonically. "What have we come to Tyrion, manipulating people's emotions to get the people we want on the throne. How low have we sunk?"

Tyrion smiled sadly "That is the duty of the small council, we manipulate, we lie, we make deals and we blackmail to make sure that the monarchy is secure, but luckily this time we are not serving mad men or malicious little boys, we are serving two honourable people."

"You are, my lord" Sansa said, "I am not on the small council"

"Well, speaking for the small council which now consist of four members, I believe that you would be a valuable asset. We must balance the north and the south. Myself, Varys and Missandei represent the south whilst Davos represents the North, it would be good to have another northerner at the table, especially one who has spent considerable time in the company to chief manipulators. I am sure Cersei and Littlefinger taught you some valued lessons."

"They did my Lord, as did you, I'll never forget them."

Tyrion reached for her hand, as he had all those years ago in the gardens of the red keep. "I cannot apologise enough for the abuse and pain you have suffered, when we married I vowed to protect you but alas, I did not do that."

Sansa smiled through the emotion that was flooding her eyes. "If you had my Lord, I truly believe that I would not be the woman I am today, it was painful experience, but I learnt from it, I grew stronger."

"And we all benefit from your strength, my lady" He smiled and hopped off his seat.

"I am sorry about Bronn, I was told he had died, and I know he was a friend of yours and your brother's, I fear that Jamie does not have very many allies here, and I know Bronn was one of them."

Tyrion grimaced sadly. "Yes, it has been….. hard, Bronn did not die how he wanted to, in a keep with a woman at his…. well you know, but I do not fear for my brother."

Sansa frowned "Why not?"

Tyrion smiled as he reached for the door. "He has you".

Sansa gulped "I hadn't realised that you knew- "
"I do, I'm glad he has been an effective distraction to you, but please for my sake my Lady, do not make him suffer, I realise he has been at the hand of many of your troubles, but he is a changed man, I would not want him to turn his back on us again."

She regarded her husband, the imp, she had called him, she had been disgusted at the thought of marrying him, but in marriage she had made a friend, and she would not betray a friend. "I promise my Lord."