The Red Wolf
Sansa didn't leave Alyssa's side unless she had to, Arya was being the same way, for two days it had been like that, and for those two days, Alyssa had made Tyrion write letters to all the Northern Lords to let them know that she was away from the Boltons and safe in Ironrath. It was strange, seeing Tyrion so happy, and what the cause of his happiness was. Being the Hand of the Queen of the North made him have a skip in his step. It didn't seem to matter that Alyssa didn't care for him much. Every time Alyssa even looked at Tyrion... Sansa swore that her older sister had no idea what to even think about the Lannisters.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Alyssa frowned at Sansa.
"Believe it or not, Tyrion will grow on you," Sansa said.
"Aye, my Queen, the little Lord does grow on you," Bronn chuckled. Sansa was surprised that Bronn remained around Alyssa now that he could be around Tyrion.
"Do you really wish to remain married to Tyrion Lannister?" Alyssa didn't look too thrilled as she waited for an answer.
Sansa knew that was meant to be a low blow, but it was shrugged off easily. She looked her older sister in the eyes and smiled, "He's a lot better than most."
Alyssa frowned, right when the words left Sansa's mouth, she realized how it had sounded. She could see how Alyssa had taken the comment, even though Sansa was talking about Joffery Baratheon, not Ramsay Bolton.
"You're right," Alyssa breathed out. "I'm not blind, I can see that he's been kind to you."
"I'm sorry, I meant nothing by it," Sansa said.
"Were you forced to marry Ramsay Bolton?" Sansa asked.
She was shocked when Alyssa shook her head, "I was willing. The decision was left up to me, though I'm sure I would have been forced to eventually by Roose Bolton."
"I'm sorry," Sansa looked down.
"You weren't the fool who agreed to marry a Bastard of a traitor," Alyssa's voice went cold.
"Did you really flay Roose Bolton?" Arya asked suddenly.
"Arya!" Sansa shook her head.
"What? He was her father by law, and if she actually flayed him like Bronn and Gendry said, then that's just..." Arya's voice trailed off.
"I did flay Roose Bolton... a little bit," Alyssa nodded. "I also cut off his ear."
"Could you not... talk about that right now?" Sansa cringed inwardly.
"You want to talk about something else?" Alyssa's eyes went to Arya. "Would you like to tell me why you're all buddy-buddy with Jaime Lannister?"
"Oh, this is going to be good," Bronn grinned.
Arya smirked, "I kicked his ass at sparring."
"That would be easy considering he only has one hand," Alyssa pointed out.
"He actually put up one hell of a fight," Arya said.
"Well... that's good... I guess," Alyssa sounded skeptical. Sansa had half a mind to tell her older sister to lighten up on Tyrion and Jaime, but she didn't have the heart to. Alyssa had explained how the Boltons had manipulated her, how they had used her, and Sansa couldn't blame her for being wary of the two Lannisters.
"Believe me, I never thought that I would say this, but you can actually trust Tyrion and Jaime." Sansa said to Alyssa. "If they were caught, they'd probably lose their heads."
A spark entered Alyssa's grey eyes as she smiled, "You're right."
"What are you going to do?" Sansa frowned.
she watched as Alyssa's smile grew, "I think that the North needs to know that I have a Hand."
"News would get to King's Landing," Sansa pointed out.
"What's Tywin Lannister going to do? March this far north?" the way that Alyssa said that scarred Sansa.
"Let's hope that he does," Arya grinned as well.
Sansa felt as though she was the only one who was trying to think of keeping danger away. Gods help them if Alyssa was bent on going to war with the south.
A very special thanks to all of you who have reviewed last couple of chapters they have been completely inspirational. As always, the more reviews I get for this chapter the faster the next chapter will come out.
