Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to the Ice and Fire Novels, Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon TV shows. However, I decided to have a little play around with the characters. I do not earn any money from writing these stories, it is for my entertainment and is something I like to share.

Sansa I

Sansa's mother Catelyn never used to like the Godswood. She wasn't a Stark, instead she had been born a Tully, at Riverrun far to the south, on the Red Fork of the Trident. The Tully's idea of a Godswood somewhat differed to that of a Stark which had always made her mother feel uncomfortable, but nowadays, that mattered little to Sansa. Once upon a time she would have preferred the Tully Godswood, with its birds singing, bright flowers, redwood trees and sunshine, a time back when she was naïve, innocent and what she now considered to herself to be a fool. That was the old Sansa, the new Sansa was older and wiser who no longer believed in fairytales. Instead she knew life was dark and cold which held its own ethereal beauty. There were no bright flowers or birds singing in the Godswood of Winterfell, instead it was a dark, primeval place, where just three acres of old forest had been left untouched for ten thousand years as the giant castle was built around it. It smelled of moist earth and moss. This was a wood where thick black tree trunks huddled close together while the overhead branches were woven into a dense canopy and nobbled roots fought beneath the dirt. This was a dark place of eerie silence with shadows, and nameless gods. In the centre stood an ancient weirwood tree, known as the Heart Tree, which presided over a pool which, like the rest of the woods was dark and cold. The bark of the weirwood was white as snow and its leaves a deep dark red, like blood.

As it was with all Heart Tree's, a face had long ago been carved into its trunk, by the Children of the Forest during the early centuries before the the First Men crossed the narrow sea. The features of each Heart Tree were unique, this one was long and gloomy. Like the leaves, the carved out eyes were red with dried sap, appearing to be watching, which Sansa now knew there was some truth to that. The eyes were older than Winterfell itself, witnessing Brandon the Builder set the first stone, watching the castle walls rise enveloping them. Only in the north and on the Isle of Faces could you find weirwood trees. South of the neck, the weirwoods had been decimated a thousand years ago. A new religion had taken hold, the Faith of the Seven, a religion which despite her northern upbringing, up until very recently, like her mother before her, Sansa had worshipped. Not now, she had lost that faith. Her northern spirit had been woken. Now Sansa worshipped the northern gods in the northern way. In the north every castle had a godswood, every godswood had a heart tree, and every heart tree had a face carved into its white trunk.

Sansa knew more about the gods than most. She knew they could watch and listen to the histories, the present and know the future through the weirwoods. They couldn't listen to the thoughts of man, but they could listen to the prayers they offered out loud in the silent calm under the red leaves. Her brother King Bran was one of those gods. He could listen to her talk to him from far away, if he should so wish. However he was a busy man, while she was Queen of only one Kingdom, he had six to rule. She often came to the Heart Tree to speak to him, or to contemplate her life. It was a lonely place yet here was where she was the closest to a living relative. Bran was in Kings Landing, her sister Arya was goodness knows where, off on some mission, exploring. The man she once called half-brother although she had never even considered him as anything more than a guest in their home when they were children, which turned out to be closer to the truth, he was the one she missed the most. After her tumultuous time with Ramsey Bolton, Jon had been the one to help her regain her life back. He had made her feel worthy, he had been her princely saviour. Which was ironic as it turned out he was the man who should have been King of the Seven Kingdoms, he just didn't want it.

Sansa's mind had been wandering more and more about Jon over the last few days. He had been banished to Castle Black, although she knew he had crossed over, and was somewhere north of the wall with the wildlings living in exile for his part in the death of Queen Daenerys. However, deep down, Sansa knew this was a lie. He had been sent north because he was a threat. His name was a threat, being a Targaryen made him the biggest threat to her brother Bran, despite knowing Jon was no threat himself. The problem Bran had was if other people knew who Jon was, people with ambition like Littlefinger, then that would be what made Jon a threat.

This was what Sansa had believed right up until the the night before. She had been readying herself for bed as she usually did, when she heard the sound which had haunted her ever since the long night. She heard the screeching of a dragon. Rushing to her window all she could see was dark skies, but she knew he was there, Drogon, the dragon Daenerys had used to destroy Kings Landing. The one which had been inhabiting Dragonstone ever since. She couldn't be sure whether he was travelling north or south, but she knew where he was heading to or from, Jon.

This was why Sansa was sat in the Godswood. Her eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep. She wanted to talk to Bran, Arya, Tyrion, anyone...especially Jon. She was scared he was dead. The irony had been, despite their lack of contact as children, she was closer to Jon than anyone else in the world, she had lost too many people and the knowledge that Jon might be dead was too much for her to bear. Her only hope was to go to the Godswood and talk to the tree, in the hope Bran would hear her and maybe send a reply.

"Where is he Bran?" she whispered, her head down and eyes firmly shut. A rustle in the trees disturbed her, wondering if that might be him answering. She opened her Tully blue eyes looking back at her in the pool. She jumped, hers was not the only reflection she saw in the pool. The tall figure of a man wearing grey robes and a chain made of varying metals around his neck was stood next to her. Maester Wolkan was stood behind her.

"Maester Wolkan, how can I help?" Sansa swallowed her shock, looked up and smiled warmly.

"Forgive me for interrupting your quiet time Your Grace, but raven just arrived from Kings Landing. I thought you might want to read it." the Maester handed her the unopened scroll.

Sansa took the scroll and nodded, opened it and read the words.

Fill the crypts. The Lord Hand will be with you before the moon turns.

Bran

Sansa read the words again taking in his meaning. Long ago, when they were preparing for the arrival of King Robert Baratheon and his entire retinue, their mother had complained about how much food would be required, especially if winter would arrive soon after. Every day she was threatening to fill the crypts. This was Bran's way of telling her to stock up as she may be trapped in Winterfell for some time. However, the part about Tyrion visiting perplexed her. Was he trapping her in Winterfell? Did he know she was to stock up? All she knew was to follow Bran's advice, wait for Lord Tyrion and see what was to happen.

"When does the next moon turn?" Sansa asked.

"Just over a fortnight Your Grace." Maester Wolkan replied.

Sansa stood up and smoothed her skirts. As much as she wanted to be alone, she had the north to run and Bran had given her warning to stockpile for a reason, which meant she needed to attend to it quickly. "Come." she said as she set off for the castle. "We are expecting the Hand of the King and we need to stock up well. The King hasn't stated how many will be accompanying the hand, so we need to be sure we have plenty of supplies. The last occasion we had such dignitaries during peacetime we were left with almost no supplies. I do not wish for that to happen, we need to stockpile the granaries, vegetables, the fatted meat, ale and wine. Lots of wine, Lord Tyrion has a particular fancy to it." she said. "Have any other ravens arrived?"

"One from White Harbour." Maester Wolkan replied.

"And you did not think to bring the letter?" she asked.

"I believed this one to be of the upmost urgency." Maester Wolkan bowed his head. "The one from White Harbour arrived just as I was leaving. Please accept my apologies Your Grace." he bowed his head.

"Bring it to me, I'll be in my solar." Sansa told him. She needed a few moments alone to process what was going on.

"Yes Your Grace." Maester Wolkan nodded and veered off towards the rookery while Sansa walked up the stairs to her solar. Knowing the castle, she suspected Maester Wolkan would be gone a good five minutes before he returned.

Once inside her solar, Sansa paced the floor. The last day had been strange, a dragon sighting, a visit from Tyrion and to stockpile. She suspected war was coming, but where from she didn't know. The Unsullied had threatened as had the Dothraki to take Westeros to war should Jon ever return. Had Jon come back? Was he coming back? Was he coming north? She stopped, why would Jon visit her? Why would the Unsullied or Dothraki look to attack the north? Sansa sighed and pinched her forehead, Winterfell was under threat from someone she thought. Bran was not going to put his thoughts in a raven, it would be too easy to intercept and possibly too dangerous. He'd given her as much information as he could without too much risk. She suspected Lord Tyrion would know about the rest, she'd just have to wait until he arrived to quiz him.

A knock on her solar door distracted her. "Come in." she called out as Maester Wolkan entered with a scroll and handed it to her. The seal was that of a merman holding a trident, telling her it was from House Manderly. She broke open the seal and read it.

News from Ramsgate, a dragon flying south east crossed just before dawn, looks to be heading towards the Shivering Sea. Awaiting confirmation from Widows Watch. How should we proceed? Lord Manderly

Sansa's heart raced, but she wasn't sure whether it was with hope or fear, but she had to hold her council in the presence of the Maester, however her face must have betrayed her.

"What is wrong Your Grace?" Maester Wolkan asked.

Sansa took a deep breath. "Did you see or hear anything unusual last night?" she asked.

Maester Wolkan looked at her nervously and nodded. "I was going to talk to you about that today." he started.

"Was there a rider?" Sansa asked. "I couldn't see from my room."

"I was in the rookery." Maester Wolkan told her. "I may have gotten a better view. The dragon, Drogon was quite low at one point. I thought he was going to burn the castle down until I saw the rider."

"Was it Jon?" Sansa asked, her voice barely a whisper.

Maester Wolkan smiled. "Yes, I believe it was." he replied.

Sansa breathed in a sigh of relief. "Thank the gods." she cried, trying to hold back the tears before managing to get a control over herself. "I think we need to keep this as quiet as possible. Bran has warned me to fill stock up."

"Maybe he thinks a war is coming?" Maester Wolkan suggested.

"Jon has flown south." she handed the scroll for Maester Wolkan to read. "So why should we prepare?" she frowned.

"Maybe his trip south is temporary." Maester Wolkan suggested. "Or maybe people might not like him leaving the north and will target those who they think will be the easiest to threaten Jon with. Or the one he cares about the most." he shrugged.

"He was always closest to Arya." Sansa shook her head. "She'd be the easiest target."

"But she is in Essos, nobody knows where she is." Maester Wolkan reminded her. "You are the easy target. From the east the Dothraki and Unsullied can invade, the Iron Islands from the west."

"The Iron Islands barely have an army to fight with." Sansa shook her head. "But you are right, I am the easy target. The question is whether they would just attack Winterfell or whether they would invade the entire north."

"I don't believe they want to invade, they only want to kill him. Attacking White Harbour would not attract Jon's attention, Winterfell on the other hand..." Maester Wolkan offered.

"You're right." Sansa nodded. "The only threat is Winterfell. They'll either attack or hold siege, which is why I suspect Bran suggested we stock up on supplies. But that doesn't answer the question as to why he would send Tyrion here." she frowned.

"Maybe to parley with Greyworm?" Maester Wolkan suggested.

"You might be right." Sansa agreed. "Although I cannot see what Tyrion could achieve that I can't. Jon isn't here, they would be wasting their time. No that's not it. It's something else." Sansa thought for a minute as it dawned on her. "He wants me to turn on Jon." she whispered. "Either trap him or I don't know." suddenly she felt stressed at the prospect of choosing between Jon and Bran. Her thought process was interrupted when there was a knock at the door. "Come in." she called out as a guard entered the room.

"A visitor to see you Your Grace." he told her as Sansa and Maester Wolkan looked at each other in confusion, Tyrion wasn't due to arrive for over two weeks.

"Did they give you a name?" she asked.

"She says her name is Meera Reed of House Reed. Her father is Howland Reed. She's come all of the way from Greywater Watch." the guard replied.

"Thank you, send her in." Sansa nodded. A woman, probably around the same age as Arya walked in. she had dark curly hair and a friendly but solemn face. Sansa vaguely remembered her from the time Bran returned to Winterfell after he had become the Three Eyed Raven. "Meera, it is good to see you again" Sansa smiled at the young girl.

"Your Grace." Meera bowed her head.

"Please sit." Sansa stretched her hand out, pointing to a wooden seat opposite her. "Wine?" she asked, Meera shook her head.

"No thank you Your Grace." she replied.

"How can I help you?" Sansa asked.

"My father sent me. We couldn't send a raven as he says King Bran is monitoring all ravens coming into Winterfell." Sansa and Maester Wolkan looked at each with concern.

"Why?" Sansa asked.

"One of our Crannogmen, a seer like Bran, although not as powerful told us Bran is looking for Drogon. He cannot see into the future because Drogon has a rider." Meera told them.

"Jon." Sansa said and Meera nodded.

"Is he wanting to kill Drogon?" Sansa asked.

Meera shook her head. "I don't think so. It seems Bran had been trying to warg into him and had succeeded on a few occasions. But once Drogon had set his sights on a rider, Bran lost was no longer able to warg into him."

"Why would he want to do that?" Sansa frowned.

"To control him?" Maester Wolkan suggested, to which Meera nodded.

"The problem is Drogon is likely bonded to Jon, meaning his mind cannot be penetrated while he's bonded." Meera explained.

"How can they unbond?" Sansa asked.

"Only through death." Meera said, her face looking glum. "Jon's death."

Sansa put her hand to her mouth in shock. "My brother would never do that." she whispered.

"Your brother died in that cave." Meera said. "I was there, I saw it. One minute he was Bran, then the Three Eyed Raven died and Bran changed... somehow." she added.

"Is the person in my brother's body Brandon Stark?" Sansa frowned.

Meera shrugged. "I don't know. If he's not, I don't know what he's capable of or what he wants. If it is Bran, some part of Bloodraven in is inside him, twisting his mind. Right now Bran cannot see the future, although he can see the present and the past, but only through the weirwood trees. Many of his visions have disappeared. Drogon is blocking them."

"He didn't while the Dragon Queen was bonded." Sansa frowned. "So what has changed?"

"A different type of bond. The one between mother and child is a natural bond, even if the child is not biologically theirs. A dragon bond is magical, pre-destined. Drogon never attacked Jon because they were always going to be bonded once Daenerys was gone." Meera explained.

Sansa turned to Maester Wolkan. "I wonder why Bran sent me the warning."

"Warning?" Meera asked.

"He told me to stock up on food." she replied.

"Bran doesn't want you dead." Meera shook her head. "Right now he wants peace. He wants to unblock his visions and eliminate the threat of Jon from the Dothraki, the Unsullied and the Iron Islands from attacking Westeros. With Jon dead and Bran in control of Drogon, the realm would be at peace, he would have his visions back and nobody would suffer."

"Except Jon." Sansa said slowly.

Meera nodded. "He believes if Jon is allowed to live, he becomes a threat to the realm, stability and will encourage war. Bran is thinking about his people. One highborn life to save the many."

"It makes sense." Sansa said sadly. "So why is he warning me?"

"To lure him out." Maester Wolkan suggested, to which Meera nodded.

"That's what my father thinks. He says Jon would go to the ends of the earth for you. He loves you and will do anything to protect you. So Bran has told the Unsullied that Jon has left the north and he will be coming here for you and you will protect Jon and Drogon. The Unsullied will either attack Winterfell or lay siege to it until Jon either appears or you give him up." Meera said.

"And Lord Tyrion?" Sansa asked. "Why would Bran send him?"

"Lord Tyrion trusts the King implicitly. Bran has told him things, lies. Lord Tyrion is to feed this information to you to encourage you to give Jon up to the Unsullied." Meera explained.

"But if Jon has a dragon..." Sansa started.

"Your Grace, would your cousin use a dragon on the Unsullied?" Maester Wolkan asked.

Sansa shook her head. "Not the Jon I know. He'd offer to fight Greyworm." she said. "And he'd win." she smiled.

"Tyrion will also try to scare you into believing Jon will want to take the north and steal your crown." Meera said.

Sansa shook her head. "Jon just wants to be close to the people he loves." she smiled.

"The seer said one more thing. Beware of the ghost in Winterfell. It is watching you." she told her.

"There are no ghosts in Winterfell." Sansa frowned.

"Sometimes seers can be very cryptic." Meera laughed. "But just remember, he has been monitoring your ravens, he knows the contents of every message you have sent or received. Whatever Tyrion asks, be honest, but any other correspondence must be made by other methods. Don't use animals as he can warg into them, only people you trust. When you visit the weirwood tree, be careful of your whispers. He cannot read your mind, but he can hear what you say. He is watching everything through the eyes he can control. I would suggest a rat purge before Lord Tyrion arrives. Do not speak your mind close to any animal."

Sansa shuddered. "Bran's abilities had never concerned her before, but now she was worried. Had she said anything which could harm her or her people?"

"I made sure not to pass any tree which Bran could access." Meera told her. "He doesn't know I'm here, which is why I must return as soon as I can. I have already been gone a week, he will suspect something if I am gone too long."

"He's watching you too?" Sansa asked.

Meera shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know, but I don't want to put it to the test."

"Do you know when the Unsullied will be here?" Sansa asked.

"Bran has told Tyrion to stay for a moon's turn. I would expect them to arrive while Lord Tyrion is in Winterfell." Meera said.

"I'd wager Bran wants to use Lord Tyrion as a bargaining tool." Sansa frowned. "Is there anything else?" she asked Meera who shook her head.

"You are welcome to a hot meal, a hot bath and a change of clothing, with provisions as thanks." Sansa offered.

"Thank you Your Grace." Meera smiled gratefully. "However I will have to decline the offer except for a few provisions. I must return to Greywater before I am missed." she smiled, as she got up to leave.

"Martha will take you to the kitchens to fill your bags." Sansa smiled and Meera left, closing the door behind her.

Maester Wolkan waited a moment before turning to Sansa. "If you do decide to protect Jon, you are going to need a very good reason, otherwise it could be looked on as an act of war with the south." he said quietly. "Protecting your cousin over your brother will not be seen in a very good light. The northern Lords may not support you, even for Jon."

Sansa sighed. "I know. I just don't know what to do yet. But while I think about it, I shall put requests into the Lords to help me stockpile. Bran would be expecting that and will suspect nothing as long as I do his bidding."

"And the raven from White Harbour?" Maester Wolkan asked.

"Tell him nobody in Winterfell saw anything out of the ordinary that we know of and to keep us up to date with the latest news. It is what I would have said before Meera arrived, I see no reason to change my response. Anything other than that and Bran would be suspicious." Sansa replied.

"I'll get to it." Maester Wolkan smiled.

"Thank you Maester. You can leave now." Sansa smiled, pouring herself a large cup of wine as he left. She was going to need it for what decisions she was going to make in the near future.

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