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.
Jon V
The moment Jon agreed to the marriage he regretted it. Not because he didn't want to protect Sansa, or for any selfish reason, however he had a bad feeling about it, something was going to go wrong. All of the plans he ever made went wrong, especially the big ones, and for him and Sansa, this was about as big as it could get. He had never expected to marry, he'd been raised as a bastard and wanted to ensure he never inflicted the name Snow on a child. He'd resigned himself to a lonely, childless life, which had suited him fine, until the he found out who he really was. He'd needed time to come to terms with that, however he had for the first time ever in his life, considered having a family of his own. Fate was a funny thing, clearly he was never destined to have a happy marriage with children, otherwise he wouldn't have agreed to a fruitless marriage with his cousin for purely political purposes. Jon did have one reservation which needed to be addressed. However he waited until Sansa returned from alerting the septon before deciding to address them.
"What about the bedding?" Jon frowned. "Won't they be expecting a bedding?"
"I'm not a virgin." Sansa shrugged. "There would be no blood. It would be pointless. I suppose we can stay in the same bed for the night. We can catch up on what has happened in the past year and hopefully sleep off any hangovers."
Jon closed his eyes, he knew the next words were going to be the most embarrassing he ever said. "And if they want to see some evidence to suggest we did consummate the marriage?" he asked.
Sansa blushed. "I'll arrange for the grand chambers to be used. It has a four poster bed with curtains for privacy and a solar. I can wait in the solar and close the door to allow you to do what is necessary in private."
Jon held his head in his hand. "This is a bad idea."
"I don't think we have much of a choice." Sansa said sadly.
"I know." Jon agreed.
"Do you have any suitable Targaryen clothes?" Sansa asked. "A cape with your house sigil on is preferable."
Jon nodded. "I took some from Dragonstone. Don't know who they used to belong to. They're a little bit big and old. Very old, but very expensive, you'd be impressed with the stitching." he laughed.
"Why are you talking about sewing?" Sansa frowned.
"I'm nervous." Jon pushed his wine away. "I better not drink any of that if I'm to produce evidence while you're in the room next to me. I don't need anything to make that more difficult."
"I've already had a little too much." Sansa smiled. "You don't need to be embarrassed about what has to be done. We are fighting a war, but you aren't killing anyone, you aren't raping or pillaging or destroying cities. You are soiling bedclothes, nothing more." she reassured him. "For duty, the north, the freefolk and Drogon. And me." she added as there was a knock at the door. "Come in." Sansa called out and Magatha walked in.
"I've come to help you dress Your Grace." She smiled before turning to Jon and bowing her head. "Your grace." she blushed.
"I suspect it is time for me to leave." Jon shook his head. "How long do I have?" he asked.
"An hour." Sansa replied. "I've asked Maester Wolkan and Lord Tyrion to witness. I think it is for the best. Of course Magatha will also be here. Lord Tyrion will be the one to give me away as my ex-husband. Maybe you should speak to Tormund, so there is a representative of the freefolk. Then we have a southerner, a northerner, one of the freefolk, a Maester and a septon. We've even got a King and Queen to witness the wedding. No stone left unturned."
"I'll ask him." Jon agreed, not looking forward to the conversation as he walked over to the door.
"Oh and Jon." Sansa called out. "Just to be clear. I am marrying Aegon of house Targaryen, first of his name, King of the freefolk. You can't call yourself Jon Snow as that is not your name in the eyes of the gods."
Jon nodded. "I know, I know." he sighed. "I will see you in the Godswood." he closed the door behind him and took a deep breath. He was not looking forward to the conversation with Tormund. Jon headed towards Tormund's chambers to tell him what was going on.
"You're doing what?" Tormund asked. "She's your sister."
"She's my cousin. And its not that we are going to do anything. It will be a public ceremony and that is all." Jon explained.
"So you're not going to fuck her?" Tormund asked in his typical tactless manner.
"No I'm not. I can't put her through that after what Ramsey did to her." Jon said quietly. "It protects her from having to go through that again."
"He was a horrible little fucker." Tormund agreed. "Glad he's dead. Although I'd have made it more painful and slower. The way your cousin killed him was too kind." Tormund put emphasis on the word cousin. "Does that mean we'll have no heir for the freefolk?" he asked.
"The freefolk choose their leader, it is not a right through birth." Jon reminded him.
"What about the south? Won't they want babes?" he asked.
"They can want, they won't get!" Jon stated.
"Hmm, and if you have to do it to save lives?" Tormund raised an eyebrow.
"We'll talk about it if it comes to that." Jon closed his eyes. "Look, I don't think we have much of a choice right now. Bran marry Sansa off to some southern Lord at any moment which would put the whole north at war, which could escalate beyond the wall. The Unsullied are marching on Winterfell as we speak..." he started.
"They're what? Why would they do that?" Tormund asked.
"To kill me." Jon replied. "Sansa needs to raise what bannermen she can and quickly. I can help get us around with Drogon and I think we can amass enough to hold them off. But she needs a good reason. Yes the northerners might fight for me, but it is a lot to ask of them when I'm not even their King. If I'm her husband, she has a just cause to ask for them to fight. Otherwise they'd tell her to hand me over to the Unsullied." Jon shrugged.
"You could always leave Winterfell, go home." Tormund suggested.
Jon shook his head. "If I leave, the Unsullied will lay siege to Winterfell until I hand myself in."
"How about burning the fuckers?" Tormund offered.
"That would make me no better than Daenerys. I'm not using Drogon as a weapon." Jon replied.
Tormund sighed. "How can we help?"
"What?" Jon asked.
"The rest of the freefolk are at Castle Black. It's why we took so long to get here. How long would it take your dragon to fly there? We can use the able bodied freefolk to fight. You'd have greater numbers. Plus the freefolk are better fighters than those southern cunts." Tormund grinned.
Jon laughed. "I don't want to deplete our men too much, we need the population to grow."
"Then us men that are left will have to take on more than one wife. I'm sure yours won't mind." Tormund winked.
Jon shook his head. "I think we need to end this conversation right now. We'll talk about rallying the freefolk tomorrow. We can fly to Castle Black and back in a day. But I've got a marriage to get through and I need to be dressed properly. I will meet you in the Godswood in about half an hour." Jon said as he left Tormund's chambers relieved the meeting had gone better than he expected.
As Jon waited in the Godswood, his stomach was in knots. He'd been in battles which had made him feel less nervous. The only time he could remember feeling this way was when Ygritte had dragged him into that cave and took his virginity.
An hour later Jon was a married man with the woman he once called sister, then cousin, but now she was his wife. As he took an affectionate look at her, he noticed Sansa was shaking. "Are you alright?" he whispered.
Sansa nodded. "I was nervous, and it brought back memories..." she momentarily closed her eyes.
"Third time lucky?" Jon smiled taking her hand to walk her back, afraid she might trip. "You're safe now. I won't hurt you and neither can anyone else. You really are under my protection."
"Normally I would say, as a Queen in my own right, I don't need protecting." Sansa said stiffly. "But on this occasion I have to agree with you. There are some things even a Queen cannot prevent." she smiled sadly. "Thank you." she kissed him on the cheek. As she did, Jon noticed out of the corner of his eye, Tyrion was in deep conversation with the septon behind them.
"I didn't know Tyrion was a religious man." Jon frowned.
Sansa laughed. "On the contrary, he's the least religious man I've ever met. Why?" she frowned as they turned into the doors of the great hall.
"I wonder why he's deep in conversation with the septon then." he mused and Sansa shook her head looking just as warily at the two of them chatting as he did.
Once they arrived at the Great Hall, there was cheering. Sansa had given most of the servants the night off, those who had to work would get the next evening off instead. Those who weren't working came up to them one at a time, offering their congratulations. Jon barely knew any of their faces and it saddened him that none of those he grew up with would be there to celebrate with them. Tormund stood on a table and gave a terrible speech, trying to embarrass Jon, but failing miserably and not even managing to get a huge laugh for a change. They were about to speak to Tormund when they were interrupted by the septon.
"Umm...Your Graces." the septon bowed his head, however he looked nervous. "As you are aware, it is my duty as a man of the gods to ensure newly wed couples uphold the vows and sanctity of marriage."
"I am aware of that." Sansa nodded. "The ceremony was beautiful."
"Aye, thank you." Jon added, noticing the look on Sansa's face and he knew whatever the septon was about to say wasn't good. He wrapped his arm around her waist to steady her as she had started shaking again.
"Thank you." the septon swallowed hard. "As I am in the north, I must write an account of your marriage and how both ceremonies were performed. However, as the Queen has already had a marriage annulled on the grounds of non-consummation, I will need to insist upon a bedding ceremony of sorts." he said.
Jon's heart sank to his stomach. He'd had a bad feeling something like this was going to happen. He couldn't believe the septon wanted him and Sansa to have sex in front of him.
"Sansa has been through a great deal." Jon whispered to the septon. "She has suffered abuse at the hands of others. I do not think it..." Jon started.
"The marriage cannot be declared valid without it I'm afraid." the septon shook his head.
"Can't we provide proof in the morning?" Sansa asked, looking as if she were about to faint, therefore Jon held her tighter.
The septon shook his head. "We will need proof as soon as the marriage in consummated. Obviously if you want some privacy..." he began.
"Will a curtained bed be suitable?" Sansa asked.
"I don't see..." the septon started to reply, but Jon wanted to speak to Sansa before she promised anything.
"Can you excuse us for a moment, I wish to speak to my wife in private." Jon told him and ushered Sansa out of the room into an empty corridor. "What do we do now?" he asked.
"We'll have to go through with it." Sansa looked close to tears.
Jon shook his head. "I can't Sansa. I promised I won't hurt you. I certainly am not putting you through that. Perverts watching us an all." his face contorted in disgust.
"Jon, we've got to. Our lives and our people need us to be strong enough to do this." Sansa told him.
"How?" Jon asked. "I'm not sure I like the idea of people watching. I wasn't raised to expect a bedding."
"If we use the four poster, they won't see anything. I was raised to expect this. A bedding only happens once." she sighed. "All I have to do is lie down and think of Winterfell, and you do what you have to do."
"If you think lying back and thinking of Winterfell is enough for me to think you're comfortable with this, you're wrong." Jon shook his head. "This isn't right."
"I want to be married to you, so yes I do want it and I'm as comfortable as I can be about it." Sansa insisted.
"What if I can't..." Jon grimaced. "Oh bleedin ell, you know, do it."
"Why not?" Sansa asked, and Jon realised there was still some innocence left in her, a thought which ripped through his heart.
Jon frowned, not quite knowing how to explain the small technicalities of how to turn a man on. He had always had issues talking about sex and had skirted around the subject. No he had absolutely no choice but to be blunt. "For a man to do it, he has to..well you know.. and every man is different in what he wants." he admitted. "It's going to be even harder if people are watching."
"People won't be able to see anything." Sansa insisted.
"You lying back and thinking of Winterfell isn't going work, I just won't be able to." he sighed.
"What do I need to do to help?" she demanded.
"Help?" Jon frowned, he hoped she wasn't going to offer what he thought she was.
"Do you know what Littlefinger did for a living?" Sansa reminded him. "He was a brothelkeeper. On our journey to Winterfell, he told me how to keep my new husband happy. The idiot hadn't bothered to do any checks on that man, if he had, he'd have known the book of instructions was completely useless. That man had different needs to most men. However, the book had a lot of pictures and descriptions of acts, written out in a great deal of detail, which I read about in great depth. What do you need me to do?"
Jon looked at Sansa in absolute astonishment. The perverts of Kings Landing had taken her innocence away from her for nothing. Jon shook his head. "I don't need you to do anything like those books would suggest. I just want you to like it too. That is enough for me. If you trust me to make it feel nice for you and let me, then I won't have any problems." he assured her.
"How?" Sansa asked.
"Erm... usually through touching and err... kissing." Jon's face screwed up. "We can skip the kissing bit if you want." he offered.
Sansa smiled. "We have our duty to do, whatever we were has changed, we are now man and wife and must do what we have to do for the good of our realms. Winning a war depends on it." Sansa took Jon's hands in hers. "I trust you and I know you won't hurt me." she lowered her voice. "If you need it to be good for me for it to be good for you, then I trust you know how to do that and I have no objections. And if kissing is part of it, don't skip it." she smiled.
"Are you sure?" Jon asked, still not convinced.
Sansa placed her hands on Jon's cheeks and pulled his face towards her before giving him a kiss on the lips. "Of course I'm sure." she smiled, her cheeks flaming red. "Lets get back and tell the septon what our terms are."
They walked back into the Great hall, the septon hadn't moved from where he'd been stood a few minutes earlier. Tyrion had gone to speak to Tormund, probably trying to find out what was going on, although he had a feeling the dwarf already knew. He'd been talking with the septon earlier in private.
"You don't think Tyrion asked the septon to insist on a bedding do you?" Jon whispered to Sansa.
"He is working for Bran, so possibly." Sansa nodded. "I don't think we'll ever find out." she shrugged.
"Oh we will." Jon smiled as they turned to the septon.
"My husband and I are fine with the curtained bed." Sansa smiled. "If that is alright with you. And we would like to choose who can attend."
"Of course Your Grace." the septon nodded. "I would need to attend, as would the Maester."
"Lord Tyrion." Sansa smiled.
"And Tormund Giantsbane." Jon added. "Trust me." whispered into Sansa's ear. "I'll have a word with Tormund and explain what I want from him." he told her, giving Sansa a peck on the cheek and heading over to Tormund, who was talking to Tyrion.
Jon nodded his head over to Tormund, suggesting he wanted to speak to him in private. Tormund left Tyrion and came over to Jon. "The septon is going to ask you to attend the bedding ceremony. Accept it and keep an eye on Tyrion." Jon whispered to a horrified looking Tormund. "Tell me his reaction."
"Ok." Tormund nodded as Jon urged him to return to Tyrion.
An hour later Jon jumped on one of the tables clattered a spoon against his cup, as did Tormund, as people turned to look, the merriment and chatter in the room quietened down to silence.
"The Queen has an announcement to make." Jon called out, jumping down.
"Ladies and gentleman. It is time for my husband and I to retire. We have decided to forego the traditional bedding ceremony, instead we will have only essential witnesses." she said as a rumble of disappointment ran through the building.
"I wanted to see if his cock was as pretty as the rest of him." came a woman's voice from the back, causing a rumble of laughter.
"I've seen it. Your not missing much." Tormund called out. "Mine of the hand, I'll show you later if you like." the room began to laugh at his joke.
Jon clattered the cup again and the room went quiet. "Because there won't be a bedding, I've decided you can all have the morning off tomorrow. So eat, drink, be merry and enjoy the festivities." Sansa called out, to a thrall of cheers. She turned to Jon. "Let's get this over with." she said as they left the great hall and headed off to the chambers, followed by the witnesses.
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