This is another one which skirts way too close to the source material. I considered skipping it, but it was important to put some hints at future events here.

2. King Snow - Sansa

The Great Hall of Winterfell was packed with people. The long tables were filled with the lords and ladies of the North, who were waiting for their king to speak. Jon Snow sat in the middle of the Main Table, where father used to sit. Ser Davos Seaworth sat to his right, and Sansa Stark was sitting to his left.

Ghost was sitting on his haunches right behind them, scanning the room with his red eyes. She smiled when those eyes found her. The direwolf had grown large enough to rival a small pony, yet he still managed to sneak up on her sometimes. He has the North in him, just like his owner.

With his fur cloak and his hair pulled back, Jon looked just like father. She remembered how her mother had hated him for that. Lady Catelyn Stark had always resented the fact that another woman produced a son who looked so much more like Eddard Stark than any of her trueborn sons. Robb, Bran and Rickon all had the Tully coloring, with auburn hair and blue eyes. Jon had the classic Northern look, with dark hair and grey eyes of the Starks of old.

Sansa had been shocked when Lady Lyanna Mormont declared him king. However, from the look on his face she would wager his own surprise had been greater. She was proud of her half-brother. No, he's a Stark and he's my brother, she had to remind herself. They hadn't been very close in their youth. Not like him and Arya. Sansa had wanted to be a lady like her mother, so she tried to behave in the same way.

The memory of how stupid she had been brought her shame. Stupid little girl. A little girl who believed in fairy tales and heroes and valiant princes. Joffrey was far from valiant. The prince had been awful to her, but nothing came close to how Ramsay had treated her. She could still feel his presence on her body. No matter how many baths she took, or how hard she scrubbed her skin, she just couldn't rid herself of his corruption. She shivered.

"Sansa?" Jon's voice broke through her bad memories. "Are you alright?" He whispered, touching her arm.

"Yes, I'm fine." She said, quietly. He still looked concerned, so she smiled at him. "I'm fine, Jon." She patted his hand and nodded to the room. "They're waiting."

She could tell he wasn't convinced, but he nodded and rose from his seat. After so much time together, she had gotten used to reading his face.

"My lords and ladies." Jon raised his voice. "I know we're still recovering from a battle. One that cost us dear friends and family." He stopped here, and Sansa could tell he must have remembered poor Rickon. She had made peace with his death even before the armies clashed, but Jon had seen Rickon die right in front of him. At least his last memory was of his brother racing to save him, she had told him many times, yet he would only remember his own failure.

"However, we must prepare for the real war." Jon continued. Sansa knew what he was going to say, and she also knew most lords here wouldn't believe him. She hardly believed it.

"The Army of the Dead marches south. We can only stop them with fire, dragonglass and Valyrian Steel." She looked over the long tables to check the reactions, and she wasn't surprised. Lady Mormont was the only one who seemed convinced by his words. The girl worships him. The rest of the lords and ladies were shaking their heads and whispering in each other's ears. Some of them had mocking smiles, like Lord Petyr Baelish. Sansa still didn't know how to deal with him.

Jon ignored their reactions. "I want every northern maester scouring their records for mention of dragonglass or Valyrian Steel weapons. I know how rare those weapons are, so I don't expect much on that front. But we'll need dragonglass to defend ourselves."

Lord Robett Glover spoke up. "Your Grace, you've mentioned fire. Isn't that enough to deal with this Army of the Dead?" Sansa noticed the way he said those last words and her eyes narrowed. He was lucky Jon was in charge, for she still hadn't forgiven this man for how he acted before they faced Ramsay.

She would punish these traitorous Houses without even losing sleep. Anyone who had sided with the Boltons was either stupid or evil. We would be well rid of them. However, Jon was merciful to a fault. He had even pardoned the Karstarks and the Umbers, allowing them to keep their lands and castles. Sansa remembered how Alys Karstark couldn't take her eyes off him. Another fan.

"Fire stops wights, but not the White Walkers. And those are the real danger, because they can raise the dead." Jon answered. Sansa wished he would change the subject. She could tell they wouldn't be convinced, and the more he spoke the more they whispered.

"Surely the Wall can stop them?" She said, hoping to lead the conversation towards something less divisive.

Jon turned to her. "The Wall has stood for thousands of years, that's true." He said, nodding. "But I can still remember the first wight I ever saw." He closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath, "It was during my first months at Castle Black. After I took my vows in front of a weirwood tree north of the Wall, Ghost found the corpses of two brothers of the Night's Watch. We took them back south across the Wall to Castle Black, but later in the night one of them was attacking Lord Commander Jeor Mormont." She glanced at Lady Lyanna, who was listening to the tale with her mouth agape.

Sansa looked back to Jon, who hadn't finished the tale. "Were it not for Ghost, I wouldn't have been able to save the man. But it was a near thing. I cut off one of its arms with my sword, and the hand kept moving to grab my ankle. I slashed its face, and those blue eyes kept staring. It only stopped moving after I burned it with the Old Bear's oil lamp."

She looked around the room. Nobody was whispering now. Sansa wanted to smile, but she knew it wouldn't be proper. Maybe they'll believe him now.

Lord Baelish must have noticed the mood shift too, for he decided to speak. "Your Grace, if they can cross the Wall, then why haven't they attacked yet?"

Jon looked at the man. "I don't know." He said, simply. Sansa sighed. He wasn't used to this, but she knew people hated when their rulers display ignorance. I'll have to talk to him about this later. If one didn't know the answer to a question, the proper way to handle it was by offering suggestions.

She tried to help him. "Perhaps they're waiting for us to weaken our defenses. Or perhaps they'll come when the winter grows colder."

Jon nodded. "Our armies have suffered many losses from these past wars. And word from the South tells of another conflict to come. If the Night King waits long enough, perhaps there won't be any resistance when they finally breach the Wall."

"Perhaps." Lord Baelish put emphasis on the word, and Sansa knew what he was doing. The whispers came back. This man is dangerous. Jon wasn't prepared to deal with his games. She would have to protect him.

"What of this conflict in the South?" She asked, finding a way to change the subject. "Surely you must have contacts in King's Landing, Lord Baelish. Can you offer any new information?" Sansa had to keep him on the defensive.

He offered a short nod and smiled. "Cersei Lannister has crowned herself queen of the Seven Kingdoms, after an explosion at the Great Sept of Baelor. She claims it was a plot designed by the Dornish, who have allied themselves with Daenerys Targaryen." None of this was new information to her, but most of the other lords looked shocked.

"There were many Lannisters and Tyrells gathered at the Sept. The Dornish certainly had ample motive." Offered Lord Yohn Royce.

"And yet, somehow Cersei managed to escape the explosion." Sansa said, slowly. She had spent so much time with the woman in King's Landing that she could almost tell how her mind worked. All of her enemies had perished at the same time. If Cersei didn't have something to do with that explosion, I'll give up lemon cakes forever.

"And what of Daenerys Targaryen?" Jon asked. "Has she arrived yet? What can you tell us about her armies?" He was looking at Littlefinger expectantly. Sansa was starting to regret this. The man can't be trusted, and Jon shouldn't rely on him alone for information.

"Last I've heard, the dragon queen was still crossing the Narrow Sea, Your Grace." The man smiled as he spoke. "Her fleet was spotted near Volantis, displaying sails with the Greyjoy Kraken, the Martell Sun and the Tyrell Rose. They also claimed to have seen three fully grown dragons." He finished, and the Great Hall went silent.

Ser Davos Seaworth spoke for the first time, "Wait, so she's allied with both the Dornish and the Tyrells?" Lord Baelish nodded. "Then Cersei's accusation makes little sense."

"Indeed." Littlefinger agreed. "It's difficult to imagine Lady Olenna accepting this alliance if the Dornish had killed most of her family."

"The truth is often very different from what we hear." Sansa said. "We must consider the source of the information." She looked over at Lord Baelish, and he gave her a knowing smile. He must know I was referring to him as well.

Lady Mormont rose from her seat. "Let the South deal with their own problems. We must focus on the northern threat." Sansa noticed a small smile cross Jon's lips. If this girl were just a little older, Jon would probably marry her.

"Aye. We can't be sure of anything that happens in the south, but we can prepare for the Night King." Jon said, as Lyanna Mormont nodded and sat down again. "The Wall might not be perfect, but it's the only defense we have. Of the nineteen castles along the border, only three of them are currently manned by the Night's Watch." He took a deep breath. "This will not do." Sansa had a bad feeling about this.

After a short pause, he continued, "I want every House to send one fourth of their soldiers to the Wall. They'll meet with Eddison Tollett at Castle Black and organize groups to repair and man the other castles." There were no whispers after this. Every lord rose from their seat and started talking at once, making it difficult to understand their words.

Jon raised his hands to stop them, and the noise died down. They were still standing, however. Lord Glover was the first to complain. As always. "Your Grace, do you mean for us to pledge one fourth of our forces to the Night's Watch?"

"You misunderstand me. No soldier will be forced to take the oath if they don't wish it." That made a few lords sit down, but most of them were still standing. "My father once said that a wall is only as strong as the men who defend it." That was wise, she thought, he should mention father more often. And he continued, "The Wall is far too long to be properly manned by the Night's Watch alone. I once climbed it with the free folk and they didn't even notice us." Sansa hadn't heard that story before.

Tormund Giantsbane spoke up at this, "Aye, I've made the climb more times than I can count, and no crow was ever around to bother me." Sansa didn't know much about the wildling, except that he seemed very fond of Brienne. She glanced over at her sworn shield and noticed the woman was trying very hard to ignore the man.

Lord Royce also seemed to ignore Tormund, if for an entirely different reason. "Your Grace, our armies will be severely weakened if the Lannisters or the Targaryens decide to attack from the south."

"I thought we'd already decided to ignore the southern fools." Lady Mormont offered.

"We'd still have the larger part of our forces ready to engage any threat." Sansa tried to help too.

"We'll have to be ready to defend our land. All of us." Jon seemed to be steeling himself to say something unpleasant. She had that feeling again. "I want everyone, from ages ten to fifty, to practice daily with bows, spears and swords. Including women." Jon finished, waiting for their reaction. It wasn't as harsh as before, but Sansa could tell the lords weren't pleased.

Lord Wyman Manderly spoke up, "Your Grace, you want me to send my granddaughter to war?"

Tormund laughed out loud. "No wonder your people lost so many battles. You're afraid to use half of your forces." He looked longingly at Brienne and added, "The better half, I'd say."

Jon smiled. "Women are just as capable of defending themselves as men. But they'll need to practice, just like everyone else. We're not sending unprepared soldiers to war."

Lady Mormont seemed to agree. "Bear Island has always treated men and women as equals. It's about time the rest of the North understands this." She nodded at Jon, who nodded back. Sansa didn't know much about the famed warrior women of Bear Island, except that Arya used to love them. Growing up, she thought them silly. Why would a lady ever want to be treated like a man? Like many other things, she had been wrong about that too.

Lord Baelish had been suspiciously quiet during this discussion, but he finally spoke up. "Your Grace, I'll have to send word to Lord Arryn in the Vale, but I'm sure he'll be glad to serve." He smiled and bowed respectfully. From what Sansa knew of Robin Arryn, the boy was more likely to throw a tantrum.

Jon nodded. "I think that's enough for today, my lords." He seemed tired now. "Lady Sansa and I welcome all of you to stay at Winterfell for as long as you wish, but for now this meeting is over."

Another fair warning: The original draft of this story had Jonsa. I wrote all the way up to their first sex scene, before I realized it took too long to develop my other ideas. I had to remove or change a bunch of hints to that, but some of them remained. So if you catch a romantic vibe coming from them, it's my fault.