Sansa had a feeling that Arya was going to do something that would grab a lot of attention once she found out about the chambermaids. It wasn't exactly the way that she wanted to deal with this situation but her sister is a woman grown so it's not like Sansa could tell her not to. That didn't mean that this whole thing wasn't going to be irritating to deal with but Sansa was willing to do whatever it took to keep her sister happy. Arya was extremely protective of the people she deemed worthy of that protection and the last thing Sansa wanted was her sister to run away for the sake of keeping Gendry safe. She also didn't want Arya to run away because she thought it was the best thing for the family either. The reality of the situation was that Sansa didn't want to give Arya any excuse to escape back into the woods and if that meant she had to yell at some lords of Westeros then she was going to do that.

Out of the corner of her Sansa could see Littlefinger watching everything happen. His eyes were narrowed and Sansa could see that he was watching Gendry very carefully. He hadn't gotten a good look at Gendry yet but if there was anyone who could spot a Baratheon from miles away it would Littlefinger. She didn't think he would reach out to Cersei to try and turn him in but she didn't trust Littlefinger not to try and use Gendry for his own means. There were also the Northern Lords who were starting to arrive at Winterfell to talk before bringing their armies to fight. They were going to call some sort of meeting before Jon got back and she was going to have to deal with it.

Sansa stood up a little taller and walked back into the castle. They were going to run out of food if she called on the banners and that was something much more important to her than her sister's love life. She thought that everyone else should be focused on that as well but gossip was a powerful thing. They talked about her too and how she wasn't really of the North anymore. Sansa would bare her teeth at those men in the guise of a pretty smile and thought about how she wanted to tear them apart with her bare hands. Sansa might have spent a lot of time in the South but that didn't mean she wasn't the daughter of Ned Stark.

There was plenty of food in the Reach but one of the things that Robb never got around to doing when he declared independence was working out trade agreements with the crown. At the moment there wasn't anyone in the Reach to work with since the sack at Highgarden and all of the Tyrell's being murdered. Sansa tried not to think about that one too often. Margaery and her family were far from bad people when it came to those who played the game of thrones. They were trying to marry her off to a man that had no interest in women but considering how her previous marriages were Sansa thought she would be okay with that. Loras wasn't a bad person and he would have treated her well even if he had no interests as to what was between her legs.

Now the Reach was being run by the lesser houses and they were going to run around fighting each other without a liege lord to guide them. Jon told her that he knew Samwell Tarly but Sansa heard some rather terrible things about Dickon and Randyll and that the house was mostly dead. There was a chance that Sam could rally something to help but that was only if the food could get the North. There was another problem and that was House Frey.

Sansa hated House Frey with all of her being. They slaughtered her mother and her brother and last she heard they still had her Uncle Edmure hostage. They still controlled the bridge at the Twins and weren't likely to let any merchants carrying food for the North to come through. Politically, House Frey needed to be dealt with but on a personal level Sansa wanted revenge for what they did to her family and she knew that Arya did as well. Jon had an ally with the Dragon Queen and right now the only way Sansa could see to deal with House Frey would be to send a dragon to burn the Twins to the ground.

Despite that being her first instinct Sansa knew that wasn't the right way to handle this. Walder Frey needed to die for what he did but that didn't mean everyone in that castle was guilty. She knew as much as anyone that you couldn't say no to the man in charge even if you wanted to. She knew that by watching how much doing Joffrey's dirty work bothered Sandor. However, they needed food from the Reach and if they were going to make it through winter they needed to secure something.

"Lady Stark?" Littlefinger said as he walked into her solar. Sansa tried not to roll her eyes but plastered a pretty smile on her face nevertheless. Dealing with House Frey was likely something she wouldn't be able to tackle until Jon came back from surveying the Wall.

"What is it Lord Baelish?" Sansa replied.

"Several of the Northern Lords have been asking to speak with you," he said with that smirk that Sansa wished she could claw off of his face.

"Is that so," Sansa said as she pushed herself to her feet. "I wonder if they have made a decision as to whether or not they will fight for the living." Littlefinger blinked like he somehow forgot that this was the important thing and not petty squabbles about who wanted whose son to marry either her or Arya. Jon already promised her that she would get to marry whomever she wanted whenever she wanted and Sansa couldn't understand why they would assume there would be different terms for Arya now that she was home.

"I'm afraid I don't know what it is about," Littlefinger said. "I saw your sister fighting this morning."

"Yes, she is quite impressive. She will be a valuable fighter in the upcoming war for the living," Sansa replied as she sorted her papers and turned to Littlefinger. The look on his face said that this wasn't the response he thought she would have to Arya knowing how to fight.

"It just seems surprising that a young girl would know how to fight like that," Littlefinger said. "Who could have taught her that and what kind of loyalties did they instill in her?"

"Lord Baelish," Sansa said her voice much louder than before. "Are you insinuating that my sister is not loyal to House Stark?"

"Sansa, of course not, I just-"

"You said the Northern Lords we have present wanted to speak with me. Perhaps it's best if we do that now," Sansa said. She walked by Littlefinger and made every attempt not to let him touch her in any way. He made her skin crawl and she hated how badly they needed the Vale. If she could she would set him out in the snow without shoes or a cloak to see if his ability to speak could save him then. Sansa got to the great hall and saw several Lords waiting for her. She watched each of them carefully and sat down at the table. "Lord Baelish has informed me that you wish to speak to me, is this about committing your men to fight for the living?"

"Lady Stark, your sister has been putting on quite the display," said a man from a lesser house that Sansa couldn't place at the moment. "She is a princess who married some unknown Southern bastard and flaunts it for all to see. It is a disgrace." Sansa could see by the way these men were saying that these were not completely original thoughts. Littlefinger was whispering in their ears but Sansa didn't have any proof of that.

"Do you think my sister is an idiot?" Sansa asked.

"I beg your pardon, my lady?" he asked.

"I said; do you think my sister is an idiot? Are you telling me you think my sister, Arya Stark of Winterfell, is an idiot?" Sansa repeated. "I can only assume that this is what you are saying because why else would you judge the man she decided to willingly tie herself to."

"She did this without the permission of her family-" another man started.

"So then you are questioning the intelligence of myself and my brother Brandon Stark because we gave our approval to my sister and her husband within moments of meeting the man," Sansa interrupted. "So then you are calling into question my ability to judge the character of a man and the ability of my brother."

"The King didn't-"

"Th King," Sansa said raising her voice even louder. "has also given Arya and Gendry his blessing. He was, in fact, the first to do so. So, my lords, are you question the character and the judgment of your King?" Sansa glanced at Littlefinger who looked like he wasn't expecting this sort of reaction from her. "My Lords, we have much bigger things to worry about right now. The North is entering winter weak from many years of abuse from our enemies. We have a great war coming to us that threatens our very existence and all of you call me here to squabble about my sister and her marriage?" Sansa stood up and looked over the entire room and smiled with plenty of teeth. "If you are here to pledge yourselves to fight for the living then I will gladly accept on behalf of the King. I will not tolerate this sort of display against my family again. You are dismissed."

Sansa turned and walked out of the room without waiting to see how anyone would react to her. She knew that Arya kissing Gendry in the open was a wolf showing proclaiming possession. Sansa might have spent time in the South and she might have her mother's Tully looks but she was not above showing just how possessive she could be as well. Sansa heard whispers that after she killed Ramsey with his own dogs they called her the Red Wolf. She was a wolf and she refused to allow anyone the opportunity to drive her family away.

It didn't take long for news of the Lords confronting Sansa to reach Arya's ears and she was furious when she heard about it. How dare they question her like that? How dare they bring it to Sansa like that? She hated every moment of it and how as word of the meeting spread she could see Gendry shrinking inward. He just wanted somewhere where they could be safe and the world kept trying to take it away from them. It wasn't fair. Arya clenched her fists and excused herself from training with Brienne and Podrick so she could go find Sansa. Her sister was in her solar looking over some papers with a deep frown when Arya walked into the room.

"I should have been there," Arya said loudly.

"You didn't need to be," Sansa said without looking up. "They won't be bothering you again and they won't be bringing it up again."

"Not publicly but they'll still be gossiping and they will do it in places where Gendry can hear. He doesn't deserve that," Arya said.

"No, he doesn't," Sansa said as she looked up. "But you and I both know that we can't fight the entire world every time someone says something terrible about us. There are whispers around here that I'm not a Stark; that I'm a Lannister or a Bolton because of my marriages. Those whispers hurt but there isn't anything I can do about it. Not right now anyway."

"I just want us to be safe and happy," Arya said softly and Sansa reached over and took her head.

"I want that for you too and we're going to do everything we can to make sure that it happens. Now, I think now would be a good time to check with Bran and see if he has any more information for us," Sansa said. She squeezed Arya's hand and the two of them began to make their way through the castle and out to the Godswood. Arya was glad to see Ghost was with her younger brother and he wasn't out here alone.

"All anyone can talk about is the meeting that just happened," Bran said and he was smirking a little.

"Stark's protect family," Sansa said as if it wasn't a big deal. Arya smiled to herself as she remembered how few people Gendry had had in his life refer to him as family. She wondered how he would react once he found out about Sansa telling off all of the Northern Lords in his honor. Sansa sat down on a root and reached into her braid. She kept two pins in her hair to help keep it up but Arya watched as she removed one of the pins and it revealed a piece of paper that was hidden from the naked eye.

"Words are dangerous," Bran said as she Sansa began to unroll the paper. Arya frowned as she leaned forward and began to read all of the notes. It seemed to be moments from the past that included Littlefinger and there were some things here that she just couldn't believe. Arya realized that these were the things that Bran was looking into the past for and keeping the paper in her hair was the only way to keep Littlefinger from finding it. "We have almost enough information but I believe that it would be best if we waited for Jon to return."

"We don't know when Jon is going to be back unless you know something I don't," Sansa said as she looked over the small piece of paper. She looked up and noticed the way that Bran was smiling to himself. "And that look means that you do. Things would go by much faster if you weren't so cryptic little brother."

"Jon will be home soon?" Arya asked and Bran nodded.

"The Night King approaches and will be making an attempt to bypass the Wall within the next several months. We have time to prepare but not nearly enough. There will never be enough time to prepare," Bran replied and he frowned. "Every day that he gets closer and closer I feel less and less like Brandon Stark. I have to wonder what I'll be by the time he arrives."

"And I have to wonder if you'll be whole again once he's gone," Sansa said.

"Jon has some new warriors which will help with the fight," Bran said. Arya and Sansa both sat in silence and waiting for him to expand on what he just said but Bran didn't say anything more. Arya could see why Sansa found this to be annoying. "They are sailing and will be making their way to White Harbor and then here. They will arrive within a fortnight."

"Then we need to be ready with charges by the time Jon arrives," Sansa said. She rolled up the piece of paper, slipped it around the pin for her hair, and hid it among the braids. She stood up and brushed the snow from her dress. "I know you're cold, little brother, so I think you've had enough time by the tree. It's time to come inside. If I let you catch a chill Meera will be very cross with me." Arya was fascinated by the way Bran's ears turned a little red at the mention of Meera.

"House Reed marches for Winterfell. They will be here within a week," Bran said without addressing the comment about Meera.

"Well then we have to make a good impression," Sansa teased and Arya grinned as Bran blushed nearly to his hairline. While things were a mess right now that didn't mean there weren't going to be some good moments too.

Gendry was still a little surly for the next couple of days but he also walked around in a bit of a daze when he found out exactly what Sansa had done for him. He thanked her, awkwardly, as Sansa watched him fondly, shrugged, and told him that Stark's lookout for their family. Arya wasn't surprised that he didn't know what to do with information like that and let the fact that he had multiple people that cared about his well-being sink in.

Arya was also amused by how quickly Gendry and Meera bonded. They would constantly bicker like siblings about weapons and about spears in particular. These were fights that her and Gendry had years ago before they ever admitted they had feelings for each other, and it amused Arya greatly to see them play out as an outsider. Meera was also one of the rare people to kill a White Walker and the two of them spent some time debating weapons and they could effectively arm people. They both had interesting ideas and Meera worked hard designing spears that would work for the Unsullied happy to hear that there were going to be others in this great army that favored her preferred weapon.

Brienne also insisted on helping train all three of them saying that while they were all skilled it was far more important that they learn even more so they would live through the coming battle. Arya was fine with it but Gendry kept insisting that he should spend more time in the forge making armor and prepping for the dragonglass that Danaerys was bringing with her. Between Arya, Meera, and Brienne he didn't stand a chance and despite loudly complaining against it he usually ended up on the training ground.

Four days after Sansa told the Northern Lords to keep their opinions on Arya's marriage to herself Arya and Meera were happily sparring as Gendry stood on the sidelines and watched. Brienne was explaining exactly what they needed to do to improve their footing when a Knight of the Vale walked over.

"You're sparring?" he asked.

"Teaching but yes," Brienne said.

"And what are you doing?" the Knight asked Gendry.

"Waiting for my turn," Gendry replied. Podrick had gone out with some of the men to see if they could find some food. Arya thought he would be returning soon since she knew that Nymeria's wolf pack was still nearby and would be leaving food for them soon. As soon as the gates opened Nymeria and Ghost took off into the woods no doubt to be reunited with their wolf brethren. Apparently, her and Gendry still needed looking after even after they got back to the castle.

"Care to spar then?" the Knight asked. Gendry glanced at Brienne who smiled a little and nodded.

"It would be good to practice against someone new," Brienne said. Gendry shrugged and picked up his war hammer. The Knight pulled out his sword and the two of them began to circle one another. It was distracting and Meera managed to knock the spear from Arya's hands as she watched the other fight. "Don't get distracted, Arya." It was hard not to as she watched Gendry and the Knight charge each other. Gendry was bigger than they Knight but he had skill with a sword that Gendry did not have.

It wasn't a lack of skill that was making Gendry frown as he fought with the Knight. There was something else bothering him, Arya could tell, and it just distracted her more.

"Why does your armor look like that?" Gendry asked as he deflected another blow from the sword that sent him back a few steps.

"Is this how they spar in the South? With taunts?" the Knight asked as he swiped at Gendry and Arya thought it looked a bit too much like he was trying to take off Gendry's head.

"No but it is mismatched," Gendry said as he kicked out and sent the Knight stumbling back a few steps. "The pieces don't seem to match, ser, like they aren't all from the same set of armor." The Knight smiled and renewed his attacks. Arya realized that Gendry was being driven further and further away from her, Meera, and Brienne and something terrible settled into her stomach. Gendry knew armor better than anyone and if he said the armor looked mismatched in a strange way that meant it was. There was no way a Knight of the Vale would have mismatched armor.

The Knight knocked Gendry's war hammer from his hands and sent him stumbling to the ground, hard. It was enough to knock the wind out of him and he put a hand over his still injured ribs.

"I yield!" Gendry said but the Knight didn't put his weapon down. Instead, Arya could only watch, from just a little too far away, as the man approached her husband and raised his sword to strike a killing blow. She screamed Gendry's name as she tried to run over to him. Brienne was also running, her sword in hand, but Meera flipped the spear in her hand and threw it. The armor was mismatched because the weak points between the plates on this man's back were much bigger. The spear hit the man in the shoulder and he cried out as he dropped his sword.

"Arrest that man!" Arya cried out as Brienne got to the man and guards began to appear. "He tried to murder a member of House Stark." Arya raced over to Gendry and helped him to his feet. "Are you okay?"

"My ribs are killing me but I'll live," Gendry said as the guards began to drag the man away. "His armor looked like someone had taken pieces from other people and put it together."

"Not a real Knight then," Arya replied. Sansa came running out of the castle and joined them in the training yard. Meera raced over as well.

"Are you all right?" Sansa asked as she looked Gendry over.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," Gendry replied even though he kept a hand over his ribs. He looked at Meera and smiled gratefully at her. "You saved my life, thank you."

"You would have done the same for me," Meera replied.

"A man in what looks like stolen armor from the Knights of the Vale tried to kill him," Arya whispered. "I can't think there were many people who had access to that armor." Out of the corner of her eye, Arya could see Littlefinger watching the proceedings and he was frowning.

"Littlefinger wants to be on the throne and what better way to get rid of a threat than a spar gone wrong," Sansa replied quietly. "We will jail this man and see if he will give up who told him to hurt Gendry. Until then I will have Brienne assign a guard she trusts to be with you at all times. We will keep you safe."

"Thank you, Sansa," Gendry replied as she glanced at Arya. "I think I should lie down. I'm in a lot of pain." Arya thought back to what the maester said about the broken ribs damaging something internally and worried. She put her arm around her husband and walked with him back to their room. Arya resisted the urge to glare at Littlefinger and mentally thought of all the ways she would make that would be assassin hurt until he gave up the information they already knew.