Tyrion

"Ha" he thought nestled between the queens legs high above the kingdom "Ha Ha father" he roared to the clouds as the Dragon sped through the sky and he thrilled in the sensation of the air hitting his face. He was pushed close to the bosom of a young and beautiful queen and he couldn't have cared less about it. He was riding a Dragon, a real flesh and bone dragon and he was allowed to ride it… with the Queen… but still, he was flying.

"I can only take you as far as the Neck my lord" the queen called over the roar of air.

"I understand your Grace; you're saving me at least a fortnight of travel." He called back trying to not blink, fearful he'd miss something.

The dragon reared slightly as it started to make its descent, the air warmed as he did. Tyrion saw the twins, the new keepers of the border between North and South, unofficially known as the Wolf and the Dragon Edmure Tully's prize after the war. With Riverrun in ruins and his wife a Frey it seemed the only option at the time, Tyrion wondered if they'd come to regret that positioning in the future, Edmure was known for his over inflated sense of self.

Tyrion would journey the north in an armoured carriage with Southern and Northern Bannerman at his side, this wasn't just an envoy of diplomacy for him but a display that the North and the South were now brethren, equal, with sister queens. That had been his queen's idea, Daenerys had approached Sansa after the victory at the Wall, the descendant of Brandon the builder sat on her ancestor's barrier looking down at the heaps of bodies on either side. Her own robe was soaked with blood and she was surrounded on all sides by Wolves who growled and hunched when the Dragon Queen approached. It was the queens first time meeting, and Tyrion's first site of his 'wife' since his nephew's death. She was certainly not the little girl who had cowered at even the most innocent of touches, she was taller still and stronger than he'd remembered. But her face had been pale and her cheeks and eyes sunken. She had not spent the war in luxury like her foremothers. They had joined the fight at her behest but the Northern Queen had been so well hidden until the battle the only contact they'd had had been with her Kin Jon Snow. The Mother of Dragons had smiled at the girl before her, she'd petted the wolves as though she feared nothing and approached slowly.

"We are sisters in arms, Babes born to a land of war. We have stood together here and I hope my Grace we stand together here after." The Mother of Dragons and breaker of chains had kissed the pale Stark girl on the cheeks. "The north is no place for Dragons and the south no place for wolves. When the snow settles It would honour me if the Queen in the North would accept an alliance with the South." Tyrion had watched his wife's face and had known that these two were now bonded, in a very special way as if this was always how it should have been.

The journey from the Neck to Winterfell was not without its 'bumps'. Tyrion, as was his prerogative, had insisted they stop at several inns on the way, eager to bond the disparate banner-men. It had not been easy, these were boys who'd fought on the field now forced to sup with their enemy, but barring a few brawls and one shanking it hadn't been awful. They made quick time with the plough horses up ahead clearing the snow from the king's road in shifts, making space for the travellers. Nights were the hardest, none of the men north or south forgot the long night that had passed and the fear it had struck in them. There had come a time when daylight seemed to be a thing of the past and hope faded that it would ever return. The men huddled closer when night fell, neither cared of the others birth place when the lights went out.

When they finally arrived at Winterfell they were a full party, tired, wet and cold but intact. Only one knight with a punctured arm, from one of the Inn brawls.

"My lord." Sansa greeted him at the east gates. She had looked rather radiant in white furs and blue cottons, not entirely unlike her lady mother on his first arrival at Winterfell.

His party were fed, warmed and rested before any business was broached. Sansa was nothing if not a good host, the younger Stark girl was nowhere to be seen and he was later informed that her summer soft body had fallen to a fever in the sharply contrasted cold.

"She was playing in a bloody pond with her wolf" Sansa had whispered as they supped "Maester Tarly is seeing to her; she's not been a very willing patient. I'm sure she's done this just to spite me." At this Tyrion couldn't help but laugh, he couldn't imagine the youngest Stark girl being a pliant patient.

When they finally sat down to discuss the pressing matters he had at hand a day had already passed, he and his lady wife found themselves alone in the Winter hall, all guards and prying ears were sent out and only Ser Podrick remained at the far end and out of earshot.

"I come bearing fortuitous news my Grace." Tyrion smiled up at her fondly.

"I think given all we've been through my Lord we can use our given names, don't you think Tyrion?" she returned his smile and he was relieved. He had known any wrong he'd done her was forgiven long ago but he'd never forget her scared face on the night of her wedding. Her trembling voice and shaking hands.

"My dear Sansa, my Queen sends her warmest regards and has asked me to deliver to you personally the news of her new law. 'All those wed in her lands under the duress of war, who are without child are now freed of the bond forced upon them'." He patted her hand "sign this my Lady and 'we' never happened." He flourished a scroll from the small box on the table beside him.

Sansa hesitated

"You wish to remain married to "the imp"?" he said it jokingly, a small part of him wished it to be so but he tampered it, it wasn't real merely a flaring of boyhood wishes.

"My marriage to you has been comfortable these past years Tyrion. I am not courted, I am not bothered, I am wed and therefore less threatening. If we end… I will have to remarry. I will not be allowed to sit atop the throne for much longer if I am unwed." She sighed and brushed away a stray hair.

"Well as much as I'm glad I'm a comfort to my lady I do not think it healthy… you'd be expected to bear children Sansa, and I don't think the northerners would like to bend the knee to the imp's offspring" These were things he knew to be true as much as they pained him. "And you do not love me child" she balked at this, the laughter shooting out of her mouth like a wolf playfully snapping at heels.

"What has love got to do with it?" she asked him steepling her fingers and gazing into the distance.

"Be careful my Grace you are starting to sound like Lady Christina of the Turn. And do you know what happened to her?"

"No my Lord I do not." She giggled slightly, the laughter lit her face and made Tyrion feel a little warmer.

"She died alone and was eaten by feral cats."

"What nonsense." Sansa laughed again and reached for a sip of her warm mull "who will I marry?" she asked aloud, Tyrion was not sure he was the one she truly was asking but he offered her council all the same.

"The Hound? He is loyal, fierce, noble born, he loves you and is a seasoned warrior." He suggested plainly, her face contorted almost instantly. But Tyrion was a master of barter if nothing else, always start with a terrible offer.

"He's an unbalanced old man, who believes I am touched by a fire god and who I am sure shouts at the moon." It was Tyrion's turn to laugh.

"Alright, what of my brother ser Jaime? He's handsome, well-bred and would be loyal to you." Sansa's face contorted again.

"He's a Lannister, no disrespect my lord, he's the king slayer and he… well he and Cersei." She stopped and bit her lower lip.

"Yes… all that and he's now in love with a mountain of a maiden who completely ignores his advances. Your Grace is quite right, he's a terrible choice… and we come back to me." He laughed a little and she straightened.

"My Lord Tyrion you have offered me a man with no face, a man with no hand and a man…" she looked him up and down a little "With no scruples. Next you'll offer Ser Davos, a man with no fingers."

Tyrion couldn't help the grin that played across his features, his young wife and now queen had blossomed in body and in spirit. He had feared for a time that she wouldn't be able to hold her own with her banner-men, he realised now he was sorely mistaken, she had a knack for disarming people with her fair face before spearing them with her sharp mind.

"Also" she continued with one eyebrow raised "would it be too much to ask for a man who wasn't old enough to be my father. Someone who I can grow old with rather than watch die? I also see now that I am a hypocrite"

"why my Grace?" Tyrion smiled patiently.

"I told Arya she was to marry, I foisted the burden upon her and told her to pick an old lord and get a baby put inside her… as if it were nothing. And now I see I do not want nothing."

"You say you don't want love, but deep down in that guarded heart my darling Sansa you still pine for a timeless romance like those in the songs you once sang and the stories you once read." He patted her hand sadly, this girl had been given nothing of the love she'd been promised as a child. She was merely used by men with more swords than she, it was no wonder she didn't believe in it.

"I want what is good for the North." She sighed.

"What is good for the Queen is good for the North." He retorted quickly.

"You have those wrong my lord."

"nonsense, a happy ruler begets happy citizens. It is the trickledown effect."

"Gold trickles down my Lord Tyrion, love does not." She made to continue but he stopped her.

"If I may be so bold your Grace… Sansa. You are wrong. Take your lady mother and father for example, when they ruled with love between them they ruled at their best. And look at my Sister and Robert, they had no love and neither had their subjects… Love my lady has much to do with it." The mother of Dragons had sent him with the express request that he help Sansa in any way possible, Daenerys was a readymade queen, she had advisors and trusted confidents and a dedicated army. Lady Sansa had none of those things and was still succeeding but with a well formed council around her she could be so much more, with a husband by her side and wise advisors she could stabilize the North, bolster the Walls, build a real northern city… make real change rather than tread water. And if there was one thing his Queen and the breaker of chains loved more than anything, it was change. Yes, he was there to help mould the young Sansa Stark into the queen the North needed. The spider would hold down the south while he did his final husbandly duty to his lady wife.

"You need someone you can trust?" He asked one eyebrow quirked, Sansa nodded, he lowered his voice "You need someone who has been by your side?" she nodded again but a small scowl played on her features "someone you know?" she stopped him now.

"Please do not say Jon. No matter his birth line he is my Brother!" she snapped but quietly.

"My lady you wound me, I am not that kind of Lannister." Her scowl broke and she showered him with a bright smile and a small chuckle.

"then who?" she prodded.

"When you came to my family I remember you were fond of songs about Knights and Ladies falling in love. You need a noble lad" he was almost whispering now "A man who's grown with you, who'd die for you… like in your ballads." He had thought about this ever since his queen had proposed the repeal of war weddings. Who was fit to marry the Queen in the North? Who was available? Who would she take? He tried not to oversell it, to nudge her towards the conclusion. Sansa had been manipulated by the best and was now wise to it.

"My Lord just come out with it." Sansa was losing patience, Tyrion swiftly shifted his eyes from the Northern queen to the Knight who had been his squire, as if he hadn't meant to.

"Podrick?" she asked with a whisper, he witnessed as a blush crept up her neck and he smiled to himself. Perhaps this wouldn't be as one sided as he thought. "I cannot take the Payne name… his … my father." She explained in a rather abrupt whisper. 'Ah She'd thought about it already', he was more than pleased with himself, there was no seed for him to plant after all only a sapling to tend.

"You my Grace are a queen of the house Stark. Your betrothed will not brand you nor your offspring with his name if you do not wish it. You even have the power to change his name if you see fit. Think like a queen my lady." He smiled encouragingly but she continued to worry her lip.

" … but it is cruel to take away a man's name" .

"My lady It is common place for women across the realm!" Tyrion exclaimed, almost exasperated

"But we are conditioned to expect it. They are not."

"Fine then… let us find out his feelings." Tyrion was impatient now that he knew His lady the Queen was not opposed to the idea. "Podrick my lad come here" he yelled down the hall towards the unmoving sentry who'd once been his lad. The man marched soundly up the length of the hall at his command

"My lord?" he stood to attention, Sansa looked furious and had pinched the impious Lord Tyrion.

"Let me pose a hypothetical to you Pod." Podrick's face slumped beneath his helmet, he'd had 'hypotheticals' from his master before and the answer he gave was never correct… his master spoke in riddles. "If you had a lady love, can you imagine being in love Pod?" Tyrion asked with a smirk.

"I can my lord" Podrick responded with only the tiniest of shakes in his voice.

"Would you be willing to give up everything for her Podrick? Your titles, your deeds? For love?" Even Tyrion held his breath a little, he hadn't known the boy since he was a lad… what if age had changed him?

"For Love? aye my lord." Tyrion noted that the boy was beet red beneath his helmet.

"Thank you Ser Podrick" Sansa said quickly, trying to hide her own blush "that will be all" with a nod the knight marched back down to his spot at the far end of the hall and hopefully out of earshot.

"see." The Queen of the south's puckish hand grinned at the queen in the North who shifted uncomfortably.

"You are a horrible little man My Lord" she said only half meaning it, picked up the quill and signed the document ending their marriage. Tyrion grinned, even though it hurt but just a little.