A/N: In the previous chapter, "Jon Snow II," when Jon learnt about Arya's travels; how she'd come so close to reuniting with Sansa and how Littlefinger would have probably tried to marry her off, I had written:
"Recalling how feisty Arya was as a child, Jon thought she would have probably stuck Needle's pointy end in Littlefinger's chest before she would let anyone touch her.
Does she even still have Needle?
Jon had so many questions for his favorite little sister…"
I've went back and changed it though (and it'll come up later in the story) to:
"Recalling how feisty Arya was as a child, Jon thought she would have probably stuck Needle's pointy end in Littlefinger's chest before she would let anyone touch her.
How did she even hold on to it through all of this? Jon had recently learnt from Lady Brienne that Arya had become rather skilled with the skinny blade he had gifted her the night he left for the Wall.
Jon had so many questions for his favorite little sister…"
Apologies for the inconvenience. And I hope you enjoy this long-awaited update.
Sansa Stark I
The Lady of Winterfell… As a young girl, Sansa Stark never thought that this particular title would be bestowed upon her. Her father was the Lord of Winterfell and her older brother Robb was his first true born son and heir. And in his absence, she still had two younger brothers to whom the title would go, by virtue of being males, before it could ever reach her.
So instead, she had bigger dreams as a child; as naïve as she was, she dreamt of marrying a Prince and being crowned Queen of all of the Seven Kingdoms. But, her Prince was no knight in shinning armor with valor and honor. Joffrey Baratheon was a spoilt entitled brat who quickly turned into a vicious weak King with an insatiable appetite for tormenting the whole of King's Landing and her especially.
She recalled her stupidity when faced with a choice between said Prince and her little sister at the Crossroads Inn all those years ago. She had chosen to be passive and told King Robert that it had all happened too quickly for her to see when Arya's direwolf Nymeria attacked Joffrey. In the end, her own sweet gentle direwolf Lady was killed so was the butcher's boy while her sister lost Nymeria and despised her even more than she already had at the time.
She tried to pinpoint the exact moment she became the Lady of Winterfell. For the longest time, Sansa was a bystander as tragedy after tragedy befell her beloved family, just as Littlefinger had told her as they looked upon Moat Cailin on their way back to Winterfell. Ned's head had been chopped off at Joffery's merciful order. Arya had been missing since and presumed dead. Bran and Rickon had been supposedly killed by Theon Greyjoy. Catelyn and Robb had been slain by the Boltons and Freys at the behest of Tywin Lannister.
She was all alone.
But, in riding North, in coming back home – even if the people were strange as she had told Lady Walda, she reconnected with her roots. It had started with the elderly maid Ramsay Bolton later flayed for trying to help her. Welcome home, Lady Stark, she said. The North remembers, she said. And then, in reminding Reek that his name was Theon Greyjoy; that he was the last surviving son of Balon Greyjoy Lord of the Iron Islands, she was reminding herself that she was Sansa Stark; that she was the last surviving child of Ned and Catelyn Stark. The Lannisters had stripped away much of her in King's Landing. I have traitors' blood, she had told Olenna and Margery Tyrell once in the gardens. And Ramsay was determined to peel off the remains.
But, while some of her was still left, she jumped Winterfell's high walls with Theon. Then, when she reunited with Jon at Castle Black, she decided to finally heed Littlefinger's advice and stop running urging her brother to retake their ancestral home. And so, she emblazoned her new dress – and Jon's new cloak fashioned to mirror their late father's – with the direwolf sigil and wore it proudly in the face of Lyanna Mormont of Bear Island and Robett Glover of Deepwood Motte as she demanded they honor their oaths to House Stark.
But, only in killing Ramsay – in the most fitting of ways, did she fully take control of her life. When his hounds had started devouring him, she almost turned to walk away. She stopped though and looked intently at the gruesome scene, engraving it in her memory stored to recall whenever the Bolton Bastard haunted her dreams. And when she had finally turned around to leave, a light devilish smirk on her face, his screams echoing throughout the kennels, there was a newfound swagger in her strides. This here was the moment she became the Lady of Winterfell.
And this Lady of Winterfell had just taken out one of the Game's longest and most conniving players; Littlefinger. Lord Petyr Baelish had risen from a frail lovesick boy bested by Brandon Stark to Master of Coin and then Lord Protector of the Vale. The man's successes rested on the mystery of his objectives. The other players did not know his endgame and so, could not predict his actions. Even Tywin, the wise old lion, did not see his treachery coming as Littlefinger made new friends of the Tyrells before the Lannisters ever realized he was no longer their friend.
Yet, Sansa was his weakness; he loved her just as he had loved her mother Catelyn. Granted it was a sick and twisted love; but, it was enough for him to trust her. He taught her his tricks and revealed to her his ultimate objective; everything. Petyr Baelish of the Fingers wanted to sit on the Iron Throne with Sansa Stark as his Queen. His trust in her was his undoing though.
Littlefinger counted on Sansa maintaining her childhood dreams of becoming Queen of the Seven Kingdoms. As Ned and Catelyn Stark's oldest – and at one point, only – surviving child, Sansa was the key to the North. That was why the Tyrells sought a union between her and their pillow-biting heir. That was why Tywin forced a marriage between her and his son Tyrion. And that was why Roose Bolton wanted her for his newly-legitimized bastard son.
By killing her aunt Lysa, Littlefinger took control of the Vale and with Sansa, he would not only get the North; but, also a hold on the Riverlands from her Tully blood all giving serious weight to his claim to the throne when the dust settles. He was oblivious though to how much the years of hardship had reshaped Sansa's priorities. Now, she only wanted to be safe and had learnt the truth of her father's words that the lone wolf dies; but, the pack survives.
Littlefinger did not factor in Jon Snow. He counted on either Stannis Baratheon defeating the Boltons and naming her Wardeness or that Sansa would succeed in manipulating Ramsay who she assumed Baelish would later plot to kill as he did with Joffrey. Jon's crowning as King in the North though ruined his plans. And Sansa saw it in his eyes when he leaned against the wall eyeing her silently as the Northern Lords hailed their new king.
Yet, they still needed the Knights of the Vale and her previous interactions with their commander Lord Yohn Royce made her out to be weak and inexperienced. She needed time to prove herself a competent ruler to Bronze Yohn to secure the Vale's loyalty to her. And so, she tolerated Littlefinger's presence mostly aware of his maneuvers and often shutting him down.
Jon traveling to Dragonstone was a blessing to Baelish's plans of isolating Sansa and making her susceptible to his control again. But, it was short lived as Bran then Arya returned home. At first, Littlefinger tried to gain favor with Bran by giving him back the dagger the cut-throat had tried to kill him with after his fall from the Broken Tower. It was fruitless though as the young Stark was not interested in the Game for he had become the Three-Eyed-Raven – yet another magical phenomenon Sansa did not fully comprehend.
And then, Arya was a mystery – even to Sansa. It shook her to see her weird and annoying little sister duel so well with Brienne of Tarth – one of the best in the whole of the Seven Kingdoms. Sansa's own horrible experiences had made her a competent player of the Game. And so, she would shudder when she wondered what sort of experiences have made Arya such a capable warrior.
And suddenly, this capable warrior was coming after her. Arya's love for her half brother Jon had always been unmatched by her love for any of her other siblings. And she never had much regard for the inner workings and intricacies of the nobility, anyway. And so, reading the contents of that raven scroll, she quickly accused Sansa of betraying their family unaware of the dire situation her sister had been in at the time.
Arya's possession of the scroll threatened to destroy everything Sansa had been building during the previous months; it would shatter the newfound respect and loyalty Royce and Glover had for her. A divide in their front was the last thing they needed at that moment; the Army of the Dead was almost at the Wall, Cersei could strike at any time from the South, and Jon was on a treasure hunt in Dragonstone.
When Sansa expressed her frustrations to Littlefinger, he suggested that Lady Brienne intervenes on her behalf – the very same woman whom he had pushed away from her when the lady knight first offered her services in honor of Sansa's mother. Sansa quickly realized that he was playing at something and seized the opportunity of the Dragonpit parley to send Brienne to King's Landing hitting two birds with one stone; avoid whatever trap Cersei laid for them and take her sworn shield out of Littlefinger's plans.
She still had to find the raven scroll though to even the ground with Arya before she could further investigate Baelish's new scheme. But, when she went looking in her sister's room for the scroll, she was met with an even bigger mystery; the faces. While Arya had been extremely threatening and weirder than she had ever been, she explained it clearly. She now possessed the ability to kill whomever she wished and assume their identity. But, in the end, she handed Sansa her new Valyrian steel dagger in a gesture that simply said I can kill you; but, I'm not going to.
The exchange left Sansa completely baffled. Arya had really become a killer; she was not kidding around when she talked about that list of hers. And how is it even possible to become someone else just by wearing their face? There was hardly any more room left for logic in Sansa's world.
When her sister had left and shut the door behind her, Sansa released a breath she had not realized she had been holding. She wondered though. Arya had had the scroll for a few days now and did not reveal it to the Northern Lords neither did she want to kill her. So, why did she look for it in the first place? Then, a more important question penetrated Sansa's mind: how did she even know what to look for? Maester Luwin's archives were huge dating to a few decades back. Arya could not have looked through them all for leisure and stumbled upon this particular scroll by chance. There had been no time for that. She must've know what to look for. And the only person in Winterfell at the moment who knew of it was Littlefinger.
Seven hells.
When the realization had dawned on her, Sansa stormed out of Arya's chambers to look for Bran – he said he sees everything; let's put it to the test. She hurried through the corridors and down the spiraling staircase of the Great Keep reaching the ground floor where Bran had moved his chambers for easier access with his wheeled chair. He had not been there though. She, then, went through the Courtyard in less hurried steps lest someone sees her and becomes alarmed. She heard Maester Wolkan call out to her; but, she had no time for him. She dismissed him with a sharp "not now" without even looking his way she headed to the Godswood where she knew her brother would be.
He was sitting in his wheeled chair in front of the Weirwood tree with his back turned to whoever approached him. Without turning around, Bran told Sansa in a cold monotonous tone: "You already know the answer to your question".
"I wanted to be sure," she responded with newfound confidence.
"Sure of what?" Arya came out of nowhere startling them both for neither had heard her approaching.
"That Littlefinger is playing you," Sansa shot back no longer feeling threatened by her sister.
"No one can-," Arya started to say with a hint of defensiveness; but, Bran cut her off: "Too much confidence can be a weakness, sisters".
They both fell silent; then, Bran turned to Arya and explained: "He knew you were watching him. Asked Maester Wolkan to find the raven scroll on behalf of Sansa".
Sansa opened her mouth to interject that she did not; but, Bran quickly added: "Which she didn't do".
The two sisters, then, looked apologetically at one another as their brother continued: "He wanted to drive a wedge between you. Just as he did with Mother and Aunt Lysa".
"He pushed Aunt Lysa out of the Moon Door," Sansa recalled.
"I thought she killed herself," Arya said quietly.
"He had gotten what he wanted; married her. And with her death, became Lord Protector of the Vale," Sansa explained; then, added quieter: "Just like he wants to do with me".
Arya's eyes glared with anger as Bran added: "More importantly, he had her poison Jon Arryn and send Mother a letter claiming that it was the Lannisters. Even the cut-throat's dagger was his".
"He started the War of the Five Kings," Arya was fuming while Sansa was seeing all the pieces fall together until she said with bitter anger: "Everything we've suffered was because of him".
Bran's cold monotonous tone contrasted with their's and it was even sharper when he said his next words: "His betrayal led to Father's arrest in King's Landing".
"I'm gonna kill him," said Arya sternly as she turned around determined to go at him right then and there.
Sansa had needed to be the voice of reason though: "Arya, wait".
Her sister turned around glaring: "Honor demands that we kill him".
Sansa maintained her composure: "Yes; but, not like this. We need to hold a trial. We cannot lose the Vale or scare the other houses".
Arya huffed in frustration while Bran smiled contently at his sister's newfound wisdom.
Sansa went on to explain her play: "Arya, you need to maintain the façade that we're at odds. I don't want him to see us coming. And I'll lead him on".
"Yes, my Lady," Arya acknowledged her older sister's authority in this matter as the Lady of Winterfell.
And with that, the Wolves had outplayed Littlefinger; avenged their fallen family, secured their hold on the North, and set an example to whoever thought of betraying the Starks again.
After Arya took the body with the guards to burn it, a young maid had hurried in to clean the blood stain at Maester Wolkan's order.
"Don't," Sansa stopped her, "let it serve as a reminder," at which the mighty Northern Lords bowed their heads and quietly exited the Great Hall.
The Lady of Winterfell now sat at the head table in front of the hearth in the Great Hall sipping warm wine after supping with Arya while Bran kept to himself in his chambers as he has been mostly doing since his return. A guard walked in reporting to her that a man who only identified himself as "Sam, Jon Snow's brother from the Wall" had arrived on a cart with a woman and a young boy.
Sansa was rather apprehensive about the Night's Watch; after all, some of Jon's so-called brothers had killed him, which she had not disclosed to Arya. But, she wondered if this Sam was Samwell Tarly who had sent Jon the raven from the Citadel about the mountain of dragonglass on Dragonstone.
A chubby, round-faced fellow who did not look like much of a fighter walked in, at his side a young timid woman who seemed a bit uncomfortable in her own clothes with a golden-haired boy sleeping in her arms.
"Lady Stark," the man began then looked closely at her and noticed her auburn hair, "Lady Sansa Stark?" to which she simply nodded. He turned to her sister and smiled genuinely: "So, you must be Lady Arya".
"And you are?" The younger sister asked with slight irritation.
"Samwell Tarly, my ladies," as he introduced himself, Ghost who had been lying on the floor behind Sansa and Arya in front of the hearth rose and walked around the table to meet the guests.
"Ghost," Sam exclaimed, "how you been, boy?"
The direwolf circled Sam and the accompanying woman in cheerful playfulness for a few rounds before lying back down this time in front of the high table in a clear sign that he was well-acquainted with Jon's friend.
"You sent us from the Citadel about the dragonglass on Dragonstone," Sansa said now smiling.
"Aye, my Lady. Is Jon not here? Did he receive my raven?" Sam was slightly worried.
Sansa calmed him: "He travelled there to negotiate with the Dragon Queen on your word".
They were distracted when the golden-haired boy fidgeted in the arms of the woman Sansa presumed was his mother. Sam turned to the woman then back at the Stark sisters and said: "Oh, this is Gilly and our boy Little Sam".
Gilly gave the noble ladies an unpracticed courtesy and said with a heartfelt smile: "My Ladies".
"Your boy?" Arya asked Sam arching an eyebrow, "Doesn't the Night's Watch oath forbid you from fathering children?"
"He's an adopted son," Sam said proudly.
Sansa decided to diffuse the situation for Sam and Gilly seemed friendly and trustworthy enough. "You must be weary from your journey. Come. Eat something," she said waving her hand gesturing for them to join her and Arya at the table.
A few minutes into their food, Gilly glanced at Arya then nudged Sam to take a closer look at the dagger sheathed at her waist. Arya looked at them questioningly; so, Sam explained: "This dagger is an old Targaryen relic. I've seen an illustration of it in one of the books at the Citadel. Same one I found the dragonglass map in, actually," he was rambling, "brought as many of them as I can with me".
Arya was filled with joy hearing Sam talk about her newly founded weapon: "It's a beauty; but, I can't kill a Walker with it. Holding the blade would cut my hand".
Sam contradicted her in excitement: "You don't need to kill them with its dragongbone. The blade's Valyrian steel. That kills them, too" to which Arya was delighted.
"You're full of information, aren't you, Lord Tarly?" teased Sansa in appreciation.
"I'm no lord, my Lady. Gave up my titles when I took the Black. Sam's just fine," he paused; then, continued: "And the credit for that particular piece of information goes to Jon; he killed a Walker with Longclaw at Hardhome".
Gilly then interjected proudly: "That's why Sam now carries his family's sword". She turned to him: "What's it called again?"
"Heartsbane," he stood up, took it out of its garb, and showed it to Arya who looked mesmerized by the blade's glow in the flame light.
She composed herself and was all business again: "So, in addition to the dagger, we now have three Valyrian swords in our midst".
"What's the third?" Sam asked.
"Oathkeeper," responded Sansa, "belongs to Lady Brienne of Tarth".
Gilly almost choked on her food from the excitement: "A lady wields a big sword?"
"She's our sworn shield," explained Sansa.
"Wish I can wield a sword to protect Little Sam," Gilly said with a hint of sadness.
"I can teach you," Arya offered and Gilly's face lit up.
Sansa pondered for a few moments; then, turned to her sister: "You should be in charge of training all the women and children".
Arya nodded with a proud content smile.
"Has there been any news of Bran?" Sam asked as he finished up his food.
"You know him, too?" Sansa questioned.
"Yes, my Lady. We met him and at Nightfort. He was with the Reed siblings, Hodor, and his direwolf. They asked me to help them through the Wall".
That was more information than Bran himself provided about his journeys after fleeing Winterfell.
Sansa composed herself: "Well, yes, he's back".
"I'd like to see him, please," Sam said with some urgency.
"Of course," Sansa responded and turned to her sister, "Arya, would you kindly show Sam to Bran's chambers".
As they both started to get up, Sansa shifted to accommodations: "You're a learned man, Sam. I suppose a chamber in the Library Tower will be to your liking".
"Very much, my Lady," Sam nodded quickly.
"Good. Then, I'll see that Gilly and Little Sam are settled in," and with that Sansa got up herself and walked to the guard by the door to give him instructions.
Before she left though, she called out to her sister: "I'll be in the Lord's solar, Arya".
A/N: This was a monster of a chapter. I feel like I've jumped through hoops to create a coherent flow for Sansa's story line. What do you think?