Chapter 8

Sansa is woken up after what seems like only moments after her head hitting the pillow by a loud banging at her door. Before she can even sit up a dark figure rushes inside and to her bedside. She screams, startled by her intruder. "Sansa, hush, you'll wake the entire castle." Jon whispers to her. Her heart beat slows as she realizes it is only her brother who's stormed into her room.

"What's going on?" She asked stifling a yawn.

"I just received a raven from The Wall. It's Bran, he alive and waiting for me at Castle Black." Jon had sat down on the edge of her bed. Sansa grabs his arm at his words to steady herself.

"Bran? He's still alive? Is he well?" She asked in a daze.

"The note was brief but he said he was alive and well and waiting for me. He said he had some big news to share with me but that it could only be spoken in person." Jon relayed.

"Are you sure it was from him?" She asked, worried that she was getting her hopes up. "Aye, I'm sure. It had his seal on the bottom and the writing was in his hand." Jon confirms.

"Give me a moment to get dressed and I will join you." She said as she started to rise from the bed.

"No Sansa, I need you to stay here. There must always be a Stark in Winterfell, remember?" He reminds her.

"Jon, I must go!" she pleaded. "He's our brother! I thought he was dead. All this time, he was alive!"

"Sansa, I know. I feel the same as you. The same shock. But I need you here. I need you rule in my absence. If something should happen to me while..." he is cut off by her hand over his mouth.

"Don't say it. You'll come back just as you are now, do you hear me?" she asks. "I've lost so much of my family already. Mother, father, Robb, Rickon... I just got you back and now Bran. I will not lose either of you. I just wish we knew of Arya. One way or the other." she trailed off.

"We'll find her, I have men out looking for her as we speak." he tells Sansa. This is news to her, but happy news. "I did not know that. I'm happy to hear that. Thank you Jon." she said. "She's my sister too." he says very quietly.

"I know, I just didn't think about sending men to search for her is all. I should have thought of that." She said, ashamed she hadn't thought to use whatever is at her disposal to find her little sister. She wouldn't be so little anymore though, would she?

"Don't fret Sansa. It doens't matter who thought of it, what matters is that we're looking and she'll be found soon. Alive and well." Jon reassured her.

"You're right. How long will you be gone?" She asked.

"I hope to be back within this moons cycle. A new one just started yesterday." He answered. "I'm sorry I won't be here to announce your engagement in the morning. You're free to do so in my absence."

Sansa hadn't even thought about the engagement. "It can wait until after you are home with our brother." She tells him.

"No, you should announce it. If you're going to be having him visit you," he says raising his eyebrows and giving her a pointed look "it'd be best if folks new that he was at least intending to marry you. I don't want your reputation ruined little sister. You can wait to marry him until we're back if you'd like though." He said.

She thinks on it for a moment "Alright, we'll still announce our engagement in a few hours, but I believe we will wait to have the wedding until you and Bran are home safely."

"Then it's settled. I best be on my way now. I've informed the guards to keep watch over you, so don't be alarmed if you notice a few men following you around. I don't want anyone getting any ideas while the King is gone." He says the last part in jest but she knows he's trying to look out for her. She doesn't protest even though she thinks the extra guards are not necessary. "Thank you Jon." She tells him and kisses his cheek. "Please be safe and send a raven once you've reached The Wall. I will worry until then." She said.

"Of course my Lady. As you wish." He teases, kissing her back on the forehead and stands to leave. "Ser Davos is staying behind at my request. If you need anything or have any problems, please see him. He is trustworthy and loyal to us." Sansa nods in response.

"Goodbye Jon."

"Goodbye Sansa." And with his final words he turns and leaves her chamber, closing the door behind him. She hears muffled voices outside the door and the clank of armor against the wall as a guard takes his place at her door.

She shakes her head and lays back down on her bed, a smile forming on her lips. He's alive! How he had managed to survive all these years, as a cripple no less, is beyond her. That doesn't matter though. What truly matters is that he is alive and coming home to Winterfell.

As the minutes tick by Sansa realizes that she will not find sleep so she gets up and puts on her robe. She walked out of her room and is startled by the kinght standing guard. She'd already forgotten about him. "I'm going to Lord Baelish's rooms." She said and walked down the hall towards her betrothed. Not giving one moments thought to what the kinght might think about her visiting the man at this hour in her nightclothes.

As she got to his door she raised her hand to knock but decided at the last moment to try the knob instead. She turned it and was happy to find it unlocked. She looked at the knight but the was not looking at her. He had already taken his place against the wall. Watching. Guarding. Sansa walked into the room and quietly closed the door. She found her future husband asleep in his bed. He was on one side, flat on his back, so she got in on the opposite side and curled up on his chest under the furs.

At first he did not budge, but when she wiggled a bit, trying to get comfortable against his body he stirred. Without opening his eyes he said "And to what do I owe this pleasure to my little wolf?"

"I'm sorry, I couldn't sleep." She was going to say more but wanted him to ask her about it first, making sure he was awake so she would't have to repeat herself in the morning. "Why couldn't you sleep my love? Did I not do a good job of wearing you out earlier? I must be a little rusty in my skills." He smiled, keeping his eyes closed.

"I spoke to Jon, he said he'd announce our engagement this morning before everyone..." She began, pausing for effect "only now he can't because he has just rode off to The Wall."

At this news Petyr opens his eyes and sits up, helping her do the same in the process. "Why did he leave at this hour? Is everything alright?" As the words left his mouth his eyes had finally adjusted to the dark and he could see a large grin on her face. "What's going on Sansa?" He asks.

"It's Bran. He's alive!" She says excitedly. Petyr's mind goes into overdrive. The young Stark is alive? He had heard whisperings that he was but nothing definitive. He was in awe of the cripple, staying alive all these years even with his disability and the Lannister's out to get him. He had heard that the boy may posses a gift. One that Petyr had never witnessed with his own eyes but had heard of from his girls in his brothels. They had told stories of men who were able to inhabit the minds of animals and know things that they couldn't possibly know. Seen things they weren't present to witness whether it be because it happened long ago or in another part of the Realm than where the man was entirely. Petyr knew at that moment that he would have to share his secret with Sansa if he wanted to be the first to tell her. He wanted to make sure he told her in a way that kept her loyal to him.

Their engagement was not yet public knowledge and even if it had been, she was not yet his wife and thus nothing was holding her to him permanately at this time. He had to think quick. "Are you sure it was him and not an imposter?" He asked.

"Yes, I'm sure. Jon said It was in his writing and had his seal on the bottom. My little brother is alive Petyr. Can you believe it?" She was very happy at the news he could tell. "Yes my sweet girl, I can believe it. You Starks are a strong bunch. What did his scroll say?" He asked her.

"It said that he was alive and well and that he had news for Jon but that it couldn't be trusted by raven and could only be spoken in person." She told him. Damn. He was right. Brandon Stark knew Jon's secret that even the bastard did not know himself. Well, he wasn't really a bastard now was he.

"Sansa dear, I need to talk with you. It is a very serious matter. I know that you are overjoyed at the news that your brother is alive, but I need your full attention." Sansa's mood sobered and he could tell that he had all her focus. He turned in the bed so that they were sitting cross legged facing each other. He grabbed her hands in his own and looked deep into her eyes. "You trust me, don't you?" He asked.

She did not answer at first then slowly nodded her head and said "I do." Where was he going with this? What was this serious matter? Sansa was getting very worried. She trusted him with her heart, but not her head, as she'd told Jon earlier. She knew he would not hurt her in any way, at least not intentionally. But she did not fully trust that he wouldn't lie to her. He squeezed her hands and she looked down at them. He brought one up to his lips and kissed her fingers. His eyes closed. He breathed in as he kissed her hand as if he was preparing himself for battle. He lowered their still joined hands and looked into her eyes. "One kiss, for courage?" He asked her, his famous smirk on his face. She granted his request and leaned forward and kissed him chastely. He really needed to get on with it before her mind got carried away with the different scenarios playing out in her head.

"I know something about your brother. Something not many, if any, other people know about. I am going to tell you everything and answer any questions you have but you need to know something before I tell you. Ok?" He asked. She nodded. "I want you to know that the reason no one else knows, and why I haven't told you before isn't because I wanted to deceive you. The reason for you, and everyone else being in the dark was to protect him. If anyone knew his secret, even himself, he would no longer be safe. He would have been killed long before he said his first words. Do you understand what I am telling you?" Petyr was nervous, a rare feeling for him usually but it was becoming a common occurrence around his little love.

Beginning to grow annoyed with his slow pace at telling her this big secret she frustratingly told him "Yes yes, I understand. No one could know or he would have been killed. Now get on with it. What do you know about my brother? What do you know about Bran?"

"Oh no darling, this is not about Bran. It is about your other surviving brother, Jon Snow. Only he's not really a Snow." Now it was Petyr's turn to go for the dramatic flair.

"Wait... What? About Jon? Not a Snow? I don't follow." She said confused.

"Jon is not a Snow, Sansa. He is not a bastard. His parents were married and in love. They did not have long together before his father was killed and his mother died in childbirth. She had one request on her death bed; that your father take her son and raise him as his bastard to protect him. So no one knew his true name and his true parentage." He stopped to let all of it sink in.

"Why would father lie for her? Why would he lie to mother, to all of us, just to protect an infant he did not know? Father would only abandon his honor for one reason, his family. And sometimes not even then. But raising Jon as his bastard did nothing but hurt our family." He could see the wheels turning in her head. She was getting close to the answer. "Mother was his only living family at the time, why would he..." She stopped mid sentence. She had finally figured it out. Petyr smiled with pride at how quickly she came to the conclusion on her own.

Sansa sat there in shock. No. It couldn't be. Jon's mother couldn't be... She thought back to a few months ago when her and Petyr had been down in the crypts. They had discussed her aunt Lyanna and Prince Rheagar. How he had favored her over his wife, Elia Martell, at the tournament, placing a crown of winter roses on her lap. He had chosen her. He had chosen Lyanna, kidnapped and raped her. And, apparently, fathered a child with her.

"But wait, you said his parents were married. I thought he- I thought Rheagar had kidnapped my aunt Lyanna and raped her. He forced her to marry him as well?" She was a smart one, his little pawn. He was proud of her in that moment. But she was still naive in some ways of the world.

"My dear, the Targaryen's were known for taking more than one wife. Lyanna was not kidnapped. She ran away with him." Petyr watched her process this. She looked all around the room, not seeing a thing but whatever was playing in her mind.

"What does this mean?" She asks, still looking around confused and overwhelmed.

"I believe you know what this means my love. Jon is not your bastard half brother. Jon is a Targaryen. Your cousin." She looked up into his eyes, finally seeing clarity in them.

"How could you not have told him!" She yelled, shaking his hands out of hers and she started to get up from the bed. "How could you keep this secret? It tore at my mother. I thought you loved her? Yet she died thinking the one she loved betrayed her. Oh, I get it now. That is why you kept this secret. You wanted my father's reputation forever tarnished in her eyes, is that it?" She was pacing the room.

Petyr stood up to stop her and grabbed her arms and forced her to look in his eyes. "I told you why I kept it secret. It pained me to keep the truth from your mother. Honestly I expected your father to come clean to her one day. But he didn't. It wasn't my secret to tell anyway. And I told you Sansa, I couldn't say anything without risking his life. Would you rather I have told Cat and Jon and and just prayed to the Gods that no one else discovered his true parentage and killed him?" He asked her, daring her to contradict his reasonings. With his last sentence she seemed to calm a bit.

Sansa was still reeling from the discovery. She had calmed down a bit and realized that Petyr was right. It had been best for Jon that he kept his mouth shut as he had all these years. That didn't mean she had to like it though. She grew light headed from lack of sleep and overwhelming emotions and swayed on her feet. Petyr instantly bent down and swept her off her feet and carried her to the bed. He came around the other side, as she had done minutes before, and laid next to her, holding her back to his chest.

"I'm sorry for the onslaught of information so soon after you heard of your brothers wellbeing. I wanted you to hear the truth from no one else. To understand why I couldn't tell you before." She nodded her head in acknowledgement and pulled his arms tighter around her. "Things will change now Sansa. You do realize that don't you?" He asked her.

"How will they change?" She asked.

"The people in the North do not stand behind Targaryen's. Aerys murdered your uncles and as result joined Robert's Rebellion, backing the Baratheon's. Rheagar running off with Lyanna did not help matters. This is what I was trying to convey to you in the library. That you and you alone are the one true heir to Winterfell. The North is yours Sansa. Once word spreads that Jon is not a Stark, but a Targaryen, there could be an uprising."

"But Jon is a Stark. Lyanna is a Stark." She argues.

"You know as well as I that the North remembers. They remember what happened all those years ago. They are still suffering the repercussions of the Targaryen's actions. We cannot say truthfully how they will react. If they will still support Jon or if they will look to you. You need to decide what you are going to do once he comes home knowing everything. Will you stand behind your cousin, or will you stand up for your people?" With that Petyr stopped talking. He kissed the back of her head and laid back down on the pillow. He knew he would need to give her time to think things through. She makes better choices when given the space to sort through her own mind.

Sansa laid there in Petyr's arms contemplating everything he had said. She felt both safe and completely alone all at the same time. Jon was her brother. Her cousin, but raised as her brother. Could she fault him for something in which he did not know? No, she could not. He had grown up a Stark and a Stark alone. Though Targaryen blood ran through his veins, he did not act like one. He was humble and honorable like their father. No, his uncle. He wasn't a cruel man. Or a mad man. Wouldn't the North recognize that? Wouldn't they still stand behind the man they had only days ago pledged themselves to all while naming him King in the North? A title he had never wanted in the first place. Surely they wouldn't hold what people he never even knew did against him. Would they?

If they did, what would she do? She'd already lost her mother, father, two brothers, and possibly her sister. Was she willing to abandon one of her two surviving brothers for the people of the North? Would they even accept her, her being a girl and all? She was still unmarried. If she was to have a chance at going up against Jon, if it came down to that, she would fair better if she was married to Petyr first. He was Lord of the Vale and had more men in his army than Jon had left in his.

Her mind was over worked and under rested. Sansa closed her eyes and let sleep take her just as the first light of morning shone through the window. She hoped, as her last coherent thoughts crossed her mind, that clairity would find her once she had some rest.