Ned.
As Ned made his way to the Great Hall, his mind was whirling with thoughts of what he needed to do next. Speaking with Old Nan was one of the first things that needed to be done; she was the oldest of all the people in Winterfell and was a living encyclopaedia of knowledge when it came to the myths and legends of the North. So if anyone was able to confirm what was happening to Sansa and her memories of the future; if there was anyone whom he could speak with about the Long Night, then it would be Old Nan. But before that, there was the smaller problem of the position of Hand to King and Sansa's betrothal to Joffrey.
'The Prince had me killed... the question of what happened to Robert still remains and I can only make a reasonable assumption that Sansa was mistreated.' The injuries Sansa received on the side of her lips, and the bruising outline caused by strikes from the broad end of a sword on her thigh, along with the bruise on her abdomen – all of which Sansa stated happened in her dream and were caused by a member of the Kingsguard – only added to the concern that she was mistreated in the future.
'Still, seeing those injuries is jarring.' As he walked towards the Hall, his mind went to the possible reasons why Sansa was hidden away as a bastard by Littlefinger.
'And why was she taken to the Vale?' Ned guessed she was taken there because Lysa was her aunt, but the question remained why she was not taken to Winterfell. 'The Northerners would have protected her. She is of the North!' He tried to guess why Sansa wasn't brought to Catelyn and Robb but his attention was redirected towards the sounds of heavy footsteps coming his way. Ned returned his focus to Ser Jamie Lannister walking towards him. Ned still remembered the smug boy sitting on the Iron Throne at the end of the rebellion with the Mad King lying dead at his feet. Ever since then, Ned had thought the man before him now was dishonourable to the core. After all, only a dishonourable knight would kill his own king by stabbing him in the back.
The Knight and the Lord of Winterfell locked eyes with one another before Ned's eyes shifted towards the Queen and her children walking behind her. From the expression on her face, Ned could tell Robert did something to displease her. Pushing all thought of what could have happened in the Great Hall to one corner of his mind, Ned bowed his head when the Queen turned towards him and stopped.
"My Queen," Ned said before he lifted his head, "I apologize for being tardy, but I am afraid there had been an issue with..."
Before the Queen could speak, it was Joffrey who spoke up, "I heard there is something wrong with the girl I am to be betrothed." Ned stared at Joffrey for a short second, his mind repeating Sansa's words that the Prince ordered him to be beheaded. Realizing almost immediately that the Prince expected an answer, Ned quickly replied by saying, "I am afraid Sansa has taken ill, my Prince." He then turned to Cersei and said, "that is why I was late for breaking the fast. I am afraid my wife too is seeing to Sansa's needs, but I am certain that..." Ned stopped when the Queen raised her hand, signalling for him to stop talking.
She then turned her head towards her golden haired brother and said, "Ser Jamie, escort my children back to their rooms." Jamie nodded his head before Cersei turned towards her children, "pack your things. We leave at sun-rise tomorrow."
This was a surprise to Ned; now he definitely knew Robert had said or did something that upset her. And he did not know how to feel about this. Yes, the Queen was beautiful but there was something behind that façade that Ned could not put his finger on, especially after Sansa's revelations. If the Prince was keen on hurting Sansa, then where was the Queen... why didn't she protect Sansa. Ned returned his attention to the situation at hand and said, "my Queen, if you are leaving because of my family and..."
"Walk with me, Lord Stark," Cersei said with what looked like a warm smile. But it was one that brought chills up and down Ned's spine. Cersei turned her head towards Jamie and nodded her head before the Knight motioned towards the children and asked them to follow him. After the children walked past Ned, it was only the Queen and the Knight who Sansa identified as the one who gave her the bruises on her lip, thighs, and abdomen from the memories of her future. Cersei told the Knight – Ned could not remember his name but he was doing everything in his power not to kill him right then and there.
However, the Knight was ordered to remain where he was before the Queen started walking away from the Great Hall. Ned walk alongside her as she said, "I know you are worried about your daughter's well-being, Lord Stark." Ned glanced at her as she fidgeting with her fingers while they walked down the hallway, "I would be if she were my child."
"I am worried," Ned admitted, "as are her mother and siblings."
"Then you would understand that I would do anything to make my children are protected... especially my Joffrey. And for now, your daughter is a threat to his reputation, to the reputation of the Royal Family," Cersei stopped walking and turned towards Ned. Ned was frowning while he stopped as well and turned to face the Queen while she said, "the Royal guard was nearby in the training yard when he heard the screaming from your daughter." Ned closed his eyes as he recalled the event of several minutes ago while nodding his head. The Queen continued, "one of them came to me and reported she was screaming bloody murder... that she was screaming for someone to stop. This guard saw her back was bleeding before being ordered by your Master-of-arms to leave the vicinity. Is that true?"
Ned should have guessed one of the Royal Guardsmen must be a Lannister man. He would have ran up to see what was happening before running off to the Queen. Ned could only mentally sigh at the games the Southerners would play when it came to power. He nodded his head while saying, "Sansa has come on with a sudden bout of an illness that is yet to be identified, your Grace."
"Of course," Cersei replied looking away from Ned, "I realize you love your daughter, so I will call this affliction an illness instead of what it really is..." Ned was holding in his anger as the woman looked back at him with a cold expression on her face before saying, "bouts of sudden madness. It is quite common I have heard." Cersei turned her body towards Ned and said, "I have already informed the King I will not have your daughter marry the Prince." She then stared at the entrance to the Great Hall on the other side of the hallway and sneered, "let him get drunk and stew on what I have told him."
Ned couldn't have asked for a better intervention from the gods as he said, "my daughter will be devastated, my Queen. As will my wife."
Cersei turned her head back towards Ned and nodded her head. She then wordlessly turned away and walked towards the Kingsguard waiting for her a few meters away. Ned walked just behind her for a few seconds before walking past her as she turned towards a staircase with the Kingsguard. While the Queen and the Kingsguard were heading up the stairs, Ned continued on towards the Great Hall as he braced for the reaction from the King.
Taking a deep breath as he neared the entrance to the Great Hall, Ned steadied himself for the yelling he knew was coming from the King.
Sansa
Through the darkness that surrounded her, Sansa could still hear the screams of her older self as Lysa tried to throw her down towards the mountains beneath the Moon Door. She could still see Littlefinger pushing Lysa through the door on the floor after admitting to the slimy man that she was following his instructions when it came to poisoning her husband. In the darkness, Sansa felt despondent – after all, her own aunt tried to kill her, her own aunt killed her husband. Sansa felt as if the memories of the older Sansa were weighing her down... the memories continuing to break every single preconceived notion she had about the world outside the walls of Winterfell and outside the borders of the North. The differences between her preconceived notions about the Prince and the memories of her older self were jarring. The handsome golden-haired boy was really an evil, cruel, boy king who caused her no end of suffering.
Sansa blinked her eyes as she lay in the darkness and thought about Tyrion who, despite his stature and the fact that she would not give him a chance, was still better as a person than Joffrey could ever be. However, there was still a part of Sansa that desired something more... she still had dreams of being wed to a Prince just like in the stories. Even though she now realized the stories were mostly wrong, Sansa still desire a prince. And she immediately felt horrible at how she whined to her mother – she begged her mother to have her and Joffrey wed because she loved him... because she couldn't live without him.
'How could I love such a person,' Sansa thought as she lay floating in the darkness. Suddenly, the darkness faded away and Sansa found herself sitting in a candle lit room with Arya by her side. As before, Sansa couldn't control her body while she watched Ned – who looked afraid, it was jarring to Sansa to see her father look afraid – get on one knee and tell her that she and Arya would board a ship headed to the North the next morning.
Over their objections, he told the two of them to pack their things. Sansa heard herself say that she loved the Prince and that she refused to return to the North. In the meantime, Arya said something about a dancing instructor. The latter confession by Arya made Sansa curious, after all her sister would never be caught dancing. Either way, Sansa heard herself say that it did not matter what Arya wanted.
"I want to marry Joffrey and have his golden-haired children." After she heard herself speak those words, Sansa watched the expression on Ned's face change. There was a look of realization before he told them to go pack. Sansa then found herself walking away in anger out the door and away from the Stark guards who were due to escort them back to their rooms.
Sansa heard herself yelling at the Stark Guards to leave her alone as tears ran down her face. Sansa could feel the anger rising within her at the thought of leaving Kings Landing and the Prince. She then found herself running... her heart racing as she ran in anger while her breathing quickened. She felt her older self's anger at the thought of leaving. She heard her older self thinking that she needed to stop what was about to happen. Soon, much to the young Sansa's shock, she found herself telling the very same Knight who would later beat her in the throne room that she needed to speak to the Queen; that it was extremely urgent.
'No,' younger Sansa thought as the Queen opened the door with a smile after the Knight went in to ask if the Queen wanted to speak to Sansa, 'no... what am I doing? No!' As the younger Sansa tried to control her body... all she just wanted to do was run away from the Queen... her older self walked into the Queen's private chambers. The younger Sansa listened in shock at her older self telling the Queen that Ned wanted to spirit them away to the North in the morning.
"I love the Prince, your Grace," the older Sansa said much to the younger one's shock, "please, stop him." And then the Queen, with a look of what young Sansa believed was false concern, led Sansa to a chair and asked her to explain everything.
And as the older Sansa spoke to the Queen, all the younger Sansa could do was scream out, "NOOOOOO!"
And then Sansa found herself surrounded by darkness all around her once again. It would be a few seconds later that the younger Sansa found herself in her older self's body standing on the battlements as she stared out at the large army of the living moving North towards the direction of the Dreadfort where the final battle would take place. Her eyes then shifted towards the sky and focused on the sight of the dragons flying over the army... protecting it from the air.
Originally, some Commanders of the army advocated for the fight to take place in Winterfell where the castle walls would be able to grant some degree of protecting. However, it was Tyrion who reminded everyone gathered around the map-table in Sansa's solar that legends placed eight thousand years' worth of dead buried in the Winterfell crypts.
Younger Sansa felt her lips whisper "good luck, Jon," before looking away from the army and turning towards Arya who was still staring out into the distance. She watched Arya turn her head towards her before saying, "continue their training, Arya. We need to be prepared."
Arya looked back out towards the army before saying, "do you think we'll win?"
"I can hope," Sansa said as she turned her head towards the massive group moving away from the castle. Her eyes searched for Jon's horse, but he was so far away that Sansa could not make out any one individual. As she took a step back, so did Arya who asked if she was going to be alright. Sansa responded to the question by saying, "I don't know." Sansa then turned towards Arya who pressed her lips together. Arya nodded her head and turned around before walking away from her.
Older Sansa turned back towards the sight of the army and various thoughts went through her mind. Thoughts that the younger Sansa was privy to as well. 'Father once said he would find a Northerner for me to marry... someone who would be vastly better than the prince.' The younger Sansa felt her heart ache as Sansa turned and followed Arya while thinking, 'we should have left Kings Landing that day. I should have stopped being an idiot... instead I went to the Queen and told her what happened... that father wanted to leave.' Sansa's feet crunched the snow beneath her as she walked down the stairs to the courtyard where people still milling about were bowing heads in respect.
Young Sansa was reflecting on her older self's thoughts of what could have been. She would have had a Northern husband, her father may have been alive and safe in Winterfell where the North would be prepared for war after the King's death. As the older Sansa strode in the direction of the godswood, younger Sansa went through the memories of her older self's times with Jon in their later years after arriving at Castle Black with Brianne of Tarth.
'Jon,' younger Sansa thought as darkness enveloped her. She felt a warmth go through her body as she remembered Jon's tight hug at Castle Black, or how he looked out for her despite how she treated him when they were children. 'He was willing to fight for Winterfell... to fight for me... he would have given me the Crown to the North if I asked... he...' The younger Sansa sighed at the thought of herself and Jon; after all, there was a part of her heart that was attracted to the stories of hidden Princes and the maidens who swooned for them. It was similar to the stories of handsome princes and knights who are sung songs of praise.
'A future with Prince Joffrey feels rotten after what I have seen,' younger Sansa thought to herself as the darkness vanished, only to be replaced by a vision of watching both Daenerys and Jon walk off together down the trail towards the castle. The wedding was completed, but there was going to be no feast... at least not yet. As young Sansa watched the crowd in the godswood break away and leave her, Arya, and Bran standing near the Heart Tree, she could only follow the turn of older Sansa's head towards Bran, "Bran, will we win?"
Bran turned her head towards her and said, "the future is blurred, Sansa. I cannot see it."
"How close are the dead to Winterfell?" Arya asked.
"They have already gone past the Dreadfort," Bran answered as older Sansa turned her head towards Jamie Lannister, the Hound, and Brianne all waiting on them while the other guests were some distance away.
The older Sansa took in a deep breath before saying, "Arya, Bran, go with Sers Jamie and Brianne, and the Hound to the Great Hall. It is no feast, but there will be some food."
"And you?" Arya asked as the older Sansa turned towards the white trunked Heart Tree.
"I will be along shortly, Arya," Sansa said as she walked past her and Bran. Unknown to her, Bran and Arya stared at her back as she sat on one of the boulders close to the tree. Bran and Arya then looked at each other before the latter grabbed the handles of the chair and then pushed Bran away. Both the younger and older Sansa's could hear Arya telling Brianne to stay with her until she was ready to return to the castle.
'Why am I staying behind?' the younger Sansa thought just before there was a feeling of regret as the Older Sansa closed her eyes. In the darkness around her, the younger Sansa could hear and see what her older self was thinking.
'I wish this was different,' the older Sansa thought to herself. Young Sansa watched the face on the Heart Tree come back into view just as a new thought... a very strong thought... entered her older self's mind.
"I will find you a good man in the North," her father's voice spoke as the older Sansa imagined, much to the younger Sansa's surprise, facing Jon in front of the Heart tree. But that thought was fleeting. Older Sansa remained staring at the tree for a few more moments as she imagined what could have been... what she hoped could have been had she returned to the North when her father wanted to leave Kings Landing. She believed there would still have been a war of the Five Kings, the destabilization of the Seven Kingdoms, and the fall of the Wall and the coming of Daenerys Targeryen. Somewhere in the back of her mind Sansa suspected that Jon would face similar events at Castle Black and that before long he would still return to Winterfell. But she would have her entire family intact in the North.
Younger Sansa found her older self thinking, 'what if I knew what I know now... would I have behaved differently with Jon. Would I have behaved differently with Arya?' The two Sansa's stared into the eyes of the face of the eyes carved into the tree and imagined, 'I would never experience the torture and degradation at the hands of Joffrey and Ramsey, Arya would not be left alone in Braavos to become a Faceless man, father and Robb and Mother would be alive. Bran would be...' and here the older Sansa's thoughts turned to her younger wheeled-chair bound brother, 'would he still become the Three Eyed Raven?'
But Older Sansa knew one thing though, 'Jon would have been the Prince I longed for.' She then sighed after a few moments before standing up and then turning towards Brianne who took a few steps closer.
"My Lady," the Knight said with her arms by her side.
"Come, Brianne," Sansa said as the thoughts of Jon and what could have been were pushed to the back of her mind, "it is time to eat before... before preparations for war begins."
TBC