Author's Notes: Hello everyone, glad you waited, here we go and as always I own nothing.
The King moved the army as close as he dared, halting just beyond bow-shot of the walls of Winterfell. He first set up a line of men equipped with shields to shield those behind them, those behind the shield-bearers men equipped with shovels began digging trenches, throwing the dirt into line in front of the trench. The trench extended in a half circle around the front of Winterfell but Sir Strongspear had told that was not going to happen. While that would be the course of action during most sieges, in order to cut off supply lines in an effort to starve the defenders into surrendering, but that would not happen here.
"Why not?" Sansa had asked.
"Because his Grace does not have time. The land around here will not provide sufficient forage to feed the army for long. Since House Manderly has sworn itself to the King we could send to White Harbor for supplies but with the weather being as it is barges may not be able to bring up supplies in sufficient quantities. Assuming that White Harbor has enough supplies to send. The city is rich but it is also full of refugees and they eat rather a lot." Just then one of the King's knights came up to her, interrupting her recollection of the conversation.
"My lady, the King wishes to speak with you." Sansa nodded her acknowledgement and followed him to the King's tent.
Once there she found the King and another man with him. She recognized him immediately, though it had been some time since she had seen him. The Greatjon Umber. His gruff face broke into a broad grin when he saw her.
"My lady! It does my heart good to see you again!" He advanced on her and for a moment she feared that he intended to embrace her. Fortunately, he did not, he stopped just short of her and gave a deep bow.
"Have no fear my lady, we shall take back your home and hang that bastard Bolton up by his own black guts. Begging my lady's pardon." The last bit added in a hasty and somewhat apologetic tone.
"I have a somewhat hotter fate in store for Bolton." The King said dryly, at that Umber laughed.
"Aye your Grace. That will be a sight to see and no mistake." The King then turned to Sansa.
"Lady Sansa, I wish to return to the Wall as soon as possible once Winterfell is taken. It is to be hoped that the deaths of Bolton and his bastard will end resistance to my rule in the North but if not then I will have to take the Dreadfort before I return to the Wall. In either event the army will be no place for women. I plan to send my wife and daughter to White Harbor, they may pass the winter there in some comfort. You may accompany them if you wish, Shireen would be glad of the company."
"And the Lady Melisandre?" Sansa asked. A look came over the King's face.
"The Lady Melisandre shall remain with me, I left her behind before the Battle of Blackwater and I suffered the worst defeat of my life. I will not make that mistake again." Sansa did not like the sound of that but she was unwilling to risk his anger by speaking ill of the woman, however much Sansa disliked her.
"You are very king your Grace but I must decline. Winterfell is my home and I would look weak to my people if I were to seen fleeing to the comfort of White Harbor as winter sets in." The King stared at her for a moment and Sansa felt the urge to squirm under his scrutiny but after a moment he merely nodded and then turned back to Umber, his mind clearly on other matters and Sansa clearly dismissed, she bowed and departed.
The King held a counsel that night but Sansa was not invited to attend it, though Alysane did attend. Sansa went to her uncle's tent and waited for him to return. It was late in the night, near the Hour of the Wolf, before at last he returned. He was clearly tired but he did not object to answering her questions.
"The King has sent a message to Lord Wylis Manderly, ordering him to construct and send siege engines as quickly as he can." At the mention of Lord Wylis Sansa felt the urge to flinch at the memory of the fate of Lord Wyman Manderly, whose body it had been that they had found once the reached Winterfell. The King had held as elaborate a funeral as he could and many of the men from White Harbor had wept openly and many had openly vowed vengeance against the Boltons. Her uncle's words interrupted her thoughts.
"I fear that we can do little while we wait for them to arrive. We have no siege engines that can breach the walls and we have no ladders with which we can go over the walls, though the King has sent men to the Wolfswoods to build ladders." Here he paused and gave a humorless chuckle; "I fear your ancestors built their home a little too well."
"Is there no other way to take Winterfell?" Sansa asked.
"There are, but none which are practical here. We could attempt to drive a mine under the walls of Winterfell and attempt to bring down a portion of the walls. However; the ground is frozen and it would take months to drive a mine, if it could be done at all. The Boltons have sealed the gates so there is no chance to infiltrate Winterfell. As I said we have no ladders tall enough to breach the walls and we will not till the men sent to the Wolfswood return."
"And when will that be?"
"To be honest I am not sure, soon I hope. We cannot stay here forever, we don't have the supplies for that and the King is eager to return to the Wall to face…what is waiting there." Sansa merely nodded, she too did not want to think about the foe which was descending on them from the North.
"The King ordered the building of ladders, though I am not sure how much good they will do."
"What do you mean?"
"The scouts report that there are high snowbanks around the walls of Winterfell. That would make it difficult to set up ladders, especially since they will doubtless be under fire from the walls all the while. The only way I can see that we can take Winterfell is to storm the gate and bash it down with a ram. No matter how this happens I fear that we shall suffer heavy loses." Sansa, though she had not training in military tactics, could not help but agree.
Sansa had learned about sieges from being on the receiving end during the Battle of Blackwater, now she learned about sieges from the perspective of the attackers. She soon found it to be very boring, there really was nothing to do all day but wait for the siege engines to arrive from White Harbor and the wood from the Wolfswood. While the King kept parties of men busy digging and expanding the trenches, including driving in stakes. Sansa, on the other hand, had little to do to pass the time. The Queen was still shunning her, a fact which would have hurt once, now it only made Sansa glad that she had chosen to remain in Winterfell.
At times she would go off with Alysane and Yara and practice with her bow. Alysane was not much of an archer, preferring sword and axe, but Yara was like her brother and a skilled, archer. Sansa found that she did not like to practice for long as it made her muscles hurt but she found that she was slowly improving. On one of these excursions she brought up what had been troubling her since she had first started to think about it.
"Do you think the assault will succeed?" This she addressed to both of the other women.
"I am not sure my lady." Alysane replied. "Such things are always risky affairs, especially now, with the weather being the way it is now. I fear that if we do not succeed in the first attempt we will not have the strength to try again." A little ways off Yara snorted.
"You Greenlanders, you think so much about sieges and ladders and all the rest when the answer is right in front of you."
"What are you talking about?" Alysane demanded, a note of irritation in her voice.
"My brother was a fool in many, but he was smart in one regard. When he took Winterfell he did not assault the place, he slipped in over the walls. The King should attempt that."
"It didn't work on you." Sansa said, her mind going back to the men she had lost in the assault on Deepwood Motte. Yara made a dismissive gesture.
"That was against Ironborn, of course it would fail. Against fellow Greenlanders, who knows? It likely has a better chance to succeed than all this talk of siege engines."
"Siege engines brought down the walls of your family castle." Sansa said, her father had not spoken often of what had happened on the Iron Island but Sir Roderick had told the boys about it. Arya had wanted to listen in but their mother had shooed them off, but not before they caught a few things.
"That was different. They had proper siege engines with them, not whatever will come from White Harbor or anything they manage to cobble together from the trees that they will be bringing back." Sansa did not know what to say to that. What she did know was the King was highly unlikely to take advice on military matters, or anything else for that matter, from women, particularly one from the Iron Islands.
Several days later the men returned from the Wolfswood and the construction of ladders. Sansa sensed a growing nervous in the camp, the assault was imminent and everyone knew it. Word had come that the barges bringing the siege engines from White Harbor had been delayed by the weather and they did not know when they would arrive. The council, according to her uncle, was divided. One side wanted to storm Winterfell with the ladders while others wanted to wait for the engines to arrive before mounting the assault. Sansa had asked which side of the argument the Lady Melisandre was on. Strangely she had said nothing during the entire council, a fact which Sansa found suspicious and unsettling.
That night Sansa was awakened by the sounds of shouting. Hurrying out into the snow she saw flames billowing up from a section of the camp. All around her men ran about, some trying to fight the fire others yelling that they were being attacked. Sansa tried to learn what had happened but no one seemed to know for sure. The next morning she learned the truth: the enemy had slipped from Winterfell and had burned not only the ladders but also the majority of the army's supplies.
An emergency council was called and this time Sansa attended, she was not sure if she was welcome or not but it was clear that there were more important matters on the minds of those attending. Of even greater concern to those present than the destruction of the ladders was the loss of the supplies. It was clear that what they had left was nowhere near enough to see to the needs of the army. There may be supplies in Winterfell but without the ladders an assault could not mounted. Even if they were to abandon the siege and head either to the Wall or White Harbor many would not make it. It was clear that the council was on the edge of panic and none were sure what to do. It was then that Lady Melisandre made her move. Turning to the King she said in a voice that Sansa could barely hear.
"Your Grace, this is a sign. You have appealed to the false gods of the North and you have suffered disaster. If you wish to win this battle you must appeal to the Lord of Light. But you have offended him and a great sacrifice will be needed." Sansa did not know what the other woman was talking about but the King clearly did and was not happy.
"We have discussed this!" He hissed at her and Sansa had never heard such vehemence in the man's voice.
"I know it is difficult your Grace," Lady Melisandre said, in sympathetic yet insistent tone of voice. "But think of what is at stake, great gifts are not granted without great sacrifice." The King was clearly disturbed but said no more for the rest of the council.
The exchange had disturbed Sansa, for the King to hesitate it must clearly be something terrible indeed, terrible enough that she knew that she did not want it to succeed. But though she did not know what to do to stop it. It all came down to the problem of supplies, or rather their lack of them. She could not summon supplies from thin air. But perhaps she could get them another way. She was not particularly fond of Yara but the woman was correct, perhaps Winterfell could be taken without the need for ladders.
She did not know if it would work but she could see no other way. Still, even in this situation it was highly unlikely that the King would be willing to take advice from a women who knew nothing of military matters. She needed someone who would be willing to listen to her and at the same time be willing to undertake such a dangerous mission. And she had just the man for it. She walked through the camp till she came to the tent of the Greatjon Umber. The man was drinking with some of his men but they all rose when she entered the tent.
"My lady." Umber said.
"Lord Umber." Sansa said. "Might I have a word with you in private?"
"Of course my lady." He turned to the others. "Alright you lot, go starve somewhere else." With slight bows the men left the tent.
"How may I be of service my lady?"
"As you know, the situation is grim. We have insufficient supplies to stay or go and no means of taking Winterfell. So a though has occurred to me. We might take a page from our enemy's book. When the traitor Theon took Winterfell he did not do it with ladders or engines, he scaled the walls with ropes." She paused and looked Umber full in the face. "Tell me Lord Umber, are you as daring as an Ironborn?" She felt guilty manipulating him but she needed this to happen. It was a lesson she had learned from the Queen in her time in King's Landing, if you wanted a man to do something always appeal to his ego and make him think his manhood would be called into question. Here it seemed to work. Umber drew himself up to his full height, a proud look on his face.
"Indeed you can my lady. It looks like another storm is coming soon. Once it hits me and some of the lads will go over the wall and have the gates open before the Boltons and the rest know what is going on."
"I am very grateful Lord Umber, as would my father and brother if they were still alive." She paused, as if considering something before she spoke again.
"It might be wise if you told the King about the plan. He is more likely to listen to council from military matters from you than from me."
"Of course my lady. I shall speak to him at once." As he left the tent Sansa smiled at his back. Things had gone just as she had hoped. If all went according to plan Winterfell would be theirs, the Red Woman's plans, whatever they were, would be foiled and this would help secure the loyalty of her lords to her. All she needed was for the plan to work.
Author's Notes: Hey everyone, well it's longer. The next chapter will be the battle itself and that will pretty much be whole chapter in itself so I ended it here. What did you think of it, do you like cunning, manipulative Sansa? Till next time please pray for the Pakistani Christians, including the disabled man who claims he was tortured into confessing to a crime he did not commit. The sick, those unjustly held and all who need prayer, including some relatives of mine who are sick or in the hospital. Bye and may Jesus bless you.