Author's Notes: Hey everyone, glad you liked the last chapter, I own nothing. SPOILER WARNING: Some slight spoilers from the books, not in the show.
The next few days were a blur of chaos and confusion. Word of the Stannis's death had spread to the other lords and a flurry of ravens were soon arriving at Winterfell demanding to know what she was planning on doing and all of them being more than ready to share their opinions on the matter. Some were of the opinion that she should immediately send word to Daenerys Targaryen and seek to ally with her. With the King gone the Baratheon cause was lost and it would be better to yield of their own accord, Sansa might even be able to keep her lands and titles if she were to deliver the North to her without forcing her to bring her army up north. Maester Wolkan seemed to support this course of action; he pointed out that her ancestor had yielded to Daenerys's ancestor. That act had spared his people and allowed him to retain lordship of the North. The only dissenting voice had been that of the Greatjon.
Lord Umber once again raised the possibility of the Northern independence. He was the only one to raise this possibility and Sansa did not give it any serious thought. She had no desire to lead her people into another war and cause more deaths among them. It was not truly a realistic option in any event, the North had had its strength bled nearly dry by the War of the Five Kings and with the threat from the Others approaching the North could not afford to spend what little strength it had left, especially with the matter of the Golden Company to be dealt with. They would be arriving soon, if they had not done so already and Sansa had no desire for a large, now unemployed, army of sellswords running unchecked in her lands. However; even if she were to call her banners at once the weather would prevent they from assembling and intervening before they did much damage and even in victory there would be many deaths. She voiced her concerns to Wolkan one night as Silver Fang slept in the corner.
"If I may offer you my advice, my lady, I have a suggestion that might provide you a way out of this situation." Sansa made a motion with her hand for him to continue.
"By all means, I find that I could use some advice right now."
"I see two courses of action by which violence could be avoided. It may be sensible to approach the leaders of the Golden Company with an offer. They are sellswords and they have to know that they cannot defeat the Targaryen queen alone. If you were to offer to pay for them to return to Essos, where they will soon find new employment, you may be able to persuade them to return to where they came from."
Sansa thought about that for a moment, a slight frown on her face. She did not know much about such things, but she knew that the Golden Company were incredibly expensive. While the numbers on the papers that she tried to read and sign every day rarely stuck, enough did to make her wonder if she could afford hire them and pay for their return to Essos. To give herself time to consider this she turned back to Maester Wolkan.
"And the other option?" Sansa asked. He seemed to gather his thoughts for a moment and then began to speak.
"The other may be a bit more complicated my lady, though possibly more beneficial to you and may help to ensure that you can maintain your position."
"Go on." Sansa prompted.
"It is true that the Golden Company was founded by enemies of the Dragon Queen's house; however, both the founders of the Golden Company and the members of House Targaryen with whom they had grievances with are all dead.
"The Queen has stated that she desires to establish peace with all the people of Westeros. If you were to convince members of the Golden Company that you would speak on their behalf to the Queen to allow them to stay in Westeros, then you could bring a powerful, disciplined force that could aid her in subduing the strongholds of those who continue to oppose her."
"And how does this aid me?"
"If you were to present her with both the Golden Company and the North itself, all without violence, then that would demonstrate to her that you are an asset and that it would be beneficial to retain you in your current position." He paused for a moment, as if reluctant to say what he was going to say next.
"It would also be of benefit to you if you were to tell Lord Manderly to seize Stannis's wife and child and hand them over to the Queen to bring the Stormlands to heel." Sansa saw the benefits of this course of action, though the issue of the King's family gave her pause. Before she could come to a decision, they were interrupted. A nock sounded at the door and a servant entered and bowed.
"Forgive my intrusion my lady," he said with a bow. He then turned to Maester Wolkan.
"Maester Wolkan, a raven just arrived. It is in the rookery. Maester Wolkan rose and bowed to Sansa.
"Forgive me my lady, I must go and see to it. If the message is important I shall bring it to your attention." With that he was gone.
Once he was gone Sansa rose and went over to scratch Silver Fang's ears. He grunted contentedly, but did not awaken. Sansa smiled at him.
"Lazy brute aren't you?" His only reply was another grunt. Just then there was another nock on the door. Thinking it was Maester Wolkan, though she did not think that he could have gone to the rookery and returned in so short a time. It was not Maester Wolkan, it was Sir Massey. He gave one of his bows, as fine as that of any courtiers in King's Landing.
"My lady, it is a bit late, but I was wondering if I might have a word with you." Knowing that she would have to discuss the matter of him and the other Stannis loyalists sooner or later, she let him in. He had brought a flask of wine and he poured it into two cups, offering one to her. As she drank the honeyed wine he began to talk.
"Things have changed my lady and we must decide how we are going to best weather it." He looked as if he was going to say more, but he was interrupted by the door bursting open. Standing in the doorway was Maester Wolkan, a message in his hand.
"My la…" before he could say anything else Sir Massey turned on him. A dagger appeared as if by magic and buried itself in the maester's belly.
Sansa shot to her feet, or tried to. Her legs suddenly felt weak and she staggered and had to grab the arm of the chair to steady herself. She tried to cry out to the guards, to Silver Fang or to use her abilities on Sir Massey but words would not come and her mind was growing fuzzy and she could not focus. Despite her efforts her strength gave out and darkness took her as she fell to the floor.
Author's Notes: Hey everyone, did you like it? Told you things were going to be happening. Till next time please pray for those missing, those held against their will and all those who need prayer. Bye and may Jesus bless you.