Author's Notes: Hello everyone, sorry that it has been so long since I last updated, been working on other things and hit a bit of a rut with this one, I hope that this will make up for that. As always I don't own this.
Once Barth departed Sansa could do nothing but wait and hope that he did not discover her deception, for the most part. She found that part of her did hope that she would never see Barth or shade of the evening ever again. The visions that she had seen still haunted her and thinking on them gave her nightmares. She could live happily without ever having to see more visions, which she was certain would not be any better. But she had a duty. Winter was firmly upon them. Looking out the window all Sansa could see was snow which was now falling almost constantly. While some travel was still possible, for the majority of the people were trapped where they were and many whispered that the winter would be a long one and that it would be a hard one. Sansa agreed that it would be hard and thinking of what was to come she was not sure that it would ever end.
The latest raven from Jon had told her that no more Wildlings had come south to the Wall and he did not believe that there would be anymore, none living anyway. For those who had made their way to the Wall the majority of them now guarded the very wall which they had once tried to breach. Once, after several cups of wine, Sansa had commented to no one in particular that her father would be turning in his grave if he could see how things had changed. She had then realized what she had just said and had felt bad for several hours. However; for better or worse, she did not have time to indulge in such feelings.
Her duties seemed to have increased with the worsening of the winter. It seemed that, despite her commandments to the contrary, had failed to stockpile sufficient supplies of food and more than one lordling wrote a humble letter to Winterfell begging for aid. The first time Sansa received such a missive she had thrown the letter to the ground and had been half willing to let him suffer for his poor choice, but Maester Dontin, the replacement sent by the Citadel. A man of middle years and height and sporting a prodigious girth. All this combined to give him the look of a kindly and slightly silly uncle, but this was misleading. When the situation called for it he was capable of being extremely firm and, if not exactly eloquent, persuasive. Sansa had learned this when she had voiced her half-desire to leave the lordling and any others found in the similar situation, to their fate.
"My Lady," he had told her; "That would be both unwise and unethical.
"As the Lady of Winterfell and Wardeness of the North you are duty-bound to protect and aid them."
"Even from their own foolishness?" She had demanded in exasperation. He had nodded in confirmation, though he had had a sympathetic expression on his face.
"I fear so, My Lady. In a way I suppose that it is rather like being a parent. Your people may anger and frustrate you, but you still must protect them. There is also, like I said, a practical matter.
"This is going to be a hard winter, on that everyone agrees. They're afraid and if they see you abandon your people, even if there is cause, they will worry that you will abandon them as well. This is especially true, if you will forgive me for saying so, because you are a woman. Many may think you weak and hold the position that you do only because of the King's efforts to win the favor of the Northern lords by placing the only surviving child of Lord Eddard. So, if you refuse to help they will say you are displaying a woman's weakness.
"You must also consider the implications of abandoning them in the future. Winter may be long, but it will not last forever. You will still have to rule over them and when the times are good they will remember that you did not help them when times were hard. There are those who remember your brother and blame him for his handling of the War, this has bred some resentment against your family.
"That resentment was reduced by the rule of the Boltons, as it stirred nostalgia for Stark rule. But, should you be seen to abandon people in time of need, then you risk that resentment returning and you risk a rebellion, one you may only be able to suppress with the aid of the King, justifying those who say you are only his puppet." His words convinced her and while she continued to express frustration with the requests for such aid she received, but she met them as best she could from her not-endless supplies.
These and other issues, each seeming to be attempting to outdo each other in their efforts to either enrage her or convince her that the world was coming to an end and that prospect was not wholly a bad thing. Earlier she had found escape from this, at least temporarily, in riding out with Silver Fang in the lands surrounding Winterfell. However; as the weather continued to worsen, this became a less and less frequent option. Trapped within the walls of Winterfell Sansa found that, no matter how hard or long she worked, she still had energy enough to feel confined and restless. She had tried to employ this by learning what she could about the threat which they now faced.
She went to the Winterfell library, a place she had rarely gone to save for lessons prior to going to King's Landing, in an effort to learn what she could of the coming foe and also to see if there was anything to be learned of her strange abilities, something that she had had little chance to practice for fear that someone would see her. Unfortunately, she found very little in the books on either subject and what was the authors clearly saw as little more than myths and legends. Furthering complicating things was the fact that Sansa had never been overly fond of reading anything besides the stories of knights and ladies and reading history books made her head hurt. At last she gave up and set Maester Dontin to the task, though he, like many southerners, did not believe in the White Walkers and clearly regarded it as being nothing more than a silly Northern superstition.
Far more pleasurable was the time Sansa found herself with Mally. One day, an effort to take her mind off of her troubles, Sansa had gone out to the courtyard to practice her archery, something that she had not had time to do for some time. A fact made clear by how far off the mark some of her shots were. She was growing frustrated when she heard a laugh behind her. Turning she saw Mally standing behind her.
"I can see why the Lord Crow wanted us. A blind man could steal you." Though the words were mocking, Sansa did not sense any malice in them. This helped smother the flash of anger which Sansa felt and she found herself smiling as well.
"Perhaps." She looked around and saw that they were alone.
"Where are the others?" Mally shrugged.
"Igra and Herra are off sparring somewhere, like they always are and Gjanna is off somewhere glowering at that giantess of yours."
"I am not sure that Brienne would appreciate being called that." She paused and then spoke again.
"Can you show what I am doing wrong?" Mally smiled. After that their friendship thrived.
In addition to archery Mally taught Sansa some of the Wildling songs. These were about as different from the songs of the south as it was possible to be and Mally would have starved if she tried to live as a singer south of the Neck. Nevertheless, the songs appealed to Sansa in a way that none of the songs of her childhood had. There was more than just singing.
Mally loved everything about Winterfell, its halls, its walls all of it, having never seen stone buildings before crossing the Wall. Sansa found herself as a kind of tour guide. Mally also was fascinated by the bright colors and fabrics of Sansa's clothing. Sansa found herself thinking of Mally like the little sister that she wished that she had had, one interested in the same things which she was. That made her think of Arya, who she had not heard from for some time. She found herself worrying more and more about what had happed to her. So she was both pleased and surprised when Arya suddenly turned up. She had returned to her quarters for the night and had just shut the door when she turned around and found her sister sitting in the chair by the desk.
Author's Notes: Hey everyone, sorry that it has been so long. To be honest I am not sure what to do with this story at times. I hoped that you liked it and I will try to update sooner next time. Till then please pray for Axel Dennis and all who need prayer. Bye and may Jesus bless you.