#atlayb

all that’s left are your bones - post finale canon divergence, jonsa

Chapter: 2/? Pairings: Jon Snow/Sansa Stark Summary:

A raven flies North.

The King of Westeros has need of a Stark once more.

- or -

A reluctant king must learn to rule.

preview

Now a different king sat on whatever was left of the Iron Throne, but Sansa continued to armor herself with words as weapons, and her fabrics as her shields. Never mind the fact that Ser Brienne - and the three knights she had insisted on bringing along - made her feel safe. Never mind the fact that Sansa had irretrievable proof that Jon Snow Targaryen would do anything for his family.

He was the king. It was a fact that Sansa would not easily forget, not when she had fought so viciously, for him to be acknowledged as such. She knew he bore her little gratitude for it, but Sansa had decided long ago, that how her family chose to regard mattered little to her, so long as they were alive to regard her at all. Perhaps it was another one of the sickly sweet lies she told herself to swallow it down, and let her drift off to sleep at night. Sansa told herself many lies, and had begun to forget where they began and ended. It was possible that she did care what her once bastard brother thought of her, and loathed whatever resentment he might hold in his heart toward her. But Sansa didn't allow herself to dwell on it. Jon Snow Targaryen was the king of the Six Kingdoms.

But he was no longer her king.

And yet, here she was, leaving Winterfell behind, and riding South once more. Sansa had thought, in a moment of wild rebellion, born from anger and pain and rejection and sorrow, to swear to herself that she would never ride South again. Vows and oaths had never done Sansa any good. The only person to ever keep a vow to Sansa, was the woman riding at her right side. And few men or women were as good as Ser Brienne of Tarth.

Chapters: 3/? Pairings: Jon Snow/Sansa Stark Summary: 

A raven flies North.

The King of Westeros has need of a Stark once more.

- or -

A reluctant king must learn to rule.

preview

Tension was coiled tight in Sansa's belly as she made her way through the restored Red Keep, though she fought to keep her limbs loose and delicate, rather than drawn tight to her sides in some meager form of protection. It mattered not that Brienne, Podrick, and three other Winterfell guards shadowed Sansa's every step. The lack of dragons and lions did nothing to soothe her nerves. Even the differences, noticeable though they were, did nothing to hide where Sansa truly was. If she allowed her eyes to sweep across the castle floor, she would be able to count of at least three places where her own blood had dripped onto the cold stones after Joffrey demanded his Kingsguard members strike her. Sansa had developed a great distaste for signets as a result.

Nightmares seemed to lurk like wolves around every corner of the Red Keep, snarling, vicious things, but Sansa walked with her head held high, her visage giving no impression that she was haunted in these halls. The walls had eyes and ears here in the South, and Sansa had little doubt that many had taken it upon themselves to arrange to watch the Northern Queen's every move, whether it was to benefit themselves, or simply to take stock of her mettle. Sansa could not afford to be seen as weak, no matter what beastly horrors this place represented. Besides, she was no stranger to walking through a castle of torments. Winterfell had nightmares of its own, and some days Sansa thought she would go mad amongst the silence of the ghosts that still lingered.

To the people of the South, Sansa Stark was largely untested. She had the name, but little else, it seemed, to Southron lords and ladies. Sansa had expected as much upon ascending to the newly created Northern throne, but the confirmation had stung all the same. To those in the South still alive to remember her, Sansa had been the pitiable hostage of the Lannisters, the plaything of Joffrey who was brought out for the amusement of him and his court. Little was known of her after her escape. Though her marriage to Tyrion had been annulled, and her innocence in Joffrey's death had been made official early on in Jon's reign, the Lannister propaganda machine had thoroughly damaged whatever reputation Sansa had, south of the Neck. It was nothing that could not be undone, but it had already affected the North.