Her betrothed is no politician. He speaks plainly and out of terms often at court, questioning the Queen’s military tactics and spending whenever the opportunity arises. The newly appointed Lord of the Reach cares little for the Dragon Queen’s favor, an opinion that differs from most men. Sansa had heard about his father’s execution, has caught a glimpse of the scars on Lord Dickon’s forearm and hand– hideous, leathery things he’d acquired while trying to save his father’s life. It is no wonder he harbors resentment for their new monarch. Sansa often wonders if burns from dragon fire hurt long after the tissue has healed. She has never had the nerve to ask.
Perhaps she will, once they are married. Perhaps he’ll even answer. He speaks so little to her, even after their engagement was announced. That isn’t to say Lord Tarly has been unkind. Quite the opposite, really. He is always so very polite to Sansa, pulling out chairs and escorting her around the Keep during her walks from one meeting to the next. The match is agreeable and far better than her last two. Still, Sansa is a woman grown now, with a sharp mind and tongue. She will share no insightful conversations with her future husband, of that she is sure. But there are worse things than boredom. Sansa knows better than most, and if that is her only complaint then she is a lucky girl, indeed.
It was Sansa who first suggested the marriage. Jon had opposed, of course. He hadn’t wanted to marry her off so soon after the Night King’s defeat, had wanted to keep her North until winter thawed. She had explained the potential of such a match – the north was in desperate need of food, as the glass gardens were not yet restored. The Reach’s harvests were still plentiful and could feed Winterfell and its inhabitants for years. She had met Dickon briefly in the capital as a girl, and then again once he marched north to help defeat the Night King. He’d seemed dull, but was handsome and in need of a wife. Even as Lord of the Reach, his proposals were few and far between. Families were not eager to marry their daughters off to a man known for his tenuous relationship with the Mother of Dragons. But Sansa had no family to care for such things. Bran had gone beyond the wall once more, Arya was off in the Stormlands aiding Lord Gendry Baratheon in the reclaiming of his rightful home, and Jon now served as Warden of the North upon his agreement with Queen Danaerys, which Sansa had drafted many moons prior. She was a woman grown, twice married and once widowed, but still youthful and in prime childbearing years. If a union with Dickon Tarly would feed the north, then Sansa would have that union.
When the idea was presented to the Queen, Danearys had been delighted. Anything tying the North and South together was encouraged by the monarch, as whispers of independence still lingered. Sansa received many petitions that the North secede and name her Queen. They came less frequently now that the engagement was drawing to an close, but often enough that the Dragon Queen still feared Sansa’s presence in the north. It would do well for her rule if Sansa went south, now that Jon had been publicly acknowledged as Danearys’ nephew and heir. Sansa’s second son would bear the name Stark, of course, to continue on the oldest lineage in Westerosi history and keep the small folk happy. Little Eddard or Brandon or Robb would be fostered by Jon before inheriting Winterfell, and Jon’s future children would be fostered by Danearys and take over the throne upon her demise. It was a brilliant scheme, to be sure. Westeros would be whole, with familial connections that stretched across the continent. Danearys almost wished to keep Sansa in King’s Landing, just to have such a sharp mind on hand. But such a thing would null the arrangement entirely, and so to Horn Hill Sansa will go.
// canon divergent, some stuff will probably be inaccurate but 🤷♀️
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