Rivers of Fire and Blood

Sansa IX

Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to the Ice and Fire Novels, Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon TV shows. However, I decided to have a little play around with the characters. I do not earn any money from writing these stories, it is for my entertainment and is something I like to share.

The mysterious Hibbold could not be found. This did not surprise Sansa as she had never heard of the man. Those who had been setting up the party to White Harbour were fairly new and did not know all of the names of the senior ranking guards. Whoever this Hibbold person was, they'd installed themselves into the guards to become a familiar enough face to the new people. Therefore they'd left with only two outriders and what was left of the Dothraki were prepared for the wheelhouse and subsequently prepared an ambush. There had been two other Dothraki, but Jon had killed them using Drogon. This knowledge that someone from inside the castle had betrayed them, put everyone on high alert, which Sansa, as Queen needed to resolve.

Jon took Tyrion and Ranny to the Mad Prendos on dragonback, along with eight sailors and some of their belongings. They were to start getting the ship readied for Ser Davos, who Jon notified on the way back. While he made three trips on the first day, Sansa was in her solar sorting out to rotas with Arya, Tormund and Strygga, as they would be the ones in charge.

"Who'd want to attack my mother and Tyrion?" Strygga asked.

"If you asked who wouldn't want to attack Tyrion Lannister, then you'd get a shorter answer." Arya replied as she looked around. "Why is Maester Wolkan not here?" she asked.

"Because he rarely deals with the military side of matters." Sansa told her. "Which is going to be part of your new role when we get back." she explained.

"What is my new role?" Arya folded her arms.

"Mistress of Whisperers is one role, but you will also be Mistress of Laws and Justice." Sansa explained. "If Jon is away, you would be the one to deal with military matters as they form part of the guard. I am considering taking some of the soldiers and turning them into something like the Kings Landing city guard, except they are simply guarding the town from external forces."

"Ugh, what for? Wintertown?" Arya asked.

Sansa nodded. "It is more about keeping an eye on who is coming and going under your watch as Mistress of Whisperers. I will need you to choose your men carefully. You will need only sixteen. Four on each watch, four watches on rotation. I want these men to have their ears to the ground and know everything that is going on." she explained.

"Nobody is going to tell them anything if they think they will be in trouble, or are likely to get their neighbour in trouble." Arya argued.

"They might if they think there are possibly Dothraki still around." Sansa insisted.

"Not much four soldiers can do against the Dothraki." Tormund grunted. "You're gonna need a lot more than that to make the people believe that is what they are there for."

"He's right." Arya nodded. "I want forty men. That should be enough to cover injuries and give people confidence. The people will feel comfortable if they think they are being protected. The townsfolk can be quite chatty with the right people under the right circumstances, having a few of them around at any given time will help them blend in." Arya shrugged.

"Alright." Sansa nodded, she'd expected Arya to barter for more, and if truth be told, Sansa had expected her sister to want more than forty, which she had already accounted for, but if Arya could make do with forty that would be better as these were coming out of the castle guards. "Arya, I am going to want you and I to go through every one of the guards at Winterfell for this role."