Selfish // Sandor Clegane

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐗𝐋

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𝐀 𝐌𝐄𝐄𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐖𝐀𝐒 to take place in a short time and I hardly got myself to change from my position next to my son. We go for our daily walk through the stables to greet Stranger, then walk back to be just in time for the meeting.

"We can't defend the North from the Walkers and the South from the Boltons" Jon declares "if we want to survive we need Winterfell and to take Winterfell we need more men"

"Aside from the Starks and the Boltons, the most powerful houses in the North are the Umbers, the Karstarks and the Manderlys. The Umbers and the Karstarks" Davos moves the Umber and Karstark foces on the map next to the Bolton ones "have already declared for the Boltons, so we're not doing so well there"

"The Umbers gave Rickon to our enemies. They can hang. But the Karstarks declared for Ramsay without knowing they had another choice" my sister explains

"I beg your pardon, my lady, but they know that a Stark beheaded their father. I don't think we can count on them either" Davos reasons

"How well do you know the North, Ser Davos?"

"Precious little, my lady"

"My father always said Northeners are different. More loyal, more suspicious of outsiders" Sansa continued to argue

"They may well be loyal, but how many rose up against the Boltons when they betrayed your family?" Davos keeps trying to prove his point "I may not know the North, but I know men. They're more or less the same in any corner of the world and even the bravest of them don't want to see their wives and children skinned for a lost cause. If Jon's going to convince them to fight alongside him, they need to believe it's a fight they can win"

"There are more than three other houses in the North-Glover, Mormont, Cerwyn, Mazin, Hornwood" Jon enumerates the names of other houses "Two dozen more. Together they equal all the others. We can start small and build"

"The North remembers. They remember the Stark name, people will still risk everything for it from White Harbor to Ramsay's own door"

"I don't doubt it" Davos agrees with Sansa "But Jon doesn't have the Stark name"

"No, but I do and so does Danya, her son Brandon is the grandson of Ned and Catelyn Stark's first born and Jon is every bit as much Ned Stark's son as Ramsay is Roose Bolton's. And there are alto the Tullys. They're not Northern but they will back us against the Boltons without question"

"I didn't know the Tullys still had an army"

"My uncle, the Blackfish has reformed it and retaken Riverrun"

"How do you know that?" Jon asks

"Ramsay received a raven before I escaped Winterfell" But the look in Sansa's eye made me doubt her statement. It sounded like Littlefiger's work

"That's good. The Blackfish is a legend. His support would mean a great deal" Davos rose from his seat "Stark, Tully, a few more houses. Almost starts to look like a winning side" Sansa smiles at his statement

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𝐁𝐄𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐖𝐄 𝐋𝐄𝐅𝐓, Tormund asked if it was needed for him to stay behind and watch over Bran while I was away with Jon and Sansa, explaining to me how he had two daughters he was pretty good on caring for, yet I declined his offer, telling him I might consider it later, not now. Bran was coming with us.

I was sure of the fact that he'll be called a bastard, an illegitimate. Might be what they see, but not what I saw. I take one look at him and I see Sandor's son, my son, a Stark. The cold seemed unfit to me too, for a babe of almost four months at first, however it reminded me of how he survived in my belly for so many months in this freezing weather, as I was almost starving, how he strived on coming into this world to me.

And there he sat, in my hands, atop of Stranger, wrapped in a bundle of furs that remained unused after Sansa gifted me and Jon new cloaks that were designed like father's.

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