The Maiden and the Savage

I: Winter Is Coming

"You must avenge them. It is your duty, as the only living Stark left." Petyr Baelish whispered, gently cupping my face with both of his slender hands. My blood boiled and my heart weighed heavy with the thought of my family being torn apart by traitors who still trod about Westeros, carrying the banners for which they killed to keep. Now , my very soul aches with the need, the desire to avenge my own. The dead seek justice too, and I shall see to it they receive what the world owes to them; even if it means deliberately putting myself in the hands of another as wretched as Joffrey was.

As I looked into my uncle's eyes, I did not need to nod or say a word to communicate my agreement with his words. I made sure he saw the raw, cold hatred within these pale, blue eyes. But at the same time, I wanted to cry and scream out my agony so loud, the dead would want to take me with them to end my pain. I should have joined them back at King's landing, had I stayed any longer. However, it seems as though the gods are not done with their games yet.

I've seen the gods play their amusing games on everyone's lives, including mines. Everyone else has dared to play their games back at them - everyone except me. And now, it's my turn to play. To act as the pawn yet think like a Queen. I must always play the pawn to others, for it's the only way I'll survive in a world of traitors who overthrow their Kings and Queens. Such was my damned destiny to fulfill as Sansa Stark, the only rightful living heir of the North.

It is time to take back what was stolen from me.

I closed my eyes shut, squeezing the tears out of my eyes for the very last time, cleansing myself of the weak-willed woman that I had allowed myself to be. I let all the hatred for the Boltons, for the Freys, for the Lannisters, for all the fucking traitors, build up inside of me before opening my eyes again. Then I let my wintry gaze then settle upon the dark horizon from afar, lined with figures of tall, brick castles. The land which I used to call my home was now a rotting landfill under the control of the Boltons.

"Are you ready then, to visit your home again, my sweetling?" Petyr asked, smiling and sounding pleased with my sudden shift to coldness.

I took a pause, annoyed at the message hidden behind his words. "Dearest uncle, you have mistaken my intentions. I am not simply visiting; I am returning to Winterfell."

I tightened my fingers on my horse's reins and raised them gently, letting her know to start moving. I pulled the reins to get on the pathway leading to Winterfell.

"We're better off moving forward Baelish. The throne isn't going to find itself a Wardeness." I smiled back at him, still frozen in his spot.

For a short while, he stared at me in disbelief of the new Sansa that I had presented before him. Shortly after, he nodded off to the knights and servants in order to permit them to follow after me. Then he smiled and whispered something while shaking his head before catching up beside me.

"What did you mumble under your breath just a moment ago?" I asked, even though I clearly heard his words.

He smirked at me before looking off into the distance again. "You know the truth, yet you still want to see the truth come out of my own mouth. A true stark you are, indeed." he said, out of humour and sarcasm.

I did not need to hear him say that I resemble my mother anyway. It hurt too much to try to recall her image in my mind. Doing that just makes me remember my father, Robb, Arya, Bran, and Rickon - all the people I have lost to brutes who want no more than to quench their endless thirst for power. I raised the reins and let them fall again on my horse once more, although with a little more force this time.

Adrenaline, hatred and fear rushed into my blood all at once as I was reminded of the true purpose of my return. I was not to be Petyr's puppet. Nor was I to be Roose's or Ramsay's. I shall no longer allow any other man to control my destiny, other than myself.

So I galloped ahead of the group, daringly speeding up my encounter with my own fate. I would have listened to Petyr who was shouting after me to slow down if I had known, but I was ignorant. I did not know what I was getting myself into then.

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