DAGGERS TO THE HEART Part 1 - GAME OF THRONES

Sansa I

When Sansa had felt the bite from Rickon, just before she plunged the dagger into her heart, she hadn't expected to feel it moments later, except this time from a five year old who was still going through a phase. She had pricked her finger with her needle at the pain of the bite. When she saw her little brother, she'd screamed, only to find Arya running into her room and putting her hand over her mouth.

"You're...you're..."

"I know. A little girl." Arya rolled her eyes. "So are you."

Sansa stood up and walked over to the mirror. She saw her thirteen year old self, her heart sank. Then she looked at Arya's reflection with excitement, Robb, mother, father, Rickon. "They're all alive." She whispered.

Arya nodded. "Good."

Sansa realised that the girl was still the faceless assassin underneath. Trained to hide emotions, like her. "I wonder whether Jon is back."

"Mayhaps. Unless he survived."

"Rhaegal fell. I heard him outside the crypts. Jon might have been the first of us."

"At least we know the crypts are not a safe hiding place." Arya replied coldly, her hand's clasped behind her back.

"You can't stand like that." Sansa warned. "You look too grown up."

"You're standing exactly the same." Arya observed. They exchanged glances, appreciating this was going to be difficult. "You were a snobby child, gods you're going to be insufferable now, acting like the Lady of Winterfell. Mother won't tolerate it."

"I can play the little bird if I have to. It's not that long ago since you executed him."

"You weren't playing the little bird then." Arya shook her head. "You'll have to remember what you were like before we left."

There was a knock at the door, which opened, one of the servants, whose name Sansa had forgotten, was on the other side. "Septa Mordane asked me to collect you both for your afternoon embroidery lessons."

"Thank you, we'll be there in a moment." Sansa nodded. "You can leave us." The maid looked at Sansa in shock and practically ran off. Arya snorted, and suddenly Sansa felt confused. "Would I have said something like that?" Arya shook her head.

"At least I'll be better at embroidery." Arya said. "Stitching bodies is far harder than silly flowers. Oh well, it is practice to keep my skills."

"Arya Stark is looking forward to an embroidery lesson. What will Septa Mordane think?" Sansa raised an eyebrow as they set off for their lesson.

"That there's hope for me to become a Lady." Arya shook her head.

"Only when she's pretending." Sansa smiled.

When they reached the classroom, Jeyne Poole and Beth Cassell were already waiting. Sansa went to join them so as not to arouse suspicion and to try to establish the gossip to give her an idea as to when they'd arrived. Lady and Nymeria were nowhere to be seen, neither were any of the boys, father or Theon. Sansa and Arya had briefly spotted their mother crossing the courtyard, and Rickon was clearly around, the bruise on Sansa's arm confirmed that.

The chatter was about the men and boys leaving to behead a Night's Watch deserter, which instantly told Sansa that the direwolf pups were on their way. She could tell Arya was listening in carefully, as she also acknowledged the event with a simple nod, before returning to her stitches.

Septa Mordane wandered around the class, examining their work.

"Goodness Sansa, how did you sew that so neatly and so quickly?" the Septa asked.