Only A Northern Song ~ Game of Thrones / Willas Tyrell ~

Part Five: Reconciliation

'Dear Lord Tyrell.

I hope this letter finds you well, as I write to send you thanks for all you did for us in the reclamation of our home. If not for the reinforcements you sent to us we would not have had the Bolton force so easily outnumbered. We still suffered our losses, as is the unfortunate case in all battles, but without your men and the way the southern army took the Bolton's by surprise, I doubt we would have known success. I doubt any of us would have survived, especially myself and the rest of my family; especially my sister.

I hope you will forgive that this letter is coming from me and only me, and not from my sister or on her behalf. The loss of our brothers along with so many others as well as the pressures of becoming Queen in the North has taken a great toll on her. I believe if she knew I was writing to you then she would be quite displeased with me. It's not as if she dislikes you, I think she still holds great love for you deep down, the issue is she will not allow herself to feel it. My sister is one of the greatest women I know, we would be lost without her, not just as a family but as a kingdom, and she has always been selfless in her protection of us, except that has resulted in a complete lack of care for herself in the recent months. I had thought even with our losses, being home together once more would make her feel something close to happy, or at least at peace, but she's a mere ghost of what she used to be. I haven't seen her smile in months, she is hardly eating, and if not for duties sake then I do not think she would ever choose to leave her chambers. She's very much like our late brother's wolf in that she practically growls if anyone comes near myself, Arya, and Lyarra, and even though he asked her with goodwill, she shut down Lord Baratheon's proposal for my hand in the name of protecting me when truthfully I would like nothing more than to be his wife.

We have all been through a great deal, but the toll the war has taken on my sister is a heavy one. Her story is hers to tell, I cannot write of it here without feeling like I am truly betraying her, but I worry that the various tortures used on her over the last year - the wedding, the isolation, the lies, the battle to reclaim our home - have caused irreversible damage. I worry about her a great deal, about everything that she doesn't say. She grows more distant each day and I know there is a great deal bothering her that she will not tell me. She still has the mentality of wanting to protect us, and so will not share her burdens with us, but in doing so she is isolating herself and becoming someone so unlike who she once was. I worry that she has lost all those she truly trusted when it came to sharing her thoughts - our brother Robb, and you - and without the pair of you she refuses to be helped.

I am so very sorry, none of this is trouble that you should be burdened with, however with my brother Jon visiting you and your Queen I thought that it was worth reaching out to see if there was anything you could do to help our situation. I know it is inevitable that your Queen will want an alliance between us all, so I know visiting us here in Winterfell would be productive in more ways than just you and my sister reuniting. I cannot promise northern cooperation - from both our bannermen and my sister - but it would still be wonderful to host you here.

I hope that any meetings between my brother and your Queen are productive, and I am sending love and well wishes to you and your family. Please tell my nephew I look forward to seeing him should you decide to come.

Your goodsister,
Sansa.'

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'My dear goodsister Sansa.

How wonderful it was to receive your letter and know that you are safe and your home rightfully reclaimed. The pleasure was all mine in sending those men, and I am glad they were of good use, though I would be a liar if I did not say the rest of your letter alarmed me. I should have suspected something was amiss when I did not hear back from the letter I sent to your sister, though I'd like to think I know her well enough to know that if she is truly struggling as much as you say, then she will not have even opened the letter.

I want you to know that in not riding north after the wedding nor riding to your aid in the months following it, I in no way meant it as a personal slight. Any issues your sister takes with me would surely come from that, and I would understand if you all hated me for it. At the time, I could not leave. I was in no state to, and I had my family to look after. It took me months to realise my wish for true revenge, which was how I found my way to Queen Daenerys, but I understand that doesn't help you in any way. All I can do is apologise. I love you all dearly - your sister especially - and my grief for her immobilised me completely. It does not make anything right, but you deserve to know that. I never left you willingly, more that I physically could not come. I am sorry, but I would like to make amends, more so than simply sending an army to you. 

It was a great pleasure to see your brother when he arrived at Most Caitlin, though I will admit he and Queen Daenerys did not initially see eye-to-eye. I suppose it is because he is so loyal to your sister, and despite telling her that northerners are rightfully stubborn and fierce in their independence, I believe she wishes for the North to join her cause and bend the knee. I had originally said that a condition of us working together would be that the north maintains its well-fought-for independence, but as the time goes on I think she is more keen to follow her ancestors model and have all Seven Kingdoms under one rule. As her Hand I would very much like for us all to be allies, but as someone who is familiar with yours and the other northern houses, I know nothing is that simple.  I want nothing more than the best for your family; we are all one family, after all.

Queen Daenerys' cause was crucial in me recovering from the grief of what happened at the Twins, and it has been all-encompassing in my life. However, there is another Queen that I need to turn my focus to. I didn't want to intrude, not if she truly didn't want me. If she said the word I would go home and never return to the north, because the last thing I want to do is shove my way back into your lives if I feel I am not wanted, yet I cannot do that. I swore a vow to look after her, and made a promise to your father, and I cannot rest my mind until I have seen your sister for myself. I wish to see her, and meet my daughter, and whatever I can do to help things in Winterfell, then I will turn my hand to it.

We are beginning our journey north two days from me sending this, so I should be with you all soon, weather permitting. It also depends entirely on Uther, because as much as I enjoy him wanting to sightsee and enjoy the surroundings of the north, it does mean every journey is a little slower. He is incredibly at home in the north, despite him not being too keen on the cold, but I'm looking forward to him getting to know Winterfell, no matter what else awaits us on arrival.

I look forward to seeing you all. Please give my regards to your sisters - both of them.

Your goodbrother,
Willas.'

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Word count: 1416
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