Little Wolf (Sansa/Petyr)

The Announcement

He watched her when the Red Keep was filled. Sansa seemed such a different creature when she was in company. She was censured and polite, not that she was not polite when alone with him, but she stuck to the social conventions for which he knew she detested.

However much Petyr thought he knew about Sansa, or about how she felt around company, she always had the ability to defy him. The social routine that she was allowed to fall back into when surrounded by highborn men and women provided a kind of relief for Sansa. Being able to revert back into the extensive training she had had as a girl proved to be a kind of solace, a way of living without having to think.

Although she was calm within, many noticed the changes in the Stark girl. She did not have that light that use to prick her cheeks and she smiled far less often than she used to. She was well dressed and well behaved, but there was pain behind the image of the perfect young lady.

The conflict of what Petyr thought Sansa felt, to how she truly felt came to light when they sat together one afternoon in the garden. The air was colder than usual and Sansa wore her thicker dress, in preparation for the only kind of winter she knew King's Landing would receive.
"Are you looking forward to them leaving?" He broke her train of thought by asking.
"Who?" She asked, absentmindedly.
"The visitors, the people who are in the Red Keep." He explained and what he thought would be a simple question became a topic of deep thought for Sansa.
"I do not think so." She began, looking down at her hands. "When there are people around, I do not feel so lonely. You work all day and I am the only young lady here, apart from Brienne, who is also at work. Life can be very bleak when you have nobody to live with. These people, they remind me of what my life used to be, of the person that I used to be. I can stand and mindlessly talk to them for hours and it feels almost as if all of the terrible things that have happened did not." She sighed, knowing that the visitors would leave soon and that the weather would change and that she would be alone once more.

Petyr looked upon her saddened face and began to panic within. He thought he knew Sansa, her way of thinking, her responses to life. But he did not at all. She did not shy away from her past self, rather she took on her guise and used it to escape from the life that she was leading. He wished that he could help in some kind of way, that he could invite people all year round to be with her and keep her company, but he knew that it was not his place to do so. It pained him to know that she would feel lonely once they left and that his work meant that he could not stay with her. He placed his hand over hers.
"I'm sorry." It was simple, concise and exactly what Sansa needed to hear.

Daenerys felt overwhelmed by the volume of people in her court.
"I can not remember their names, or their banners or their families." She complained to Jorah.
"It does not matter to them. You have saved the crown, they understand that you might not have time for such vapid learning." Jorah saw the back of her head nod, as she faced away from him, staring out of her window. She knew he was right and that the people did not expect all from her, but part of her wondered if that was a major part of being a Queen: knowing your subjects. She had saved the economy and released the city and country from the tyranny of Cersei Lannister, but was it enough? Was she worthy of the role? It was the first time that she had truly questioned this, but once the question had been embedded in her mind, it was almost impossible to dislodge it.

The feast that night was larger than any that had been held under the reborn Targaryen name. The food was larger and richer, the wine flowed freer and the conversation was more lively. Once again, Sansa and Petyr had been sat away from one another, for their engagment was not a known fact. However, Daenerys pondering earlier in the day had given her the motivation to make the announcement. That was a duty of a Monarch and she was going to fulfill her duty.

The room slowly fell silent as she rose. She stood for a few seconds, to gather her thoughts, before beginning.
"I would like to thank you all for being here for this joyous celebration. It is a prosperous and productive time for Westeros. As Queen, I have many duties, and one that I have not yet fulfilled is that of the joining of houses." Now whispers began, nothing produced gossip like a marriage.
"In the coming days, the houses of Baelish and Stark shall be joined together through the marriage of Lady Sansa Stark and Lord Petyr Baelish. Many blessings to them both." She knew her speech was not conventional but it was a job well done.

Sansa sat, wide eyed, mind blank. She could not believe that Daenerys had decided to announce the engagement without speaking with her. Her cheeks turned a deep shade of pink as she felt the attention fall onto her. She had been engaged many times, married twice and the news of another engagement fell hard onto her shoulders.

Petyr for the first time, felt the weight of what was happening. Daenerys had made the announcement without speaking with him about it. Of course he was delighted, but he simply wished that he could have had a warning so that he was not caught off guard as he had been. As he looked around the room, he could read every emotion on every man's face: envy, disgust, judgment, and the occasional look of pride. It was only then that Petyr felt the reality of the situation, Sansa was far younger than he was and many of the people in the room knew the past feelings he had expressed for Catelyn Stark and he couldn't help the judgement he felt.

But then, he saw her. Sansa, sat with her hands folded in her lap, blushing deeper than than he had ever seen her before. And it was then that he realised that it didn't matter if every man and woman hissed and spat at him, because this marriage was not about them. Sansa had already been faced with the horror that was public marriage, but that was not what this was. They were embarrassed and flustered together, both as humiliated as the other.

Sansa waited until the final course of the feast to look over at him. She was so focused on what she felt and thought, that she had completely forgotten about Petyr and his feelings. She hoped that he was happy to have their engagement in the open, but she was sure that he was just as embarrassed as she was. She looked away from the lemon cakes that sat in front of her to peer down the table at him, and to her surprise, she found him looking directly back at her. It was then that the awkwardness and humiliation of the moment fell away. She loved him and she couldn't help but smile knowing now that she could openly sit with him, walk with him, touch his face and hold his hand if she liked and that smile was returned with the sweetest, softest grin that she had ever seen grace a man's face and in that moment, she knew that this would be both her first and last true marriage.