A Dance of Shadows

Sansa IV

A dream? No, a memory. Distant and somehow irreal at that instant, but still it seemed to happen before her with all their burdens and worries. She could still smell the scent of ink and scrolls, and the perfume of the slippery man who was looking at her with glinting eyes. He was talking to her as if she was a child, as if she couldn't understand before he said it to her. She was playing this game too, but somehow these days it had seemed harder and harder with all the things she'd been through. Especially Arya's arrival, who even here still managed to surprise her. In a bad way.

No, it wasn't just surprise. It was fear now. What had become to her little sister? Would she truly kill her?

Would someone manage to stop her with Jon gone?

"Jon is young and unmarried. Daenerys is young and unmarried."

Swiftly, she raised her head towards him.

"You think he wants to marry her?"

A twinkle in his eyes. He had seen the fear in her eyes. She tried to look down once, pretending to read once again the paper as he described his arguments, but still she could not help but stare. She did not want to hear that. Did not want to think of it.

Then he changed subject. Arya. He knew exactly what she feared, what seemed to be the most immediate danger. She felt as if he was feeding on it, and she was tempted to let him do it. She felt the doubts creeping at her little by little, until it made her suffocate. And when he was done, she couldn't help but see it.

"So... what are you going to do about her?"

"She needs to be stopped."

"And... about your brother?"

She said nothing.

He leaned towards her, and she heard the smirk in his words more than she saw it.

"What would happen if he marries her?"

No protector. She would be alone, with all of them. With a sister who threatened to kill her, family be damned. With a brother, but was he still one?

She had managed to persuade Jon to take back Winterfell. He listened to her... Mostly. But still, she knew how to handle him. Could she do the same with the others?

She stopped to process that. Her gaze crossed Littlefinger's, and she feared he might have guessed her intentions.

Arya was not the only one she needed to stop. But maybe, if she managed to turn her by her side by doing this, she could have a better advantage. Arya wanted to protect the family. What better way to prove it?

Everyone is your friend, everyone is your enemy... Yes, she had heard what he said. Very closely.

He was still here, on the corner. He leaned over her and caressed her cheek, prompting her to raise her head. He looked at her closely. Then his voice softened, and she almost felt grateful for such change of subject.

"I've heard you invited some minstrels..."

Her eyes looked down, and she was tempted to smile. Could she tell him?

No. He was clever enough to figure it out by himself, and she knew that telling him would only spoil the satisfaction.

Here she had the control.

"To cheer the men."

"To get the heart of the people and remind them of their loyalties to the Starks," He paused one moment, his fingers on her desk. "I've heard some songs. They're quite... explicit."