The Proposal

Sam

Jon had not seen Sam in years , and there was much to catch up on . He was not even properly introduced to Little Sam or Ava . They had kept in touch with letters but time had slipped away from them and the months had turned to years .

Jon walked down to the cottage and Gilly and Sam were both there . He hugged both of them, it was rare to have true friends . They still seemed shocked to see him though . They introduced Little Sam and Ava . Gilly told him that Little Sam and Robb were best friends and that the three of them , along with Joanna over the past few years were thick as thieves . Jon was happy to know that Robb had friends and company . His thoughts turned to Rae and he realized that she never had true friends during her childhood . His heart ached a little for his daughter .Gilly and Sam could not stop gushing about Robb and what a great job Sansa had done in raising him especially as a single mother .Jon was happy to hear that but also ashamed that he had no part in raising Robb .

Sam: I'm very happy to see you but what made you decide to return after all this time .

Jon: I heard by accident that Sansa was seriously ill and  I couldn't stay away any longer . I have wanted to come so many times over the years but Sansa had forbidden me and I knew it would upset Dany so I stayed away . I thought it was the right thing to do for both of them . I had no idea about Robb or I would have been here to be a part of his life . I'm hurt that nobody told me Sam , I can't believe that you knew and never told me about my son.

Sam: I had no choice , Sansa did not want anyone outside of the small circle at Winterfell to know about her son . It's still a pretty tightly held secret , only a handful of people know he's your son and technically a Targaryen .

Jon: Sansa's son ? He's my son too . I didn't even know about him.

Sam : I know this is hard to hear but he is Sansa's . She raised him and was there every day .She was trying to protect him from your wife and she didn't want to interfere in your marriage so she swore us all to secrecy for his protection , not to punish you .

Jon: I didn't have the right to know ? Dany maybe a lot of things but she'd never hurt my child .

Sam : Her history indicates that if she viewed Robb as a threat to her or to your daughter she could have hurt him . He was a male Targaryen after all , your son . Even if you gave up the Iron Thone how was she to be sure that Robb would never want it for himself . Plus he was another woman's child with you . The Targaryens are a volatile bunch .

Jon shakes his head : You think so lowly of me that I would let that happen ? That I would let anyone hurt my son ?

Sam : I'm sorry Jon , but in the past you have stood by and let her do horrendous collateral damage in the name  of defending her throne . You have never really stood up to your wife , even though you  had more of a claim to the throne than she did .We have some refugees in the North that came here from areas that Queen Daenerys had put down rebellions in and the stories they told were heartbreaking in their cruelty  . That's why we gave them sanctuary . It's hard to hear but it's true , so in short Sansa doesn't trust you .

Jon: How can she say that ? I have never lied to her !

Sam : You know that Sansa has always worked with the orphans and with the downtrodden . She had become very close with some of the refugees that had come North and the stories they told of what Daenerys allowed her soldiers to do were hair raising and in all of those stories you never did anything to stop the Drothkari soldiers . Sansa felt that you had the power to stop what was happening but you didn't . I'm sorry to say this , but she felt justified in keeping Robb a secret from you and everyone agreed with her .

Jon is shellshocked he knew some of what Dany's soldiers  had done but the disgust in Sam's voice indicated that everyone thought he was a silent party to it also by allowing it to happen .. Maybe he had been willfully blind to keep seeing Dany in a positive light . Maybe he couldn't acknowledge that he had been a coward in not stopping her .

It took Jon a few minutes to recover .
Jon : I wanted to ask you about Sansa's health , how is she really .
Sam: She is better now . The truth is she is not well overall and I have not been able to pinpoint exactly what is wrong with her . Some time ago I was very concerned about whether she would even survive the next weeks . I have just learned of some  similar cases in the books and there are some medicinal herbs in Dorne that may help her . I am planning on procuring those for her and taking her to an old maester there that has been known to treat similar ailments . She was too weak to travel before , I was waiting for her to recover a bit before taking her . Robb, Little Sam and I were going to accompany her .

The fact that Sam thought she would not make it just a few weeks ago brings a sick pallor to Jon's face . He just looks at Sam and nods .

Jon : I think I will spend some time with Sansa . Will I see you at dinner ?

Sam : Yes .

Jon turns to leave .