Oathkeeper

Chapter 10: Honor Their Promises

The library had been filled with chatter for the last few hours. Jon, Tyrion, Daenerys, Arya, Sansa, Varys, and two of Daenerys' advisors sat and discussed a plan to overthrow Cersei. Daenerys' reign relied heavily on the alliances she had formed with the people, but ever since she found out the truth about Jon things changed. Their brother Jon Snow, now Jon Stark, learned that he was never actually Ned Stark's son, but his Ned's sister Lyanna's child. Lyanna and Rhaegar had actually fallen in love, gotten married in secret, and conceived a child. Rhaegar was killed and Lyanna died during childbirth leaving her brother with one final wish, to take care of her son and make sure no one ever found out about him. Jon of course told the rest of his siblings which didn't help to settle any angst between the foreign Queen and his family. Jon didn't want to be the King but Arya and Sansa had other plans in mind for their brother. They both begged him to go after what was his, but he remained loyal to his queen. He swore them to secrecy, to which they obliged bitterly.

Daenerys called this meeting to discuss the final move to Kings Landing. She was more than eager to gather her allies, arm them, and march them into Kings Landing. They went over the plan one more time, trying to make sure they didn't miss any minor detail.

"Alright" Daenerys agreed to the final plan.

Sansa wasn't satisfied with the plan, or maybe not so much the plan but the timing. They had just finished fighting the dead, thousands of men died, hundreds wounded. Sansa didn't think now was the right time, but Daenerys the taste of success was too sweet for the foreign queen to ignore. She grew agitated and impatient as she tried to keep the mad side of the coin flipped downwards.

"The men we have left are exhausted, many of them are wounded. They'll fight better if they have more time to rest and recuperate" Sansa finally spoke up.

"How long do you suggest" Daenerys spoke clearly unsettled about the idea of waiting.

"I can't say for certain, not without talking to the officers at least" Sansa responded.

"I came North to fight alongside you. At a great cost to my armies and myself. Now that the time has come to reciprocate you want to postpone" Daenerys was bitter.

"It's not just our people. It's yours. You wanted the North to remember? You'd wish to throw them into a war they're not ready to fight?" Sansa remained poised.

"The longer I leave my enemies alone the stronger they become." Daenerys didn't budge.

The room grew silent. Sansa and Arya both squint their eyes at the white haired woman. Something about the way she stared, the way she spoke, the way she smiled in the face of fear gave the Stark girls an unsettling feeling. This was a bad idea, and they did not approve.

"The North will honor their promise to you, My Queen" Jon spoke, upsetting his sisters.

A few other things were discussed before the meeting was closed. Sansa was the first one out the door, furious about having to send her people into another battle most won't return from. She hated the hierarchy, she hated that Jon was in charge, she even hated the fact that she hated him being in charge her. Sansa stormed off down the hall finding herself outside of Brienne's door. She burst open the door, without thinking to knock, running into both Brienne and Podrick.

"My Lady . . . what- what are you doing in here?" Podrick was startled.

"My apologies Podrick. I need to speak with Brienne. Could you give us a moment?" Sansa said, trying to keep her composure until the boy was gone.

After the door closed shut with Podrick on the other side, Sansa stormed over to Brienne. She sat in her bed, legs tucked under the sheets, back resting against the headboard, watching as the redhead fumed. The bruises on her face began to fade away slowly and the swelling around her eyes went down too. Slowly but surely her face was returning to the one Sansa fell for. The room was still and warm, thanks to the fireplace lit by one of the servants who came through earlier. Sansa's nostrils flared in three small whiffs before her face scrunched up in repulsion. Whatever brown liquid substance Brienne was eating reeked of boiled rabbit, something Sansa absolutely despised. To her the smell resembled unwashed feet, but to others, it smelled like the best meal of their lives.