Oathkeeper

Chapter 47: Dominate

As soon as the light of the morning sun shined bright enough to burn through Sansa's eyelids, inevitably stirring her awake, she found herself spending an extra amount of time in the comfort of her own bed, far away from her duties as Queen. She laid on her back, stuck staring at the untouchable ceiling of their bedchamber. Her mind raced with the thought of a foreign land. As it had for the past fourteen years, only recently intensifying like a dormant virus finally surfacing to snuff her lights out.

After using all of her time and energy making sure her wife didn't kill Jon or the children, she found herself exhausted. Exhausted from being the only one to stretch herself thinner than paper just to keep things together, from pretending like her daughter going beyond the Northern territory didn't rattle her to her core, all for the sake of her spouse.

The big blonde lug began to toss and turn. She kicked off the thick wool that covered their legs, stirring awake as it slid slowly to the ground. Her eyes fluttered open, and blinked until the beautiful being in front of her turned crystal clear.

"Hi," Brienne groaned in a tired, raspy voice.

"Good morning, my love," Sansa replied.

Sansa changed the tone of her voice to something more chipper, something that would elude her wife to believe there wasn't a thing on her mind.

"What's on your mind?" Brienne sat up whilst motioning for Sansa to cuddle into her.

Sansa cursed herself internally. She was a terrible liar, and always has been. She shuffled against the sheets before lifting herself up right and scooting backwards. Brienne rose her arm above her head waiting for Sansa to rest her head against her chest before putting it back down. She squeezed Sansa tightly, trying to warm her body up after a chill ran through her spine.

"Ily" Sansa spoke sadly. She took the larger hand into hers and began poking at the blue protruding veins.

"You're worried about her going beyond the Northern line?" Brienne questioned, sounding surprised. "I thought you supported the idea"

"With you and Jon constantly at each other's throats, I figured I needed to be a voice of reason first. And a concerned mother second" Sansa admitted.

The silence took over, as Brienne began to contemplate her past behavior, something she'd been forced to do a lot lately. She knew her anger had been out of control lately, yet she couldn't control it. As much as she tried to blame Jon, she knew her daughter was leaving regardless of what anyone had to say, whether that be in consequence of sending her or not, and there was nothing she could do about it.

She was scared, and her hands were tied. What does a ferociously terrified caged animal do when anyone gets too close to it, even if they're only fixing to free it? They attack.

She apologized to her wife for what seemed like the tenth time in the last few weeks. To which Sansa replied by turning to give her wife a forgiving kiss. She pecked at the blonde's thin lips a few times, then she planted a final one that lasted longer than all the others.

"Enough of that, are you prepared for your lesson with Ily today?" Sansa grinned excitedly.

The time had come to teach their daughter to fight. Although she'd have Jon and whatever unruly members of the freefolk that somehow miraculously managed to persevere their strength whilst starving, they weren't always going to be there for her. It only took one incident, one that would cause the group to split, leaving their daughter helpless and alone as the creatures pounced on her. The only way to ensure that didn't happen, was to put a sword in the girl's hand.

"Remember to practice patience and . . . reflective criticism" Sansa added gently

"Am I really that awful?" Brienne asked, while raising her brows with a smile.