Unrequited love: the Story of the Wolf and the Mockingbird

Chapter 1: New Beginning

On the day when Jon Snow and Sansa Stark took back the North from the vicious Ramsay Bolton, winter officially began. Then it raged for a rather long time before the first signs of summer arrived. Winter is still here, but it's not a long time until the snow disappears again from King's Landing. And let's admit it, winter is quite beautiful in its own way, but everything has to end once.

At that very moment when Sansa Stark managed to wrap herself in that particular black coat she fancied so much, a member of the Kingsguard approached her silently.

''Excuse me Lady Stark, but I have to inform you that the king requests to see you.''

Sansa looked at the ready-to-leave escort then back again to the guard and gave a deep sigh.

''If that is his wish, lead me to his majesty!''

They began walking towards the centre of the castle, and Sansa noticed that more and more guards joined their company along the way. They made their journey to the enormous golden door of the throne room, and as they reached it, one of the Kingsguards opened it and then stepped aside with a polite nod:

''Milady.''

Sansa walked inside the huge hall, hearing the door shut beside her immediately. Even though she moved forward with silent and careful steps, every footstep echoed through the almost completely empty room. She has never seen the throne hall so devoid of life.

No one was present there, except for the lonely figure sitting on the Iron Throne. What an extensive chair to sit on for such a small man.

Sansa approached the throne disposedly, and halted at the bottom of the podium.

''Your grace,'' she greeted the king with a short bow.

The figure stood up, so Sansa could see the face now, which had been covered by a shadow. She could see the same smirk on the face of Lord Petyr Baelish that she has known so well.

''Sansa, I am so delightfully happy to hear the news about your leave in time,'' he said and started to walk down the steps towards Sansa. When their eyes were at the same height, he stopped, leaving a few steps between them.

''I beg your pardon, my lady, that I shall disturb you in the hour you are about to leave,'' his voice sounded clearly, without any sign of guilt. ''May I ask where your journey takes you?''

She answered after a few moments of deliberation.

''I am going back to Winterfell. I have already spent too much time in King's Landing, it's time for me to lend some help for Jon. Winter will end soon, and I am afraid that there will be no tasks to carry out by the time I return home.''

''And do you think that the Warden of the North requires your help?'' Petyr asked in a neutral voice. ''Do not misunderstand me, my dear, I have no objective to criticize your intention to assist your brother. I just want to imply that he has numerous adjuvants in the North. Why would he need you, when he has all the leaders of the houses of the North?''

For a while Sansa was just staring at the expressionless face of Lord Baelish, then she spoke:

''What is that you really want from me, Lord Baelish?'' Sansa saw a twitch in the corner of his mouth, when she said his name. ''I assume you didn't invite me here just to talk about the lords in the north.''

''No, indeed not,'' then he added. ''And forget about the formalities. You are not standing in front of a stranger,'' after a short pause he continued. ''I was wondering if you would find pleasure in staying here and negotiating with the delegate of the Iron Bank about the indebtedness of the Crown. In the recent past you did a lot for the stability of finances, I reckon you should be here when the final decision is made.''

However Sansa was quite a good player of the game herself, and she knew that Petyr didn't brought her here to invite her to the meeting with the delegate of the Iron Bank.

''I doubt that you require me to settle this matter, as the whole Small Council is available for you,'' she said in a toneless voice.

This remark was the ultimate proof that Sansa learnt very well through the years from his devious mentor.

Lord Baelish made another step forward.

''I see now that I play before you without avail Sansa Stark,'' finally an honest smile appeared on his face. ''But tell me, what other thing could possibly persuade you to stay here, in King's Landing? I am the Lord of the Seven Kingdoms, I could even command you. But why on Earth would I do that? Since a restrained bird is not even a true bird.''

He made another step closer and took hold of Sansa's hand.

''I have spoken about the thing I desire back in the days, during the war,'' he added. ''When we were in Winterfell.''

Sansa looked into the eyes of Lord Baelish and she saw nothing else, but honesty, longing and a wee bit of fear that he tried to conceal as much as he could.

''I always wanted to be a queen,'' her voice was low, but confident, looking away. '' Becoming the wife of a handsome and charming prince so that I would sit next to the Iron Throne,'' she finally looked into his eyes. ''I no longer desire to be a queen. In the end it doesn't matter if I sit there or not, the only thing that counts is that I live with a person that I love.

''Do you remember what I told you before I left King's Landing?'' Sansa nodded. ''It doesn't matter what we want, once we get it, then we want something else. This only applies to titles and possessions. To power,'' he paused a bit then looked into Sansa's eyes. ''But not to people. Those that we truly love, we'll love forever. Whether she loves back or rejects us.''

Petyr released her hand.

''I have to admit, my dear Sansa, that rejection from you is more painful than anything else, but I will never force you. I promise you that this was the very last time to talk about it with you,'' Petyr's deep blue eyes turned to grey as if the clouds suddenly covered the evening sky. ''I won't take any more of your precious time, my lady, I have already wasted too much of it.''

With a last glance at the flaming red hair, the porcelain white skin and the icy blue eyes, Lord Baelish turned back and started to walk towards the back of the throne room.

After a few steps he heard a soft voice:

''Petyr,'' Sansa has never called him like that before.

The man stopped, but didn't turn back.

''With the come of age, I've learnt that most people cannot be trusted. Not even once. Though in certain, special circumstances, I believe in a second chance,'' she said with a little smile.

Lord Baelish stood there for a moment, petrified by what he had just heard, then he went back to her with a fast pace and locked her in his arms. They were standing there for a few seconds, even the last snowflakes of winter slowed down and halted in the air.

Sansa hung onto the man's arm, who led her through the throne hall with slow steps. Confidence reappeared in Petyr's moves, which Sansa missed in the past minutes, that particular smirk was back on his face making him seem quite satisfied.

None of them spoke a word, they walked next to each other in complete silence. Both of them were looking into a new world, in which neither of them has been before.