WILOW-Ch.405: Sansa's Confrontation
Golden Tooth, Westerlands
POV of Robb Stark
"Father. Robb." Sansa nodded to them before she turned to Jon and gave a courtesy "Your grace."
Jon nodded to Sansa without saying anything, but Robb could tell that Jon was very uncomfortable with this whole thing.
In fact, Jon had yet to fit into his shoes as the King of the Iron Throne and was trying to fake it the best he could.
Well... it couldn't be said that he himself had gotten used to being the crown prince of the Northern Kingdom.
There was this tense and uncomfortable silence in the room before Sansa spoke.
"I know you're not used to this politeness and royal etiquette, Jon, but you shouldn't make it so obvious. And the reason I'm behaving this way is that even though I'm a princess now, you're the king of another country, and it's only right that I show this courtesy. So please don't think we're distant, okay?"
Sansa's words had softened the atmosphere somewhat, and Jon smiled and nodded in agreement.
But then the tense and unsettling silence returned.
Then his father finally spoke, "Sansa. Is there something you want?"
Sansa nodded, "Have you talked with anyone else about my betrothal, Father?"
Sansa tried to hide it, but the anger and resentment in those words were palpable. His father probably sensed it as well and lowered his head in shame before shaking his head.
"No." His father replied, "Don't be mistaken. I've received various offers for your hand from the lords of the North as well as the lords in the Vale and the Riverlands."
Sansa nodded, "And have you decided to force me on someone else once again, Father?"
His father clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, "No. It… it was my mistake. I should never have let Robert force this on me… on you. I will not betroth you to anyone else unless you agree to it."
Sansa nodded, "Good. Because I'm going to marry Domeric."
He looked at Jon, and Jon looked at him. They could both see that this plan was heading towards ultimate disaster. After all, Domeric had someone else he loved and considered marrying.
"Sansa." He said, "His majesty, Domeric is… he has a girl that he already likes. And I think he wants to marry her."
"Ygritte. I know." Sansa nodded. Before he could ask anything, she continued, "Even if Domeric marries her, I'll remain by his side."
"Sansa." His father said, his voice a little harsher than he probably intended, "Do you even understand what you're saying?"
Sansa nodded.
He wanted to say something, but was defeated by Jon. "If you're not married to Domeric, then your children will be bastards." Jon said while glaring at Sansa, "Is that the kind of life you want for your children. To be hated and reviled by other people for their entire lives just because you wanted to be with Domeric."
Sansa paused at that and glared back at Jon. But he could see that she had not thought so far about this whole thing and didn't have a proper reply.
"No." Sansa said at last, as a few tears streaked down her cheeks, "I do not want that kind of life for my children." Then her eyes became resolute, and she continued, "But would rather slit my throat and die than be with any other man."
"Sansa, you can't be serious about this. I don't even think you fully understand the consequences of what you're saying right now," her father said.
"Do you really think I don't know what I want, Father?" Sansa said, then grabbed the right sleeve of her dress near her shoulder and pulled, tearing the fabric.
"Sansa, what are you doing?" her father asked, but Robb's attention was on the wounds on Sansa's arm.
Then, Sansa tore the other sleeve of her dress. Now both her arms and the wounds on them were right in front of their eyes.
"What... what did they do to you at King's Landing, Sansa?" her father asked in shock.
"How dare they? When I catch that bastard Joffrey, I'll take his head with my own sword!" Jon had risen to his feet without him noticing and was hurling insults at Joffrey.
Meanwhile, he was frozen. His brain was boiling with anger, but his body refused to move.
"Let me tell you what they did to me, Father. The mad prince you betrothed me to, because he enjoyed my suffering, had the Kingsguard beat and whip me in front of the court almost every day." Sansa said.
Then she turned around, pulling at the string of her dress at the back of her neck, and said, "Perhaps the marks on my arms weren't enough for you. So, look at my back."
The crisscross strings fastening Sansa's dress loosened slightly as she untied them, revealing her back.
And the wounds on Sansa's arms were nothing compared to those on her back. Sansa's back was covered in numerous whip marks and cuts.
"I... I..." her father gasped, unable to speak at what he saw.
And Jon, like Robb, was now too shocked to move.
Sansa turned back to them, her face filled with hatred, and continued, "Perhaps you'd like to see the wounds on the rest of my body. Or perhaps you'd like to hear what happened to me in King's Landing when Mother abandoned me and went to save herself with Renly Baratheon."
After a while, when none of the three said anything, Sansa continued. "I watched all our guards and servants being murdered one by one before my eyes. On top of that, the Golden Cloaks tore all my clothes and almost raped me in one of King's Landing's dirty, small alleyways. It's as if I were a cheap whore."
"This...this can't be true." His father said involuntarily in a low voice, as if denying everything he'd heard would make them cease to exist.
"But it's true, Father. That's why you can be sure I understand what I'm asking for. After all, I matured early thanks to the decisions Father and Mother made." She said.
Sansa then added, "And I have no intention of my children being born bastards. Domeric is now Emperor. If necessary, I will have him change the laws to legalize multiple wives. And if that doesn't work, even if I can't be with him, I would rather live on his lands and be close to him until I die."
With that, she turned around and left.
He debated whether to go after her, and in the end, he simply stayed in his seat. Frankly, he had no idea what he could say to her if he went after her.
He looked at his father and noticed that he looked far older than he had mere moments ago.
"I'll talk to her," Jon said. He looked incredulously at his brother, but Jon didn't look at him and left the room.
With only him and his father left, there was a tense silence in the room.
He remembered the time, all those months ago, when he told his father that Joffrey was not a good person and begged him not to break Sansa's betrothal to Domeric, and how his father defended his choice, saying he could not refuse the King.
"I'll… go after them." He said in the end.
And left the room as well, wondering what his mother would have done in this situation.
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Next Chapters' Name:
Ch.406: Sending Them Away
Ch.407: The Hound
Ch.408: A Desired Death