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The original raven from her brother, King Brandon, had startled Sansa at first. Why would he, as each day began to stretch on a bit longer than the last, see it necessary to send the Lord Commander of his own Kingsguard to serve the North? Perhaps he’d foreseen some yet-unknown threat to Northern independence or the newly restored castle at Winterfell. Though it had been five years since she was made Queen in the North, Sansa could never manage to stop herself from playing Littlefinger’s game in her head, imagining the worst of every scenario she encountered. Perhaps it made her a better Queen, she thought, but it did not make her a particularly happy one.“Your grace,” Meera called out from across the Godswood. “The lookouts say Ser Brienne is arriving on horseback as we speak.”Sansa turned to walk toward Meera, now chief among her most trusted advisors in the North. “Thank you, Meera,” she said, her face surely flushing red in the cold.“Has your King brother given any further indication as to why he’s sent her here?” Meera asked.“None at all,” Sansa sighed.Sansa had helped Meera adjust to leading a great Northern house as Lady Reed after Lord Howland’s death during the Long Night. In return, Meera had taken it upon herself to better acquaint her new Queen with the powerful qualities of the land she ruled - and the people in it. Among the great lords of the North, the two great ladies were grateful to have one another to confide in.“If it were Jon sending you one of his crows to fill a shortage of Northern men in the dead of winter, that would be one thing,” Meera started. “However, it is nearly spring. We have no shortage of men. Yet the brother who can see the future has sent his most valuable warrior North. Why?”“Perhaps Brienne will know why,” Sansa suggested. “If Bran really did see something terrible, it makes sense that he would send her. She’s the only one he’d trust enough with the details.”“And you trust her?” Meera asked.“With my life. She’s proven herself worthy of it over and over again,” Sansa replied. “My King brother couldn’t have chosen a more faithful friend to the North than Ser Brienne.”A chorus of howling direwolves punctuated Sansa’s sentence. Sansa could feel her own wolf, named Lady in honor of the direwolf she had as a girl, howling with her packmates. She hadn’t figured out how to warg, exactly, but Meera had helped her understand why it felt like she could read Lady’s mind at times.“I suppose that’s her,” Meera observed. “And I certainly hope that you’re right.”“Oh, it is her indeed,” Sansa said, eliciting a look of slight surprise from Meera. “Lady said so.” - Brienne could not get off of her horse and onto her knees quickly enough at the sight of Sansa. Queen Sansa. She appeared stately and resilient, much like Winterfell itself. Both had changed in the years since Brienne fought through the Long Night as Sansa’s protector, but some familiar comfort remained.“Your grace,” Brienne called out. “In the name of King Brandon the Broken, first of his name, I have been sent in service of Queen Sansa and the people of the North. As a loyal knight of House Stark, I swear my fealty to you if you will have it.”“It is an honor to welcome you back to Winterfell, Ser Brienne,” Sansa declared as she approached her kneeling knight with an outstretched hand. “You shall always have a place here so long as there is a House Stark.”“Thank you, my Queen. I promise to serve you well,” Brienne replied.“I know you will,” Sansa said, unable to suppress her smile. It was only when she turned back to face the courtiers who had followed her to greet Ser Brienne that Sansa remembered where she was.Admittedly, her court was not accustomed to seeing their Queen in such a light mood. Ascending the throne at the start of a long, hard winter left Sansa with such little time for her own amusements that she found it impossible to determine who was more shocked by the obvious amusement she found in Brienne’s arrival that afternoon. -Later that evening, Brienne came to dine with Sansa and her closest advisors - Lord Manderly, Lord Hornwood, Lord Glover, and Meera.“Winterfell is so different from what I remember. After the Long Night, I never thought I’d see it so grand again yet it’s even grander than before,” Brienne remarked, looking around the great hall. “But the warmth here. It’s exactly the same.”“Thank you, Ser. We’re quite proud of the reconstruction efforts and even more proud to have defended the realm against the army of the dead that night,” Lord Glover said.“There is no one living today that showed more bravery during the Long Night than Ser Brienne,” Sansa declared, catching Brienne’s eye across the table.“Don’t let Jon hear you say that,’ Brienne teased.“What reason would my Lord brother have to take offense? He was already on his second life by then, he’s not included in my statement,” Sansa replied with a smirk, prompting her tablemates to erupt in laughter.Soon, dinner was served - tender meats, hardy winter vegetables, and plentiful rounds of red wine. Were Sansa’s cheeks warm from the fire, the wine, or from the sight of Brienne laughing at something she said? All three? As Sansa considered this, Meera’s voice broke her train of thought.“If you do not protest my asking, Ser Brienne, why did King Brandon order you North?” Meera asked.Brienne hesitated and turned her gaze to Sansa. “That is for her grace to say, my lady.”Sansa returned Brienne’s gaze with shock. “For me?”“Yes, you are the Queen after all,” Lord Hornwood joked.“He didn't have some kind of vision where, I don’t know, you were instrumental in defending the North against some horrible threat?” Sansa asked.“No, your grace. He simply said that this is an important time for you,” Brienne replied.Sansa nodded, cursing Bran’s vague manner of speech in her mind. How could such a kind sentiment sound so cryptic coming from him?“Well, I’m glad you are here to be a part of it, Ser Brienne,” Sansa said, sharing a look with a more visibly confused Meera. - That night, Sansa insisted on being the one to show Brienne to her chambers.“If you should ever feel cold in the night, Ser Brienne, I hope you’ll feel free to let yourself into my chambers. I never can use all the firewood or blankets my ladies keep on hand for me - by design, I suppose,” Sansa explained.“You are too gracious, my Queen, I could never impose - ““My Queen?” Sansa teased. “Why, you’re not a Northerner yet - though I must admit, I admire your enthusiasm.”Now it was Brienne’s turn to blush and Sansa had to suppress a squeal at the sight of her pink cheeks. When was the last time she had to suppress a squeal? Not since she was a girl obsessed with tales of knights and princesses, certainly.“May I call you my Queen?” Brienne asked.Sansa shrugged. “Everyone does.”“It really suits you, you know, being Queen. Once I saw you today, I couldn’t bow to you quickly enough,” Brienne said. “It just felt right.”“Thank you, it’s taken a lot of work to feel this right,” Sansa sighed. “I noticed that, by the way. I rather liked how you did that.”“Did you now?” Brienne asked, grinning enough to strain a muscle.“Quite a lot. I realized something since the last time we’d seen each other” Sansa said. “I believe you’re the truest knight that ever lived and I shall introduce you as such to my court.”“You honor me too much, your grace,” Brienne replied, her blush deepening much to Sansa’s delight.“I happen to disagree, you’ve not been honored enough. Perhaps you can call me Sansa when we’re alone. I’ll call you Brienne. Honorifics around my court only,” Sansa proposed.“My Queen -” Brienne started, prompting Sansa to cup a hand around her cheek.“Your Queen?” Sansa teased.“I don’t have to be a Northerner to know what’s in front of me,” Brienne countered, brushing Sansa’s outstretched hand with her lips and kissing it.The electric shock this sparked within Sansa was almost too much to bear for such a chaste, courtly expression of fealty. To make matters worse, Brienne’s icy blue eyes now stared directly into hers. What if she leaned in closer, Sansa thought, just a bit?“May I?” Sansa asked, opting to rest her head on Brienne’s shoulder as the two drew closer. “I always feel so safe around you, Brienne.”“You may.” It was now Brienne’s turn to caress Sansa’s face, making little circles with her finger as she reached her chin. “That’s the greatest compliment you could give me.”As full as she was from dinner, Sansa felt a ravenous hunger deep within her. Such an intense hunger she was shocked when she felt an organ other than her stomach rumble. Brienne must have felt it too as she moved on from kissing her Queen’s hand to planting kisses along her jawline. Sansa scarcely felt real as the hunger grew throughout her body.“Brienne, please,” Sansa whispered, her lips now just millimeters from Brienne’s as the knight paused, awaiting her instructions. “More, please.”Brienne’s smile warmed the whole room as far as Sansa could tell. “If it pleases you, my Queen,” she teased as she leaned in to kiss Sansa’s lips.“Oh, it pleases me greatly,” Sansa replied, breathlessly kissing Brienne back. “You could… You know. Stay in my chambers tonight. There’s room in my bed and we certainly would not get cold. I can’t have the truest knight alive shivering through the night.”Brienne first answered by blushing heavily. “It is only my first night in your service, I do not wish to cause improper talk among your bannermen.”“I’m sure they’re already talking about my enthusiasm at your arrival. And they’re right to,” Sansa said. “I do not make a habit of greeting every visiting knight so personally, I hope you know.”Both women laughed. “So I received a warmer welcome than most?” Brienne asked.“Much warmer than any of the lords who have come here to campaign for my hand,” Sansa replied. “I always kept Lady by my side and found ways to remind them I fed my last husband to his dogs. Very effective strategy, even if it largely went over the heads of my court.”“So you scared them all off? On purpose?” Brienne asked.“Certainly not by accident,” Sansa answered.“I understand why you would not wish to marry again, not after all you’ve been through,” Brienne said. “Having served your lady mother, however, I cannot help but remember how she described your excitement to marry Prince Joffrey.”Sansa elbowed Brienne gently. “I was excited to be Queen. Marrying Joffrey was a prerequisite. As a girl, I didn’t know how to separate the two. Now I am the Queen and unmarried. Not because I never again wish to marry, I simply do not wish to marry a man.”Brienne sat quietly for a moment, considering Sansa’s words. “And what do the great Northern lords think about that?”“As far as I know? They say their ice Queen has been so devoted to the welfare of her people over the long winter that she couldn’t possibly be diverted with romance,” Sansa punctuated her sentence with a kiss on Brienne’s cheek. “They’re right about the first half.”Brienne chuckled. “How are you so sure of this?”“Hmm. How do I explain,” Sansa pondered aloud. “Lady and her pack, they’re very good listeners. As am I.”“Your King brother told me I had much to learn about the North - the people, the land, the animals,” Brienne said. “I did not imagine I’d find even the smallest grain of truth to the myth that you Starks turn into direwolves at night.”“Oh Brienne,” Sansa laughed. “What makes you so sure you’ve seen everything I could turn into at night?”Brienne kissed Sansa back on the lips. “I never would have thought you felt this way about me the last time I was at Winterfell.”Sansa’s voice lowered. “I wasn’t feeling much of anything in those days. Besides, I saw how you looked at Jaime… I’m sorry if that’s a difficult subject.”Brienne’s face faltered briefly at the mention of Jaime’s name. “It will never be an easy subject for me, the way things ended for him.”Sansa took her hand. “Brienne, I’m so sorry.”“Time heals. We have much to tell each other about these last five years, it seems,” Brienne paused, shifting back to a more playful tone. “To start, how dare you let me leave your service? You’re so impatient to have me in your bed now after all these years?”“You swore to my mother to protect her children, I was not going to stand in the way of you honoring your word. And I could not deprive my King brother the honor of commanding the truest knight to ever serve the seven kingdoms,” Sansa replied in a far more earnest tone. “I wanted you to be recognized for what you are.”Brienne kissed each of Sansa’s temples. “You’re so lovely. And so serious. Can’t I ever tease my Queen?”“Only you may tease me,” Sansa replied. “And it certainly helps when you kiss me before and after.”“What does this get me, then?” Brienne asked.“What does - oh!” Sansa was cut off as Brienne quite literally swept her off her feet, initiating another series of kisses. “Oh, this,” Sansa panted. “This gets your Queen begging you to take her to bed.”“My Queen, you say?” Brienne asked with an all-too-pleased smirk.“All yours,” Sansa replied, breathless.With that, Brienne laid Sansa down on her guest bed and lowered herself to mount. “In that case - yes, my Queen,” Brienne said.Sansa ran a finger along Brienne’s cheek, moving carefully along new scars she didn’t recognize. “You wear your bravery and your beauty all at once,” she remarked softly.“Bravery, maybe,” Brienne started. “I think you’re the only one to accuse me of wearing beauty as well.”“Well I am the Queen, so my word carries a bit more weight, doesn’t it?” Sansa teased, rising to kiss Brienne’s lips, her scars, and her lips again. “Tomorrow, I want to hear the story behind each of these so I may kiss them again.”“Yes, my Queen,” Brienne replied, kissing her back harder.The melting, fiery sensation in Sansa’s body was more intense than ever before. “Gods, I love it when you call me that.”Brienne chuckled. “Everyone calls you that.”“But it pleases me most from your lips… and it’s not the only thing I enjoy most from your lips,” Sansa said, brushing her finger along Brienne’s bottom lip and pulling her in for a kiss.Brienne ran her fingers across Sansa’s collarbone until they met the hem of her dress. “There are other places where my lips may be of service,” she suggested. “And I intend to serve you fully.”If Sansa was on fire before, Brienne’s words were an accelerant. An uncontrollable smile lit up her face. “Don’t let this dress stand in your way, then, you’ve plenty of area left to cover.”“I’d better get to work, then,” Brienne replied, searching with her hands to untie Sansa’s dress and peeling it down to reveal her lover’s shoulders.As Brienne planted her first kisses along Sansa’s bare shoulders, a knock at the door disrupted their bliss.“Ser Brienne,” a woman’s voice called out from the other side of the door. “I’ve been sent to deliver you extra bed linens.”Had it been an intruder, Brienne thought, at least she could protect Sansa from the threat and carry on with their night. But secrets were a type of threat she’d had little experience fighting against.“Just a moment!” Sansa called out as Brienne helped put her dress most of the way on again, draping her own cloak around Sansa’s shoulders to disguise her yet-untied bodice. “I had merely stopped by to tell Ser Brienne where to find the extra blankets.”“Why, I have plenty extra with my cart, your grace,” the handmaiden replied, entering the chamber where the flustered pair stood before her, mussed hair and clothes betraying Sansa’s fabrication.“Thank you, Twyla,” Sansa said, passing the blankets from the cart to Brienne’s bed. “And good night, Ser Brienne.”“My Queen,” Brienne called out, prompting Sansa to turn. “When shall I begin my service to you?”“I take breakfast in my chambers each morning at sunrise. I wish that you would join me,” she replied.Brienne bowed her head. “I shall, your grace.”“I look forward to it, then,” Sansa said. “Sleep well, Ser Brienne.”