Chapter Text
As he approached Winterfell, Tormund couldn’t help but wonder what the message from the Queen in the North could have possibly meant.
Jon, please tell Tormund Giantsbane that he is invited to Winterfell on the Queen’s business. -Sansa, Queen in the North and Protector of the Realm.
At first Tormund had assumed that she might want to establish some sort of trade negotiation with the Free Folk but he couldn’t imagine what they would have to trade. Even so, he had accepted the invitation and journeyed South. He had never known Sansa well. They had spoken on occasion of course when she had first escaped her Bolton husband and taken shelter at the Wall. And a few times they had spoken in passing after the Free Folk had helped retake Winterfell. Those few interactions were not enough to know her well. He truly only knew of her from Jon’s stories of their childhood.
Now as he entered the courtyard at Winterfell he was approached by two young servants. He dismounted his horse, knowing enough of Southern ways that one of them would take his horse to the stables.
“Tormund Giantsbane? Queen Sansa is expecting you. This way please?”
Tormund followed the lad across the courtyard and into the castle. They went down a long corridor, around a corner, and past several doors before stopping outside a closed door. Two guards were posted outside the door. The lad knocked on the door.
“Enter,” Sansa called out from within.
The lad opened the door and stepped inside. “Tormund Giantsbane has arrived, my Queen.”
“Yes, send him in.”
The lad stepped back out into the hallway and gestured for Tormund to enter. He did so as the door closed behind him. Sansa sat at a desk with a stack of papers and scrolls before her. She was dressed differently than he remembered. When he had last seen her she wore dark colored dresses with high collars and long sleeves. Today she wore a pale blue dress with sleeves that went to her elbow and was low cut in the front. Her hair was in the single braid he remembered her wearing before but he had not recalled her being quite this beautiful before. He suddenly felt out of place in his dirty furs and uncombed hair and beard.
“You sent for me?” he said, when she failed to address him right away.
“Yes, come and sit,” she gestured to a chair across from her. “I’m sure you’ve had a long journey. Are you hungry? I can send for a meal.”
“There’s no need.” He had eaten from his supplies only an hour ago.
“Well then. I guess we will begin with why I sent for you,” Sansa said. “All of these…” she indicated the papers on her desk. “Are offers of marriage.”
Tormund’s eyes widened. “A lot of men want to marry a queen.” He didn’t bother to mention that plenty of men would want her even without the title.
“I don’t want to marry any of them. I will never marry. My people, my bannermen, are worried that there will be no rightful heir to Winterfell and North. Their fears are justified. There needs to be a Stark in Winterfell to rule after me. So you see my difficulty?’
“Aye, but I don’t see what I have to do with it,” he said with confusion.
“I have decided that my best path forward is to conceive a child without a husband. Someone who is willing to remain anonymous and has no designs of taking Winterfell from House Stark with his own family name. Someone who has no intention of staying by my side in the long term to rule over me. Of course if I do that, my bannermen will endlessly speculate as to who the father is because despite the respect they have for me, they prefer a man to rule over them,” Sansa explained with slight frustration. “The only way to prevent that is to be sure that my child has red hair and blue eyes like my own so that no speculations of what house the father came from are even possible.”
It took a moment for Tormund to make sense of Sansa’s words. “You want me to fuck you?” he sputtered.
“I would not have worded it so crudely,” she said, making a face of disgust. “But yes, you are the solution to my inheritance problem if you are willing.”
“Surely, you could find some other red headed cunt to share your bed. Someone lowborn enough not to be a threat to your freedom” he said, still confused. “Not that I’m not interested, but why me?”
“Because Jon trusts you. And if Jon trusts you, I don’t think you’d hurt me.” Sansa said.
Suddenly it all made sense. It had been almost three years since they killed that Bolton bastard but even now, Sansa was still afraid. That was why she wouldn’t marry. That was why she wouldn’t accept a lowborn stranger as the solution to her problem of creating an heir.
“I wouldn’t,” Tormund admitted. “But you mistake me, or misunderstand what kind of man I am. I had a wife and I had children before. The White Walkers took them. If I had another child, I couldn’t just abandon them. I know you would be a good mother and Winterfell is a warm safe place to be raised, but I couldn’t do that. What would you tell that child when they asked who their father is?”
She sighed. “The truth. If you wish I could send them away quietly to be fostered with you for a few years when they are old enough. Would that arrangement suit you?”
He had not expected that. He had truly expected Sansa to insist on total control of the raising of her child or children. She was waiting, face flush, for his answer. In truth she looked exquisite. How could he possibly say no to this woman?
“Aye. It would suit me just fine.”
“Good. Cedric will show you to your room. Come back tonight and we will have dinner and you may stay the night.”
Tormund exited as bidden, his thoughts reeling.
***
Sansa wore a dark blue dress that laced up the front for her dinner with Tormund. She wanted something that she could remove herself without assistance. The more control she had over this encounter, the better. Her handmaid Bella had been a former brothel worker in Wintertown and had instructed her on how to proceed in a way that would give Sansa the lead in tonight’s events. Despite the instruction, despite knowing that Tormund was not a cruel man, despite telling herself again and again that she was a wolf of Winterfell, Sansa was terrified.
A servant let Tormund into the room, her own private chambers where a small dinner table had been arranged by the fireplace. Sansa schooled her features into a stoic mask, not allowing her fear to show through. Tormund sat down at the table across from her. He was freshly bathed, his hair combed, dressed in a green tunic with fur at the collar. He looked surprisingly uncomfortable.
“Jon once told me that you prefer elk so that is what I asked the kitchen to serve,” Sansa told him.
“I do prefer it but I will eat most anything when the winter is long,” he said.
“What is there to eat North of the Wall when that happens?” She asked him, just attempting to make conversation and get her thoughts off her terror.
“Rabbit sometimes, moss and roots under the snow, pine nuts. Food gets scarce sometimes. We keep near the lakes and rivers where there’s fish.”
“That must get tiresome,” she commented.
“When it isn’t Winter, what do you prefer to eat?” he asked.
“I’ve always had a fondness for lemoncakes.”
“Never heard of them.”
“They are made from a fruit that grows in the South. Winterfell has no lemons right now and probably won’t until summer arrives,” Sansa said. “Apple cakes are the next best thing.”
They chatted over dinner about food, then about the Northern Houses and tribes of the Free Folk. Tormund had emptied his plate long before Sansa had and she knew that it was time to move on to the next phase of the evening. Sansa got up from the table and began blowing out candles around the room. She stopped next to her bedside and left that candle burning. Her hands were trembling as she untied the laces on her dress and allowed it to drop off her shoulders, pooling at her hips. Sansa pushed the dress off her hips so it dropped to the floor. She turned to face Tormund, entirely naked.
Tormund was wide eyed as he got to his feet and approached her slowly. He stopped two feet away and as he reached a hand toward her Sansa forgot all the instructions Bella had given her. All her resolve to do what needed to be done for her House melted away and her stoic mask slipped off. There was only fear.
“Wai!” Sansa took a step backward, realizing that her voice had not been steady but more of a sob.
Tormund’s eyes softened as his arm dropped to his side. “You are afraid.” He reached over to the bed and picked a woven blanket that was folded at the bottom. He opened up the blanket and wrapped it around her shoulders, covering her nakedness. “I will not do this if you are afraid. I’m not that kind of man.”
Tormund took a step back and sat down on the edge of the bed. For a brief moment Sansa didn’t know what to make of him. This Wildling man was alone with her, her guards dismissed, and moments ago she had been naked and offering herself to him freely and because of her fear, he had refused her offer. Ramsay had enjoyed her fear, it had aroused and excited him. Tormund owed her no loyalty as Queen and yet had offered this entirely unexpected kindness. Sansa found her eyes were welling with tears and she could not explain why.
“Despite my fear, this must be done,” she said with determination.
He shook his head and removed his tunic. “Tell me this, do you ask entirely out of duty or is there any desire for me at all?”
Sansa’s mouth dropped open, aghast at the question. How could she possibly want any man, given what she had suffered? But then her eyes took in the sight of Tormund without his shirt, he was more muscular than she had expected without all the furs he ordinarily wore. She couldn’t deny that she thought him handsome and probably always had.
“It’s not that simple…” she managed to say.
“It wasn’t a difficult question. The truth is, I don’t want to hurt you, but if you are afraid of me, if you have no desire at all for what is to come, then it probably won’t be painless for you.”
“Then it’s a mercy we will not need to do this often,” she said with steel determination.
“We won’t do it at all if you don’t trust me!”
At that, Sansa’s tears truly started to fall. “You don’t understand the position I am in. I must have heirs. My people demand it. My duty demands it. I won’t be subjected to a lifetime with a husband. My desire isn’t required for this to work. Only yours,” Sansa dropped the blanket that had been covering her. “I don’t have to ask if that exists. I can see it in your eyes.”
“Aye. I do want you. But I’m not like that monster you married. I need you to want me in return. I need you to not be afraid,” he explained more gently as he picked up the blanket and passed it back to her.
Sansa accepted it and wrapped the woven fabric back around herself. “I don’t know how to do that.”
“Sit?” he asked, patting the spot on the bed next to him.
Sansa sat down in the offered space which was close enough to Tormund that she could feel his warmth at her side. He reached over and took her hand in his. “Then we must take our time until you are no longer afraid. Will you permit me to stay longer at Winterfell, long enough to learn to trust me?”
“What if I never can?”
“You trusted me enough to ask for this. I think you can, given time,” he said gently.
“The more time you spend here, the less discreet it will be,” she protested, unsure that the passage of time would even help.
“You won’t even need discretion. No one will suspect that the perfect lady Queen in the North took an ill mannered wildling to her bed. No one would believe it. That was half the reason you sent for me, wasn’t it? Because no one would expect it?”
Sansa nodded, biting her lip. “Then what should we do?”
Tormund got up and blew out the candle. He went around to the other side of the bed and in the darkness kicked off his boots and stripped off his clothes. He pulled aside the covers and got into bed.
“Join me in the bed. We can only sleep if you want. I think we had best sleep close.”
Sansa dropped her blanket and climbed into the bed. She was still afraid. It didn’t seem to her like sleeping naked next to a naked man was going to ease her fears at all but maybe in this state she could seduce him to finish what he had agreed to. She slid close enough that her body pressed against his and to her surprise he turned onto his side away from her but still touching, his back against her bare arm. She remembered some of things Bella had told her, ways she could touch a man to get his attention but found that she no longer had the courage to try. She sighed as the silent tears stung her eyes. She was no wolf. Not tonight anyway. Sansa remained there in silence until sleep eventually found her.
***
Tormund awoke some hours later to movement in the bed. Sansa was having a nightmare, struggling against some unseen force in her dream. Then she spoke in her sleep.
“No… no… Ramsay no… not there! Don’t touch me! No… please stop!”
“Sansa, wake up!” Tormund spoke to wake her rather than touch. He would not make her continue that nightmare.
Sansa startled awake with a few gasps of breath, then he heard a sniffle. She was weeping.
“What did that cunt do to you?” Tornund asked in the darkness. “I know he hurt you. Raped you probably….”
“He did lots of things. Sometimes he hit me. Sometimes he cut me. Sometimes he used…. Things… to rape me with… sometimes he made Theon watch… or made me watch him and Miranda…sometimes he choked me… he always hurt me. Always.”
“I wish we could kill that dumb fucker all over again,” Tormund said truthfully. “You know it’s not supposed to be like that between a man and a woman?”
“I suspected.” Sansa said. “A long time ago my mother told me I would someday have a husband who loved me and adored me and treated me gently.”
“That’s what you should have had. She was right about that. You still deserve that,” he said emphatically.
“It’s too late for that!” Sansa said, her voice breaking.
Tormund reached over and took her hand in both of his. He lifted her hand and kissed it gently. “It’s not. It would be easy to love you, easy to adore you, and any man who did both of those would treat you gently.”
He heard Sansa’s breathing hitch as she turned onto her side and moved a little nearer to him. “Will you kiss me?” she asked in a near whisper.
“Are you sure that’s what you want?” He asked, a little suspicious. “Because if you are just trying to seduce me into giving you your heir before you’re ready…”
“I’m not. I just want to know what it’s like to be treated gently. Just once.”
Tormund leaned a little nearer and planted a gentle kiss on her lips. It was Sansa who pulled herself close to him, her body flush against his and kissed him more deeply in return. His arms came around her and he continued kissing her, his tongue in her mouth until she pulled away with a gasp, his hardness pressed against her in his need.
“It’s alright,” he told her huskily. “We can stop now.”
“What if I don’t want to?”
It took him half a second to realize that her breathing was deepened, her cheeks flush, her nipples hard against him. She was serious. She was no longer afraid.
Tormund pulled her close and resumed his kisses. He took his time and was gentle with her like he had promised. When he went inside her she was ready for him and he made it last until she had taken her full pleasure before he spilled himself inside her.
Afterward he lay next to her catching his breath and Sansa unexpectedly burst into tears. She curled up and turned away from him to hide her sobs but he knew what was happening all the same.
“Sansa? Did I hurt you?” he asked with immediate concern.
“No, not in the least.”
“Then why are you weeping?”
“Because I didn’t know… I didn’t know it was possible for anything to feel that good. I didn’t know…”
“Sansa come here?” Tormund said, realizing she was mourning what that cunt Ramsay had truly stolen from her.
She turned to face him and he enveloped her in a firm hug. She tucked herself in close to him and Tormund just let her cry herself to sleep.
***
Sasa awoke in the early morning hours still warm in Tormund’s embrace. She was surprised at how safe it felt. More than just safe, she also felt something else. A feeling that had been there from the moment he had wrapped that blanket around her shoulders. A feeling that had only grown when he told her she would be easy to love and adore and had peaked when he had brought her pleasure that she hadn’t known was possible. She felt stupid for crying about it. She had thought that the stupid little girl inside her had died a long time ago but last night she had discovered that the old Sansa did still exist. The new Sansa didn’t need to be distracted by romantic notions. She had a duty to the realm and to her house, that was all this was supposed to be. She wasn’t supposed to be swayed by his words and swoon over kisses. She wasn’t supposed to take pleasure in her time with him and most of all, she wasn’t supposed to enjoy his hugs like she was doing right now. In a few days he would leave and she would never feel any of this again, the thought of it almost had her weeping all over again.
Tormund’s eyes slowly opened and he gave her a small smile at finding her still cuddled close to him. He was so handsome when he smiled. He reached over and brushed away a few tears with his thumb, she had been unaware she had started to cry.
“I have a meeting with my bannermen this morning,” told him, trying her best to ignore her feelings. “After that I have to go over accounts with the steward. I expect to be busy all day. You will stay longer though? Long enough to be sure… until after there is a pregnancy?”
“I will stay that long,” he agreed. “What would you have me do all day?”
“Lord Glover is here.” Sansa said, reluctantly pulling away from him. “He has proposed rebuilding Shadow Tower on the Wall and opening up trade with the Free Folk. That’s the official reason you are here. You are to meet with him today.”
“What would we even have to trade?”
“Apparently the Glover family has a story about an ancestor who went off exploring and found gold in the Frostfangs,” Sansa explained as she reached for her discarded dress on the floor. “They believe a great supply of gold is buried deep in the Mountains North of the Wall. They want to trade ships and grain for it.”
“Aye, I suppose that is worth talking about.”
“I thought it might be.” Sansa had pulled on her dress and turned to face him. “You will come back tonight?”
He smiled that handsome smile of his. “I will come back tonight,” he agreed.