Sansa's Dream

Sansa once again walked to the Weirwood, piercing the bush covered with white milky snow. The tree looked higher than it usually looked. In spite of heavy snow fall which had just stopped and cloudy sky, she saw a pale light falling through the branches of the tree. She saw the water of the small lake frozen still and the pale orange leaves lying on the icy surface. She had always missed snow. Moreover, she had missed Winterfell. As she glanced up to the tree, she saw his lord father sitting under the tree, leaning back by the trunk of Weirwood. Sansa had always cursed herself for her father’s death. It was the moment when she would have run across the lake in the arms of her father. She would have begged him to forgive her. But she knew that he was dead. Perhaps, she knew that more than anyone else. However, before Sansa could approach, Lord Stark flickered his eyes and glanced at her. His face with scars was glowing like a moonlight of the brightest night. Sansa found his face quite pale. She looked at him desperately. Her eyes were begging for forgiveness, while the tears glittered in her eyes. Lord Stark smiled at her through that pale glow of his face. That one smile was enough for Sansa to let go herself. That one smile of her father shook her legs and she fell on her knees. That one smile of her father was enough to breathe the air of god. Her eyes glittered as the the tears rolled down upon her cheeks. She didn’t hide herself from her father. She didn’t hide her tears from her father. She didn’t wear that armour of fake smile on her face that she always carried since she saw him dying. She let herself cry. She cried until her heart flooded out the sorrow. She wept for her father as she used to when she was too small.

“Forgive me, Father,” she gasped. “I let you down. You had faith in me, and I failed you.”

For a moment, she felt her father looking into her eyes. His deep eyes consoled her, even without holding her hand. His lips smiled again through his short beard.

“You didn’t fail me, my dear Sansa,” Lord Stark’s voice echoed through the branches of Weirwood. “You never did. You don’t have to apologize for anything. You did what Ned Stark’s daughter would have done.”

He paused for a moment and then he said, “I still have faith in you.”

The last time Sansa glanced at him through her wet eyes, she saw the pale light becoming vivid. She initially thought it was her tears that made it vivid. However, the last thing she saw before the light blinded her vision, was her father smiling at her proudly. Perhaps it was the last time she would ever see her father. Perhaps, that smile gave her the purpose of her life.

“I believe in you, Sansa,” Lord Stark’s voice echoed out of nowhere.

Sansa opened her eyes and found herself lying in her bed in her chamber at King’s Landing. She gazed at the ceiling, while the tears rolled down from her eyes.    

[Sansa's Dream by Bhargav Patel]

Digital Painting of Sansa Stark