Winterfell Castle
POV of Domeric Bolton
Sansa Stark was just like his aunt described. She was someone who saw life in a rosy light.
He spent some of his time with Sansa Stark each day.
And while she grew more and more enamored with him each time they talked, he grew more and more frustrated with her naivety and her utter detachment from reality.
He had to teach her the real world as soon as possible if they betroth each other otherwise this kind of naivety would be a problem in their relationship in the future.
After all, he was a Lord and if they married then she would be Lady of Dreadfort and Bolton Lands. As a lady of one of Nort's greatest houses, she should at least be able to see things more pragmatically and protect herself from being taken advantage of.
So, when Lord Stark called him and asked for his response, he spoke truthfully and declined the betrothal for the moment. Actually, his main reason for rejection wasn't Sansa's naivety but he just didn't want to start a relationship with someone so young. But Lord Stark wouldn't accept that kind of reason. After all this kind of betrothal was normal in this world.
Lord Stark looked slightly angry at his evaluation his Sansa Stark and his decline of the betrothal. But even though people are usually blind to the vices of their loved ones, Eddard Stark understood that he had spoiled his daughter and understood his reasons behind declining the marriage.
But in the end, if he didn't make a betrothal pact with House Stark, then the power imbalance within the two houses might cause a civil war to happen in the future.
In order to avoid this result, something needed to be done.
And so, he gave Lord Stark four different proposals.
The first proposal was for Eddard Stark to send his eldest son, Robb Stark, to live at Dreadfort as a ward. This way, both Domeric and Robb Stark could form a brotherly bond that would stop any notion of civil war in the future.
The second proposal was for Eddard Stark to send his baseborn son Jon Snow as a ward instead of Robb Stark.
The third proposal was for Eddard Stark to teach Sansa Stark about the realities of life instead of filling her head with useless notions of chivalric knights of the South. That way, if Sansa became a reasonable girl in the future, then he might consider being betrothed to her. Domeric would be Sansa's suitor, not her betrothed.
The two houses will make a written agreement that Domeric and Sansa will not be betrothed or married to anyone else for five years until both houses renegotiate the betrothal status between them.
The third proposal was for Domeric would court Arya Stark when she was older and if she also didn't have her head stuck up in the clouds then he'd consider being betrothed to her.
For this proposal, the two houses still will make a written agreement that Domeric and Arya will not be betrothed or married to anyone else. But this time, the agreement would be for seven years until both houses renegotiate the betrothal status between them.
After thinking about it for a while, Eddard Stark declined Domeric's first two proposals.
His first proposal was declined on the basis that Robb Stark was the heir of Winterfell, and he didn't want his heir to serve as a ward to some other house.
His second proposal was declined on the basis that Jon Snow was a bastard and sending him as a ward would not be proper. However, Domeric did not see this as a sufficient reason for declining his offer. After all, Domeric was the one making this proposal. If he was okay with it, why wouldn't it be proper?
Actually, Domeric wanted Lord Stark to accept his second proposal and sent Jon Snow to his land as a ward. He saw himself when looking at Jon.
Lady Catelyn hated him because she saw him as Lord Stark's betrayal of their marriage. Castle folks saw him as a bastard nothing more. Jon looked like he had to live somewhere he didn't want to. Just like Domeric when he was a child. Lord Stark looked like he cared for Jon even if he didn't show it much. He knew that appearances could be deceiving.
So, he worried about the situation with Jon, and he used legilimency on Lord Stark to learn about the treatment of Jon Snow at Winterfell.
But when he read Ned Stark's mind, he was surprised to find that Jon Snow was not Ned Stark's son at all. In fact, Jon Snow was the son of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen and Ned didn't want anyone else to find out about this.
In the end, Ned told him that he'd try to work with his daughters, and they'd talk about the betrothal the next time. Until that time Domeric and Sansa would be suitors. The two houses will make a written agreement that Domeric and Sansa will not be betrothed or married to anyone else for five years until both houses renegotiate the betrothal status between them.
Domeric agreed but made an addition to the proposal that Sansa would come and stay at Dreadfort for at least two months every year without a family member. She could bring her guards and maid but no family member. This way she could experience the real world and become a little more independent.
Lord Stark found two months too much and proposed a month's stay at Dreadfort. In the end, both Lords agreed to these terms and Domeric left the solar.
After a while, both Lords signed a written agreement between them and Lady Barbrey, Lady Catelyn, and maesters from both houses signed as witnesses.
The next morning, most of the lords left Winterfell and went on their way back to their castles and keeps and he too bade goodbye to Robb Stark and Jon Snow, whom he had become good friends with, and left for Dreadfort.
Finally, the tension between Bolton House and Stark House was resolved and he could focus on developing his land and inventing new things.
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