"It's the bickering with swords and armies and weapons that frustrates me," he told her. "If they want to shout, yell, and send nasty messages back and forth, that's fine, but I draw the line at sending assassins." The time for petty kings was long over. And no baby queen from the east was going to change that, either.

Sansa's praise and her touch took him admittedly by surprise. "Careful, Lady Stark," Daemon warned her, a mischievous sparkle in his eye. "Mind your words or I'll start believing you actually approve of me."