“Exactly. Though it’s not so much suspicion as he’s known me all my life, and I don’t think I could…” She waves vaguely. “… Well, frankly, I’m too honest. I could not credibly offer him the prize he wants.”

He nods. "It's worth a shot. Maybe something good will come out of this whole thing after all, the Seven know how much the North could use the help, it's been really rough."

Alis peers at both of them over the lip of his cup of tea with a wan, half-lidded expression on his face. Exchanging jabs with Zakary is fun, but...

...gods below he's in love with these two.

"Yeah. I didn't, um, realize how much, until." She reaches out and takes and pats one of her husband's hands, embarrassed by how much she didn't understand how other people do in fact have problems too. "I liked dinner with the northern bannermen, it was very enlightening."

He squeezes her hand back and offers her one of his infrequent smiles.

"You are learning fast, and I mean that, Alis's bannermen are very enamoured with you, already."

She beams, pleased.

"Fortunately for me, they're not much on..." she waves vaguely. "barbed words and veiled grandstanding and ladies being seen and not heard? Except Bolton, but I'm pretty sure Bolton would have hated me regardless of anything I said or did."

"Stay away from Bolton," Alis says with sudden intensity. "He is a monster and his House is a blight on the North. The gods know we can't refuse men in this war but if I had my way I would have him executed."

“That’s about what Brandon told me too, yes, though he used more swear words and it was more ‘fight to the death’ than ‘execute.’”

Oh no he agrees with Brandon in more things this is terrible.

"But let's not try to solve every problem of the realm over a single afternoon's tea, that'll make future tea sessions so much less interesting. With the problem at hand I am very willing to help, and I have an idea of how and when already. Tomorrow we have another meeting about resources and supplies for the war, which is very topical and should be easy to segue into a private chat with Lord Tully afterwards."

She nods, amused.

"Very well. Thank you. Um, do you want... I suppose not concrete advice for how to deal with him, that might actually tip him off that I'm involved, but perhaps a... social profile and what tactics tend to work?"

"I will accept any advantages I can get, most certainly."

"He doesn't respond well to ultimatums or threats or the like, and he will be extremely stubborn and uncooperative if he feels like he's being backed into a corner. He can and will dig his heels in out of the general principle that those sorts of tactics should not be allowed to work even once." Even for one of his daughters, they've all seen how well that went. "He's... he does sincerely care about the welfare of the people in his charge, and wants the best for the Riverlands and will make personal sacrifices," or, more often, sacrifices of other people, since that's so much easier, "for their safety, security, and benefit. But that can sometimes mean that he locks his heart away in favor of the, the optimal solution. Which paradoxically makes him scramble for excuses when there's something he personally wants but wouldn't be tactically intelligent, instead of just saying 'I want this for me.'"

"So one possible angle of attack here is to talk some about the problems the North has been facing, in terms of resources, perhaps framing it as asking for his input on logistics. Then after that, as an entirely unrelated aside, talk about your own attachment to the North and how it breaks your heart, personally, to know they're suffering so much, and so on, so he can connect the dots about how much it would make you really happy to help with these problems."

"Yes. And it would. Though..."

She makes a complicated expression. The smart tactical part of her that thinks people are things to be manipulated is giving her the proper script to follow, to gently play along with the narrative that maybe, yes, this relationship could actually be mended. It's false. For a number of reasons. She has never had a problem with his administration as a lord, and in fact he's taught her so much about how to care for people that are under her power, and knows so much more than she does already. He has much more experience with the real costs of things, and has definitively accepted personal sacrifices to aid them. It's just that's not her problem at all. Her problem is that he did real harm for perceived future gains based off of, of cold arithmetic instead of living people in front of him, was inflexible and cruel instead of trying to find a solution that worked for everyone involved. He thinks he's the smartest person in the room and that everyone should listen to him and they're stupid or wrong or he's humoring their silly base desires if they don't. That's not something easily mended.

And she finds that now that she's had a proper taste of honesty, however painful the truth, she wants more of it. And she wants nothing to do with burying the painful truth with pretty, pretty lies.

"... I do want to be forthright with you, that I don't... think our relationship can be mended. The way he wants it to be. Even if he were very helpful in getting me things I want. Even if it would help a lot of people that were suffering very much. It's my opinion that I'm asking you to tempt him with a thing he cannot ever get."

"I know. I do not—what he did to your sister was unforgiveable, and... honestly... what he has done to you, all your life, stuffing you into this box and your own duties, that is not forgiveable, either, even if it wasn't one specific awful thing, even if every father does this to their daughter, even considering how well you have learned to pull on the few strings you have access to.

"I do not understand how any women have positive relationships with their fathers, in this world, but I hope to do better by any daughters of mine than your father has done by you or your sister."

She stares at him.

Oh.

Upon reflection, she does sort of understand why her husband is in love with this man.

".... Dorne seems to be pretty good about fathers being kind to their daughters," she says, because saying that is much easier than dealing with complicated squishy feelings she has about boxes she has been in that she may or may not have but doesn't want to focus on either way. "For, um, proper perspective on. I mean you'd have to ask them but."

He laughs and leans back on his chair. "Fair enough, and I do not presume to know the customs across the Narrow Sea, either. Perhaps they have also learned, as did the Dornish, that women are people."

"I don't think the Seven Kingdoms-except-for-Dorne have forgotten that women are people, exactly, just. ... Women have a designated place for them. And if it's more restrictive than the designated place for men, well. Such is the responsibility of motherhood." Or something. It's not hard to tell her irritation with this system.

Maiden, Mother, Crone. Those are the options, as shown by the female facets of God in the Faith of the Seven. They are entirely based around whether one has been married or not, and which part of that cycle of not-married, to married, to widowed and/or incapable of bearing children a woman is in. Men get Father, Smith, and Warrior. How nice for them.

Yeah, Zakary isn't buying that either, but clearly she is having some emotions she does not want to process in front of him so he should try to bring the conversation to lighter subjects. Such as how to manipulate her father.

"So is there aught else you believe I should know, about Lord Tully? Or should I workshop the rest of this on my own, lest he see your hands in the planning?" He's confident he'd be able to mask all evidence of such, but that's also a good escape route for her in case she doesn't want to talk about it anymore either.

(Alis squeezes Ana's hand again in sympathy but honestly he's back to having feelings about the two of them. His plan has worked, though, he is no longer lost in the weeds of threesome fantasies just by them being in the same... private... room... as he is... OKAY THINKING ABOUT SOMETHING ELSE AGAIN LORD TULLY SURE SUCKS HUH)

"Mmm... he loved my mother, and I think sees a lot of her in me. He might see some echo of himself and her in me and Alis. That might be useful somewhere. But aside from that, no, I'm not sure what else I can offer."

"I shall do my best, then, and hopefully that will be enough."

"Thank you for the attempt, and Crone's wisdom be with you," she says, with just a little hint of wryness. "And let me know if I can help otherwise. With other things, too, I mean."