Chapter 14 Sansa

(Hello everyone! So, this is a fanfic that I've been working on for a while now. I borrowed several elements from Game of Thrones and A Song of Ice and Fire. This is my first fanfic on this site, so constructive criticism is welcome. Appreciate!)

Sansa left King's Landing during a riot. The riot was outside the city walls by the Gate of the Gods. The small folk fleeing the war in the Riverlands and near Gods Eye had been camped here for many days, and gradually the numbers grew until the camp looked like a small town attached like a tumor to the stinking morass that was King's Landing. Many had nothing but the few belongings they could carry, while others had a cart or wagon and perhaps an ox or horse, but soon the animals were butchered and the meat sold and consumed. Despite this, food was scarce and before long farmer's daughters and even their mothers were selling their bodies for a meager loaf of bread or a few ears of corn. Soon even this would not buy them anything as there was nothing to buy. Some resourceful criminals in the city had manage to get some food and sold it at outrageous prices in the camps, but the city was mainly sealed tight, the gold cloaks manning the Gate of the Gods and the other gates in force, and were not allowing anyone into the city or anyone out who carried any food.

Sansa could hear the people even as they assembled by the gate to leave. She and Jeyne had mainly stayed in her rooms for the past two days after she and the Hound had rescued her friend from Lord Baelish's 'establishment'. Sansa had no idea what had happened to Baelish and really did not care if he rotted in the black cells forever. After many tears and much shaking Jeyne had finally told her what had happened to her. The Hound had the right of it. They were training her in the arts of love, planning to sell her to a wealthy lord or merchant who would pay her weight in gold for her maidenhead. Like Sansa, Jeyne had not yet counted thirteen name days. Unlike Sansa, she had already had her first moon's blood, while in captivity, and Baelish told her they were only waiting for her to feel better before she would be offered up to the greed and lust of men. Jeyne refused to give details of her training and Sansa had no real desire to know.

Now they stood next to two riding palfreys in the open area near the Gate of the Gods as their party assembled. There were five large supply wagons, loaded with tents and food for their group. Ser Robyn Serrett and his fifty Lannister men were there, standing by their horses, as was the Hound and his massive war horse Sansa had heard him call Stranger. Princess Myrcella and two handmaidens a few years older than Sansa were also there, standing next to a small wheel house pulled by eight horses, which they would ride in on the journey north. It was small compared to the one the Queen had which Sansa had spent time in on the way south, but it was still a large wooden house on wheels. The Queen and Prince Tommen had come to say goodbye. And so had Joffrey.

Sansa had not seen him since the night he had had his guard beat her. Now he was here in his kingly clothes with his crown on his head and sword at his side, coming to bid farewell to his sister. All of the Kingsguard was here as well, and there must have been well over three hundred gold cloaks with their leader Slynt, the one who had arrested Baelish.

Sansa and Jeyne waited by their horses as Joffrey said goodbye to his sister. They could not hear what he said to her, but they could see Tommen was weeping as his mother held his hand. Cersei also looked like she wanted to cry, but kept a brave face on in front of all the assembled people. Tommen ran to Myrcella and gave her a hug and then the Princess was crying as well. Joffrey made a sneering face and spoke loudly.

"Why are you crying? You'll be back in a few weeks once we defeat uncles Stannis and Renly. Then our grandfather will show Robb Stark who is the real master of war in the Seven Kingdoms."

No one said a word and Joffrey stood there looking pompous and proud of himself. His mother narrowed her eyes slightly as she stood behind her son the King but she said nothing to dispute his comments. Sansa had heard rumors that Renly Baratheon was only twenty leagues south of the city, while his brother Stannis gathered over 200 ships on Dragonstone, preparing for an invasion of the city. The rumors also said that the two brothers hated each other and both wanted to be king in place of their dead older brother. Sansa still wondered how they could have such a claim over King Robert's son. There he was, sneering like a spoiled child, she thought. She now wondered how she could ever think she loved him. Then Joffrey was looking at her, and the Hound, who was by her side. He walked over to them as the Queen had some final words with her daughter.

"I see you've found a new bitch, dog," Joffrey said with a stupid grin on his face.

"She is a lady, not a bitch, Your Grace," the Hound growled.

Joffrey got that angry look in his eye that Sansa came to dread. "She is a bitch, dog, and nothing else! A northern whore whose father and brother and mother are traitors." Now he looked at Sansa. "Thank the gods the High Septon released me from my promise to wed you. Now I can marry a real woman, a real princess, not some stupid whore of a traitorous family. You know, if my uncle hadn't been stupid enough to get caught, you'd stay here forever. Then I would make you my whore, for real."

"Yes, Your Grace," was all Sansa could say in reply, casting her eyes down, not wishing him to see the joy she felt because she was leaving and not caring about his words he had said to hurt her. She was no whore, she knew that, and she knew her family were not traitors. But she said nothing, not wanting a scene and not wanting to give him any reason to keep her here as he wanted. Sansa kept her silence, despite knowing that maybe he had no power to keep her here now. She had heard from the Hound that Ser Jaime Lannister had been captured by her brother and she was to be exchanged for him along with Arya, now at Harrenhal.

Joffrey said nothing else, let out an angry breath of air, and then looked once more at the Hound. "Don't ever come back to King's Landing, dog. You are no longer welcome at my court. My mother may trust you to protect my sister, but I'll never trust you again."

"Yes, Your Grace," the Hound said without emotion. Joffrey stared at him for a long moment, and Sansa feared he would do something terrible, but then he turned away and shouted for his horse. It was brought, a white charger, and then he mounted up, as did his three of his Kingsguard. They left up the street toward the hill far away with the Red Keep on it, with fifty gold cloaks on foot marching bedside them.

Then the Queen was in front of Sansa and the Hound. She spoke to the Hound. "My son has taken a dislike to you, Clegane."

"I know, Your Grace," he replied.

"Fear not," she said. "Do your duty and you will have my and House Lannister's eternal gratitude. But if any harm comes to my daughter…well, I need not say anymore, do I?"

"No, Your Grace."

"Good." Then she looked at Sansa and gave her a sad look. "Farewell, little dove. I fear we shall not see each other again, at least not for a long time. You know, I was looking forward to having you part of my family."

That truly shocked Sansa. "I…thank you, Your Grace," was all she could say.

"But you truly don't want that now, do you?" Cersei asked her, her eyes searching Sansa's face.

This was dangerous ground. But Sansa felt safe knowing that the Queen wanted her brother freed. "I'm sorry. But no, I don't, Your Grace," she said in a bare whisper.

"Ah, some truths from you at last, Lady Stark," Cersei said in a slight mocking tone. Then her face turned serious. "Please be a friend to Myrcella. Make sure she is well, and that she writes to us often."

"I will, Your Grace."

Cersei cast her eyes back to the Hound for a quick glance. "And tell your father to make sure Clegane does not drink all of the wine in Winterfell's cellars."

"Yes, Your Grace."

"Good." She cast a look at Jeyne, but said not a word to her and Sansa felt relief. They had feared someone might stop Jeyne from leaving but no one seemed to even know who she was or cared much about her. Sansa wondered if the Queen already knew what had happened to Jeyne at Baelish's place. Then the Queen turned and looked for someone and then Ser Robyn came over, leading his horse. "Ser Robyn, I put my daughter's safety in you and your men's hands. Do not fail me."

"Yes, Your Grace. I must ask leave to protest once again about this wheel house. It is an encumbrance we do not need. Speed is of the essence here."

"It is done, Ser Robyn and I will not undo it. The Princess rides in comfort."

Ser Robyn looked like he wanted to protest more but just nodded. "Yes, Your Grace. With your leave we will depart."

"In a moment." Cersei walked over to Myrcella, where she was talking to Tommen, gave her one last hug, and then waited for her and her two hand maidens to enter the house on wheels. With that she looked to Ser Robyn, nodded, and he and his men then mounted up.

"Time to go home, little birds," the Hound said and then he mounted and Sansa and Jeyne did as well. They were wearing riding clothes, leather breeches and boots, linen blouses and woolen jackets, plus leather gloves on their hands. Sansa's jacket was dark blue in color while Jeyne wore brown. The clothes Jeyne wore the Hound had managed to find in the castle and Sansa's were her own, ones she had brought from Winterfell. Many of her other clothes were in two chests in one of the wagons. Strapped across the back of her saddle above the saddle bags was her father's sword, Ice. She had not expected to have it, but as they prepared their horses that morning at the stables the Hound and Ser Ilyn Payne, the scary headsman with no tongue, approached them. Ser Ilyn thrust out her father's sword toward her hilt first in its scabbard and she stood there gaping at him, not understanding.

"Your father's sword, little bird," the Hound explained. "The Queen said your father demanded it as part of the peace terms he is negotiating with Lord Tywin. I will carry it if…"

"No," she said swiftly. It belonged to her father, to her house. A Stark had to carry it. Sansa did not know much of swords and war but she knew that she had to carry her father's sword. "I will. I mean, it's too heavy for me, but on my saddle, perhaps?"

"Yes," said the Hound and he strapped it on her saddle behind the seat.

Now they were all mounted and the commander of the gold cloaks, that Slynt man, then ordered the gates opened and his large group of men moved past him and out the gates. And that's when the riot began.

The people were crowded around the gate and the noise was soon overwhelming. The cries for food and shelter, the pleas for help and to allow them to enter the city rang out. The gold cloaks pushed them back at spear point and the people moved. The gold cloaks formed a cordon through which their commander now walked and then Ser Robyn moved out followed by half of his men and the wheel house with the Princess. The noise grew louder and Sansa, Jeyne and the Hound moved directly behind the wheel house. Behind them came the five wagons and the rest of Ser Robyn's men. Then they were out the gates and out of King's Landing at last.

Sansa saw the people and her heart quailed. They were ragged and thin and had haunted looks in their eyes. They were crying and pushing and the gold cloaks barely kept them back. But when the five wagons with their supplies came out of the gates, the noisy crowd went berserk. One man hit a gold cloak with a large rock and he went down and then many charged through the gap in the lines. They scrambled up on the wagons and soon the drivers were knocked from their seats. People went down under the spears of gold cloaks but more broke through and more gold cloaks fell. The food and other supplies in the wagons was being tossed down, barrels of salt beef and fish overturned, the contents quickly gathered up. Loaves of hard bread, bags of oats and peas and ears of corn went flying as did many of Sansa's best dresses and shoes. A cask of wine fell and sprang leaks and the small folk started fighting to get at its contents.

Then the rest of Ser Robyn's men at the rear charged with their lances and swords and dozens of small folk fell under their blows. As Sansa saw all this suddenly the Hound's scarred face was screaming at her.

"RIDE!" he yelled and she suddenly realized she had fallen behind the wheel house and the rest of the party. Jeyne was far ahead of the wheel house, which now had ten of Ser Robyn's men around it. Sansa turned and as she did so a man's hand grabbed her right boot and he tried to pull her off her horse but she got her leg free with a wrench and then kicked him in the face and he let out a grunt and fell. Now in front of her, the Hound had his massive sword out and he started laying into the small folk. Sansa sped her horse past, seeing the Hound's sword slash a man's face, hack off a woman's arm, and then slice the back open of another man. All three fell into the road in pools of blood with screams coming from them. She closed her mind to these terrible sights and rode. Sansa rode well, not as well as Robb or Jon or Arya but she had been trained to ride since she was a small girl. Soon she passed by the guards near the wheel house and rode in front where Jeyne was slowing down by Ser Robyn's horse.

"Damn, damn, and damn!" shouted Ser Robyn. He turned his horse and rode back. More gold cloaks here were keeping the crowds back and Slynt was standing in the road shouting to encourage his men, his sword drawn. In a moment Ser Robyn was back, the wheel house not far behind him.

"Slynt! You must stay with us through the far side of the camp!" he shouted at the City Watch commander.

"NO!" Slynt shouted back. "My men will be slaughtered!"

"Coward!" Ser Robyn shouted back. "The Princess needs to be protected!"

Slynt seemed to hesitate and Sansa couldn't believe he was going to abandon them. She looked at Jeyne and her friend was terrified and she knew she had to say something. "Lord Slynt!" Sansa yelled above the noise, her voice high and excited. "If any harm comes to the Princess you will pay with your head! You know Joffrey will do it!"

Slynt hesitated again and then started shouting orders to his men to stay with them. Gradually they moved through the camp. Behind them they left half their food supplies and two driverless wagons. Later Sansa learned that the two drivers of these wagons had died. A smart gold cloak captain had sent out almost two hundred men as reinforcements from the city when he saw what was happening from the walls. They saved many of their own men but some were dead and many wounded. Three of Ser Robyn's men were dragged off their horses and wounded so they stayed behind. All of Sansa's clothes she had brought from Winterfell had been lost as well. By now she was beyond caring about such things and just wanted to go home.

"Bloody idiots!" the Hound growled as he rejoined Sansa and Jeyne riding beside the wheel house. Sansa did not who he meant were idiots. Maybe all of them were as far as the Hound was concerned.

Sansa saw blood on his armor on his right arm. "Are you hurt?" she asked with concern.

The Hound looked at his arm where she was looking. "Not mine," he said. He looked at her sharply. "Little bird, the next time some fools come at you wanting to harm you, you ride as fast as you can the other way."

"I…I know I should have," she replied. "But…you didn't."

"A dog's job is to protect his masters," was all he said and then he lapsed into his brooding silence, his sword still out, his eyes scanning the crowd for danger.

Slynt and the now about four hundred gold cloaks led them through the rest of the wide camp of small folk and they were assaulted with plenty of shouts and curses along with pleas for help, but nobody else got through the cordon of gold cloaks and spears. They were soon past the camp and Slynt and his men stayed with them for one league on the Kingsroad before turning back to the city.

After the gold cloaks left, Princess Myrcella's party rode faster and did not stop for almost five leagues Sansa guessed. Then Ser Robyn ordered a halt in a field by a stream to take stock of all they had left. He soon realized he had lost three men and two wagon drivers and their loads after the Hound told the others what he had seen and what had happened to the lost men and wagons.

The lost food was going to be a problem and Ser Robyn immediately ordered them on reduced rations. There was some grumbling but no one complained too loudly. Then Princess Myrcella came out of her wheel house and Ser Robyn went to one knee and began to explain what had happened and what they must now do.

Sansa, Jeyne and the Hound stood nearby as Ser Robyn explained. Myrcella kept looking over at Sansa as Ser Robyn spoke. Finally, Ser Robyn finished. "I understand," said Myrcella, her voice a little shaky. "My mother said to follow your orders, Ser Robyn. You do what is best."

"Yes, My Princess," he said as he rose. He left to give orders to his men to make a midday meal. There was some salted fish and mutton left, a bit a bread, and some casks of ale, one bag of oats, two bags of pease, and some corn but not much else except a large sack of apples. They were almost sixty people and had to travel for at least a week or more to reach Harrenhal. Probably more, seeing how slow the wheel house moved.

A small table was set up outside the wheel house for the Princess and her handmaidens and she asked Sansa and Jeyne to join them. The two handmaidens were named Arlene and Nycollet. Both were about 15 years of age, Sansa guessed. Arlene had brown hair and Nycollet's was very black. They were pretty and friendly but also scared after what had happened.

"I heard you shouting at the commander," Myrcella told Sansa as they munched on some apples.

"Yes," Sansa replied, finding her face turning a bit red. "I did, didn't I? And he listened!"

They had a giggle over that but after the morning's events there was not much to laugh about.

"Why did they want to harm us?" Arlene asked.

"They are hungry," said Sansa.

"They should go back to their farms," Jeyne said next.

"They have no more farms," Sansa told them. "The Hou…Sandor Clegane, he said the war is bad in the Riverlands. The people ran away."

Myrcella spoke up. "My brother the King said the small folk outside the gates should all be killed."

They all stared at her and no one said a word. "But," Myrcella continued. "I think he is wrong."

Sansa smiled. "Yes, I think you are right. If the King begins to kill the small folk, they will not stand it for long."

They were silent for a few moments and it seemed like the other girls were waiting for Myrcella or Sansa to speak. They were high born of course, so deference was given them.

"I am glad to be going to Winterfell," the Princess said suddenly.

"So am I," said Jeyne and Sansa saw her face and Sansa knew she was very sad because her father was not coming home with her.

"Is it really cold?" Nycollet asked.

"Very," said Sansa. "With plenty of snow in winter."

"I should like that," said Arlene.

"No, you won't," Jeyne said with certainty. "Sansa and I have seen a northern winter when we were small girls. It was long and cold and there was too much snow."

"My father said that was a short winter," Sansa told them. She had been three years old and barely remembered it. Her mother was pregnant with Arya and she had been born as the snows ended and began to melt. That's the main thing Sansa remembered of her only winter, her baby sister coming into the world. Sansa had thought it was grand having a sister, a girl like her she could play with. But as they grew up, Sansa and Arya grew apart. Sansa wanted to read and sing and play music and talk about boys she liked. Arya wanted to ride a horse and fight with Jon and Bran or hang about the smithy and the kitchens and stables and she never talked about boys at all except the ones she wanted to punch in the face. There was nothing the two of them liked that was the same.

"I am sorry my brother doesn't want to marry you now," Princess Myrcella was saying and Sansa snapped back to the present from her memories.

Sansa knew she was talking about Joffrey and pretended to be sad. "It is good of you to say that, My Princess. My father is a traitor, so the King cannot marry me. It's not his fault. They made him do it." She knew she had to say it that way so Mrycella would not get upset. Some day in the future when the Princess was older and they had become better friends Sansa would tell her the real truth.

After eating Ser Robyn asked permission to resume their trip and the Princess said yes. They made more progress that day and gradually Sansa began to realize no one else was on the Kingsroad but them. The farms they passed were empty, the small towns and villages also empty.

"Where are all the people?" Jeyne asked as they rode.

"Hiding," said Sansa. "Or gone to King's Landing."

"Or dead," said the Hound in his dour way. Sansa thought he was just saying that to frighten them but as he spoke he pointed off the road and there was a body, so swollen and covered with flies Sansa could not tell if it was a man or a woman. A rotten foul stench filled the air and she almost gagged up her food. After that they encountered more bodies, some by the side of the road, some hung from trees, and some in the fields far off.

In one small town they stopped in the empty street where the Kingsroad passed through the town. Ser Robyn shouted for the people to come out but no one did. Finally he sent his men to search the houses for food but they found nothing but one old man too weak to leave, as he explained. He told them the folk had all left a week ago for the capital and had taken all the food they could carry. He begged Ser Robyn to take him with them or give him a quick death but they left him where they found him, and Sansa and Jeyne felt bad about that all day.

That night before they ate, they had set the horses to grazing after being hobbled. Supper was a weak soup of salted mutton and pease with hard bread, washed down with strong ale. The Hound cursed that they had lost the wine, saying ale was for children and old women, but he drank it just the same. Sansa found the taste strong but liked how it made her feel relaxed and ease some of her worries.

After they ate and cleaned up, Ser Robyn set guards and they prepared for bed. Sansa and Jeyne slept in one of the few tents that had survived the riots, while Myrcella and her maidens slept in the wheel house. The Hound and Ser Robyn and his men and the wagon drivers slept in or under the wagons or under their cloaks on the ground or under some trees.

Three days later the ale was gone, the mutton was too, and the apples as well, and all they had left was a half barrel of salted fish, some hard bread, a few ears of corn and some oats and pease. They searched almost every farm and house they came by and found no people and no food. Finally on the evening of the fourth day they came on an inn by a small stream. They saw smoke coming from its chimney and Ser Robyn and a few of his men went inside and soon came back out.

"They have rooms and a bit of food for sale," he told them. "And a bath house. We'll stay here for the night."

They were the only customers and when the innkeeper found out the Princess was with them he bent over backwards to make their stay comfortable, even more so when Ser Robyn handed him some silver and gold coins and asked for the best of everything he had. There was fresh bread and a good mutton stew with onions and carrots and for dessert a good apple pie. The rooms were mostly small but they were dry and clean. The Princess was given the biggest room, one with a feather mattress, not straw. The innkeeper sold them a small keg of ale and a small box of fresh vegetables but he could spare nothing else.

As they sat in the inn eating and relaxing, it began to rain outside and Sansa was glad they had found the inn. Sansa, Jeyne, the Hound, Ser Robyn and Myrcella's handmaidens all sat at one table while the other Lannister men sat around them. It was warm and noisy and the innkeeper and his family kept bustling around them to keep them fed and happy. Even the Hound seemed a bit happier as he drank some wine. At one point as the innkeeper passed their table Ser Robyn called Sansa 'Lady Stark' and the innkeeper stopped dead in his tracks.

"Lady Stark?" he said in surprise.

The Hound glared at him. "What of it?"

"Nothing, my lord, just…"

"I'm no lord," the Hound spat. "Out with it, man. Why do you know her name?"

The innkeeper spoke swiftly. "Lord Eddard Stark was here not a few weeks past."

"That's my father," Sansa blurted out. "How was he? How did he look?"

"Tired my lady, and he had a bad leg. But they only stayed a short while because the gold cloaks came looking for the bastard boy."

"Bastard boy?" Sansa asked in puzzlement. "Who was that?"

"I don't rightly know," the innkeeper replied. "The gold cloaks said they had orders from the King to take the boy back to the capital."

"The King is my brother," Myrcella spoke up. "Why would he want that boy for?"

The innkeeper bowed low to her. "I don't rightly know, my lady."

"Best you tell us what you do know," Ser Robyn commanded him.

The innkeeper told the story and when he was done they had much to think on. Gold cloaks were looking for a bastard boy. Her father and Yoren had chased them off, then the gold cloaks returned a day later with a large party of Lannister men and kept on going on up north. And after that, the innkeeper said, about five days later four of the gold cloaks came back, got drunk, and were cursing about what had happened to them. About the Imp and a battle at a holdfast and two of their men dead and the bastard still got away. But the Imp had Ned Stark, they said and was taking him to Harrenhal to treat with Tywin Lannister to end the war.

"Is it true?" the innkeeper asked. "Is the war over?"

"Not yet," said Ser Robyn, casting a look towards Sansa. "Soon, gods be good."

"The gods are not good," the Hound growled. "Robb Stark may go home but Renly and Stannis aren't going anywhere." After he said that Sansa had a feeling they had gotten out of King's Landing just in time. That night after they had baths she and Jeyne settled down in one room and talked about what the innkeeper had said. Sansa knew Arya was with her father and the Night's Watch group. Had Arya been in a battle? Had she been hurt? Her father? They had no answers and Sansa grew more worried.

The next day it kept raining but Ser Robyn insisted they keep going. Before long they came across a poor stretch of the Kingsroad, all narrow and passing through forest. The wheel house and one of the wagons got stuck a few times in the road as it turned to mud and they barely made any progress. The day after that the rains had stopped but they were all wet and cold and the road was mud and again they moved slowly. Sansa heard Ser Robyn curse more than once about the wheel house. The Hound laughed and Sansa could see he was drunk on his horse. He had two skins of wine with him he had bought off the innkeeper, and one he had already finished off the day before. Now he was working on the second one as he sat on his big horse.

"Fuck the wheel house," he roared after the wheel house got stuck again. "Burn the fucking thing to its axles."

"That is for the Princess to decide," Ser Robyn said strongly. "Not you!" His men got off their horses and started to push it again and they started cursing as they sank into the mud of the road.

"You heard the Princess, ser, she'll do whatever you ask," the Hound said loudly. "You say burn it, she'll let you. Gods, that is good wine."

He took another drink and Sansa glared at him from her horse. "Why don't you help them?"

"I'm a dog, not an ox," the Hound growled at her and then took yet another drink.

"A dog who is drunk is not much good," Sansa shot back.

The wine skin was going to his mouth and he paused, pulled it down and stared at her. "Little bird, you cannot save me from my demons. They are right here on my face for all the world to see and they are not going away. Let a man have a drink while he can." Then he drank deeply and Sansa got so mad she got off her horse and went to help them push the stuck wheel house. Jeyne laughed and got off her horse as well and then the Hound cursed and soon he was yelling at the two girls to get out of the way. He stumbled in the mud to the back of the wheel house and he put his big shoulders to it with the other men. His strength was tremendous and soon it was unstuck and they were on their way again.

The Hound's wine was soon gone and hours later he looked terrible and said nothing as they rode. They came up over a hill and in the far distance they could see Gods Eye, shimmering in the setting sun. Two days later, they were far up the Kingsroad on the eastern side of Gods Eye, which was to their far left over rolling hills, farmland, and stretches of forest. Their meals were getting more meager and soon they were down to just a bit of salted fish and a small piece of hard bread for the two meals they had each day. The men started talking about slaughtering the horses pulling the wheel house and burning it like the Hound had suggested. The land was burnt everywhere, the people gone, those that had gotten away that is, and they were alone in a vast stretch of land and sky.

Except for the wolves. The closer they got to the Riverlands, the more they heard wolves at night. They heard their growling and howling and one night Sansa swore she saw eyes looking back from the forest when she went to make water. Then one day they saw the wolves, ahead in a small valley crossing a small stream. They were a large pack, at least twenty wolves, and leading them was the biggest wolf anyone in the group had ever seen.

"It's a direwolf," Sansa said as she sat on her horse with the Hound and Jeyne nearby, all of them watching the wolves move off into the forest across the stream before they moved again.

One of the nearby Lannister men scoffed. "Direwolves only live north of the Wall."

"No, they don't, fool," said the Hound. "The girl had one for a pet."

"A pet?" the man said in surprise.

"Yes," Sansa said. "Her name was Lady and my father killed it because Arya's direwolf Nymeria bit Joffrey. But they couldn't find Nymeria so they killed my direwolf. "As she said it her voice turned bitter and hard and she looked at the Hound. "Then you killed Arya's friend."

"He struck the Prince," said the Hound with a shrug. "They told me to kill him so I killed him."

Sansa shook her head. "He didn't hit Joffrey. I…I didn't tell the truth of what happened. Arya and the butcher's boy were playing at sword fighting. Joffrey was drinking. He was…he was cruel. He cut the boy and Arya attacked Joffrey. Then she fell and I thought he was going to kill her he was so mad. Then Nymeria bit Joffrey's arm. He lay their crying like a little boy."

The Hound snorted. "It matters not now. The butcher's boy is dead. Your direwolf is dead, your sister's is gone. Your sister must hate me. You must hate me."

"I hate all of you," Sansa said softly as they started riding again. "The Lannisters killed my father's people."

"They killed my father," said Jeyne with a sniff. "And Jory Cassel and Hullen and Septa Mordane…all of them."

The Hound said nothing but Sansa saw this intense look in his eyes like he was angry at someone and then he rode his horse ahead of them and for the rest of the day would not ride with them or say anything to them. Sansa now got mad at him, for he had no reason to be mad at them for telling the truth.

About eleven days after they left King's Landing they finally came to the road that branched west towards Harrenhal. They turned west and rode for another hour as the sun dipped lower in the western sky. As they were about to pull off the road for the night a rider Ser Robyn had sent ahead came back, riding hard.

"A large group of men coming down the road, ser," he said to his leader. "Funny looking bunch, riding horses and striped animals, a goat for their banner."

Ser Robyn cursed. "Vargo Hoat," he said. "It's a free company in the pay of Lord Tywin. Ruthless cutthroats. Say nothing of the Princess or Lady Stark," he commanded his men.

"Best you two get in the wheel house," the Hound told Sansa and Jeyne. It was the first time he had spoken to them in two days. They were confused but listened to him, and got off their horses and soon climbed into the wheel house.

It was cozy inside, with a small table built into a wall, with two benches nailed to the floor. A large bunk for the Princess was in the rear and on the sides up high were two more narrow bunks for her handmaidens. It was also a bit crowded, with several chests and crates containing the girls' clothing they were taking to Winterfell. There were also some dolls and books on a shelf. There were a few small windows with small shutters now opened and in the front was a small opening where the occupants could look ahead and speak to the driver leading the horses.

"What is happening?" Myrcella asked.

"I don't know," said Sansa.

"Riders are coming," Jeyne said. "The Hound told us to come in here."

Sansa moved to the front opening and the other girls crowded behind her. Sansa could now see ahead of them a large group of men on horses and the funny looking animals she knew were called zorses. She had never seen one before but knew they came from the east. In front was a tall, thin man on a zorse. It was hard to see well because Ser Robyn's men had crowded in front of the wheel house. She strained to hear them talking.

"Greetings, Lord Hoat," Ser Robyn said. "I am Ser Robyn Serrett, sworn bannerman to House Lannister. We are on our way to Harrenhal. How fair things?"

"Thingth fair not well, Ther Robyn," said Lord Hoat in a funny voice. "Peathe ith coming."

"I should think that would be a time to rejoice," Ser Robyn told him.

"Not for men like uth" said Hoat. "Tywin Lannithter has no more need of our therviceth. He hath paid uth off and athk uth to leave the Theven Kingdomth. I know war ith coming in the thouth. But he hath no more need of hith goat."

"I am sure he paid you well," said Ser Robyn. "You could consider it good luck to receive your pay without suffering too many losses."

"Maybe," said Hoat. "But there are a few headth I wanted to collect before I left. Dondarrion for one. Ned Thtark for another."

"Stark?" Ser Robyn said in surprise as Sansa got a fright. Why did this man want her father dead? "Lord Tywin will never let you touch Stark."

"I think that ith why he wantth me gone. But he paid me enough. Maybe I can forget Thtark. There ith war coming in the eatht and there ith alwayth a need for thwordth." He was looking at the wheel house now. "What buthineth have you in Harrenhal, Ther Robyn?"

"The King's business," the Hound growled from where he was sitting on his massive warhorse next to Ser Robyn. "Not yours, Goat."

"Oh, the dog barkth," said Vargo Hoat with a chuckle. "I know of you, Clegane. I know your brother, too. He ith at Harrenhal."

"That's good to hear," said the Hound in so low a voice Sansa could barely hear him. "My brother and I have much to discuss."

"Well, we have had a long day," said Ser Robyn to Hoat. "We are about to make camp. You are welcome to join us but we have little food and none to spare."

"We will continue to ride for a while yet. We have a long road to ride to Maidenpoole and a thhip to home," said Hoat. "But we have plenty of food." He turned to his men and gave orders to give some of their food to Ser Robyn's people. They grumbled but soon a wagon pulled up front and they unloaded several casks and one keg, and a few wooden boxes.

"What's happening?" someone behind Sansa asked.

"They are giving us some food," she said and felt her stomach rumble. "Now they are leaving."

Soon the strange men were riding past the wheelhouse. More then one looked through the open windows inside. They were an odd bunch Sansa thought, men with forked colored beards, dark skin men with bells in their hair, one that looked like a fool in motley, others that had hard faces who gave them ugly and leering looks.

That night they ate well for the first time in many days. They had been given some salted pork, and a keg of ale, plus some fresh vegetables and hard bread. They made a big stew and all ate well.

As night fell Sansa and Jeyne helped a Lannister man set up their tent. "Who were those strange men?" Jeyne asked him.

"Vargo Hoat and his free riders," he said. "A viscous bunch of sellswords if what I heard about them is true. All those dead people and burnt out farms we passed were mostly the work of Hoat and others like him."

"They should be arrested and hanged!" Jeyne exclaimed.

The man shook his head. "Not a crime in time of war, little one. There, your tent is ready, my ladies. Sleep well."

They lay there on their blankets on the ground and talked a bit and both were glad they had full bellies and would soon be at Harrenhal. Soon they drifted off to sleep. An hour later Sansa had to get up to make water, having drunk too much ale at dinner. The moon had risen and the sky was clear and she easily found her way to a small patch of woods near the camp. As she walked there she passed the Hound sleeping against a tree trunk near where the Princess' wheel house was parked.

Sansa entered the woods and after she finished making water she was lacing up her leather breeches when she heard the growl.

She froze and then slowly turned and there were the eyes she thought she had seen a few nights ago. They were large and yellow and were looking at her intently. Then the direwolf padded out of the trees and came right up to her. Sansa was trembling but then remembered she was a Stark of Winterfell and the direwolf was her sigil. She had a direwolf as a pet and so had her sister and brothers and now she was facing another one. No, wait. No another one. In the moonlight she saw the markings of her sister's direwolf. It was Nymeria.

"Nymeria?" she said as she held out her hand and the beast licked her palm. Sansa almost cried in relief and smiled and hugged the direwolf. She was so much bigger than when Sansa had last seen her but then she remembered that was many months ago and much had happened between then and now.

Sansa missed Lady, more than she had let anyone know. She had blamed Arya for the trouble at the river, and her father for killing Lady, and Joffrey for lying about what had happened, and King Robert for ordering Lady be killed. Sansa never told anyone, but sometimes, when she was sleeping, she used to dream of Lady. She would be running with her and chasing a rabbit in the woods or playing with her brother and sister wolves at Winterfell. Then after Lady died she had no more direwolf dreams.

"Does Arya dream of you?" she asked Nymeria. The direwolf made a whimpering sound and panted and almost seemed to smile at Sansa. No, that's crazy. Direwolves don't smile. She looked deep in the direwolf's eyes and then, for a brief second, the eyes had seemed to turn a grey color. The color of Arya's eyes.

Sansa felt a chill run up her spine. "Arya?" she asked, half in disbelief and then a rough hand clamped over her mouth and someone grabbed her from behind.

"I got her!" said a voice in a harsh accent and then a split second later the same man screamed. He screamed so loud Sansa thought her ear drums would burst. He let go and Sansa spun around and Nymeria was growling and she had the man by the crotch of his breeches and she was biting deep and blood was foaming and he screamed again.

Sansa screamed as well and then more screams came from the direction of the camp and the camp came to life. All over she heard shouts and yells and then the Hound's shouts and curses. Nymeria shook her head back and forth as she bit deep and the man on the ground screamed. "Kill it! Kill it!"

Sansa yelled. "SANDOR! I'M HERE!"

She backed away from the man but then another one was there, with a long knife in his hands. "Gods, what is that?" he said in shock as he saw Nymeria. He went to stab Nymeria but Sansa knocked his hand away.

"Don't hurt her!" she yelled.

"Bitch!" he yelled back as he slapped her hard. Then she was down and the man was on top of her.

"We was just going to kidnap you for the ransom," he said with a growl. "But now I got a mind to shove my dick inside your little cunt first! After I kill your pet dog!"

But then the man was off of her and he screamed as Nymeria buried her jaws into his right arm and he dropped the knife.

"SANSA!" came a yell and someone was crashing through the woods, the Hound for sure, and Sansa yelled for him again and then she looked at the first man. He was lying there bleeding from the groin and moaning in whimpers she barely heard as the second man was screaming. "Get it off, get it off!" He pounded on Nymeria's side with his free hand. Then there was a crunching sound of bones breaking and Nymeria gave a mighty wrench of her jaws and his arm came off at the elbow and the man screamed even louder.

"Seven hells!" the Hound shouted as he reached them. In two quick strokes of his sword the two men died and then the Hound turned to Nymeria with his sword raised. Nymeria let out a vicious growl and leaped at the Hound and was so big and fast she knocked him off his feet. The Hound was down and his sword was out of his hand. Nymeria was on his chest, heavy and growling and her jaws snapped at his throat and just missed.

"ARYA!" Sansa screamed. "STOP!"

The direwolf growled but did not attack again. Sansa put her arms around its neck and she felt the power and coiled intensity of the beast. "Arya, sister, let him live. He is helping me. I need him to help us...please don't kill him. Please."

The Hound lay their, struggling to get up, cursing, but his chain mail armor, the weight of the direwolf, and his awkward position as he tried to protect his throat made it too much even for his strength to push the beast off of his chest.

Then Nymeria rose and leaped off him and in a flash was off through the woods. Then someone from the camp shouted. "The Princess!"

"Gods!" the Hound yelled and then he was up, looking for his sword, soon had it and then they both ran back to the camp.

They found many lit torches and lanterns by the wheel house. Princess Myrcella was standing there behind Ser Robyn crying her eyes out as her two handmaidens and Jeyne held her tight. On the ground lay two Lannister men, dead, their throats cut. A third was moaning with a wound in the left thigh as his companions helped him. Another body was there, face down, with stab wounds in his back. Sansa knew he must be one of the attackers for he did not wear Lannister garb or colors. And there was another man, a fat man in leather and with brown skin and dark hair with bells in a braid. A whip and a curved weapon of some sort lay on the ground beside him. He was bleeding from one shoulder and several Lannister men had their swords on him.

"Who sent you?" Ser Robyn was screaming at him.

"Fuck you, Lannister," said the man in a harsh accent and for that he got a smash across the face.

"Kill him," said Ser Robyn and with that the man's throat was slit and he flopped to the ground and was soon dead.

"What happened to you, Clegane?" Ser Robyn said next, looking at the Hound in fury. "You are the Princess' shield, are you not? The Princess was attacked and if my men hadn't been nearby she might be dead or kidnapped by now."

"I heard Lady Stark scream," he said, breathing hard. "I killed two men who tried to attack her."

"Where?" Ser Robyn said, his anger now gone, and soon after they told them where, his men went to find the bodies. When they came back with the bodies and laid them out on the ground they could easily see in the torch light the wounds Nymeria had caused. One Lannister man laughed at the Hound. "Did you try to bite off this one's manhood dog?" The Hound smashed him so hard across the mouth the man lost three teeth and was unconscious for an hour. Other Lannister men shouted curses and went to attack the Hound but Sansa screamed.

"STOP IT!" They all looked at her. "Are you all fools? He did not do this. It was…it was…a wolf." They were silent and then Sansa spoke and gradually they pieced the story together. Four men had crept into the camp. Two had seen Sansa go off in the woods and had followed her there. The other two made their way to the wheel house in hopes of finding someone worth taking there. They killed two of the guards but a third came along and fought them and the camp awoke. Sansa told them how the man had said they were going to kidnap the girls to get some ransom.

"The Goat," the Hound said through gritted teeth. "His men saw you in the wheel house windows."

"Yes," Sansa said, now wishing they had had the sense to have closed the shutters.

"They knew you must be important to ride in that damn wheel house and to have so many guards," said Ser Robyn next. "They wanted more of Lord Tywin's coin."

Many Lannister men said they should ride and kill the Goat and his men but Ser Robyn stopped that talk quick enough.

"He has two hundred men and we have less than fifty," he said. "You want to die uselessly? No, we will tell Lord Tywin what happened here. He will make sure the Goat pays. Even if he did not know what his men planned to do, Lord Tywin will see them all hanged. They will never get on that ship at Maidenpoole. Come, let us take care of our dead."

After that they set to work cleaning up. They dragged Hoat's men's bodies off to the forest, for the wolves when they return, joked one man. They helped the man with the wounded leg as best they could and placed him in back of a wagon. Then they dug two shallow graves for their two men. Sansa stayed for a long time with Myrcella and the other girls in the wheel house and they all cried a bit and told their stories. They asked Sansa about the wolf and she said it just came out of nowhere and attacked the men and then the Hound had killed them both. She said nothing about Nymeria.

A long time later the other girls finally fell asleep, Myrcella was too scared to sleep alone and Jeyne promised to stay with her and curled up in the big bunk with the Princess. There was no room for Sansa so she left the wheel house and outside it were four Lannister men on guard duty and more a short distance away. She walked back to her tent and the Hound was sitting there on the ground with a large mug of ale.

"Sit, little bird," he commanded. She dropped to the ground beside him. He handed her the mug and without even thinking about it she drank deeply and handed it back to him.

"You are getting a taste for drinking ale."

She knew it was true. "I suppose so."

"How old are you?" he asked.

"I'll be thirteen soon."

"Gods, you are a child."

"Yes."

They were silent for a long few moments and he drank and then passed her the mug again and she drank again and then passed it back to him.

"What happened in the woods, little bird?" he finally asked.

"You saved my life."

"A direwolf saved your life. I just finished them off for it."

"I guess so," she replied.

"You called that direwolf 'Arya'. Arya is your sister."

"Yes."

"Why?"

She sighed. "You'll never believe me."

"Try to explain it."

"I don't know how to explain it. But that was Nymeria, Arya's direwolf."

"The one that ran off after it bit Joffrey?"

"Yes."

"So why did you call it Arya?"

"Because…I thought…I thought it was Arya. It had her eyes, I mean, for a brief moment, in the moonlight, I thought…I thought it was my sister. Inside the direwolf. Oh, I don't know how to explain it."

He grunted. "I do. Warg, some call them that can do it. Shapeshifter, others say. Skin changer also."

Sansa had once heard Old Nan tell a story like that, that some of the wild people north of the Wall were wargs. "Tell me more."

He snorted. "I don't know anymore. Just stories, about people who could become animals. Or people who were very close to the animals could enter them to become part of them for a short time." Sansa felt her spine tingle. Was that what she had been dreaming about with Lady? Was she inside Lady, not running beside her? "That's all I know," he said. "A story I heard when I was a boy."

Sansa could never imagine him as a boy. But then she remembered what he told her about his brother, about his scars, and how he got them.

"We will be at Harrenhal tomorrow or the next day. I will ask Arya about it."

"Yes," he said and then he drank the rest of his ale. "And while you are at it ask her why she wants to kill me."

"You know why," Sansa said without any emotion.

"I suppose I do," he replied as he stood. She stood next to him. "Right. Off to bed with you, little bird. Not to worry about bad men in the dark. This dog will sleep at your door tonight."

"Thank you but…the Princess?"

He grunted and looked over at the wheel house and its four guards and the others nearby and they could also see Ser Robyn pacing nearby. "You think any man in this camp will sleep tonight after what has happened?"

"No, I guess not." He stood there, by her tent flap and held it open for her.

She stooped to enter and then she stopped and looked at him, took a deep breath and said what she wanted to say. "Your brother is at Harrenhal, isn't he?"

"I've heard," he said after a moment.

"Are you…?"

"Yes," he said swiftly. "Either he will die or I will. It cannot be avoided."

Sansa stared at him in the gloom. "It can be if you forgive him."

She thought he would laughed at her but he didn't. He spoke in a softer voice than she had ever heard him use before. "I had a sister once," he said. "And a father. I think Gregor killed them both."

She was too shocked to speak. "It can't be true," she finally said.

"It is," he answered. "He is a monster. And I am the only one who can kill him. Then maybe my demons will be at rest at last. Then I can die in peace."

"I saw you fight him at the tournament in King's Landing when you saved Ser Loras. He is too big, too strong. You can't win. Please don't fight him," she said and did not know why she said it but said it just the same.

He grunted. "It will happen again some day and no one but the gods can stop it. This time King Robert won't be there to stop us, that's for certain. No one will stop us until one is dead. Now go to bed, little bird. Have sweet dreams, if you can. This dog will protect you."

Sansa said no more and entered her tent and then lay down on her blankets and for a long time lay there and could not sleep. She saw the shadow of the big man on the tent wall and he stood there and did not move and then after a while she did sleep, and when she awoke in the morning, and the sun came through the tent, she saw the shadow still there, still as a statue, standing there, protecting her, as he said he would. And Sansa Stark smiled and strangely felt good knowing there was one man in the world she could trust to do as he said. But then with a chill she thought of his promise to fight his brother, and with a certainty she knew he would die. And strangely, that made her feel sad.