Chapter 1

Sansa lifted her head as she heard a bell tolling in the distance. It was a mournful sound and spoke ominously, she thought, of what was to come.

She listened carefully as her carriage made its way down the King's Road. They were close, very close. The light breezing sound of the trees had disappeared, she could hear the uneven, hard ground beneath the wheels.

And it was quiet. Too quiet.

Lifting her hand, Sansa slowly pulled away the curtain to look outside, but she was quickly interrupted by Brienne. Normally the said knight would be riding on her horse beside Sansa, but upon hearing the news of what had transpired down in King's Landing, Brienne had thought it wiser to stay closer to the Lady of Winterfell.

"I would not advise that, my lady," she said as she sat opposite Sansa, her words soft but direct. "We do not know exactly what we are walking into."

"We shouldn't have come here," said Sansa curtly in response, taking one look anyway outside, before closing the grey curtains as instructed. The road was deserted, there were no people. Where were the people?

"The war has finished Lady Sansa, and therefore your presence is needed. The council must deliberate on how to move forward."

Sansa shook her head, refusing to look at Brienne. She heard the doubt in her voice, the lack of certainty. It was denial, and it wasn't the first time she had heard it before in these past few weeks.

"The letter from Jon," she muttered as the cogs continued to turn in her mind. "It didn't sound like him. Something is wrong. If rumours are to be believed-"

"All the more reason to be here then," said Brienne, trying to reassure her best she could. "We may see the truth of the matter, fully understand what transpired here."

"That is what I am afraid of," said Sansa, and for the first time perhaps since that terrible night, the so-called 'Long Night' as the maesters had apparently decided to call it, Sansa Stark felt truly afraid. She heard too, the sadness in Brienne's voice. Jon's letter said kept to the point, but it had stated the Lannister twins had both been killed in the battle.

But all was not as it seemed. And Sansa had learnt from the best that you ought never to be in a situation where you cannot foresee its conclusion.

Turning away from her most trusted knight, Sansa tried to look through the curtain as the sunlight spilled through the seams. Her mind wandered back to her final conversation with Bran.

She was here now, in this god-forsaken wagon, partially because she felt her brother had wanted her to go.

"Jon is alone in King's Landing," he had said, when she had protested against the idea. "It is in ruins. The dragons are gone. He asked for you because he needs you."

"Why would he need me now? The war is over, and he is Warden of the North, not me!"

Bran had simply continued to look at her, in his way, but she saw in his eyes the truth which she herself had been trying to dismiss. A truth she had been fighting against since a certain Lannister had spelled it out loud to her, someone whose words she could not simply ignore.

"You are the Lady of Winterfell," said Brienne, bringing Sansa back to the present, where she and her loyal servant were sitting in a rocking carriage on their way to the capital. "You have a part to play my lady, in my humble opinion, in the ensuing discussions."

Sansa felt a tremor in her stomach as she looked back at Brienne. Tyrion Lannister had said something similar, something even more potentially blasphemous.

"I am here for Jon, nothing else," said Sansa in a low voice, looking down once more. "He is the Warden of the North and needs my support, as his letter instructed."

She could feel Brienne's frustration spilling towards her, but Sansa ignored it and turned away. She could only voice the concern which she knew everyone had felt, nothing more.

The fear was gnawing at her insides, but Sansa knew she could not outthink this. Even Littlefinger, if he were here, would not be able to, she was certain.

There was nothing more she could do. Even if both she and Brienne knew they were not going to like what they were going to see as they approached King's Landing, they could not stop what had already happened, nor its consequences.

The sombre atmosphere in the carriage was abruptly interrupted by a knocking at the side of the carriage door. Despite herself, Sansa flinched but Brienne gave her a curt nod of reassurance.

"It is merely one of the guards, my lady," she said, before opening the wooden side window swiftly. "What is it?"

"A message for Lady Sansa," said the rider, his voice dry, from not stopping for hours. "It came just now, by raven."

Soundlessly Brienne received the said scroll and gave it directly to Sansa, who in turn took it but with a weary look in her eye. She saw immediately the Stark sigil, and wondered which of her two brothers had sent her this message.

Breaking the seal hastily, Sansa unravelled the parchment and read.

Brienne, for her part, sat anxiously, though she tried not to show it, as she watched the Stark child read the contents of the message. Watching her these past few weeks, the newly appointed knight had felt pride in seeing the Lady of Winterfell flourish. Despite the stilted words she had said, Brienne had never wished Sansa to return to the place which had brought her so much misery. If she had her way, Brienne would have been happy to stay in Winterfell and protect her, or better yet, take her away, to some far-away place where no harm would ever come to them.

But Ser Brienne understood duty, and she saw the astute grace and honour overflowing in Sansa, the same sense of duty which she herself had. Though Sansa Stark would never admit it, Brienne knew the lady was the only one who could truly protect the North; she was here, not just for her brother, but for the people in the realm as well. She knew everyone in Winterfell saw it too, saw she was born to lead, truly lead, but since none wished to scare her, they wouldn't say as much. Brienne almost smiled. For the knight, in her own private mind, she saw that as the markings of a true leader; one who could not see their true worth. Something she shared with her brother. Her brother…. He would need all the support he could get in these uncertain times. And they were uncertain times indeed.

"My lady?" said Brienne, as Sansa finally looked up, and for once, she was truly surprised by the look on the girl's face.

"It seems the Dragon Queen has been putting members of Cersei's council on trial," began Sansa, her voice not as steady as it usually was. "Her maester, Qyburn, is dead. And…"

Brienne blinked. She had never heard Sansa hesitate before.

"And Tyrion Lannister is to be put on trial for his crimes, which, Jon writes, we will be asked to partake in."

"What crimes?" uttered Brienne, as she felt the carriage begin to lose speed.

"Treason," said Sansa in response, her voice hollow. "He attempted to save his siblings by helping them escape during the ensuing battle."

Brienne said nothing as the carriage came to a halt. They had arrived and neither of them wanted to step outside.

"My lady, before we leave, I must say to you…"

Sansa looked sharply towards her most trusted knight.

"Be cautious, my lady," said Brienne. "It is not my place to advise you, I am aware, but I have lived long enough by now to know corruption when I see it. You are valuable to those in the North. They need you. You might be all they have now. Please don't forget that."

If they had been in Winterfell, the eldest Stark daughter might have criticized Brienne for her words, but she understood the knight was not cautioning her because she felt Sansa was underprepared. Sansa Stark needed these words now, for she knew she was about to enter the dragon's den, a place she feared she might not come out of.

Tyrion…. Were Jon's words true? Was it really down to his actions? Or was it all a trap? Was she about to be put on trial, for revealing Jon's true heritage to her past husband?

Had she sent Tyrion to his death because of her actions?

Sansa looked up towards Brienne, knew this was the last time they would truly have a moment of peace and privacy.

"I never forget," said Sansa quietly, giving Brienne a small smile before rising from her seat and turning to leave the carriage.