Chapter 4

Sansa had been laying quietly in her bed, on the verge of falling asleep, had even begun to slip into the beginning of a dream, when she heard the screams. The horses! She flew out of bed and ran down the stairs in her nightgown. Panic seized her heart, and her throat was suddenly very dry. Her sisters had already made it to the bottom of the steps. "Where is father? What's happening?" Jeyne asked in a quiet, strained voice. The candle she held flickered and cast orange light and black shadows, they battled across her pinched face. Sansa hurried out the open door, ignoring her frightened sisters.

It was easy to spot Fat Tom, one of their two servants, he was standing halfway between the cottage and the stable, beside a lantern that had fallen to the ground, still flickering. He looked terrified, the whites of his eyes were incredibly large, they floated in the darkness. Sansa began to make her way over. She could see his limbs were trembling as she came near. She placed a hand on his shoulder, "Are you all right Tom?" She asked, but he did not answer her. His eyes were glued to the tree line behind her. Sansa turned, following his line of vision, but could not see anything. "Tom!" Sansa shook his shoulder lightly and repeated herself a bit louder. "Tom, are you all right?" Tom blinked and finally nodded slowly, once, but just continued staring into the forest.

Sansa furrowed her brows and left Tom where he was, a knot was forming in her stomach. She walked slowly towards the stable, and paused just outside the splintered mess that used to be the door. She looked at the claw marks and sucked in a deep breath, the chilly air burning her lungs. She crossed her arms as a shiver wracked her body. I wish I had thought to grab a robe. Sansa walked inside the stable.

A strong metallic scent hit her nostrils first, overpowering another smell, something familiar, but then Sansa saw the blood. It was running out of the third stall, over the packed dirt of Finny's stable, a little crimson river.

Sansa forced her feet to keep walking, eyes wide, as she felt herself beginning to shake. But then she saw Finny's legs and... No! She didn't want to see any more, she turned around with a strangled cry. Sansa covered her mouth with the back of her hand and tried to keep down the bile that wanted to rise in her throat. Tears oozed down her cheeks. Poor Finyy! Whyyyy?!

As Sansa was about to dash out of the stable she heard her father's shout from outside. "Sansa! Sansa!" Sansa looked up and saw her father, Ned Stark, come barreling into the ruined doorway. "Father!" She cried, but immediately put on a brave face, he had never cared much for her tears. She stood frozen as he came near and took in the grizzly scene before him. A scowl darkening his face. "Why would someone do this to Finny?" Sansa asked her father as she knuckled tears from her eyes. Ned spat and looked down at her, his eyebrows met as he glared and shouted at her. "It wasn't a someone, silly child! You should know better!" Ned swiftly bent to his knee to examine Finny more closely. "This was an animal, big one at that, bear maybe… Can't say I've ever heard of a bear doing something like this… come to think of it, I haven't seen any sign of bear in these woods for months now…" He trailed off and turned to examine the tracks left by whatever had killed their horse.

Sansa suddenly had a pretty good idea of what had done this, even without the words her father uttered next. He looked up at Sansa, "These look like wolf tracks." His eyes widened. "By the Gods! Must be the biggest wolf there ever was, even bigger than a direwolf!"

The sinking feeling that had begun when she had first smelled Finny's blood (and that something else), sunk its claws in deeper. Sansa's eyes widened. "No." she whispered. Understanding smacked into her and she knew for certain what had killed her horse. She bolted for the door.

Sansa ignored her father's call after her as she ran to where Fat Tom was, still staring into the darkness. "Tom, what did you see? Please tell me!" When he didn't answer her or even move, she grabbed his shoulders and made him look at her face. "Tom, please!" she begged. His eyes finally focused on her, but he looked confused. Poor Tom, he is getting rather old. I'm surprised his heart didn't burst from his chest. If indeed it had been the same beast she had seen weeks ago herself. "Muh, muh, muh." Tom began, the horror written plain on his face. Finally, suddenly overcoming his shock, he yelled rather loudly, "M'lady! There was a monster! A hideous black beast!" Spittle flew from his mouth, his breath smelled of tobacco. Sansa quickly stepped back, surprised at his outburst, as her father made his way over. "What was that now, Tom?" Ned asked, dripping disdain. "A monster, M'lord! I swear on the Seven!" Fat Tom answered indignantly. Ned scoffed. "Please, Tom, get inside and get a hold of yourself." Tom looked sheepish, but headed inside as quickly as he could.

Ned stood where he was, staring towards the stables for a moment. Suddenly he began cursing and clenching his fists, screaming "Of all the bloody troubles! Just my damned luck! I need this like I need a hole in the head! How will Eli plow all the fields himself?! I can't afford a blasted new horse now!" He roared and kicked out at a barrel near the fence. Ned continued yelling and cursing into the night air. Sansa did not want her father's ire to land upon her, so as quietly as she could she slipped inside the house after Tom.

Sansa found Tom in the kitchen hunched over the table. Grace, their other servant, is placing a steaming cup of tea before him. He lifts the cup to his lips, his hand trembling slightly and takes a sip of the warm tea. Sansa sits down beside him. He looks up at her with an odd mix of shame and pride in his eyes. "I'm no liar M'lday, I know what I saw." He declares keeping his eyes locked to hers. She lays a hand over the one he has resting on the table and says, "I believe you, I've seen it too, Tom."

Sansa recounts her experience with the wolf in the woods. After she has finished, she stares at the incredulous look pasted onto Tom's face and says, "We mustn't tell father, he would not believe us anyway and would just get angry..." Sansa knew all too well what happens when her father gets angry. The faded bruises on her arms and down her back were all the reminder she needed lest she forget. She had bore the brunt of his misfortunes all of her life. A spoiled crop; Sansa was blamed. Even though the rains and a flood had been the only one to truly blame. Or when the King would take nearly all of her father's harvest. No matter what, it was always taken out on her. This incident would, literally, end on her shoulders as well.

Sansa assumed it was because she looked so much like her mother… everyone always told her so, anyway. Her long red hair, and striking blue eyes. Her sisters both took after their father, dark brown hair and stern grey eyes. She could understand the pain he must feel having to look at her every day, a constant reminder of what was stolen from him, by her. Sansa did not doubt he must have loved her mother very much. She overheard him weeping in his chambers once, when he hadn't know she was near. She stood and listened at the door for a moment before hearing him cry out her mother's name in anguish, "Catelyn!" She had hurried to her bedroom after that, afraid of what he might do if he caught her there eavesdropping.

Father wasn't always angry at her though, sometimes he could be kind. When she was younger, in more profitable times, he would travel to the capitol to sell wheat, potatoes, beans and corn. He would bring Sansa and her sisters back toys, dolls, dresses, combs, and shoes. Those were some of her fondest memories, when father returned home, happy to see her, his pockets lined with coin, smiling easily.

Sansa stood, patted Tom on his hand, and made her way back to her room. It was nearing midnight. Both of her sisters had fallen asleep on Arya's bed. As Sansa lay under her furs, eyes wide open in the darkness, she wondered, How will I ever sleep tonight, or any other night? The fact that the huge monstrous wolf had been here, so near her home, was frightening beyond measure. It could only mean one thing. The beast had come back for her, and she knew it.

*Updated as of 9/29/2014