The Hound continued staring at the three of them and it was a very intimidating sight. The man, in spite of how he seemed to take a liking to Sansa while in King's Landing, was still as scary as he had always been. Brienne seemed unaffected by his harsh words and stare as she spoke directly to Arya, "I swore to your mother I would bring you home to her."

Arya's face fell a little as she said, "My mother's dead."

Brienne nodded, stepping forward a little, "I know, I wish I could have been there to protect her."

Arya kept staring directly at Brienne, "You're not a northerner."

Brienne shook her head, "No, but I swore a sacred vow to protect her."

Arya became upset as she yelled out, "Why didn't you?"

Brienne seemed taken aback, so Joellyn replied for her, "Your mother commanded her to take my brother Jaime back to King's Landing."

Arya's expression held mixed emotions. She seemed a little happy to see Joellyn again, but she was definitely experiencing mixed feelings about her at the moment because of what had happened and Brienne's words. The Hound, however, stepped in at this point and said, "You're paid by the Lannisters. You're here for the bounty on me."

Brienne shook her head, "I'm not paid by the Lannisters."

The Hound, becoming agitated, spit back, "No? Fancy sword you got there. Where'd you get it? And you're with a Lannister, even if she goes by a different name now. I've been looking at Lannister gold my whole life. Go on, Brienne of fucking Tarth, tell me that's not Lannister gold."

Brienne engaged back, "Jaime Lannister gave me this sword," and she seemed to be consumed in her conversation with the Hound, so Joellyn kept her attention focused on Arya. Arya seemed to become more nervous and agitated with each passing moment. She looked as if she was on the verge of running away from this and Joellyn had no intention of letting Arya get away from her.

The Hound tried to divert her attention away from them, "The Bloody Gate is in ten miles," but Brienne focused back on Arya saying, "I swore to your mother, by the old gods..." but was interrupted by Arya who screamed, "I don't care what you swore."

Joellyn said softly, "Arya, please listen," but the Hound spoke over her and she couldn't know if Arya actually heard her or not, "You heard the girl, she's not going with you."

Brienne countered back, "Yes, she is," and Joellyn still kept careful watch on Arya. They had come too far now to lose her and it seemed like Brienne was going to become occupied even further with the Hound.

Brienne drew her sword as the Hound stepped closer, so Joellyn backed away a little. The Hound laughed, "That Valyrian steel? I always wanted some Valyrian steel."

Brienne ignored him again and said to Arya, "Come with me, Arya. I'll take you to safety."

Joellyn made eye contact with Arya and nodded, trying to convey nothing but love and good intentions, but the Hound laughed loudly again saying, "Safety? Where the fuck's that? Her aunt in the Eyrie is dead. Her mother's dead. Her father's dead. Her brother's dead. Winterfell is a pile of rubble. There is no safety, you dumb bitch. Don't you know by now you're the wrong one to watch over her?"

Joellyn watched the pain in Arya's face each time the Hound listed one of her dead family members and Joellyn wanted nothing more than to hold her, just as she once had after the incident with the direwolves and Joffrey. Brienne asked the Hound, "Is that what you're doing, watching over her?"

The Hound barked back, "Aye, I'm watching over her," then drew his sword just as Brienne had hers drawn.

Brienne raised her eyebrows and then said, "I have no wish to kill you, ser."

The Hound shook his head, "I'm not a knight," then charged to attack Brienne.

Joellyn took stock of the situation. The Hound and Brienne were heavily engaged in fighting each other, and Brienne seemed to be holding her own ground just fine. Podrick was invested in watching the fight, and was probably willing to jump in if it seemed like Brienne needed a helping hand. Arya, on the other hand, saw her opportunity to run away, so Joellyn took in her surroundings to try to make sure she knew where she was and took off after Arya.

Arya had not gotten too far away, so Joellyn yelled ahead, "Arya, please stop. It is Joellyn, only me. I just want to talk."

Arya slowed and hid behind a large rock so as not to be seen by The Hound or Brienne, but the two of them were still too busy fighting each other. Joellyn joined her behind the rock and knelt down beside her. She took Arya's face in her hands and surveyed her again, just from a much closer distance this time. She breathed a sigh of relief and pulled Arya in for a quick embrace before saying, "I cannot tell you how relieved I am to see you."

Arya pulled away and seemed a little embarrassed by the familiarity, but said in reply, "I thought I'd never see you again. Who is Martell? Why did you marry him? Why didn't you marry Robb?" Her tone sounded accusing.

Joellyn fell to her knees and was now looking up a little at Arya as she replied, "Oh, Arya. There's so much that you missed. Your father, before he was arrested, decided that it was better to end my engagement to your brother. For your brother's safety as well as my own."

Arya nodded, "So who'd you marry?"

Joellyn felt tears prick her eyes and bit the inside of her cheek to try to keep them at bay as she replied, "Someone my father arranged for me to marry. He...um...he died, so I decided to leave King's Landing to help Brienne search for you and Sansa."

At Sansa's name, Arya's eyes brightened, "What do you know about Sansa?"

Joellyn shook her head, "She left King's Landing the day that Joffrey died. No one knows where she went, but last I saw her she was well and healthy, just not happy."

Arya nodded sadly, so Joellyn continued, "We left King's Landing to search for you and Sansa so that we can take you to Jon at the Wall. That way you'll be safe with family."

Arya looked at her sadly and seemed to be conflicted, so Joellyn asked, "Arya, what is it?"

Arya shook her head, "I want to see Sansa and I want to see Jon, but there's something that I need to do. Something I need to leave Westeros for."

Joellyn shook her head sadly and took Arya's hands in her own before asking, "Are you sure? I would feel much better knowing that you were safe with Jon. I won't know what has happened to you if you leave."

Arya pulled her hands away and said, "I have to go. There's things I need to learn, things I need to do."

Joellyn fought a battle within herself. She was standing here with Arya. She could touch her, she knew that Arya was safe. But Arya did not want to be taken to Castle Black. Joellyn never wanted to be told what to do, so why should she now decide what was right for Arya to do, even if the girl was still just a child. Joellyn put her hand on Arya's face and rubbed her cheek with her thumb as she said, "I want, more than anything, to force you to go with me. But I have never enjoyed being forced to do anything. Just please, there are a few things before you leave."

As Joellyn pulled her hand away, Arya grabbed it and nodded her head, urging Joellyn to go on. Joellyn felt her nerves increase before she told Arya, "I have a friend from King's Landing, you probably know him as the Spider. Lord Varys. Have you heard of him?"

Arya nodded, "I have. I met him a few times."

Joellyn nodded once in return, "Good. Varys has many spies that work for him. He told me that Robb was not killed at the Twins. If that is true, Robb may not be in Westeros anymore either. We are searching for him as well, but if you leave you should look for him too."

Arya's mouth dropped open for a moment in shock, then asked, "How did Robb escape?"

Joellyn shook her head, "He did not escape, he never went to the Twins. I don't know how this happened. I wish I could tell you more."

Arya nodded as she said, "I'll look for him."

Joellyn smiled sadly as she squeezed Arya's hand, "Second thing, we met a friend of yours at an inn a while back. He wanted me to give something to you." She dug through her bag and found the bread in the shape of a direwolf that the boy at the inn had given them.

Arya took it in her hands and smiled softly as she said, "Hot pie… How was he?"

Joellyn shrugged, "We didn't speak long, but he seemed well. I have one more thing to ask of you, Arya."

Arya nodded, so Joellyn said, "I cannot just let you escape. Brienne or Podrick may have seen me run off after you. You've got to make it look like you got away from me."

Arya shook her head, "I don't want to hurt you."

Joellyn heard sounds of fighting still going in the distance, and squeezed Arya's hand again, "You have to. Hit me in the back of the head so I'll pass out. It'll look like you fought me to get away from me. I don't have any way to defend myself."

Arya made an unhappy face, then unexpectedly hugged Joellyn tightly. As she pulled away, Arya said, "Thank you for being a friend for my family. Make sure you find Sansa and get her to Jon. Jon will keep her safe. He'll keep you safe too."

Joellyn smiled at Arya before saying, "I will. And I'll look for Robb too. If you find him, tell him where we will be taking Sansa."

Arya nodded in return, then Joellyn felt an unexpected pain in the back of her head and her vision blacked out as she fell to the ground.

When Joellyn opened her eyes again, she still felt a pain in the back of her head. She sat up slowly and moaned a little as she looked around the room that she was in. The room was unfamiliar, but the bed was comfortable and she was grateful for that. She rubbed her temples and squeezed her eyes shut, willing the pain in her head to go away. She had told Arya to hit her to make it look convincing, she just hadn't anticipated how much it was going to hurt later.

She heard the door open to the room she was in and looked up to see Podrick. She tried to smile at Podrick, but it likely came out a grimace instead. Podrick rushed over to her bed, "My lady, are you well?"

Joellyn shook her head slowly, "No, I'm not, but I'm awake. How long was I out?"

Podrick replied, "A few days. Arya must have hit you hard to knock you out for so long. We got you here as fast as we could to let you get some more comfortable rest. Had to take the Hound's horse."

Joellyn continued to rub her temples as she asked, "How long is Brienne willing to stay?"

Podrick shrugged before saying, "I could go get her for you."

Joellyn shook her head, "No, just tell her that I'm awake the next time you see her. Could you bring my bag to me? And some water?"

Podrick nodded and rushed to get her bag, sat it beside her on the bed, then rushed to get a glass of water for her. She took the water gratefully and drank the whole glass, not realizing how thirsty she had been.

Podrick pointed to the small bedside table as he refilled her water and said, "There's some bread and cheese there. You should eat. We'll probably start traveling again soon."

Joellyn nodded as she accepted the glass of water again and said, "Thank you, Podrick. You can go. Please don't fetch Brienne. Like I said, just let her know I'm awake the next time you see her."

Podrick nodded and excused himself. Joellyn took a little bit of the bread and cheese and ate slowly as to not upset her stomach after not having eaten for a few days. After she ate a little, she dug down to the bottom of her bag and found the letter Oberyn had written her the day he died. It was probably the head injury that was making her want to read it now, but she also realized in the short time since she had woken up that she was not guaranteed to have the time to read the letter if she waited much longer. This was not guaranteed to be a safe journey.

Joellyn took another drink of water and ate a little more bread as she stared at the envelope with her name written on the outside of it. She traced her fingers over her name then fiddled with Oberyn's ring that she was still wearing on her thumb. She finally decided that if she stared at the envelope much longer that she would never work up the nerve to open it. She turned it over, broke the seal, and pulled out the pages that he had written her. She opened them slowly and took a deep breath before she began reading:

Joellyn, my love,

I hope we are reading this together, for that means that the Mountain is dead and Tyrion and I are alive. I will finally be able to feel peace about my sister's death, and you will be able to have peace knowing that your brother is able to live his life, freed from the accusation of having killed your nephew. You and I will take great adventures together, my love. First we will travel to Dorne after your other nephew is married. In Dorne you'll be able to meet my family and my daughters and have them fall in love with you, just as I have. You are brave and fierce and beautiful. No one in Dorne will be able to think otherwise and the people of Dorne will love their new princess. Especially when they see how happy she makes their prince. After we leave Dorne, we will take up residence at Casterly Rock and we can begin the enjoyable work of making heirs for house Lannister. It will make happy to be able to spend the rest of my days with you.

If you are reading this letter on your own, events will be different for you. Your life will begin anew. There are many things that I would ask of you if I do not survive this trial. First, do not mourn me forever. You are young and you are beautiful. You deserve the fullness of life. Do not waste your life mourning over me. As you grow older and wiser, you will realize that the time we had together was but for a moment, and there are a great many more opportunities to love and enjoy life. I thought I would never love again after Ellaria passed, but you proved me wrong. If you think you will never love again after loving me, please take my advice. You will find someone to love and you will eventually be able to look back on our time together with happiness.

Another thing that I would ask is that you do not mourn Tyrion forever. Tyrion would not want you to spend the rest of your life in sadness or in anger about the way things turned out. I lived out my days in anger about my sister's death, and it never brought her back to me. It will not bring Tyrion back to you. You know I do not have any love for your family, but Tyrion has shown himself to be different from your father, just as you are different. He, like me, would want you to find happiness and live your life in happiness and love, not sorrow.

A third and final request I would make is that you would not forget the person I fell in love with. I fell in love with you because of how much you cared about the injustice your family has wrought on the world. You love Sansa as a sister, just as I love Elia. The way you spoke about her and the way you wanted to be able to defend yourself and those you care about was intriguing. You are beautiful, that cannot be questioned by anyone with eyes, but who you are is what made me fall in love with you. You have a kind heart, but you are willing to fight for what you know is right and who you know you love.

Do not mourn me forever if I am dead, my love. Think of me often, and think of me with love, but begin your life again.

Love always, your prince,
Oberyn

Joellyn felt the tears running silently down her face as she was reading the letter, but worked hard to hold them back as she was reading it. She did not want her tears to ruin the letter and she wanted to be able to read the letter clearly. As soon as she was finished and put the letter aside on the bedside table, she let her tears flow freely and felt grief overcome her again as she sobbed, but the grief felt different this time. It did not feel quite as deep as it had right after Oberyn was killed.

Oberyn wanted her to move on after he had died. She was nowhere near thinking about moving on from loving Oberyn, but it brought her a sense of peace to know that Oberyn wanted her to have someone else to spend her life with. It also hurt her deeply to be reminded of the life that they should have had. It would have been wonderful to see Dorne and see where Oberyn had grown up and spent much of his life. It would have been more wonderful to spend their lives together and have children together. She let herself cry the tears that she had been holding back for a long time and it felt cleansing to be able to get some of her grief out.

She heard a knock on her door and wiped away most of the tears on her face before saying, "Come in."

She saw Brienne open the door and when Brienne took in her appearance, she closed the door and quickly rushed to her side, "Joellyn, is everything all right?"

Joellyn nodded, wiping away a few more of her tears, "Yes, everything is fine. I am still not feeling well and have just read a letter that Oberyn wrote for me before he died. I guess I am just tired and emotional is all."

Brienne looked relieved and sighed, "Good. I was worried that there might have been something more serious."

Joellyn shook her head, "No, I am well. My head just hurts. I guess Arya really didn't want to be found and saved after all."

Brienne looked grieved about that, "I do not know why she wouldn't want to come with us. Did she say anything to you?"

Joellyn felt guilty about the prospect of lying to Brienne, but said, "No, I chased after her, but lost her among all of the rocks. As I was searching for her, I felt a sharp pain on the back of my head. That is all I can remember. What happened?"

Brienne shook her head, "I was too busy fighting the Hound. After I injured him and pushed him off of a cliff, I started searching for Arya. Podrick did not see where either you or Arya had gone. He was too busy watching the fight. Once we found you, I became too worried about your health to search for Arya much longer."

Joellyn nodded, again feeling guilty about lying, but knew that it was better for whatever Arya had been planning on doing. Joellyn asked, "How much longer will we stay here before we resume our search for Sansa?"

Brienne surveyed her carefully before saying, "If you feel well enough tomorrow, we will leave tomorrow morning. We can eat breakfast here at the inn then begin searching. Podrick was able to buy some more horses for us, so travel will be easier again."

Joellyn nodded, grateful that they would not have to travel on foot, then said, "I know I only just woke up, but I would like to get some more rest before we begin again tomorrow."

Brienne nodded, "Of course, I will send Podrick to make sure you are awake in the morning."

As Joellyn found herself alone again, she reflected on what Oberyn's letter had said. He had fallen in love with her because of her dedication to what was right and fixing what wrong her family had done. Leaving King's Landing was right. Finding Sansa and getting her to Jon would fix part of the trouble that her family had caused. She would be reuniting part of the Stark family. She also thought of his first wish for her, finding someone else to love. It would be a long time before she would feel ready to love again, but this journey may just be the perfect thing to get her ready. Maybe they would find Sansa, and finding Sansa would mean seeing Jon.

Maybe seeing Jon would bring back old feelings and remind her that it is possible to feel for someone other than Oberyn. Even though Jon would never be able to marry or have children, maybe the feelings she had for Jon all those years ago would resurface and allow her to feel as if it would be possible to one day love again. All these thoughts gave Joellyn a renewed sense of purpose to begin their journey again tomorrow, even if she still missed Oberyn desperately.