Jon and Arya had stood on the porch and watched her go. She hadn't looked back, Arya knew it had been for their protection as much as her own.
Once the wagon had disappeared from sight Jon began to pace relentlessly around the porch. He said nothing. Arya had never seen him look so angry, even the day he had learned of Sansa's rape paled to this. He kept throwing her seething looks, she didn't take it personally though; she knew he was angrier with himself than with her. She understood how he felt though, she wanted to be angry at someone as well, but she decided rather than herself that person would be Ramsay Bolton.
They stayed out there until the sky started to darken from the clouds that were moving in from the west. Jon seemed to have paced out some of his fury finally.
"Looks like a storm is rolling in. I should go check the traps before it does. It'd be a waste if we have something in there."
"Maybe we should go together." Arya eyed him carefully waiting on a reaction.
"If it's all the same I'd like to do it on my own. I just need some time." He looked earnest as he said this, much of his anger seemed to have dissipated. He just seemed sad. Arya felt relieved by this, sad was better than angry; in her experience people did stupid stuff out of anger far more often than sadness.
"Ok, I'll start on dinner then. But don't make a fool of me, if you aren't back in 30 minutes I am going to come looking for you."
"Agreed. Thank you for understanding Arya." He turned to go down the porch steps.
"Jon?" He turned back to her and she went on, "Seriously, please don't do anything stupid."
He looked at her and took a long breath and then nodded and headed around the side of the house.
Arya went inside to the kitchen to see what they had on hand for dinner. She doubted either of them were very hungry but she supposed they should force a little something down.
Meanwhile Jon had doubled back into the barn and climbed into the hayloft. Arya had not been in the barn earlier that day much longer than him. He knew she won't have been able to hide what he sought very well in that amount of time. He dug around in the hay, opening boxes and moving blankets. After several minutes he located what he needed and threaded it through his waistband.
He climbed down from the hayloft and glanced at his watch. He'd have a twenty minute head start and he knew he'd need it since he wasn't entirely sure where he was going other than east. It was dark enough now that if he stuck to the shadows he'd likely be able to make it to the road unseen and so he left the barn and said a prayer of apology for lying to Arya. He knew what he was about to do she would likely consider very stupid.
XXXXXX
Arya glanced at the clock in the kitchen. She realized that he'd been gone forty minutes and it had started to rain. She couldn't imagine he'd still be in the woods. She knew then she'd been misguided to trust him. She ran out to the barn and into the hayloft. It took her only moments to confirm her worst fears.
She descended the ladder and grabbed her bike cursing him and herself. She headed out into the rain. She knew he'd be smarter than to simply be following the road into town but she hoped she'd find him anyways.
As expected she had made it to town without spotting him. She headed to the butcher's and found Michael. She explained to him what had happened, what she feared and begged his help. He had agreed and they had headed back out into the rain together to find Jon. Arya prayed over and over than they would find him before it was too late.
XXXXXXXX
Sansa walked back through the house unescorted, her head held high. She passed several other officers and members of Ramsay's staff. The looked at her questioningly. Though it had felt like forever at the time, the amount of actual time that had passed from when they had left his study and when he had released her had been minimal. Some of them smirked and seemed to be forming their own opinions about why she was now leaving. Several of them whispered to each other in words she could not hear or understand; there were stifled laughs, and for once she wasn't completely convinced they were directed at her. She could only surmise on what they might think of her time with the major.
Somehow the sentry at the front door was expecting her and insisted he give her a ride back to town. Sansa tried to refuse but the young private begged her to not make him disobey a direct order from the major. The terror in his eyes had made her relent.
They rode back to town in silence, the rain beating against the truck. From the corner of her eye she could see the young private sparing her a cautious glance every so often. They were nearly to town when she finally turned and looked at him, making him aware she knew he was looking at her, her expression demanding he tell her why.
"You're very brave," he murmured looking away. He did not look at her again for the rest of the ride.
The private dropped her off in front of the butcher's as she requested. She banged on the door until Molly came down and let her in. "Sansa?" she said confused and registered her wild look. "You poor thing, come in here."
Molly swept her into the shop and closed the door and pulled the curtain and looked at her carefully, she'd never expected to find Sansa on her doorstep tonight; not when Arya had told her where Sansa had gone and why. She wanted to tell her about Arya's earlier appearance but she wanted to make sure she'd be strong enough to hear it, and so she watched Sansa closely for a moment.
For Sansa it had been getting harder and harder to breathe since she had left Ramsay's room and so it took her a moment to find her voice. "Do you know if the Red Cross supplies reached town?" she finally managed to ask.
"I'm not sure." Molly took in Sansa's pale pained expression. "Maybe you should come with me upstairs. You look like you need to sit down."
"No! No, I have to know," Sansa cried and suddenly fled back out into the rain. She could hear Molly calling to her as she ran down the street. Normally she'd have felt guilty frightened the woman so, but she had to know if he'd tricked her, if he'd lied, but most importantly if she'd have to go back and plead with him.
She rounded the corner and saw a small crowd was in front of the doctor's office. She slowed as she came upon the group and realized they were helping the Germans unload their truck. She could see the boxes had large red crosses. She nearly collapsed from the relief the sight gave her. It didn't take long for people to notice her and the murmurs to start. Someone thanked her, someone blessed her. She was fairly certain someone even called her a saint.
"I told you I'd make you a saint," she heard him hiss with satisfaction. And then his parting words started hiss in her mind as well. Confusion and fear were turning her heart and mind to ice.
She wasn't sure who it was but someone eventually ushered her inside and she was placed in front of the doctor. She seemed stunned, borderline catatonic.
"You did it girl," she heard him say. "You made him see reason." But when she failed to respond he grew concerned. "Sansa?" He snapped his fingers near her face and she finally focused on him. "Did he hurt you? Are you alright?"
After a moment she blinked and came back to herself. "Yes, no. I mean I'm fine, I'm not hurt, not really."
The doctor was clearly concerned, she seemed extremely traumatized. "Let me take you upstairs to lay down. I'll take you home in the morning," he said gently. He placed his hands on her shoulders to guide her from the room.
She suddenly felt overwhelming panic, thoughts started to flood her mind, the ice thawing and pieces clicking into place. He had said she would need to have power. He had asked about her true knight; he knew about Jon, there was no other option. He'd given her the medicine and he'd let her go. What if that was the game? What if he was going to the farm tonight? What if he'd already been there? If she stayed here he might kill both Jon and Arya.
She suddenly let out a scream. "NO! I have to go home! Tonight! I have to go tonight!" She pushed away from the doctor and ran for the open back door. She was wild and crazed now.
"Sansa! Wait!" the doctor yelled.
She didn't heed his words, she tore down the alley until she reached the town stables. She forced herself to slow so she wouldn't startle the horses. She found the doctor's horse, quickly saddled it and rode from the barn into the rain forcing the horse to the fastest speed she dared.
By the time she arrived home she was half drown from the rain and her own tears. The yard was empty, the house dark. She wasn't sure if she should be relieved or panicked. She quickly tied the horse in the barn and broke into a frantic run towards the house. She flew through the yard, sliding on the mud and falling down. She wanted to scream for Jon and Arya but she didn't have enough air in her lungs.
She finally scrambling up the porch and burst through the front door and ran through the first floor of the house. There was no one here. She finally forced herself to call out and there was no answer. She ran to the attic to be sure but found it empty as well.
She ran back downstairs trying to think of where they could be. Maybe they had gone to the cottage. Why she had no idea, but they weren't in the barn, there was nowhere else unless he had already taken them. She could feel despair threatening to overwhelm and paralyze her.
The front door was still open and suddenly headlights flooded the room. She knew in her heart this was it. She had been right, this was the game; he had come for them, and only God knew what would happened when he found only her.
XXXXXXX
Ramsay hadn't wanted to let her go, but Sansa Stark did not seem to be ruled by fear of personal harm, or really any kind of fear. He knew she did care about what the people in town thought of her and she also seemed to do things out of love and loyalty, concepts so foreign to him that he had started to wonder if his normal methods for getting what he wanted were going to work. He had realized this tonight when he had tasted her tears, he had decided in that moment he would try a different way with her.
He had long surmised that she was hiding something, likely something her sister or uncle had gotten her into. He had spoken to Baelish and any other person that was willing to trade information for extra rations, but he had yet to figure out what the secret was. He knew he needed to figure out what it was soon in order to leverage it against her, to make her bend to his will. He was use to taking whatever he wanted by force and violence, but she did not respond to that, not the way he wanted, and for some reason there was a small part of him that wanted her to acquiesce to him on her own volition, even if he did have to help it along.
So he had let her go, but now he was furious. He had left his room a short while ago and had overheard some of his men discussing her departure. Someone commented she definitely had not looked satisfied when she had left this house. They were joking that he had been unable to perform, that she was too much for him, far too beautiful and intimidating. Someone said perhaps he had even made up the other time he had taken her.
He had been wrong, attempting to be merciful was a waste. It had made him a joke. Well he would correct this momentary lapse in judgment swiftly and harshly. He knew he couldn't start executing his own men but he could see to their transfer to the eastern front, which ultimately was as good as a death sentence. But until the orders could be processed he would show them that he was to be respected and feared.
He marched through the house then and shouted for his advisors to meet him in his study. Once assembled he ordered them to gather twenty men, they were going on a raid to the Tully farm.
XXXXXXXX
Sansa had sunk to her knees in parlor staring out the open front door. She knew it was him before he had even marched into the house and ripped her from the floor and forced her out unto the porch. He was shouting orders. The yard seemed full of soldiers. Several flooded into the house and more in to the barn.
"You're keeping secrets from me and I intend to find out what they are."
Sansa had no idea what had happened since she had left the estate. No idea what would have made him so angry. She wanted to ask him what had made him decide she no longer would have time to reflect on tonight as he had promised when she had left him. Perhaps he had decided he was angry at himself for letting her go, maybe he thought he had been weak and now he was here to prove to himself he was not. But then she had long known he was completely unstable. And so did it really matter what had happened to turn him so violent? Whatever the cause, the result was he was here and ready to punish her.
She glanced up him quickly, he was watching her. He looked as if he despised her in this moment, as if he wanted nothing more than to strangle her with his bare hands. She wondered again what had changed in the recent hours, but then his soul was so twisted maybe this had been his plan from the start. It seemed like something he would do.
So she crouched on the porch under his glare and she didn't respond. In the silence her mind began to race. If he was here searching then he did not have Jon and Arya, but then where in God's name were they?
"Where's the rest of your family?"
She didn't answer him and so he struck her across the face and then he stared at her in disgust as she half sprawled on her knees in from of him on the porch. She was soaked in rain and mud. Not so dignified now, he thought with a sense of victory. He knew then he was getting his power back from her.
"I don't know. I arrived just before you. I don't know I swear."
One of the soldiers came out of the house and told him they had found nothing, he ordered them to search again. When the soldier asked what it was they were looking for Ramsay had struck him as well. He had asked no more questions and fled back into the house ordering the others to keep looking.
"I think you have been playing a game with me and it ends tonight."
Another soldier came unto the porch and told him they had found nothing in the barn. Ramsay seemed furious. He hauled her up from the porch and into the rain and shoved her into the mud.
"What are you hiding here?! Why did you agree to come to me tonight? And don't say for the town or because I asked. No one does what you do, no one is so selfless. I think you are covering up a bigger secret and you hoped by coming to me I would not come to you."
"You're wrong. I'm not hiding anything here, I didn't want anyone else to die. You said it yourself, I hate to see people suffer. You were right. That's it, that's all it is."
"I don't believe you." And then he just stared at her waiting on her to crack.
She suddenly saw movement beyond him in the rain on the edge of where the headlights lit up the yard. He seemed to notice the flicker in her eyes and whirled around.
"Who's there?!" he demanded. He was reaching for his gun.
"What are you doing to my sister?" she heard Arya's voice call as she stepped into the light and held her empty hands high.
"Arya Stark. There you are," he purred. "Come here. Slowly."
Arya kept her hands up and walked through the rain towards them. Sansa could see the other soldiers start to shift uncomfortably. Most of the ones that had been searching the house were now on the porch watching the scene unfold. Sansa knew whether they agreed with their major or not they would not find any allies among them, they all feared him too much.
"You don't seem surprised to find us here," he said to Arya once she was close enough. Arya and Sansa were eyeing each other. Sansa was searching her sister's face for any indication of what she might be planning but Arya was stoic.
"Actually I am. I thought you had summoned my sister to you, so how is it you ended up back here?"
"I think you are both hiding something out here and I came to see for myself. However your sister refuses to tell me what I want to know."
"We aren't hiding anything. We are just trying to survive out here."
Ramsay just looked between the girls. They thought themselves smarter than him, he saw that now. He would not let them win this, this was his command, he was in charge here and they needed to accept that. He pulled his gun now and pointed first at Sansa and then Arya and back again. "I don't care which one of you tells me what I want to know, but one of you better talk or there will only be one of you to talk."
"We don't –" Sansa began.
"We need to stop lying Sansa," Arya cut her off.
Ramsay smiled triumphantly and waited on Arya to continue. Sansa had stopped breathing waiting on Arya to speak. She felt terrified but she was going to put her trust in her sister.
"We've been lying to everyone," Arya began. "We didn't want anyone to know because we thought they might try to take the farm from us. Lysa's dead, she died last summer and we never told anyone."
Sansa started to breathe again.
"Is that true?" Ramsay asked turning to Sansa.
"It is. We didn't tell anyone and we kept using the ration cards for her. We've been terrified we would get caught and then we'd lose the farm. But we are always hungry and well… yes, we have been lying."
Ramsay was pleased and vindicated with their admission, he knew they had been hiding something. He realized he had completely taken back power over them now.
"Do you think the townspeople would still hold you in such high esteem if they knew you've been taking extra rations?"
"I suppose not," Sansa answered lowering her eyes to the ground.
"It seems you are not so perfect and selfless after all." He seemed so pleased by this, as if she was now more on his level. He suddenly seemed completely relaxed, his early rage suddenly washed away by the rain.
"Well I think it's best for now we keep this to ourselves. I have put far too much time in to elevating your profile with these people, no reason to just toss that all away." He reached down and helped her to her feet. He felt calmer now that he had regained the upper hand.
"So what is going to happen?" Sansa asked fearing the answer.
"For now? Nothing, we shall go back to how things have been. The epidemic shall pass, everyone will be grateful to you, your legend will grow and then one day in the near future I will need you to help me with something and you will agree. Simple as that."
He whistled loudly and twirled his finger in the air indicating that the soldiers should load up. They all hustled to the trucks and loaded up to leave.
"Good night ladies," Ramsay said with a small bow and then marched back to the trucks. Sansa had never seen him look so satisfied.
The girls stood in the rain and watched the trucks leave. Arya took Sansa's hand and led her into the house and they stood in the parlor dripping rain on to the floor. Arya didn't fully know what Sansa had been through tonight but she could tell she was on the brink of collapse.
"Jon?" Sansa managed to whisper.
"He's ok. I think you should sit."
"Where is he?" Sansa breathed.
Arya had no time to answer because just then Sansa's eyes rolled back and Arya only had the time and strength to dive forward and save Sansa's head from smacking the floor.