The day that court was suspended, Sansa breathed in relief. Arya left her room, in her maester's 'mask' and robes and Sansa threw herself onto the bed in relief. There was to be no more scrambling to ensure that nobody thought of Daenerys as mad, that nobody saw the small but growing list of things that were worrying the court.

Arya had done a great service to Westeros, though it was a secret service and one that she would never receive praise for.

Sansa felt the bed dip beside her as Tyrion lay back beside her. Neither of them smiled. These past months of ensuring a safe and politically stable court had been hard on either of them and, as the days went by, Sansa realised how little she wanted power. Her ambition waned and waned. She wasn't sure if that was exhaustion or a simple protective feeling. Her ambition, her arrogance in her dislike of Daenerys, could have caused them to lose their family, could still cause them harm. As Sansa's baby grew, her great desire to run away from everything and never return to Westeros did too.

Tyrion told her that he thought it was normal, to want to protect the baby from all of these. The Seven knew that Brienne was feeling the same. Sansa had noted it each time she saw her. Hands flying to her stomach, eyes wide at any sound, the signs were there and shared between both of them.

But, where Sansa and Brienne were protective, Daenerys was in overdrive, desperate to keep her baby safe. Her stomach grew and grew and, as she reached her fifth month, Arya's plan finally succeeded and court was suspended, the doors to the Red Keep closed and none but close family and council workers admitted. It was a precaution that had seemed to be too much at first but, as the months dragged on, it had become necessary.

As the doors shut to the Red Keep, so too did the doors to Daenerys' chambers. She was going into confinement early, to protect the baby and herself. Jon was still there to run the kingdoms and, thus, Daenerys could put her body and her child first. Three of her ladies, all also pregnant, stayed in there with her and two handmaidens each, as well as a midwife each. The number of pregnant women at court was vast, a result of so many rushed war marriages and so much celebratory sex. That was how Sansa saw it anyway.

Sansa curled closer to Tyrion, pressing a kiss to his forehead. "I should go and see Jon," he murmured, his hand stroking her ribcage and moving down to the swell of her belly. Sansa smiled, feeling sleepy.

"You should. I think I might take a nap." Tyrion hummed his agreement and pulled away. Sansa felt a cold enter her stomach and chastised herself for being so reliant on one man. She watched him leave fondly, one eye open while the other readied her brain for sleep. The baby leeched her energy every day, no matter how much food she allowed herself. The door clicked shut and Sansa let both her eyes close.

She was startled awake by the feel of hands on her arms, on her legs. She kicked wildly, Ramsay's face above her, his body pressing into her, until she opened her eyes and found that it was better and yet worse. She had no idea who was on top of her. Would they do what Ramsay did to her? Bile rose in her throat. Desperately, she tried to shake their hands off her arms, to reach and protect her baby. Her stomach was so exposed. What if they had come to kill her baby?

When she opened her mouth to scream, she found that it was stuffed with something, something that made her mouth dry and meant that no noise could come from her. She sobbed even so, noise escaping from her nose at least. Perhaps somebody would hear her - would save her.

They - whoever they were - dragged her from her chambers. She was in her shift. There was nobody around to see her in her state of undress because Daenerys had closed the court. There was nobody around to save her. The thought made Sansa sob harder. Where was Arya? Where was Brienne?

These thoughts swirled around in her head as they transported her through the Red Keep. They didn't come across anybody and why would they? The small council was meeting and the queen was in confinement. There were very few other people in court. Sansa calculated when she would be noticed as missing, praying that Tyrion would return to their chambers straight away, after the meeting. Or perhaps Brienne would come and visit her and she would see that the chambers were empty. Were there signs of a struggle? Would Brienne only think she had gone to the Godswood-

All of those thoughts disappeared as the guards slowed and stopped, in front of the queen's chambers. Something fell in Sansa's chest and then picked up again. She was disappointed and then, yes, scared. Tyrion had been right. They should have left. Sansa should have gone to the North, to Essos, to anywhere, provided that she would be safe.

Did Daenerys know that they had been scheming? What would she have done? Sansa's eyes wept silent tears as she considered that she would not be able to give her baby a future. She had had such plans. She had been so happy. Her heart raced. She would never see Tyrion again. She would never tell him she loved him again, never lie with him again, never even kiss him. Why hadn't she kissed him earlier? Had she really been so tired to kiss her husband?

The door to the chambers opened and it was one of the handmaidens, who met eyes with Sansa. There was something akin to fear in her eyes, or perhaps it was warning. Sansa tried to level her breathing.

"Oh, Sansa, good," Daenerys said cheerily. Her feet were up again. She did have a bad case of swollen ankles. They were worse than Sansa's. "You look scared, Sansa," Daenerys said, a chiding tone in her voice. Then she cocked her head. "Why is she gagged? Men, why is the Lady Sansa gagged?"

"She was going to scream, your grace," one of the guards mumbled. Daenerys stood suddenly and approached. Her feet were bare, her toenails perfectly clipped and painted with the same Essosi nail paint that they had used before Brienne's wedding. She grew close and Sansa flinched at the sound of her hand cracking against the cheek of the guard who had spoken.

"Lady Sansa is precious. She is high-blooded and pregnant. You will remove the gag and apologise."

The guard did remove the gag and then spoke, "I am truly sorry, my lady." He sounded more scared than apologetic but Sansa understood the feeling. She had no idea what was happening. She felt as though the world was spinning.

"Get on your knees," the queen said harshly. Sansa watched, unfeeling, as the guard fell to his knees.

"I apologise," he said. Sansa nodded desperately, eagerly. She wanted this whole situation to be over. She wanted to return to her rooms. Daenerys pursed her lips and then ordered both guards to leave. They did and then Daenerys beamed at Sansa.

"I'm so glad you're here," she said.

"What can I help you with, your grace?" Sansa asked, as demurely as she could. Though the queen seemed chipper, there was always the chance that she was going to punish Sansa anyway. There were many things that Sansa had done that were treasonous.

"You're coming to stay here," Daenerys said as though it were the best news in the world.

Sansa's world slowed down. Her eyes widened then fell to the floor. Tyrion. By the Seven, he would be alone. And Brienne. It wasn't fair. It was so unjust. So - "No," burst from her lips. She had been kidnapped, manhandled, gagged, all to be brought here and told that she could not spend the rest of her pregnancy with her husband.

Daenerys' brows drew together. "No?" she repeated, eyes narrowed.

"I mean," Sansa stuttered, hating her weakness. She drew herself together. "Your grace, my husband would be devastated if I did not spend this time with him."

Daenerys shook her head. "Husbands do not get a choice. This is your body, Sansa, your child and your responsibility. I'm sure Tyrion can deal very well without you for a few months." Months. It would be months. The room span. "Perhaps our whorehouses will do well out of it." Her ladies, her handmaidens and the midwives tittered but Sansa did not. They did not know her husband.

"Tyrion will be fine. I've already got you a bed set up. We pregnant ladies have to stick together, Sansa."

Sansa nodded, stumbling over to a chair. Arya would know what to do. Arya would do something, would protect her. There was something that they could do. There had to be something.

XXX

Arya arrived at Brienne's chambers in a haste. "She knows," she panted as she arrived. Brienne knew who she was immediately, despite the fact that she was in the body of a maester. Brienne nodded, clamping her hands over her stomach.

"Jaime is- he's in a small council meeting," Brienne said hurriedly. "How long do I have?"

Arya sighed and shook her head. "Give me a message. I'll tell him."

Brienne blinked and Arya thought her eyes sparkled for a moment before it cleared. "Tell him I love him and I love Joanna and I love our life together. Promise him I'll see him soon." Arya nodded and then surged forward, clasping Brienne's hands.

"Tell Sansa that I'm doing my best for her, that I'm looking after Tyrion." Brienne nodded and her eyes were definitely shining now.

"Look after- look after Jaime, too," she asked, her throat so obviously filled with tears that Arya pulled her hands away and turned.

"I promise," she said, nodding and darting over to Brienne's wardrobe. "I'll hide in here. I'll see you soon, Brienne. I promise I'll fix this, all of this."

She caught one last look of Brienne, her blue eyes swimming with tears, hands clasped over the baby bump that she had been hiding for the three weeks since Sansa had been taken into the queen's confinement. Arya's heart ached as she closed the wardrobe door, making her breathing as silent as possible and listening for the sounds of the guards who were coming to take Brienne.

Brienne went easily, when they came. It was far better than the kidnapping that Sansa had reported, in the one meeting that Arya had been able to have with her since she had been taken. Arya's ire only grew as she left the wardrobe, glancing around the room. The bed was not made. Brienne's sword lay discarded, her armour in pieces by the window.

Arya sank down into her chair and glanced out of said window, from behind a curtain. She would wait for Jaime, wait to tell him herself, and she would hope that he had not found out before he arrived.

She was antsy when he finally arrived, over an hour later. She had sprung up from the chair many times, hand on the door handle, ready to storm into the small council meeting and tell him herself. Each time she had stopped. It was better if Jaime was alone. The last thing they needed was him to blurt out treason and get himself arrested and probably executed. So, Arya had sunk back down into her chair.

Another time, the nanny had arrived and Arya had been disappointed to see that it was not Jaime, though, admittedly, she had brightened up at the sight of Joanna. The nanny had been confused by the sight of Arya - who, by this point, had discarded her disguise as a maester - there would be more questions if a maester was found in Jaime's rooms, rather than Arya. Arya explained quietly to the nanny what had happened and then convinced her to leave Joanna with Arya, for now. Brienne trusted the woman she had hired to look after Joanna while they were in King's Landing, so Arya was willing to, too, for now.

When Jaime slipped into the room, smiling for some reason, she had to watch as his face fell at the sight of her. She watched as he recognised the way that Arya looked, grim-faced and serious, the way that she was holding his child. "Where is she?" he asked in a controlled manner, his jaw tight, his eyes flaring with anger.

Arya closed her eyes briefly. "With Sansa," she said quietly. Jaime nodded once, striding over and taking Joanna from Arya's arms.

"She- okay," he said, letting out a sigh. He held Joanna tightly.

"I'm sorry, Jaime," Arya said earnestly. When he met her eyes, she saw tears there. She imagined how she would feel if Gendry were taken from her in the same way and knew that she would be reacting the same, anger, upset. He blinked.

"What's the plan? I'm- I'm not sure I can- Joanna turns one next week." He was rambling and Arya felt her heart break for this man that she had hated once, this man who her father had despised, who her brother had captured. She should not have had so much sympathy for him but she did. He was Brienne's husband and Brienne was her family. That made Jaime family too, in the same way that Tyrion was.

"We're going to sort this out," Arya promised. She put her hand on Jaime's arm and he looked up at her. He stroked Joanna's curls back from her face. "I promise you that we are going to sort this out." Jaime nodded, breaking their eye contact.

"Have you seen Sansa? How is she?"

Arya sighed. "She's - okay." Jaime closed his eyes. "I'll be able to see her again, soon, I think, and Brienne too. They'll be better together. They can protect each other."

"You're right." Jaime pressed a kiss to his daughter's temple. "This isn't fair."

Arya shook her head, blinking back tears. "It isn't."

XXX

It had been a month, Jaime realised when he returned from the small council meeting that afternoon. It had been a month since he had seen his wife, since she had seen Joanna. It had been a month of pretending that everything was okay, of plotting with Arya and Tyrion, of cradling his daughter when she cried and telling her that she would be back with her mumma soon and that they would have another baby too. By the Seven, they would have another baby and Brienne would get through the childbirth well. Jaime had dreams, at night, about his mother, about the cries he'd heard when Tyrion was born. He had dreams, too, of Brienne and her making the same cries, of a midwife coming out of the birthing room to tell him she was dead. He woke up, panting and crying and searching for his wife in the bed beside him, only to find that she was not there.

And, so, that afternoon, after having played his part in the small council, Jaime gave his daughter to Arya and Gendry and crept into the queen's chambers, using the tunnels that Arya had discovered. They were large chambers and each of the women had been granted their own rooms. Still, this was too dangerous. He watched the back of his wife's head. They were playing cards. Sansa was smiling and Daenerys was smiling and Jaime hoped that Brienne was scowling. He would hate it if she could live without him when he woke every night crying for her.

It didn't take long until Brienne had to make water and she found Jaime in her rooms. They locked eyes. Her mouth, her plump lips, made the shape of his name. He smiled at her, pressing a finger to his lips. She nodded and he was reminded of how well they fit together when she crept away and told Daenerys that she was feeling suddenly very tired and she was going to retire. The sky was darkening after all and she wanted to give the baby rest. Daenerys agreed. Anything for the baby.

The tunnels led away from the chambers to another room, to the maester's room. Their fingers interlaced, Jaime tried to imagine what he would say to Brienne first, once they were safely behind the walls of the chambers. Daenerys knew of the tunnels, Jaime knew that, but he didn't think she would come. He would hope that she would stay, playing her card games, for an hour, two hours. They would not have long but it would be enough.

Jaime knew that it would never be enough.

He closed the door behind him, leaning his head on the wood for just a second before turning. He found his wife watching him with tear-filled eyes. Her baby bump was huge now. It was almost impossible to think that only a month ago nobody had known she was pregnant save their friends.

Every clever thought about what he should say went out of Jaime's mind. "Hello," he murmured and she smiled, beamed really, and then she was in his arms and they weren't even kissing, just holding each other and running their hands over each other - it was réel - it was real - and she was there and she would have to go back but it was real - for now it was real.