You know, I wish we'd gotten just a bit more information about what happened after Sam and Gilly escaped the keep. Because, other than a throwaway line about being "held up by chains," there's literally nothing about how Grenn and Edd escaped or what it was like as a prisoner of the mutineers.

So I guess I'll just have to wing it.

"Think they'll kill us soon?" Edd asked as he tested the strength of his bonds for the thousandth time.

Caitie watched as he tried to break them to no avail and sighed. "You've been saying that every day for weeks. Give it a rest."

"But I'll be right sooner or later."

She glared tiredly. "At this point, it's more likely they'll soon forget about us and let us starve to death. Or maybe they'll get bored and torture us for entertainment."

Thankfully, the mutineers had been too distracted by infighting, Craster's daughters, and wine to check much on Caitie and her friends—so far. Other than the food, which Dirk brought them nearly every day, the mutineers left them alone. Still, she knew that as the days dragged on, the likelihood of the mutineers' discovering her grew larger. It was only a matter of time now. And when it came... well, she didn't want to think about it. Terror beat at her all the time, every moment of every day. Thinking did not help.

Grenn snorted. "You could try to be optimistic."

"Optimistic?" Caitie repeated incredulously. "If I'm lucky, they'll kill me before—" she stopped herself from finishing the sentence.

"Before what?" Grenn asked.

"Nothing."

He shot her a look.

"Well, we can't just sit here forever waiting to be tortured. It's been long enough already." And it had been. They had to be coming up on a month, by now. A month in the worst pain of her life, covered in her own excrements, not having seen the sun beyond the one tiny window in the outhouse, and terrified of the mutineers finding out the truth.

She didn't want to be raped. She really, truly didn't. Oh, and she also wanted a bath.

"I don't see anything else to do but die," Edd said.

Caitie closed her eyes. She had come up with the bare bones of a plan not long after their capture, but it was risky—very risky—and it meant she had to tell Grenn and Edd the truth.

"I do," she said, coming to a decision—really, the only one left. Anything was better than sitting and waiting for the truth to come out—especially to Rast, who had a special hatred for her. "We're going to escape."

Edd was wholly unconvinced. "Right…"

"If you have a better suggestion, I would love to hear it," she snapped.

Grenn put what Caitie supposed he meant to be a comforting hand on her shoulder. "The Watch will send people eventually."

"I can't wait that long!"

He blinked in surprise at the outburst and removed the hand.

Caitie took a long, deep breath, trying to reassure herself. She trusted Grenn and Edd after everything they'd been through together. Both had seen her at her worst—or close to it, at least—and they were still her friends. They would never betray her to the mutineers or Thorne.

It was time to let them in on the secret.

It took much longer than Caitie would have liked, but she finally worked up the courage to speak. "If the mutineers found out about me," she started, shaking her head, "death would be the better option."

Caitie had hoped the men would catch on, but they only stared at her in confusion. Gods, they were going to make her say it.

"Listen," she continued, "if I tell you this, you have to promise you will never repeat it to anyone."

"Caitie, what—"

She cut Edd off. "Promise."

"I promise," Grenn said without any hesitation.

Caitie smiled gratefully and waited for Edd to agree as well.

"Fine," he sighed dramatically, "I promise."

She was visibly shaking now but forced herself to go on regardless. "My name isn't Caitie. It's Lady Caitriona of—" she bit her lip to shut herself up. It would be stupid to give them her family name too. "I mean, it's Caitriona."

Fortunately, the two men were so caught up in their astonishment to notice the omission.

Edd forgot to keep his voice down as he exclaimed, "You're a girl?"

"Could you say that any more loudly?" Caitie hissed. "Do you want the mutineers to hear?"

"I knew it," Grenn said, though he still sounded shocked.

She turned sharply to look at him. "You knew?"

"I mean, I didn't know. But I always thought you were too pretty to be a boy."

Not knowing the proper reaction, Caitie only chuckled, trying to act as though she wasn't completely caught off guard. "Thank you."

Grenn gave her a grin in return.

"But you're not just a girl," Edd cut in. "You're a lady."

Caitie winced. "You caught that."

"I knew you were highborn. But a fucking lady? Explain."

"My father is a lord," she said simply.

Edd scoffed and rolled his eyes at the non-answer.

Grenn furrowed his brows. "Does anyone else know?"

"Only Jon and Sam."

He was silent for a long moment. "You told Jon and Sam, but not me?"

Caitie was taken aback at the accusatory tone. "I didn't tell them." She tried her best not to sound defensive. "They just sort of… found out on their own."

Grenn was about to respond, but Edd spoke before he could. "But if you're a lady, what the fuck are you doing out here?"

"That," she said, "is a very long story. If we manage to get out of here, I'll tell you—I promise."

Edd and Grenn exchanged glances before nodding in agreement. "Do you have a plan?"

"First, we need to get the keys to these chains and the door."

"And how do we do that, m'lady?"

Caitie shot Edd the nastiest glare she could muster but otherwise didn't take the bait. "Dirk has the keys we need. When he brings us our next meal, I'm going to," she swallowed nervously, hating this idea the more she discussed it, "seduce him."

Both her friends' eyes widened in alarm as she told them the rest.

"I'll lure him over, and then together we'll strangle him." Caitie forced herself to sound confident. "It shouldn't be too difficult."

"But Caitie," Grenn argued, "if it doesn't work and they find out—"

"I'm the only weapon we have right now—it's our best chance." When neither looked convinced, Caitie added, "Dirk is a complete idiot. I've been watching him—I know he'll fall for the trick."

That settled the matter. Grenn and Edd agreed reluctantly, and the three of them started to plan out the details of their escape.

Dirk materialized the next morning with some bread—which had sawdust in it—and the tiniest amount of water. It wasn't nearly enough for three people, but they were used to that by now.

While Edd and Grenn pretended to be asleep, Caitie waited expectantly.

She heard the jingle of keys, the door creak open, and then Dirk was standing in front of her.

"What're you doing?" he asked suspiciously when he saw her watching him.

Caitie faked a sniffle and rubbed her eyes. "I'm sorry, Dirk," she said. "I was just lonely."

"What you on about?"

She steeled herself for her next words. "Haven't you realized I'm a girl?" she asked in the most sugary, falsely innocent voice she could conjure. "I told them," she gestured to her friends, "but they didn't want me."

"Shut up," he snapped. "You're not fooling me."

Caitie sighed. Despite the pain from the chains as they cut into her wrists, she grabbed Dirk's hand and placed it on her breast. It was the first time Caitie could be grateful she'd filled out a bit more in the last year.

And while it was a bit vulgar, desperate times called for desperate measures.

He stared at her as comprehension dawned on his features. "I was hiding from my father, you see," she simpered. "Promise you won't tell?"

Caitie blinked up at him, making her blue eyes look as big as possible.

Dirk gave her a once over. "You're a pretty little thing, aren't you. Should've known you weren't a boy." He looked thoughtful for a moment and then tossed the food aside. "I'll tell the others about you later. For now, I'll have you to myself."

As he smiled deviously, Caitie crawled to the back of the small room next to Grenn and Edd. The former opened an eye as Dirk came nearer.

"Come on, girly," he said, grabbing at her.

But before he could do anything, Grenn was behind him, one hand covering his mouth and the other around his neck. Dirk immediately let go of Caitie, and she joined in along with Edd to keep the mutineer quiet.

Even with the chains, they were able to subdue him. Caitie thanked the Gods that the mutineers were all a bunch of imbeciles who took few precautions.

After what felt like years, Dirk's struggling stopped, and his eyes turned glassy.

"Thank you," Caitie told his body, pretending to be calm. She didn't want Grenn and Edd to realize how shaken she was. They didn't need to know she wanted to curl into a ball and cry. "You've been very helpful."

Caitie plucked the keys from his belt and unlocked her chains, before moving on to Grenn and Edd.

"What you said—was it true?" Grenn asked as he carefully removed his wrists from the chains.

They looked the same as hers—red and painful, with blood oozing from them. If they made it home alive, she knew they'd have scars from it.

"Was what true?" she asked, grateful for a distraction from the pain.

"About your father."

"Oh." Caitie sighed. "That. Yes, it was." Having no desire to discuss her father, she said, "But we can talk about it later. First, let's get out of here."

Opening the door a smidge, Caitie peaked her head out. There was only one mutineer she could see, standing guard in front of the entrance to the keep. But he had a direct line of sight to their door.

She frowned, thinking of a way to sneak past him—until she saw the stones.

Picking one up, Caitie threw it as hard as she could towards a tree adjacent to the outhouse. It bounced off the trunk, and the mutineer's head whipped around to see what had made the noise. He grunted, holding his sword high as he slowly walked over to investigate.

This was their chance.

Caitie opened the door—slowly, so it wouldn't creak—and tiptoed out, mindful of any branches that would give away her position. Grenn and Edd followed her as she skirted around the building to the forest-facing side, away from the grounds.

They had done it. They could now leave without being caught, start towards Castle Black, even see if they could find Ghost out here somewhere. Caitie was beyond glad she'd sent him off hunting before the mutiny.

Then the screaming started up, and Caitie remembered Craster's daughters.

"We have to go," Grenn whispered, knowing exactly what she had been thinking.

"But he's raping them. I can't just leave them behind."

"You have to. I'm not leaving you behind to get the same treatment as them."

"But—"

"They'll know we've gotten out soon. We've got to go now."

She shut her eyes tightly, but Caitie knew he was right. "I know."

It took less effort than it should've to turn around and ignore the cries. Perhaps it was selfish, but she wouldn't have traded places with those girls for anything.

They had only been walking at a brisk pace for a few minutes when Grenn started talking again. "So," he said, "where do we go from here?"

It was a good question. Luckily, Caitie had an answer ready. "We need to put as much distance between us and Craster's as possible today. Once they know we've escaped, they'll search for us."

She thought for a moment before continuing. "We've got to get to Castle Black, and quickly. The longer we stay out here, the more likely it is our wounds fester and kill us. Or worse, a wight or a Walker finds us. We'll have to find shelter for the nights, though. It'll be too cold to keep going."

"We can stop at one of the abandoned villages."

"That should do."

"One of us dies," said Edd, "remember to burn the body."

"Thanks for the reminder." Caitie scanned the Haunted Forest and took a deep breath. "Let's get a move on. It's a long way home."

This chapter references two different things that I love and have to talk about:

1. I initially classed Caitie as a bard (as bards are the best). If you've ever played one in D&D, you'll know they seduce anything that moves. I ended up changing her class to a dual-wielding rogue so she'd fit better into the GoT world, but I wanted to give her a little bit of a bard moment. Caitie totally rolled a crit 20 for seduction in this chapter.

2. There is a quest in Dragon Age: Origins where, if you meet specific criteria, you can seduce your guard and kill him—or lock him up—to escape your prison cell. It is one of the best and funniest quests in the whole game, and I love the line, "I was just lonely." I wanted to reference it, especially since Caitie is pretty similar to my Tabris warden, who seduced her guard, locked him in her cell, and escaped (with zero help).