Prologue
Her cloak was flapping noisily behind her, and a sudden gust blew her hood back. Sansa let out a laugh, but it died in her throat when she heard the thundering flapping of wings and the shadow in the sky. She squinted, a falcon? She had seen some circling overheard earlier.
Her stomach sunk and a feeling of dread filled her. No. It's neck was far too long. As it got closer she could hear the others gasp, the men and women of the Arryn court traveling with them shouting in shock and horror as they too realized what was approaching them.
A dragon.
The Mules whinnied and bucked, and she heard Sweet Robyn shriek in front of her. He has his skinny arms wrapped tightly around his mule's neck, holding on for dear life, tears in his eyes and she desperately tried to stay on the animal's back as it stomped its hooves and bucked wildly. Her mule wasn't much different. They sensed the threat and were scared. She saw Lord Roberts's mule bolt and she screamed for them to come back.
"Alayne!" She looked behind her and at Mya who had been trying to calm the remaining mules and their passengers. There was a terrible look of realization and horror on her face and before Sansa knew it, something had grabbed her, snatching her off the back of her mule and she was in the air. She could see Robert and his mule on the path ahead of the rest of the group, the animal knowing the way on instinct, maneuvering the snow-covered steps and winding path. Robert was screaming and sobbing in terror, that much she would know even if she couldn't see or hear him.
"ALAYNE!" she looked at Mya and the rest of the court down below. They were becoming smaller and smaller. They were moving away, flying. She couldn't make a sound, the shock was choking her, the feeling of the empty air under her. She thought about her aunt's scream as she fell through the moon door and Sansa felt like she might be sick. She held on to the closest talon wrapped around her body.
'Look up, not down' she heard Mya's voice. It's what she had said to her on her ascent up the mountain to the Eyrie.
Sansa followed the advice now. Looking up she found herself staring at the creamy scales of the dragon's belly. She couldn't help but think it was beautiful. The way the scales shimmered, catching the light. The creature's belly was also radiating heat of such an intensity that she started to perspire. She gasped when the long neck extended down, looking under itself to her. She stared right into it blazing eyes, like molten fire. She could see her frightened reflection in it's gaze, her dyed hair whipping about her face. There was intelligence behind its eyes and somehow she thought about Lady. The way her golden eyes had the same light in them.
"What do you want?" she asked it, but it gave her no answer. Instead, it righted its neck again and continued its flight. Where they were going she didn't know and she was too scared to look down, to see if she could recognize the landscape. She kept looking up, even when her head started to feel light and she became dizzy. Up until her vision went black and her body fell limp in the dragon's hold.
Events do not line up exactly as you might have imagined them if you have read the book are watching the show, thus I am going with George R R Martins own note on chronology.
"This story is told through the eyes of characters who are sometimes hundreds or even thousands of miles apart from one another. Some chapters cover a day, some only an hour; others might span a fortnight, a month, half a year. With such a structure, the narrative cannot be strictly sequential; sometimes important things are happening simultaneously, a thousand leagues apart."
In the case of this chapter specifically, this is a mix of show and book. Sansa has been in the Vale for some time, and in Essos Tyrion has reached and been with Daenerys for a while. Events have been delayed of pushed forward in the timeline you may have made up in your head to line up with Jon's death at the Wall.
I thank you to try and understand this as you continue to read. Thank you and please make sure to leave a comment if you are interested where this story is going to go.
