Whoo, new POV chapter! Thank you for the R&R love, everyone.

DISCLAIMER: All elements of ASOIAF belong to George R. R. Martin.

CHAPTER 18

BRIENNE

Brienne and Pod took the Kingsroad north out of Fairmarket, their last stop in the Riverlands. The air was crisp from an inch of freshly fallen snow, melting in the noon sun beneath their horses' feet.

"Do you think we'll find the Lady Sansa in the Vale?" Pod asked her, "Or should we look farther north, near The Twins?"

"I do not think Lady Sansa will be at The Twins." They had searched the Riverlands twice over, stopped at every port, and were no closer to finding Sansa than when Brienne had first set out. Pod still considered her whereabouts in a critically minded fashion: if she was not here she could be there, if she was not there she could be there or there or there. Process of elimination would lead them to the Princess of the North, to hear him tell it, but Brienne often wondered whether they had stopped expecting to find her long ago and if going over the possibilities was not some way of telling themselves that their quest was not doomed.

Ahead of them at the top of a little hill, with the woodlands on their left and the tall peaks of the Vale on their right, sat two men eating lunch. When Brienne and Pod rode up near them, the two men invited them to break bread together as fellow travelers.

One man was old, with graying hair and wrinkles around the eyes, but he looked strong and even wise. Brienne thought his features made him look highborn, and it was not impossible that he was; crueler turns of fate than that had happened to people during this war. The other man was young and lanky, with freckles and red hair.

"Thank you, Sers." Brienne removed her helm and sat down to enjoy the black bread, garlic, and cheese, taking a link of sausage out of her own bag to add to the food in front of her. Pod tied their horses off the road and Brienne was glad the men did not demand the explanation she usually had to give when her blonde hair tumbled free and she revealed that she was a woman. "I'm Brienne of Tarth, and this is Pod."

"Your squire?" the older man asked.

"Of sorts."

Pod came back to sit next to her, and the older man introduced the one next to him. "This is Anguy, best archer in the Seven Kingdoms."

"You'll pardon me if I've heard the boast before."

"But I really am, milady! I won a contest in King's Landing before the war, won me one thousand dragons I did."

"And spent it on whores, you poxy bastard," the old man laughed and patted his friend on the back. "And me, my name is—"

"I know you!" Pod blurted out. "You're Brynden Tully!"

The archer looked at his companion, Brienne's head snapped at the movement, and the man called the Blackfish put his hand on the hilt of his sword.

"The boy meant no trouble," Brienne insisted, hurrying to get her words out before he drew his sword. "We have no quarrel with you."

"Not you personally."

"No, and as far as we know, the Blackfish holds Riverrun. This will be as though we never met."

That seemed to relax him somewhat. "Or he did! Until the Kingslayer took it out from under him."

"I hadn't heard." Brienne didn't want to believe it. Jaime had taken an oath not to take up arms against the Tullys; how had he taken Riverrun?

"Then you haven't heard how he swam away from them like a fish," Anguy smiled.

"Or how much they'll pay you for catching him," the Blackfish eyed them coldly again.

Pod held up his hands. Had steel been drawn, he would have been dead before he realized the other man had drawn his sword, Brienne knew. He still had a lot to learn. "We aren't bounty hunters."

"No," Brynden Tully looked over Brienne and Pod, "but you're looking for someone."

She would not deny it. "Aye."

"Who?"

"The Lady Sansa Stark." Just saying it left her exhausted. She had been looking for Sansa since before winter started.

"Sansa Stark, eh?" Brynden rubbed his grizzled beard in his hand. "They say Princess of the North is at Barrowton, but you didn't hear it from me. If the Boltons got wind that she was there they'd sack the town looking for her. Chances would be she'd have left already, but they wouldn't care. Just look at what they did to Torrhen's Square."

Brienne did not know what the Boltons had done to Torrhen's Square, and she did not ask. She did not want to know. She'd heard enough of war and sieges now that she had the news that Jaime had taken Riverrun; straight from the Blackfish himself.

"Barrowton!" Pod exclaimed. "That's not too far from here, is it?"

The rumor did not give Brienne the hope it should have. "Just above the Neck, aye." She was in no hurry to go north for the winter, and how could they know if Sansa was even there?

"Aye, and those of us loyal to the North had best keep our mouths shut, and our ears closed to rumors," the Blackfish went on. "You might think it's alright to hear them if you don't repeat them, but the only way to be sure of that is if you forget what you heard right after you hear it. So best not hear it at all."

"I heard she was kidnapped by the Hound."

"We've all heard that rumor."

After that the only sound was of their eating. The archer kept an eye on the hilt of Brienne's sword. Let him look, she thought. It wasn't as if she was going to whip out her blade and attack them.

"You aren't in league with the Lannisters, are you?" Anguy asked.

"No," she said, but it hurt her heart to say it.

"Where'd you get that sword?"

Brienne hesitated. Mentioning Jaime to these men might be as good as a death sentence. "This sword was given to me to fulfill an oath."

The men exchanged a look. "What oath? By whom?"

"The Lady Catelyn Stark sent me to find her daughter Sansa and keep her safe."

"Catelyn is dead." The Blackfish was Lady Stark's uncle. His voice was flat.

"I know."

"So why are you still looking for Sansa?"

"I swore an oath."

"Not to bring Queen Cersei her head, is it?"

"I'm shocked you would accuse me."

"We meant no offense, milady," Anguy cut in. "It's just that I know that sword. It's one of two made from the Stark sword Ice, melted down and reforged into that and Widow's Wail. If you really mean to keep that oath with it, it's blessed. If not, you can be sure of a curse upon you. The Starks keep their ghosts trapped in those blades."

The Blackfish agreed. "If what you say is true, you'll be taking that sword back to its rightful owner. Sansa is the last surviving member of House Stark. By rights, that sword is hers. But that doesn't explain where you got it. It was made by Lannisters. Who gave it to you?"

"Jaime Lannister," Brienne said, and the whole story came pouring out of her. How Catelyn had freed the Kingslayer and sent them away from Robb's host, the meeting with Vargo Hoat when Jaime lost his hand, arriving in King's Landing, and all the rest of her quest, hopeless and lonely except for the day she met Pod.

When she was done, the Blackfish grunted. "So the Kingslayer sends a woman to finish his job, and breaks his oath against the Tullys first chance he gets. Somehow I'm not surprised." Brienne frowned deeply. "I mean no offense, my Lady, but these are dangerous times to be traveling the roads, especially for a woman. War has ravaged the kingdom. I myself am an outlaw, while the Mountain rides free."

"I had heard the Mountain was dead," Pod said.

"So they say. Others say otherwise. Either way, if I found the Lady Sansa, I would not trust the Lannisters enough to put her in their hands. The Kingslayer should be beside you, my Lady, or at least send a company for you to ride with."

I know, Brienne thought, I wish he were.

"You may have spoke too soon, Brynden," said Anguy. "Here they come up the road."

Sure enough there were four horsemen about a quarter of a mile off. They flew no standard, but Brienne thought it plain that they were King's men. Few riders had the confidence to travel so boldly up the Kingsroad, and each of these four wore a full set of plate armor and rode a fine horse.

"You'll have to excuse us." The Blackfish nodded to her and Pod in turn, then he and the archer disappeared into the brush.

Brienne grabbed Pod by the arm. "Follow them."

"My Lady?" Pod looked at her to the bushes and back again. "Are you sure?"

"Go! That man is Sansa's uncle; we may have need of him later."

"But how will we—"

"We'll find each other. After this, I'm going to Barrowton. Find out where they're headed!"

Pod disappeared into the bushes with considerably more noise than the other men had, and she could hear him crunching through the dead plants long after she lost sight of him. Gods be with him.

Brienne picked up the camp so it looked like only she herself had been eating there, and waited for the men. As they got closer, she could make out some of the details in their armor. One kept his armor pristine, but the paint on his shield looked to be scratched off. Another looked menacing in silver and black. The remaining two wore the same issue of armor, though one she guessed to be a squire for the other. Both had red and gold trim.

When they got to her place at the side of the road they came to a halt. "Are you Brienne of Tarth?" the red and gold knight asked.

"I am," Brienne answered, wondering how they knew her.

"Well met, my Lady. I am Ser Lucion Lannister, cousin to Ser Jaime." He motioned to the smaller man next to him. "My squire, Walder. This is Ser Lothor Brune-" the knight with the scratched-off paint nodded to her. She saw that it used to be green. "—and Ser Bronn of the Blackwater. Ser Jaime has sent us to help you on your quest."

"Oh!" Brienne got to her feet. She found herself wishing that Jaime had come himself, but it was also nice to know that he had not forgotten about her after all this time. "You came from Riverrun?"

"From King's Landing. Ser Jaime rides north, to take Moat Cailin from the Ironborn. We were told to help you find the Lady Sansa if we ran into you."

"I've been looking for her for a long time."

"We have been searching for the girl as well, but we really have no idea where she is. Brune here is the only one who knows what she looks like."

Brienne turned to him. "Then you know something I don't, Ser."

"I'm Bronn. That one's Brune." He pointed.

"Uh, my apologies." Bronn and Brune. That's almost funny. They seemed no more than lackeys, and she wondered if she could trust these men. "Are you sworn to protect her?"

"Much as yourself, yes. By the order of King Tommen we're to deliver her to safety."

If Jaime sent these men, I can trust them, she decided. Sansa would be safer with her and this guard than she was prowling the countryside. "I haven't found the Lady Sansa yet," Brienne acknowledged, "I've searched the Riverlands without luck, but I heard a rumor that she is at Barrowton. I mean to check there next."

"Then we ride for Barrowton."

Brienne saddled up her horse and set out up the Kingsroad, her party four more strong. Jaime had not forgotten her, and things were finally looking up. She hoped Pod was faring well. If the Blackfish's lead proved true, she would find Sansa within a fortnight. After that all there would be to do would be to deliver her safely to the nearest castle, and Brienne's quest would finally be completed. And if they brought Sansa to Moat Cailin, Jaime would be there!