Authors note: thank you to my new reviewer! It's wonderful to see a response… nice to know there are readers haha! I figured I would hurry and get this moving along, it's a fast paced story, mostly because I personally scan through the gibberish before I find the juicy Sansa and Jon parts of other stories. So I guess I cater slightly to those like me who like to get to the interesting Jonsa stuff.

Chapter 8: Many will die for...

Sansa stroked the red woman's crimson hair as she laid a damp rag over her forehead. She had not gotten to know Melisandre much while she was on journey with them. Sansa had always been uneasy with the woman she thought a witch. She never even got around to thanking her for returning Jon to the world of the living. She understood Jon's kind heart, he would feel compassion for the poor Baratheon girl burnt at the stake, replacing her with Rickon on in his mind. Poor little Rickon, my baby brother. If only I had spent more time with my family.

"Sansa," Melisandre murmured coming to. The red woman looks surprised to have Sansa taking care of her, she had never had anyone care for her before. She had always taken care of others, brought them what they want, did their bidding in the name of the Lord of the Light. It was foreign and strange to have someone seeing to her. More strangely, having become so unguarded she was knocked unconscious.

"Melisandre, correct?" Sansa asked removing the rag from her forehead.

"Correct," she said trying to sit up. Sansa grabbed her elbow helping her steady herself, "the boy?"

"S'cuse me?" Sansa asked switching from kneeling to sitting.

"The boy I travelled with. Where is he?" Melisandre winced as she placed her hand on the bump bulging on the back of her head.

"Gendry? The young lad is with Brienne getting some more fire wood and herbs to help with the swelling," Sansa observed the red witch carefully.

"Mmm," was all she could manage to get out of her, "I can heal myself."

"What are you going back to the north for?"

"It's urgent," she spoke swiftly.

"The King of the north would have your head from what I understand. Regardless, he has started his march on Kings landing," Sansa informed her.

"So it's begun," she whispered gently to herself.

"You, then, were the one I am meant to deliver the Lord of Lights message. He showed me a young boy like girl, dark short hair dark northern eyes," Melisandre said her eyes closed.

"Arya!" Sansa gasped.

"The faceless one."

"The faceless what?" Sansa found herself confused.

"The faceless one, is what he calls her. The old gods, she has taken from them," Melisandre said deciphering the whisperings in her mind, "they are angry with her. They let her leave but she stole what they did not want to give."

"Arya isn't a thief," Sansa spoke like venom had been spat on her.

"The one you call Arya, she will need our protection. Only the Lord of Light can keep the other Faceless men from coming for her. We must find her; she is near a castle… I see a river of blood. A wolfs head on a man's body. A pie… made of body parts."

"The red wedding," Sansa said softly thinking of her family. A small feeling of pride came over Sansa, "Arya is the one who killed Walder Frey? She avenged our family!"

"The Faceless one, yes," Melisandre opened her eyes, "we must veer from your journey to return to your king."

"If you can find Arya you must take me to her," Sansa said quickly.

"Yes, she comes this way but we must find her before they do. She has a play to part yet in the war," Just as the red woman stopped speaking they saw Brienne and Gendry find their way through the forest each with an arm load of the driest wood they could find.

It felt like days they had been traveling farther and farther from Jon and closer to the enemy's castle. Sansa felt unease eating away at her the closer she got, she needed to see her sister alive. One more sibling… all others dead, and one not her bastard brother but her true love, despite being her cousin. She couldn't wait to see her sister, to apologize, to make amends. The more time Sansa spent with Gendry and Melisandre the more she began to like the red woman, despite Brienne's weary eye.

"So who is the boy?" Sansa asked as she cleaned her bow to practice a little while on a break from walking, letting the horses eat and rest. Sansa had been spending some time walking her horse, she said it was to let Melisandre ride cause of her head wound, but really it was making her dizzy.

"He is the Bastard son of the Baratheon King Robert," Melisandre said watching Sansa practicing getting better, "you will be a master by the end of the first war milady…"

"You think so?" Sansa glowed with excitement, still struggling with aiming while in motion.

"Yes milady, I've seen it," Melisandre smiled at her.

"You're not as bad as my cousin made you out to seem," Sansa looked down as she placed another bow and walked sideways practicing her aim, and finally releasing it after aiming. She hit her target but not where she had meant to, "do you ever see things wrong?"

"No, well yes, but not this," Melisandre chuckled, "keep practicing. Our King is slightly right about me, but I only do as I am commanded."

"I never did thank you, for saving him," Sansa laid the bow to her side as she watched the red woman sulk. Sansa could see some of the things she had done weighed heavily on her yet.

"I've gotten many killed for the sake of my lord's vision, perhaps King Jon is not wrong about me at all," Melisandre did not look up to Sansa.

"We all do things we regret in faith of others. We are all Pawns in this War," Sansa said taking a step towards Melisandre to sit next to her, but feeling something rise in her stomach she quickly ran to a bush lurching as the contents of their mornings meal revisited her. Sansa moaned wiping her mouth walking back to Melisandre, "must have been bad meat."

"Perhaps," Melisandre eyed her as the pale girl sat down beside her, "or… how many moons has it been since your last bleeding?"

"I… I don't know, there was a little bleeding not long ago," Sansa said taking a swig of her brandy to rinse the taste from her mouth.

"Give me that," hissed Melisandre as she pulled it from her hands.

"What? I don't mind sharing; you don't need to be so aggressive…" Sansa was stopped by Melisandre's hand placed on her stomach as she closed her eyes whispering things Sansa could not understand.

"You carry the King's child within you," Melisandre said softly looking up at her softly.

"I don't think that's possible," Sansa tried to scoot away uncomfortably, "I can't have children…"

"You can when its meant to be," Melisandre smiled softly, but then her smile slightly faded the more she saw, "Jon will have heavy decisions to make. Many will die in the name of this child."

"This decision wouldn't be his," Sansa's hand fell to her softly pouched belly. She had assumed she had been gaining stress weight, but now it all made sense to her, "how is this possible?"

"Well the Lord Jon is a handsome fellow," Melisandre gave a sly smile that made Sansa smile back, "Shall I explain how it works…?"

"No! Thank you, I'm aware of what takes place," Sansa said meekly, now holding in her hand as her finger stroked the wolf heads of her neckless she never took off, "I meant only that I never grew a child in my womb while visited by… my former husband. I assume the beating and awful things he did to hurt me left me barren."

"It was not meant to be, miracles happen all the time Lady Sansa, The Lord Commander Snow was brought back from the dead to be King in the North. Anything is possible at the will of the Gods. You were not meant to carry a Bastard Bolton baby because he was not your true life partner, he was a mere obstacle in your path to your great destiny," Melisandre placed a delicate hand on her shoulder, "the wounds he left, the pain you suffered, have made you stronger… taught you compassion for others. All of your awful experiences have made you who you are now, the woman loved by a King… a woman desired by many for her strength, beauty, and cunning."

"So then why have you brought the bastard of Robert? Good luck charm?"

"No," Melisandre chuckled, "I saw him in my visions. We won't find the faceless one without him. More importantly, he is needed in the war for man-kind. I see him making the weapons we need to survive. More importantly he inspires the faceless one, as she inspires him in end…"

"Arya," Sansa whispered.

"Yes. She is close now…"

Authors note: Yes another sadly quick chapter! Hopefully I can get more written tomorrow. Some Jon and what he is up to, some Arya and Gendry... etc. lots to write next chapter haha! Plus how is Sansa going to deal with the fact she is pregnant!