The morning was dark and dreary; rain fell in fat drops to the ground around the two riders. Sansa had received word from Petyr Baelish, he had written to Sansa to make contact and arrange a meeting with her in Molestown, a small village not far from Castle Black. The scroll was delivered whilst Sansa sat quietly and worked on a new dress, Brienne remembered watching her read the letter from the man who married her to the monster, Ramsay Bolton. Her face was that of stone, hard and still. Sansa tensed her jaw and rose from her seat slowly, "Brienne, please ready my horse. We will entertain Lord Baelish and meet as he asks, but he is a snake Brienne. Do not trust him" she stated before turning on her heel to dart in the direction of her bedchambers. Brienne nodded and left the room to make her way to the stables, as she walked across the courtyard she noticed the Wilding man working on a weapon at the forge. Once she reached the stables, she allowed herself a moment to watch what Tormund was doing. Brienne could swing a sword better than any man she had come across, crafting them however was not a forte of hers. As a girl Brienne had loved to sit with the armourer and watch him work the steel into pieces of art. Before she was noticed standing and staring at the Wildling, she went inside and began tacking the horses ready for travel.

Tormund had seen Brienne cross the courtyard in his peripheral vision, he tried not to stare as it had been pointed out as making her uncomfortable. Steam rose in plumes as he dipped the steel into the cool water, he angled it so he could see straight down the blade and fixing any errors he saw. His hazel eyes flickered up to see Brienne leaned on the wood-frame and watching his hands intently, he returned his gaze to the metal and ran over the surface with a whetstone. The sword he was making was nothing out of the ordinary, he had offered his skills to the armourer and helped with forging swords and other such weapons. When he looked up again she had gone to tend the horses, and so he continued his work to help arm the Wilding army in preparation for the invasion of Winterfell.

Brienne held Sansa's mare steady while her master mounted gracefully, Brienne swung herself into the saddle with ease before the pair headed out of the castle. They moved into an easy canter through the trees and once the land opened up as the forest ended they broke into a gallop across the open plains. They got to Molestown within the hour of leaving Castle Black, Brienne and Sansa arrived at the entrance to what once was perhaps a small inn but now it was a burnt ruin. They entered through the doorway together, with Brienne in front as a protective measure. A thin, blued eyes man stood at the centre of the 'room', if it could be called that, all around them lay the ashes of an attack long passed.

Sansa stepped past Brienne, hurt and anger playing in her icy glare that directed at him, she dared him to take another step towards her. Petyr's eyes carefully watched the young Stark and decided to stay where he was, "Lady Sansa, I had feared the worst when I heard that you escaped Winterfell" Petyr's voice was soft, his expression was relief to see her in one piece, "you have no idea how pleased I am that you are unharmed" he went on. Brienne watched him as he spoke, she had heard tales of this man, he was a snake trying to charm his way to the top. But she saw that there was sincerity in his pale eyes. However, Sansa stayed quietly seethed in contempt of his statement, snow fell around her from a hole in the ceiling. Brienne was not close to Sansa, but she could hear the change in her breathing. Anger coursed through Sansa, her hands were now in whitened fists inside her sleeves,

"Unharmed?" she spat, she closed her eyes and breathed deeply in an attempt to maintain her composure, "what are you doing here?" she said, her voice flat and emotionless. Petyr's face shifted from relief to pained at her rejection, he shifted his stance slightly before replying,

"I rode north with the Knights of the Vale to come to your aid, they are camped at Moat Cailin as we speak" he said with a slight bow of his head. Sansa raised her eyebrows and snorted in contempt, nothing this man could say now would sway her back to his side. How could he be so naïve as to not know Ramsay Bolton's nature? Even after he learned of his nature, where was he then?

"To come to my aid?" she stated with a slow nod, letting the pause hang in the air for a moment before curving her thin mouth into a frown, "did you know about Ramsay? If you didn't know then you are an idiot, and if you knew then you are my enemy" she hissed at him, Brienne was impressed with Sansa's control of this situation. The woman that she had grown into, despite the terrors that she has seen, was magnificent and it gave Brienne hope. She stood strong behind the Stark girl, if Sansa ordered it she would gut 'Littlefinger' where he stood.

Sansa took a menacing step towards him, uncertainty flickered over Lord Baelish's eyes for just one moment. "Do you want to hear about my wedding night?" she said, taking another step towards him, "he never hurt my face, not my face, the face of Ned Stark's daughter." At the mention of her father, the memory of him kneeling on the headman's block as Joffrey refused mercy and killed him flashed behind her eyes making her swallow back her sadness once more. "But the rest of me? Well he did what he liked with the rest of me. As long as I could still give him an heir" she paused, reinstating her pain with another dagger-like glare, "what do you think he did?" Sansa demanded. Petyr looked at her with an expression of empathy, but it was hard to tell if his expressions were real or just another part of his conniving plan. Littlefinger shook his head in both shock of being asked this question and starting to understand the pain which has been inflicted upon this poor girl.

"I cannot begin to imagine- "

"What, do you think he did to me?" she asked once more, raising the volume of her voice to assert her authority in this situation. He averted his gaze for less than a second, a grimace washed over his face, Brienned brought her hand to the pommel of her sword.

"Lady Sansa asked you a question" she stated calmly, Lord Baelish asked if Ramsay had beaten her which only brought a sarcastic chuckle to her lips.

"Yes, he liked that. What else?" she said calmly through a clenched jaw, she wanted him to say it, to understand the agony she felt. The tension was thick in the cold air, Petyr was doing anything to avoid answering the question, when he gave Sansa to the Boltons he did not know about Ramsay. He knew that he was wrong, it was a position he not often held and found himself at a loss. He remembered the girl who left Winterfell all those years ago, she looked the same but she was a changed woman that no longer sang songs of knights and flowers. The woman who stood before him was a warrior in her own right, and the trials she has endured have proven that much.

"Did he cut you?" he asked, Sansa sighed in disappointment and allowed her posture to slouch some.

"Maybe you did know about Ramsay all along- "she sighed as her head turned away from him, not wanting to believe that he knew but how could he not?

"I swear I didn't know" he pleaded, but there was nothing Petyr could say to win back her favour.

"But you know everyone and their secrets!" Sansa snarled at him, but he took a step towards her and took her hands in his, making her freeze.

"I made a mistake, a horrible mistake. I underestimated a stranger" he paused, hearing his admission out loud but not seeing Sansa soften under his touch like she used to. She drew away from him,

"The things he did; ladies aren't supposed to talk about those things. But I imagine brothel keeps talk about them all the time" her gaze moved to her hand then back up to him, "I can still feel it; and I don't mean in my tender heart. I can still feel what he did in my body, even now".

Sansa's gaze never faltered from Lord Baelish, Brienne could feel the anguish radiating from Sansa. She could relate to the Stark girl, about a year ago when Brienne was taking Jaime Lannister back to the Red Keep upon Lady Catelyn's orders. They were captured and the men threatened to do to Brienne what Sansa speaks of. She had never been so scared, they would have violated her body and then cut her throat had it not been for Jaime's intervention. Brienne's gaze fell to the floor, sympathising with both sides. Petyr apologised to Sansa, begging for forgiveness so that he might help her conquest to overthrow Winterfell in repayment for his mistakes.

"You said you would protect me, but right now you couldn't even protect yourself if I told Brienne to run you through" she growled at him, "perhaps I might"

"You must believe me Sansa; do you want me to beg for my life? I will, whatever I can do that is within my power I will do, my lady" he begged, pleading with her not to make the wrong decision and cut him out of her life but Sansa's glare was unwavering,

"but what if I want you to die?"

"Then I shall die" he said plainly and honestly, the answer planted a seed of doubt in her mind. Even if she wanted to trust him, how could she?

"You saved me from the monsters who killed my family, only to give me to monsters that killed my family" her nostrils flared, Jon, Rickon and Sansa were the only remaining living members of House Stark. Her memories of Robb, Arya and her parents were so faint now that she could no longer see their faces when she thought of them, tears threatened Sansa's composure. "Go back to Moat Cailin, my brother and I will take back the North on our own" she hissed, her lip curling in disgust at Lord Baelish, "I never want to see you again"

"I would do anything to undo what has been done to you, but I cannot" he said, trying to empathise with the girl before it was too late. "May I say one more thing before I take my leave?" he waited for her to reply, when she did not he spoke anyway, "your great-uncle, Brendan the 'Blackfish' has re-taken Riverrun. A time will come when you will need a loyal army at your side, I suggest meeting with him"

Petyr stepped past Sansa and Brienne, "farewell Lady Sansa, Lady Brienne" he stated before taking his leave. Brienne looked to Sansa, who had not moved since she last spoke.

"My Lady, shall we return to Castle Black?" she asked, breaking the silence. Sansa turned her head slowly to face Brienne and nodded, leaving the building without a word. Brienne maintained a respectful distance till they reached the horse until she helped Sansa mount the horse before mounting her own and leading the way out of the village.