"Aren't we too close?" Sansa whispered, peering through the bushes at the lights of the town.
Arya finished tying the last horse to a tree and joined her sister. "Maybe, but if this works we have to get to the horses fast or we won't have a chance. And why are you whispering?"
"Because I'm scared!" Sansa stood up, fussing with her clothes, and Arya regarded her thoughtfully.
"If I was dressed like that I'd be scared too. I can't believe you wanted me to buy those things."
Sansa wore a thin white vest, half buttoned and showing the tops of her young breasts, and a bright red skirt that fell to the ground and was slit up one side almost to her waist, showing bare thigh with every step. Arya shook her head and her sister glared. "Do you have a better idea of how to get into the castle?"
"No, but if you go in there looking like a whore, they're going to treat you like a whore."
Sansa shuddered and twisted her hands together but her voice was very steady when she spoke. "I'm counting on you to get to Sandor before they have time to do anything." Arya made to protest and the tall redhead wrapped a cloak around herself and pulled up the hood. "We have to try, Arya. We can't leave him...them, we can't leave them like that."
The two girls crept along the wall of the town until they reached the gates, where they slipped through the crowds and headed for the castle. A different man was on guard and Arya took her sister's hand and was startled by the icy coldness of it. "Sansa, are you sure you want to do this?"
Sansa pulled her hand away and walked up to the guard, throwing back her hood and giving him a dazzling smile. He smiled back and she let her cloak fall open. His smile widened. "You'll catch your death of cold walking around like that in the night."
"Not if you get me a drink." Sansa jumped as the man took her arm and he laughed.
"Not shy, are you?"
"That depends." She took a deep breath. "I usually like to be alone with a man."
The guard ran his hand down her arm. "Then you're in luck, girl, because tonight it's just me. Everybody else went out to celebrate the reward we'll be collecting soon."
Sansa's eyes widened. "Really? Isn't that dangerous, leaving one man to guard the whole castle?"
He shrugged. "In a little town like this? One guard is all we usually have. There were a few extra men this afternoon, but they've all gone out on the town. Like I said, it's just you and me."
Looking back as they started inside, Sansa caught Arya's eyes and beckoned frantically with her free hand. Now that she was actually being taken into the castle, a torrent of second thoughts had descended upon her and her heart was racing. If it were not for Sandor, she would have turned and run straight into the forest and not stopped until she was too exhausted to take another step.
Sandor. Sansa's gaze turned to the tower on the left and as frightened as she was, she smiled to herself at the sight of her sister coming stealthily through the gate and slipping into the left tower. Whatever else might happen, Arya would find Sandor and get him out. All Sansa had to do now was get out herself.