Tyrion
It was already little past the Hour of the Owl as Tyrion stood in silence at the entrance to the room where Sansa's body once lay on a table in the middle. And on either side of him was Bronn and Podrick; all three of whom were staring in shock at the sight before them. Given that he was nearly killed at the Battle of the Blackwater – most likely on the orders of his sister – by Ser Mandon Moore, Tyrion requested that both Bronn and Podrick join him to take one last look at the girl who would have been his wife before her body was boiled and her bones cleaned. It would be after he left the Small Council chamber in the Red Keep, Tyrion went back to his chambers and just started to drink once he fell asleep. The pain from the deep scar on his face was still pounding around his head, and coupled with the loss of Sansa Stark, was enough to get him to drink one mug of wine after another before he stumbled to his bed and fall asleep.
Tyrion was very aware of what the death of the Stark girl meant, 'Father has received word from his spies that Jamie has been freed from his captivity. At least if the Starks somehow come to hear of Sansa's death, the will not be able to harm Jamie in any way.'
The Small Council meeting was many hours ago. Tyrion falling asleep while drunk was hours ago. And now all he could wonder was what happened between the time he fell asleep to the sight before him right now.
"What in the seven hells happened here?" Bronn whispered in disbelief while drawing his sword at the sight of the dead people before staring at the empty table where Sansa should have been lying. Tyrion followed behind him, and once he waddled into the room, Podrick followed soon after. Tyrion turned to the left as Podrick rushed past him and watched as his squire knelt down at the site where the two Silent sisters lay dead on the hard floor. Tyrion then turned around towards Bronn who was standing in front of the dead Meryn Trant who lay unmoving on his side.
'Three dead,' Tyrion thought to himself before turning his head towards the two Silent Sisters as Podrick turned one of their bodies onto her back. He then pulled down the covering around their heads before gasping. Tyrion stepped back in shock – the pain from the cut on his face already forgotten - while Podrick quickly got up to his feet in a panic and stepped back as well. Tyrion thought he must have made a sound since Bronn strode towards them, and he too was shocked by the sight before him.
"Gods, what is that?" Bronn said as he gingerly touched the pale face of one of the Sisters.
Tyrion shook his head before saying in a low tone of voice, "it… it is as if something drained their blood… they look so pale…" And they were indeed very pale. Tyrion had seen bodies on the battlefield soon after he left the Vale accompanied by Shagga and some of the hill tribes. They accompanied Tyrion to his father's camp since they were promised riches. When Tywin ordered that they fight for him in return for continuing to stay with Tyrion and earning more riches, Shagga insisted on Tyrion joining them in the battlefield against the Northern Host. Tyrin agreed. And After Tyrion woke up after being knocked unconscious, he saw dead bodies all around him. And none of the bodies were as pale as the bodies of the two Sisters. Even Trant's dead body still had some colouring.
'Some of those bodies on the field were still pinkish of colour, with many being bloated and turning black and purple over a few days… at least the bodies that had yet to be buried', Tyrion thought back to that day.
"Who could have done this, my Lord?" Podrick asked bringing Tyrion's mind to the present day. Tyrion could hear the tremor in the boy's voice.
'Yes, who could have done this,' Tyrion thought to himself as he turned around and stared at the empty table, 'and they stole Sansa's body? It must have been the Northerners.' He couldn't help but feel uneasy as a chill travel up and down his back, 'could Northerners have somehow stolen her body? Could the Tyrells?' Tyrion pushed thoughts about the Tyrells to one side as he thought, 'the Rose of Highgarden will be Queen in a few weeks, so how do the Tyrells benefit from stealing Sansa's body?' His eyes then went to the horrific sight of Trant and the bloody hole beneath his jaw. The man's eyes were wide open in horror as he lay on his side… the orange flickering light from the candelabras reflecting off the walls and the blood-stained armour he wore. The whole sight was eerie.
"Hey," Bronn called out from behind him. Tyrion turned to see Bronn looking down at the floor with his finger pointing to a particular spot. Tyrion looked down and saw a spot of blood, and then there was another red spot on the floor. The three of them followed the line of red spots on the floor to a wall. I would be here that Bronn pointed at a red hand print on the wall.
Tyrion asked Bronn to push, which the latter did with a little hesitancy. They were surprised as the wall slowly swung open inwards to reveal a dark passageway. Tyrion stared into the darkness before saying, "when Maegor the Cruel took over construction of the Red Keep, he had the builders create these passageways between the walls."
"And he had the builders and their families killed after construction was over," Bronn said.
Tyrion nodded his head before looking up at Bronn. He could only guess that the people who took Sansa's body slipped out of the room through the hidden passageways. He then looked back at Podrick and Bronn, "we need to raise the alarms… all entrances into and out of the Red Keep need to be guarded immediately. If these Northerners could slip in and out, they could come after my family."
Tyrion then turned and started to waddle as quickly as he could towards the exit from the chambers, "I may hate Joffrey, Cersei, and my father… but they are still my family. Let's go." Once he exited the chambers and stepped into the hallway, Tyrion turned and stared in the direction of the still open door into the passageway. He could have asked both Bronn and Podrik to chase the Northerners through the hidden passageway, but having them close meant his sister would think twice before sending someone to kill him once again.
'I will ask father to begin scouring the passageways from this room,' Tyrion thought as he waddled down the hallway. However, he couldn't help but continue to feel a chill running up and down his back… he couldn't help but feel fear of a Northern attack from within the Red Keep.
Sansa.
Sansa was still amazed at being able to see as clearly in the darkness of the hidden passageway as if she was surrounded by daylight. She continued onwards at a rapid pace hearing no footsteps other than her own and the swish of her gown dragging on the floor. Normally she would be complaining about the hem of the gown dragging across the dirt covered floor, but now it all seemed so far away for her. In order to further quicken her pace, Sansa picked up her skirt and raised it to just above her ankles as she hurried along. While amazed and horrified at her new abilities, Sansa knew that she needed to get out of the passageway and then she needed to get out of the Red Keep, and then into the Street of Steel. And then, after collecting Ice and hiding it away, she needed to get back to the Red Keep and then have her revenge.
'Cersei, Joffrey, Ser Meryn,' Sansa imagined the faces of her main targets. Reaching some stairs, Sansa rushed down before entering another passageway. She continued going down the dark passageways and numerous stairs before suddenly stopping at the heavy smell of perfume. She stood near a section of wall from where she could feel a gentle draft with the scent of perfume wafting along with the draft. It was then that Sansa could hear a man's voice muttering to someone. Along with the scent of perfume, there was also another stench in the background – of piss and shit – being carried in the air.
"Good boy," the man said, his voice sounding sweet and like honey. Sansa recognized the voice as Lord Varys, the Master of Whispers. She stood still as his voice carried through the walls and into her ears. "Lord Tywin has received another raven from Lord Bolton… ummm…" Sansa recognized the name of Lord Bolton as Lord Roose Bolton of the Dreadfort in the North.
'Why is one of father's vassals trading ravens with Lord Tywin during a war? Does Robb know about this?' Sansa wondered if Lord Bolton was being used as an intermediary to negotiate for her own release. 'Well, that was before I died so… Lord Tywin perhaps does not yet know I have died, so what happens after… No, Lord Tywin must know by now that I have died…' It was what Varys said next that had Sansa stunned, her chain of thought broken.
"It is quite interesting that the Old Lion desires to have the Boltons supplant the Starks as Wardens of the North," Sansa wanted to get into the room and demand more information. However, she soon heard footsteps coming her way, along with the stench of piss, and it was coming from in-front of her. Before long, she could make out a torch being carried by someone with the height of a child.
"And he has agreed to Lord Tywin's support, ummmm… I wonder what Lord Frey's response shall be," Sansa pressed her lips together upon overhearing that particular bit of information from Varys before rushing back the way she had come. She rushed partly up the stairs before stopping once she was in the cover of darkness and waited. The footsteps were coming closer to the wall where she stood just a moment ago. She could see the light from the torch barely lighting the hallway floor at the bottom of the stairs. A few moments passed by before she heard the wall creek open. The light on the floor moved slightly before it was gone followed by the wall creaking shut. Sansa stepped back down the stairs and back into the hallway before once again making her way to the section of wall where the secret doorway was located.
"Thank you, young one," Sansa heard Varys speak as she stood completely still, a finger covering her nose due to the overwhelming stench mixed with perfume wafting from the room through the cracks. There was a momentary quiet before Varys spoke, "Ummmm… interesting…"
Sansa couldn't hear what Varys was saying and she wondered why before realizing suddenly, 'ummm… he may be thinking to himself'. She could still hear his heart beating, alongside two other heartbeats. Deciding to not waste any more time, Sansa began walking past the hidden door just as Varys mentioned that Daenerys Targaryen had taken Meereen. She heard Varys tell one of the people in the room to wait while he wrote a missive to someone known as Illyrio Mopatis and then another missive to Jorah Mormont.
While she would have liked to known more, the retrieval of the Stark valerian steel sword, Ice, was the foremost on her mind. As she continued onward, Sansa found there were no nearby dark nooks to hide in the passageway when more figures with the stench of piss and shit –children in ragged clothes – were coming towards her. And she was afraid if she made any sudden moves, then she would be discovered by the children carrying dimly lit torches. Pressing her lips together, it was then that Sansa remembered Lord Dracul saying she could make others – especially those weak willed - see what she wanted them to see. Sansa quickly pressed against the wall just before the lights of the torches came upon her while thinking 'you do not see me! You do not see me! You do not see me!' She closed her eyes in relief as the three children rushed past her. Sansa guessed these children were going to meet with Varys but she didn't know why.
'Just take a guess, Sansa,' she thought to herself as she stepped into the middle of the dark passageway watching the children run further and further into the darkness before making herself rush down the passageway and down a staircase. She strolled down the stairs while thinking, 'perhaps they carry information to Lord Varys? Perhaps they are the way he receives information?'
As she rushed along through the passageway, she would notice drafts of air coming from smaller cracks on the walls. And upon checking, she found eyelets which, when uncovered, allowed her to see and hear into various rooms – some were occupied and others were empty. Upon going down several stairs and different passageways, Sansa stopped. She could hear frantic shouts and the sounds of bells in the distance from both far away into the city and closer to the Red Keep. Sansa wondered if her escape was discovered. In addition, she could smell the stench of the city from her left side and from her right she could also hear the sounds of hurried footsteps as if people were running around in a panic.
'Am I getting closer to an exit?' Sansa thought as she rushed onwards. She was hurrying along when suddenly she came to a quick stop at a section of wall.
She could feel a warm breeze from the small cracks making out the outline of the hidden door. She then heard three heartbeats along with smelling a mixture of scents she recognized such as roasted chicken, gravy, potatoes, bread, along with the smell of wood burning, and another smell that she was familiar with but one she hadn't smelt as strongly as when she was North in Winterfell. 'I think that smell is from the very same oil that Father used to wipe his leather armour and cloak and… and I have seen him used a similar smelling oil to wipe down the scabbard for Ice.'
At the same time as she took in the smell of the food and the burning wood, she heard voices from the other side of the wall, "Quick Payne! It seems Northerners may have stolen the Stark girl through passageways hidden in the walls of the keep, we need only check the walls in your chambers before taking the Stark traitor's sword from you and to the Street of Steel."
'Payne?' Sansa thought to herself before her mind travelled back to the day of her father's death, 'Ser Illyne Payne was the one who used Ice to cut Father's head off his shoulders. Could this be…?' Sansa wondered if this was his chambers. She then heard footsteps coming towards her from the other side of the wall before someone said, "use your bodyweights and push into sections of the wall, there could be a secret entrance anywhere in this room!"
'They know I have escaped from the other room, and I am certain the bodies of the silent sisters and the Knight have been found,' Sansa thought to herself as she stared at the hidden door before she tried to hear for any footsteps coming towards her through the passageway. 'No, the door is hidden, I do not believe anyone would discover the hidden door… but then again, how would anyone know I am in the hidden passages of the Keep?' However, Sansa also knew there was a very good chance someone could have found the hidden door. And this had Sansa close her eyes and try to come up with an idea of what needed to be done. She was no strategist or warrior; she was supposed to be a lady.
'But now… now I have these abilities… this strength and hunger…' Sansa thought to herself just as she stepped back to the side once the hidden door was slowly pushed open into the passageway. Her eyes were wide open as she stepped to the left and avoided the light which flooded a section of passageway where she was standing only a few moments ago. At the thought of being confronted by whoever it was on the other side of the wall terrified Sansa, but at the same time a large part of her was excited. She could feel strength coursing through her whole body as she turned her head, and then her body towards the flickering light. She stepped towards the door as shadows – from the people in the chambers of Illyn Payne – grew larger until there was a head that came into view. The head was facing away from her and over his shoulder at the others in the room.
'Two more in the room,' Sansa thought to herself as her body tensed as if she was a cat about to pounce towards a mouse.
The man said "I need some light, hand me a torch" before he turned, his back facing the doorway so that he could grab a torch, and then he turned back towards the entryway. He once again popped his head through the door and, this time, turned his head towards Sansa's direction. There was a look of surprise on his face… a look of surprise that turned to one of terror when Sansa gave into her instincts as she extended her fangs and her eyes turned blood red. There was a scream from the man – followed by worried yells from the chamber – as Sansa growled while reaching out at inhuman speed for the neck of the Lannister Red-Cloak. She grabbed his neck before he could even move a step back and out of the passageway. Sansa simply squeezed his neck while sharply twisting her wrist to break his neck with a sickening CRACK! That seemed to reverberate throughout the hidden passageway. Sansa then pulled him through the entryway and then threw him against the opposite wall just as another red-cloak appeared at the entryway yelling out "Tillet!"
Sansa growled once more as she turned towards the new red-cloak before leaping at the horrified man. Her leap was strong enough for the both of them to tumble through the passage entryway and into Payne's chambers. She landed on top of the screaming man who was calling out for help before she used her nails to grip his throat with inhuman strength. After her fingers tore through the flesh, she then pulled her arm back with a good chunk of his bloody throat in her blood covered hand. This resulted in blood gushing out of the ripped muscle and skin of what remained of his neck. Sansa could hear another two heartbeats as she looked up at another red-cloak at the door to the chambers while Payne stood close to the sheathed Ice, both of them staring at her with horror etched on their faces.
Sansa eyed the open door before she – feeling a sense of extreme power throughout her body – leapt at the red-cloak who was rushing towards the door yelling for help. Just as he reached the door, she grabbed the armoured upper left arm of the man, the metal bending as her hold tightened and then twisted her body towards Payne who had already unsheathed Ice. Sansa felt the body of the screaming red-cloak rise off the floor slightly as she twisted her body while throwing him towards the so-called Kings Justice.
Sansa watched with blood red eyes as the armoured body of the Lannister man crashed into Payne's large body, the both of them crashing against the wall behind them. They then fell down onto the floor unconscious. And with Ice having been freed from Payne's grasp after the armoured red-cloak crashing into him hard, Sansa was relieved she did not have to go all the way to the Street of Steel. Sansa leaned back against the closed door, her eyes still red and fangs still extended, while panting as she stared at the bodies in the room.
She didn't need to breathe but Sansa felt as if she needed to go through the motions if she desired to belong in the world. There was a part of her horrified at what she had done, but there was another part yelling at her she did what had to be done. She remembered overhearing Varys speak about Lord Bolton agreeing to betray Robb, and she felt anger; and that feeling of anger reminded herself that this was power she desired.
Sansa could still hear their heartbeats, and she could feel her hunger returning. She knew that the bodies of the Silent Sisters were not enough… she needed to drink more. 'And I do not want these men to reveal what happened to them,' Sansa thought as she approached the armoured man who lay on-top of Payne. She got down on both knees before taking off his helm and then tilting his head, exposing his neck. Bearing her fangs, Sansa gave out an animalistic growl before biting down into the man's neck. As she slurped down his blood, Sansa could hear his heartbeat fading away. And once it was faded, Sansa stopped drinking his blood before raising her head and staring at Payne's unconscious face.
'You cut off my father's head,' Sansa angrily thought to herself as her gaze locked onto Payne. She scrambled to the man before he could regain any sense of consciousness and then bit down into his neck with joy in her unbeating heart. This was one of the people responsible for Ned Stark's death, and she was going to savour this very moment. After having finished feeding on Payne, Sansa pulled her head back and then stood back up onto her feet. She could feel much stronger now, and she felt full. 'There are no more hearts beating in this room,' Sansa thought as she turned her head to the soldier whose neck was ripped open – blood had already pooled beneath his body and the gushing of blood stopped - before her head turned towards the window which looked out into the star filled night sky.
Sansa suddenly turned her head towards the closed door to Payne's chambers and flexed her fingers as she heard voices yelling out while footsteps could be heard running towards her. 'The others guards nearby must have heard…' Sansa turned her head towards the red-cloak whose neck was torn apart, '…this man yell out for help.'
Turning her attention towards Ice, Sansa strode towards the greatsword. 'It looks heavy,' she thought to herself before bending down and gripping the handle. She slowly pulled the sword off the floor with a surprised look on her face, 'it does not feel as heavy as I thought it would be.' Sansa then walked towards the sheath and picked it up before she turned towards the entryway to the hidden passage. 'The Royal Family lives in Maegor's Holdfast, and I do not not know the way there through any hidden passageways.' But she did know the way there through the hallways of the Keep itself. She turned back towards the door to the chambers and mentally told herself that she had the power to take on the entire castle if she had to. She had the strength and other unique abilities that would help her.
'The footsteps and voices are coming closer,' Sansa thought to herself as she mentally readied herself for any confrontations.
Using one hand to hold the sheath, she used her other hand to slip the valerian steel blade into it. Once the sword was sheathed, Sansa turned towards the door to the chamber and pressed her lips together. She had to set aside the little girl and embrace whatever monster she had become. She did not want any qualms about being a monster… indeed Sansa knew from the moment she drank her first drop of blood from the Silent Sister that she was a monster.
She suspected someone may have found the entrance to the hidden tunnels, which meant teams could be already scouring the tunnels and coming towards her. 'I need to close the door to the hidden passageway.' She went to the open passageway door and then stepped inside. She reached for the dead body of the red-cloak, grabbed its arm, and then effortlessly pulled it into the room while using her other hand to pulled the door closed.
She then turned back towards the door to the chambers and thought, 'it is night… perhaps the hour of the wolf?' Sansa wasn't sure of how long into the night it had been, 'but most of the household should be asleep… well…' She then reminded herself of the footsteps that just stopped outside the door; there should be soldiers looking for Northmen who had stolen her dead body through the hidden passageways.
She gripped Ice tightly as the wooden door shook while soldiers were slamming their fists onto the door.
"Ser Payne!"
"Wynn!"
"Tillet!"
Sansa looked on as the door shook more and more as the yelling from the soldiers got louder and louder as well. Before long, the door broke off its hinges and fell onto the stone floor. The soldiers rushed in before suddenly stopping at the sight of Sansa. She growled at them while hearing their heartbeats race… their blood rushing through their veins… she could smell their sweat… their fear. She could see their sword hands trembling as she asked, "where is Joffrey?"
TBC