Author's Notes: Hey everyone, sorry that it has been so long since I last updated, as always I own nothing. WARNING: SPOILERS FROM THE BOOKS BUT WITH MY OWN TWIST.
Not knowing what else to do Sansa took as long as she could to eat her meal while she tried to think about what she was going to do. With her aunt dead and Arya fled Sansa had no idea what course of action to take. She could not stay here but she had virtually no family left, save for her husband's and there was no way she was going to consult with them. Her uncle and half-brother were still alive but getting to them presented a host of difficulties. Jon was at the Wall, the very end of the North and she had no idea where her uncle was, save that he too was in the North. Just getting to the North presented numerous difficulties it was hundreds of miles away, she had no money, the North was vast and winter was clearly coming.
Her spirits were somewhat lifted when the innkeeper's wife, a clearly pious woman, said she could stay the night by the stone oven if she would lead them in prayer that night and the following morning. As she lay curled up by the oven enjoying the heat she realized that she would be facing another problem soon. Her disguise as a septa had served her well so far, but were she to go to the North, where the Old Gods held sway, it may prove to be more of a hindrance than a help. Yet she could not openly announce her true identity as Sansa Stark. The Boltons were now the Wardens of the North and her family stripped of all lands, titles and honors and she would likely be either killed or turned over to the Lannisters; no, she could not use her real name.
The next morning she fulfilled her promise and led the innkeeper and his family in prayer, she felt guilty about deceiving them but in the end it was what she needed to do to survive. She had finally decided that she would go north to the Wall and see Jon. She had mimicked her mother and had never liked Jon and had treated him with almost as much scorn as she had received in King's Landing but now she found she wanted to see him with the same degree of intensity that she had had when she had thought of marrying Joffrey. She had hoped to hear of a caravan heading north that she might be able to join, but it seemed that trade going north had come to a virtual halt. Not knowing what else to do she began to consider walking in the direction of the King's Road and following it north. She had a vague idea of making her way to the Neck and find House Reed. Her father had always said that there were none more loyal than House Reed, if she could get there she was sure that they would provide her shelter. Her thoughts were interrupted by the innkeeper's wife.
"Pardon me Septa, but might I ask were you are going?" Sansa was instantly suspicious. Why was the woman so curious? Was the woman a spy for the Lannisters? She could not simply refuse to answer, which would have looked suspicious in and of itself, but neither was she going to tell the truth so she had to make something up.
"I am going to White Harbor to instruct Lord Wyman Manderly's granddaughter." The Manderlys of White Harbor were the only house in the North to hold primarily to the Faith of the Seven and if she remembered her lessons correctly Lord Wyman had several granddaughters and it would only make sense that he would need a speta to tutor and chaperone the girls. The woman nodded, a thoughtful look came over her face.
"I see, if you have no other travel plans I might be able to help you."
"You can?" Sansa asked, trying to keep suspicion out of her voice.
"Indeed, there is a Braavosi ship making its way north and ships on such journeys often stop at White Harbor to resupply. I am sure that they would not mind taking on another passenger."
"That is very kind of you, but I do not have any money and I do not think that the captain would be willing to take me on out of sheer love of the gods."
"Perhaps not but, surely if you were willing to help aboard the ship they would be willing to help you." Sansa thanked her and then started toward the harbor. The ships of Braavos were easy to spot, no ships of Westeros as far as she knew had hulls painted purple. She identified the captain. A small, dark man in a charcoal gray tunic. She went up to him and made a bow which he returned.
"Blessings of the Seven on you good captain, I was wondering if I might have a moment of your time?"
"I fear that a moment is all that I have to spare, we are sailing to Eastwatch-by-the-Sea. The Lord Commander has negotiated a loan from the Iron Bank and used it to purchase a large amount of food and other raw material and chartered our ships to carry them there." At his words inspiration struck Sansa and she smiled beneficently.
"That is exhalent," Sansa said; "I have been tasked by the High Septon himself with delivering a message to Septon Cellador at Castle Black." It was perfect, it gave her an excuse to go all the way with them and if the innkeeper's wife was a spy she would see Sansa leaving on the ship and send word to anyone who was looking for her that she was going to White Harbor and by the time people realized where she really was she would be with her brother at Castle Black.
"I see," the captain said, interrupting her thoughts. "I fear that we have no accommodations aboard for passengers." And he had come to the rub of the matter. Taking her courage in both of her hands Sansa continued on.
"That is perfectly alright. I must tell you the truth, good captain, I have no money for passage but I am willing to sleep on the deck and perform whatever work needs done." The man did not look happy at the mention of no money but he did not refuse her right away.
"Well, it is an unusual situation, good septa, but I do not see why not, one should never risk offending the gods by turning away from priests in need. Very well, but you will earn your way on this voyage. Is that understood?" Sansa quickly nodded.
"Very well," the man said, already turning back to the ship. "Gather your things and quickly, we sail within the hour."
The voyage proved to be uneventful. The deck was just as splintery as the last ship's had been and she was soon limping about on sore feet again but her feet had become tougher and she was able to grit her teeth and keep going and she found that as time went on her feet got tougher and tougher. As she had no skill at sail-mending or cooking her duties as payment for her passage were to help Xhono, a dark-skinned Summer Island boy of about twelve, in his duties. These duties include chopping up meat and vegetables, washing the dishes after meals and the officers' linens. Sansa found this work slightly demining for one born to nobility, but then she reminded herself that the alternative was a cell or the Lannisters.
Xhono helped to further make her situation more palatable. He spoke the common tongue flawlessly and had been all over the world, or at least he claimed such. True or not he had a wide variety of stories which either thrilled Sansa, made her laugh or caused her to flush with embarrassment, the significance of her septa's garb either escaping him or made no difference to him. Even more than his stories, Sansa loved his singing. In truth he did not have the best of singing voices but he sang songs of the Summer Islands and Sansa found them particularly strangely haunting and beautiful at the same time.
Apart from his singing and tale telling what Xhono loved most was to practice his archery. He had large bow made a wood he told her was goldenheart and he claimed that he could fire an arrow farther with it than any other man on the ship, a boast that no one on the ship seemed inclined to contest. He demonstrated for her once by firing at seagulls as they flew by and to her amazement, he hit most of them. He invited her to try and her performance was far less spectacular. She had never taken to archery like Arya had and she found she could barely draw the bow, even when Xhono offered to stand behind her and help her draw it, an offer she declined. He laughed at her efforts, but it was without malice and said that she had good form and if she were to try a smaller bow she might prove to be a skill archer.
They arrived at White Harbor and stopped to take on supplies. Just to make sure that she was not seen she remained on the ship and did not enter the city. From the ship she noticed something of interest. In the harbor were several warships and it looked like more were being constructed. It seemed that Lord Wyman was preparing to go on a war footing, but for whom and against whom she did not know. Not knowing this only further convinced Sansa that she had made the right choice to conceal her intentions from those around them. Fortunately, they did not remain in White Harbor for long and were soon on their way again.
Sansa noticed that the farther north they went the colder it got and she saw more and more snow on the coast as they sailed on. Xhono complained of the cold and spoke fondly of his homes at the Summer Islands, which he claimed were always warm. Though born in the North the cold drove Sansa to take advantage of the cook's offer to let her sleep by the brazier that he used to cook food on. At long last they reached Eastwatch-by-the-Sea. It seemed a grim and forbidding place, though there did not appear to be many members of the Nights Watch present. She quickly said farewell to Xhono, whom she had become fond of and he bowed in farewell and admonished her to keep practicing with the bow.
Not bothering to say farewell to the captain she slipped quietly ashore. As the presence of a septa was rare and would likely cause comment she did not linger but passed through and soon found the road which connected the various castles held by the Watch and began walking in the direction of Castle Black. The ground was hard and stones cut at her feet but she was becoming used to it and the pain did not bother her as much as it had at first. Of greater concern was the cold, she had no experience at making fire and she spent several nights huddled up as tightly as she could as her teeth chattered so badly she was afraid that they would break or she would bit her tough in her sleep.
Another problem was hunger. While the ship's food had been nothing like she had eaten at King's Landing she had gotten it regularly and had been ample to fill her belly. She did not really notice it at first, just a slight pang in her stomach, but it seemed to grow by the hour. At last, in desperation after not eating for four days, she ate something she found growing alongside the road, a decision she spent the next ten minutes regretting as she vomited it up to the side of the road. Just she was on the point of despairing an idea struck her. That night she entered the mind of an owl and used it to kill a rabbit and drop it at her feet. She still did not know how to make a fire so she was forced to force down her revulsion and eat it raw, tearing the skin off with her fingers and teeth. She felt as if she was going to vomit again as she felt the blood run down her cheeks and swallowed raw meat but it tasted finer than anything she had ever eaten before and she forced herself to keep it down. After finishing it she curled up in the hallow of a tree and fell asleep.
She was awoken the next morning by the sounds of horsemen approaching. She emerged from the tree to see who the riders were. She had meant to get a look at them before deciding as to whether or not to meet them but they were closer than she had thought and the leader gave a cry and they spurred their horses to meet her. Seeing that flight would be pointless, Sansa stood her ground and waited for them to come to her. There were half a dozen of them, clearly knights though Sansa did not recognize the sigils of any of their houses. They rode up and pulled their horses to a halt about eight feet from where she stood and the one in the leader dismounted and walked up to her.
"Who are you and what is your business here?" He demanded, in a tone of voice which made it clear that he would have a full answer. The suddenness and forcefulness of the question startled Sansa but she quickly gathered herself.
"I am Septa Mordane. I have been sent by the High Septon with a message to Septon Cellador. I plead for your assistance good knights if you love the gods, or at least give me leave to continue on my way." The men looked at her for a moment then the leader issued a bark of humorless laughter.
"A likely tale. You will forgive me if I do not believe you. Why would the priest of a false god not send his laky a raven if a message were to be sent? And even if a messenger were needed, do you expect me to believe that it would be a slip of a girl with no horse or even a mule to travel more than a hundred miles from the coast?" No, girl you are here for another purpose and I will have it." Sansa did not know what to say and as she tried to think of something the man reached his own conclusion. Turning back to his men he signaled to two of them.
"You two, this woman is clearly a spy take her back to Castle Black, His Grace will want to question her himself."
"His Grace?" Was all Sansa could think to ask as she was forced onto one of the knights assigned to her horse.
"Yes," the man replied; "His Grace King Stannis Baratheon. First of his Name and rightful king of Westros."
Author's Notes: Well, what did you think, did you see the ending coming? Not much to say, I will admit parts of this chapter seemed contrived but she needs to be here for what I have planned and every other way would take too long. Was it ok anyway? I promise that the next chapter a lot will be happening, on a side note should she learn to use the bow, or any other weapon for that matter, or should she leave weapons to Arya if/when they meet again and stick to politics and warging, have the one sister be a warrior and the other a sorceress? Let me know in the reviews. Till next time, in addition to the usual prayer requests, please pray for the missing from a ferry disaster from Libya, my uncle who is ill and the families of the journalists Alison Parker and Adam Ward, who were shot at Virginia. Thanks and may Jesus bless you.