Author's Notes: Hey everyone, sorry that it has been so long, I hope this makes up for it. As always I don't own the series. Spoiler Waring: Will have spoilers from a Winds of Winter sample chapter.
Sansa gradually became aware of sunlight on her face. At first it was pleasant, but gradually it became too hot and it forced her into wakefulness. She opened her eyes and found herself lying on the ground where she had fallen the night before. All around her were the burnt and trampled tents and bodies of the slain. Her head felt as if it had been split in two with an axe and she felt nauseous and her throat felt as dry as the deserts of Dorn and she felt as if she had no strength at all in her limbs. She got on her hands and knees and was overcome with dizziness and with a shuddering heave she vomited, leaving her shaking and feeling even weaker than before. She wanted nothing more than to lie down and let blackness take away all the pain which she was feeling, but she could not do that.
The collar was gone and she was, for the moment, free and she needed to take advantage of that while she could. Off in the distance she could hear the sounds of people moving about and calling to one another. She did not know who they were or who had won the battle and she did not care, she wanted to get away from both sides. Thus, crawling at first and then getting to her feet, she made her way away from the city. As she went she gathered up a cloak from one of the bodies to ward herself against the cold. She also took his dagger and the few coins which he had on him, though the latter act shamed her. Nevertheless, she would have done the same with the surrounding bodies, but she thought she heard the voices coming closer. Hunching down in an effort to avoid notice she made her way through the camp till she was beyond it and then moved away from the city, trying to keep to various gullies and whatever other cover that she could find in order to avoid being seen, she made her way northward. Once she was reasonably certain that she was no longer in danger of being spotted she made her way to the kingsroad, though she continued to keep her eyes and ears open for riders on the road.
Fortunately for her she saw no one and she made reasonable good time though her shoes were completely unsuitable for walking for long distances. While she had walked barefoot before she was not looking forward to doing it again. There was also the question on how she was to make it to the North. She had neither food nor much money and this time there was no ship to take her there like she did last time. For the moment she could see nothing else for her to do other than to keep walking north and hope that her luck took a turn for the better. Just as she was thinking this snow began to fall. At first she found that she had an urge to groan at this newest difficulty. Instead; however, she decided to take it as an omen favorable to her.
"I am a Stark, we are of the North, as is the cold. Fire cannot kill the Queen, snow cannot kill me." She knew that this was not strictly true, but it made her feel better. Wrapping the cloak about herself she continued walking.
She walked all that day and as she had feared her delicate shoes soon came apart. Taking the dagger she cut strip from the bottom of the cloak and wrapped them around her feet. Despite this precaution she still found the going increasingly difficult, snow came more frequently and food was harder to find. She wished that she had joined her brothers when they went hunting, not even knowing how to set the simplest of traps, but she was not completely helpless. She used her gift to control various birds and have them hunt for her. Unfortunately they could only kill small animals, many of which she ate raw as making a fire was difficult and dangerous, and that made it difficult to sate her hunger. Fortunately water was not a problem as the snow, while coming more frequently, always melted soon after it fell. This continued for nearly a week when the, abruptly, the situation changed.
She was crouching in a small ravine near the road that she had slept in to shelter from the wind when she heard the sounds of horsemen approaching. Quickly discarding her meal she hid herself in some nearby hedges. From her hiding place she could see whoever was coming down the road while they would have great difficulty in seeing her. Soon a dozen horsemen, some armored some not, came into view. Sansa was confused by the sight of them as the armor was far from uniform. Some of the men wore Lannister armor, while others bore equipment bearing the sigils of lords of the North and the Riverlands. Furthermore, much of the gear looked as if it had not been well maintained, not at all like the soldiers who had served her father. Just then one in the lead, a fat man with Stark gear, pulled his horse to a halt.
"Alright, this is close enough. I don't want to get any closer to the city."
"Come on Arvin." One his fellows said. "We are too far out."
"Byrron is right." One of the other men said. "The pickings will be slim to none-existence the last couple of days."
"There is a reason for that." Arvin said. "Between the Ironborn and those foreign savages no one is going to come this far from the city. If we get any closer we may end up as dead as them."
"You don't know that," one of the other men; "I heard that the Ironborn have already left the city."
"Yes," Arvin said in an exasperated tone; "And left it to the Dragon Bitch and her lot. You want to tangle with an army and dragons, by all means don't let me stop you."
"Then what do we do?" Another of the men asked. Arvin paused for a moment and then spoke again, nodding as he spoke.
"We'll take to the side roads. Only the stupid ones will have tried to flee the city down the Kingsroad. The smart ones will have tried to flee down the other ways. They may not be carrying as much, but there will be more of them." The others laughed in anticipation.
Sansa felt her anger flare within her. These men were nothing but raiders, brigands preying on people fleeing from the fighting. Their gear was just more evidence of their thieving. Her thoughts were interrupted when she realized that Arvin was moving his horse towards where she was hidden. For a moment she feared that he had somehow spotted her, but then he turned back to address the others.
"Keep going, I need to piss. I'll be along in a moment." The others acknowledged his command and rode on, soon vanishing from view.
The man moved his horse to a spot near where Sansa was hidden. He dismounted, tied the reins to a nearby hedge and began undoing his pants. At first Sansa was prepared to let him relieve himself and be on his way, but as he tied the horse up a thought came to her. This man was an admitted thief and likely a murder and more. He deserved death and besides, she needed his horse, far more than the man did. As soon as both of the man's hands were occupied Sansa cast her mind into that of the horse. Its mind was simple and easily dominated. As soon as she had control she lunged at the man, the reins were loosely tied and one jerk of the horse's head tore them free. Startled, the man turned back to look at the animal, his eyes wide with surprise.
"Wha…" was all that he was able to get out before the horse slammed into him, knocking him flat onto his back.
Sansa had the horse rear up on its hind legs and brought its forelegs down onto the man's chest. Blood spurted up and the man's ribs snapped like twigs. He tried to scream but the blood in his mouth chocked him. Sansa had the horse stamp on the man one more time. This time he did not cry out, merely laying still on the ground. Sansa had the horse come to her and then returned to her body. Before the horse could wander off she grabbed the reins and retied them to the hedge. That done, she approached the body.
The man's chest was crushed and his shirt was torn and bloody. Regardless, it was too big for her, as were the pants and the boots, but these were not her concern. Gingerly she went to the purse on the man's belt, cutting it free with her dagger. A quick inspection of its contents revealed a pleasantly large mixture of stags, stars, pennies and even a few dragons. She doubted that it would be enough to get her to the North, but it would certainly be helpful on her way. She then inspected the bags on the horse's back and was pleased to find a supply of food and other items which she would find useful on her journey home. Finding that her dress prevented her from mounting she cut the front and back of it till she was able to mount and then she rode in the opposite direction of the bandits.
She rode through the rest of the day till she come to an inn near sundown. She might have been concerned about being recognized, or at least having her ruined dress being remarked upon, but fortunately it had begun to rain heavily and she had wrapped her cloak about herself, thus concealing the damage which she had done. For a moment she considered staying at the inn for the night, but decided against it as she did not want to risk it. However; she could not resist the thought of a hot meal and something to drink besides dirty water.
She rode the horse into the stable and gave a penny to the stable boy to see to it. The boy looked so thin that Sansa would have worried that the boy might eat her new mount if she had stayed at the inn overnight. She walked into the inn and was relieved to see that there were not many people there that night, the war discouraging travelers and the weather discouraging the locals. There were only a few farmers and men with the look of mercenaries about them. Hooded as she was the innkeeper regarded her suspiciously, but merely nodded when she showed him her money and asked for food and drink. She moved as close to the fire as she could, silently reveling in a warm which she had not enjoyed since she left the Queen's camp. Eventually the food, a thick stew and a hunk of black bread, arrived and she tore into it with an eagerness which would have shamed the Sansa of Winterfell. As she ate she found her attention drawn to the conversation of the mercenaries.
"And that was how they took the city." One of them said.
"Truly, is she really that dumb?"
"Aye," the first man said; "I was part of Lord Marbrand force in King's Landing and the knights were inclined to talk. One of the said that Euron Grayjoy sent a messenger to The Lannister woman offering an alliance. He would strike the Dragon Queen's camp from the sea while we would sally out and attack them as well."
"Yeah," the second man said; "I was there too and then they turned on us, stormed the city and sacked it. If it wasn't for the King's Guard the Royal Family would have been slaughter. I heard that the big fella that just joined cut dawn a score of Ironborn by himself." The first man looked at his companion and a curious expression came to his face.
"You were with the force that sallied out weren't you? Is it true that Euron Grayjoy has a suit of armor made entirely of Valyrian steel?"
"I did not see it myself, but that is what people are saying."
"Not that it really matters," the first man said bitterly; "While we were fighting and dying for them the Lannisters fled the city going gods only know where. Well, the Stranger take em, I am done with them. The Dragon Queen can have them and the city."
"They say that she already has, moved in as soon as the Ironborn moved out." They fell to discussing what they were going to do and Sansa stopped listening.
The Lannisters had lost King's Landing and the Queen had taken it. That would certainly give her legitimacy as the queen of the Seven Kingdoms. After a moment a thought occurred to her, would this be enough to bring the Vale into the war on the Queen's side? This turn of events certainly would not hurt. She wondered if why the Ironborn had abandoned the city, try as she might she could not think of a reason. Regardless things were going to change in the south and it was more important than ever that she return to the North. She rose and left the inn.
Author's Notes: I hope you liked this chapter, figured that it was time the Queen got a win. How do you think this will change the political situation? This is also a setup for something that I am playing around with and may have in future chapters. Till next time please pray for the victims and family of the California shooting, some of whom are still missing. Leah Sharibu, a Nigerian woman whose life has been threatened for her faith, a girl with cancer and all who need prayers. Bye and may Jesus bless you.