Author's Notes: Hey everyone, sorry that it has been so long since I last updated. As always I own nothing.
As they embraced Sansa's stomach rumbled. At once her uncle led her to a nearby fire and had some of his men move aside and had her sit by the fire and had food brought to her. Having had increased difficulty in getting anything to eat Sansa devoured the food, a grilled rabbit, as if it was the finest feast which she had ever eaten. As she finished the rabbit, having eaten it so fast that she had barely tasted it, her uncle sat down near her. He stared at her as if he could not quite bring himself to believe that she was sitting at the fire with him.
"Gods girl, how did you get here?
"We heard that you had been taken, but that was all. There's been no word of you since and when we heard about the sack of King's Landing we feared the worse."
"I was in the Targaryen camp when it was attack and I managed to escape in the confusion. I then made my way north till your men found me." Sansa deliberately kept her reply brief. She did not want to go over the trip and the hardships that she had endured as she did not want to reveal her ability, even to a member of her family. She also did not want to talk about what had happened in the camp, the visions and the horrible feeling that was growing in her that those visions might be true. So instead she asked what had happened in the Riverlands and the North.
"Well, once it was discovered that the traitors had taken you there was some dispute as to what should be done, specifically who should rule the North in your absence. In the end the King decided to have Lord Wylis Manderly act as temporarily Warden of the North. Fortunately Lady Jeyne Bolton supported him and that helped to smooth things over."
"What has the King been doing?" Sansa asked, something that she had heard several people in the Queen's camp discussing. Sir Brynden rubbed the stubble on his jaw in thought.
"The truth girl, I am not sure what is going on. We've been in contact with the garrison the King sent to regarrison Moat Cailin, which the Ironborn abandoned.
"They told us that the King does not appear to be interested in moving south till spring, whenever that may be. They say that the Golden Company has arrived and he has sent them to hold against any invasion from the south and has taken the majority of his forces north to the Wall. They seem to be waiting for something," he chuckled; "Must be afraid that the Kingdom will be invaded by Grumkins and Snarks." The men around him laughed, but Sansa, remembering what Jon had told her, did not join in. After a moment the men stopped laughing and her uncle become somber.
"I think that we will be heading north ourselves soon." Sansa looked at her uncle in surprise.
"You're leaving the Riverlands?" He nodded, though he looked unhappy with the idea.
"I don't want to girl. Gods! The thought of leaving my home to those Frey bastards boils my blood! But we don't have much choice. The winter will likely either starve us or freeze us if we stay here. Also, the Freys and their lackies are increasing their hunting for us and they've been retaliating against those who have given us aid and I don't want to bring more trouble on them.
"So we'll head north, thanks to your efforts before you disappeared and which Lord Manderly has continued of obtaining food from the Vale means that, at least for now, there is more food there than there is here. So we are setting out in a few days to give the others a chance to link up with us." Soon afterwards Sansa, suddenly tired from the food and the warmth of the fire, curled in a blanket and was quickly asleep.
Over the next few days, as more men trickled in, Sansa was able to rest and regain her strength. The food, while somewhat scanty, was more than she had had before while traveling north and she was able to rest and indeed she spent the first day mostly sleeping. Her ruined clothing had been replaced by clothing which had been owned by a squire who had died recently. They were men's clothing and a bit large, but they were relatively clean and were far warmer than what she had been wearing and the boots felt better than all the soft slippers which she had worn after walking for miles and miles with only rags to protect her feet. However; it was none of these things which she valued the most, it was the feeling of safety.
She was well aware that if they were found by the Frey the Frey could crush them relatively easily it still felt good to be surrounded by men who were on her side. Before she had left Winterfell for the first time, a time which seemed a lifetime ago and a different Sansa, she had never realized just how wonderful the feeling of going to sleep knowing someone was keeping watch and that she did not have to fear being attacked while she slept. She did not speak of this to the others, but she treasured it. Yet not all was well. Free from any immediate threat, she now found that she had time to think and consider the future she found her thoughts going down dark paths.
The King had moved his army north to the Wall that could only mean that the threat which Jon had warned her about was coming and coming soon. That thought weighed so heavily on her that the first night in the camp her sleep was disturbed by dreams of a blizzard in which blue-eyed shapes lurked swept down to cover not just the North but all of Westeros and all who dwelt within it in a night which would never end. She had to find a way to stop this, she knew that the King and Jon would fight it, as would the men of the Night's Watch, the King's army and all the men of the North. But would it be enough? In all of Old Nan's stories the Others had felled all the armies and heroes of men till the coming of the Last Hero and even he had not won without the aid of the Children of the Forest and Father had told them that they were all gone.
Even if she was not inclined to believe in stories as she once had she could still see that the coming would be well-nigh impossible. The army and the North were both worn down from the War of the Five Kings and Jon had told her that the Night's Watch was but a shell of its former strength. Jon had brought in the Wildlings, but if they had the strength to hold back the Others then they would not be crossing the Wall. No matter how she tried to convince herself otherwise she could not see how they could stop what was to come. Her mind also kept going back to her vision of the Wall collapsing, if that were to happen then they were surely doomed. In her desperation and growing feeling of terror her mind went increasing back to the camp and the visions which she had seen. Though the visions had terrified her she could not stop herself from thinking that if one could see the future then one could prepare for it and perhaps find ways to overcome seemingly insurmountable odds.
As her uncle had told her, men sworn to her uncle were coming in to join them on the march north. Some were knights and petty lords, but most were common soldiers or peasants who had been driven from their homes. Among them was another man, a maester named Lawsen, who had fled his castle with his lord and had been treating the injuries of the men ever since. Sansa waited till the night before they were set to depart for the North to approach him. This was partly to allow him to treat the injured and sick and also partially because she was afraid of what she was going to talk to him about, though he had a kindly face that seemed as if he would be easy to talk to. He had been sitting by a tree resting, but he rose and bowed as she approached.
"My lady." He said. Sansa smiled and tried to force back her nervousness.
"Maester Lawsen, I am sorry to disturb your rest, but I have a question for you and I wanted to ask it before we set off tomorrow."
"Certainly my lady, what did you want to discuss?" Sansa felt some fluttering about in her stomach and the beating of her heart and breathing both sped up, but she forced herself to be calm and continue.
"You studied for many years in the Citadel. In that time did you ever read of the ability to see what is to come." He gave her a look before he spoke.
"I have heard claims made by those of my order who have earned a link of Valyrian steel through the study of magic and occultism claim that there are methods by which one can see the future. In other lands so-called wizards and warlocks and other such charlatans also claim that they can foresee the future.
"The most well known of these are the warlocks of Qarth in Essos, who claim that they can see the future through the drinking shade of the evening." At his words Sansa's breath caught in her throat, remembering the strange drink being forced down her throat. Lawsen made a dismissive sound.
"Shade of the evening is a drink made from the leaves of a type of tree which grows in Qarth. They drink it believing that by doing so they can see into the future and receive visions to gain knowledge."
"And do they?" Sansa asked him. He shook his head and made a dismissive motion with his hand.
"My lady, there is no evidence in the Citadel that there is any truth to these claims. It is known that certain plants produce hallucinations. No doubt they take these and claim that they are visions of truth and the future. They are said to be a confused mass of sights and sounds and thus can be interpreted in any number of ways and twisted by those who have experienced them so that they appear to be representing the future to the gullible and the fearful.
"And so no my lady, the future cannot be foreseen and there is no truth in such means or any of the other methods of divination that the peoples of the Essos employ. Knowledge of the future is restricted to the gods and those they chose to grant it to. And the gaining of knowledge is restricted to education and the hard lessons of life." Not wanting the conversation to continue Sansa thanked him left him. As she walked away she considered his words and tried to decide if what he said was true and if her sense of unease would increase or decrease if what he said about the ability to foresee what was to come was true or not. The next day they broke camp and headed north on the final leg of her journey home.
Author's Notes: Hey everyone, what did you think? What did you think of Lawsen's explanation? I wanted to reflect the Citadel's intellectual snobbery. Do you think he is correct and should Sansa pursue it? Till next time please pray for the survivors of the Christchurch shooting and the families of the victims, those effected by the flooding in the US, Asia Bibi and all who need prayer. Bye and may Jesus bless you.