Author's Notes: Hey everyone, sorry that it has been so long since I last updated. I have been on vacation and believe it or not there are places in the US where there is no internet. I hope this makes up for it. As always I own nothing.
Fortunately, Brienne recovered soon after Sansa and the others arrived, Maester Theodal's treatments proved to be very efficacious. Sansa employed the time while she waited to learn of what had been happening in the North. After she had seen Brienne she had sent out three of the castle's ravens: one to the King, one to Lord Manderley and one to the Wall. The last she wrote with some reluctance, not from lack of any desire to speak to Jon, but rather from a fear of what he would write back in his reply. The first reply that she received was from the King. He commanded her to return to Winterfell with all haste and resume her duties. The letter ended with him informing her that he desired that she refrain from being kidnapped again in the future as he found it quite inconvenient to continually appoint someone to stand in for her.
The letter that she received from Jon was, as she feared, grimmer in nature. In his letter he wrote of the dread which had followed the Wildlings on their way to the Wall, claiming stragglers and those who wondered too far from the main force. That was now near the Wall itself. Patrols which went beyond the Wall had begone to disappear as well. Because of this he had ordered a halt to all patrols. While this cut down on their loses, which they could not afford with their already reduced numbers, it also had a significant drawback. Without sending out patrols they were blind, any threat would be hidden from them till it emerged from the Haunted Forest. Though he did not explicitly say what was causing these disappearances he did not have to. It appeared that Old Nan's stories were coming true. The letter made Sansa all the more eager to return to Winterfell. While she knew intellectually that it would be no safer than anywhere else, part of her half believed that if she could just get home then she would be safe and everything would be alright.
Jon's letter also included details which the King's letter had not. Many of those who had followed the Lord of Light had abandoned the King and their betrayal, along with the attempt upon the King's life had had several long-term consequences. Surprisingly many of these had been positive. While his numbers had been reduced the betrayal had clearly weakened his faith in the Red God. He had rescinded the command that all must convert to his worship. This had made him more popular with the Wildlings and Northerners, or at least more palatable.
He had also heeded Jon's warnings apparently and was moving the bulk of his strength to the Wall in anticipation of what was to come, sending only such forces south as were needed to ensure that none of the other claimants to the Iron Throne could come up and strike at his holdings. Not that that seemed likely to happen, even if there was not the threat of an invasion by creatures out of children's stories the North was vast, cold, empty and winter had come. If the other claimants were going to move at all, then they would pursue other, more profitable campaigns of conquests. His letter concluded with the announcement that elements of the Golden Company had begun to arrive. Due to the ever-worsening weather their ships were arriving in contingents instead of all at once and some were likely to have been lost at sea.
Jon's letter gave Sansa food for thought. It seemed that her visions continued to be realized. She remembered the Wall falling in blood and shivered. Winter had come, would any of them live to see the spring? Looking at the letters as the snow fell outside her window and the clouds hid the moon she found that she could not answer the question. Or perhaps she could and simply did not like the answer. She reached for the wine feeling small, alone and afraid.
Author's Notes: Sorry that it was on the short side, next will be longer. What did you think? I wanted to show the results of the betrayals. He never truly believed in the Red God in the books, but followed because it got results, now…Till next time please pray for all who need it, including those injured in El Paso, including several children and the victims of Ebola in Africa. May Jesus bless you.