The street was so crowded that Tristan could have his throat slit and no one would notice who was responsible. Leatherworkers, tailors and cobblers stank up the street while the rest of the street space was full of men and women trying to go about their daily lives. There were many calls out for customers, but few replies. He saw a barefoot septon helping a crippled man hobble along, ignored by the patrol of goldcloaks that were using their spears to move the crowd aside so they could continue their beat. A pair of knights, one in Tyrell green and another in Lannister red were trying to move through the streets, but the people didn't move to make way for them. The Lannister knight cursed as he tried to move into a gap but it was quickly filled by three leatherworkers. Eventually they gave up and turned down the first available alley. None of them noticed Tristan and Cley departing the Supple Birch, and he was beyond grateful for that.

They forced their way down the street, their swords covered by their cloaks. Tristan was glad he'd left Shield behind. Both because he could warg into him to check on Sansa, but also because the wolf might have taken someone's leg off in this confined space.

Elmar was waiting for them with the horses and guardsmen three shops down.

Within the shelter of the horses and six guardsmen, Tristan pulled down his hood and took a long draft from a waterskin. "At this rate we're going to get a reputation," he muttered. He thought back to Robert Baratheon's visit to Winterfell, the man was a well known lecher but Tristan wondered if he had ever visited five brothels in one day.

"Don't loose heart, Tris," Cley squeezed his shoulder. "We will find her."

Tristan nodded and drew out the list. "The next one is the Low Hanging Peach. Let's go, the sun is fading."

"Will that be a problem with brothels?"

"It's the customers I worry about." The thought of Jeyne being forced to sell herself made him feel almost as disgusted as the fact that a few years ago he would have been just as bad as those customers, if not worse. "If one man has touched her, that is one man too many, the closer we get to dark, the more likely it is her services will be purchased."

"Then let's go pluck the low hanging peach," Elmar said, holding out the reins of Tristan's horse.

Mounted, the nine of them had enough mass to force the crowd to part and, though slower than he liked, they still made progress through the heaving mob.

He wondered if Loren Lannister was right. Half of him hoped he was, and the other half hoped he was dead wrong. The King's Marshall had come to him that morning with a list of establishments owned by Lord Baelish. He had asked around, and no one was aware of Jeyne's presence, which meant that she may well have been taken to one of his whore houses to be… put to use. Loren recommended that Tristan search them that day and see if they could find her. If Jeyne was there, and had been used there was a chance Baelish would try to hide her and hope that the northmen never looked for her, rather than reveal what he had done. Today was the last major council meeting before the wedding, and so it would likely take all day, giving Tristan time to search. After the meeting, Loren would ask Baelish directly to provide Jeyne, just in case she was somewhere else and Tristan had been unable to find her.

And so Tristan had gone with Cley and Elmar and enough guards to keep him safe to search Baelish's brothels to find her.

After what felt like hours they made it three streets down to the Low Hanging Peach. The sign was of a suggestively shaped peach hanging from a branch, with five hands reaching for it. This was a higher end brothel than the Supple Branch, three stories high, with heavy curtains pulled even in the middle of the day on the upper levels. A heavy set brute sat outside, turning a club over in his hands. Some of the passers by looked up at the brothel enviously, but a glare from the brute made them quickly move on. One of the lower curtains opened and a beautiful whore stepped into the window and waved at Tristan coquettishly.

If he wasn't here for Jeyne.

"Alright, let's go," he said, dismounting.

The inside was as sumptuous as the outside. The foyer's walls were lined with velvet covered chairs, where clients sat and were entertained by women. One man, rich, fat and sweaty, was led up the stairs by two of the whores. Tristan forced himself to look away from them and approached the front desk, where the proprietor, a mature woman with curly red hair and a dress that covered more than the garb of most whores. "Welcome to the Peach, how can I help such fine lords as yourselves?"

"We're looking for someone, a friend of mine," Tristan said.

"We can find you plenty of friends," she winked at him. "What sort of 'friend' are you looking for?"

Tristan was about to reply when a hand groped his rear and he turned to see a beautiful whore with bright red hair, bright eyes and a bright smile.

"I thought you were on a break, Lucille?"

"Unless these lovely men want me," Lucille replied running her hands over Tristan and Cley's shoulders together.

Cley froze at the touch, unfamiliar with a woman paying him attention. "We're looking for a young woman, she's about fifteen years old."

"Always the younger ones," Lucille pouted. "I'm still closer to twenty than thirty."

"Lucille!"

"I'm going, I'm going." She bowed away and the proprietor drew them look back to her.

"So, fifteen, we have a few around that age."

"She had brown hair and brown eyes. She'd have an accent like ours, her name is Jeyne."

The proprietor frowned. "We don't have any Jeynes here."

"She'd have come to you just after King Robert died."

She shook her head. "No one new joined us since King Robert joined."

"You're certain?"

"I know my girls. We don't have anyone with accents like yours, and no one came to us when Robert died."

"I see."

"Good luck finding your friend."

"Thank you," Cley said and the two of them turned and left the establishment.

"Shall we try the next one," Cley said, breathing heavily.

"No," Tristan said, pulling Cley to one side and reaching up to wave at Elmar and the guardsmen to let them know that they were well.

"What's going on?" Cley asked.

Tristan stopped when they were at the corner of the building, where a street puppet show was being played. The puppeteer was making two lions mate for the entertainment of the street. "She's in there."

"Did you see her? I didn't."

Tristan shook his head. "No, but she's hiding something, and what else could she have to hide from prospective customers."

"What do you mean?"

"She didn't try to offer us any of her other women, when there were clearly some available. She also said that no one joined them after King Robert's death. I don't believe her. During the war this city would have filed with refugees and there were food shortages, many women would have been desperate enough to try and find work in the brothels."

"But why does she not want us to see Jeyne?"

"Because she was told too." They turned to see Lucille sidling over, a shawl over her shoulders, covering her a little more.

"You."

"Me."

"You know who we're looking for?"

She held out her hand and raised an eyebrow. Tristan dug into his coin pouch and drew out a silver coin, placing it in her palm. She closed her hand. "I know who you're looking for."

"Jeyne Poole?"

"That's not the name we use. We use Pella."

"Why?"

"Because that's the name we were given when Lord Baelish's man brought her to us. But it took months before she started responding to it properly."

"When was this?"

"Just after King Robert died, as you were asking about."

"Why is she being hidden from us?"

She held out her hand. He put another coin in it. "Because we were told before you northmen arrived that she wasn't to be given to any of you."

Tristan growled. "I'm going in."

"She won't give her to you, and you won't find her by just rummaging around. The gold cloaks will be here to turf you out before you get through three rooms."

"So what do you recommend?" Cley asked, holding Tristan's wrist to stop him marching inside.

Lucille stepped out into the street and pointed up at the window on the first floor that looked out into the street. "That's room four and it's not currently in use. Have someone rent her and bring her to that room, show her to the street, you'll see I'm not lying."

"I'll go," Cley said.

"I told you, we won't show her to any northmen, you'll have to find someone else."

Tristan nodded and called Elmar over, telling him to go in with a bag of silver and ask for Pella, say she came recommended and not to mention that he was a northerner at all. He would pay for room 4, whatever it took. He would then bring 'Pella' to the window so that Tristan could see for himself if it was Jeyne. "If it is," he held up his hand, a silver coin between each of his fingers. "If not," he half-drew his dagger.

"Tris," Cley warned.

But Lucille was unconcerned. "She's there. He on the other hand is a bit young."

Elmar scowled. "I'm old enough."

"And he has enough silver anyway."

Lucille raised her hands. "Okay, it's up to you."

Elmar took a breath and entered the brothel. Tristan waited, looking up at the indicated window for an agonizing length of time. Finally the curtain was pulled back and Elmar stood in the glass, waving down at Tristan.

"They're selling boys now!" Someone exclaimed as he walked down the street.

Tristan ignored him and kept looking, his fingers twitching. Minutes later, a young woman appeared at the window her eyes closed. She had dark hair and her face looked right from what he could see. "Open your eyes," he muttered. Pointing at his eyes to Elmar. His squire spoke to Pella, touching her arm softly, but still making her flinch. Finally, she opened her eyes and looked down at him. Her eyes widened and she touched the glass, pressing her forehead to it and staring down at him.

He turned to Lucille. "My thanks for your help," he gave her the coins.

She grinned. "Always available to those with coin. And if you want my other services," she leant in, "there's a discount in it for you."

"A discount?"

She nodded and whispered. "You won against the boy-tyrant. That's worth a prize." She turned to make her way down the street for her break, paused and turned back. "Treat Pella well, won't you."

Tristan was glad she left so he didn't have to reply to her first comment and could focus took a breath and shoved the door open again, followed by Cley and two of his guardsmen.

Some of the patrons and prostitutes turned to watch as he marched into the brothel. The madam said something but he ignored her. She tried to follow him, but Cley and the guardsmen blocked her path. Marching up the stairs, grabbing one of the girls who was busy entertaining a customer. "Room four?" She pointed him to the door and he let her go.

"Elmar?" He asked, knocking on the door.

"We're here," Elmar replied and Tristan shoved open the door and quickly closed it behind him.

The room was silent. Elmar standing respectfully a short distance away from Jeyne who turned slowly from the window and stared at him with wide eyes. Her lip quivered and eyes watered. "Tristan?" She whispered.

"Jeyne," he replied, not knowing what else to say. He chided himself that he'd been so focussed on getting her back that he hadn't even thought of that. "I'm here to take you away."

She broke down, collapsing to her knees and sobbing. He knelt beside her and pulled her into a gentle hug, letting her release her emotions freely. When the shaking subsided she looked up at him. "Can you take me away from here?" She was pleading, and the sound of it pained him.

He nodded. "That's why I'm here." He helped her up. "Do you have anything you need to collect?"

"No, they took everything."

He nodded and unfastened his cloak, wrapping it around her. He led her out and down to the foyer. The Madam was standing off with Cley and the guardsman, the brute from outside had come in but was unwilling to tangle with the swordsmen. "Cley, we're done here." Tristan said.

He locked eyes with the madam, daring her to say something. A part of him wanted to reach for his knife, but he had promised Robb that he would cause no incidents here, so he didn't. Besides, the madam wasn't the guilty party here. He would have to stay clear of Lord Baelish as long as he remained in the capital.

They got to the door when Jeyne suddenly said. "Wait!"

"What is is?"

Jeyne stepped out from under Tristan's arm and stood tall, turning to the madam. "I'm going now." She said firmly. "And I'm not coming back this time." She took several long breaths before turning back, taking Tristan's arm and letting him lead her outside.

"Are we going back to Winterfell?" She asked him, out in the sun and bustle of the street.

"Not yet," Tristan said. "We're here to attend Joffrey's wedding, but then we will be, you me and Sansa."

"Sansa…" Jeyne whispered.

"We'll go and see her now, would you like that?"

"Yes please."

Tristan nodded and ordered his men to mount up and return to the Red Keep. Jeyne would be staying with him and Sansa until, at last, they could get home.


A/N: The Imprint: Unfortunately I can't provide a release schedule as there isn't one. I release chapters once they are finished and they are done when they're done.