lover's mercy - jaime lannister

FORTY-THREE

        "Where are we going?"

          That was the question on her mind as Sansa got dragged away by her fool knight. She only got one answer that didn't really give her an answer.

           "Somewhere safe."

           That was all she got as she was pulled through the city quickly to the outskirts where a small boat awaited. He stepped in and held out a hand for her to take.

           Sansa looked back at the imposing Red Keep as she hesitated, "But my sister..."

           "It's too late to go back now, my lady," he argued and she took his hand, knowing deep down that he was right.

             Her fool knight rowed the boat through the fog. Then they came upon a ship and he gestured for her to climb up the ropes to the deck of the ship. She did so until she was pulled up by someone she did not expect.

        "Lord Baelish?"

         "Petyr," he corrected as he gripped her shoulders. "Are you hurt, my lady?"

             Sansa shook her head and he muttered, "Good. Good. I'm sure you've had quite a fright. Rest easy. The worst is past."

             Ser Dontos, the fool knight called from below, "Lord Baelish. I promised I'd get her to you safely."

           "Softly, my friend," Baelish quieted. "Voices carry over water."

           "I should get back before someone thinks to look for me."

         "First you'll want your pay. 10,000 was it?"

         "10,000."

          Baelish snapped his fingers and a group of men approached the side of the ship with crossbows. The fool knight looked up in horror, "Wait!"

            But the men fired arrows down into the knight, killing him. Sansa screamed but Baelish placed a hand over her mouth.

            "Shh. You don't want the queen to hear, do you?" he said before removing his hand. "The gold cloaks are searching for you. And if they found you, how do you think they would punish the girl who murdered the king?"

         "I didn't murder anyone," tears stung her eyes as she tried not to think of the the dead body in the small boat below.

       "I know. I know," Baelish soothed. "But you must admit it looks suspicious. The king who executed your father, who tormented you for years, and you fled the scene of his murder."

            "I was scared," Sansa confessed. But not for herself, for Elya. Sansa knew the Queen would blame them somehow but she also knew Elya would die to defend her.

           "Why did you kill him?" Sansa asked as the act scared her.

          "Because he was a drunk and a fool and I don't trust drunk fools."

          "He saved me."

          "Saved you? My lady, he followed my orders. Every one of them. And he did it all for gold. Money buys a man's silence for a time," Baelish explained. "A bolt in the heart buys it forever."

         "He was helping me because I saved his life," Sansa defended.

         "Yes, and he gave you a priceless necklace that once belonged to his grandmother. The last legacy of House Hollard," Baelish pulled the necklace from her neck before placing it on the railing and crushing one of glass beads to show it wasn't so priceless. "I had it made a few weeks ago. What did I once tell you about the capital?"