A Shadow and a Wolf

Brienne I

She was standing alone in the darkness, hidden behind a pillar. Brienne had agreed to stand guard during the night before Lady Sansa's door while the sellsword, Bronn, would stand guard during the day. All the same, Brienne would double his guard many times. She didn't trust the sellsword. He would sell his sword to the first person who paid him more than Ser Jaime or Lord Tyrion and abandon the Lady Sansa. Brienne couldn't and wouldn't abandon her, no matter what happened. She swore a vow to her mother. I will shield your back and give my life for yours if it comes to that. I swear it by the old gods and the new. Now Catelyn Stark was dead. Brienne had failed her, but she wouldn't fail her daughter.

Brienne didn't think it was a good idea to keep Sansa Stark here in the Red Keep, even less after Lord Tyrion's arrest. She wasn't safe among the Lannisters. Ser Jaime said that she was probably safer here than everywhere else and that he swore to send her back to Lady Stark, but that it was impossible since Lady Stark was dead. Hardly, Brienne had to admit there was some truth in what Ser Jaime said. He also told her that his brother would never let anything happen to his wife and that it was good protection enough. Brienne didn't really believe it. How could Lady Sansa be safe when she was married to a Lannister? Considering the Lannister in question was accused of murdering his own father, Brienne didn't believe at all that Lady Catelyn's daughter was safe here anymore. However, there was nothing Brienne could do. Sansa Stark refused her services when she visited her, so Brienne had no way to get her out of King's Landing. She couldn't make her escape against her will after all. Brienne swore to keep Sansa Stark safe, not to oblige her to be safe. She couldn't impose her services. However, nothing stopped her from keeping an eye on the girl.

Suddenly, she heard a noise coming from Lady Sansa's door. It opened, then closed, and Brienne heard footsteps on the floor. She carefully looked in the corridor and saw a human shape with a heavy cloak walking in the other direction. This person could only be Sansa Stark. No one else could leave her rooms. Brienne followed her silently, keeping a firm grip on her sword in the scabbard to make sure it wouldn't make any noise while she walked. She didn't wear any armor, so she wouldn't be heard and could move much more easily. She followed her at good distance to prevent the lady from seeing her, but also close enough to not lose her track.

They left Maegor's Holdfast and Brienne followed her to the godswood. Brienne found it strange that Lady Sansa would come here to pray in the middle of the night. Lady Stark's daughter sank deeper and deeper into the woods until she reached a place Brienne knew only too well. It was some sort of observation point where she saw Lady Sansa pray before. It was a dead-end and Brienne couldn't follow her. If Sansa Stark was to turn around, she would come face to face with her if Brienne followed this path. Instead, she followed a parallel path and found a spot where she could see Lady Sansa through the trees and their branches, at least in part. She could see now there was another shape, bigger, with Lady Sansa. She stood still and listened carefully. The two people were whispering, but she managed to hear them.

"I'm glad you could make it." Brienne didn't know to who this voice belonged, but she knew it wasn't Lady Sansa who was speaking. The voice was that of a man and, the way he spoke, Brienne could tell he was drunk. She lived long enough in military camps to recognize a drunken voice miles away from her. "We don't have much time. The ship could leave without us if we don't catch it in time." A ship? What was this man talking about?

"Wait a minute, Ser Dontos. We must talk." That voice belonged to Sansa Stark, for sure.

"We don't have the time, my lady. If you want to escape, we must do it now." Escape? Sansa Stark was leaving King's Landing? That was what Brienne thought they should have done, but she didn't know the man the young lady was talking to. She called him Ser Dontos. Who could it be? The name meant nothing for Brienne. Brienne wasn't sure Lady Sansa would be safe if she escaped with this man. She couldn't trust him. She had to intervene.