Of Lions, Wolves, and Dragons (Jon Snow)

38. Sansa

The next morning, as Brienne promised, Podrick came to wake her, but she was already awake and preparing for the day.  Today they were going to begin their search for Sansa again and Joellyn found herself filled with a new sense of purpose.  They had found Arya and it made her feel as if they were close to finding Sansa as well.  She had a much better relationship with Sansa than she ever had with Arya, so it was much more likely that if they found Sansa that she would come with them.

Podrick let her know that they would be having breakfast down in the dining hall of the inn in about half an hour, so Joellyn thanked him and finished getting ready and gathering her few belongings that she had gotten out.  She took the letter from Oberyn and placed it back in the bottom of her pack with Oberyn's tunic.  There was still a deep, raw hole inside of her because Oberyn was gone, but Joellyn began to feel it healing.  It made her sad and glad all at the same time.  She was tired of being sad and grieving all the time, but it also meant that she was becoming use to the fact that he was no longer in this world and that felt wrong.

She took one last look around the room to make sure that she had everything and left to find Podrick and Brienne.  She found them both down in the dining hall, as Podrick had promised.  She handed her pack to Podrick, who stood quickly and rushed out of the dining hall to put her pack with their horses and supplies.  Joellyn took a seat in the booth that Podrick had vacated and greeted Brienne, "Good morning."

Brienne smiled in return, "How are you feeling?  Do you feel well enough to travel today?"

Joellyn looked down at the porridge that had been ordered for her and her stomach turned a little as it didn't look all that appetizing, but they had ordered some fruit as well and that looked much better.  Joellyn nodded in response to Brienne's questions, "I'm well enough, I think.  My head does not hurt anymore.  I just need to eat," then began to do just that.  The porridge was unappetizing, but it filled her belly and she knew that would bring some of her strength back.

Podrick joined them soon and the three of them ate in a comfortable silence.  Joellyn just let the noise in the dining hall soak over her.  After being alone with Brienne and Podrick on the road, it was nice to have noise surrounding her.  She hadn't realized how use she was to noise from Casterly Rock and King's Landing.  It brought her a small sense of comfort to lose herself in the noise.  Through the noise, she heard a female voice cut through that sounded familiar.

She stopped eating a looked around the dining hall to see if she could identify the voice, and while looking around noticed that Podrick was doing the same.  He had heard the voice as well apparently.  She looked to Podrick and he nodded toward a different table in the dining hall.  Joellyn felt her breath catch in her throat.  The table Podrick indicated was currently in use by Littlefinger and Sansa.

Joellyn said quietly, "Pod, do you see?"

Podrick nodded and Brienne finally noted the odd behavior between Joellyn and Podrick and asked, "What is it?"

Podrick said quietly, "Sansa Stark."  Brienne began to turn around but Podrick whispered harshly, "Don't look!"

Brienne nodded and questioned the two of them, "Are you sure?"

Joellyn nodded in return and said, "She's dyed her hair, likely to disguise herself, but that is Sansa."

Brienne questioned, "How is she?  Who is she with?"

Podrick replied, "She looks well.  She's sitting with Lord Petyr Baelish."

Brienne looked confused by this information and questioned, "Littlefinger?"

Joellyn was not as surprised by this as Brienne was.  Littlefinger always paid too much attention to Sansa, likely because he had loved Catelyn Stark.  It worried Joellyn to know that Catelyn was dead and that Sansa was now with the man that was in love with her mother.  Sansa looked enough like her mom that it was likely that Littlefinger had transferred his feelings from the mother to the daughter.  It also made sense now as to how Sansa was able to escape the capital without a trace.  Littlefinger had just as many spies as Varys and would have been able to arrange for Sansa to escape.  He was probably behind Joffrey's murder as well.