The Death of Duty

Chapter 5

SANSA

She sits there absorbing the information of the letter. She's barely able to breath after what she just heard. We're all going to die. This is it, it's over. Nobody can save us. She squeezes her eyes shut and allows tears run down her face and the thought slips that this is her partly her fault. I wanted people to betray her. Why couldn't I just leave well enough alone. Why couldn't I just try to like her.

When she finally opened her eyes she wasn't alone in the great hall anymore. She was in a black void with nothing in sight. She looks around frantically attempting to discern where she is when Bran suddenly appears before her. "Bran, is it true?" she says quickly.

Everything around her moves and she's brought to a city she'd never seen before. "Volantis," Bran says. He's focused on something specific, Sansa turns her gaze to see the unmistakable face of Daenerys Targaryen. She appeared to be singing songs to poor children in the streets. She turned and saw Bran had taken a seat in the circle and motioned for Sansa to join him.

"Is this happening now?" she asked.

"It is," Bran answered.

"She doesn't seem mad right now. Perhaps if we leave her no harm will befall us," Sansa wanted her to pay. She wanted her to pay for the thousands of lives she took in King's Landing but she couldn't be stupid. That dragon could burn down the entire world and as of right now Sansa preferred being alive.

If a dagger in the heart couldn't kill her then what could?

"Every time a Targaryen is born the gods flip a coin and the whole world holds their breath," Bran said.

"Yes I know the phrase."

"She has been born once again and her coin has been flipped once again. Her future is uncertain and far too uncertain for my liking."

Bran suddenly brought them to a high mountain top where they could overlook the terrain. But when Sansa looked all she saw was a giant black shadow of ash stretched across the land. No trees, no castles, no people. Just black. "If the coin lands on the wrong side, the result will be far more catastrophic than before. We can't take that chance Sansa."

She could barely breathe at the sight of the land covered in black. A horrifying thought crossed her mind. "Where are we?" she asked.

"The North," Bran answered as he pointed to the terrain she was able to recognize the shape of. "That is Winterfell."

But there was no Winterfell, just flat ground.

"I failed to warn the people of Daenerys for my own selfish reasons and it resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands. I will not fail again," Bran said with the slightest hint of emotion that she hadn't sensed in a long time.

Sansa feared what would happen were Daenerys to survive an attack but she knew she couldn't bear this future. "How many men do you need?"

"No more than three ships, we can't send an entire army to Essos and risk sending the wrong message. There are still many loyal to Daenerys there," Bran answered. "They should be disguised as simple traders and nothing more."

Sansa nodded. "Ok, take me out of this vision and I'll begin preparations."

She was suddenly flung back into the great hall and immediately rose from her seat to begin preparations. When she left the great hall another more dreadful thought crossed her mind. Jon won't forgive me a second time.

TYRION

The past few days had been terrifying, the realization that Daenerys was alive had kept him awake every night and completely incapable of doing his job. His King had informed him as much about the whereabouts and activities of his former Queen.