12 Chapter 12

5 Chapters to go before the battle for Winterfell, or as I like to call it The White Wolf Massacre.

(Is this name good or not? Let me know in the comments!)

=====================================================

The letter from Ramsay was exactly like the one in the show telling me that he has Rickon and demanding that I bend the knee, banish the wildlings from the Wall, And bring him Sansa or he will kill me. The fucker was thinking that I didn't know about Rickon not being with him. Alas with this, He has sealed his fate. Nothing will be able to save him now.

I didn't care about that now though, What I cared about was the little meeting between Sansa and Little Finger in the ruins of a brothel (No doubt one that belonged to Little Finger.) in Mole's Town.

"Sansa, Lady Brienne. When I heard that you escaped Winterfell, I fear the worst. You have no idea how happy I am to see you unharmed." He looks honestly relieved while saying that. Although I can't decide whether that relief was for Sansa or for his plans.

"Unharmed?" Sansa asks almost mockingly, "What are you doing here?"

"I rode north with the knights of the Vale to come to your aid. They encountered Moat Callin as we speak." He replied finally sensing the tension in the room.

"To come to my aid?" She was surprised but came out of her surprise as fast. "Did you know about Ramsay? If you didn't know then you were an idiot and if you did know then you are my enemy."

"Would you like to hear about our wedding night?" She says as Petyr looks on in horror, considering that he did take Ramsay aside before the wedding to make sure that he didn't hurt Sansa.

"He never hurt my face, He needed my face. The face of Ned Stark's daughter... But the REST of me... He did what he LIKED with the rest of me as long as I could give him an heir." She looked in pain, She hid it, But I could sense it.

"What do you think he did?" She asked.

He was the biggest owner of brothels in the seven kingdoms, He knew what men like Ramsay could do when alone with a woman they could what they wanted with. "I can't begin to contemplate...--" She interrupted him.

"What do you think he did to me?" She repeated.

He didn't answer for a while, then looked as if he would make an excuse. "Lady Sansa asked you a question." Brienne stayed while her hand was on Oathkeeper.

He looked at her then returned his eyes to Sansa. "He beat you."

"Yes, He enjoyed that. What else do you think he did?" She asked.

"Sansa..--" He began.

"What else?"

"... Did he cut you?" He looked as if he regretted asking her that.

"... Maybe you did know about Ramsay all along." She let him know that he was right.

"I didn't know," He shook his head. "I thought you knew everyone's secrets." She responded.

"I made a mistake, A horrible mistake. I underestimated a stranger." He hurried to say.

"The other things he did, Ladies aren't supposed to talk about them, But I imagine brothel keepers talk about them all the time." She said. Oh, Ramsay, Your death will be a painful one, I promised.

"I can still feel it. I used to feel it in my body, But now the ghost of what he did still remains with me... It will remain with as long as he lives." She admitted.

"I. Am. So. Sorry." was his response.

"You said you will protect me."

"And I will. You must believe me when I tell you I will." He tried.

"I don't believe you anymore. I don't need you anymore," A flash of anger appeared in his eyes when she said this. "You can't protect me. You won't even be able to protect yourself if I tell Brienne to cut you down."

"And Why shouldn't I?" She wanted a reason.

He looked at Brienne, then looked back at her. "You want me to beg for my life? If that's what you want, I will. Whatever you ask that is in my power, I will do."

"If I want you to die here and now?" She tested.

"... Then I will die." He accepted. I Gotta give him that, He did love Sansa, even if it was a sick and twisted love, it was still love.

"You freed me from the monsters who murdered my family And gave me to other monsters who murdered my family," She stopped for a bit then continued. "Go back to Moat Calin, My brothers and I will take back the North on our own. I never want to see you again."

"Brothers?" He inquired. Damnit, Sansa.

"I meant my brother." She realized her mistake and wiped a tear she managed to squeeze in time to appear disoriented. Nice safe, Sansa!

"Oh." He fell for it. "I would do anything to undo what's been done to you. I know I can't." He shakes his head. "Would you allow me to say one more thing before I go?"

She didn't say anything so he took it as acceptance. "Your great-uncle, Brynden, The Black Fish, Has gathered what remains of the Tully forces and retaken Rive...--."

"I know that already, Lord Baelish." She interrupted.

"How?" He asked. "I have my means." She responded not revealing that I was the one that told her. That's a good sign.

"The time will come when you need an army loyal to you." He continued, "I have an army." She deflected.

"Your brother's army." He cut and moved to get out of the room. Sansa looked unsure at that.

"Half-brother." He said as he was beside her.

After he left she sighed. "Come on, Brienne. Let's go back."

***

When they returned, They were surprised with me coming out with Rickon.

He immediately hugged Sansa once he saw her. "Don't leave us, Sansa. I will protect you from that monster!" He innocently said while holding on to her.

"Rickon, I am not going anywhere. What's wrong with him? What happened?" Sansa asked while comforting Rickon.

"You weren't in your champers this morning so Rickon panicked. I almost sent the men to start searching for you. The only thing that stopped me from doing so was that Lady Brienne wasn't here either, So I knew she was with you. Where were you anyway?" I asked. This was the moment of truth, It will decide if I and Sansa will get along, Or if I will keep a distance from her in the future.

"I... I was..." She hesitated, but then she must have seen something in my eyes because she stopped.

"Can you protect me?" She asked.

"What?" I was shocked by her question.

"Can you protect me? Can you protect us? Me, Rickon, And Bran and Arya wherever they are and even yourself. Can you be certain that no one will be able to hurt us?" She was desperate, unconsciously crushing Rickon in her embrace.

At that moment, I felt deep shame well within me. Here in front of me was a kid that saw her entire world shatter in front of her, She was given from monster to monster to be their toy. She was so wounded by what happened to her that she became world-weary and wasn't even able to trust her own blood. And yet, here I was testing her to see if she was going to trust me, A person that she wasn't close to as a child and knew almost nothing about as an adult.

I walked towards her and placed my hands gently on her shoulder, I looked into her eyes.

"Sansa, You are safe."

That's it. There were no promises. No explanation. No unnecessary talk. Just a statement of The Truth. With the only assurance being the certainty in my eyes as they held hers.

A single tear fell at that followed by another, till finally a dam that she didn't know existed broke from her eyes. I took in my arms with Rickon in the middle and for the first time in a long time, Sansa finally opened her heart after she closed so as to not get hurt.

Guess I have to thank Cersei and her advice of 'Love no one but your children' for that, Huh.

Well, Fuck you Cersei.