Riding north was nothing like it had been traveling south for Sansa. Not only was she sharing a horse with Jeyne, but they weren't anywhere near the kingsroad and often ate while riding. Rather than stopping in the small towns and villages they stayed outside of them while Dom went in alone to gather supplies. Syrio had gone once, but found the owner of the tavern had charged him a bit more to refill their flasks, so Dom was left going, keeping his Lannister garb to hide his identity as much as he could.
It felt like they were going so fast, far faster than they had coming south. They had traveled west a ways, taking a long route around the God's Eye rather than head straight north as would likely be expected. They traveled along the Blackwater Rush to arrive at the town of Tumbler's Falls.
Dom had entered the town garbed in his pilfered Lannister garb when he was spotted by a group of them exiting an inn. Thinking him one of their own, the men called out to him, so Dom steeled himself and made his way toward them. He didn't recognize any of them, which told him they at least weren't guards of the Red Keep come to hunt them.
"I thought us the only ones out here," a short, round faced guard said with a laugh.
"Why are you all out here?" Dom asked with a chuckle.
"Come to resupply before heading toward Stony Sept," said a man with sandy hair.
"And to find women the Mountain's Men haven't already taken," the tallest of them added with a snicker.
"Yourself?" asked the eldest.
"I'm to check in on a few towns nearby," Dom offered with a shrug. "It's busy work after I bumped into the maid bringing the king his supper, making her spill it. He had to take another's portions, and I must waste my days riding."
They laughed at his plight while he excused himself and departed, fighting his urge to look back at them.
He would come to wish he had so he might have known they were suspicious before they rode into the field where he had met with Syrio and the girls. Sansa gasped, rising to her feet with Jeyne as the men dismounted.
"What's this?" Asked the eldest of the group.
"Happened upon them camping," Dom offered.
"So you've offered them one of your waterskins?" The sandy haired one asked nodding to where Jeyne held one of the skins Dom had carried out of the inn.
"No need to let such pretty girls go thirsty," Dom said keeping his eyes on the guards moving toward them. They were spaced out enough they could wrap around them all. There were eight of them, each armed and armored for war, likely scouts for a raiding party. Two held spears over their shoulders along with their mail, chest plates, swords and shields.
"Truer words are rarely spoken," said the round faced man, who stared at Sansa, who had removed her scarf whenever they weren't riding.
Dom saw the hunger in his eyes and put on a smile. "Perhaps we should all be on our ways then? No need to waste more time. Best get our duty done, right?"
"That can wait," said the tallest man, taking a step toward the girls.
"Gentlemen," Syrio said stepping in front of the girls. "We must be on our way."
The tall soldier saw Syrio's hand resting on the guarded hilt of his sword. "Step aside."
Syrio shook his head, brushing back his hood back. "No."
The tall man drew his sword, seeming to cause the others to do the same as the men with spears took them off their shoulders. Dom turned toward Syrio, drawing his dagger. "Ser!" He yelled at Syrio, before turning and throwing it at one of the spearmen, the blade of the thrown dagger burying into his nose.
The guard stumbled back as Dom dashed forward and yanked the spear from his hand while the guards all looked to him. Holding just past the head, Dom swung the spear so the blunt end slammed into the face of another guard, then flipped the spear and thrust it into the man's face.
Syrio used his left hand resting on the hilt of his sword to push it forward, into his right as hedrew it and avoided the tall soldier's slash. His first thrust pushed through the man's jaw, making him choke on blood. When he went to slash as Syrio, he found the braavosi dashing back, tearing the blade from his throat.
Jeyne yelled as Sansa stepped back toward her seeing the round faced man turn toward them. He took two steps before coming to a stop and laughing as Arya, dressed in her black surcoat and arming cap, drew Needle and held it forward, aiming it at the man while she stepped in front of Sansa.
"Stand aside little bo-" The guard was knocked aside as Dom threw his spear across the field. It pierced the soldiers arm but didn't make it through to his chest. With a yell he tore the spear free and turned to watch the eldest man joined by another as he fought Dom while the sandy haired and bearded soldiers tried to hit Syrio, who dodged their strikes, waiting for an opening.
Turning back to the girls, the round faced man swung his sword at Arya, who tried to deflect it but found his strike strong enough to knock her sword aside.
"Arya!" Sansa yelled, tears flooding her eyes when the soldier lifted her by her arm, making Arya yell in pain. Because it was her left, and he grabbed her with his left, the man had turned his back enough that Sansa knelt down and picked up a rock which she threw at the side of the guard's helmet.
It rang, making the round faced man turn to look at her. "What the hell are you-"
Arya had released her grip on Needle, letting it fall to her waiting right hand before slashing up, through the man's jaw.
He released her and stumbled back clutching the wound. Arya hit the ground with a thud, groaning slightly as she got back to her feet. Seeing the man clutching his jaw with his left hand to keep his sword in his right hand, Arya swiftly tossed Needle into her left and dashed forward, thrusting it through the man's hand and jaw. He was short enough that her sword surely dug into the top of his skull before she withdrew it, her eyes wide and mouth gaping as she stumbled back, watching the man fall limp to the ground with blood pouring from his wound and mouth.
Syrio frowned seeing Arya staring at a corpse she had created, dodging a strike and stepping past the sandy haired soldier's right arm, thrusting his sword into his neck and withdrawing it as he turned, avoiding a slash from the bearded man which cut through the soldier's right shoulder. His shock left him open for Syrio to thrust his bravos sword into the man's eye, turning and slashing down, throwing off loose blood and brain matter.
Turning to see how Dom was doing, he found he had taken the other soldier's shield when he killed him, leaving only the eldest one. When the man struck at Dom, he found the pilfered shield thrust forward, slammed into his own. Dom turned his hand and grabbed the soldier's shield, raising them both while his sword slipped under them, thrusting into the man's neck.
Once the last of them fell, Dom grabbed his stolen surcoat and wiped their blood from his blade while walking to the others. "Is anyone hurt?" Sansa and Jeyne were staring at Arya, who looked to Syrio and Dom. With a glance to the man she had killed, Dom nodded. "You did well, Arya. He would have killed you."
"He speaks true," Syrio said with a nod. "By taking his life you protect your sister and yourself. You must remember, you cannot help if you do not protect yourself as well."
Arya slowly nodded, but to her surprise Sansa had stepped forward and wrapped her in a hug. Her tears had finally broken through, the older sister holding her sister and crying. If Arya wouldn't then Sansa would.
Once their swords were clean, Dom removed his Lannister garb and was joined by Syrio in moving the bodies, going through them taking what they wanted before dumping the bodies in the Blackwater Rush.
"Thank you," Sansa said wiping her eyes when she stepped back from Arya.
The girl smiled slightly, her eyes glistening as she shook her head. "I had to."
"I know," Sansa nodded. "I'm sorry you did."
"I'm sorry you saw it." Arya frowned, looking down. "You must think me a monster."
Sansa smiled softly, reaching for her sister's shoulder. "I think you strong enough to do what I never could."
Arya looked up to her sister, smiling as she shook her head. "You could if you had to. You threw that rock at him. If he wasn't wearing a helmet and it was heavy enough it could have killed him if hit the right spot."
Sansa chuckle. "Maybe. But I could never wield a blade like you."
"You may need to," Dom said as he came back toward them. "Here."
He handed Arya the mail shirt of the man she killed while Jeyne and Sansa got those of the other shortest of the group. Though each was large for the girls, it was better than nothing. He also held sword belts he gave each, having removed the scabbards for swords they wouldn't know how to use to leave only the daggers. He even held padded arming and steel caps stolen from the dead while Syrio pulled on his own stolen armor.
"Are we to wear these?" Jeyne asked skeptically looking from the helmets to the mail and belt.
"You could ride unarmored into warring lands," Dom offered. "I held them all under water and scrubbed any blood as best I could, though most remained on their surcoats. Or passed through the mail."
"But they-"
"Better to wear a dead man's clothes than join him in the grave," Dom cut Jeyne off. "Put them on and we can be gone before more come looking for their comrades."
They did as he said, Arya wearing her mail under her surcoat while the girls simply put theirs on over their dresses. Thankfully the weight of the mail shirts hanging off them was lessened once they put the belts around their waist. The girls carefully tied the padded cloth arming caps over their heads, hiding Sansa's hair before securing the steel cap over them.
Not only did they take their armor, but their horses as well, Syrio and Arya taking the stolen Lannister coursers while Jeyne moved to the palfrey. Dom had switched out his Lannister surcoat to replace it with a black jerkin, not wanting to risk wearing red as they traveled further north. He kept his clothes away from even his own house colors, preferring to be a nobody as they made their way.
After their run in with the Lannister guard they kept further east.
They had settled west of the God's Eye, able to see Harrenhal across the lake while they rested for the night. As was usual Dom left briefly to try and scrounge for food, hoping to put off another visit to town anytime soon. When he returned he had a small hare in hand, tucking the bow he'd stolen from the Lannister horses back onto his saddle.
Sansa sat beside Jeyne, who was looking over a few flowers she had picked, and watched Arya using branches to spar with Syrio, who stopped every so often to speak to her. She'd seen the strength of her sister the more they traveled. Not just in killing that soldier, but with how little it all rattled her. Dom and Syrio helped her come to terms with the need to kill the man, but thinking on it still made Sansa's stomach turn. It wasn't particularly disgusting, but unnerving to see the life leave a man before all his blood had, yet still he'd twitched for a moment before going still.
It seemed Syrio was constantly giving lessons as they rode. "Size matters not," he told the girls when they questioned if the daggers would be any good if more soldier came upon them. "A humming bird can escape a lion. It need only stick a beak through the eye. For a wolf? No problem, she has not only claw, but fang to bite. If need be, use yours. Just do not bite armor."
Dom also gave his own kind of lessons. "This is all you need to kill cut through skin," he told them, showing them the pressure needed to push their daggers through skin. "Little more than that in the right place and they'll die. Stab them, slash them, do whatever you can. Open their neck here and they'll bleed out while they can chase you."
Watching Dom wield his flaying knife to swiftly skin the hare, she wondered if he enjoyed it. All the blood and killing. Syrio seemed to almost ignore it, as if it beneath him to worry. "They think little of you, think little of them," he had told Arya.
Yet Dom spoke so coldly of death and even prolonged suffering. He had told the girls, "Stick them in the groin. They mean to make you suffer pain, so let them suffer it where they fear most. Make their pain last the rest of their lives if they manage to survive."
She had heard stories of the Boltons, tales of their flaying people, even wearing the skins of Starks. Dom seemed so separate from those when they were in King's Landing. He seemed near as gallant a knight as Ser Loras, though more grim than even Jon and his constantly wearing black. Yet he hadn't hesitated to kill the stable boy likely near Sansa's age if not Arya's.
He spoke so callously, but it was always at those who meant to harm them. Then his tone was so different when Arya had asked of Jon, wondering where he might be. "Likely back in King's Landing," Dom said with a laugh. His smile made his pale brown eyes seem gentler, less cold.
Arya had gasped. "He wouldn't know about father."
"I'm sure he would," said Dom. "They'd have to stop by a town or two on their way back and news has surely spread by now."
"Then why would he return?" asked Jeyne. "Wouldn't he just be thrown in the cells?"
"No. If he does as we planned, then they'll think him a traitor."
Arya blinked at that. "As you planned?"
"We've suspected things might go wrong eventually, but we realized it's salvageable for him." Dom sighed, seeming disappointed as he said, "I was supposed to be there with him, but he would want me to get you all to safety rather than be there for him."
Sansa found it odd how referential Dom was to Jon. She understood they were friends, but he spoke as though Jon had given him orders, as if Dom weren't the eldest of their group. "How can this still be salvageable?"
"They see him as most do," said Dom. "A bastard. His being forced to go will help things. He can use it to support his displeasure with your father. Say he sent him away to achieve some harsh goal while all Jon wanted was to be a guard."
"You think they'd believe that?" asked Arya.
"They already think him a black heart waiting to take what he desires," Dom said somberly. "King Robert knighting him was a boon if only for it giving him something to pin his loyalty to. Why wouldn't a bastard show more loyal to the man who gave him a chance at a knight's life? It will be easy enough to play into their beliefs and act as though he feels wronged by your family. It's not as if he was welcomed to your home as a trueborn child. Why else would he leave?"
Sansa had felt awful at that, realizing that however small she had played a part in Jon's departure. She had followed her mother's example and taken to shunning him as much as she could without being outright rude. At least most of the time.
She had been awful to him, and yet Jon had been so kind to her. He had given her Ghost, even held her once when he found her crying after an argument with Arya before her sister ran off to train. He'd told her the truth of Joffrey, hoping she would see it, yet she had chosen to believe her mother, who had never once met the prince. She only wanted Sansa to marry him and be queen, thinking it would make her happy even if she had to try and change a cruel man. As though being queen would make up for being married to a man she didn't care for. In truth she might have become like Cersei if she wed Joffrey.
Sat staring at the God's Eye, Sansa wondered if maybe she wasn't a Stark. People had said she shared her mother's looks and she was the only one who followed her example. Maybe Sansa was a Tully, more fish than wolf.
It was when that somber thought passed her mind that she heard the howls. Dom was on his feet, still holding the leg of the cooked hare until the horses started to panic. He dropped the meat and drew his sword. "Sansa, Jeyne get behind me!"
The girls swiftly stood and rushed behind him as Syrio and Arya rose, all turning to see sets of eyes staring at them. A pack of four wolves came to a stop, spread out among the trees as they growled. They seemed to all go silent as a low, rumbling growl came from another which moved around a tree to approach them, it's golden eyes slightly higher than the others.
Arya, having drawn her sword like the men, gasped and sheathed Needle as she stepped forward. "Nymeria?" Sansa stared, tears burning her eyes as Arya took a step toward her. "It's me, Arya."
The direwolf stopped baring it's teeth, her eyes seeming to take Arya in.
"We're going back home. You can come with me," she said holding out her hand. "We can go home together."
They watched the direwolf take a step forward, sniffing at the raised hand before pressing her snout against it.
"Yes, it's me," Arya said shakily. "You remember?"
Nymeria gave a soft whine as the wolves around them went silent, watching their leader sit and lick Arya's hand. The wolf with matted brown and gray fur growled and started to run forward. Dom had stepped forward and turned his arm to slash at the beast, but Nymeria had turned and slammed into the wolf, pressing her paw into it's side as she bit into the wolf's neck and pulled her head up, ripping through it as the mangy wolf cried and died.
The others stared and backed away, whimpering and sitting as Nymeria turned to them and growled. After a moment they all sank to the ground, lowering their eyes while Nymeria returned to Arya's side and rubbed her head against her master. With a breath Arya wrapped her arms around the direwolf, tears escaping her eyes while squeezing her.
With Nymeria and her small wolf pack joining them, Sansa found her fear had lessened. The wolfs seemed to take after Nymeria, following her example of submitting to the humans. They kept a distance while they rode, but when they settled for the night the wolves appeared, bringing with them whatever game they caught. They took enough to feed themselves and gave the rest to the wolves, letting them have their fill.
Arya was the first to risk petting them when the trio joined Nymeria in sitting around her one night. Nymeria had stared at them, waiting to strike if they tried anything, but they never did. Her display, and their making sure to feed the beasts, seemed to make them loyal enough that soon Sansa and Jeyne found themselves petting the wolves. Syrio had even taken to throwing sticks for them, more than once having Arya race them to find it, though she never did before the wolves.
Dom remained wary of the wild wolves, but trusted Nymeria to keep them in line. He knew enough from his time with Ghost to know her loyalty to Arya. Instead he focused on guiding them, taking them west toward Acorn Hall, where they found the gates of the keep barred as few remained to hold it. Unwilling to reveal who they were, Dom took them to Blackwater Bend to camp for the day before heading toward Riverrun.
Instead they made their way toward Castle Lychester, a small, square keep that had was showing signs of disrepair by the time they arrived. It was there, while Dom was gathering water skins that he heard of the siege of Riverrun.
"So where will we go?" Sansa asked when he told them upon his return.
"Didn't you say we could go to Raventree Hall?" asked Jeyne.
Dom shook his head. "Two of the men mentioned hearing it had been taken by Lannisters. Even Stone Hedge was apparently burned by the Mountain." After a moment of thought, Dom decided. "We'll go to the Inn of the Kneeling Man. They might have more information."
They couldn't argue against it so mounted and began their ride to the riverland inn, said to be near the spot where Torrhen Stark had bent the knee to Aegon the Conqueror. They arrived the next day and found the main building along the shore of the Red Fork with long low wings stretching out from it.
Watching Dom enter from afar, Sansa found herself growing tense as she always did when they stopped. Even with the wolves at their side she still waited for more Lannisters to find them, to finally force her to use her dagger. She feared that Lannister men may have taken the Inn or be staying there and recognize Dom.
Instead he returned shortly after wearing a smile as he told them. "It seems our luck has turned."
"What makes you say that?" Syrio asked from his saddle.
Looking to Arya and Sansa he revealed, "Your brother Robb has led a host south to war with the Lannisters at Riverrun. We could ride to Winterfell, but if they're this close I think it might be worth trying to find them."
"Then we will," Arya said looking to Sansa. "Who better to protect us than Robb and his army?"
"Let's find Robb," Sansa said nodding in agreement. "It will home enough for now."
With that they began making their way, heading west again in hopes of finding Robb near Riverrun. Instead they would find the siege broken and an army waiting to welcome them.