Updated Jon Snow

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***

The letter bearing the Mockingbird seal arrived just as Jon Snow and Harald Karstark rode off to the wildling camp, leaving Sansa and her protectors at Carhold. Lady Brienne, determined not to waste any time, began to race Podrick around the training arena to the laughter and not-so-flattering jokes of the castle guards. Paine tried his best, but he was unable to cope with the tall maiden, whom even experienced knights could not beat. Nevertheless, Brienne noted that the boy was developing rapidly, and a few more years of hard training would make Podrick a hard nut to crack.

Sansa had called her protector after she had once again tortured the unfortunate Podrick to death, and he had crawled off to the kitchen to regain his strength. Delilah, the kitchen helper, was doing her best to cook when it came to Payne. Brienne entered the girl's chambers she had been assigned and found Sansa there in the company of Alice Karstark. The girls were scrutinising a letter delivered to the castle by a messenger.

- 'Come in, Lady Brienne,' Sansa asked, 'we need your advice.

- Is something wrong? - Tarth asked.

- 'Sort of,' Karstark answered her and jabbed her finger at the scroll. - 'It's a letter from Petyr Baelish.

- What does he want?

- A meeting,' Sansa replied. - He says he has travelled secretly to the North to help me fight for Winterfell.

- I think a meeting is necessary,' Alice said, turning to Brienne. - Sansa has told me what this man has done, and I think this is the perfect chance to capture him and bring him to justice.

- And I have no desire to see his devious face again,' Sansa countered. - Littlefinger will lie again that he's my most loyal friend and would lay down his life for me. Preferably not his own, but someone he considers a liability. Jon, for example, because my brother is the last person Baelish wants in Winterfell, believe me.

- But you can't leave him behind,' Brienne said when she realised the problem. - If Littlefinger realises you don't need him, he can help Bolton. If he has already knowingly given you to them, why should he stand with them again? I agree with Lady Karstark. If we meet Baelish, we'll take him down, thus eliminating a potential threat.

- I told her the same thing,' Alys backed her up. - Our brothers are going to war. It's a woman's duty to keep the house safe at this time, and that's what we'll do. I don't think Jon Snow or my brother will object to our actions.

- Besides, your brother was going to kill Baelish anyway,' Brienne reminded Sansa, 'so we'll have a surprise for his return.

Looking first at Alys and then at Brienne, Sansa sighed heavily. She had no desire to go to see Baelish, even if only to capture him. On the other hand, it would be fun to see his face when he was put in chains and dragged off to Carhold, where he would lie again and again, assure her he loved her and would even die for her if it suited her. But that too is a lie. Petyr wants to live. To live and rule, and he doesn't care how many lives he has to sacrifice to do it.

Alys and Brienne are right. Baelish cannot be left behind, Gods only know what the biggest liar in the Seven Kingdoms can do.

- All right, I'll go see him,' Sansa finally decided.

- I'll go with you,' Brienne said. - Who knows what Baelish might do when he realises his game is up.

- Of course,' Sansa agreed.

- A dozen of our soldiers will go with you,' Alice added. - When you are ready, they will capture Baelish and take him to Carhold, where our brothers will decide his fate. I don't think they'll be happy if Littlefinger is executed without their knowledge. Pride and all that...

- Yes,' Sansa smiled, "they have a way of saying, "How come they killed the bastard without us?''

- Exactly! - Carstark laughed, and even Brienne supported the girls' amusement with a slight smile. After waiting for them to laugh it off, she asked:

- When is the meeting?

- Tomorrow, noon, at some shack northwest of Carhold,' Sansa replied, looking up from her letter again.

- I'll have my men start watching the place,' Alice said. - Anything could happen.

- It wouldn't be out of place,' Tarth agreed with her. - And Lady Sansa, I strongly suggest you wear a chain mail under your dress. I will protect you at all costs, but not even the gods can protect a man who does not take care of himself.

Before Sansa could even open her mouth in surprise, Karstark immediately supported the idea and even said that the castle had something similar in its armoury. Neither Brienne of Tarth nor Alice Karstark were interested in Sansa's opinion on the matter.

The next day, Sansa, accompanied by Brienne, set out for the meeting, followed by a troop of riders, with a slight lag. The snow was getting heavier every day, and the roads were covered with more and more snow, so it was a long ride. They reached the rendezvous point a little late, but then they dismounted and looked around. The taller Brienne was the first to see the signals the Karstark scouts were sending them.

- All clear,' Tarth answered the unspoken question. - 'It's safe to go in.

Littlefinger was waiting for them inside, with a slight smile on his lips and even joy in his eyes. Perhaps he really was glad to see Sansa? Or was this just another pretence, of which there had been so many already? What was the point of guessing if Baelish's fate was already sealed? Sansa entered the shack in silence, and Brienne stood behind her, palm on the hilt of her sword.

- Sansa,' Baelish smiled.

The girl remained silent.

- Lady Brienne,' Littlefinger's smile faded somewhat. Did you sense something amiss?

The answer was silence again.

- When you ran away, I feared the worst,' Baelish said, turning to Sansa. - You have no idea how glad I am to see you unharmed.

- Unharmed? - Sansa asked, her insides twisting. - Why are you here?

- I've come to help you, with the Knights of the Vale,' Petyr replied, finally stopping smiling. - They're stationed at Kailin's Moat, just waiting for the order to move out.

- To help me? - Sansa repeated. - Why do I need their help? Why do I need your help? Did you know who Ramsay Bolton was?

Petyr fell silent. The conversation went straight to the worst-case scenario, and Brienne's presence didn't make it any better. Perhaps in private, where no one would interfere, he could convince the girl that it had been a mistake, albeit a terrible one. To do so in the presence of the Maid of Tarth was much more difficult.

- If you didn't know, you're an idiot,' Sansa continued. - If you did, you're my enemy.

- Sansa.

- I'm waiting for an answer. Did you know or didn't you?

Petyr was silent again, searching for words. He had to be careful what he said, one wrong word could ruin everything he had built up for so long.

- Lady Sansa asked you a question! - Brienne, whom Baelish wished to leave this mortal world as soon as possible, reminded him. In principle, it could even be arranged.

- No, I didn't,' he said, and the conversation would be over.

- You, the one who knows everything about everyone? - Sansa wondered. - Who has ears in every brothel, in every castle? I find that hard to believe.

- Yes, Sansa, I made a mistake,' Petyr said. - A terrible, stupid mistake for which I blame myself. But I am ready to atone for it,' he stepped forward, but Brienne's sword left its scabbard and its point sank into the man's chest.

- One more step and I'll stab you through,' Brienne warned, but Littlefinger didn't move a step back.

- Please act,' he suggested, turning to Sansa again, 'Perhaps my death will prove that I am sincere with you. I have said more than once that I wish you nothing but happiness.

- You have very strange ideas about my happiness, Lord Baelish,' Sansa replied. - From now on, I wish you would not try to build it for me. You're very bad at it. Anyway, I don't need your help or the Vale's. We'll manage on our own.

- Is that your choice? - Baelish asked.

- Yes, it is my choice,' Sansa nodded. - A choice that doesn't include you. A choice that eliminates your influence over anyone. A choice that gives you nothing. It is a choice in which you are not needed. For I no longer believe a word you say and I never will. Everything you do is designed only to increase your own power and influence. You walk through the lives of others as if on a bloody ladder, where the steps are the fates of those whom you have destroyed, even if not by your own hands. I will not be another rung on that ladder, and I will not let anyone else become one.

Brienne stepped back to the door and slammed her fist against it twice. At the same instant the door flew off its rusty hinges, and soldiers entered the house, guns drawn. They covered Sansa with their weapons, twisting the bewildered Baelish quickly and without further ado.

- What's going on? - Littlefinger exclaimed. - I am Lord Protector of the Vale!

- What's the matter, Lord Baelish? - Sansa wondered. - You were just about to give up your life for me. Did you change your mind so quickly?

- Sansa.

- When my brother returns from his meeting with our allies, he will decide what to do with you. Maybe he'll behead you, or maybe he'll skin you, because, like me, Jon doesn't believe you didn't know about Ramsay, and he would tear anyone apart for his family, as I was pleased to learn. I wish I'd been a fool before and realised that.

When she nodded, the soldiers dragged a stubborn Baelish outside and gagged him. Left alone, Sansa and Brienne looked at each other, and then the girl finally exhaled. Her knees had been treacherously shaking throughout the conversation, but she stood her ground.

- Good words,' Brienne said. - Did you learn them from your brother?

- I don't know,' Sansa said, catching her breath. - It just came on its own.

- You handled yourself well,' the Maid of Tarth praised her. - Your father would have been proud of you.

- I'm sorry, but it took his death for me to finally get my head round it,' she said sadly. - Robb, Father, Mama-they all died because of me. If I'd kept my mouth shut, we wouldn't have to force our own house back now, and our family would be alive and well. All because of me.

- You were a child,' Brienne tried to reassure her, 'and could not have realised the consequences of your actions. We all make mistakes.

- My mistake cost our family too much,' Sansa replied. - And in the end, it was just Jon and me. I wonder why he didn't strangle me with his own hands after everything I'd told him.

- Maybe it's because, unlike you, he understands. - Brienne's voice has hardened. - You need to pull yourself together, Lady Sansa. You can't undo what you've done, what's done is done. You may be guilty, but you have a chance to right your wrongs, and today you proved it. With Baelish in custody, we can finally let a little justice prevail. Stop looking to the past and finally look to the future. Thank goodness you have one.

Finished with that, Brienne walked outside, leaving Sansa alone with her thoughts. All the more reason for the girl to think.

***

The morning at Mormont Manor began with Jon taking a long, hard look at the blond head resting on his chest. Not to say he didn't remember how it had happened, rather Jon was surprised at how quickly Tormund's words had come true. Vel was unwilling to wait, and so the wildling had approached the Lord Commander in his chambers just after the negotiations with Lianna Mormont had ended. The Lady of Bear Island had agreed to provide sixty-two warriors, but John had assured her that fifty would suffice.

The rest was a blur. He came to his chambers, where Vel was waiting for him. She was wearing only a warm cloak over her naked body, and before Snow could even open his mouth, the wildling had nestled her lips into his mouth and pressed her whole body against his, so tightly that Jon could feel it through the thick clothing. If Snow had any objections, Vel wasn't interested in them.

Afterwards, when they were sweaty and tired, Vel said:

- 'Keep in mind, Snow, for me to be yours, you'll have to kidnap me.

Breathing heavily, Jon, his mouth dry, asked hoarsely:

- What if I don't?

Vel raised herself up on her elbows, looked into John's eyes, and replied curtly:

- Then I'll cut off your pretty cock and hang it round my neck.

John's face took on a doomed expression and he collapsed onto the pillows:

- Somehow, this was exactly what I had expected.

Remembering the night's conversation, Snow stroked his fingers over Vel's naked back, staring up at the ceiling. His army was almost ready; he had one more potential ally to meet. He couldn't wait any longer, Ramsay Bolton had to be thrown out of Winterfell. Preferably upside down off the castle wall. If the other lords respond to his call by then, good. If not, he'll deal with them later.

- Are you awake? - Vel's voice sounded hoarse from sleep.

- A little while ago,' John replied.

- What are we doing today? - The wildling asked.

- We have to go to the Dark Forest to meet the Glovers. We leave at noon.

- What time is it now?

- Early morning,' came the reply. - The servants have just got up.

- So we still have plenty of time? - Vel clarified.

- Yeah.

- Then let's not waste it,' the wildling said, climbing on top of John. - Or do you object?

There were no objections.