"Everything will be okay, Rhaelle," Sansa told the little girl in her arms as she ran. Arya stood beside her, Needle drawn. Their father sent men to protect both, but the IronBorn had already killed them.
"I'm going to kill anyone who wants to hurt you," her younger sister said, addressing her niece. Rhaelle was silent as she watched the fight unfold.
A large group of Ironborn had attacked their mansion. Her father was fighting outside. Lord Stark didn't have to; he could have stayed behind and waited for his men to resolve everything.
But Eddard Stark wasn't that kind of man.
"This way, Lady Sansa," Brandon directed her. "Agh!" He groaned in pain.
An arrow pierced his leg, and the man fell to his knees. Sansa looked down the hallway. Theon and a group of six men entered.
"Ser Brandon!" Sansa panicked. The man was the only one who could protect his daughter. If he fell...
"Go!" Brandon whispered; he didn't even correct her, as he always used to do. "At the end of the hallway, turn left. There, behind a painting of a stupid man with blond hair, is a passageway to the outside. Jaehaerys' mansion is nearby," the man said as he broke off the tip of the arrow. "I should have gotten better armor," he sighed wearily, dragging his feet. "What are you waiting for?" she shouted at him.
Sansa began to run, hugging her baby. Arya followed her, although she seemed to want to stay and fight alongside Brandon. Sansa prayed to the gods for the man. She had known him since she was a child; he was a friend of Jaehaerys. He... he would be sad if he died.
She turned down the hallway and came to the painting of the blond man. She let out a hollow laugh when she understood why Brandon had called him stupid. It was the Smiling Lion, Tywin's father.
The painting was heavy, so she finally left her baby with Arya to move it, setting the painting aside. Behind it was a red door. She opened it and let Arya go first. When she was about to pass, an arrow stuck near her hand. Theon looked at her, smiling.
"A salt wife. I asked you nicely..." said the man. "Now... I'm going to ask you nastily," he said as he approached her theatrically. Sansa watched Arya run down the hallway, probably thinking Sansa was following her.
"Salt wife," Sansa said, her saliva turning bitter.
"Yes," Theon was getting closer. The man walked with his bow in his hand. Sansa waited, her hand still holding the paint. Finally, she watched Arya leave the passageway and sighed, with a mixture of relief and uncertainty. She hoped she could get to Jaehaerys safely.
Sansa could have run; she might have been able to escape on her own. But carrying her baby? That would slow her down, and Theon could shoot those arrows; it was better for her daughter that Sansa stayed there, even if she died. Arya could run faster. She would be better off with Rhaelle.
"Greyjoy," Sansa said. "What do you think Jaehaerys will do?" she asked. Theon didn't hesitate.
"Cry?" he said with a smile.
"What the Greyjoys did today... attacking Lannisport," Sansa began. "Tywin will pursue you; there will be slaughter. That's madness. But to attack my home, my daughter. Jaehaerys will burn the Ironborn to the ground," she said, looking Theon in the eye.
"Oh yes... his little dragons, how frightening," he scoffed. "Harlaw the Reader told us about them. Ferocious creatures, yes, but they take time to grow, and the longer we wait, the stronger they will become," said Theon. "By the Drowned God, you are beautiful."
Thud!
Sansa dropped the picture on the floor. A cloud of dust rose.
"Even without dragons... It's six kingdoms against one," Sansa said.
The man was a braggart. If the Greyjoys had alliances, he would reveal them at any moment. He wanted to show off, to win her approval. So... stupid.
"My uncle Euron and I attacked Lannisport," he said proudly. "My older brother, Rodrik, is attacking King's Landing. My uncle Victarion... he gets the best. Right now, he's at Harrenhal, and Princess Daenerys is probably his salt wife," said Theon, his gaze lost in her cleavage.
"You all really are mad," Sansa said. The Greyjoys would burn in the Seven Hells. "Jaehaerys' wife..."
"Ah... that will be a spectacle," Theon said with a satisfied smile. "Jaehaerys will attack knowing we have his wife..." His voice sounded excited, and Sansa felt repulsed. She wished no harm to Princess Daenerys. "And his daughter..." he said finally, looking at Sansa.
The redhead fell to her knees. Her breathing became agitated. Theon approached.
"Don't touch my daughter, please, I'll do whatever you want," Sansa said in a soft, broken voice. Her hand moved her dress to reveal her cleavage. 'By this point, Rhaelle and Arya must be safe,' she thought to herself as she searched under her dress.
"I'll take it anyway," he sneered.
"But... do you prefer an indecisive lover? Or a woman willing to please your every desire?" Sansa's hand finally grasped the hilt of the dagger Jaehaerys had given her, which she always carried strapped to her thigh.
"Oh... now you're a pleaser?" the bastard said, as if he had already won the jackpot.
"Come closer," said Sansa, her gaze still fixed on the floor. If she tried to look at Theon with a submissive or innocent gaze, the man would notice. Sansa couldn't hide the hatred and disgust in her eyes. "Unbuckle your belt," she said, almost vomiting as she spoke.
Theon didn't notice, so lost in the moment that he dropped his leather pants in seconds. Sansa was grateful that he wasn't wearing any steel armor.
"Well, you're going to use that mouth for AGHHHHHHH!" the man screamed as the dagger in Sansa's hand slashed his cock. She cut it in half.
Sansa felt a hard slap across her face and fell backwards, twisting her ankle.
"You thought you could take me?" Sansa laughed in his face, not caring if she died that night. She had distracted Theon long enough. Her daughter was safe, if the gods willed it, in Jaehaerys's hands.
"Stupid bitch!" Theon yelled as he held his cock. It wasn't just the pain because she had castrated him; he had to stop the bleeding. He ended up vomiting from the pain.
"My prince, we have to go!" Two Ironborn approached Theon, surprised by his condition, but said nothing. He pointed his sword at Sansa.
"Don't kill her! That bitch is mine," Theon was torn apart by pain. "Tie her up!" A man obeyed, tearing Sansa's dress and using the fabric to tie her up. His movements were quick and frantic, and he ended up tying Sansa's hands so tightly that she almost started to cry.
"My prince," Sansa sneered. "You wanted so badly to be like Jaehaerys that you made the few men who swore allegiance to you call you that?" Theon slapped her again, the vomit on his face making him look even worse.
"The others?" Theon asked between grunts of pain.
"That man killed them," one of the men replied.
Sansa looked down the hallway. Brandon approached, dragging his sword and his foot. Their eyes met, and the man began to move faster. Not even six men could overpower the wounded man. 'He's alive,' she thought while looking at him, who fell to the floor. 'At least Jaehaerys won't be sad about his death,' she told herself.
"Let's go!" The Ironborn grabbed Theon and the rope he had tied Sansa with. Theon staggered out, too overwhelmed by pain to walk appropriately.
They left through the tunnel, and Sansa was glad to see no sign of Arya. The street was mostly empty. Theon grabbed her by the hair and tried to drag her, but he couldn't. His men had to do it for him.
The city was in chaos. Theon avoided the crowds and took a less-traveled road.
"Wah-wah," Sansa heard a baby cry.
Theon staggered toward the sound, the men accompanying him like loyal soldiers.
'Black hair,' Sansa almost fainted with joy. Hidden there was a young girl with dark hair, a baby with a shock of hair the same color in her arms.
"What are you doing?" she asked Theon. She received a blow to the stomach from the Ironborn. "NO!" she let out a muffled scream.
'How can anyone be so cruel?' Sansa thought after watching the scene before her.
She looked in those eyes... the mother, she didn't know how to call her, after all, there is no name for when a mother loses a child. She felt the mother's despair; those screams were like her own when she watched Rhaelle being poisoned.
No... They were probably worse.