Oathkeeper

Chapter 3: Castle Black

Sansa spent the last few nights sleeping in a drafty room at Castle Black. She'd never been here before, and judging by the looks of it she hoped to never return.The walls were damp and grey. Similar to Winterfell of course, but this was much more depressing. The expressions of the men here were tired, frightened, hungry, or a mixture of all three. She managed to get a good look at the Wall feeling slightly unnerved by something that.

Despite the lack of comfortability with the rock hard mattress she'd slept on, she was happy to see her brother. She never imagined she'd see Jon again, and their difficult relationship in childhood made interacting with him now feel unnatural. But ultimately she was just glad to have someone with her blood around, Northern Stark blood. Sansa and

Jon had discussed several different things since they've reunited. The Queen with dragons, the Night King, The Boltons, Lord Baelish, everything. But the first on their agenda was getting back to Winterfell. That's the only way they'd be able to stop the army of the dead before it took all of Westeros. Jon made cries on the end of the world, and Sansa had a hard time hearing it. If it were anyone else uttering these words, Sansa would have left before they even started. But she knew Jon Snow would never lie about such a thing, let alone his own sister.

While Pod and Brienne had gotten real cozy with the Men of the Night's Watch and the Wildlings too. A tall ginger man that goes by the name of Tormund has taken a particular liking to Brienne as well, but she would never be bothered with such savagery. Instead she has been spending her time watching over Sansa Stark. Although she was safe in her brother's arms, something within Brienne didn't want to let up. That's why just before the sun rose this morning, Brienne found herself outside of Sansa's chamber, sword in hand. She woke up with the feeling that something was coming for her today. The door knob rattled and Brienne turned to face the door, startled by the noise. Sansa was surprised but flattered to see Brienne outside her door. Brienne tried to guard her door during the first night they arrived and Sansa dismissed her. Now here she was, waiting outside.

"Brienne, what are you doing out here?" Sansa asked innocently.

"I just- I need to make sure you are safe, my Lady" Brienne spoke honestly.

Sansa looked at Brienne for a while before responding. Brienne felt nervous that she was caught by Sansa, she could be mean when she wanted to, and Brienne was disobeying an order.

"Well if you insist on protecting me, you could at least come inside. I haven't slept much since we arrived." Sansa stood with her hands behind her back.

Most highborns hold themselves this way, it amused Brienne simply because she never learned to be so ladylike. While Sansa believes she was born to be a lady, a Queen really. Sansa returned near her bedside watching Brienne explore the room. Brienne found a lovely painting of former Men of the Night's Watch. The green eyed monster crept into Brienne's mind, she hated seeing photos of men bonding like this. Because this was all she ever wanted, a band of brothers, sworn to fight and protect a just Lord. Maybe even the King himself.

"Can I ask you a question, Brienne?" Sansa looked at Brienne.

"Of course, my Lady," Brienne responded.

"Have you ever laid with a man . . . willingly of course?" Sansa inquired, getting nervous about the last portion of her sentence.

Brienne grew tense at that question, she wasn't the first to ask and she surely won't be the last. Brienne has only had one man in her life that she cared for, and he's been dead for a few years now. A part of her questioned whether her love for Renly only grew because he didn't see her as loveless. No one really looked at Brienne the way they looked at other women, so she grew accustomed to not looking at anyone that way. Tormund was the first man she felt had a genuine longing for her, one that went beyond using her for jester. She wasn't quite sure how to put it, but the thought of that made her even more uncomfortable. As she's mentioned before, that kind of man has never piqued her interest.