Oathkeeper

Chapter 28: Once Fifteen Years Have Passed

Brienne laid very close to her lover all night. After pleading with the healers, and the big man to do more to save her for hours, she had exhausted herself. She knew the best thing she could do, the only thing to do, was lay beside her and wait patiently as she drew her last breaths. It killed Brienne to think about returning to Winterfell with the remains of their newly appointed Queen. She questioned if it even made sense to return. Maybe she would live out the rest of her years here, untroubled by bastards or Boltons. But she knew that Sansa wouldn't want that for her. The bumps had spread to the girl's face making it swell up to a point where she was far from recognizable. But Brienne could still see the beauty in her, the girl's face was etched into her mind.

The rest of the village allowed for Brienne to mourn in the tent alone. Hours had gone by, Sansa hung on by a threat as the rest of the community had drifted off to sleep. Anya returned to her hut promising to look after Brienne's horse to the best of her ability. The girl had little to no experience with horses, so Brienne imagined it would be dead by the time she returned but she didn't care. All she could think about was losing the love of her life.

"If I could take back my last words to you I would. Being both your lover and your Lord Commander was just too hard. How could you ask me to take you to Last Hearth knowing the cure to your illness was beyond the wall" Brienne raised her voice, now consumed with mixed emotions. "You asked me to let you die.."

Brienne began to break down crying. She grew overwhelmed with all of the struggles they faced. She placed her forehead on the bare arm of the girl in defeat. Her mind began to go blank and her tired eyes grew heavy. Brienne was seconds away from drifting into the darkness when someone pulled the curtains of the tent back. A woman with long black hair, dressed in a long black dress paired with a thick black hooded coat stood over them. When you paired her with darkness it almost looked as if she wasn't a woman at all but simply a figure, a shadow of black.. Brienne jumped back, she reached around frantically looking for her sword to cut down anyone who wished to steal the Queen's final moments of peace.

"Your sword will not work against me anyhow" The woman spoke in a deep voice.

She made her way further into the room, looking down at the Queens whose chest staggered as it rose and fell slowly.

"I just had to see it for myself. The perfect opportunity. I can't believe the Queen is here" She rolled up her sleeves and her hands over the girl. "And you... you're marvelous"

"The perfect opportunity for what?" Brienne inquired.

"Why, for saving" The woman replied with a grin.

She placed her hand on top of the face of the Queen. Brienne wanted to interject in fear of the woman harming the Queen, but then she noticed the swelling starting to go down. She looked back and forth between the woman and Sansa's face in shock. Once she removed her hand, Brienne rejoiced at the sight of her beautiful Quend face returning to normal.The swelling and marking on her face had vanished almost as if they'd never been there in the first place. Brienne rolled up the sleeves of the girls dress, revealing more blue bumps.

"Can you heal these too?" Brienne looked at the woman frantically.

"I can. I can save your Queen... for a price" The woman continued.

"Of course, whatever you desire" Brienne responded so fast that she immediately regretted it.

"Give me your hand." She reached out for Brienne.

The woman took a sharpened rock and cut a small gash into Brienne's palm. She winced at the slight pain and balled up her fist. The woman did the same thing to Sansa, then she pushed their hands together. As their blood mixed together Brienne wondered how this was supposed to help the Queen.