Trials and Tribulations of the Oathkeeper

Chapter 137: The Wight Hunt (Part 1)

―At King's Landing―

Red Keep ― Royal bedchamber...

Brienne observed Sansa bouncing little Torrhen on her knee as her elder son played with his wooden knight as her daughter was practicing her sewing skills, continuing to stand guard from the doorway. The maid of Tarth and one of the only two women to serve in the Kingsguard proved to be a loyal friend and a confidant despite her not being a knight.

"Look mommy! I'm Aemon the Dragonknight!" Lyonel held up one of his toys.

"Ooh my, what a brave boy you are," Sansa observed playing along.

"Mhmm! I'ma protec' Cassie and Torrhen like daddy does fo' us!"

Gods be merciful to guide my son on a gentler path when he comes of age, the Wolf Queen silently hoped. "Cassana, how fares your needlework sweetheart?"

The younger twin held up a makeshift kerchief; Cassana had been practicing with her sewing and embroidering lessons – hoping to make a lasting impression on her tutors... and her mother. "Here," she presented hers bashfully. The Princess's doesn't look half-bad with her design starting to take its shape.

Sansa observed every detail of the stitch and embroidery in her daughter's work. Needless to say, she smiled proudly. She takes after me. My little girl... "Excellent work; I love the detail that you've managed to get into the corners," she praised.

Cassana blushed. "Th-thank you, mommy."

Torrhen babbled and smacked his tiny hands on the desk, earning a slight chuckle from Sansa as she held her youngest offspring close to her. Brienne remained guarded, ready to defend the Queen and her children if the situation calls for it; even if her thoughts did indeed turn elsewhere: when she heard of Stannis's death, Brienne felt mixed emotions—although glad that the man who she knew was involved with assassinating Renly with blood magic during the Stag Sedition, though the other half of her felt slighted that it wasn't she who carried out the sentencing.

"Brienne?" Sansa noticed her staring blankly into the distance. "You've been quiet for some time now."

"My apologies, Your Grace. I—" she said.

The door sprang open, revealing Ser Lucius. Judging by the expression on his face, Sansa and Brienne determined that something wasn't right. Lucius looked disturbed and rather infuriated. "Apologies for interrupting, Your Grace, but there's a physical altercation in the guest wing," he informed.

"Which parties are involved?" she asked.

"Lady Selyse, Lord Stannis's widow. Their daughter Shireen is being... abused. By her own mother."

That last part made Sansa's gut twist in knots and boil her blood. Her maternal instincts are immediately riled up at the mere mention of a grieving child mourning the loss of her deceased father being treated so horribly by the very person who carried Shireen to term; passing Torrhen off to one of her handmaidens, Sansa stood up tall, her posture straightened and firm as she left the room to confront Selyse with Brienne and Lucius accompanying her.

Turning each corner, Sansa pushed one of the guest doors open and was visibly horrified to see Selyse shrieking at and beating Shireen with a rod used for disciplinary punishment. The poor girl was still grieving, but held her arms up to try to defend herself against her mother's assaults.

"You've been nothing but a cursed child ever since you came into this world! Sullen and stubborn and sinful!" Selyse continued whacking her daughter. "My sweet boys. Petyr, Tommard, Edric... Lady Melisandre gave your father a son in service to the Lord of Light, but I couldn't! All I could give your father was stillborns, yet he doted on you all the same! Led him astray!"