If there was one thing I had learned about escaping places you have absolutely no business escaping, it's that a good distraction goes a long way.
One might ask, how good? Setting fire to barracks close to the walls levels of good.
Very few things are as distracting as the imminent threat of fire all around you while your city is under siege.
Was this the best way to make a distraction? No idea. It's the first thing that came to mind. Dacey didn't push back, so we were good, probably.
With the help of Cerati scouting for us, we were able to find the gold cloaks' barracks near the gate.
The absolute best distraction would've been to set the fire inside the barracks, but its walls made that a tall task. So, we did the next best thing and, with the help of Cerati's view, we set fire to the weapon store by throwing torches over the walls.
I threw another pair of torches for good measure and moved closer to the gates.
As a well educated lordling, I know there were a few essentials for defending a siege. Right now, I cared about the 'anti siege engine' measures. Specifically, the pitch, oil and tar to burn Renly's siege engines.
"Stop!" Dacey whisper-screamed and pushed me against the wall.
I had to blink a couple of times to understand what the hell was happening. A formation of guards passed jogging in direction to the Blackwater.
"Focus, Jon." She let go of me.
I took a deep breath. I was focused on Cerati's view and almost fucked up.
I nodded, it was enough for Dacey. We went on our way.
By the time we got near the gate, Cerati hadn't found where exactly the defenders kept their most flammable stash. We had no time so we went for the next best thing. The arrows cache.
Left unguarded and with the little time we had, it was our best choice.
My hands were trembling with while striking a spark on my flint. Once again, I had to take a breath and keep going.
"Time to go," I said.
Our distraction was done, now we just needed to escape. I turned to Dacey and found her carrying a rope with her.
"You're distracted," she answered my silent question.
"Fair."
We found our way back to our party and found Perwyn had everyone covering themselves in damp roughspun clothes. I realized I hadn't told him what the plan was.
It was great to work with mind readers.
The smoke was becoming thick enough for Cerati to have difficulties scouting for us. It should be enough for the next few minutes, but longer than that and we would lose our biggest advantage.
I looked over everyone in the party. Everyone was scared, everyone knew this could go horribly wrong.
Jeyne was glued to Sansa, Myrcella had an arm over Tommen, Annara had put up a brittle front of bravery and Arra was utterly terrified for her babe.
The weight of responsibility almost crushed me then and there. What if a guard recognized Robert's children? What if the fires and smoke weren't enough of a distraction? What if—
"Here," Perwyn handed me a damp cloak. "You don't want to burn your hair. The smell is terrible."
I could almost see Dacey rolling her eyes behind me.
"You heard him. Ladies, Tommen," I said. "Keep your heads well covered. We don't want to stink."
Keep it together, I repeated over and over. Just a little longer.
With that, we left our little hideout. Not without starting a fire before leaving.
I gave a final look behind me. The fire would spread soon enough.
The chaos would help us immensely. Destroying homes of people on the brink of starvation would help us.
I buried the guilt deep inside me, and moved forward.
Later.
###
The smoke from the barracks covered our approach to the walls. I first thought to start a fire in the gates and sneak out in the confusion. It could've worked… if we could stole the keys to the locks, lift the crossbar from the gates, find the portcullis mechanism, raise the portcullis in a quick manner, and then sneak out. All the while hoping to find no guards in our way.
Something, something, plans never survive contact with the enemy. The two unexpected hostages and the maids hellbent on following my sister were proof enough of that.
So, in the end, we chose the simplest way to sneak out.
We were going to sneak our way through the walls. Climbing them down. Good thing we were prepared.
"Stay low," I ordered. "Perwyn, you're with me."
I didn't stop to confirm he was following, and rushed my way through the smoke spear first into guards on the gatehouse base.
My spear plunged into the man's neck. I stopped his body from falling and alerting anyone. To the side, Perwyn had buried his sword in the other guard's stomach.
I let out a breath. With a nod, Perwyn took the bodies to hide them. On my end, I unpacked wood from my backpack and started a fire.
The gatehouse was the most comfortable way to get up the wall from this end. We couldn't fight our way up, not with our numbers, so the plan was to make them leave.
The wood caught fire, I took the last torch we had left and threw it to the shack on the other side of the gatehouse.
There was a balance we had to accomplish. Enough smoke for the guards in the gatehouse to leave, but not enough to suffocating us while we raced our way to the top.
There was no one better to do this than myself. Cerati from the air could inform me how much smoke was enough.
The fires started spreading. Now, it was just the waiting game.
###
"War is no place for a lady," was something Catelyn heard time and time again.
There was a time she would've believed it and turned her heels back to Winterfell, to her home. Mayhaps if Robb had been a little older she would've went back to Bran and Rickon back at the Moat. Mayhaps if her lord father had been hale and hearty she would've trusted him to give her son all the counsel he would ever need.
Mayhaps if Ned were still alive…
In the end, that was what drove her to stay. The memory of hearing Ned's voice while she wanted nothing more than collapse onto herself pushed her to where she was.
How many blows can a lady endure unbroken? How much grief can a lady bear before crumbling under its weight?
Catelyn didn't know.
There were times she felt herself on the brink of shattering to pieces. Many times. But the thought of doing nothing for her daughters was far more overwhelming in the opposite direction.
Overwhelming enough to ask Robb to let her negotiate with Renly. Enough to push her escorts toward King's Landing. Enough to face Stannis and Tywin.
And yet, not enough to convince Tywin to release her daughters…
She bit her tongue, hard. She couldn't let herself wander, she had to be present.
She raised her gaze to search for the hawk that started her galloping. There it was, circling over the King's Gate amidst the smoke.
The hawk kept circling over the King's Gate amidst the smoke. It was bizarre. It was unnatural.
It was like Robb's direwolf.
Her son's direwolf was enormous and yet, the beast was usually gentle while at Robb's side, and a fierce protector while on the battlefield. If Grey Wind was so closely intertwined with Robb, enough to behave in ways no beast would behave… then what did a hawk acting in unnatural ways could mean?
Her palfrey squirmed below her, it grew more agitated the closer they got to the city wall and the smoke. Catelyn lowered herself and patted the neck of her mount.
"Please," she whispered. "Just a little closer, sweetling. Just a little closer." She closed her eyes and prayed to the Mother Above. Please.
"War is no place for a lady," a dark corner of her mind repeated. I know, she responded.
Before Ser Wendel could remind her of that fact, she turned to him. "We'll dismount at the tourney grounds. I'll need you to escort me closer to the gate."
The knight locked eyes with her. For a heartbeat she felt deep cold rage enveloping her. She understood what her house's words meant. Winter is coming.
"Aye, my lady," Ser Wendel said. "Robar, Lucas, Halis. You're with me."
Catelyn let out a calming breath.
Beyond the gates… she needed to see for herself. This time, she wouldn't disappoint Ned.
###
Tense minutes passed before the gatehouse guards started getting out. One by one, city watchmen got out to check on the fires. We killed the first ones, the fire needed time to spread.
When the heat was making me feel like I was in an oven, I accepted the truth.
The guards would never leave the gatehouse. The smoke would smother us before it could expel them from there.
"Hey Perwyn, how good of a climber are you?"
The knight turned to me with a half crooked smile.
"Heh, not one of my brothers is better than me."
Normally, that wouldn't have been enough to make me trust on his skill, but Perwyn is a Frey. He had enough brothers to rival a prosperous Northern village in numbers.
"Dacey, change of plans," I said. "We'll bring the fire closer to the gatehouse. Perwyn, I'll need you to climb the wall—"
"And throw you some rope," he completed. "My mother didn't call me squirrel for nothing, Jon. Consider it done."
We picked up the rest of our party and sent them with Perwyn. Meanwhile, Dacey and I followed behind starting more fires and closing up the road for any pursuer.
Shacks, thatched roof and hay burned. It was not that different than stubble burning the fields, only more destructive and dangerous. One couldn't know where oil was stored.
Dacey's breath was heavy by the time we got close to the walls. My brain was getting closer to its limit too. Who would've thought prolonged use of skinchanging could be this exhausting?
With a final push, we lit our smokescreen and turned toward Perwyn.
I checked one last time on Oberyn and cut the connexion with my pigeon. The prince would have to ride the last part on his own. It was a shame, I wanted to see Tywin's face when he saw a mad Dornishman charging at him.
We reached the place of the wall Perwyn had climbed. Sansa, Myrcella and Tommen were already up. Annara was halfway through one of the ropes already. Waiting for us, was Arra with her babe in arms, and Jeyne. Both terrified.
Dacey went straight for Jeyne, used her cloak to tie her to her back, went for the first rope, and turned to wait for me.
I swallowed a sigh, helped the maid to secure her babe on her back, and piggybacked her. Going by size, this should've been Dacey's job, but Jeyne's wounds were still too fresh to cling to a man.
I knew rescuing Sansa was going to be hard as all hell, it's just that I didn't expect I had to climb King's Landing walls with a woman and her babe on my back. Life has a tendency to defy your craziest expectations, it seemed.
Twenty arduous feet later, Perwyn gave me a hand and pulled me and the petrified woman up. My arms were burning something fierce, even if I tried to make my legs do most of the work.
"Just one final climb, Jon," the knight said in that effortlessly mocking tone of his.
"Shadup!" I was able to say through my ragged breath.
The smoke was getting thicker by the minute and we needed to climb down as soon as possible.
The seconds I took to recover, were enough for Perwyn and Dacey to tie the rope and throw it to the other side of the wall.
"Sansa," I called. "You're with me."
She nodded.
"I'll take the rear," Perwyn said. "I may not look like it, but climbing up and down wore me out."
Yeah, right.
Dacey picked up and tied Myrcella and Tommen on her back, patted my shoulder with an annoying smirk, and went down.
I threw my spear down, and With my sister secured on my back and my hands on the rope, I started rappelling down. Unlike the climb, my arms weren't screaming and about to explode, the burn was manageable, or so I had to believe.
Step by step, twenty feet became ten, and then six. My hands felt the bite of rope, and that was with calluses of a lifetime halberdier. I looked down, jumped the final stretch and landed on my feet. Sansa let out a little yelp, but otherwise was unharmed.
I let out a sigh, it was done, my sister was out of this fucking city.
"Stay here, Jon," Dacey said while climbing once again. "Someone has to guard the landing."
Yeah, right. My arms and shoulders thanked her though.
I picked up my spear and scanned my surroundings. The smoke did its job, we were able to sneak out of the walls with no one noticing. For a moment I allowed myself to unwind. The hardest part was done, now it was just a matter of finding our way to Lady Stark and ride our way to Duskendale. Easy. At least compared to everything else.
Dacey started climbing down with Jeyne on her back. On the other rope, Annara was climbing her way down. She may have met Sansa first, but I had a feeling, she would get along with Arya quite well.
Halfway through, I noticed Jeyne was carrying the other maid's babe. All things considered, probably a good choice.
Dacey reached the ground first. The maid followed soon after, her whole body trembling in fear. Sansa pulled her and Jeyne together to calm them both.
I looked up and the left rope fell to the ground. Soon after Perwyn and his passenger started climbing down the walls. This time the relief that washed over me almost made me sit on the ground and laugh like a maniac.
We infiltrated King's Landing, found our way through Maegor's secret tunnels, found Sansa, and made our escape. Not even the fact that the Master of Whispers had helped and probably knew of my plans could worry me at this point.
Perwyn landed and with that, we turned our backs to the city to go west. I spared a final look at the city. Fuck you, King's Landing.
I pulled on Cerati's thread, the smoke made it hard for him to keep acting as a scout, but now outside the city, he would be showing his worth once again. Sorry buddy, just a little more.
The best scout in the world responded with the equivalent of a shrug, and went forward. Thankfully, there was no army anywhere near us.
Renly's army was all focused on the Lion Gate, throwing bodies at the gate with the hope it would shatter before they would. Meanwhile behind us, Stannis was probably already securing the River Gate.
"We're going west," I said. "We'll rest once we are past the tourney grounds."
I sent Cerati forward, to look for the Stark banner. If we kept our lucky strike, we'd find it long before the city falls, and be able to sneak our way to Duskendale.
Everyone was drained and relieved in equal measure. I wanted to set the pace as a brisk walk, but Sansa's hostages and Jeyne wouldn't keep up. It was extremely stressful while in the city, but here, I was more open to let them be.
I heard rustling in front, and saw three knights running after a lady. It would've been a do or die kind of situation, except I recognized the lady, and the fat knight running after her.
It took me a second to get over the shock of seeing Lady Stark running toward us, and for me to see her frantically shouting something.
The next thing I knew, I was on the ground with Sansa next to me.
It was then I understood what Catelyn Stark was shouting, "Crossbows."
The slender knight and Ser Wendel fired their bows, and I picked up Sansa in a frenzy.
"Run! Get out of range!" I screamed.
My spear was left on the ground as Sansa clung to me. I had been careless, I had thought all would work out when we got past the walls.
Dacey was by my side carrying Jeyne in her arms, Perwyn had Myrcella and Tommen with him. I didn't see the maids.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
In what felt like an eternity and a half, I found my way behind the knight's shields. Panting, with my legs screaming and ready to collapse, I sat.
I turned my gaze to the side, to check on the rest of my party.
Jeyne clung to Dacey, crying her heart out. Tommen did the same with Myrcella, and Perwyn…
Perwyn had three bolts sticking out of his back.
The ground was painted red with his blood. He was the one who shoved me to the ground, if not for him…
It was all my fault.
To the side, the two maids were quietly crying over Ser Perwyn's body. Over my friend's body.
Later, I learned he picked up Arra when she fell halfway through our run. Even later, I heard Ser Wendel and Ser Robar calling him a true knight.
He wasn't a true knight, he was annoying, mocking and extremely picky with his food. He was a smug little shit and a smart ass. He had this annoying habit of acting like an older brother and celebrating every little achievement I got.
He was my friend.
Tears fell down to the ground, and for once, I didn't care what anyone thought of me.
###
A/N: Sorry for the wait, this chapter fought me hard.
Next time, we have an interlude for whatever happens to Renly, Tywin, LF, etc. It'll be two interludes given my current writing speed.
You can read two chapters ahead: p.a.t.r.e.o.n.c.o.m / yorud