Chapter 114: Reunion with Sansa

Late at night, at the River Gate (Mud Gate) of King's Landing.

The Red Keep, residence of the royal family, was built on Aegon's High Hill, which is surrounded by the sea on two sides and faces the river on one; without a Dragon, the difficulty of capturing this place is only lower than taking the Eyrie, Casterly Rock, or Storm's End.

Considering that the Red Keep is also protected by the 500,000-strong population of King's Landing and King's Landing Port, this difficulty is greatly increased.

On a moonlit night, even from two or three miles away, one could clearly see the pale red castle; however, the dark clouds added a touch of siege atmosphere to the capital, leaving Arthur and Arya only able to see the royal fortress vaguely.

This also allowed the two, dressed in black robes and wearing hoods, to keep their movements concealed.

They needed to evade not only the soldiers of the Red Keep and the King's Landing City Watch, but also the Stark soldiers patrolling back and forth outside the River Gate.

Although the latter were closer to Arya, the commander of the coalition was, after all, Roose Bolton.

The Stark soldiers strictly enforced the commander's orders to besiege the city, and even the actions of their own side would be reported.

Because Arthur had "captured" Tyrion Lannister and was searching extensively for the blacksmith Gendry, the Leech Lord was very concerned about Arthur himself and the movements in his camp.

If he were to find out that Bracken had taken "Ary" near the Red Keep, the Leech Lord would likely divert a sliver of his attention to Arthur's cupbearer.

After all, this matter was too suspicious.

After bypassing the fish market outside the Mud Gate and the gathering place of the Stark soldiers where bonfires were burning, the two walked quickly and quietly toward the cliff where the Red Keep stood.

Arya silently recalled the route she had taken when she passed through here last time, but suddenly remembered her father who was still alive then, Mody who always scolded her for running around, and her sister Sansa who looked down on her for not being ladylike enough.

Perhaps due to the "Blood of the Wolf" flowing in her veins, she, like Bran when he was young, was born with a love for adventure, exploration, and battle.

She thought of her sister Sansa's reaction when she learned of her desire to participate in the Tourney and knock those men on horseback to the ground; at that time, she called her sister a dummy, because she was indeed very dull, quite boy-crazy, and often went to their father with Mody to complain that she was too lively, active, and wild, and really not like a lady of a noble house at all.

And her father would always listen to their complaints very seriously, then promise to discipline her.

But what Arya received was often her father's exhortations and concerns to "be careful"; he even hired the "Water Dancer" Syrio Forel for his youngest daughter.

This master-level swordsman and former First Sword of Braavos.

Although Arya did not understand the cost of living, she knew that hiring such a person must have cost a lot of money.

And the bannerman houses of The North were not very wealthy; the late King Robert could eat up one-third of the entire Stark family's savings just by eating and drinking with a retinue of three or four hundred people for over a month.

This shows how much Duke Eddard loved his daughter.

"The last time I came to the Red Keep, it was to beat up a Kingsguard in the Throne Room," Arthur said in a low voice.

In reality, using "last time" was inaccurate; he had only been inside the Red Keep once.

Arya's train of thought was interrupted by this sentence, and then she remembered the incident.

The Kingsguard who was beaten was Meryn Trant, the very man who killed her sword instructor Syrio.

During the coup in King's Landing, Meryn Trant brought several of the Queen's red-cloaked soldiers to capture Arya, and then the Water Dancer Syrio let his student escape first while he held them off.

Having escaped to outside the Red Keep and wandered for several days in the area of Flea Bottom and Iron Street, Arya learned of her teacher's death from passersby.

This former First Sword of Braavos had his head chopped off after death, then was impaled on a Javelin and hung outside the main gate of the Red Keep.

Therefore, her hatred for Meryn Trant was second only to the King's Justice who killed her father, Ilyn Payne.

The last time she heard the story of Meryn Trant being defeated, Arya was still the daughter of the Hand, able to openly and boldly reveal her identity to the Gold Cloaks and have them send her back to the Tower of the Hand.

But now, she could only hide her name and pretend to be a boy, "Ary," in front of everyone.

"Meryn Trant, Ilyn Payne, Joffrey," Arya muttered to herself.

These three had already become the top two on her list of people to kill.

"Ilyn Payne is the executioner who killed your father, Lord Eddard, right?" Arthur asked.

Knowing that Arya would not answer, he immediately said the next sentence, "When we break through King's Landing and the Red Keep, I will personally judge the crimes of these people and sentence them to death."

Arya, who was moving with the special footwork taught by her Water Dancer teacher, suddenly stopped.

Arthur noticed this situation and asked in a low voice, "What's wrong?"

"Why are you doing this? Your relationship with Lord Eddard was just average, right?"

"This isn't a matter of relationship," Arthur replied. "I am a law-abiding good person. According to the laws of the kingdom, even those who raise an army in rebellion have the right to take the black and go to the Wall in the North to serve as a member of the Night's Watch. When the Lannister family launched the coup in King's Landing, they violated many laws. I have decided to punish these people according to the law."

In fact, letting lawbreakers go to the Wall to serve as black-clad Night's Watchmen was already a custom in Westeros, but it was indeed the law.

During the coup, the Lion family's Cersei, Pycelle, as well as their ally Littlefinger Baelish and the Commander of the Gold Cloaks, Janos Slynt, whom Baelish had bribed, had actually violated many legal provisions.

But considering that the Master of Laws, Lord Renly, was still rebelling in the south, and King's Landing was the territory of the Lion family, these illegal acts went unpunished.

"What's more, Duke Eddard was a good lord with a great reputation; no one with a conscience would sit by and watch him be insulted by the cruel and tyrannical Joffrey."

The place where Eddard Stark was beheaded was in the square in front of the Great Sept of Baelor.

That was the territory of the Seven, not a place for carrying out executions.

And after Eddard died, his head was also impaled on a Javelin and hung outside the main gate of the Red Keep, like a rare treasure for the onlookers of King's Landing to watch, satisfy their curiosity, and even humiliate.

"You are a good person," Arya said, and then continued on her way.

She began to approve of Arthur.

Arthur followed and replied in a low voice, "Well, actually, I have selfish motives too. I want to pursue your sister Sansa, but I suffer from my low status and fear she won't look favorably upon me. So I thought I'd do something to please you sisters."

Arthur himself was a fan of good looks; although Sansa was a bit boy-crazy and her personality was a bit naive in the beginning, her face and figure were of top-tier beauty.

Given the current situation, Joffrey and Sansa's betrothal was certainly void.

After all, the position of Queen could certainly attract a powerful ally for the Westerlands-Crownlands alliance.

And according to the customs of Westeros, divorce was considered a violation of a Sacred Oath, and oath-breakers were to be killed by the whole continent, so there was no such thing as divorce.

If Joffrey and Sansa were truly married, then before Joffrey could take a new Queen, he would have to kill Sansa to marry the next one.

And Sansa was the one with the highest status and identity among the Lion family's hostages, which meant she had to stay alive to have value.

With various factors combined, Joffrey and Sansa's betrothal would definitely be void.

And with Robb still alive, the Stark family's requirements for a son-in-law's status would naturally not be high.

In fact, if Robert hadn't gone north, Sansa might have just married some powerful, age-appropriate lord in The North or the Riverlands and had children.

And after Arthur achieved major military exploits, marrying Sansa would also be a possibility.

"I am Ary, I don't have a sister named Sansa." She still refused to admit her identity, even though both of them knew it clearly.

Arya made up her mind; if this man truly killed Meryn Trant, Ilyn Payne, and Joffrey, she would play matchmaker between her sister and him.

After all, her sister was a lovesick girl who only cared for handsome men and didn't really mind status or identity.

The two continued on their way and finally arrived at the intersection of the Red Keep's sewers and Blackwater Bay.

"It's right here." Arya pointed to the source of the stench. "Go in from here, keep walking inside, then climb up, and you can enter the interior of the Red Keep."

The last time she passed through here, it was because she had accidentally bumped into Prince Tommen and Princess Myrcella while chasing a one-eared black cat, so she hid in a cellar, then walked and walked, passing through layers of spiral staircases and drawbridges, finally escaping all her pursuers.

But she soon discovered that she couldn't find her way back.

As luck would have it, Arya heard the conversation between Varys and the Jiu Jiu Jiu Jiu Zongdu of Pentos, Illyrio, and so she wanted to follow the two of them out.

It was just that she followed the wrong person; the Illyrio she was tracking was leaving from inside the Red Keep, and she consequently followed him out through these sewers.

"Alright, the way is pointed out to you, let's leave." Arya whispered.

Arthur looked up at the Red Keep and suddenly thought of a problem.

Most of the coalition forces were soldiers from The North, and Robert's two sisters were nominally both in King's Landing.

If the Gold Cloaks could not hold King's Landing and let the coalition forces fight their way outside the Red Keep, given Joffrey's tyrannical personality, he would naturally take Sansa as a hostage to force the coalition forces to retreat.

And Robert's purpose in marching south was to rescue his father and sisters, so the soldiers from The North might be wary of this and not dare to attack the Red Keep.

This was quite awkward.

The Red Keep itself was a large fortress, containing a Huayuan, granaries, and a Battalion, and even a pigsty.

If they besieged it without attacking, it might drag on for a long time, long enough for the situation on the continent to undergo major changes.

And the force closest to King's Landing was Stannis of Dragonstone.

This man was the first heir of the late King Robert, so he was very hateful of Robert's act of declaring himself king.

If Stannis were allowed to borrow enough Jiu Jiu Jiu Jiu Jinzi from the Iron Bank of Braavos, he would certainly hire several thousand mercenaries from Essos at the first opportunity, and then attack King's Landing with the five thousand or so men under his command.

After all, according to Stannis's view, he was the true master of the Iron Throne.

Therefore, the coalition's best choice was to quickly take King's Landing and the Red Keep, then take the Jiu Jiu Jiu Jiu Jinzi of the nobles in the city, as well as important hostages like Cersei, Joffrey, Tommen, and Myrcella, and head north, leaving King's Landing for Renly and Stannis to fight over.

Having figured this out, Arthur suddenly had an idea.

"Since we're already here, why not rescue your sister before we leave?" he asked.

If following the original plot, Sansa originally lived in the Tower of the Hand, and later, when Tyrion Lannister returned to King's Landing and moved into the Tower of the Hand, Sansa moved to another place.

But now, Tyrion Lannister was in his Battalion, so Sansa should not have moved out of the Tower of the Hand.

Even more coincidentally, if one kept walking inside this sewer and then climbed upward, it would lead to the Tower of the Hand after exiting.

Of course, it could also lead to the dungeons of the Red Keep.

And analyzing from the fact that Varys occasionally met with Illyrio here, there shouldn't be many people on this path.

"Right now?" Hearing that Arthur was prepared to go rescue her sister, Arya was very surprised. "Just the two of us?"

"Yes." Arthur's tone was very firm. "Just the two of us; given my combat power, it's enough."

Actually, Arthur alone was enough, but bringing Arya was to make Sansa believe him.

After all, he and Sansa only had a flower-offering acquaintance before.

Arya thought about the rumors she had heard about Arthur before and suddenly realized that this was an unparalleled fierce general who could kill hundreds of people by himself.

If they snuck in now, they might really be able to take her sister away.

Her heart was pounding.

"Since Lord Eddard is a kind and good man, then I, Ary, must rescue his daughter Sansa."

She was the one with the most "Blood of the Wolf" among this generation of Stark, and after the adventurous factor in her body was stirred up, she had already started to get carried away.

Arthur was very satisfied with her reaction.

The two then quietly snuck in from the sewer.

Walking along the sewage ditch, then following the stone path upward, and passing through spiral staircases, brick tunnels, and other places, they groped for a long time before they heard very faint human voices.

The two then stopped, and after Arya carefully identified them for a while, she confirmed the general location of the place.

"It's in the dungeon; there are the groans of death-row prisoners inside."

After adjusting their direction, the two began to grope in the darkness again.

Finally, under Arya's guidance, they arrived at the ground level.

Then, the two, hugging the wall as they advanced, tiptoed and began to head toward the Tower of the Hand.

Coincidentally, in order to strengthen the defense of the walls of King's Landing, the defense inside the Red Keep was actually reduced somewhat.

After all, no one would expect that someone would emerge from inside the Red Keep.

This allowed the two to reach the Tower of the Hand after only avoiding one patrol of soldiers.

It was already late at night, and the only noble living in this tower was Sansa, so there were very few maids.

After an interval of two months, Arya finally returned to this place.

But she couldn't spare the time for sentiment and quietly took Arthur to her sister's room.

Bang, bang, bang.

She knocked on the door lightly.

At this time, her sister must have already fallen asleep; Arya wanted to increase the force of her knocking so that her sister would open the door, but she was afraid that the maids living in the tower would hear the sound and get up to check the situation.

Fortunately, not long after, there was movement inside.

"Didn't I tell you all, I don't need you to check on me when I'm sleeping at night." Sansa opened the door, complaining in a low voice.

Ever since her father died, the servants her family brought from The North had all been killed.

Now, those serving and monitoring her were people sent by the Queen Regent Cersei.

She didn't even dare to raise her voice when scolding these people.

After the door opened, Sansa was startled by what she saw and was about to scream.

Fortunately, Arthur reacted quickly, hurriedly darted in, and clamped his hand over Sansa's mouth.

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(End of chapter)