Arya sneaked in smartly, then gently closed the door and bolted it.
With the dim light of the candle in her hand, Sansa recognized Arthur Bracken who was covering her mouth.
How could this person appear here?
Sansa was puzzled.
Arya whispered: "It's me, sister, do you recognize me?"
Hearing this familiar voice, Sansa suddenly realized that the "little boy" who came in from behind was actually her sister.
Because Arthur covered her mouth, she couldn't make a sound, so she could only nod to show recognition.
Bracken whispered: "Your sister and I are here to rescue you. After I let go of your hand, you must not scream, understand?"
Sansa nodded, and Arthur let go of his hand.
"Arya, why are you..."
Before Sansa finished her words of blame with a little concern, Arya had already pounced on her.
The two sisters, one tall and one short, hugged each other tightly, expressing their longing for each other in the past few months.
Arthur noticed that two lines of tears were left in the corners of Sansa's eyes.
Although he could not see Arya's face, he thought that the younger sister was the same as the older sister.
In the past few months, the two of them fell from the daughters of the Prime Minister to the quagmire. One lived in fear in the Red Castle, enduring Joffrey's humiliation and the ridicule of the royal nobles every day; the other pretended to be a boy and followed a group of men to leave King's Landing and go north. Then the night watchman who protected her, Yoren, was also killed by the gold cloaks. From then on, she had no food to eat, and her life was tense.
After a long time, the two sisters separated and whispered about their experiences.
Arthur thought that now was not the time to do these things, so he reminded them:
"Two Miss Starks, should we leave?"
It was late at night, a good time to escape.
If they waited a little longer, and asked the servants who had gotten up early to help the golden robes and knights get up, wash and dress, they might not be able to get away.
Sansa nodded, "I need to pack my things."
This was acceptable.
After Sansa changed into her daily long dress, the two sisters worked together to help pack Sansa's clothes, hair ties, accessories and other sundries.
Of course, there was also the rag doll that Duke Eddard specially customized for Sansa.
After packing a lot of things, they finally wrapped them in a sheet.
Arya let Arthur carry her without any hesitation, and the three of them were ready to set off.
Thump thump thump.
At this moment, there was a sudden sound of footsteps outside the room, which made them nervous.
"Sansa, what are you doing? Are you changing the sheets? Open the door quickly." The person outside the door shouted.
Since Sansa was already at the age of having her period, the old maid who was monitoring her was very careful about this matter. She checked the sheets two or three times a day.
Arthur silently put the package on the ground, walked gently to the door, drew out a half-hand sword worn on his waist, and then signaled Sansa to open the door normally.
Sansa understood and pretended to complain: "I was thirsty and just drank some water. You disturbed my rest."
Then she slowly walked into the room and pulled out the bolt.
The old maid was very rude to the daughter of the former prime minister because she relied on the power of the queen mother. She pushed open the door and was about to scold her, but she felt a chill on her neck.
What was worse was that a strong hand blocked her mouth that was about to scream.
Arthur looked at Sansa and asked, "Kill or not."
The old maid just ran into them, and there was nothing extremely evil about her. If she could not be killed, she would not be killed.
Sansa looked at this maid who was usually very unfriendly to her. Although she wanted Arthur to kill her to vent her anger, she still couldn't harden her heart.
Shaking her head, the eldest daughter of the Stark family whispered, "Just don't let her affect our actions."
The old maid also quieted down and nodded desperately, indicating that she would obey.
Arthur was straightforward and knocked her head with the hilt of the sword, knocking her unconscious, then tied her hands behind her back with the handkerchief hanging around her waist, stuffed her mouth with the old maid's smelly socks, and dragged her to the bottom of the bed.
After carrying the big package, the three of them left quickly.
There were no dangers along the way.
Under the cover of the night, after dodging a round of golden robes, they re-entered the underground near the throne room, then touched the black well and went to the sewer.
After passing through layers of stone corridors, wooden spiral staircases, and natural stone caves again, they finally smelled the stench of pungent smell.
"Is this the toilet?" Sansa, who was in the dark, asked while her sister held one hand and pinched her nose with the other hand.
Although the Red Keep can smell a bit of the stench of King's Landing, it is still acceptable and does not affect life.
But the smell in front of the nose is so suffocating that it might kill people.
If it weren't for her sister and the outsiders, Sansa felt that she would faint under this smell.
"Almost, a sewer in the Red Keep is connected to the Blackwater River." Arya replied.
Sansa was a little worried: "Doesn't that mean my skirt will get dirty? I only have one or two skirts to wear."
The weather has turned cold, and since her father died, no one cares if she has a thicker skirt to wear.
So she can only worry about these things by herself.
Arya, who was in the front, began to dislike her sister again, "It's time, and you still care about a skirt. After you escape and go home, you can sew as many as you want."
They had reached a place where they had to wade through the stinky water to move forward.
Sansa was a little silent. Sister Mordane, who taught her to sew clothes, had been killed by the red robes of the Lion family.
After tying the backpack tightly, Arthur went down the stinky ditch first, and then said, "It's okay. If you don't mind, I can carry you through this stinky ditch."
Arya turned her head and rolled her eyes at Arthur, "You are good at being attentive."
Sansa remembered her father's previous judgment that this person was "worthy of being associated with" and agreed to this proposal.
So Arthur, who was carrying the package, hugged his knee with his right hand, and his left hand went around his shoulder blade, reaching under Sansa's left armpit and picked her up.
Miss Stark, who was considerate of Arthur's burden, put her arm around his neck to make it easier for him to walk.
The three began to move forward again, but Arya was the last this time.
If the light was brighter, the two people in front would definitely see the contempt in her eyes.
It's just a little bit of stinky water, is it necessary to be like this?
After walking for a long time, the three finally reached the intersection of the Blackwater River and the Stinky Ditch.
It was almost dawn, and the three hurriedly walked onto the beach.
After Arthur put Sansa down, he discussed with the two Starks.
"You must go to the coalition camp first, and then you can arrange your next move. Now there is a question, are you willing to disclose your identity? There are 3,000 Stark infantrymen in the coalition, as well as a large number of northern nobles and knights loyal to the Stark family. There should be no problem with safety."
Sansa glanced at her sister, "I heard that Lord Bolton is the commander of the coalition, so let's disclose our identities."
If the late King Robert did not go north, Sansa's marriage partner would be Domeric, the legitimate son of Roose Bolton, so she still has a good impression of Lord Bolton.
"I can't trust Lord Leech." Arya not only loves adventure, but also likes to inquire about the anecdotes of those powerful warriors, and she also knows a lot about the heads of some big families.
Let alone the act of sucking one's own blood with leeches, the long-standing saying of the Bolton family, "Naked people have few secrets, and peeled people have no secrets," is scary enough.
The two sisters discussed for a while and decided to let Sansa reveal her identity, and Arya continued to hide under the name of "Arry".
This is also good, as eggs are placed in two baskets.
Among the four major families in the North, the Dustin family only sent a small number of troops to the south, and Manderly of White Harbor only sent a thousand infantry and five hundred riders to join.
The other two families, the Stark and Bolton families, basically sent their entire armies to the south.
However, considering that there are a large number of second-tier northern nobles loyal to the Wolf family in the coalition, once the identity is revealed, Lord Leech will have to serve Sansa well.
Because Stark's appeal is much stronger than that of a Bolton, it is not impossible for Sansa to unite with the northern nobles to abolish Bolton's position as commander.
While the two were discussing, Arthur also explained to them that Roose Bolton would always send Stark soldiers and the loyal family of Wolf to lead the charge in every battle.
Because the land is vast and the population is sparse, the people of the North have few opportunities to interact with each other, so they are basically very honest.
The nobles and soldiers of the North will do whatever the commander asks them to do without any discount.
This is also the reason why in the original plot, Roose Bolton was able to send away the soldiers of the Wolf family and retain most of his own troops.
"I will talk to Lord Bolton about this. When we attack King's Landing, let the Bolton family take the first credit."
Although Sansa is a little naive now, she is not stupid.
Always letting the Stark soldiers lead the charge, isn't this a drain on her family's strength?
After deciding on the big and small things, Arthur gave Sansa his black robe and hood.
Just in case, before Robbert Glover, Earl Mage Severn, Earl Herman Tallhart and other northern earl-level nobles or heirs see Sansa, her identity must be kept secret.
While it was still dark, the three of them walked quickly to the camp west of King's Landing. On the way, they naturally met Stark soldiers blocking the mud gate. Arthur told them to cheer up and leave.
Anyway, Sansa will be able to recognize the northern nobles this morning, so there is no need to hide her whereabouts.
After walking quickly to their own camp, Arthur asked Arya to hide in the tent area of the Qohor mercenaries, and asked the servant Medan to call Patrick and Raymond who were still sleeping.
Among the nobles in the riverlands, more than a dozen of the Frey family were looked down upon by the northerners, and only these two were still on good terms with the northern nobles.
It was just right to let them call the northern nobles to recognize Sansa.
It was impossible to go to Bolton's tent. Who knows what the old guy might do.
Patrick yawned and asked, "Why did you get up so early?"
He didn't even notice the black-robed man standing behind Arthur.
Raymond, who was mature, noticed it, but didn't ask.
"Wake up, I need your help. Go to the camp of the northerners and call..." Arthur assigned the task to the two of them.
After hearing it clearly, the two were very puzzled as to why Arthur did this, but they still went out to call for help.
Sansa took the opportunity to take off her black robe and hood, and tidied her hair and skirt.
Not long after, Robert Glover's voice sounded outside the tent, "Arthur, what are you doing? I'm very busy today. The trees along the Blackwater River are almost cut down. I have to take people to cut wood farther away."
He came in with Earl Mech beside him, and then found the red-haired woman in the tent.
"Who is this?" Robert felt that the hair color was very familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had seen it for a moment.
Since the family castle was very close to Winterfell, Meiqi Severn recognized at a glance that the red-haired woman was the sister of their King of the North, Sansa Stark.
"My lady, I can't imagine how you have been through this period of time. In order to rescue you and your sister, more than 20,000 of us went south. Now that you are back among the northerners, you will never suffer any grievances again."
Earl Meiqi himself is known for his kind words. Seeing Sansa still wearing a summer dress, he has guessed her living conditions in the Red Castle, so he hurriedly began to comfort her.
Sansa also had a good impression of this person. Meiqi Severn always wanted to marry his daughter to his brother Robb, so he often went to Winterfell.
"I am very grateful to Lord Severn for everything he has done for me and the Stark family..."
During this time in the Red Castle, Sansa learned the most about various clichés. Although she was also very moved, she still responded with clichés out of habit.
Robert also understood Sansa's identity, so he began to comfort Miss Stark.
Next, a large number of northern nobles came one after another, such as Harion of the Karstark family, Earl Haris of Horwood, and Willis, the eldest son of the Manderly family.
Of course, Roose Bolton could not come. As the commander of an army, Patrick and Raymond could not call him.
After the people of the North recognized Sansa, they embraced her and went to the central army tent.
With Stark, the people of the North can be said to have a backbone, and their morale has become high.
...
"My lord, it is said that Miss Sansa Stark has escaped from the Red Castle and is now surrounded by the lords and walking here."
It was still the Bolton spy who looked extremely mediocre and could not be found in the crowd.
He ran to the tent of his lord and reported in advance.
Lord Leech was washing, and when he heard this, he spit out the salt water in his mouth.
"How did she escape? Did she appear in the Stark soldiers' camp first?"
The spy replied: "It was Arthur Bracken's camp. She appeared there first. After Arthur called the northern nobles, they moved here."
This information was enough for Lord Leech to react.
Sansa didn't come to meet the commander of the coalition first, obviously she didn't trust herself.
Although the northern nobles were slow to think, they could always react and figure this out.
This was a bit disadvantageous to her position in the coalition.
Marquis Bolton calmed down. Isn't she just a little girl? I don't believe I can't play with her.
"Call the guards, I will go to greet Miss Sansa in person."
He ordered the personal soldiers standing in the tent.