Dontos and Sansa finished descending the stairs, then crossed a sunken little courtyard. Ser Dontos pushed open a heavy door, lit a candle, and led her into the Ruined Gallery. Empty suits of armor stood along the walls, dark and dusty, inlaid with dragon scales from their helms down their backs. They hurried past, the candlelight twisting across the scales. As though thousands upon thousands of Dragon Knights had risen from the dead, Sansa thought. They went down another flight of steps and reached a heavy door made of oak and iron bars.
"Be strong, my Jonquil. We're almost there." Ser Dontos lifted the iron bar and pushed open the door. A cold wind struck them in the face. Sansa passed through twelve feet of wall and found herself outside the Red Keep, with a cliff before her. The river lay far below, the sky stretched boundlessly overhead, and both were dark.
"Climb down, Jonny," Ser Dontos called. "Someone will take us to the big ship, but we need to get to the bottom."
"I'll fall, like my brother." Sansa was pale. She was a pampered lady, not a wild girl like Arya.
"No, you won't. There's a ladder here, a secret ladder carved into the rock. Here, feel it, my lady." Ser Dontos knelt, had her lean over the cliff's edge, and guided her fingers toward the hollows cut into the rock. "As secure as iron rungs."
"It's too high." Sansa did find the hollows, but she dared not go down.
Yet there was no other way. This was their only path to survival, with no other possibility.
"Come, my good lady, my brave, good girl. Hold tight, don't look down. Be strong. We can do this." Ser Dontos dropped to his knees. Going back meant certain death. Dontos