[sansa frowns. she had told adaine he reminded her of littlefinger, but in truth sometimes she thought she imagined the resemblance. he was just...friendly, as petyr had been friendly, once.]

What other reasons?

[it occurs to her this topic of conversation might not be as healing. she hugs him more tightly, as if to make up for it.]

I only know a few other lands in my world. Essos, across the Narrow Sea, has the Free Cities and the Slave Cities and the Shadow, and then the Jade Sea with Qarth on one side and Yi Ti on the other, so that everything we get from Yi Ti goes through Qarth, or Vaes Dothrak over land, from the Dothraki. That was where Arya was, in Braavos. It's the Free City that's closest to Westeros, along with Pentos, so that everything we trade goes through there. It looked nicer, and cleaner than King's Landing, but I was never allowed at the docks.

[it wouldn't have been safe, anyway.]

I did find a book about the lands around the Jade Sea, and it was very interesting. Asshai-by-the-Shadow reminds me a little of this place. They say it's always night in the shadow and it poisons the river Ash as it runs through it, so that nothing can live in it or grow alongside it. They have to have all their water as well as their food imported from elsewhere. They say nothing is forbidden in Asshai, and they know very much of magic, even blood magic, but it doesn't say what it is or what the shadowbinders do, aside from 'binding shadows to their will.'

[she pauses, considering.]

There was a story about a man who tempered his blade with his wife's blood, and then it burst into flames. Someone had marked it out.

[it's jon's book, and maester aemon marked the passage about azor ahai for him, but sansa doesn't know that.]