Everything inside Joellyn was screaming for her to push her horse faster so that they would arrive at the battle more quickly, but she knew there was nothing that she would be able to do for anyone by herself. So, she forced herself to keep pace with Sansa and Littlefinger as they made their way to battle. They certainly weren't going slowly, but they just weren't going as fast as she wanted to. The anxiety she felt, knowing how much smaller the Stark force was than the Bolton force, was eating away at her, and she was afraid that, even with the addition of the Knights of the Vale, that it would be too late.

There was silence between the three of them as they left the encampment followed by the Knights of the Vale, and the silence became uncomfortable the closer they drew to the battle. The sounds of the battle did little to provide Joellyn any comfort. There was screaming, both by men and horses, the clanging of metal, and the crunching of metal. She tried very hard to not picture what was happening to produce those noises, as it turned her stomach every time she pictured Jon, Davos, Tormund, Areo, and all of the rest of the men down there fighting.

When they were almost to the field of battle, Sansa said to Littlefinger, "The battle will just over the crest of the hill ahead of us there," and pointed ahead of them.

Joellyn turned to look at Littlefinger as he motioned to the knight closest behind him. The knight came beside Littlefinger as he said, "You know the plan, as we discussed it at length on the way North. Let them know that we have arrived."

The knight nodded and took the horn that was at his hip and blew on it, sounding a long call to announce their presence. Joellyn noticed that, as the sound of the horn faded, the battle did not sound as if it was raging as fiercely as it had been before the sound of the horn. Littlefinger yelled out, "For the North! Ride for the North," then the knight blew the horn again and all the rest of the Knights of the Vale pushed their horses to running, yelling as they went to join in the battle against the Boltons.

As the last of the knights rode by, Joellyn pushed her horse forward and came to a stop on the crest of the hill that Sansa had pointed out to Littlefinger. Her heart almost stopped as she took in the sight before her. There was the most enormous pile of bodies at the back of the field. Joellyn had a hard time believing that what she was seeing was really true. She couldn't even begin to imagine how many men that pile of bodies represented. Past that massive pile of bodies, there was a group of Bolton soldiers, packed into a tight semicircle, surrounding what remained of the Stark forces. There was no way for her to know for certain, as she didn't have practice estimating the number of men on the field of battle, but it seemed as if maybe half of the original group that left the Stark encampment remained. After a quick survey, there seemed to be a lot of yellow still, so it seemed that many of the Dornish men were still alive, but there were no other details that she could gather about the battle from so far away.

Littlefinger and Sansa came to a stop beside her as the Knights of the Vale charged at the Bolton forces from behind. They knights easily broke through the ranks of the Bolton forces at the center, then split in half as they continued around the circle, knocking away the Bolton men as they went. She looked over at Sansa and Littlefinger, and saw a satisfied smile on Sansa's face as she watched Ramsay's men being killed right in front of him.

Turning her attention back to the field before her, she worked hard to draw her eyes away from the biggest motion in the battle to try to find any indication of Jon. She noticed, about halfway between the carnage of battle and Winterfell, a small group of men turned their horses around and started racing back toward Winterfell. Bringing her gaze back closer to the battle, she watched as three figures began racing after the men on horses, and she felt her heart begin beating at a fast pace as she realized what she was looking at. What she recognized first was the giant Wun-Wun, and beside Wun-Wun was a man with bright red hair, who she recognized as Tormund. What made her heart take off was the realization that Jon Snow was the one racing toward Winterfell beside Tormund and Wun-Wun.

She laughed for joy and covered her mouth to try to contain herself and keep from crying. Jon was still alive right now, but that did not necessarily mean that he was going to make it out of the battle unscathed. Without thinking of Sansa and Littlefinger behind her, she urged her horse forward and directed it down the hill, as far away from the battle as she could manage. She gave the battle a wide berth, then straightened out her path and directed her horse directly to the gates of Winterfell. As she was drawing closer, she saw Wun-Wun knocking himself into the gates, trying to force the gates of Winterfell open. If he couldn't get the gates open, they had no hope of defeating Ramsay as long as he was behind Winterfell's walls.

Right as Joellyn was coming up on them, Wun-Wun burst through the gates and sprinted ahead of Jon, Tormund, and the rest of the men that had followed behind them. Either none of them heard her approach or they were not concerned about who was approaching from behind, as they rushed in after Wun-Wun without paying any mind to the fact that she was right behind them. She jumped down from her horse and took her bow off of her back as she looked behind her and saw that Littlefinger and Sansa had been following her down, just at a much slower pace than she had taken. For a brief moment, she thought about how insane she had been to run head first into something like this, but took and arrow from her quiver and nocked it as she rushed through the gates closely behind them.

Bolton soldiers were trying to defend themselves, but now that the Stark soldiers had gotten into Winterfell, they had no hope of winning. Joellyn took in the scene in front of her to try to determine where she would be the best help. The Stark men seemed to be focused on the Bolton men on the ground in the courtyard, but there were Bolton men on the second level with bows that would easily be able to take them out from above. So Joellyn quickly aimed at one of the men on the second level and fired, hitting her target. As the man fell to the ground, she moved her aim to another man on the second level, shot an arrow, and missed this time, but she quickly drew another and hit her mark the second time.

As the Stark soldiers finished with the men in the courtyard, they too turned their attention to the archers on the second level, so she looked around to locate Jon and Tormund. They had just come to a stop beside Wun-Wun, who was still on his knees. Joellyn rushed to be by Jon's side as Jon reached out to Wun-Wun. Fortunately, Joellyn saw Ramsay with a bow and arrow aimed in their direction, so she grabbed Jon's arm and pulled it away just as Ramsay fired his arrow. The arrow hit Wun-Wun in the eye, so Jon had never actually been in any danger from Ramsay's arrow, but she was grateful she had pulled him back, anyway.

Jon turned quickly and looked at her and shock crossed his features as he asked, "Joellyn? What are you doing here?"

She didn't get a chance to answer, as she and Jon both heard Ramsay ask loudly, "You suggested one on one combat, didn't you?"

Joellyn heard all of the Stark men that had bows draw them and looked to see that they were all pointed at Ramsay. These men were ready to defend their commander. Jon however didn't turn his attention away from Ramsay, so Ramsay continued, with an unsettling smile on his face, "I've reconsidered. I think that sounds like a wonderful idea."

Several things then happened very quickly. Jon pushed Joellyn behind him as he dropped his sword and picked up a shield that was close by as Ramsay nocked an arrow. Tormund must have anticipated Jon's actions, as he stepped in front of Joellyn to shield her from whatever was about to happen. As Jon continued to stalk forward, Ramsay aimed at Jon and fired, but Jon raised his shield and the arrow embedded into the shield rather than hitting him. Joellyn grabbed onto Tormund's arm to try to steady herself as Ramsay nocked another arrow and fired again. For the second time, Joellyn watched Jon raise his shield and block the arrow from hitting him. Joellyn tightened her grip on Tormund's arm. This was difficult to watch on its own, but memories of Oberyn's trial by combat flowed, unwelcome, into her mind. When the second arrow hit Jon's shield, Joellyn remembered seeing Oberyn get knocked down by the Mountain after she thought that he was going to be safe.

She felt it becoming more difficult to breathe as she watched Jon continue walking forward toward Ramsay, so she tried to focus on breathing in and out at a steady pace as Ramsay nocked a third arrow and took aim. Jon was able to block this one as well, but as the arrow hit his shield she was flooded with the memory of the Mountain picking Oberyn up and punching him in the face. She could still vividly see the red of his blood as teeth were knocked out of his mouth. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to rid herself of this memory as she heard the sound of a small scuffle. As she opened her eyes, she watched as Jon hit Ramsay in the face with his shield, and Ramsay fell to the ground. Jon tossed the shield aside and jumped on top of Ramsay and begin punching him in the face, over and over and over.

Joellyn didn't know how many times Jon punched Ramsay, nor did she know when Sansa made it into the courtyard, but she watched as Jon looked up and made eye contact with Sansa, his fist still hovering above Ramsay's face. Joellyn could see the struggle in Jon's eyes, but he did stand, and walk away from Ramsay and passed all of them as he walked away toward Winterfell's gates.

Joellyn finally realized that she was still holding tightly onto Tormund and released his arm as she felt her breathing normalize. He nodded at her once, which she returned, before she turned around and went after Jon. She had to run at first to catch up with him, but she reached him quickly and ran in front of him, held her hands up, and stopped so that he would have to stop as well. He did stop and, for a moment, the two of them just looked at each other in silence.

It was the first time that she had really gotten a good look at him, and it was hard to tell if he was fine or not. His face and hair, as well as the rest of him, were covered in a thick layer of mud and blood, but there didn't seem to be any blood accumulating anywhere. So she felt safe in assuming that he was covered in blood because of the carnage that she had seen outside of Winterfell's gates. In spite of him being covered in filth, she took his hands in hers and began inspecting them. He had hit Ramsay, many times, with a lot of force, so she wanted to make sure that he had not injured himself in the process. She wiped a layer of mud and blood off of the fingers and knuckles of his left hand, then felt the bones as she watched his face to see if there was any visible reaction to pain. Feeling no damage and not seeming him react to pain, she repeated this process with his right hand.

As she was inspecting his right hand, Jon took his free hand and placed it on the side of her face and rubbed her cheek. As she was satisfied that he hadn't damaged his right hand either, she just held his hand and they looked into each other's eyes for a moment. Jon shook his head and repeated his question from earlier, "What are you doing here," then moved his hand down to hold her other hand.

Joellyn let out the breath that she hadn't realized she was holding and said, "When the Knights of the Vale arrived, Sansa and I led them here. Then I saw you, running across the field, and I knew I had to be by your side. It was insane, and I probably shouldn't have done it, but I needed to be able to see you, and try to protect you if I could."

Jon closed his eyes and sighed, but it seemed to be in relief and not frustration. As he opened them again, he asked with a soft smile, "Did you now?"

She smiled in return and nodded, letting silence fall over them again. Jon squeezed her hands softly before he said, "I want to kiss you right now."

Joellyn playfully shoved Jon's hands away from hers as she said with a smile, "And I would be furious with you if you did. You're filthy."

Jon smiled at her and flirted, "But maybe I'd like to see what you would do to me when you're angry."

Joellyn laughed at him. He had seen so much devastation and death today, but he, with the help of his sister, had been victorious. He was back in his home, where he belonged. So he was in a better mood than she had ever really seen him in, and it made her happier than words could express to see him relaxed for the time being. Still smiling, she replied, "Go clean yourself up. I will still be here when you get back."

Jon nodded once and said, "I won't be long," then left to clean himself up.

As Jon walked away, Joellyn looked around to try to see who all still remained. She saw Davos walk through the gates and was relieved to see that he was still alive. She ran over to him and hugged him, since he had not gotten as filthy as Jon got. Davos seemed surprised, but hugged her back as he greeted, "My lady."

Joellyn pulled away and smiled at Davos as she said, "I am happy to see you alive, Ser Davos."

Davos nodded and replied, "And I'm happy to be here, thanks to both you and the Lady Sansa, it would seem," as he indicated in the direction of Sansa and Littlefinger. Joellyn still needed to talk to Sansa about that later, but that would come at another time.

Joellyn nodded and said, "I had no idea she had written them for help. I am glad they came when they did."

Davos agreed, "Aye, saved the lot of us. And your Dornishmen. They are some of the fiercest fighters I've ever seen."

Joellyn had to agree, "They are very brave. Speaking of them, have you seen Captain Areo?"

Davos looked behind him and pointed out in the field, "He's still out in the field, but he's alive and well, my lady."

Joellyn thanked him and said, "If Jon comes back out, would you tell him that I've gone to join Captain Areo?"

Davos nodded in response, so Joellyn rushed out of the gates again to join Captain Areo, wanting to see how the soldiers from Dorne had faired. She came to a stop a short way from him to observe what he was doing. She watched him lay a dead Dornish soldier at the end of a line of bodies, then stand back up with his shoulders slumped over and his hands on his hips. She did a quick count and saw that he had 27 dead soldiers from Dorne laying in a line in front of him. She felt guilty as she looked at them, knowing that they were dead because of her.

She walked up beside him and placed a hand on his arm to provide some small comfort for him. He turned to look at her and greeted her softly, "Joellyn."

Joellyn squeezed his arm once and placed it back by her side as she said, "I am glad to see you Captain," then looked back at the dead men in yellow laying in front of her and asked, "How many did we lose?"

Areo sighed before he said, "It's hard to know. I have the men that survived searching for any of the fallen. They are bringing them all here to me."

Joellyn felt tears come to her eyes as guilt filled her again. Areo's voice was filled with so much sadness. She squeezed her eyes shut to hold the tears at bay, then opened them and asked, "What will you do with them? Will they be returned to Dorne?"

Areo shook his head, "It is too long a journey back. Their bodies would not be fit for their families to take by the time they arrived. We will gather their personal effects, then burn their bodies. Their personal effects will be sent to their families."

Joellyn took a deep breath. These men had come to fight for her and ended up dying for her. She was compelled to help, in whatever way that she could, so she said, "I'll gather their things while you search for more men. I pray that there are not many more than this."

Areo turned to her and shook his head as he said, "You do not have to do that, Joellyn. We will take care of them."

Joellyn shook her head in return, "But I do have to. They died for me. I want to honor them now in the only way that I possibly can." The men laying before her knew from last night how much she appreciated their help, but she still wanted to be able to do more. Helping give their families some comfort and closure was the right thing to do.

Areo nodded once and placed a hand on her shoulder as he said, "I know I have already told you this, but you truly are a princess of Dorne. We did not know what to expect when Oberyn married a Lannister. Your family was so hated by all of our people, but you changed Oberyn's mind and ours as well. These men were honored to fight for you."

Joellyn felt her eyes filling with tears again as Areo walked away from her to search for more of his men. She knelt down beside the body that was closest to her and tried not to think too much about what she was doing. She found a few small pieces of jewelry and a letter that he had stored in the pocket at his breast. The letter had the name Ashara written on the front of it. She wondered briefly if Ashara was this man's wife, lover, or sister as she set the letter, his weapons, and his jewelry on top of his chest, then moved to the next man to continue the process.

She wasn't positive, but it had to have taken hours for her, Areo, and the other soldiers from Dorne to finish gathering the bodies and searching for personal items. In the end, 53 of the 500 Dornishmen had lost their lives fighting to help Sansa and Jon take back their home. As she looked at the line of men in front of her, she felt the same overwhelming feeling of guilt fill her. 53 families had been changed forever because these men wanted to honor Oberyn's memory. She looked at Areo, who was standing by her side. He was looking down at the men the same way that she was, and she could see the pain in his features. There were his friends, and likely some of them had been his family. He had lost a great deal today.

Joellyn asked, "Captain, can I ask you to do one more thing for me?"

Areo looked down at her and said, "Of course, Joellyn."

She smiled. She could grow use to having people trust her. She asked, "Could you get a list of all of their names for me? Doran asked me to write with news of how the battle went. I want to be able to include a personal letter of thanks from me for him to share with all of Dorne, but especially the families represented here," she finished by motioning to all the men laying in front of her.

Areo nodded once and said, "I will send someone to you with a list later today. Thank you for your help."

Joellyn smiled and took that as a dismissal, so she thanked him and sent slowly back to Winterfell's gates. She smiled as she passed through the gates, seeing Stark banners hanging by the entrance now instead of Bolton banners. Things were starting to feel right, and she hoped that things continued in that way.