Game of Thrones: Bonds of Family

Chapter 1 of my new Game of Thrones story, hope you enjoy it, thanks :)

Just a few notes for this; Ned still discovered the secret about Joffrey and his siblings, but didn't try to expose it to the court, he simply told Stannis and worked things so he and his family and that could leave, they also brought Gendry with them. I think just about everything else is told in the story itself; but if anything's missing, please let me know and if it's not in future chapters, I'll explain.

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: Game of Thrones belongs to George R.R. Martin.

Chapter 1

It was a quiet day in Winterfell; but to those that knew, it wasn't a peaceful time. War was brewing in Westeros, over the Iron Throne. Evidence had been uncovered which revealed that King Joffrey Baratheon and his siblings were not true Baratheons; they were in fact bastards, born of incest between Queen Cersei and her brother Jaime Lannister. As such, the previous King, Robert Baratheon, had no true sons. Therefore his true heir, his brother Stannis, was waging a war to claim the throne.

The man who uncovered this evidence was King Robert's good friend, Eddard Stark, Lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North, the largest of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros. He had been in the capital of King's Landing at the time, however he had been careful and managed to ensure his return home, along with the return of his family and household that had accompanied him.

As things currently stood however, Winterfell and the North were not required for direct action in the war, at least not yet. So the family remained at home, enjoying the peace while they could. Within one of the tower rooms, several young females of varying ages, were seated, attending a lesson being held by Winterfell's resident Septa, Mordane.

Amongst the ladies present was Eddard and his wife Catelyn's eldest daughter, seven and ten year old Sansa Stark. Much like her older brother and two younger brothers, Sansa had inherited her appearance from her mother. As such she had auburn hair and blue eyes as well as high cheekbones and, being of the North, she was naturally pale which enhanced these features. She had, at one point, been betrothed to Joffrey Baratheon and madly in love with him.

'Until I saw, with my own eyes, what sort of monster he was.' She thought sadly.

Thankfully her father was able to end the agreement and bring her home with him. Now she simply lived with her family and enjoyed life, attending her lessons on being a proper lady, something she excelled at. She contemplated on the rest of the family, namely her brothers, twenty year old Robb, four and ten year old Bran and ten year old Rickon.

They would all be outside right now, Robb probably teaching Rickon sword fighting, while Bran would most likely be seated on his horse, working on his archery, unable to do sword fighting due to the sad accident which left him crippled and unable to walk. Yet one family member was missing, her five and ten year old sister, Arya Stark.

Arya was something of a wild child, never doing what was proper, always rebelling and stating she didn't want to be a 'lady' and would rather wield a sword and dress like a boy than wear dresses and learning sewing and such like. It drove Sansa and Septa Mordane to despair at times and caused no end of frustration for the girl's mother.

But now, now things had changed, it had been a slow process, but gradually they had come to accept Arya's behaviour and now it was tolerated, if not outright accepted. Arya was the only Stark child to inherit their father's appearance, possessing brown hair, grey eyes and a long narrow face. Sansa recalled with shame how she and her friends, particularly Jeyne Poole, would tease Arya, particularly about her appearance.

Yet that had changed, as she grew older Arya seemed to naturally develop into her appearance and was now a beautiful young woman, even if she didn't believe so herself.

Arya was supposed to be attending this lesson, it was something of a compromise that was worked out, while she refused to become a proper lady, she still attended some lessons. Sansa bit her lip, worried and turned to Mordane.

"I am sorry to interrupt Septa, but Arya seems to be missing." She said.

Mordane looked around and sighed. "That girl, she did agree she would come, where has she got to now?"

Sansa then remembered something which worried her even more. "According to father, she wasn't at the practice yard doing her Water Dancing either."

Water Dancing was a strange style of sword fighting that Arya excelled at, even using her own sword, a thin bladed one named Needle. Sansa had been shocked to discover Arya had such a sword and clearly had it for a long time.

Upon Sansa mentioning that, Mordane looked worried.

"You're right, that isn't like her at all." She remarked; finally she seemed to decide something. "Girls, talk amongst yourselves for a while, I will be back soon."

With that she left the room, determined to go looking for Arya. Not turning up for one of Mordane's lessons was one thing, but failing to show up to practice her Water Dancing was unheard of with Arya. Feeling worried Mordane approached Arya's room, she carefully knocked on the door.

"Lady Arya." She called out; she got no reply. "I'm coming in."

She opened the door and entered, her eyes widened. Arya was still in bed, yet even from this distance, Mordane could see the girl's face was drenched in perspiration and her hair matted with it, some sticking to her forehead. Grey eyes fluttered open as Arya spotted Mordane.

"Septa?" Her voice came out shockingly weak and rough.

It was then she started coughing. Mordane rushed over to her.

"Gods, Arya." She cried out, gently feeling the girl's forehead.

It was extremely hot, beneath the sweat Arya's face was flushed, it was clear she was ill.

"I…"

Mordane shook her head. "Just stay in bed, rest up, it seems you've caught a fever."

Arya mumbled something but nodded; Mordane slowly, quietly left the room. Sansa stood by the door, eyes wide, she had heard what was said.

Mordane turned to Sansa and nodded.

"Yes, Lady Arya is ill."

Sansa looked frantic. "We…we have to tell my parents."

Mordane nodded. "I will tell Lord and Lady Stark, please, go and fetch Ser Gendry and let him know."

Sansa nodded before hurrying off to the forge. Ser Gendry was a young man, the same age as Robb, who was, remarkably, Arya's betrothed. He was known, at least to the family, to be the bastard son of Robert Baratheon, and a blacksmith apprentice. He had befriended Arya during their time in King's Landing and, as part of some arrangement Sansa didn't know the details of, had been brought back to Winterfell with them.

He and Arya clearly had feelings for each other as Arya grew older. But neither acted upon them, until one day, a bandit raid had put Arya in danger, Gendry selflessly put himself at risk to save her and was rewarded for these services by being knighted.

'Despite everything Arya said against marrying…She changed, for Gendry at least, in the end, how could we not agree?' Sansa thought to herself, smiling as she recalled that moment.

The family knew about the young couple's feelings and it was clear they would find a way to be together, with or without their approval, thankfully, it was with. But now, now Arya was ill and clearly needed help. Sansa knew Gendry was just the person to help her.

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.