Author's Note: I am back! This first chapter is short compared to others that I will post for this part of my story! Things got crazy so I had to stop writing! If you still have not read Part One, The Return of the Queen of Love and Beauty, do so before starting this! PLEASE! No enough of my babbling, enjoy!
The sun was nearly up. Everything looked as if it came with a purple haze. The heart tree less so. Arya wished spring would hold off for just a little while longer. However the few snows and winter roses told her a different story entirely.
Bran had settled in with the new Lady Stark or Queen of the North if you went all proper about it which, of course, Arya never much liked at all.
Four months after her brother's wedding, Sansa was ready to travel back to King's Landing. Robb was growing taller each and every day. Arya could sense her sister's disappointment that Tyrion would not be able to share this with her. Though Sansa married the imp, their son received many of his mother's traits. Including height. Robb was big for his age and showed no signs of slowing down his growth pattern.
Rickon was doing extraordinarily well in Arya's eyes as well. The Young boy was starting to get decent in his archery lessons. Before too long, Rickon would be young man. Perhaps he will fulfill his dream of being a knight in the King's Guard. The Mother knows Gendry could use all the swords he could get.
Arya hadn't thought willingly about that name for some time. "Gendry." She said aloud, knowing full well no one was near enough to hear her. The Baratheon king was still in the company of that Targaryen whore and her dragons. A fact that worried Arya more than she let on. So much so she agreed to escort Sansa and Robb back to King's Landing. Whether or not Arya would come to regret it, well. Only time will tell. They are scheduled to leave this morning after breakfast. Arya snuck away with Nymeria so she could walk through the god's wood once more.
At times, Arya felt closer to the North somehow as she strolled. Arya was a child of the North. A wolf child. The old gods were her gods. Bran and Jojen had given Arya a glimpse into Nymeria's skin and it made Arya wonder if all of those dreams she'd had in Bravos were dreams at all. That perhaps she and Nymeria were already connected. Far-fetched as it may seem, the scenario somehow sounded logical to Arya.
Knowing the need to return to the grounds, Arya reluctantly started the trek back, Nymeria close at her heals. The sky looked peach now with the occasional golden ray of the rising sun. Hard, though it was, to return home after being so long away, being in the North was exactly what Arya needed. Though the memories sometimes hurt, it pained Arya just as much to deny those memories existence.
When Arya reached Winterfell in all of its splendor, she held her breath. Through all the tragedy these walls had seen, they had also seen the great love a single family possessed. After all, was not reuniting what was left of the Starks, Robb's and her mother's mission the whole time? Fighting a war just to get his sister's back? Were "Family, Duty, Honor." not the words of her mother's house? Family comes first.
Nymeria darted through Winterfell's gates quickly, longing to play with Summer and Shaggydog no doubt. The companionship of other direwolves had greatly improved Nymeria's temperament. Arya however, took her time and watched people work their various trades. Although, whenever Arya walked by the blacksmith shop, she felt an ache pull in her chest. The way the man's muscle flexed as he hit the hammer to the hot steel, the way the water hissed, all leading back to one memory. A bastard boy she'd made her family. Her pack.
"Come on! Why not? I could talk to my brother! You could smith for him! The smith to the King of the North! What a title that would be!" Arya encouraged.
The boy had a hard face but sad, blue eyes. "Arya be reasonable. I still wouldn't have an official title if I was the personal smith to Aegon the Conqueror! I'm not going to Winterfell with you! My place is with my brothers."
That made Arya's blood boil, "Your brothers!" she exclaimed. "You only just met them and they're all outlaws anyways! Whether it's the bastard king himself or my brother, these men aren't safe to be with. You know that." She tried to convince him.
She was no closer to getting the bull headed boy to stay with her than she was to finding Nymeria. "It is not up to you, my lady." The finality of those words sunk into Arya's skin and she simply watched him walk away.
"He's not your family anymore!" she told herself. Arya heard many rumors from the capital but they all had the same storyline. Gendry intended to marry Daenerys. The two rulers seemed inseparable from all the talk going around. Oddly enough, Arya was angry at herself more than Gendry, but certainly not more than that whore. Arya had the chance to prevent this and failed the boy she once knew. If only she had stayed in King's Landing maybe that Gendry wouldn't be manipulated by that woman! Surely the Khaleesi was after the Iron Throne! Why else would a young woman who seems to be in love with her manservant toil with a man who didn't have a title less than a decade ago!
Realizing the time, Arya pulled herself from her thoughts. She headed for the grand hall and Arya was sure, she would be late. It wasn't as if this behavior was new for her, but Bran did not appreciate her tardiness any more than Sansa did.
As patterns had proven, when Arya walked through the doors, everyone was seated already. Bran was laughing with Jojen and Rickon, Sansa was intently focused on getting Robb to eat, while Meera sat at the end of the solid wooden table, absorbed in carving her spade. Arya chose the seat across from Meera.
To her surprise, now one remarked on Arya's unpunctuality this morning. Bran simply nodded and continued his meal. "I suppose you will want to arrive in Kings Landing in time for the tourney, my lady?" Meera questioned. Arya had forgotten about the bloody joust. Sansa responded for her sister, "That's what I was hoping for! It would be a shame to miss such a rare and lively event! Robb has yet to attend a tourney himself!" The auburn haired beauty enthused.
A tourney. Arya tried to remember the last time she saw a proper joust. Was it in Winterfell or Kings Landing? Had her father been with her? It frustrated Arya when her memories were right on the edge of her conscious mind but she couldn't seem to grasp them. It seemed the more she tried to recollect the past, the more straws she picked. One day they would all come back. All those lost years.
"What is the occasion for this rather expensive celebration anyhow?" Jojen spat out, half speaking, half chewing. Bran said that ever since Jojen was brought back from the dead, he wanted to treasure everything in the world. Who knew that also meant his morning meal, eh?
Being the polite king he now was, Bran finished chewing and swallowing before he replied. "No one knows for certain. It seems Gendry ordered it rather randomly. He's given no excuse at all! There are whispers, (though I doubt there's any truth to them at all), that the king will announce his engagement to Daenerys Targaryen." Bran paused to look at Arya who had stopped eating entirely, then continued. "However it is as I said before, nothing has been set in stone."
An overwhelming urge to throw up everything she had just eaten consumed Arya. A costly jousting tournament is very unlike Gendry. He always wanted to avoid unnecessary expenses until all of the surrounding realms' debts had been paid off. Aside from the annual and sacred events, Gendry never allowed large feasts or parties. If they really were engaged, which Arya refused to believe, Gendry would have announced it at a small council meeting and let his staff handle the news.
There was no logical reason that Arya could think of. It drove her near mad. She found herself wishing Jon was there. He hiked back up to The Wall so quickly after they arrived, Arya was sure it was to avoid dealing with the conversation Jon had with Daenerys back in the capital. Arya wished she knew of a way to comfort her dearest brother.
"Arya?" Sansa's voice echoed, forcing Arya to look up from her uneaten meal. "Did you hear me? I want to leave within the hour. You did pack last night as I told you?" the ginger woman nagged.
"Yes, I am all ready to go. I'll start readying the carriage and the horses." Arya offered as she rose from the table. Focusing her energies on something other than her thoughts would be just what Arya needed. She had a month of traveling to think. For now, Arya wanted peace.
Note: The next chapter will be coming soon! And by soon I mean within the month so bear with me! Hope you enjoyed it!