Game of Thrones: To Tame a Wolf's Heart
First chapter of a new Game of Thrones story, enjoy :)
Here is a list of the all pairings, some won't physically appear but will be mentioned:
Arya/Gendry
Sansa/Podrick
Bran/Meera
Rickon/Shireen
Aegon/Myrcella
One sided Edric Dayne/Arya
Disclaimer: Game of Thrones belongs to George R.R. Martin.
Chapter 1
The sunlight shone through the window, illuminating the room and causing the brown haired eighteen year old girl in the bed to screw up her face and turn away from the window. Just as her features relaxed once more and sleep began to return to her, there was an insistent knock at the door. Angry grey eyes opened as the knock came again; with a heavy sigh the girl got out of bed and stalked over to the door. She yanked it open.
"What?" She burst out angrily.
Her mood was not improved however when she saw it was some of the castle maids; she knew exactly why they were here.
She groaned heavily and turned away, growling. "Again?"
"Yes Princess." One of the maids stated.
"Forget it." The girl snarled.
Another maid, older; with more severe features shook her head. "Our orders come from the Queen herself, we cannot refuse her, and neither can you."
"Fine!"
With that final word Princess of the North; Arya Stark allowed the maids to remove her sleeping shift and get to work outfitting her in what she had come to name, 'The Hateful Betrothal Dress'. Once again her sister, Queen of the North; Sansa Stark intended to betroth and marry her to some other lord or lordling.
Finally, almost half an hour later they were done. Arya felt like she could barely breathe, felt the corset was probably crushing her ribs. She also lamented the dress made it impossible to run or move quickly, forcing her to walk 'Ladylike'. Her one consolation was that she at least felt decent, the dress being or Northern cut and barely exposed any skin, just her head, neck and hands. Just then there was another knock at the door which then opened and another figure stepped in, authority in their voice as they spoke.
"That will do, you are dismissed."
The maids bowed and left, leaving Arya to turn and glare at her sister. Arya recalled the stories she had heard and noted that, at twenty, Sansa was the physical double of their mother Catelyn, when she had been that age. There were some differences however, notably Sansa had longer legs and slightly larger breasts; but her auburn-red hair, tumbling down her back in waves, and bright blue eyes, along with her pale skin and high cheekbones, Sansa did indeed resemble the great beauty there mother had been. A beauty she had kept until death. Yet it wasn't just mother Sansa looked like; the way she stood now, her expression, her manner of dress, she looked like a true Queen. But this did not deter Arya's anger.
"Why do you keep doing this to me?!" She snapped.
Sansa shook her head. "Arya, listen to me, I…"
Arya was too angry however and cut her off. "Can't you understand, I don't like any of these people, I don't want to get married, especially not to these men you keep trying to set me up with!"
Sansa looked like she was about to say something; Arya prepared herself, ready to stand her ground.
But Sansa seemed to change her mind and sighed, she straightened up and walked past Arya. Arya was about to turn around but Sansa's words made her stop.
"Stand still." It was in the tone Sansa used; it wasn't the tone of her sister, but the tone of her Queen.
Arya stood facing the door; not even moving as Sansa finished the maid's job, draping the grey cloak around Arya's shoulders and fastening it with a wolf's head brooch. Arya bit her lip as she pondered the sudden action; she felt that her sister had become two people in one since their reunion after the war. There was the Sansa who was definitely her sister, retaining her love for lemon cakes, although admitted more open to accepting Arya's 'wild behaviour'. Then there was the woman standing before her, Queen Sansa, a true she-wolf whom many feared to cross. Arya pondered briefly how much of Sansa's change was due to Littlefinger's training before brushing the thought aside; she didn't want to think of the past, of the war, that dark time that still haunted her dreams. Sansa had passed her now and was standing in the doorway.
"Hurry up and meet me down at the courtyard." She said calmly.
With that she was gone; heading for the courtyard and Arya had no choice but to take one look at herself in the mirror and then head down to the courtyard herself.
When she arrived she saw the rest of her family had already gathered to greet their guest. Sansa stood next to her husband; Podrick Payne, Lord Commander of her Queensguard. To ensure the North remained in Stark hands, Podrick refused to take the title of King or have Sansa take his name. Standing to Sansa's left was her and Podrick's four year old son; Willem Stark; he greatly resembled his mother in appearance but had his father's eyes. Arya took her spot next to them, on the other side, sitting in his wheeled chair was the older of her two younger brothers, Bran Stark. His wife Meera stood next to him; one year old boy and girl twins sat, quiet and well-behaved for a change, on Bran's lap. His children with Meera, Steffon and Bethany Stark. The final two people that she took note of was her youngest brother Rickon and his betrothed Shireen Baratheon.
"He's here." Sansa said quietly.
Arya broke off from observing her family and turned her gaze to the gate as her betrothed entered. She was shocked when she saw him; he was a large man, with thick black hair down to his shoulders and a thick beard; beetle-black eyes regarded the entire Stark family as he dismounted. On his surcoat was the unmistakable white Sunburst on black.
Arya was still staring as the man approached and bowed to Sansa. 'A Karstark, Sansa's marrying me off to a Karstark; but why, what advantage does that give her? We're already allies with them, there's no political advantage to this whatsoever.'
Her thoughts were interrupted as the man turned to her.
She stood up straight, not the least bit intimidated that he was at least a foot taller than her. He pursed his lips, not saying anything. His gaze was on her face, only for a fraction of a second did it slip downwards, not that there was much to see; even with the corset pushing them up her breasts were barely noticeable. She didn't care either; why should she? Finally the man managed a smile and bowed.
"Princess Arya, I am Terrance Karstark, a pleasure to meet you."
Arya noted that, despite his size, he wasn't old, he was roughly a couple of years older than Sansa, the age her brother Robb would've been if he had lived. Sansa gave Arya a sharp look behind Terrance's back, a clear reminder to mind her manners, the man was a guest after all, even if to Arya he was an unwanted one.
She cleared her throat. "The pleasure is mine; Terrance Karstark, welcome to Winterfell, I hope you will be comfortable here."
Terrance rose and smiled slightly wider. Arya fought to keep her face welcoming; she had recited that speech so many times now. She just hoped he didn't have any false impression of her, if he did, he would be very quickly disappointed. Sansa introduced him to the rest of the family; he greeted them all cordially, although he kept his gaze firmly on Bran's face when talking to him, as if afraid of looking elsewhere, afraid of causing offence. Arya fought not to roll her eyes at that, really, being crippled didn't bother Bran anymore, thanks to Meera and their children, but some people seemed to still think he was sensitive to it.
Before they could say anything else a rider arrived, dismounted and approached Sansa and Podrick, bowing and presenting them with a message. Podrick took it and read it, his eyes widened and he handed it to Sansa. As she read it Sansa inhaled sharply and then her gaze hardened.
"Pod, please the necessary arrangements, we'll go at once." Pod nodded and hurried off; Sansa turned to face the others. "Willem, stay with your Uncle Bran, okay, your father and I will be back soon."
"But mother, can't I come with you." Willem asked, pouting.
Sansa shook her head. "I'm sorry no, you're too young for this, Arya, please show Terrance around, take the time to get to know each other."
Before Arya could ask Pod returned, mounted and with a group of other people, including Sansa's steward, Theon Greyjoy. There was an empty horse which Sansa mounted and they all rode off, following the rider that had brought the message. Arya sighed and turned to find Terrance standing next to her, smiling.
"Shall we, My Lady?" He asked.
Arya forced herself to smile and nodded, although she refused to let him take her arm, causing him to frown but they headed inside the castle, the rest of the family accompanying them. Arya's mind however was not on the task at hand, she was too busy wondering, where was Sansa going and why?
End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.
