SALIGIA
by Adamaris
AUTHOR'S NOTE
Warning: This is incredibly AU-ish, or it could be incredibly AU-ish. I want to have fun writing this, so I might write some pretty crazy stuff and I don't want to put too much thought into it. I want something fresh and entertaining that people can read lightly and enjoy. It's going to be Arya-centric mostly, if not entirely, and set in the modern world so some characters may or may not fall into what you consider OOC (but I believe every person can perceive characters differently so, what I think it's perfectly IC, maybe it's not perfectly IC in someone else's mind).
TL;DR: Keep an open mind while reading this. If you can't, maybe this isn't the story for you. And if you want to share your thoughts about it, you are welcome but, you know, be nice.
About the setting:
1) Jon and Arya & Robb and Sansa are twins because I wanted to reduce the age gape among the Stark children. Bran is a year younger and Rickon a year younger than Bran.
2) All the big Houses of Westeros are important companies in this modern Westeros. And they are mostly all in King's Landing (how convenient for me, isn't it? LOL. This is the AU-ish stuff that I warned you about. Just roll with it).
3) The House of Black and White, The Wall and Meereen are centers of education of great prestige.
4) Gendry is Joffrey's older brother. Therefore, he is Cersei's son. And the Lannister are not "evil" in this story.
5) Theon parents were deemed unable to raise their kids and since Asha was underage at the time, Theon was raised by the Starks. Asha know runs the Greyjoy company.
About the author:
I'm not a native english speaker so, please, forgive me for any mistakes! Thank you.
CHAPTER ONE
The morning was a hurricane.
Catelyn was used to it; she had seven children after all, but it never ceased to amaze and terrify her at the same time. It always started softly, though. The calm before the storm.
The first one to enter the kitchen was her oldest daughter, Sansa. Looking impeccable as always, the epitome of delicacy, she smiled to her mother sweetly and greeted her kindly. Then, she took a seat in the table and started eating her fruit with small, bird-like bites as she looked at her favorite magazine lazily. It was early, she still had an half an hour to have breakfast and get to school. She had no hurry.
Then, Robb walked in with his hair a fashionable mess. He walked around the kitchen quickly, kissed his mother's cheek, and started eating his toast as he made sure his coffee was boiling hot. Catelyn looked at her two eldest children. Auburn hair and sky blue eyes, soft features and kind smiles.
Bran then showed up with his nose buried in a book. He grabbed a cupcake, wished them all good morning and took a seat next to Sansa. He looked like his brothers, though his hair didn't curl in the same way. All three of them, calm and sweet. Like a sunny, fresh morning.
The calm before the storm indeed.
But then, the storm arrived.
Jon and Arya got to the kitchen together with Rickon hot on their heels. Jon simply smiled, bid them a good morning and served himself some coffee. Arya, instead, walked around the kitchen like a tornado. Her hair was still wet and her clothes reflected her reckless personality. Dark leather and cropped t-shirts with some rock bands logo or edgy catchphrases; she was a explosion of energy. She grabbed coffee and a cupcake and a toast. She ate neither immediately. Instead, she drank a glass of juice of grapefruit with lemon in three seconds and then sipped her coffee wildly; as if she was running late. She wasn't, but she always moved fast as if she couldn't wait to catch up with the world. Jon was there, after her, cleaning her mess and helping her sort out her problems and in return Arya would push him, make him move, make him live.
Her auburn twins and her dark twins as different as the sun and the moon.
And Rickon, of course, the combination of them. Looking like Robb and Sansa, but acting like Arya and Jon. He moved behind Arya, around her, the only one in the family that could not only follow her pace—Jon could do that too—but match it without losing his breath. Two years younger than Arya and Jon, he was already following their steps with the same fervor. Catelyn worried about those three the most. The wild ones, the loud ones, the fierce ones. The ones that seemed to follow danger as if it was their life source. The ones that seemed to be followed by trouble.
"Arya, don't run in the kitchen," Sansa asked her as she sipped her floral tea with ease. Arya rolled her eyes, the only sign that she had heard her sister and ignored her in any other way. Jon just smiled in silence and Rickon huffed, amused. Sansa opened her mouth, this time looking annoyed but Ned walking in stopped the words on her lips. She smiled instead. "Good morning, father."
Ned kissed her forehead on his way to the coffeemaker. "Good morning, sweetling."
Arya turned around when she heard her father's voice, her arms finding her way around his neck swiftly. She kissed him soundly in the cheek, nearly spilling coffee over his shoulder. "Good morning, Dad." And without missing a beat, she walked towards the door. "Have a nice day, Dad."
She opened the door and walked out. Jon gathered his things and followed her, Rickon two steps ahead. From the outside, Catelyn heard Arya saying that she loved her and saying goodbye. Rickon and Jon's voice close behind. Then, Gendry's head poked into the kitchen.
"Good morning, Mr and Mrs Stark. Goodbye, Mr and Mrs Stark."
He disappeared as soon as he had showed up and Catelyn called after him. "Did you had breakfast, sweetheart? Don't you want some coffee?"
"I'm fine, Mrs Stark! Thank you!" He answered, briefly entering the kitchen again only to be dragged out by Arya's hand.
"Hurry up, stupid, we don't have all day!"
"Gods, woman, we are just fine! We are not getting late, slow down a little."
After a sigh, Sansa stood up as well. "We should get going." She kissed both her mother and father on the cheek and walked out, her heels clicking on the floor. Robb followed soon after, his car's keys hanging from his index finger, his other hand on Bran's shoulder, leading him out whilst Bran's eyes stayed glued to his book.
And, just like that, the storm was gone and silence filled the house.
"It never ceases to amaze me. Like an orchestra." Ned said smiling. "And now in three, two, one…"
They both heard the heavy steps going down the stairs with dangerous speed. Theon showed up in the kitchen looking like a maniac with half his hair pressed to his head, the other half standing on end. He grabbed coffee and a couple of toasts as he tried to put on his jacket, all the while complaining.
"Nobody wakes poor Theon up, and he's always late. I need to get a new best friend, gods damn it." He drank the whole cup of coffee in one go and filled it again. Judging by the bags under his eyes, he needed the extra caffeine. "Good morning!" he screamed as he left through the door, his mouth full of food.
Ned smiled, finished his coffee, kissed Catelyn on the lips and walked out as well.
Catelyn sighed happily. Day's going good so far.
Gendry accelerated through the street, passing Jon's car like a bullet, and he felt Arya's laughter ring on his ear. There was nothing Arya loved more than riding his motorcycle to school through the cold morning air, moving with the speed of lightning.
He shifted his body to take the curve, Arya following suit effortlessly. They didn't even slow down but after years of practice they could take curves like that with no problem and without slowing down a bit. He faintly heard Jon honking behind them, the message clear. Slow down. Arya huffed but Gendry complied with a smile on his lips.
They were almost on school anyway.
He took the rest of the way in adequate speed and Arya didn't say a word even though he knew she wanted to nudge him to go faster. He parked the motorcycle once they were in school and Arya took off her helmet.
"You shouldn't listen to Jon, he worries too much," she complained lightly, shaking her head. Her hair bounced and then fell in dark waves through her shoulders. She had let it grow out when she was in Braavos and kept it long ever since and he had to say he liked it. It looked silky and smooth under the sun. It looked darker as well, and he would think she had dyed it if it hadn't been for Jon's hair that had darken out as well while he was away at the Wall.
Before he could answer, Jon's car parked right beside them and Rickon jumped out. "Will I ever get to ride your bike?" he asked excitedly and Arya looked at Gendry expectantly, her eyebrow raised. He had never let Arya ride the bike alone so the wisest thing right then was to say no.
He looked at Rickon apologetically. "Sorry, little wolf, but no."
Rickon groaned. "Come on!"
Jon grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and shook him a little. "No. I have enough with Arya risking her life every step of the way. I can't take care of both of you."
Arya stuck her tongue out at her twin brother as they walked towards the building. "No one's asking you to."
Jon put an arm around her shoulders and look ahead with a sad expression. "But you are my twin sister, my burden. I must protect you, even against my wishes."
She pushed him playfully and Jon laughed as he mussed her hair, giving her even a wilder look. She just smirked and Gendry's heart ached. Gods, she's gorgeous.
When she was little, it was easier to ignore her beauty. She wasn't ugly at all, but she wasn't exactly pretty. But now... ever since she came back, he couldn't ignore her obvious appeal. She was breathtaking, with her feline eyes and lovely smile. Her face was mesmerizing and she had a body that could only be described as a sin. The impersonation of sensuality and what was forbidden. And her playful little smirks did nothing to tone that down.
Stop sexualizing your best friend. Stop it, stop it, stop it.
If only he could listen to his inner voice. If only Arya didn't sway her hips like that when she walked, if only she didn't move with that grace and talked with that voice.
I'm so screwed.
As if on cue, she turned around and looked at him through her eyelashes. "What's up with the pained expression, bull?"
He laughed it off. "Nothing, she-wolf. I just hate school."
She leaned closer to him, to keep Jon from listening. "Let's skip class tomorrow. Just you and me." She winked then and didn't even give him time to answer. She ran to Jon's side and linked her arm with his as they walked.
I'm definitely screwed.
The auditorium was plunged in silence except for the headmaster's voice booming through the speakers. Sansa was sitting next to Margaery, with Jeyne on her other side. Margaery was scrolling through her phone as Sansa filed her nails and the only one staring at the headmaster was Jeyne, though Sansa could bet her life she wasn't listening to a single word.
She could see through the corner of her eyes that Arya, showing little decorum, was rolling tobacco in rice paper into cigarettes with practiced skill. She finished one, with filter and everything, put it above her ear and started rolling another one. Sansa huffed.
"What?" Margaery asked in a whisper without taking the eyes from her phone.
"Arya is rolling cigarettes in the other side of the row."
Sansa saw how Margaery moved her head to look at Arya and smile. She wrote something on her phone and then Arya was getting hers out of her pocket. Sansa raised her eyes just as Arya leaned to look at Margaery and wink at her. Margaery laughed.
Sansa sighed. It was her time to ask. "What?"
"I asked her to roll me one but no with tobacco." Margaery's smile widened. "We are smoking during lunch. You want some?"
Sansa shook her head and continued filing her nails. "I can't. I have math after lunch and I need all the help I can get. Plus, I can't gain weight."
Margaery shrugged. "Suit yourself." And then, as an afterthought, she asked. "Meet me tomorrow morning for a jog?"
She nodded. "Sure."
They returned to what they were doing as the headmaster talked on a on. Then, he said something that caught their attention.
"And I hope you incorporate this important new students into our school with generosity and kindness."
Sansa turned to Margaery and her friend was already answering her unasked questions. "Laura Lefford told Alla this morning that some dornish family moved to King's Landing. Is all I know for now." Sansa waited three seconds as she saw how the girl furiously typed on her phone. "Wait, Edric told Alysanne who told Elinor that they are from the Martell family."
"The Martells are in King's Landing?"
Then, as if in cue, Bran approached Sansa and knelt beside her so they wouldn't send him back to his seat with the kids from his grade. "Did you hear?"
"About the Martells?"
Bran shook his head. "No, the Targaryens."
Jeyne's breath audibly hitched in her throat and Margaery nearly dropped her phone. "Targaryens?"
Bran nodded. "They came with the Martells. You know what that means?"
Jeyne answered in Sansa's place. "Yes. God-like people are in our school. All the Targaryens are hot."
Bran looked at Jeyne as if she was stupid, though it was barely noticeable, he was never impolite, and then looked back at Sansa. "Do you know the important meaning?"
Sansa shrugged, curious. Bran whistled almost imperceptibly. "There's a lot you don't know then, sister. Father's gonna freak out."
"Why? Because of the Baratheon company?" Margaery asked with seemingly little interest. Sansa knew it was fake but Margaery was good at hiding her own intentions. Bran didn't even notice.
They all knew the story of how the Baratheon company gained influence so quickly. They had thrown the Targaryens out of the game, the Lannisters taking the Martells out with them. If they were back, things among the high class society could get tense.
"No. Well, partly, yes. But not entirely because of that." He looked at Sansa as if trying to decide something and then sighed. "Ask Dad yourself. Just stay away from them. Or, even better, make sure Arya stays away from them."
"Why?" Jeyne asked. Bran just shook his head and returned to his seat without saying another word. Sansa leaned forward to look at Arya. Her sister was unaware of her surroundings, cleaning her nails with a goddamn penknife.
Sansa huffed. "As if I could stop Arya from doing something."
Margaery clicked her tongue against her palate. "So many questions. I have so many questions." The only thing Sansa heard for the next hour was Margaery's clicking nails against her phone's screen as she typed so quickly her fingers looked almost blurry.
Sansa just relaxed. By the end of the day, Margaery would know everything there was to know. There was not a thing that escaped Margaery's fingers. Sadly, there was not a thing that escaped Arya's ears either, though her sister payed little attention to gossip, whereas Margaery nearly memorized it.
It was a matter of time to see who would get the information first. Arya learning about the Targaryens back in the capital wasn't the important part. It was Bran's comment, make sure Arya stays away from them, what was worrying. Deny Arya something and it will become her heart's desire.
If she heard that someone wanted her to stay away from them, their side would be the first place she would go to. And Arya could become friends with anyone. She could become enemies with anyone as well.
I guess I'll just have to wait and see, Sansa thought as she returned to her nails. They were perfectly shaped. She smiled just as the headmaster bid them all back to class after finishing his welcome to a new year of class speech and stood up with the rest of her friends.
Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock. She thought amused as she saw Arya walking ahead of her and Margaery typing next to her. Who's faster?