A Hard Won Truth Continued

Arya

She sat down to dinner, wearing a lilac dress that reminded her quite a bit of one of Queen Cersei's gowns. She even did her hair the way she had seen the servant do it once before. She purposely chose a seat next to Lord Tyrion, hoping to discuss important matters. Unfortunately, on her other side was The Prince, so she could not broach such matters in public. Her father was seated across the table from her, but was so occupied with The King that she hadn't been able to catch his eye, let alone speak with him. Arya was stuck listening to The Prince describe a particularly brutal sounding hunt he had gone on, though not actively participated in. His favorite part seemed to be the animal's fear; it's sense of hopelessness.

Oddly enough, it was The King who brought the two conversations together.

"Lady Arya, that truly is a lovely color on you."

"Thank you, Your Grace." She replied politely. The Queen glared daggers at her and Arya played around with her creamy risotto baked in a tiny squash, spiced with peppered salt. She refused to drop her gaze, however.

"Uh, yes. Quite beautiful, in fact." The Prince remarked, and she could feel his breath against her ear, that's how closely he was seated.

"How old are you now, dear? Fifteen?"

"Fourteen, Your Grace. And a few months." She clarifies.

"And you're betrothed, is that right?" The King asks, taking a healthy gulp of his wine, a few drops sticking in his beard. He signals a skinny, feminine looking cup bearer to refill his goblet. The blonde boy/man runs quickly to comply. The King holds out the cup, but never once takes his eyes off her.

"She is Your Grace, to Jon Arryn's boy, Robyn in The Vale." Wonderful, a reminder she didn't need.

"A shame that is. The Vale? She belongs at court. Look how she's blossoming here. This is where she belongs." The King says graciously, but the looks he gives her are not at all welcome.

"Ah, well. We gave our word; we can hardly insult The Vale. I made the deal with Jon myself."

"And Jon is dead." The King insists, which causes her father to flinch. "Besides, I heard the boy was a weak little thing. It's possible he won't even live that long, am I right?"

"Yes, perhaps he will die after all." The Prince says hopefully.

"Not at all. They say he is in a very stable condition." Her father explains, barely restraining his anger.

"Still, the will of The King is law. I can order her to remain here." While she might want to be rid of the engagement, she knows enough to worry about The King's will, especially where she is concerned.

"But why would you, Your Grace? Her presence here is only temporary, I will not break a contract written in honor." Her father insists.

"You will not?" Joffrey asks snottily.

"And if I do order it? No one could truly complain should she be betrothed to my son instead." The King suggests. Her eyes and her father's jump and fix on The King.

"Your Grace, I…" Her father begins but is interrupted by Cersei.

"What do you think, My Sweet? Would you like the pretty Stark girl as your queen?" She asks Joffrey as though she is offering him a new puppy to play with.

"Yes, I think the Lady Arya will be more than adequate." He answers simply, digging into his saffron chicken pastry.

"But you can't just…" Her father tries again.

"Of course I can. I can do whatever the bloody hells I want." He laughs at his own joke, the table shaking from where his big belly keeps slapping the underside of it. "Our houses can finally be joined, as they were always meant to be. Besides, your daughter would be queen. There is no downside to this, old friend." Arya suddenly feels as though she can't breathe, and she wonders idly if she is allergic to anything in the food.

"Perhaps the lady does not want to be queen." Tyrion suggests helpfully.

"Nonsense, all women want to be Queen. What else could they hope for, Uncle?" Joffrey asks smugly, pretty pink lips quirked up in a condescending smile.

"Not all. Just as not all men desire to be King." Her father continues.

"I know I would not." Tyrion agrees.

"No one would want you as King anyway, little brother. The whole of The Seven Kingdoms would rebel." The Queen responds unkindly.

"True enough. And I myself would lead the rebellion." Tyrion responds, clever as always. Arya wants to laugh, truly she does, but can't force in the necessary breath to do so.

"What say you girl. Want to be Queen?" And The King is staring right at her, the others as well.

"Speak up, girl. This isn't the time for being timid." The Queen prompts. Joffrey smirks at her, sure she must be flattered to be chosen by him. And in that instant air rushes back into her lungs and she knows that she would choose anyone, a complete stranger, over this blonde boy who makes her skin crawl.

"I would not break an engagement. After all, without honor, we are nothing more than beasts." She repeats a saying her father has retold many times before.

"You bloody Starks and your bloody honor. We shall see, won't we? I quite like the idea of enjoying First Rights." Her father nearly chokes on his water at this, and Arya quite loses her appetite.

"We will take our leave for the night, Your Grace." Her father says, not asks.

"I haven't dismissed you yet." But her father only pulls out her own seat and escorts her out. They leave right before the frozen pomegranate topped with cinnamon cream is served. Once they reach The Tower of The Hand, they sit opposite each other.

"Arya…" He starts.

"It is us against them, Father. Surely you see that now. No more secrets from me if we're to keep our 'bloody honor'. Together we're strong, Starks, of the North; apart we're vulnerable." She says, more than a little shaken.

"You're right. Very right. Things are spiraling out of control. I'm drowning here. I'm sorry I came, and even more sorry I brought you here, Love."

"I'm not." He looks at her surprised. "You need me. Now tell me what's going on."

He sighs, resigned.

"I will." He says. "I promise. But, first I have to be sure. Now don't look at me like that, I will tell you. Just let me gather more proof and put some insurance into place. I have one more thing to do and then it will be finished. I will tell you everything, and we'll find some sort of way out."

"For both of us. Right Daddy?"

"If I can." And he kisses her on the forehead and leaves her to herself; presumably back to his office to continue working. After everything, he still hadn't told her anything. On top of all that, she never got the chance to question Tyrion. She feared for her sanity, her safety, and her father's very soul. What was this place? Who were these people? She had thought it was a game here, playing pretend, but it was much more sinister than that.

She needed to move, to do something, to not feel so helpless. She tried to go out for a walk, but the guards told her she was restricted from exiting the palace at night, for her own safety. Fine. Instead, she went to the dungeons. Seeing the squalid conditions, the hopeless nature of the prisoners, she started to wonder which side of the bars she was actually on. She wasn't fooled; they had not settled the argument. And if The King wanted her to marry his son, or wanted her for himself, it would be so. There was every chance she could be locked away in The Red Keep, forced to pop out blonde little babies with that annoying little shit.

And her father, he'd never been so secretive before. She still believed him when he said he was not frequenting the brothel for his own pleasure, but now she really began to worry that he was into something dangerous. She heard the guard on duty finally come down to complete his rounds and panicked, knowing being found down there would result in even less freedoms.

"Psst. Lovely girl." She looked over. It was the most mysterious guard, the one with the red and white hair. The one who'd been polite. Jaquen was his name. "This way." She did not trust him, and was not about to enter his cell, despite his companions sleeping fitfully within. But he wasn't suggesting any such thing, he was pointing to the opposite wall. She looked and found a sliver of a stairway, mouthed 'thank you' and slipped out. It led of course, deep into the sewers. Irony.

Once down there it was very dark, save for torches upon the walls. She kept to the shadows however, and felt herself going round in circles, like a maze. She was hopelessly lost, until she heard voices. She snuck into a dark alcove and waited for them to pass. She heard only a snippet of their conversation, and could barely make sense of it.

"Yes, he's found the book, and the bastards."

"Which ones?"

"The one in the brothel, the one in the tavern, and the smith."

"And what does he plan to do about it?"

"I don't know. But I doubt he will be successful. It's his honor which will get him killed." And they walked on, their whispered conversation cancelled out by the heavy beating of her heart.

When she eventually found her way back she had discovered two things.

One, she had figured out how to solve the sewer problems. A more complicated, maze-like drainage system would more efficiently remove the human waste, and clean up the streets, provided there was fresh water to flush it out. It could even be used to more efficiently disperse drinking and bathing water.

She also realized that, yes, her father was in danger. He had discovered a secret. For who else could they be referring to with regards to the honorable man, she knew no other within the castle walls. He'd found the book and the bastards. The brothel, The Tavern, and The Smith. She would look into it on her own tomorrow. And she would make sure her father didn't get himself killed as she suspected was the fate of poor Jon Arryn before him. While she did doubt herself, she knew failure wasn't an option. Viper's Nest indeed.

A/N- So yes, she figured it out, mostly. Next she will go see Gendry, learn more than she ever wanted to about Joffrey, and make hard sacrifices to try to save her father. Please review so the story can continue on course. I really want to get to her travels with The Night's Watch.

Also, shameless self-advertising. If you're enjoying this, please take a look at my other story called On the Way There which is also an Arya story, though quite different.