And here is chapter 7, short, too, I know. No worries, the one next week is longer !

Chapter 7: The Lord of the Vale

- "I'm not sure it's a good idea, Robin. I fear that if you see her nephew before her the Lady…"

The young woman was interrupted by the Eyrie's Maester's arrival.

- "Begging your pardon, My Lady, My Lord," the old man said. "A letter has arrived for you," he added, holding out a letter towards the Lord of the Vale.

Robin Arryn had been a sickly child, overprotected by his mother and capricious. After his mother's death and that of his stepfather, a few months later, the child had seamed to plunge further and further into depression and sickness. However, in four years, he had grown up and become a strong boy of four and ten. He was serious, attentive, even though he lacked most Lord's passion for fighting and riding. He was a good enough swordsman, for his age, but simply preferred other things. The only reminders of his tormented childhood were the frequent colds he tended to get. He was clever and a fast learner, and already strict and taciturn, as his father Jon Arryn had been.

He took the letter and opened it.

Lord Robin Arry, Protector of the Vale,

Cousin…

Robin stopped reading suddenly.

- "It is a letter from your sister, My Lady," he said after checking the signature at the end of the letter.

- "From my sister? Arya is alive?"

Robin gave the letter to his cousin. She took it and inspected the writing, her eyes filling with tears.

- "It his her handwriting," she said simply.

Robin took her hand into his and squeezed it gently, trying to comfort her as she had comforted him so many times.

He knew Sansa had believed she was all alone, her whole family destroyed. And now she learned that her sister was alive. She started to read aloud.

- "Lord Arryn, Protector of the Vale,

Cousin, I do not know the exact situation of the Vale, but I believe it is my duty to inform you of my actions. After fleeing Kings Landing I have exiled myself from Westeros. However I could never forget all the treacheries that led to my family's deaths. I can't forget the Freys and the Boltons, the Lannisters and the Greyjoys. My revenge may have taken four years, but it has finally started. I have killed all the Freys I could find at the Twins and freed our uncle Edmure and his wife and daughter. I have killed all the Freys I could find at Riverrun and soon our mothers' House will rule the Riverlands once more. I am now going North to kill all Boltons I can find there. Afterwards I intend to go south and make sure Cersei Lannister is finally punished for all her crimes.

Before writing this letter I have sent another one to Daenerys Targaryen in the South. Lord Tully will swear his oath to her and take his troups South once his domain is peaceful. I believe you should do the same, Lord Arryn. History tells us that once a Targaryen comes to Westeros with three dragons the Lords opposing him die in fire and blood. And the Lannisters have never been allied to the Arryns anymore than to the Starks, and look at what they did to my family the second they sat on the Throne. Before I cut his head off he confessed that Cersei Lannister and her father had been behind the Frey's betrayal.

Hoping to meet you one day,

Arya Stark

Ps: Pleas ignore this if you do not understand it. If Lady had been alive still she would understand why you lied that day, as I do now. It was not your fault.

There was silence for a moment, then Robin asked.

- "Do you know what thas last sentence mean?"

- "It's a code," Sansa said. "I don't know how Arya has learned that I am here, it might have been an educated guess on her part. If I hadn't been here you wouldn't have known it was for me, but it definitely proves that this is really Arya writing, and of her own accord."

- "I don't understand."

- "'Lady' was the name I had given my direwolf. She was executed on King Robert's orders because I lied and said Arya's wolf attacked Prince Joffrey." A tear ran down Sansa's cheek, but she kept going. "At the time I was betrothed to Prince Joffrey an could not betray him in front of half the court, even if it was with the truth. He had attacked Arya as she was playing with a friend, had tried to hurt her friend. But Arya beat him and then he attacked her in the back when she turned around to leave. Nymeria bit Joffrey to save Arya. After that Arya's friend was killed by Sandor Clegane, but she chased Nymeria away so she would not be hurt."

Robin nodded, thinking about the story, and then for some time about Arya's letter.

- "What do you think I should do, My Lady?" Robin asked. He might be clever, but he was still a boy of four and ten, not yet a man grown.

- "It is your decision," Sansa said firmly. "But, in your place, I would bow to the Mother of Dragons and send men from the Vale to the South West. Your men have stayed too long cooped up in your domain, Robin. If you don't, once Daenerys sits on the Iron Throne, she will bring her dragons here and your men will not protect you then. It is true that your father betrayed hers, but all of Lord Baelish's old spies say she is a forgiving Queen, kind and generous. With Uncle Edmure sending his own me, it is only a question of time until she wins. Well, except if you decided to send troops against the Riverlands, but…"

- "It is our mothers' land," finished Robin, and I couldn't do such a thing. Yes, I think you are right. Until now we could not have crossed the Riverlands without fighting them, and being stuck at the Twins for however long it took us to take it, if we could even take it. Maester Fern said Walder Frey had four thousand men in his castles. But how can Arya have taken it? With whose Army?"

- "I believe Arya capable of anything," Sansa answered after thinking for some time. "When we were children I believed she was stupid for wanting to learn to fight like a boy. But she was better at it than all my brothers at the same age, in truth, and… more violent, also. Not mad, not like Prince Joffrey, but… Before Joffrey's death, Lord Tyrion told me he had almost found Arya. When his spies lost her trace, she had just killed Sandor Clegane."

Robin didn't answer. Even in the Vale, far away from court, he had heart about the Clegane brothers.

When the second letter arrived, that same day, Robin immediately went to find Sansa and show it to her. It came from one of Baelish's old spies in Riverrun. After the man's death he had taken them for himself. He assumed this must have something to do with Arya, since she had mentioned taking the city. He was not wrong.

"My Lord, this night Riverrun had been taken back and the Freys are all dead. Lady Stark, Arya, is alive. The people have started to call her The Lady of Wolves. Yesterday night one of the city bridges malfunctioned and didn't rise. It is probable, seeing what has happened since, that this was a planned sabotage. The guards at the gates opened them and wolves entered the city by the hundreds. As if by magic they only attacked guards loyal to the Freys, not hurting any man fighting for the Tully. Leading them was Lady Stark and her giant Direwolf. I have seen her kill five men in as many minutes while her wolves tore apart her enemies. The fights have stopped three hours later and we can now see wolves eating corpses all around the city. Lady Arya then announced to the people that she had freed her uncle Lord Edmure Tully and killed all the Freys. Your uncle will apparently come back to Riverrun once the northern regions of the Riverlands are at peace. The people are celebrating, and some say Lady Stark was sent by the Seven to avenge the crimes against her family.

Your humble servant."

Sansa nodded.

- "If Daenerys Targaryen is a dragon," she said, "Arya Stark is a direwolf."

I hope you liked it! Don't hesitate to leave a comment!

Ferz