Chapter 9
'Close the gates and burn the dead…' commanded Harry. Arya dragged the sword with her, the soldiers parted to let her pass. Nymeria trotted behind her with Rickon, Shaggy Dog and Sansa. They entered the great hall. Arya spotted the stool made of bones and went directly to it. She took her cloak off and set it over it before Rickon or Sansa could see.
'Arya…' Sansa said horrified looking at the cloak.
'Our father will be put to rest today…next to his siblings…' Arya said her voice horse.
'You…you did good…are you ok…killing is…' Sansa began and Arya found herself laughing startling her siblings.
'Killing? You think killing him was hard…I suppose it was…but not because of what you think…I wanted to keep him alive…I wanted to cause him pain unimaginable…for as long as I could…it took all of my will power to actually give him a clean death…he deserved much more…'
'That should have been my task …' Rickon said
'No…your task lies before you Rickon…you need to learn to be both honorable and ruthless…father was honorable…but he was soft…and died for it…you…you won't die…you will make your men both love and fear you…or if not…they will love you…and fear me…' she gathered the bones and the cloak and set towards the crypts.
'Wait…I want to be the one to carry them…' he said.
Arya hesitated but then nodded and gave the boy the cloak. He took it gently and set off flanked by Shaggy Dog and Nymeria and followed by Sansa and Arya who were walking side by side.
The dead were burning and the gates had been closed shut again as the small procession entered the crypts. Arya saw that her uncle set up fires all around the walls and set men to cutting down trees for fire wood. Good, they would need all the wood they could get…
The Crypts were just as Arya remembered, damp and dark, but she knew the true dark and damp and for her the Crypts were actually warm and smelled of home…a home long forgotten, a home she had willed herself to forget but found out she couldn't.
Arya pushed the lid of the stone sarcophagus her mother had made Ser Rodrick commission when she sent him north to her children. The three began to set the bones in place, placing them the way they should have been if a person was lying there sleeping. Some parts were missing…but for the most part they were there. She and Sansa closed the lid. Not one of the three was crying. Arya realized that all three of them had exhausted their tears a long time ago.
'Father has been put to rest…and mother will follow…' said Sansa 'But what of Rob…'
'We can try to track his bones and set them to rest next to father…but that will have to wait…the Others are the most important issue.' Arya said as they got out in the dim light of the evening.
'We have Winterfell…' said Rickon
'Yes little brother…but it's not enough…to keep us safe…' said Arya
'You won't be safe anymore…now you're Arya Stark…' he said
'I am still me…and I can still defend myself…after the display I put on today…they will think twice before they try to hurt me.' She added.
'They will want to speak with you two…' said Sansa
Arya knew Sansa was right. They entered the great hall where the most important of the lords and Knights were gathered and as they entered followed by Nymeria and Shaggy Dog silence fell over the hall.
'Are you truly Arya Stark?' asked a lord of the Vale. But it wasn't Arya who answered it was Great Jon
'Of course she is…you're too young to see it but she is the spitting image of her aunt Lyanna…'
Arya frowned at this, Lyanna was considered a beauty…she was Arya Horseface.
Great Jon knelt as did all the lords of the North as Rickon and Arya took their seats at the high table.
Sansa stood apart next to her lord husband.
'Rise…and be seated…' said Rickon 'You all might have a lot of questions as to how I escaped Winterfell, how my sister is who she is…but those questions will be answered in time and when we are ready to reveal the information you shall know…however this information is not important…not in the light of what has been going on outside these walls…Winter has come…and this time it brings with it the White Walkers.' Rickon stopped and Arya continued
'Those are our enemies…we have here under one roof Stark men, Arryn men and Baratheon men…this alliance once overturned a mad king…but this time, we won't be fighting a mad king…' Arya looked at the ones gathered, the Baratheon host, the 2000 still living and Stannis who was not present as ser Davos was tending to him in his room, looked almost dead and frightened they would be eaten by the Starks next. When she voiced the words she saw a glimmer of hope pass their ravaged faces.
'Has anyone had word from the wall? Are there still men defending it?' asked Harry
'Last we heard the lord commander…your half brother…had been avenged by some black brothers and some wildlings too…they teamed up and took over command…' said a northern lord. Arya nodded, well her vengeance against Jon's murderers was going to go unanswered it seemed.
'Begging your pardon…but why did the lord commander allow the wildlings…' started a lord
'That is a stupid question.' Rickon snapped 'The wall was undermanned…making an alliance with the living wildlings or letting them turn into blue eyed corpses and die by their hand…which is better…Jon did the right thing…but his brothers were fools not to see it…ser Davos told me…Stannis had offered Jon Winterfell and the Stark name…but Jon refused…he made peace with the wildlings because they were people…like you and like me…in the face of a threat like the Others…every living soul is your ally…'
'What my brother says is logical…for this reason our prisoners will not be executed…yet…' Arya said making sure the yet was understood. 'However…feeding them will prove problematic…feeding ourselves will also begin to prove problematic in the months or years to come…'
'So what do we do?' asked Great Jon
'First things first…let your families know of the changes here at Winterfell…Sam, send a raven to Castle Black urging them to give us a report of what is happening, what they need and that they can rely on our support.' Arya added
'I suggest we schedule guard duty in such a way that no inch of the outer walls in not unmanned…also with morning…prepare teams to go out into the forest and begin cutting trees…we need clear vision all around and we also need fire wood. Until we find dragon glass or Valerian Steel fire is our only weapon.'
'The guard on the outer walls is set for tonight…we can discuss further details in the morning.' Said Harry 'I will also send word to Aegon we captured Winterfell…and urge him to send us the dragon glass he finds in Dragon stone.'
'Thank you Lord Arryn.' Rickon said
'My King…my Queen…' it was Great Jon Umber. Arya felt weird being addressed as Queen. 'I suggest we prepare to rest and tomorrow start preparing for the war to come…'
'Thank you for the suggestion Lord Umber, yes, we can all profit from some sleep…and I am no Queen…call me Arya or if you insist on titles, lady Arya will suffice…'
Great Jon nodded. They ate and drank but Sansa ushered Rickon to bed sooner than the boy would have liked. Arya remained to keep the lords happy as did Harry, Sansa's husband. She was getting bored as lords slowly exited to get some shut eye. Arya didn't need to sleep normally, her training had made it so that she needed little rest time to function, but she felt this day had drained her somewhat more.
'Lady Stark?' Arya looked up to see a man she had never met before, the man was heavily scarred, some quite recent scars, he was tall and his hair was snow white.
'Do I know you?'
'No, I don't believe we've met…I was one of the prisoners here before you came…I was asked by your brother to save you…your brother Jon Snow…'
'You're a man of the Night's Watch?' asked Arya
'I was…then I became a wildling…the king beyond the wall they called me…' he said grinning showing he barely had any teeth left.
'What happened…please sit down…'
'We almost rescued you…myself and the two spear wives with me…of course we had no way of knowing that you…were not really here…the other Arya…'
'Jayne…yes, I saw her…' Arya thought of the girl she had known, it was hard to reconcile with the image of the worn down woman she had met in the day that passed.
'Well…Ramsey wasn't too kind to us when he learnt of the girl's escape…' explained Mance
'I'm sorry…I…'
'Don't apologize, it wasn't your fault…I only wish you and Jon could have reunited once again…he was a good man…' Mance said.
'How does the king beyond the wall get to know a man of the Night's Watch…' asked Brynden Tully as he joined them.
'Tell me about Jon…' Arya said almost in a whisper. The man's face darkened but nodded and began his story.
'So he found himself a woman…and he was happy…'
'From what I saw and heard yes…Yigritte would have liked you my lady…'
'Call me Arya…I was never a lady…Uncle forgive me, I think it's time I retired…' she got up and the hall fell silent. Oh this was unnerving.
'Should you want…continue with the celebration…however, no one is excused from drills tomorrow morning…I want all of you ready to march on castle Black in two weeks…'
With this she took off Nymeria following her dutifully as Arya found her old bed chamber and realized her bed was no longer inside it. She settled down on a bundle of rags in a corner, she knew the wolf needed sleep for this night at least. She sighed and the two fell asleep Arya curled up in Nymeria's furs. For once she didn't dream the wolf dream, she just slept…and slept long, she forgot how tired she was.
Short Chapter this one. Will try to upload the next one faster. Let me know what you think. And have a nice week.
