"You will fall off your seat if you keep leaning on the table like that," Lady Alya told Ryssa after the, oh so dreadfully, dull dinner was over. The servants had walked over and taken all the dishes and meals to the kitchens, bringing out more drinks onto the long table. A small goblet filled with honeyed warm milk was placed in front of Ryssa and the other children with small bowls of sugar placed within their reach should one of them wish for their milk to be sweeter.

"No, I won't," Ryssa insisted. "You say the exact same thing every time I climb in the rafters, or through the tunnels, or when I'm up on the roofs and I am yet to fall." She took a sip of her milk to test the temperature, before downing the whole goblet once she discovered to be of agreeable warmth. Remembering her lessons, she used a small handkerchief she had to wipe away the milk whiskers she got from drinking. "I am bored, may I be excused?" she asked turning to her mother.

Lady Alya merely smiled. "Just a moment, dear," she said turning to Lord Stark and her husband. She had noticed that all the children were terribly bored by the adult conversations taking place around them and decided to let the young ones roam the mountain for a while before they were bound to go to bed. They did have a busy day planned out for tomorrow. Nevertheless, she spoke to the two men: "It would seem the young ones are bored with us, my lords. I believe we should leave them to their own devices before they go to bed, don't you agree?"

Lord Rafario nodded his consent but Lord Stark looked conflicted. "They have an early rise tomorrow and I would not be comfortable with Robb running around an unfamiliar keep as big as yours for the fear of him getting lost."

"Nonsense," Rafario spoke up. "Robb can stay with Therenger and Ryssa. They know the keep like the back of their hands and will make sure he does not wander away. Isn't that right, children?"

The two Manalis children in question nodded. "Yes, father," they said at the same time.

Rafario turned back to Ned. "You see? There is nothing to fear." He offered a large white smile to his liege lord from under his auburn beard and turned to Ryssa and Ren. "You two are excused but, remember, you must rise early in the morning so do not go down to the forges. Clear?" The children nodded again and rose from their seats. On their way out of the hall, Ren and Robb bowed in respect while Nia and Ryssa gave curtseys and the four went out into the hallway. The twins had already been sent up to their room to sleep so it was only the four of them.

Yawning, Nia spoke: "I am positively exhausted. I think I shall go and turn in early tonight. You three have fun." With that she turned on her heal and went her way to her chamber.

"You want to go and see the stables?" Ren asked Robb the moment Nia was out of sight.

The younger boy shrugged his shoulders. "I don't see why not."

Ren grinned a huge smile. "Great! Follow me!" he said starting in the way opposite to the one Nia left in with Robb and Ryssa in tow. The children weaved their way through the maze that were the halls of Forgehammer, going down five levels before going down a corridor lighted by torches that littered the smooth stone walls. The corridor started widening at its end before coming to a large arena complete with spectator seats. At the far end of the arena, there was a set of large double wooden doors that lead to the stables. Once there, Ren and Ryssa took Robb to stalls that held two large horses. Larger than any Robb had ever seen in his life.

It was a fact that all horses bred in the Ashlands were huge, strong and fast, able to withstand extreme weather conditions with minimum amount of food.

The horses to which the Manalis children took Robb were beautiful and graceful creatures. Both over 17 hands tall in their shoulders, with elegant necks, shiny coats, long strong legs with thick feathering around their ankles and long thick luscious manes and tails. One was a regal looking beige stallion, while the other, also a stallion, was pitch black with a single white stripe running down its face. Ren went to pet the beige one while Ryssa patted the black one on its neck as both horses lowered their heads once their respective owners approached them.

"Beautiful, aren't they?" Ryssa asked Robb while running her fingers through the black giant's thick glossy mane, the animal seemingly relishing in the attention. She looked so tiny standing beside the huge horse.

Robb nodded with a bewildered smile on his face. "They are so big," he exclaimed. "I believe I've never seen horses so large."

Ren turned away from his horse, going to the shelves that held his riding tack. "How about a ride, little sister?" he asked Ryssa whose face completely lit up at his words.

"I think that's a great idea, Ren!" The smile she wore threatened to split her pretty little face in half. Running to the shelf to gather her own tack, she turned to Robb. "You can ride with us if you wish. The arena is warm enough for riding when it's too dark outside."

"Gladly, but I don't know where my horse is." Robb scratched the back of his neck in discomfort.

"Oh, no problem. I know where it is!" Ren said, briefly turning from his task of brushing his horse. He put the brush down and led Robb to a stall holding his pony a few feet away from their horses. The poor thing looked like a pony when compared to the monstrosities the Manalis' rode. "I put him in there myself, earlier today," Ren explained while retrieving Robb's tack. "Nice little fellow. He seemed a little scared to be put in here with the others but it would seem that he calmed down in the meantime. When you're finished saddling him, we'll go into the arena for a little fun time." Patting Robb's shoulder, Ren returned to his task of saddling Royal.

Ryssa was already half finished with saddling Wynter when Ren returned. Wynter had lowered himself so that Ryssa could reach his back and put the saddle on him. Making sure it was tight enough; she beckoned Wynter to lower his head so that she may put his bridle on him. Finishing with her work, she led the horse out of his stall where Ren was waiting with Royal, and saw Robb just taking his own horse out. They went back into the arena, Ren closing the stable doors behind them.

Since his horse was considerably smaller, Robb mounted first, closely followed by Ren who mounted Royal thanks to his own height. Ryssa, however, had to wait for Wynter to kneel so that she may mount the massive animal.

The sound of singing steel and shuffling feet was the only thing piercing the silence of the practice ring in Forgehammer that morning as the two sisters danced around each other, their blades in hand, clashing with a ferociousness fit for a battlefield. Each was dressed in a tunic, a sleeveless vest over it, a pair of trousers and boots, thick leather gloves on their hands to avoid any accidental cuts and their hair braided down their backs to keep it away from their eyes. Both girls were flushed as they had been at it for some time now, but neither seemed eager to stop their spar to take a break, continuing to swing and stab at each other faster and with more force than a moment ago. Ryssa seemed to be holding up better than her younger sister as she evaded each of Niantine's attacks with practised skill and grace, but was quickly getting tired from the speed with which the brunette girl delivered each blow. Huffing to herself, she swung her sword with more force than before, knocking Nia's weapon out of her hand-the blade spinning mid-air for a moment before impaling itself into the ground just a few yards away- and put her own up to her sister's throat with a victorious smile.

"I win," she taunted, causing Nia to roll her brown eyes at the older girl.

"Indeed you do, sister. Perhaps next time it shall be me who is victorious." Nia stepped away from Ryssa, the girl sheathing her sword at her hip, and went to retrieve her sword. She pulled it out of the ground, wiping the dirt of the blade with the edge of her tunic, and sheathed it as well. "Let us not forget that while you may have the upper hand when it comes to swordplay, it is I who is the better marksman." Nia sported a smirk of her own when she saw the slight frown on Ryssa's face.

Ryssa shook her head at Nia and headed towards the forges. She had some work left to do from the previous day and she was itching to feel the forging hammer in her hand again, the smell of smoke and sweat and the heat of the fires. She excused herself to her sister before leaving the training area on the middle level and making her way through the wide, torch-lit tunnels to the underground level where the forges were located. It was not long before she could feel the air getting steadily warmer as she neared the entrance.

The entrance to the forges was placed on the west side of the mountain and could be accessed through a series of tunnels that led there from the town's square. It was shaped into a large stone arch with hammers, blades, and other various weaponry, coming out of roaring flames and a sword crossed with a hammer on top. Upon entering the tunnel, one is met with a fork that lead in three directions: one led to the weapon smiths, second to the armourers and third to jewellers. As usual, Ryssa made her way down the first path and soon found herself surrounded by roaring fires and the sound of hammers hitting heated metal. She weaved through the crowd of smiths until she was on the other side of the forge and near the northern entrance. There she found the fire she worked on still roaring and her tools untouched since yesterday. It would appear that Micah, the smith who worked to her left had kept his promise of not touching anything and keeping the fire alive. She had wanted to thank him for it but he had still not arrived and probably would not come for some time as his shift started in the evening.

Ryssa took up her tools and set to reheating the metal of the blade she was working on the previous day before she was called up to supper and later forced to go to bed, leaving her unable to finish her work. The blade was a twin to one she had made a few months ago and she'd made sure to craft it so it would fit her even as she grew older. She was extremely excited once she'd began her dual blade training upon finishing her lessons with Syrio Forel only a month ago. Ryssa was sad to have to say goodbye to her mentor and of the prospect of never seeing the Braavosi warrior, but her sadness was quickly overcome once her father had informed her at supper that night that he would be taking over her lessons from now on and would be teaching her how to wield two blades. She couldn't get the smile off her face for the next five days. After that, she had decided to put all her forging knowledge to the test and craft herself two blades she could carry on her person at almost all times and which would be highly effective in helping her defend herself, should such need ever arise. Thus, she took to spending her days in the forges searching for the right metal, making designs of her new weapons and perfecting them.

AN: So, once again, I'm really sorry you guys had to wait so long for a new update. The reason can be summed up in one word and that's: school. I feel bad for posting a chapter as short as this one, but I thought that we could all do with a small dose of Ryssa and her family, so I wrote this little thing. I can promise that the next chapter will be significantly longer than this one(I'm hoping to treat you all with a 10k monster ;) ).

Anyhow, hope you don't mind my laziness with this story. I don't know when the next chap will be up but I can tell you that it too will deal with Ryssa pre-GoT plot but it will be set in her days in Winterfell while this one is more about her in Forgehammer.

Also, do leave me a comment in the reviews. They're always nice to read and keep me motivated to write more. Oh, and please vote on the poll I have set up on my profile. It's just to see if you liked the story I put in the previous chapter and if you'd like for me to put more stories like that in here.

love you all and hoping to hear from you

angel 3