Reinstating the wrongly disqualified jousters proved more difficult than expected. Some knights had not been able to pay the ransoms to have their forfeited armour, weapons, and horses returned. Retrieving these items proved challenging, especially in cases where they had already been sold on. Then there was the matter of those whom had paid their ransoms, retrieving the gold from the cheaters wasn't always so easy either as some knights seemed to spend their winnings as quickly as they received them, and others (having been disqualified and dishonoured, but not imprisoned) had fled.
Mace Tyrell ended up covering the costs of the dishonour cause by the Reach's men and Tyrion agreed that House Lannister would cover the costs of their men's actions, one way or another. Arya offered to lend horses from her own stables to the affected knights, so that they could compete, whilst Tyrion arranged the recovery or replacement of their horses. (Technically it was not his decision to make, but he found the gold required to settle matters so nobody mentioned that little detail.) That left only the former knight of House Wyl, unfortunately he was long gone, House Martell agreed to cover the debt, Oberyn muttering darkly that they'd extract the cost from House Wyl in time.
As the Joust resumed Renly stood, Toby in his arms, and gave a pretty speech about the code of knighthood, and the responsibility that bearing the title imparted. He spoke of chivalry and honour, and dedicated a decent portion of his speech to the expectation that a knight not only have the strength and skills to face combat, but the strength of character to be compassionate and kind, to aid the weak, defend the helpless. (Oddly enough he did not mention religion, or the Seven, once during the speech.) Renly expressed concerns that the title was given too freely, that the behaviour of these fourteen men was evidence of this, and that in the future, perhaps being a knight ones self should not be considered grounds enough to bestow a Knighthood on another. As Renly ended his speech Alyssa's direwolf, Visenya, pushed her way between him and Arya (Alyssa was in Arya's arms) and he dropped his free hand down giving the direwolf a quick pat. The crowd, enraged by the cheating of Willem Lannister and those like him, cheered loudly.
As the cheering calmed and the Joust resumed Jon lent forward, Lysana in his arms, and whispered into Arya's ear. "If I didn't know any better I would say that Renly is attempting to take knighthoods away from the church." He whispered softly.
Gendry grunted, juggling Renella in one arm and Visarya in the other as he regained his seat. "No, he's trying to get the people to take knighthoods away from the church." He replied.
"He needs to be careful." Jon muttered. "People don't like change."
"They do when they think it's their idea." Gendry disagreed. "And Renly is very good at that, making people think that what he wants was their idea."
The discussion was cut short as the first competitors for the day took the field, Gormond Goodbrother took his place at the north end of the field, his armour was simple but tidy, he had a goat's skin where most southern lords would wear a surcoat. His horse was a dark grey and stocky, Arya was sure he had been riding a different horse the last time he jousted. Renly had allowed Northerners and Ironmen whom did not carry the title of 'Knight' to enter the contest based on birth rank or proven skill, claiming that he would not allow religious differences to lessen the quality of the competition. Arya had thought little of it at the time, it had made her happy, as had the inclusion of female fighters, but Jon and Gendry's words made her worry. Had Renly intentionally set things up to further his agenda? Arya's frown deepened as she recognised the 'squire' that gave Gormond his lance, that was no squire, that was Olyvar. She turned to look at Renly, but he was wearing the 'friendly mask' his happy, yet empty, smile and giving nothing away.
Arya turned her attention to Ser Hyle Hunt, he was one of the reinstated knights, and his chestnut courser had not been recovered. The horse she'd lent him was under the condition that should he lose she would cover the ransom, and he would need to work off the debt. Robar had selected a temperament mare for him (it seemed Arya's stables were mostly mares and half of them in foal) this one was mostly white, but with an almost completely black face and dark brownish-black ears, there was a large patch of brownish-black (like a mud stain) down it's chest and small splashes of black and dark brown over its legs and hind quarters. Robar had named it 'Muddy' as the horse almost looked as if it had been breed to hide in muddy snow.
Arya found herself holding her breath every time the two men clashed, the horse from her stables handled the jousting well and even seemed to save Hyle from falling once. The Joust was close but Hyle won on the last tilt. Gormond paid the ransom for his armour and weapons, but told Hyle to keep the horse, allowing Arya's horse to be returned to her stables. This action lead to another speech from Renly, about chivalry and honour, and another lament that here stood another person, more than worthy of a Knighthood, yet because he prayed to a different god, the church prevented Renly from giving him the title he so truly deserved.
"I really thought Gormond would win." Gendry muttered as he adjusted Renella and Lysana on his knees.
They usually only had two or three of the children with them at any one time, however Brienne was jousting and Arya wanted them all close, she had also insisted on Jon bringing Ghost with him, it made the box crowed, but Arya found the presence of Ghost, and Visenya, reassuring. She still didn't know what she needed reassurance against, but something was niggling at her, something she couldn't quite peace together yet. As the Jousts continued Arya's mind began to wander, and at some stage she realised she had accidently warged into Arryn, the kestrel was tracking rabbits near a high cliff, as he hovered near the edge of the cliff Arya noticed small boats being rowed ashore and about a dozen men attempting to find purchase on the muddy shore. Arya frowned, there was something wrong about the men's faces, their foreheads were all marked with some symbol, but from Arryn's position she couldn't make it out. If the bird could just get a little closer…
"… Arya? Arya, stand up." Jon hissed quietly.
Arya quickly returned to herself and found her feet, Alyssa in her arms. As she looked down she realised that Brienne and her opponent were facing the royal box. Brienne had bested her opponent, apparently, but Arya had noticed none of it. The next Joust was called and soon the two knights were taking their places and holding everybody's attention. Arya tried to focus on the event, but she couldn't. During the second tilt Bronn entered the Royal box, and knelt down beside Renly, whispering quietly. Soon Toby was passed to Saia and Gendry was called over, Yseuit and Connie quickly taking the children in his arms.
Jon took the opportunity to get Arya's attention. "Arya, what's wrong?" He whispered.
Arya, whom had been straining to hear Renly and Bronn's conversation frowned, she could only pick out the occasional word, such as 'Sparrow' and 'clever'. "I'm not sure." She whispered back quietly.
"No, not that, before." Jon replied. "What happened? You were miles away during Brienne's Joust, that's not like you."
Miles away, oh, how true those words were, Arya had been miles away indeed. "Arryn was trying to show me something," She whispered. "A boat, men trying to sneak ashore… I… can you warg Dagrau?"
"I… sometimes." Jon admitted. "I haven't done it since…" His left hand moved to his gloved right hand, still terribly injured and scared.
Arya had only seen the damage beneath the glove a few times, Jon had actually lost part of some of his fingers. The little finger now stopped between where the second and third knuckles used to be, and the second knuckle was fused, leaving what remained of his finger slightly curved. The next finger was almost as bad, again he had lost the finger just before the last knuckle, but this finger at least retained some movement in the second knuckle. Jon had also lost the tip of his middle finger, and half of the tip of his index finger, although the index finger had retained part of its nail. The thumb, although twisted and scared, was mostly intact. Nobody looking at his gloved hand would be aware of this however as small pieces of wood had been shaped and inserted into the glove to match his missing fingers.
"Could you try?" Arya asked softly. "Arryn couldn't get close enough to see clearly." She knew that if she told Gendry he'd get on Dragonsteel and ride back to Dragonstone immediately, and she knew how enraged that would make Renly, but Jon was a warg, like her, he could physically stay and Renly would be none the wiser.
Jon bit his lip and frowned. "I… it will take a few hours… take Lysana." He moved to his feet and carefully passed the babe to Arya. "Ghost, come." He said softly.
Renly, whom had been engrossed in his conversation, frowned at Jon standing. "Isaeyan?"
"Jon doesn't feel very well." Arya said softly. "He's going back to the Keep to lie down, so he doesn't embarrass you."
~~/~~
As the light faded there was still no clear winner to the Joust, Sandor, Brienne, Balon Swann, Oberyn, and (surprisingly) Ser Hyle Hunt were still amongst the contenders when the event was called for the day. Renly allowed Arya to return to the Keep before the evening feast and settle the children, once they were settled Arya went to check on Jon. She knocked on his door, but got no answer, worried, she pushed it open.
"Arya?! What the hells?!" Jon exclaimed.
Arya froze as she took in the sight in front of her, Jon was in the bath, and for the first time she was able to see the full extent of the scars that covered his arm and chest. The skin on his right arm had twisted and thickened, almost like tree bark. Jon had always had something of a tan, at least compared to Robb, but the scars were white as weirwood. The inside of his elbow was raw and cracked, as if he had to keep re-breaking the skin to retain movement. There were red weeping cracks on the back of his burnt hand and on his shoulder, the bark-like scars reached over his shoulder and down the right side of his chest, the right nipple was gone and the chest had been seared clean of hair on that side. Even on the left side his chest had far less hair than Gendry's, but maybe that was the Targaryen blood? As Arya continued to stare, opened mouthed, Jon moved to cover himself.
"You never told me it was that bad?" She whispered, her throat suddenly dry.
"Could you please turn around?" Jon replied, his voice far higher than usual. Arya nodded and complied, she may not be able to see, but she still had her ears, the grunts of pain and frustration as Jon pulled himself out of the bath were heart-wrenching to listen to. She wondered just how far down his scars went, and how much pain he was in? "You can turn around now." Jon muttered after a few minutes.
When Arya turned Jon had a towel in his good hand, and had managed to pull his pants on, she made no attempt to pretend that she wasn't looking at his scars as she approached. "You need to train with Galan," She advised. "Work on using Longclaw with your left hand."
"It's a bastard blade, and a long one at that." Jon muttered. "It's better two handed."
Arya nodded. "Yes, but you can make your left side do most of the work, it would be an advantage if you think about it, few people would have practice training against a reverse technique."
"Arya, I… you didn't come to talk about my training." Jon muttered, turning away from her and reaching for his shirt, revealing the rivers of scars running down his back and below the line of his pants. Arya watched the scared skin move unnaturally, the hard white scars unyielding where they met the softness of his unscarred skin. The scars reminded her of the stories she had heard of Aegon II (Aegon the Elder) and the injuries that he had received during the Dance of the Dragons, injuries that had left him in pain for the rest of his life.
"Are you taking anything for the pain?" She asked softly.
"No." Jon replied.
Arya frowned, Jon had to be in immense pain. "Father took Milk of the Poppy for his leg-"
"And Aegon the Lazy took so much of it that his face became round and puffy." Jon snapped.
Arya frowned. "You mean Aegon the Elder?"
"I meant what I said." Jon replied sharply. "Although, if you prefer Aegon the Usurper that's fine too!"
Arya sighed. "Jon," She whispered, touching his left arm gently. "Have you trained? Since Daenerys…"
"Since my Aunt tried to burn me alive?" Jon snapped, his dark eyes burning with anger for once. "No, I haven't trained, I haven't ridden Dagrau'r Rhosyn, and I haven't warged… not 'til today. Dagrau flew to Dragonstone and looked around, she saw nothing, it must have just been some fishermen."
Arya nodded, she sighed and took a step back. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..." She let the words trail off. She hadn't meant a lot of things, she certainly hadn't meant for Jon to go to Essos and get so badly hurt, she turned her face away as she felt a single tear silently run down her cheek.
"Arya…" Jon's voice was softer, she felt his hand on her arm, then suddenly he was pulling her into an embrace. "I'm sorry." He whispered. "I didn't mean to lash out at you, you don't deserve that." He buried his face into her hair and started to sob. "Pylos says the pain changes how I think, I took Milk of the Poppy at first, but it clouds my mind, makes me feel like I'm stuck in a deep fog. Yes, I'm in a lot of pain, but at least I can think… I… thank you for making me warg Dagrau today… I didn't want to. It's like the pain magnifies everything, makes it sharper, warging Dagrau today, flying… it was so much more intense than it's ever been before… but I think that's good. I've been afraid to get back on her, I think today was a good first step." Jon pulled back and did his best to smile for her. "I'll do my best to be back on my feet before winter, before you and Robb need me-"
"I always need you." Arya replied simply.
Jon chuckled. "No, I don't think so." He replied. "But I always need you, little sister." He frowned. "Shouldn't you be at the feast, making Renly look good?"
Arya nodded. "Are you coming?" She asked.
"Give me a few minutes." Jon replied, his frown deepened. "Do you mind if I leave Ghost with Visenya and the children?"
Arya smiled. "I'm sure Alyssa will love that, Mace is leaving Olenn and Rufus with them too."
Jon chuckled. "Three direwolves, that's good, between them and Brienne nobody would dare touch your children."
Arya nodded at his words, but the worry still nagged at her, something… she was missing something, it was there, like something at the edge of her vision, but she couldn't see it. Just so. Opening your eyes is all that is needing. The heart lies and the head plays tricks with us, but the eyes see true. Look with your eyes. Hear with your ears. Taste with your mouth. Smell with your nose. Feel with your skin. Then comes the thinking, afterward, and in that way knowing the truth. Arya frowned as she and Jon took Ghost to the nursery. Her guards were there, as they should be, and Ser Martyn Lannister was there also, looking sullen in his red cloak. Martyn glared at Ghost as they led the direwolf past him, and Ghost in return curled his lips into a silent snarl.
"How am I supposed to protect Prince Toby when you keep putting dangerous animals in the same room with him, Princess." Martyn growled.
"Ghost would never hurt Toby." Arya replied. "Direwolves protect their pack."
"So do lions." Martyn replied. "If that best gives me reason I'll slit his throat."
"Slit the throat of a direwolf and you might find yourself face to face with a dragon." Jon warned. "Easy, Lannister, we've taken out lions before."
~~/~~
