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Chapter 51: The She-Wolf Endures
Arya
A bucket of cold water splashed over her body, waking her up to the audience of a few of the silent men and their captain.
Arya eyed Euron with hate, tears rolled down her eyes when she remembered Lord Umber, and many more at Moat Cailin that fell to this dirty trick.
She remembered watching Arthur arriving, trying to chase after her on his horse from the Fever to the last cliff heading to the open sea. After being forced on the ship, she was chained and stripped of everything but a shirt and trousers then chained within a cabin.
She struggled for a number of weeks, getting loose more than thrice but never getting far before being captured and chained back up and beaten. Eventually, she was hooked like a hunted deer, only brought down to rest a couple of hours before being strung up again.
Euron stared at her with indifference, "How old are you? Fourteen? Leading men into battle, I wished your wolf was there, heard she is a mighty beast." He mentioned and she did as well, alas, Nymeria ran off ahead to hunt some game past the Moat.
One night ago, a normal Ironborn filth snuck in and tried to 'take' her, she was never afraid of such action before then but Euron gutted the sailor just after the bastard felt her up and was beginning to tear at her clothing.
That pleasure isn't yours to take. It's what he said, and she found herself terrified for a number of days until as of this moment, now, she's just pissed.
"My brothers are going to kill you, if I don't get to you first." She spat at the one-eyed craven.
"You hate me, I understand but you should hate your wolf-kin more. Was it not the Dread Wolf, who paid little attention to his Western borders? Or didn't have Moat Cailin rebuilt and manned by a veteran army?" She bit back a growl at him, aiming to defend her brother.
"We had worse threats to worry about than some petty small-time reavers- " Euron smacked her across the face, she actually spat out some blood from the strike.
"If I had most of my fleet, I would have killed you in front of your Kingly brother." Most? She preferred to stay silent for now, as Euron spoke about himself. "Queen Cersei wanted Sansa Stark, or the Dread Wolf himself but she'll make do with you." She cursed her anger, lashing out at the Ironborn King.
"She barely has an army, my brother will crush her soon." Euron laughed, walking to the exit of the cabin.
"Oh Summer child, Queen Cersei has an army... My Iron Fleet is sailing it to her as we speak."
Left alone, Arya started to cry, wishing for Jon, for Arthur, for Edric, for even Gendry to rise from the grave and rescue her from this torture she is being forced to endure.
More than anyone, she wished for her mother and father to save her.
Jaime
The doors to the throne room opened and seven men dressed in gold began to approach the Iron Throne, behind them is a pair of soldiers holding up the golden skulls of the Golden Company.
A servant announced them in, "Announcing Lord Harry Strickland, Captain-General of the Golden Company. Black Balaq, Commander of the Archers. And Jon Connington, Commander of the Cavalry." Jaime noticed several more others of note, all members of Houses exiled by House Targaryen throughout the last 300 years.
Cersei was ecstatic at seeing her money well spent, she saw more than three dozen elephants which were what she heard about most on the company.
As for the Captain-General, he doesn't seem very courageous or looks like a veteran mercenary that he had seen in Bronn. Lord Tarly spat, not liking that they invited foreigners to their home but that isn't very true.
The majority of the commanders within the Golden Company can trace their ancestors to Westeros, some even before the unification.
"I, Cersei of the House Lannister welcome our lost brothers, wrongfully driven from your homes by House Targaryen." He heard his sister say, with a smile on her face. "I cannot wait to see your men do well in the field, Lord Strickland." Harry knelt to the Iron Throne, to his sister.
"I do as well, your Grace. We will fight and restore order to your Realm." Restore order? There is a lot to do before the order is truly restored.
Jaime thought of his daughter, in Dorne and for some reason has declared herself Queen of Westeros in protest to Cersei's ascension. Obviously, this is more a plot by Doran to make his heir the King, even if he is the King Consort.
And House Tyrell is currently tightening their hold on the Reach, laying siege to Horn Hill, and taking Lord Tarly's wife and daughter, a good thing that Dickon was with his father or else his sister would have lost her best commander.
In the North, Moat Cailin was assaulted by his sister's other ally, Euron Greyjoy. He has warned Cersei not to trust him, she then called him an idiot and said that she'd be an utter fool to trust a pirate, she said that they would use him till after all their enemies are dead.
Cersei ordered him to attack the North, bring her a prize back that is the value of the risks, he's written back that he has done so and will be returning with a wolf pelt to match the burnt roses in Cersei's Sept.
Provoking the North was already a terrible idea, they can't afford to have Arthur attack while they are off fighting the Tyrell and Martell families.
Their numbers increased to 36,000 with the addition of the Golden Company and Randyll Tarly, their fleet- Thanks to Aurane and Euron now are up to 85 ships from the 18 they started out with.
Supplies are now the issue, and the city has already begun to starve from the lack of food originally supplied by the Reach.
"Ah, then there is Dragonstone," Jaime muttered, thinking about the latest reports from last month.
It appears his former squire was sloppy in dealing with the last trueborn Baratheon, Shireen arrived at Dragonstone and has fortified it for defense against them but doesn't have the manpower to choke Blackwater Bay which, thankfully, made it possible for the Golden Company to slip through the Gullet, bolstering King's Landing.
Shireen offered a small pinched nerve to their back, and from the east, they've heard that Daenerys is coming with her fleet and dragons. He suggested they start with seizing the island from the girl, ensuring that the Dragon Queen doesn't have a base to plan her conquest.
His sister scoffed during a council meeting, stating that she'd rather let the Stag and Dragon fight one last time while they conquer the Reach and take their food for their own.
Cersei watched him and he watched her, lessened has been their connection as of late with their last and final child in Dorne, set to become Queen in opposition with her mother.
Too many enemies, they won't possibly survive the coming war despite his sister's expectations.
Arthur
Dusk, Ghost, Grey Wind, and Nymeria ran around the Godswood as Arthur entered to see Brandon, sitting in his wheelchair and looking into the pond that their father would use to clean Ice, the King of the North was in a saddened state yet due to Arya's capture.
And between Mya and Val, his mother and aunt Allyria moving things to the Dreadfort, it's gotten rather frustrating to keep himself focused on the fight against the dead.
But here, and talking to his little brother is definitely a step in the right direction.
"Must be nice, being back home, now." He said and sat down, his back leaning against the weirwood tree, careful not to make sure the sap doesn't stick to his cloak. "Where is Meera? I thought she was insistent to be at your side." Bran shook his head lightly.
"She's with her father, still mourning Jojen's passing." Ah, that is right.
Howland Reed's absence has been missed for several weeks, recently, he had received a raven from Lady Reed who apologized for Euron slipping past into the Neck and attacking Moat Cailin.
He was angry, aye. Yet, he also understood that majority of House Reeds Crannogmen were elsewhere within the territory.
"Bran?" He started, his brother looked at him, "Why didn't you see it? Your abilities could have saved Arya, and Greatjon, too." Bran only looked at him with the blankets of stares, he wished he could see something else in his brother's eyes other than coldness.
"It's the only way to ensure a smooth alliance, and to remove Euron from the board completely." So that's what they are, just pieces on a board for the Gods to play with while a literal nightmare is hanging over them like a sword at the headman's block.
Arthur sighed and got up, brushing off snow from his pants, and stared at Brandon. "What are you, now?" He asked him.
"Not me, not anymore." He tried leaving and called the wolves to him, but Bran started to speak once more. "It's going to be a son, your child." A wisp of a smile graced his lips, then resumed leaving his brother to his meditations and future-seeking.
One thing's for certain, if they are all just pieces to some twisted game then he's going to make sure they win it all and then some.
Theon
They were making good time as the winds carried them down the Narrow Sea, Theon sighed and looked below the deck and saw Jon helping the sailors below haul stuff and pull oars.
His sister saw him and kicked his shins lightly, making him look to her and she nudged for him to go and speak to Jon.
The White Wolf, the King's Brother, Night's Watch Commander. He would be a liar if he said the man doesn't frighten him, or unnerve him since his treatment under Ramsay Snow.
He wasn't the charismatic son of Balon Greyjoy, he was broken and beaten and rebuilt into something he despises on a daily basis.
Jon looked up at him, he scoffed and started making his way down to the man and looked his former 'brother' in the eyes. "Jon, can we speak?" He asked and the White Wolf reluctantly followed him to the cabin where he had asked Edric to give them some privacy.
Now alone he would have spoken but Jon started first. "What do you want to say to me?" He wanted to say sorry, just as he had done to Sansa and Arthur.
He needed to apologize for everything he had done in the past, even Arya who was still angry with him for his betrayal of Robb in the war with the Lannister, a war still ongoing in House Starks eyes.
"I wanted to... For what I did and... I'm so-" Jon grabbed him by the cuff of his shirt, his former brother staring angrily at him.
"When Robb needed you most, you let him down. He would have returned North faster to stop your father's invasion if you had sent him warning of Balon." He loosened his grip and set him free from his grasp a second later. "You and I might have had our differences, but Robb and Arthur treated you like family, like brothers." He knows that, and he had suffered greatly for it... Maybe he isn't finished suffering quite yet.
"Jon, I swear to you... We will get her back." Jon scoffed, nodding to his statement. "I intend to give my life for Ned Stark's children, get redemption for what I had done." He said and Jon stopped at the cabin door, turning slightly and looking at him with pity.
"Stop it with that, you are one of his CHILDREN, I thought Arthur and Sansa got that through your head." A ghost of a smile crept up both of their faces, Theon was glad to have started to repair the bond he has with the children he grew up alongside.
He waited a few moments before rejoining his sister on the top deck, she asked how the talk went but he stayed silent and simply looked out into sea, seeing an island and then what looked like Cracklaw Point and Claw Isle.
They were near the Gullet, the map explained as much on the details of the South.
Asha spoke to him a second later, "The wind is going to shift, brother, it'll slow us down." He can see that, and a storm on the horizon from the look of those clouds.
"It's alright, we're going to make it." He muttered, forming his hands into a tight fist. "Because justice needs its day... "
AN: Thank you all for reading, the next chapter is the fight between Euron and Jon and Co.
CEW (ch49) Well, I am slightly pumped considering season 8 of GOT and all, can't wait for what comes next.
Guest 1, Guilty, I make edgy characters. Arthur can be infuriating, a bastard (ass) and can be very petty but he is also capable of love and compassion which compared to my other character Loren is my favorite Oc I have birthed from my mind so sorry that you were put off but I won't apologize for writing the way this story is or any other.
Guest 2, Arthur and Mya will settle it, and Arthur will throw some mental punches. Oh yeah, especially Mance who is only in the South due to Arthur's say-so. Arthur and Daenerys meeting will be interesting, it'll be funny, tense, and serious at the same time.