Jean D'arc: I don't think it's a matter that he preferred Robert, it was just a hard decision, he couldn't risk any fallout with Robert at least until he discovered the truth about Jon Arryn.

White Serpent: I needed to find a way to save the direwolves for the future chapters, I could of just cut out that scene altogether but I decided to add some drama/

Supremus85: I don't think bastards, even highborn bastards have the right to trial by combat, feel free to correct me if I'm

Court Of Snakes

Mia Snow

King's Landing….

Mia winces as Septa Mordane unbandages her mutilated hand, it had been almost a week since they had cut her fingers off and it still burned"

"Look at that" Mordane says cheerfully "It's almost healed"

"It fucking hurts!" Mia tells her.

"Watch your that filthy mouth of yours!" Mordane sneers.

"What do you care?" Mia asks "Your Sansa and Arya tutor, not mine"

The septa sigh as she begins applying a new bandage "I used to be" she says "When you were little and sweet"

Mia's face softens a little "I don't remember that" she says.

"You were very little"

"Why did you stop?" Mia asks.

"Because your lord father decided he didn't want to raise you as a lady," Mordane says "He wanted to raise you as a warrior, to prepare you for the hard life that was ahead of you"

The Septa finishes wrapping he stumps "All done" the septa announce "Now run along, Arya and Sansa will be here soon and the gods know I will have my hands filled with them"

Mia nods "Thank you septa," she says, leaving the room.

Later In the Royal gardens Mia comes across two men talking, one was scrawny, with sharp features, grey strands of hair and a sharp pointy beard, the other Mia almost mistook for the king, a younger far more handsome version of the king.

The cat-like man notices Mia and smirks "I don't believe we've met before" he says.

"I've never been here before" Mia answers cautiously. "An you are?"

"Petyr Baelish, the master of coin," he says with a bow "you must be our new Hand's natural daughter, Mya was it?"

"Mia" she corrects in slight irritation

'That's it" Baelish says "I had the honor of meeting your father today, a gruff man like his older brother"

Mia had been told of her uncle Brandon, the wild wolf she had been told of his strength, his skill with a sword, his bravery, he was brave when he challenged Rhaegar Targaryen for his sister Lyanna and he was brave when the mad king murdered him along with his father"

"I've already met your father before," The other man says with a warm smile "But now I have the pleasure of meeting you" he extends his hand which Mia takes "Renly Baratheon at your service"

Mia's eyes widen she snatches her hand away and kneels "My lord"

Renly seems to find her actions amusing "I'm the King's brother, not the king" he says with a chuckle "You can stand"

Mia does so, her cheeks slightly red from embarrassment "Apologies my lords I didn't mean to interrupt"

"Oh don't worry," Renly says "You are far better company than Littlefinger here"

Baelish smirks "You wound me Lord Renly," he says "But I have important business to attend any way" the scrawny man gives them a final bow and leaves.

Renly turns back to Mia 's smile "may I show you around my lad?" he asks extending his arm.

She hesitates at first but eventually takes his arm, she is hit by a wave of self-conciseness when he notices her maimed hand "What happened?" he asks as they wander the gardens.

Mia looks away "The king ordered two of my fingers removed for attacking his son"

Renly nods "I heard about that," he says "My nephew has always been a callous little shit, though it wasn't the smartest move attacking him"

"When it comes to my family Lord Renly smart moves mean nothing to me," Mia says

Renly nods "Well as far as I'm concerned you did the right thing protecting your half-sister like that," he says "If I were king I would name you a hero"

The young lord sighs sadly "You've come to a difficult place my lady" he says "there are two kinds of people here the ones who serve themselves and the ones who serve someone else who serves themselves"

"And which kind are you my lord?" Mia asks cautiously"

Renly looks at her in surprise a small smile appears on her lips "The kind trying to do what is right"

Before she can answer, someone else calls to her "Mia!"

She turns to see Jory standing a few feet away from them, Renly smiles "It appears you are summoned he says, he takes her hand and kisses it "It was an honor to meet you, my lady, I hope to see you at the tourney"

Mia simply nods and the man takes his leave, Jory walks up to her "Was that Renly Baratheon?" he asks.

Mia ignores his question "What did you call me for?"

"Your father wants to see you," he says "He's in the tower of the hand"

The Tower Of The Hand….

Mia knocks on the door to her father's new office "Come In!" his voice calls from the other side, she enters to find her father pacing the length of the room and looking very concerned "Mia" he says in relief "close the door"

The two had not spoken since that day on the king's road, and every time he saw her shame filled his eyes. "Did anyone follow you?" he asks.

"Just Jory," Mia says as she shuts the door behind her, she cocks her head to the side "Are you alright my lord?"

"No" he responds "Your brother has woken up"

Mia's eyes widen "Is he okay?" she asks.

"He's….alive," Ned says "But he'll never walk again"

Mia nods sadly, but he'll live" she says "So why are you so concerned?"

Ned looks at her "My wife was in king's landing"

"Lady Catelyn?" Mia asks in confusion "When?"

"She left an hour ago" Ned explains, "She says that someone tried to kill Bran"

"An assassin?" Mia asks "Does she know who?"

"She didn't," Ned says "But she brought the dagger the assassin used, Petyr Baelish says it belongs to Tyrion Lannister"

"The Imp" Mia spits "Of course the Lannisters are involved"

"It's not just that," Ned says "We have reason to believe they pushed him off that tower and murdered Jon Arryn"

He places a gentle hand or her shoulder 'You are no longer a child" he says "So I won't lie to you, we've come to a terrible place and it could kill us"

Mia gulps and nods "What do you need me to do?'

"You are one of the few people I can trust" he says "We need to discover the truth Jon Arryn died for, but we need to keep our heads down, in the coming weeks I may ask a lot of you and I need you to follow my orders can I count on you?"

Mia nods 'Of course my lord"

Ned nods in relief "Good" he says "Now run along, I will summon you when I need you"

Mia nods a goes to leave, as she reaches the door her father calls out "Mia!'

She turns to face him "Its father," he corrects with a small smile, she returns his smile and leaves.

A few weeks later….

The day of the Hand's Tourney had final come, hundreds of knights and their squires arrived from around the seven kingdoms, many of them from the Reach and the Vale, a hundred pavilions had been raised beside the river, and the common folk came out in the thousands to watch the games.

The seven knights of the Kingsguard took the field, Mia recognized them by their golden armor and white cloaks, Sansa and Arya sat in the royal pavilion along with King Robert, Queen Cersi, Prince Joffrey, Prince Tommen and Princess Myrcella.

Mia, of course, was not permitted to sit with her half-sisters, instead, she sat with some members of the Stark Household, including Talisa, Jory and her Direwolf Dusk.

In the second Joust The Hound's brother Ser Gregor Clegane The Mountain went up against a Jon Arryn's former squire, his name escaped her, The Mountain's lance rode up and struck the young knight under the gorget so hard that it drove through his throat, his blood flowed out in slow pulses, turning his shiny armor red.

Mia stepped closer to see better, it was the first time she had seen someone die and she couldn't help but feel fascinated by it, the way blood seeped from his neck until there was none left and way the light disappeared from his eyes as he died, it reminded her of blowing out a candle.

A hand grabs Mia's shoulder, she turns to see Talisa giving her a concerned look "Mia are you alright?"

Mia breaks out of her trance and smiles at her best friend "Yeah of course" she says.

The rest of the jousting went on all day and into the dusk, the hooves of the horses pounding down until the field was a ragged wasteland of torn earth, even from here Mia could here Sansa crying out as the riders clashed together, Ser Jamie Lannister the Kingslayer rode the best defeating jouster after jouster, until he faced against The hound who knocked him into the dirt.

The next day brought the Semi-finals and with them, Ser Loras Tyrell, heir to Highgarden and the Reach, the knight of flowers was very handsome His hair is a mass of lazy blonde curls and ringlets which tumble over his eyes which have been described as liquid gold.

The knight rode up towards Sansa and handing her a red rose which she giddily takes, he then prepares for the joust.

His opponent is none other than the Mountain, Mia couldn't help but feel slightly nervous for Ser Loras, which wasn't surprising considering what happened to the Mountain's last opponent, but despite this Ser Loras easily knocked the Mountain from his horse.

The crowd cheered and gasped, all leering at the knight of flowers, trying to get his attention, but Mia's focus remained fixed on Gregor Cleagane, The Mountain called for his sword and used it to kill his horse, almost beheading the poor creature Cheers turned to shrieks as he stallion went to its knees, screaming as it died. By then SerGregor was striding down the toward Ser Loras, his bloody sword clutched in his fist.

The Knight of Flowers was shouting for his own sword as Ser Gregor knocked his squire aside and made a grab for the reins of his horse. The mare scented blood and reared. Loras Tyrell kept his seat, but barely. Ser Gregor swung his sword, a savage blow that hit the young knight in the chest and knocked him from the saddle.

Without think Mia drew her sword, Jory and Talisa saw what she was trying to do and moved to stop her but by then she had jumped the wooden barrier, she sprinted towards the Mountain and drove her blade into the back of his thigh.

The Mountain cries out, more in anger than pain and for the first time Mia realized how large the giant truly was, her eyes widened and she dropped her sword terror, the Mountain swung his two-handed sword at her head, she fell back and landed on her back, hitting her head in the process. As the Mountain lifted his sword for the killing blow, a rasping voice growled, "Leave her be" and a steel-clad hand Pulled him away from Mia, as she regained her senses she saw that it was, in fact, the Mountain's own brother

The Mountain turned to face the scarred face of his brother, he swung his greatsword at him but the Hound deflected the blow and for what seemed an eternity the two brothers stood hammering at each other, finally the king's voice that put an end to it "STOP THIS MADNESS IN THE NAME OF YOUR KING!"

The Hound went to one knee. Ser Gregor's blow cut the air, and at last, he came to his senses. He dropped his sword and glared at Robert, surrounded by his Kingsguard and a dozen other knights and guardsmen. Wordlessly, he turned and strode off. "Let him go," Robert said.

A few moments later Ser Loras walked back onto the field and said: "I owe you my life Ser."

"I am no ser," the Hound replied, Ser Loras grabbed his arm and raised it the crowd cheered, after it had died down, the hound Pulled Mia to her feet and dragged her off the field.

He led her across the camp, when they were alone he shoved her against a stone wall "Are you trying to get yourself killed girl?" he sneers "You attack the Prince and then you attack my brother, either you want to die or you're a fool"

"I was trying to help Ser Loras," she says meekly.

The Hound laughs "So you were trying to be a hero were you?" he asks "Trying to play the gallant knight?"

He grabs her chin and forces her to look at his charred face, "Very well" he says "I'll tell you a story of a knight, once there were two boys younger than you, six, maybe seven. A woodcarver set up shop in the village near their father's keep and brought them gifts. The eldest boy got a wooden knight and the younger boy wanted it so he took his knight, the elder boy found his brother playing with his new toy, he grabbed his brother and forced his face into the brazer, burying it until it smoked and bubbled and peeled"

He pulls his face closer to him My father told everyone my bedding had caught fire, four years later, they anointed him with the seven oils and he recited his knightly vows and Rhaegar Targaryen tapped him on the shoulder and said arise, Ser Gregor. That is what it takes to be a knight, blood not bravery"

Mia forced herself to be brave "Let. Me. Go" she whispered

Surprisingly he obeyed and released her and looked away "If you ever tell anyone what I have just said I'll kill you"