Arya II

"Within a few days, and with Cregan Stark's army approaching the capital, Aegon II was found dead in his rooms, due to a poisoned wine. No one knows who poisoned him, although there are various theories. Some say it was a suicide while other sources point to that it was Corlys Velaryon who poisoned Aegon, anyway..."

Master Cressen's words were boring her to death. Today was one of those days when Arya had to attend one of the endless lessons of the maester alongside Shireen, the daughter of Princess Arianne and her cousins Trystane Martell and Obella Sand. Obella wasn't really her cousin, Shireen had told her, but her great-uncle's daughter, but it was as if she were. The princess seemed very interested in the old master's lesson, but she was the only one. Both Trystane and Obella seemed to be falling asleep while Arya couldn't wait until she could go out to the courtyard to train.

Obara had gone to war a few days ago, so Arya had been forced to do the training on her own. Sometimes she could get Shireen or one of the other children to join her, but they would end up getting tired very quickly and they would play in the fountains again, so most of the time she trained alone. In the best days, Areo Hotah, the captain of Prince Doran's guard, offered to train with her and they did some training fights, but Arya knew he didn't fight seriously like Obara did. The bearded captain awkwardly deflected her strikes and rarely tried to dodge her hits, which frustrated Arya, as that would not help her improve enough. She couldn't neglect her training if she wanted to free her father from the hands of the Lannisters. I have to save him and Sansa.

"Lady Arya, could you explain to us what the Hour of the Wolf consisted of?" the maester suddenly asked, getting her out of her thoughts.

Arya went blank as everyone looked at her expectantly. Shireen realized her situation and began to gesticulate with her mouth, as if trying to tell her the answer. She appreciated her attempt to help her, but she was totally unable to read her lips.

"I know that there are many things that can distract you these… complicated days... But you have to try to pay more attention to me during the lessons. All of you. Look at Shireen, she just became a princess and she still pays attention in my lessons as usual."

"I was already a princess before my father became king, maester, wasn't I?" said the girl blushing, or at least the cheek that wasn't marked by greyscale. As her sister had said so many weeks ago, Princess Arianne's daughter was not exactly beautiful. She had blue eyes like her father and her mother's olive skin, as well as their black hair. Her face that in another life would have made Jeyne, Sansa and the rest of the ladies from all parts of the kingdom envious had a terrible disfigurement. Half a cheek and much of the neck were dead flesh and stiff as stone. The skin was cracked and scaly, speckled with black and grey. It was shocking to Arya at first, but she had grown accustomed to it as days went by

"Yes... I suppose you're right," Cressen said, stroking his bald head. "Anyway, what I meant is that, in these turbulent times, the mind is as powerful as the sword, maybe even more, so you have to exercise it. Strong men may win battles, but it is the wise men and women who win the wars. Never forget that."

Arya didn't understand the maester's words. If Cressen and Obara ever got to face each other, Arya did not doubt that she would defeat him in less than a second, no matter how wise he might be. Perhaps in his youth, the maester could have been a great warrior, but now he was so old that he could hardly walk without someone's help. In that sense, it reminded her a lot of Prince Doran, Shireen's grandfather.

"I know you want to go outside and play, but before you do that, I'd like to show you something." The maester got up and went to the raven's birdhouse, although he couldn't disguise how hard it was for him to travel that little distance. "He arrived a few days ago, but it's time for him to return to the Citadel, so I wanted to show it to you before he had to leave. I believe it's the first time any of you are going to see one."

The maester returned with a large white bird on his arm. Shireen threw a shout of astonishment and Trystane and Obara were also astonished at its size. Even Arya was surprised to see the size of the bird. It was much larger than the ravens she had seen in Winterfell, and, unlike them, it was completely white, like snow. The maester pointed to Arya with his wrinkled hand.

"Go!" he ordered the raven.

The animal spread its wings and flew around the room to perch on Arya's head, as if it were a nest. It weighed more than she had imagined.

"That's Lady Arya," he explained to the raven.

"Lady, Lady!" it squawked. The other children were stunned.

"He can talk!" cried Trystane.

"Yes, he knows a few words. These are not like the other ravens, they are much smarter, and they only breed them in the Citadel. Can any of you tell me why he's here?" asked Cressen.

"Because winter has come," answered Arya immediately. That answer she knew.

"Mmm… you almost got it right. But no. There are still a few months before winter comes, even years, if we are lucky. This raven warns us of the change of season, so this long summer has come to an end and autumn begins. When winter comes, they will send us another one of these wonderful birds again."

"Then..." said Shireen thoughtful. "Does that mean it's going to snow soon?"

"Maybe, but I don't think so, we're far south, so chances are it probably won't snow, although the temperatures will drop a lot. But who knows, there are writings describing Sunspear covered by snow, so it may happen."

"Oh... I hope so. I've never seen the snow."

That conversation made Arya nostalgic. She wanted to go back north, back with Robb, Bran, Rickon and Jon, even if he was now at the Wall. Although despite how much she wanted to see her family again, Arya had to admit that she loved to be in Dorne. There she felt a thousand times better than in King's Landing and even Winterfell. The princess did not force her to attend dance lessons, sewing and the rest of the things that she hated so much, she only had to attend the classes of Maester Cressen and the rest of the day she could do whatever she wanted as long as she did not get in trouble. No one cared if she preferred to play in the fountains of the Water Gardens, ride horses or play with fake swords. They looked at her as if it were the most normal thing in the world.

"Arya, Arya!" Shireen called her when the maester's lessons were finally over. She looked very excited. "Let's fight. I'm going to beat you today, you'll see. My cousin Nymeria taught me a new move before she left. I can't wait to show you."

Princess Shireen was the first friend she had ever made in Dorne. She was the first female friend she had made, in fact, as the rest of the girls she had met during her life had preferred to end up with Sansa rather than with her. It was one of many things she hated her sister for, although now that they were so far away from each other, she had begun to realize that she too missed her. She wasn't entirely sure what had become of her. When they said their farewells, her father had secretly told her that he planned to send her back to Winterfell but had not yet received a letter from her to confirm it. The only ones who had written to her had been her mother and Robb from Riverrun, but she knew nothing of Sansa, Bran or Rickon. Not from Jon either, though he probably wouldn't even know she was on the other side of the continent.

"Let's see if you can. I must let you know I'm going to give it my all," Arya said with a smile. She never went easy during a match, even though every fight she had participated for the moment had been mock fights. Those would prepare her for when the time came to participate in the real ones, Obara had told her. That way they wouldn't catch her off guard and she would know her own limits. She was feeling a little sorry for poor Shireen. Her friend had never beaten her in a match, but she did it for her own good, she didn't want to fool her by letting her win.

They left the maester's rooms behind and headed for the courtyard. Obella and Trystane had decided not to accompany them, as today it appeared to be very hot and preferred to play a game of cyvasse in their rooms. Arya didn't understand how they could like that game so much. Shireen had tried to teach her once, so she could play with her, but Arya found it very boring. You just sat there while moving pieces around a board, not running, climbing or fighting.

"Aren't you going to change clothes?" asked Arya. Shireen was wearing a yellow silk dress which was clearly not made for fighting. If she started practicing with it, the clothes would end up dirty and torn.

"No need," replied the girl with a smile. "I won't even stain them, you'll see." Arya doubted this blunt statement enormously. As soon as they start, she'd probably stumble upon the long skirts of the dress and fall, smearing the beautiful dress with dirt. On the other hand, Arya was wearing a leather vest and brown fabric pants. Her mother would be shocked if she saw her dressed like that, but no one here seemed to care. It was not surprising considering that they probably were used to seeing Obara and her sisters dressed like that too.

When they arrived at the yard, they took the training weapons and positioned themselves in front of one another. Arya had chosen a wooden sword, with a hilt designed to protect the hand, like Needle's. The rest of the sword was completely different to Needle, but it was the closest thing there was among the training weapons there. It weighed more than it appeared to, much more than Needle but she still managed to hold it using only her left hand. Similarly, Princess Shireen wielded her training blade, but unlike Arya's sword it was slightly curved inwards near the tip for some reason. At first Arya thought it was a sorry training sword, dented by the blows it would have received over the years, but apparently it was designed to look like this. What a strange design, Arya thought. With the sword bent she will not be able to stop the blows well, nor stab. In addition, Arya was surprised to see that in her left hand the girl wore a small wooden dagger, a little larger than the palm of her hand.

"Since when do you fight with two weapons?" she asked trying to provoke her. "You can hardly hold a sword." Although they were the same age, Shireen was taller than her, but unlike Arya, she was not strong enough to wield a weapon with ease. She still had a lot of training ahead of her.

"My cousin has taught me. In addition, this sword is much lighter than the straight swords you wield, and much more effective."

Without further delay, Shireen attacked her, sword in hand, but Arya was ready. The wooden swords collided hard when she stopped the blow directed to her head, but Arya had no time to counterattack as Shireen was already sending her a descending cut. Her sword moved quickly to stop her, but again, she did not have time to initiate a counterattack before her companion threw another blow at her. For the first time since they started practicing together, Arya was on the defensive. The yard resonated with the sound of the wood colliding and soon the other children stopped to look at them when they passed by. Shireen kept sending her cuts non-stop, over and over again, but Arya kept blocking all her blows. When she tried to throw a thrust at her, the princess stumbled upon the skirt of her dress, so Arya took advantage of her clumsiness to throw a slash at her shoulder. However, as soon as she lifted the sword, Shireen turned to her and threw the dagger she had in her left hand, which she had not yet used in the entire fight.

Arya tried to deflect it with her sword, but by the time she wanted to do so, it was too late. The wooden dagger struck her between eyebrows and the sudden blow caused her to lose her balance and fall back into the ground.

"Ouch!" she cried when she hit the ground.

"I've beaten you. I told you I would," her friend said, all proud.

"You've cheated," said Arya furiously, with a grimace. "That doesn't count."

"Of course it counts," replied Shireen. "Nowhere does it say that your weapon cannot be thrown at your opponent. Sword technique is merely one option among many in battle. And, as my uncle would say, fair fights aren't very stimulating."

"Does Trystane say that?"

"No silly, I didn't mean Trystane," said the girl laughing. "I meant my Uncle Oberyn, though he's really my great-uncle, but he tells me not to call him that, it makes him feel old, so I call him uncle."

"Yes, it looks like Oberyn's own phrase," said a voice.

Arya turned and saw Prince Doran, accompanied by his daughter and Areo Hotah. The prince had accompanied them to the Water Gardens a few days ago, as it was apparently his usual residence, while the princess spent most of her time in Sunspear, although she used to visit them often, as the city was only a few hours away on horseback.

"Mother, mother!" cried Shireen, running to hug her mother. "Have you seen the fight? I won!"

"From start to finish, " replied Princess Arianne while hugging her daughter. "You've both fought very well."

"It doesn't count, " said Arya aloud. "Shireen has cheated."

"In the midst of a fight, it only matters to defeat your enemy. A good warrior would have been able to foresee the little princess's movements," said Areo Hotah, impassively.

"See? If Areo says I won, then I have won. He's the best warrior in the world, so he's right," Shireen said proudly.

"Areo is not the best warrior in the world. My father is better, and Jon, and Obara. Even I could beat him."

"Truly?" said Princess Arianne curiously. "Why don't you fight them, old friend? I haven't seen you fight seriously in years. You aren't rusty, are you?"

"If the prince orders me so, I'll gladly do it. Although I wouldn't want to hurt the little princess."

"You have my permission, captain," said Doran Martell. "But try not to hurt my granddaughter or our guest."

The old captain struck the ground with his halberd and hung it behind his back. Then he took a training axe, the biggest one he found, and stood in front of them. The axe was larger than Arya, but still seemed small in the hands of the bearded priest. He stood guard, waiting for the girls to attack him. Arya made the first move, but Hotah stopped her strike easily with the handle of the axe and threw a blow at Arya. She tried to stop him with her sword, but the force of the blow sent the sword flying to the other end of the yard. Meanwhile, Shireen tried to hit him in the legs, but Hotah quickly moved his practice axe, stopping the blow and in turn attacking the young woman's legs, which lost her balance and fell to the ground. Before Arya had recovered from the previous blow, Hotah threw her a new strike that this time she could not stop or dodge, hitting her on her left shoulder and causing her to fall to the ground alongside Shireen. The princess tried to hit the captain by throwing her dagger at him, just as she had done with Arya, in a last desperate attempt, but Hotah was prepared and deflected it with a simple movement of his weapon. In less than a minute, the two girls were bruised on the ground without having managed to land a single blow on the captain.

It was the first time he had seriously fought her, and yet Arya had the intuition that the captain kept holding back when it came to fight her. Hotah left the training weapon from where he had taken it and repositioned himself next to the prince, with his large halberd back in his hand.

"I see that your reflexes remain splendid, captain," said the prince.

"It is my duty to serve you and protect you from all your enemies. I wouldn't be doing my job well if I couldn't do it," the captain replied.

"Shireen, do you know where your little sister might be?" asked Princess Arianne changing the subject.

"I think she's playing in one of the fountains with the other kids," Shireen replied.

"I'll see if I can find her. I have to say goodbye to you both for a while."

"Say goodbye? Are you leaving again?"

"Yes, as much as it pains me to. After his recent victories, your father will need me by his side to negotiate with his enemies, so by his side I intend to be, whether he likes it or not."

"Victory?" asked Arya with expectation. "Has he taken King's Landing?"

"No, not yet. But you can be sure we'll take it soon, of that I'm certain."

New chapter! Sorry for the delay in this one, things kept happening that would delay my writing and, when I had time, ispiration just didn't come. I wasn¡t realy sure about this chapter, but I wanted to show a bit more of Arya and Shireen. If things proceed as normal, next chapter will be before April.

Than you all for reading and see you next time!