Chapter 3 Rest and Reflection
Daenerys Targaryen let out a sigh as she lowered herself into the hot water of this ancient stone bath below the old keep in Winterfell. Being the rightful Queen of the Seven Kingdoms, she had been given one of the private baths, the others were being shared by the few other noble women and very high lords. She rested her bare back against the ancient stone, the stones where warm from the heat from the natural hot springs which felt good on her sore muscles. The water was steaming and would have been boarder line painful for normal people, but she was the blood of the dragon she liked the heat. Her mind was racing, not only did she had to process the fact that she was now somehow back in the past but she was no longer the last Targaryen in the world, Jon or Aegon was her nephew the son of her brother and the rightful heir to the throne she had worked for her entire life. She loved Jon with her all heart, she had never felt this way about anyone else not even her sun and stars Khal Drogo, he was her second half they were made for each other. He now stood before her when it came to the Iron Throne, her birthright could she really give it up for him and doing something she couldn't even bring herself to think about without making her sick. Now she had more issues to deal with, they were in the past, a past which haunted her, she remembered what her brother had done to her, all the times she was told to not wake the dragon because she asked to go home when they lived on the streets.
"Go home?" whispered Dany as she remembered those nights with her brother crying about wanting to go home, to the house she only remembered by the red paint on the front door and a lemon tree in the courtyard. When she was a child, before all this all she wanted a home, a family who loved her not some stupid Iron chair. She still wanted it of course but now she had Jon's love she wasn't going to throw his love away for a cold chair she had never seen. "Maybe we can rule together, me as Queen and him as King consort or the other way around, him as King and me as Queen. Would that work? Would he accept that? He didn't want to be King in the North, would he want to rule all of Westeros? Would he still want…me? He wasn't raised as a Targaryen he would he feel conformable sleeping with me anymore? I am his Aunt, he is my nephew? What to do?"
A knock at the door caused her to look toward the thick oaken door.
"Enter." she said out load as a server walked into the room carrying a small pitcher of a liquid.
"Your grace I found it." answered the server as she poured the liquid into the tube, almost at once the room filled with a wonderful sent, one she loved. It was a perfume that she had brought with her from the east and was rare but not unheard of in Westeros.
"Thank you." said Daenerys as she closed her eyes relaxed a bit her mind still processing the information formulating her next move.
Gendry Waters was waiting in line washed away the grim and stink of battle from his body in the communal baths, there were six communal baths which could hold about 50 at any one time each but that was unconformable so they normally held about half that number. The baths where divided into a bath two bath for common men, another pair of bathing chambers for the women and children under six years, a bath for the unsullied and last one was for knights and lower lords. The higher lords where waiting for the private baths, he didn't attempt to try to get one of the handful of private baths, that was for the highborn lords and he was nothing but a bastard blacksmith. There was a pile where men were throwing their dirty cloths and another pile where clean and new cloths where being handed out to the men coming out of the tubs. He assumed that it was similar in the women's baths which where separate, the unsullied had taken a bath for their own while the westerous and the free folk mixed together. The Dothraki didn't want the bath, they were happy with their traditional dirt and sand bath which made no sense to Gendry but considering he was in the past he would let it go.
He heard a few men telling an approaching figure that she was in the wrong place but she paid them no mind as she walked toward him, she still had her needle on her belt and she hadn't cleaned up in any mean fully way. His heart soared as he saw that she was still alive and that she was whole, he had seen her at a distance but not up close.
"Lady Arya…" started Gendry but before he could get out another word she grabbed the front of his tunic and pulled him down to her level and kissed him hard and with force. He was socked for a moment before returning the kiss, a few of the men took note but not many they were too focused on their own issues and reunions where happening all around the castle this was no different. When she pulled a way she looked into his eyes and he saw nothing but want and what he believed or hoped at least was love.
"Follow me." she ordered as she turned on her heals and he paused for a moment not wanting to get out of line and lose his spot but instead he followed her toward one of the private baths for the high lords and ladies. He stopped and looked at all who were around him waiting for their turn. These where some of the higher lords of the North and Vale, there was only a dozen private baths and the high ladies such as the Queen and Lady Sansa Stark would get their own private baths first. Some of them looked at Gendry wondering why someone who didn't have a sigil on him was in this area, they didn't raise any questions since he was with Arya. She opened one of the doors which lead to a small chamber with a tub capable of holding maybe four people in a tight space. The water was steaming filling the chamber with steam and moister. She closed the door and dropped a bar over it, so that no one would get in without their leave.
"Get in." ordered Arya as she began to strip, Gendry stood still watching her his eyes moving up and down her body. She turned back to face him as nude as her birth. "Get in and then once we are clean, we are going to go to our chambers."
"You mean your chambers?" inquired Gendry
"No…our chambers." restated Arya before grinning as she walked forward and pressed her body against his before running her hands down his back and his black hair. He could feel himself hardening and his body was hot even as the room was steaming from the spring water.
"Arya…I am a bastard I am not worthy of a high-born lady like you and besides isn't your mother still alive at this time, don't I have to ask…." started Gendry only to be stopped by Arya kissing him. That shut him up as he moved his hands to embrace her before they parted.
"I don't care about your fucking last name or anyone else's. That means nothing to me, I would rather be a no one with you then Queen of the whole fucking world." whispered Arya "As for my mother, don't worry about her. I am the second daughter not the first. I sleep with whoever I want and that is you. Now if you don't want me, tell me and…"
She never got to finish as this time it was he who made the first move as his hands shot from her side like a crossbow bolt and grabbed her ass lifting her small frame into the air, that caused a surprised yip from her as he carried her into the hot water lowering themselves down into it with her on top of him.
The thick walls prevented any sounds from reaching in or out as the two Lannister's brothers shared one of the private baths. They had done this many of time while growing up at Casterly Rock so neither one of them where that put off by the other.
"Well this changes everything." said Tyrion as he took a thick brush and scrubbed out some of the dirt, he could see the dirt go off his body only to be carried away to a small pipe which would take it somewhere else he didn't know.
"Yes, it does." said Jaimie as he winced a bit as hot steaming water reached a few of his freshly healed cuts from the battle. The cuts had healed but not fully in his voice and he still retained bruises from the army of the undead, but he was still alive unlike a lot of people. "I wonder what father will say when he finds out you killed him?"
"I wonder more what he will say when he finds out that his two sons fought for the Starks and turned their backs on their house." stated Tyrion before grinning as he reached for a goblet of wine which sat beside the pool. "And what Cersei? It will be strange to see her with long hair again. You may actually be older then her now, hard to say for sure how that will work. Either way you are free to be heir to the Rock now as well, no more white cloak for you."
"And I…don't care about the Rock or...her for that fact." countered Jaime
"Really?" inquired Tyrion in amazement.
"Cersei is a horrible heartless person, so am I. We were meant for each other but I don't want her anymore, I don't want the pain she brings." admitted Jaime with sadness in his voice as his brother watched him. "I love our children, even Joffrey Seven save me but Cersei is a monster. I am a monster too for all the crimes I have done but just because I am a monster doesn't mean I want to be with a monster."
"Well in a way you haven't committed some of your crimes in this timeline. You have still waged war against the Starks but you never took Riverrun and you never killed house Tyrell. You did push Bran out the window which would mean you head if the Starks found out and our Queen wouldn't stop them." said Tyrion as Jaime looked at him in amazement. "It was kind of clear to me at least how you reacted when Brann said the things, we do for love…I would venture that was what you said or will say at least before you pushed him out."
"Yes." confirmed Jaime with shame in his voice as Tyrion swirled his goblet looking down at his wine.
"Our current situation is one in which there are many threats but also many possibilities." Explained Tyrion "With you on our side, it will be harder for him to say you are lying about fathering Cersie's children. That will cause issues with house Tyrell because if Lady Olenna was willing to murder a King because he was cruel, image what she will do if she had it confirmed he is a bastard. That may cause a break in the Lannister Tyrell alliance. If we play the cards right, we may be able to make father realize he can't win. He will put House Lannister first and may bend the knee to our Queen to save it if he got say you as heir. You are already out of the King's guard and free to marry and have an heir to the Rock."
"Father always wanted a Lannister on the Iron Throne, he tried to marry Cersei to Rhaegar when she was eight. He will not give up a chance to have a Lannister on the Throne." countered Jaime avoiding the whole marriage for himself issue, there was a time when their father attempted to form a marriage between Jaime and Lysa Tully of Riverrun but that had failed, thank the gods and before another match could be attempted he had joined the King's Guard. "Maybe if all hope was lost and it was the only way to save our house he would bend the knee to Daenerys but not before that."
"Maybe and we have other issues to deal with before that." said Tyrion as Jaime raised an eyebrow. "We are maybe a fortnight away from when the Red Wedding is suppose to happen and even when we stop it I am not sure the Northerns under Robb will want to bend the knee as fast as others believe that they will. We have many challenges ahead of us and we aren't even yet discussing how to deal with the real enemy yet."
"The Night King." answered Jaime as Tyrion downed his wine and nodded his head in agreement.
Dany was thinking about what she had to do, she was trying to process everything was going on. A knock at the door caused Dany to look up from her thoughts as Messandei walked toward the thick oaken door. She opened it briefly and talked to someone on the other side of the door, she nodded her head and turned around to face her best friend and Queen.
"My Queen? Jon Snow is outside and wants to speak to you." said Messandei, she knew that the two of them where lovers. Dany thought for a second and nodded her head.
"Yes, and please leave after you let him in." ordered Dany as Messandei nodded her head and opened the door and allowed Jon to enter the steaming hot bath room, thick amount of steam filling much of the room. From her position she could just make him out, dressed in black, his armor still stained with blood and dirt.
"Jon." said Dany
"My Queen…" said Jon with some reservation as he looked toward the wall away from her, it wasn't as if he hadn't seen her in the nude before, she had seen him before. "I have the numbers from the army and…"
"Get in here." ordered Dany as Jon tensed a bit. "The baths are large enough for two and there are things we need to talk about. I would rather talk to you as a man and women, not as Queen and Lord. Things have changed in more than one way."
"Yes, they have." answered Jon as he undid his armor and let it rest against the wall. He pulled off his shirt, to show his well-defined chest and the scars which always caused her heart to hurt. That he had been that close to be taken away from her only to come back to his world and by extent her. He slipped out of his shoes and his small clothes and slid into the water across from her, the baths where just large enough so that only their feet brushed against each other under the hot spring water. He ducked his head under the water only to come back up, the water dripping down his face. All this he did under the watchful eyes of Daenerys and he couldn't hide his erection and she couldn't hide the way she looked at him as he disrobed in front of her. "They have changed, Dany."
"They have indeed…Aegon." countered Dany as Jon nodded his head, he knew his real name Aegon of House Targaryen true born son of the Late Crown Prince Rhaegar of House Targaryen and Lady Lyanna of House Stark. That name, it sounded strange to him, not right and he didn't like it at all.
"Dany, I am trying to process that information myself and when I told you in the crypts maybe it was the wrong time." admitted Jon, looking back it had clearly been the wrong time. "I thought you should know the truth, I don't want the Throne. It is just some Iron chair in the South that I have never seen."
"No, it is your birthright." countered Dany "You are the blood of the Dragon and that is the Dragon's chair.
"I am not a Targaryen." Said Jon
"Yes you are, it makes sense why my dragons liked you right away and how they allowed you to ride them. You are a dragon raised by wolves, but you are still the blood of the Dragon, fire of old Valyria flows through your veins like it does mine." explained Dany with firmness in her voice. "Both of us will have to get used to that."
"Dany you are my Queen, I don't want to the Iron Throne and it is your birthright not mine." repeated Jon
"And what about me?" asked Dany in a soft voice as she got up and let the water run down her nude body as she walked forward toward Jon. She could feel Jon's eyes running up and down her nude body, she loved the look in his eyes as he looked at her, as if she was a goddess. She bent back down and parted his legs her hand brushing up against his hardened manhood as she sat knelt before him until their faces where inches apart, the steam from the water rising between them as they looked into each other eyes. "Do you still want me?"
"Dany…." said Jon his voice breathless as he ran his hand over her thigh, he remembered Lord Royce advice about how as long as they had each other nothing else mattered. "Yes, I love you, I love you with all my heart…I just need time to get used to that you are my kin. Just give me some time to fully understand the information if that is ok."
Dany nodded her head in understanding, she couldn't expect much more in fact she had expected less it was something both of them had to get used to. She knew she would have an easier time processing the information, before she had been married to Khal Drogo she had expected to be married to her brother, something she had never wanted but that was what her house did. She hadn't wanted him to die with molten gold running down his face but it was his own fault. He was truly mad just like their father and he would only get in the way and cause nothing but issues. As for their blood relations that was house Targaryen marrying brother to sister, Uncle to Niece and Aunt to Nephew all to keep the blood of the Dragon pure, she had expected to marry her brother, luckily that didn't happen so being with her nephew who was older then she was didn't seem out of place. For Jon it would take more time to get over the information, he was just now getting over the fact that he was a dragon not a wolf.
"I love you Jon. I'll wait for you." answered Dany as she kissed Jon and Jon returned the kiss, not as forceful as normal but his reservations came slowly down and soon he was kissing her with as much passion as she was kissing him. Finally when they parted it may have not been all she wanted but he needed to figure out this new development and this was a good beginning in rebuilding their relationship. Dany raised rested her forehead against his, Jon was smiling at her and she was smiling at him. Gently his hand breached the water and moved some of her hair which had fallen out of place and placed it behind her ear.
"I love you Dany." added Jon with passion and love in his voice, she didn't question the words just like he didn't question her love for him. She took a breath let out a little sigh before looking down at his bare chest and those scars which had taken his life only to have it return to him. She laid her head on his chest and listened to his heart even has his hands ran down her back, in her hair and on her ass. She smiled as the warmth of the water and the warmth of Jon began to lure her to sleep. Jon was holding her pressing her gently against his chest with one hand on her back and the other resting on her but. "I just wish I knew what to do. I don't want the damn Throne but I know others once word gets out will try to force it on me, try to use the fact that I am male to put me ahead of you. You are the true dragon…I only wanted to be a wolf."
Dany turned Jon's words in her half-asleep mind, she knew that others would attempt to put him in front of her because he had a cock which was a key requirement for some. This issue could drive them apart, something she didn't know her heard could take. She had lost so much in her life, she wasn't about to loss Jon, she couldn't lose him.
"Marry me." She whispered as Jon's eyes widened as he looked at her. "Will you marry me, Jon?"
"Dany….I…" Started Jon as she put her finger to his lips stopping him as she looked into his eyes, the firelight from the torches on the wall passing through the steam caused both of their eyes to shimmer as they looked into each others.
"Before you answer ask yourself this do you love me? Do I make you happy? Do you want to spend the rest of your life with me?" inquired Dany with love and fear of rejection in her eyes. "If so, nothing else matters Jon…only us. Not some damn chair, not our blood, not some titles…I will melt the Iron throne down and throw it into the sea before I loss you…we will figure this out… we will figure this out together...So will you marry me?"
Her answer came first in the form of a smile as Jon removed her hand from his lips and kissed it.
"Yes, my Queen." Answered Jon his eyes burning with love as well. "Yes my love."
His love, that was a title she enjoyed more than any of the others she had earned, love of the man she loved with all her heart was more important than anything else.
"Good, my love." said Dany with some tears in her eyes as she kissed Jon and he kissed back with the same burning passion she was used to from him. Both her half tempted to do it right there in the bath however the warm waters was relaxing both of them as she laid down on top of him using his shoulder as a pillow while his hands moved up in down her body. Neither one of them knew when they fell asleep but the gentle pushing of a hand on their shoulders caused both of them to open their eyes. It was Missandei who had come in to check on the two of them.
"Sorry my Queen, my lord." answered Missandei "However if I may recommend if sleep is what you wanted a bed would be best."
"Aye." said Dany as her body kept screaming for sleep even after getting some sleep. "Can you please get some clean clothes for myself and Lord Jon, nothing over the top we are just going to go straight to bed."
"Of course, your Grace." Said Messandie as she came back a few minutes later with clean cloths from the supply wagons which had come with them to this time due to being attached to a couple of horses at the time. It wasn't anything special, in fact it was an older outfit her blue one from her time in the east it was better for the now much warmer North. Jon being Jon had black tunic and pants with the same boots. He didn't put his armor back on but he did strap his sword belt back on.
When they came out the same guards standing post but they weren't alone as Ghost lied in front of the door they followed them up the stairs until they reached the top floor of the old keep, at the end of the hallway was an old Kings' Chamber. The Lords Chambers in the newer part of the Castle had been damages and this was the second best in the castle. When they opened the door, ghost walked in and sniffed around the mostly bare room, it wasn't much but it had a bed which was what they wanted most of all. She quickly got into her small cloths while Jon did the same thing, he did place his sword against one side of the bed within arm's reach if needed. Ghost for his part had found a spot on top of a rug at the foot of the bed and had already curled up and a sleep when his master and Dany lied down in the bed.
Dany relaxed again as Jon pulled her close, they were too tied to do anything more than embrace but each and she knew Jon wasn't ready for that yet. He was still coming to grips with the issue with his blood but judging from where his hands where resting he wasn't as put off by it as she thought he would be. It wasn't even midday and the sunlight came streaming in through a window/arrow slit but the combination of a curtain which separated the bed chamber from the rest of the apartment and their tiredness allowed both of them to quickly ill asleep.
The Stranger ruled the night as Ser Barristan Selmy walked through the streets of Yunkai, the streets where red with blood and he had stepped over multiple bodies as he moved down the street. Bodies covered the streets, bodies of the Unsullied who fell as they sacked the city, the bodies of slaves who rose up against their masters and the bodies of the masters themselves. Fighting was still going on and he could hear the cling of metal as sword meet sword, cries for help in a tongue he didn't know and over it all the screams. It reminded him of so many horrible battles he had seen in his long life.
"This must be what the sack of King's Landing was like." said Selmy as he shook his head. The Unsullied who were legendary for their order where acting more like Dothraki horse lords. They had charged straight at the gates; they would have been slaughtered however slaves within the city had opened a side gate allowing them to enter. Once inside the Yunkai where doomed, with only slave soldiers some of whom now turned on their masters to defend them it was only a matter of time. "What will we do after this? What will I do?"
The sun was low in the western sky casting long shadows over a now changed North. After cleaning and gathering as much information as he could possibly get with the eight hours he had since they arrived, Varys the Spider, the spy master headed toward his Queen's chambers. He knew what he would find as he got near the door, the guards being guards did question why he wanted to see the Queen but he was one of her main council members, so he was allowed to reach the final door.
"I need to see her grace." said Varys to one of the guards who nodded his head and opened the door. He lead him in along with two other guards, the room was quickly darkening in the setting sun cast it's fading light through the window/arrow slit. Varys stood by the door with two of the guards while the lead headed toward the bedroom. After calling for her grace he entered and moments later the tired voice of Daenerys Targaryen could be heard asking who was at the door.
"Yes…we will be there, let him in the solar." order a tired Daenerys as the sound of movement could be heard, the solar was only a few steps away and was a couple of camp chairs, a small table in the corner with a flagon of wine and another flagon ale along with some glasses on it waiting for the need and a small low table in the center of the room. It wasn't meant for a Queen to use a chamber but given the situation it would work. While he waited, he poured himself a small glass of wine all under the watchful eyes of the guards. He wasn't surprised when Jon Snow walked in from the bedroom. Dressed in black like normal, he had buckled on his sword belt but hadn't put on any armor, the sword wasn't really needed but that was a habit among men and the few women of the sword. Behind him Daenerys came in a light informal dress, she had a belt on with a silver dragon head as it's latch and she had put on a few rings but nothing over the top. Beside her padding along was the white Dire Wolf, ghost which was more deadly than a normal sword given his side, speed and strength. Clearly both of them had just awoken and judging by how fast both of them had gotten out to him, he would bet they had gone straight to bed without any personal activities.
"My Queen…Lord Snow, I am sorry to wake you." said Varys as Dany sat down while Jon fetched her some wine and some ale for him. He sat down between the two of them, all of this Varys had expected.
"What time is it?" inquired Daenerys
"About an hour before sundown, your grace" Answered Varys "You two have been asleep most of the day, but that isn't uncommon right now. Most of our forces are asleep at the moment or on guard duty for those who are asleep. They have just been through a battle afterall, I have the numbers."
"About 50% casualties the Dothraki lost more than that but the Vale knights did better." answered Jon "Sorry your grace I meant to inform you but it slipped my mind."
"That is very understandable my lord, it is a complex time and you were on the front lines, so you were tired." stated Varys as he came to Lord Snow defense, but it wasn't needed Dany brushed it away with ease. She would have forgotten the information if he had told her when they were in the bath together anyhow. "I believe we need to discuss what our plans will be in the future and we need to do it soon."
"Agreed." confirmed Dany as she looked at Jon. "And there are other matters we need to discuss but this is information that needs to be kept very close and very guarded."
"I am going to inform Sansa and Arya in the morning, they are family." explained Jon
"Well I already talked to Sansa." admitted Daenerys as Jon's eyes widened a bit at the news. "I needed some advice on what to do."
Dany paused for a moment considering before nodding her head.
"Well we will not wait for morning." ordered Daenerys as she leaned back. "Lord Varys will you please gather my Hand, Ser Jorah Mormont, Grey Worm, Missandei, Samwell Tarly, Sansa, Arya and Bran Stark and please bring them here as well as yourself. There are some matters that need to be discuss with them before we can possibly advance to our next move."
"Yes, your grace." said Varys as he stood to leave his mind trying to figure out what to do.
"Bran will be an issue with her chair, should we hold the meeting elsewhere?" advised Jon "The Godswood maybe?"
"This would be the most secured place my Lord, if this is to be secret it should remain here. I will get some men to help carry him up the stairs." advised Varys as he finished his drink and stood to leave. "Lastly the men and some of the minor lords are preparing a feast in the main hall to celebrate being alive, I recommend after this meeting you attend to be seen by the lords and small folk"
"Very good Lord Varys we could use the meal." said Daenerys as he disappeared out the door. When he left she turned to Jon and smiled, before reaching out and placing her hand on his knee. "You ready for this?"
He responded by placing his own hand on hers, they moved so that their fingers interlocked, then he raised her hand up and kissed the back of her hand.
"As ready as I am going to be." answered Jon as Ghost laid down in front of Dany and Jon, his head resting on feet Dany's feet.
King Robb Stark looked around the Lords and the few ladies gathered around the table in his tent, the war council hadn't been one he had liked all that much. The list of lords missing and the number of man missing was concerning to say the lest and all of them had disappeared in the same way. There was terror in his army and some of the less educated Northerns who had all the missing lords and men, not a single river lord or their man had disappeared had started saying the Old Gods had taken them as punishment for leveling the North and the fall of Winterfell. He didn't like that and he didn't need that in his army, he had halted the army to get a count and to carry out a search to see if the missing could be found.
"I want another search of this ground and the surrounding area." ordered Robb "The army will hold a day to search and if we find them all well and good, if not we will march onward to the Twins the day after tomorrow leaving a small mounted force to kill searching for them."
"Yes, my King." Said Lord Jon Umber
"Our Father will not be happy with this delay." Stated the two Freys. "The Wedding shouldn't have to wait."
"I will apologize personally to Lord Frey when we arrive at the twins but we just had dozens of lords and their heirs disappear on top of hundreds of men." Countered Robb "We need to find out where they are."
"I must admit you are correct." admitted the second Frey earning a glare from the first, both of them had seen people disappear before their eyes.
"Very well your grace but I request either a rider to send word to our father." Said the head frey.
"You will have a Raven." stated Robb as the Frey bowed his head at the offer.
"Now, if you will excuses me I will see you all in the morning." Ordered Robb as the tent cleared out until only his mother remained, his wife was currently looking over the medical supplies a task he had given her to help endear her to the other lords and ladies. "Is there something else you need mother?"
"I am just wondering, have you heard anything about your sisters." admitted Catelyne Stark as she looked at her son, he had the look of a Tully even though his name was Stark.
"No mother." answered Robb "If I hear anything I will tell you personally and I will do so in front of my lords bannerman. They are now part of this deal you made when you let Ser Jaimie go free to get my sister's back from the Lannisters."
"I am sorry about that Robb, but…." started Catelyne as Robb raised a hand stopping her.
"I understand why you did it mother, even those Lords and Ladies mad at you understand a mother's weakness toward her children." explained Robb without looking at her. "Still you made an unforgivable error, if we win all and good and once we retake the Moat Cain we stand a better chance. Now excuses me, but I need my rest and so do you mother."
"Yes, my King." answered Catelyne as she walked out of the tent to find her Uncle the Blackfish waiting for her.
"Any word?" inquired the Blackfish
"None." confirmed Catelyne "I know I shouldn't have taken the word of the King Slayer but to get my girls back I had to take it."
"I understand little one." Reassured the Blackfish with a warm smile, "All we can do is pray to the Mother above that she will bring your girls back to you."
"Agreed." stated Catelyne as she looked toward the South, toward where King Landing was where her girls are. "Let's hope my little girls are ok."
For her part Arya was half asleep, Gendry was snoring softly beside her in the bed. It wasn't much of a bed but better than what they used their first time. She also had to admit, it was better this time around both of them where not as shy and both had learned a little about what the other liked. They both needed to learn more, but that was something they were happy to work on. As a Stark of Winterfell, she could have forced her right to one of the larger and nicer rooms higher up but then she would have to deal with other high lords looking down on Gendry besides she would rather have him then a larger bed. She rolled over to face him, she studied him for a while running her hand gently down his chest, her fingers just brushing his skin. She smiled as she closed her eyes, she couldn't recall later if she had actually slept or not but then she heard someone approaching her door. She lifted her head off her lover's chest a couple of moment before a knock at the door rattled the bar which they had dropped over it.
"What?" inquired Gendry still half asleep.
"Just stay there I will tell them to fuck off." stated Arya as she got out of bed and threw on Gendry's tunic, it was long enough to cover herself. She didn't even grab needle which sat on her side of the bed, or even the Warhammer Gendry left beside it. She did however grab a small knife and slid it into the sleeve, a little trick from her days on the streets of Braavos.
"Alright." said Gendry as he rolled over and fell asleep, he likely never even really woke up and wouldn't remember it later.
She lifted the bar, there was no lock on it, only a simple bar which prevented the door from opening all the way. She opened it slightly ready to tell her sister or brother off, either that or send whoever else it was away. If it was just a server she would show respect they were only doing their job but her family she would curse out all in good fun. She had expected to see either Jon, Sansa and it turned out to be her sister standing outside waiting for her.
Sansa's eyes widened as she saw that Arya had answered the door in only a tunic, a tunic which was far too big for her and not cut for a woman. It was just long enough to cover her womanhood, her hair was a mess and she was barefooted, that was no way for a proper lady to answer the door in any way. Then she looked past her and saw into the room, there laying on the bed was a man in her little sister's bed. He had his back to the door and was sleeping, it didn't her long to figure out what had happened.
"Well I was going to ask in private if the story I heard was true about you taking a bath with a man." admitted Sansa as Gendry rolled over and sat up in bed covering himself.
"Lady Stark." said Gendry with a blush as Sansa didn't bat an eye at the man in the bed.
"I am afraid you have the advantage on me, I don't know your name." said Sansa with a grin.
"Gendry…Gendry Waters." Introduced Gendry "I am King Robert's Bastard."
"I see." said Sansa before turning back to her sister. "Jon and our Queen need us for a meeting, so get dress and follow me, please."
Arya was about to protest being ordered around by Sansa then she saw the playful smile on the corner of her sister's face. It wasn't just amusement at finding her little sister like this, there was something else going on, she could tell.
"Thanks, I'll be up shortly." said Arya as she closed the door, Sansa waited outside for her sister who came out a few minutes later buckling her sword belt as she did. The two sisters turned and started walking down the corridor, for a while neither of them said a word.
"So…he looks good." said Sansa "Muscular for sure."
"Yes…yes he is." confirmed Arya trying to hide a blush from her sister and for the most part she did but Sansa could still see it.
"You know we will all have to have a talk about this." stated Sansa "You, me and Jon at least."
"I am not giving him up." stated Arya forcefully.
"You are a woman grown, as long as he makes you happy, I don't care and neither will Jon." confirmed Sansa "Mother, may have issues once we see her again and so will Robb."
"Mother is dead, what is down in the south is a ghost just like Robb as far as I care only you, Jon and Bran are my pack we are the last true Starks. The others are dead in my eyes." countered Arya as Sansa said nothing as they headed up the stairs. They got stuck behind Bran who was being carried up by a few men along with his chair toward the chamber where the meeting would be happening, Sansa had an idea what is was about, his sister didn't.
Well I hope you liked this chapter; I would like to thank everyone who has been giving this story a chance and I hope you still enjoy this story and where it is going. Until next time, thanks Wilkins75.
