Arya didn't think she was pacing like a crazy person the second she watched Jon and Val ride off, but she was. There wasn't anything she could do about it, and she wished that she was the one going south to save Edmure. She needed to trust Jon and Val, though, and if there was anyone who could get there fast, it was them. It didn't make the waiting any better, and she tried to focus on other things. She went out with Brienne and began her training with her right hand. The Kraken had stolen the fingers from her dominant hand, but Arya was always pretty good with her right hand. She was very convinced, as was Brienne that she would be just as talented as she once was with her right hand as she was with her left. A few years ago, losing her fighting hand would have been the worst thing that could have happened to her. The battles she was fighting now were just as deadly and insidious without anyone brandishing a weapon. There was time to train.
Arya wanted to write to Gendry and see how he was, but the ravens could be shot down, and she didn't want to risk anyone finding out that they were alive just yet. She wanted to go south and demand all of these Lesser Houses confess to their crimes, but that wouldn't work. All she could do was wait and hope that Edmure was safe. They already lost one family member to all of this; Arya wasn't keen to lose another one.
Jon and Val rode back into Winterfell at a much slower pace than they left. They didn't look devastated, which Arya chose to mean that they got there in time. They gathered everyone in Jon's solar, so this story only had to be told once.
"We got there in time," Jon said, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. "We almost weren't. Edmure managed to kill the person that attacked him, but he was badly wounded. Roslin and Medgar are fine as well, and the three of them are locked down in the castle, with only their trusted guards watching them. I think they're going to be safe."
"How are you so sure that House Bracken won't try again?" Meera asked.
"Because we have this," Val said, and she pulled some papers out of her satchel. One of the papers got passed along, and Arya could see that it was a will and one where Edmure named House Bracken as the regent of the Riverlands until Medgar came of age. An age that House Bracken was surely not going to allow the little boy to become.
"So we have one of the fake wills," Davos said. "That is decent proof and even more so if Edmure can confirm that it isn't real. Do we have anything else?"
"Roslin raised an interesting question that none of us really thought of," Jon said. "All of this wouldn't be a cheap thing to do, so someone is probably funding this operation. Someone with a lot of power and influence. We might have some idea who that person might be." Jon tossed the other papers onto the table, and Arya bared her teeth at the symbol for House Lannister on the letters.
"There isn't anything in there that we can use that the two of us can tell," Val said. "But maybe we should have someone with a knowledge of codes and ciphers take a look at it. Maybe they have hidden something in these letters that could prove their correspondence."
"Aye, I can look at those, Your Grace," Davos said. "I was a smuggler in another life, so I know all about hiding things in plain sight. If there is a code here, then I'll find it."
"Those wills and correspondence between House Lannister are the best bets we have at proving all of this, but right now, all we have is proof that Edmure was targeted. That doesn't help us with Robin or the Baratheon's or the Greyjoy's," Sansa said.
"We need those wills and any proof that House Redfort and Connington were part of this," Arya said. "Someone is going to have to sneak into the Eyrie and Storm's End to get that proof, and I'm the one that should do it."
"Arya, if you get caught-" Theon started, but Arya held up a hand to silence him.
"I won't get caught because this is the most important thing to me, and I'm the only one here with the skills to do it. I'm the only one who could make it into those castles and escape without anyone seeing me," Arya said as she looked around the table. "You all know I'm right."
"And how do you plan on getting there?" Jon asked.
"I want to bring those that I failed home," Davos said. "I'll take her." Arya nodded to Davos and turned to Jon and Val, who were looking at each other and having a silent conversation, which they hadn't ever done before.
"You must swear not to harm Lord Redfort or Lord Connington," Val said carefully. "We cannot prove anything if they are dead. If we want to bring Gendry and his siblings home, get justice for your cousin Robin, keep your uncle and his family safe, and clear you of wrongdoing, no one involved in this can be killed. Do you understand that, Arya?"
"I am planning on getting in and out of the castle without anyone seeing me at all. I swear I won't spill the blood of our enemies," Arya said. Everyone stared at her like they were trying to figure out if she was lying or not, but Arya wasn't lying. The last thing she wanted was for Gendry and the others to be stranded on the Iron Isles or worse for the rest of their lives. There were so many things at stake if they didn't prove to Daenerys what was going on, and Arya would not risk them. Jon nodded to her, and it was time to go find some proof.
Arya set out with Davos to White Harbor just a few days later. She could tell that the rest of her family was not happy about this, and Val made sure that the other Free Folk were closer to Winterfell than normal should the worst happen. Arya really hoped that nothing would happen, and she could get the proof they needed before something else happened. Robin might not have been her favorite person, but he was still her blood, and she knew he was trying to be a good leader. He was trying, and he didn't deserve this, and Arya knew all about revenge. This was revenge for banishing her to the North; this was revenge for hurting Gendry and the others, this was revenge for trying to hurt Edmure and his family, this was revenge for the entire settlements that were wiped off of the map thanks to fake Ironborn attacks, this was for all of them and Arya would see justice.
As they sailed away from White Harbor, Arya sat down and tried to think about how she was going to get into the Eyrie. Unlike Storm's End, where both her and Davos knew all of the in's and out's of the castle, Arya hadn't been to Eyrie before. She didn't know her way around, and she didn't know how to sneak in. There was only one way up, and she couldn't afford someone recognizing her. Davos didn't know either and said that he mostly traded in the coastal towns. He sailed them, in a ship with no House on the sails, to a place called Heart's Home. Arya put her hair up in a headscarf, took the dress she borrowed from one of the Winterfell servant girls and walked into the town without looking back at Davos. He was watching her, though, as she tried to think about how she could get beyond the Bloody Gate.
Two days later, the answer came as she overheard some men talking about their new Lord and how he was replacing every single servant in the Eyrie. Apparently, he wanted all new people now that he was running things, and there was a caravan leaving Heart's Home the next day. Arya didn't want to risk someone seeing her face, but this looked like the only way to get into the castle. She told Davos that night, and he frowned but didn't tell her not to go. He wanted revenge just as much as she did.
The next morning, Arya climbed into the caravan with the other servants heading up to the Eyrie. No one really paid her any mind, and the guards didn't look at her face, but they did check her for weapons. Arya didn't want to risk a servant girl being caught with a sword or a knife; she was unarmed, which didn't sit well with her. She wasn't here to kill anyone, and Arya wanted to leave without anyone even knowing something went wrong. The caravan went up the winding road to the Eyrie, and Arya had to admit she was rather impressed by the place. It was a stunning castle, and she wished she could have seen it under better circumstances.
The new Lord Redfort was ordering people around when she arrived, and Arya kept her head down. Lord Royce was the only one who might recognize her, and she couldn't risk seeing him. She was assigned the kitchens, and Arya worked there for two days before she learned the layout well enough to avoid the guards and sneak into Lord Redfort's room. He was downstairs, roaring drunk, and wouldn't be there for a while. Arya dug through the various piles of paper in the desk until she found the will she was looking for and, at the bottom of the draw, were more letters from House Lannister. The door to the room opened, and Arya looked up to see Lord Royce walk in. He was staring at her, and Arya tried to think of some excuse.
"Arya Stark, it's good to see you," he said as he closed the door and blocked her only exit. "Care to tell me why you snuck into this castle and are going through those papers?"
"I believe Robin was murdered," Arya said carefully. "If I can get proof in these papers, then we can get justice for him. I know that's hard to believe-"
"It isn't," Royce interrupted, and Arya shut her mouth. "Robin was healthy now, and he didn't show any signs of being sick before he suddenly got very ill. I had seen his will rather recently, and I was named his heir until he got married and had a child of his own. I was there when he told me that was the case after Gendry and his siblings died. That was the reason he made sure the Eyrie and the Vale would be looked after if he died. I knew something was wrong, but I couldn't prove it; you think you can prove it?"
"I do," Arya replied. Royce watched her for a moment and nodded. Arya hid the papers in her dress, and he stepped aside to help her out of the room. They walked through the castle together for a moment, and Arya kept her head down.
"I'll escort you down to the Bloody Gate tomorrow," Royce said. "I'll see you at first light." Arya breathed a sigh of relief and hardly slept that night. As soon as the sun rose, she found Lord Royce waiting for her. He told the guards that this girl wasn't settling in well and wanted to go back home. Arya made sure to make a few tears fall from her eyes, and the guards let Lord Royce escort her down the road to the Bloody Gate. Arya climbed down from the donkey she was riding and bowed deeply to Royce.
"Thank you, m'lord," she said.
"Good luck," Royce replied. He turned and made his way through the Bloody Gates without looking back at her. Arya took a deep breath and released it slow. She turned away from the path toward the Eyrie to make her way back to Heart's Home. They had two of the fake wills; it was time to find the third.
They were less than a day away from Heart's Home when Davos smirked and declared that he had broken the code that the Lannister's were using to talk to the accusing Houses. With the code broken, it was obvious that the plan all along was to take over the various seats in Westeros and make sure that the North didn't have any enemies. After that, with all of the power of major regions behind them, they would convince Daenerys that it was time to go to war and destroy the North and the Stark's for good. Arya couldn't believe that all of this was about her and her family. It bothered her that these people were willing to do this and kill so many people along the way.
"We have a problem, though," Davos said as they approached Storm's End. He would be staying on the ship because there were too many people that might recognize him. "We'll have proof against Connington, Redfort, Bracken, and the Lannister's but nothing against Velaryon."
"These people are cowards," Arya said. "When they realize they'll be staring down a very angry Daenerys, you can assume that they'll change their tune." Davos hummed but didn't say anything else. He was still working on translating the ravens between the various castles and gathering more and more evidence that the Lannister's of Lannisport was fronting the money behind all of this. Arya couldn't think about that now because she had to focus on getting into Storm's End and getting what they needed. She once again wrapped her hair in a scarf, put on the servant's dress, and walked out into the people.
It was apparent that just in the time she'd been gone from this place that the Stormlands were not faring well under Connington, which was going to enrage Edric more than he already was. The people looked miserable and starving, and as she wandered around the area outside of the castle to listen for information, she could see that houses weren't being maintained, and no one looked happy. Even the guards didn't look like they were enjoying themselves at all. Arya needed darkness to sneak into the castle and walked into a small tavern to get some food. As she ate, she listened, and the people were suffering as Connington puts the needs of the nobility above the needs of everyone else. She hated him for that.
"The Dragon Queen was seen heading to the Iron Isles?" a man nearby said, and Arya froze as her blood ran cold.
"Aye, she wasn't there long, and people saw the dragon going back damn near the same day. She must be talking to the Salt Queen about the attacks," another said. Arya tried her best to calm her mind as she thought about what had happened. If Daenerys was going to the Iron Isles for diplomacy, she wouldn't have taken Drogon, not when things were already so tense. The only reason she would take Drogon was if she wanted to get there as soon as possible and without regard to anything else. The only thing that could make Daenerys act like that was family, and Arya closed her eyes; there was a good chance the Baratheon's were not at the Iron Isles anymore but with Daenerys in King's Landing.
However, if their secret was out, everyone here would be talking about it. If they asked Daenerys to keep it quiet that they were alive, she would do it. Arya breathed and told herself that Daenerys loved the Baratheon's, and from what Davos told her, she was devastated when she thought they died. She wouldn't hurt them, and she would keep them safe.
There was a distinct advantage of sneaking into Storm's End because she has done it once before. That night, all she could think about was getting proof that Gendry was alive, and now she just needed proof that Connington was the reason that they were sold into slavery. Something didn't sit right as she crept through the castle because Robin was killed, and they tried to kill Edmure. Why did they fake the deaths of the Baratheon's and send them to Meereen? It didn't make any sense, and as she snuck into Connington's office, she began to look for her proof. The will was there, along with several pieces of correspondence from House Lannister. She had what she needed, but Arya felt like she should keep going. It was a risk, but there was more.
It was at the bottom of the last drawer that Arya found the papers she was looking for. It was correspondence with Daario, and they weren't even talking in code. Connington reached out to Daario to hire one of his men as the assassin. He was the one who told Daario that he could give them the children of Robert Baratheon in the name of his Queen. Connington was the one who told Daario that this would be the thing that pleased her and said that faking the deaths then revealing they were enslaved was the best idea. Daario was desperate to please Daenerys, Arya could see that in the letters, and Connington took advantage of that. Daario was merely a pawn, and he even took gold from Daario in exchange for the Baratheon's.
It took all of her self-control not to go down to the round hall and kill that man, but she promised not to, and they needed Connington alive. Arya took the documents and snuck out of the castle without any issues. They sailed out as soon as the sun rose, and Davos looked a little sick as he looked over the papers. They had the three wills and various correspondence. Arya just hoped that someone would turn on House Velaryon so they could put this entire thing behind them.
Arya and Davos landed at White Harbor and rode as hard as they could for Winterfell. They had proof, and they just had to hope that someone would admit what was going on to save their own skin. Jon looked over their correspondence and said that he would send a raven to Daenerys because it wasn't uncommon for them to send messages back and forth, and they had a system to make sure that nothing was intercepted. Jon carefully worded the message that he wanted to come down to King's Landing to talk about the treaty and Arya's sentence now that a year had gone by. He made sure to put the word 'proof' and ran his quill over the word a few times, so it was slightly darker. He also made sure to mention House Lannister and also darkened that word. It was a piece of information that Gendry and the others didn't know about.
"If Gendry and the others are there, they'll know what it means," Jon said after he heard about Daenerys going to the Iron Isles. "We just need to wait for the formal invitation to King's Landing, and we can put this whole thing behind us."
The ride back to King's Landing on the back of Drogon was an experience Gendry didn't really want to repeat, and judging by how green his siblings looked, they didn't want to either. Daenerys got them safely into the castle without anyone seeing them and took them to a room that looked like no one had used it in a long time. There was dust, and the bed didn't look big enough for the four of them, but it would have to do. She hugged each of them tightly and cried as she looked at their wounds.
"How is it possible? What happened to you?" she whispered. For the next several hours, they explained to Daenerys everything they knew about what had happened to them and what they knew. Her face went deathly pale when they told her about Daario, and then she got a look that Gendry hadn't seen on her before. If Bella hadn't killed him, he was sure Daenerys would have gone over and done the deed herself. They told her about escaping and how they walked all across Essos to the edge. They told her about being sick and nearly dying and the village that took them in. They told her about the soldiers that nearly killed them and left the scars on their bodies. They told her about Asha and Arya finding them and coming back to Westeros, but they didn't feel safe. They told her about the accusing Houses and how they thought they were involved somehow.
"Daario wanted all four of us," Gendry said. "And there was no way to guarantee that I would be in Storm's End without any of my allies in the North unless Arya and I were separated. We think the trial and possible rebellion was just a ruse to get me and Arya separated, but we don't know why else they would do that or what connection these other Houses have to us."
"I knew they were doing something," Daenerys said carefully. "I knew they were trying to push me to do something, but I couldn't figure out the motivations. We might know why Lord Connington did this, but we don't have any other House's motivations. What about proof? Do we have any?"
"No," Edric said. "But I think Arya and the North might be working on that. At least, that was the implication I got when she left to go back home. We don't know anything else; we couldn't risk someone shooting down a raven."
"Thank you for telling me," Daenerys said softly. "And I understand why you felt the need to hide. No one aside from myself, Quentyn, and Missandei will know that you're here, and anything I can get you to help would be appreciated. I lost you four once, and I will not let that happen again. They will not hurt my family again."
"Thank you, Dany," Mya said with a small smile. They didn't tell her about the four of them needing to be close, but it didn't seem like the time. The room they were in was actually an interconnected suite of three rooms, but they couldn't really leave the way they could in Pyke, which was unfortunate. The days went by, and they used the multiple rooms to separate themselves little by little each day. It helped, and Gendry didn't feel like he was going to collapse in on himself if they were apart from each other for some periods of time. Mya didn't hover as much, Bella talked more, and Edric didn't look as angry. Gendry unpacked his bags and didn't feel the need to repack them, which was the biggest step forward he could have made.
It was nearly a fortnight later that Daenerys opened the door and stared at the four of them. She looked angry, but she also looked conflicted.
"Please, tell me why Yara is attacking my settlements," she whispered.
"It isn't her," Bella said immediately. "Yara says that no Ironborn ship is attacking anyone, and you have to believe her. Someone is framing them, and it might be related to what happened to us. Something is going on and involves those Houses."
"They are trying to trick you into going to war," Gendry said. "Don't fall for it, please, Dany. If you trust and believe us about anything please, believe that." Daenerys stared at the four of them and then sunk into a chair.
"Someone is attacking my people, and I want to know why. We need proof; we need something that can tell us that this is all a ruse," she said.
"Let's go to the village that was attacked," Gendry said without thinking. Everyone turned and stared at him, but Gendry stood up a little taller. "Let's go look for evidence, you and me."
"Gendry-" Mya started, but he shook his head.
"I'm the older brother, and I don't get to act like one often, so let me be the older brother. Dany, let me come with you, and let's go see if we can get some proof that this isn't a Greyjoy attack," Gendry said. His stomach twisted at the idea of being so far away from his siblings, but he needed to do this. Edric, Bella, and Mya could spend more time slowly learning to be apart from one another in Storm's End, but Gendry knew he wanted to go back to the North with Arya. If there was anyone that needed to learn to be away from them sooner, it was him. It was something they had discussed as they were using the three rooms to sleep apart. Daenerys watched Gendry carefully and then stood.
"Jon sent this," Daenerys said and handed them a small scroll. The four of them crowded around the table as they all tried to read it. It didn't seem like anything special until Edric pointed to one word that was slightly darker than the others.
"The word 'proof' is slightly darker than the others," Edric said. "I think he's telling us that he has proof against the other Houses. House Lannister is the same way; I think he's trying to tell us that they're involved too."
"Now we just need proof that the Ironborn aren't the ones attacking the settlements," Gendry said, and he looked at Daenerys. "We need every bit of evidence that we can get if we're going to get these people. Please, it can't hurt to go look."
"Very well, put on a cloak to hide your face, and let's go. We'll have to ride Drogon again," she said.
"Then it's good that I didn't eat lunch," Gendry replied without thinking. Daenerys smiled at him, and it was that smile that lit up her entire face and one that he so rarely got to see. Gendry covered his face and followed her through the hallways to the Dragon Pit, where both Quentyn and Missadei were waiting. Daenerys told them what she was doing and that they should be back before nightfall. Gendry had his sword that he stole from Daario on his hip, and Quentyn gave him that a look that seemed to ask him to look out for her.
They climbed on the back of Drogon, and Gendry didn't even try to hide the fact that he was clinging to Daenerys. She didn't say anything about how it was probably hard to breathe, and he could feel her chuckling a little as they flew into the sky. It was beautiful up here when Gendry got the confidence to look down, which wasn't often. He never knew he had a thing about heights until now.
The settlement wasn't burning anymore but was like a small black spot that they moved toward. Daenerys landed Drogon, and they both climbed down from the dragon. Gendry swayed a bit on his feet, and there was a tight knot in his stomach because he couldn't see his siblings, but he tried to breathe through it. They walked slowly through the burned houses and the lingering smell of bodies in the air. There were graves dug just out of the settlement's outskirts. Daenerys said that the local Lord came and helped, and there were only a handful of houses. It wasn't much to go on.
"What are we looking for?" Daenerys asked, but Gendry didn't answer her. There was something about the burned house on the edge of the settlement that was bothering him. It wasn't as destroyed as the others, and there was something other than the smell of flesh and burning wood in the air. Gendry carefully walked toward the house and pulled open the door carefully, and it nearly crumbled under his hands. There was a small bed in the corner, a burnt-out hearth, rotting food, and yet something still bothered him. Daenerys followed him inside, seemingly uncaring that her dress was getting covered in soot, and they both looked around. There was a small storage closet nearby, and Gendry glanced at Daenerys. They both walked forward and slowly opened the door. Daenerys gasped, and Gendry swallowed past the bile in his throat.
"I think we found our proof," he said.
"That we did," Daenerys whispered. "Let's return to King's Landing; I have several Houses I need to call to court."
