It was not that Arya was a stranger to irony, she wasn't. It seemed her life was just one cosmic joke after another. Wanting nothing more than to learn how to use a sword, only to truly learn at the cost of her identity. Traveling leagues and leagues to find her mother and brother only to arrive the night they were murdered, fighting for years to gain a vengeance that never brought her any peace. Risking her existence to see her family alive again, only to give them up to keep them that way. Yes, irony was no newcomer in her life. But when she noticed the stranger Egg resting his arms over the railing of her ship, laughing outside with another younger boy, she had to wonder what type of joke the gods had in mind this time.

"Do you really think there are krakens in the sea?" The little blond boy was looking up at Egg with fearful blue eyes.

"I don't know, maybe, if there's dragons then why not Krakens?" He asked playfully, but his grin faded when the boy looked stricken.

"B-but what if one of them finds us? How many do you think are out there?" The boy took a hard glance at the murky water below him.

"Relax, they're probably somewhere else in the sea, do you know how big the world is?"

Arya couldn't resist interrupting "Smaller than you'd think."

He turned around with the boy, his surprise quickly replaced with an easy smile. "Stalking me now?"

"I could say the same you know." She crossed her arms. He was wearing the same thing he was the night before, granted so was she. No sun shone down on them for it was hidden by thick rain clouds, but the air the wind carried held no chill.

"Who's this Griff?"

"This is Madelyn." He never glanced at the boy but kept his curious gaze on her.

"Is she really your stalker?"

"I'm not his stalker."

He laughed, "I don't think so Roan, but you can never be sure of anything." Egg winked at her.

Arya ignored him and knelt to the height of Roan and extended a hand, "Hi Roan, I'm Madi." The boy took her hand and stared with rounded cheeks and a face of innocence.

"Your eyes don't have any colour." He pointed out as he shook her hand

"And yours are bluer than the sea." she said standing up.

"I thought all eyes had colour."

"Grey is a colour" Egg told him.

"Grey's a shade." He argued.

"It is a shade" she had to agree with the boy if only to annoy Egg. It almost worked judging by his expression, but he continued with his cheery persona, if only to annoy her.

"It's a pretty contrast against all the red." But the gleam in his eye made her unsure of the compliment, "Roan why don't you go and find your mother?"

Roan didn't need to be told twice and ran off. Arya walked past Egg to look over the railing, Braavos was becoming a faded line of grey in the distance, and she couldn't help trying to imprint the sight of the cloudy Titian of Braavos in her memory, for it might be last time she saw it. "How's your arm?"

She glanced back and tapped the wound under her cloak, it was still swollen but she knew how to keep it from getting infected. "I think I'll live."

He nodded with a smirk "So, what business does a young Red Priestess have in Meereen?"

"Only what the Lord requires me to do." The fingers of her right hand tapped the railing she leaned on, the wood dark and smooth.

Egg leaned in beside her, his stance matching her own. She noted a silver ring was wrapped around his index finger, a dark red ruby in the center. "You have visions?"

"Something like that." Her right hand fiddled with the cloth over her heart thoughtlessly. "Why are you going?"

He glanced away and stood a little straighter, "I'm afraid that's very classified information, not a thing that can be shared with just anyone. Especially not a stalker."

Arya resisted the urge to shove the stranger, "You should be grateful for your stalker, you'd never see the city of Meereen if not for me."

"I am." His dark eyes softened. "Grateful, I mean. But you have to admit, it is strange that we keep running into each other."

"You've no idea how strange this world really is." She gave him a kind smile, "I wouldn't over think this too much."

"And what strange things have you seen?" He was playful but seemed genuinely curious.

At his words, Arya remembered to keep her fiddling hand to her side. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Excuse me." Arya glanced up as a girl approached them, long golden curls framed a pretty face with soft brown eyes. She donned red robes that must have cost at least twice as much as her own, "You're a Red Priestess too?"

"Yes, I am."

"I'm Kaysi." The girl appeared about six and ten and Arya offered a formal handshake, but the girl pulled her into a hug.

"I'm uh, Madi." She said over her shoulder, and after an uncomfortable few seconds, she pried herself out of the stranger's arms.

"It's wonderful to meet you! and you are?"

"Young Griff." He extended his hand and she took it without dragging him into her arms.

"It's so good to have you here, I thought I was going to be alone on my journey but now you're here. Another Red priestess, this is just terrific isn't it?"

Arya blinked and forced a smile for the girl. "Yes, so wonderful."

"When the High Priest told me I'd be going to Meereen by myself I was terribly nervous, but now we can go together, what temple are you from? I'm from Braavos, but I've never seen you there before?"

"I'm not from Braavos, there's a small temple in King's Landing devoted to R'hllor."

"You're from King's Landing?" she barely had time to nod before the girl kept talking. "I hear the city is huge, but I've never been. Isn't there nearly half a million people?"

"Yes, there's a lot of people." Kaysi went to speak again but Arya rushed on, "Why are you being sent to Meereen?"

"To visit Daenerys Targaryen of course."

"Of course."

"Isn't that why you've been sent so far? My High Priest told me Temple's devoted to R'hllor were sending apprentices from all over to seek out the Dragon Queen."

"Yes, I just didn't know it was such public knowledge, I suppose the priests at my temple are a little more…discreet regarding their affairs?"

"Oh." She appeared taken aback a moment.

"Don't worry, I'm sure there's no harm in telling a few people. Daenerys is no secret, and neither is red priestess sharing their beliefs." she smiled reassuringly, grateful for the easy alibi.

"And who am I going to tell?" Egg added lightheartedly, clearly trying to cheer the dejected girl up too.

"I suppose it'll all be okay, who's going to try and stop us anyway?" the bright smile the girl owned made a comeback. "Would you like to pray with me tonight, I'm afraid we're not allowed to light any real fires, but a candle should suffice."

"I'd love to." she'd never met a red priest who opted out of the opportunity to pray, other than maybe Thoros but he'd been a drunk. "And a fire's a fire." Arya matched her smile to Kaysi's.

Every night for the past fortnight she'd prayed with Kaysi, and every day she'd spent with her. Arya had enjoyed if not tolerated the presence of most people in her life, but her mood just never seemed to match with Kaysi's. The girl was just too joyful, and Arya had lost that kind of effortless optimism nearly a decade ago. There were too many things for her to worry about now, too many possible outcomes to weigh and too many unknowns. The journey to Meereen was proving longer than she'd expected.

She'd learned from Egg there was to be a celebration for The Dragon Queen around their arrival, the perfect opportunity for an assassin to move about unnoticed. Also, the perfect chance for her to investigate a theory of her own. And it became clear to her that Arya and Kaysi were not the only ones who had an interest in Daenerys; Egg and his father Griff were to be attending this celebration too. Griff was one of the higher-ranking officers of the Golden Company and apparently had pressing business with the Queen, business Egg would be disclosed to.

"Have you ever tried to light a fire with magic?" Kaysi asked. They sat in her humble chamber's underdeck. Since her arrival Kaysi had generously offered to share her tight quarters with Arya despite only having one bed, red priestesses were to stick together after all. Thankfully though, Egg had promised her, her own bed by the end of tomorrow.

"No."

"I think you could do it if you tried."

Arya put her book down, Madysen Feller's dairy was never far from her hands. "Why do you think I can light fires?"

"Because anyone can."

"Anyone can with a match, only people who can wield magic can do what you're talking about." Arya corrected, "old crones, witches, and somepriestesses." Though the sentence was far from the truth, it felt like something Madelyn should believe.

"How can you think so narrowly? There's magic all over the world, you do remember we're on an adventure to find Daenerys Targaryen? She has Dragons."

Arya lifted her book again, inwardly rolling her eyes at the term adventure and wondering how long it took for Madysen Feller to die. "The only magic you should believe in, is the magic that R'hllor allows for us to have."

"Exactly why I want to teach you how to make fire."

She put her book down again and met Kaysi's soft brown eyes, lit with mischief. "Teach me?" Kaysi sat up from the end of their bed and pulled out an unlit candle from inside the nightstand. They were only permitted one from the captain, and it was already lit in the corner of the room and protected from the world by the lantern it sat in. They were floating in a ship made of wood after all, there was no room for unnecessary risks. "Let's say by chance that you're not crazy, do you really think it's a good idea to start lighting fires in here?"

"You're more serious than an old Lady, Madi."

"It never hurts to be cautious." She'd outgrown her own recklessness a long time ago.

Kaysi only grinned as she kneeled beside the bed Arya sat upon, placing the candle gently in its stand on the table between them. "You'll be an old lady in your rocking chair, mulling over all your regrets by the time you realize just how much caution can hurt you."

Arya frowned at the impossibility. "And you'll be dead before you have the chance to regret anything."

Kaysi giggled at that, "Maybe, but at least I'll die with no misgivings of a life unlived." The pretty blond girl took a deep breath, her brown eyes on the candle in front of her.

"So how-"

"Shhhh" Kaysi put up a finger to silence her and Arya leaned back with a sigh. Kaysi sat staring at the candle, her brow creased and in deep focus. The moments stretched on, the girl mumbling something under her breath, the whispers too quick and muttered together too much to properly understand. Kaysi had been Arya's constant companion over the weeks, a Braavosi girl who claimed she was on an adventure that would lead to her destiny of becoming the High Priestess of her temple one day. She'd claimed she couldn't wait to learn the magic of R'hllor but had never mentioned that she already knew some, which is why Arya's expectations had been so low.

Kaysi's palm caressed the empty air beside the wick, hand wrapping around something she couldn't see. Until she could. A thin trickle of smoke rose up and Arya leaned forward, suppressing a gasp. A second later the candle was lit, the little flame dancing in Kaysi's glowing eyes. "I told you!" she squealed. Arya stared at her in shock, the girl who'd spent just as much time swooning over Egg's arms as praying, had just made fire out of thin air.

"Teach me."

The days were finally starting to pass by faster after nearly a month at sea. She'd grown less tired of Kaysi's company, especially now that the girl was teaching her something useful. Arya had yet to make any fires, but she couldn't help being marveled at the sight of magic. Fire's very nature was destructive but it's creation still held a dangerous type of beauty. Arya would mutter whatever words she had to, to learn Kaysi's little trick. She only hoped belief in R'hllor had nothing to do with it.

"Tell me another scary story" Roan's blue eyes glittered with excitement.

"Another one? You'll never go to sleep again." Egg teased.

"Your story wasn't that frightening I'm afraid." Kaysie smiled with all the manners of a proper Lady, "No offense."

Egg tried not to look affected, brushing off the comment. "That was a very scary story when I was younger."

The four of them sat in Egg's chamber, it was much bigger than Kaysi's or Arya's. The bed was large enough to fit all of them, each claiming their own corner on the thick ruby red blanket. Arya sat with her legs crossed to leave room for the others while Egg was laying down and taking up half the bed, he'd just finished telling the story of the Deceptive Grumkin,

She shoved Egg's feet away from her and ignored his mock glare, "You want to hear a scary story?" she asked Roan, his bright blue eyes were taking her back to the warm walls of Winterfell and to another boy who had loved scary stories. He nodded earnestly and she smirked. "Have you ever heard of the Others?"

Roan tilted his head, "I've heard people say let the Others take you, but I never knew what it meant."

"You never want them to take you." She told him with deep seriousness. "They sleep for thousands of years in the darkness, under layers of ice in the far, far North, beyond the Wall. Their skin shimmer's like the ice they're born in, and their eyes glow the palest blue you'd ever see. But even before you're faced with the blue flames of their eyes glowing with a hunger for your flesh…you'll feel them. The air around you will freeze, the temperature drops so cold it hurts to breathe and you can feel death creeping towards you with every step."

Roan swallowed nervously, "Wouldn't the Wall stop them, it's said no one can get past it?"

Arya smiled sadly, "They said the same thing of Harrenhal, an impenetrable fortress…but Harren and all his sons still burned alive when Aegon and his dragons reached Westeros."

"So, what does it mean when the Other's take you?" Kaysi fought back a smile at the frightened look on Roan's face.

Arya nodded, continuing with her story. "They hunt throughout the night on dead horses and giant white spiders bigger than hounds, and when they find you, they'll make you one of their thralls. Your blood will freeze along with the rest of you, your own eyes will glow the same lifeless blue, and your corpse will be used as another cog in their army. They don't care for any life, not that of a baby or the wolves that wander in the deep forests. They'll use any vessel to meet their ends." Her eyes grew distant a moment. "And their swords…they're made of ice that will burn you at the touch." Arya's hand touched the skin over her heart, a growing habit as of late.

Egg's gaze was almost as serious as Roan's, but he blinked and turned away when she noticed. "The Other's are just a story Roan, relax." He rubbed the boy's shoulder.

Arya shook her head softly with a weight pressing down on her shoulders, she forced her hand back to her lap. "Just a story. No one builds a seven-hundred-foot wall of ice over a story. And it wasn't made to keep out Wildlings, they're the same as anyone else. A little rougher on the edges, as all northerners are, but they were just unfortunate with which side they were born on."

"Are you trying to terrify him?"

"I'm just telling the story, and no good story goes without its truth. The Other's won't sleep forever, maybe they've already woken up. And when winter comes…they come with it, and no, not even the Wall will stop them." She bent over and patted Roan on the head as she climbed off the bed. "Still like scary stories?"

Kaysi shook her head with a smile but Roan nodded, "If the Others come then it's only a problem for those who live in Westeros. I've nothing to be afraid of."

Arya shrugged, "Maybe. But there's a lot of people who live in Westeros, and spring would only be a dream with them around." Roan frowned and Arya winked, but as she left Egg's chamber a burning cold touch and glimmering eyes haunted her thoughts.

If you'd never been raised beyond the Wall then you'd learn quickly that all the rocks and barren snowy wastelands, appeared very much the same. The snow sliced through the air at the speed of an executioner's sword, making it impossible to see anything before her. Arya's cloak was being torn in the wind, pulling her back constantly with every step but she'd dare not leave it behind. She'd tied strings around her neck, keeping the hood tight over her head for what little warmth it was worth.

She stumbled and tripped, tears of frustration freezing on her face before having the chance to fall. Just keep going, it has to be here. Mance had promised she'd find the witch here, find their last hope of survival, because whoever had spoken the prophecy of Azor Ahai had been wrong. There was no saviour with a flaming sword to fend off the Others, only death, darkness and cold, then more death. The cold hurt her lungs with each breath and she wondered if she were close to stumbling upon her own end, on the edge of an icy sword. Arya shivered violently but forced herself back up on her feet.

Dark cave walls replaced the white dessert and she coughed on the thick grey smoke that filled the air but continued to venture deeper into the cavern. The warmth of a fire, no matter who might lay beside it, was impossible to pass up. The flames made the shadows dance upon the black stone walls and the way the witch's eyes glowed a deep red made her think of dragons, despite never looking one in the eyes before.

"I knew you'd come." Her laugh was a terrible sound, empty and haunting. "You wish to save what you've already lost do you?"

The tears streamed down her own cheeks, from the burning smoke or her own despair, she couldn't say. "You're her, the witch?"

The old woman was so wrinkled she could have been a thousand years old, "Witch, crone, ghost, I've been called many things little girl, as you have. But if there were anyone still alive to call me friend, they'd call me Astris."

"Astris." The witch's eyes glowed brighter at the use of her name, her brittle white hair shimmering silver in the dim firelight.

"And you, you're no one aren't you?" she hackled again, her ugly grin showing broken teeth. Her laugh tore Arya from the cave and left her standing in Winterfell alone. The garnet walls grew up around her at impossible heights, she ran, trying to find an escape but the hallways she thought she knew betrayed her. She'd opened a door, only to be left where she had begun, found an exit only to have the wind slam the door in her face. Cries echoed from places unseen, children at first, but then they turned to moans of unthinkable pain, to sobs of those losing all they loved, then gut-wrenching wails of hopelessness. Arya screamed, trying to block out the sounds with her hands.

"And what would you give child, to do it all again?" The sickly warmth of the cave crawled over her skin once more "To erase the infinite and revive the slain? To have a chance to wipe away all your loved one's strife and pain?"

Arya choked back her fear, Astris's foul breath making her wince. The tears felt like blood pouring from her eyes "Anything."

Her gaze gleamed a darker shade of red, "Then it's time for a new reign." Where the knife had come from, Arya didn't know, but it glowed transparently. The blade was a weapon of the Others, a razor-sharp edge made of ice. Arya went to open her mouth, but it was too late. She screamed as Astris buried the knife into her heart.

Arya sat up gasping for breath, a hand to her heart. She was naked in the tiny cabin below deck, shivering in a cold sweat as if the icy winds of her nightmare had reached her bones. She closed her eyes, pushing the fear as far down as she could, trying to forget the chilling feeling of a dagger being plunged into her chest.

She jumped when her door flew open "Are you oka-whaoo" Egg spun back around so fast he hit his head off the wall. "Owww" he groaned with a hand to his head.

Arya brought the blanket up to her neck in a flash, "What are you doing!"

"You screamed!" he yelled with his back to her.

"I'm fine, just get out!" Even as she said the words, she could hear the strain in her voice. The vividness of the faulty memory had left her visibly shaken.

Egg turned back around slowly with a hand over his eyes, peaking through his fingers to see she was completely covered before pulling his palm away. His voice was softer, "You don't sound fine, and what was that?" his eyes flicked down to her covered chest for a heartbeat.

"My breasts?"

"No" his cheeks reddened slightly. "The mark on your chest…above your heart."

"Just, just get out."

"It was whit-"

"Get out!" she snapped.

When the door slammed closed again Arya sighed and brought her knees to her chest, still shaking. She breathed in and out deeply, calm as still water…calm as still water…when she was sure Egg had left, she tentatively pulled her blanket down. The scar Aegon saw wasn't near as big a wound as the one Astris's blade would have left her with, but it was in the same place. Pale white veins surrounded the small mark, stretching out in an attempt to cover more of her, pulsing with her heartbeat. Arya reached for a shirt to cover herself with, and without much hope tried to push the scar out of her mind. And tried not to think about how it looked bigger than before.

Eventually, Arya found the strength to climb out of her bed, getting fully dressed and showing her face while Egg and Kaysi ate lunch together. They sat above deck, the sun beaming down and warming the air despite the cool wind that lifted her hair from her shoulders. The blond girl's easy smile told Arya she was none the wiser of her and Egg's encounter this morning. Egg on the other hand, glanced away before even making eye contact with her. "Why in the name of R'hllor did you sleep so late?"

Arya shrugged, picking up a slice of apple from Kaysi's plate and shoving it in her mouth. "I was tired."

"What?" Kaysi scowled, "I can't understand you with food in your mouth."

She swallowed and cleared her throat, "I was just tired is all." Egg met her eyes briefly before looking back down at his salmon.

"You slept for ages and missed morning prayer. It's okay you can make up for it tonight, you've got a lot to learn." Kaysi smiled at her knowingly.

"What do you have to learn about prayer?" Egg asked and Arya noticed the red bump on his head.

"There's plenty to be learned Griff, Madi here doesn't know all the prayers that are spoken in Braavos yet."

Egg shook his head in bewilderment, "We've been on this ship for more than a moon's turn and you still haven't taught her all the prayers? Why on earth does a God need so many words anyway?" Arya smirked despite herself.

"Is that judgment I hear in your tone?" Kaysi's voice developed a slight edge.

"No, no judgment." He lifted his hands in defence, "I just don't think the life of a priest is the life for me."

"No, you'd rather spend your time swinging that sword of yours around, waiting to hear who will pay you to kill who next." Arya watched as the girl stood up and abandoned them and the rest of her apple.

Egg's eyes darkened and he sighed with defeat "I just can't please anyone today."

"I'm sorry." She said quietly as she watched Kaysi disappear below deck. The wind blew and Arya pushed her hair behind her ear to keep it out of her eyes. "I shouldn't have yelled at you earlier."

Egg didn't say anything a moment as both of them avoided each other's eyes. "You did seem…stressed."

Arya snorted softly through her nose "Yea, you could say that."

He studied her awhile "Do you often have nightmares like that?"

She shook her head "Not often, but sometimes. Do you?"

He nodded slowly "Sometimes…and the mark?"

"It's nothing." She answered without thinking, she'd no words to explain what was happening to her, let alone any for him. They sat with the sun beaming down on them, the impenetrable wall she'd built herself laying between them. His eyes met hers intensely, the urge to ask her again no doubt tingling on his lips.

"It didn't look like nothing."

Arya forced smile on her face "A good thing you don't have to worry, because you'll never see it again."

Egg grinned, "Never say never, Madelyn"

She scoffed, picked up a disregarded apple slice and whipped it at his head. She went for another, but his arms lifted in surrender, "alright, alright." He chuckled and she let her arm fall, choosing to eat her ammunition rather than shoot it at her opponent. He looked back up at her, his dark eyes glowing a little brighter in the sunlight. "Keep your secrets then."

"And you can keep yours" she countered, feeling better than she had since her nightmare.

"I don't have that many secrets."

There was something in his voice, something that reminded her of a sad truth. "Everyone has secrets, Egg."

Arya never had the chance to visit Meereen before, in this life or her last. Orange dust blew across the sandy ground under her feet and all the buildings surrounding her had varying shades of red stones making up their structure. Some roofs had dark wooden shingles protecting their insides, other poorer ones, only straw or whatever tarp would fit. The market square she stood in, laid in the shadow of the largest pyramid of the city, its people mulling around shopping for their family's needs or pleasures. She adjusted her cloak around her collar, it was far too hot here for all the clothes she was wearing, Braavos had been much cooler.

"Excited to meet your new Queen?" Egg teased beside her as her gaze scanned the pyramid. His dark hair hung as loose as hers, and straight mess almost reaching his shoulders. In truth, they didn't need to still be traveling together, but Arya had come to enjoy her new friends' company, and neither Egg nor Kaysi had made any comments about splitting up.

"She's not my Queen."

He shrugged "You're in her City, she's your Queen."

"Not my City either." She adjusted her cloak again, "Gods, why is it so hot here?"

"Don't you mean: why in the name of R'hllor, is it so hot here?"

Arya waved him off as she pushed through the crowded street. "Whatever." The people of Meereen were wearing much fewer clothes than she was, colourful cloths that left little to the imagination at times. She followed the sound of drums and flutes, turning the corner to see the road open up into another little square. This one was filled with dancers, beautiful women with copper skin and exposed stomachs shaking their hips to the tune, beads and little bells chiming softly off their braids and clothes. A little band sat in the corner, a bowl on the ground that was open for people's offered coins of appreciation.

Kaysi appeared beside her, brown eye's shinning with wonder, "This is wonderful, doesn't it just make you want to dance?"

Arya managed not to roll her eyes. "I thought we lost you in the last square."

"I'll admit those dresses we quite distracting, and you're going to need to buy one too if we're going to be in the presence of a Queen." She nodded in agreement, but she'd yet to see a dress so far that would be appropriate for the undertaking at hand. "Oh, do you hear that? They say this is Daenerys most adored song, I was practicing the steps since before I left Braavos!"

"You practiced the steps to her favorite song?" Egg looked at Kaysi as if she were mad.

"Of course I did! I bet they're going to play it tomorrow at her name day celebration." Kaysi grinned with excitement and joined the fray of foreign dancers.

"She's crazy." Egg muttered and Arya grinned. Kaysi's optimism had been irritating when she'd met her, but the girl's bubbling personality had grown on her and she couldn't help but laugh a little at the giggle Kaysi made when a handsome man with ebony black skin took her hand to dance. "Shall we then?" Egg took a step before her, hand extended. "It is the Queen's most adored song."

Arya took his hand "I don't know the steps."

He shrugged as he pulled her into the mass of people "How hard can it be?"

With a quick glance around at all the city folk holding their new-found dance partners, Egg's hand found her waist. Arya placed her other hand on his shoulder and the fingers they had interlocked seemed to lead their steps. Egg smiled as if their physical closeness was some shared secret, and the glint in his eyes made heat rise to her skin. His grin only grew as if he could sense the effect he had on her. "Do I make you nervous?"

He spun her around, but both their steps were clumsy enough to nearly knock over a passing merchant in silk robes, and when he pulled her back, she stumbled unto his chest. Arya chuckled at the mess they were and stepped on his foot. He winced and she pulled slightly away from the warmth of his skin "It takes a lot more than a dance to scare me."

His smile was contagious as they swayed to the foreign music, and swaying was all they really managed. The dancers around them stepped and glided over the sandy stone road with the ease of practiced steps, while neither of them even attempted the moves. And as the pretty song came to it's second, much slower part, most everyone was swaying anyway. "So, how's your heart?"

She sighed against his chest, not daring to meet his gaze. He'd made it a habit of asking this question, even the odd joke about examining it for her. The jokes, she didn't mind, it was when his tone was disquiet and his eyes filled with specs of anxiety that disturbed her; hence why she didn't look him in the eyes this time. She caught the tension in his stance even before she had discovered the apprehension in his words. "It's fine, Egg."

Arya let her eyes close and allowed the melody of flutes and the beat of drums to drown out her thoughts, conceding to find comfort in Egg's arms. She didn't want to think about the scar, she didn't want to think of what it meant, she didn't want thoughts of Astris or Mance, none of pale blue eyes or icy hot blades. And she especially did not want to think about Egg worrying about her. His chin rested gently on her head as they swayed and she thought of the day she'd saw him the ship. She'd wondered what type of joke the gods had in mind then, thrusting them into each other's paths over and over. Arya chewed the inside of her lip. It'd been another cruel joke by whatever sadistic gods watched over her. Another thing I want, but can never have.