AN- Hey guys another chapter here. I want to thank everyone for the support so far you have all been great. Anyways, remember to R&R, and I hope you enjoy!
Heavy Debt
Crossroads inn- Atticus is walking around the inn, looking for his betrothed. He finally finds her, and smiles as he sees her running around with the butcher's boy, Mycah. He walks over to her, and stops right in front of her.
"Hello Arya, what are you doing?" He asks, and Arya turns and smiles back.
"Me and Mycah are going down to the river to look for rubies." She says, and Atticus nods.
"Ah, the ones our king knocked from Rhaegar Targaryen's armor. Well, good luck then, but remember to be back before dark." He says. Arya nods, and hurries off to the river. Atticus smiles and continues his walk, until he bumps into his least favorite person, Joffrey.
"Joffrey" Atticus says, acknowledging his cousin. Joffrey just looks at him with disgust.
"Bastard, you should address me as prince" Joffrey says rudely. Atticus just shakes his head.
"And you should remember who is the one in debt to the other when I am Lord of the Rock and you are King." Atticus says, a sly smile on his face. He walks away from Joffrey before he gets a chance to respond, not wanting to talk to the boy anymore.
Ruby Ford- Arya is happily practicing her sword fighting with Mycah. The two of them are using sticks, and Arya seems to have the upper hand. They hear a "pfft" and turn to see Joffrey and Sansa.
As they turn, Mycah can't stop his swing, and hits Arya in the back of the head, but not to hard.
"What are you doing here?" Arya asks, and Joffrey steps forward.
"I am taking my lady on a walk. Boy, so you want to be a knight, or something?" Joffrey asks, walking over to Mycah. Arya feels uneasy, and so does Sansa.
"Yes, mi lord" Mycah answers.
"I am your prince, you will address me as such. Now pick up your sword." Joffrey says, and unsheathes his sword. Mycah looks down at the stick he is holding.
"My prince, it is a stick." He says, and Joffrey cruelly puts his sword on his cheek.
"Yes, a worthless stick. It will never be a sword, and you will never be a knight." Joffrey says, pushing the blade down a little, causing the boy's cheek to bleed. Having enough of this, Arya swings as hard as she can, hitting the prince in the back of the head. As Joffrey grips his head in pain, Mycah runs away as fast as he can. Joffrey spins around, slashing his sword at Arya and yelling words that would make many women faint. Arya brings her hands to her face, and yelps in pain as she feels them being cut by the sword. As she falls to her back, she opens her eyes and sees Nymeria on top of Joffrey, who is screaming bloody murder.
"Nymeria, let go!" She yells, and her wolf lets go. Arya sprints into the forest, her wolf in toe. As she makes it a few yards into the forest, she turns around, and sees the prince throwing his sword at her. She feels a hot pain in her shoulder, and sees the blood splatter as she yelps in pain.
Later, at the Inn- The whole inn is in a state of panic, with people running back and forth. Atticus looks on as his cousin speaks an obvious lie to the King and Queen about how Arya and Mycah attack him with clubs and then how Nymeria had attacked him. Atticus shakes his head and leaves to go help with the search for Arya. As he makes his way into the forest, Rebel walks up to him.
"Show me the way, boy" Atticus says, and Rebel leads him down to a patch of trees near the river. His eyes widen as he sees his betrothed leaning against a large boulder, bleeding from her shoulder. He runs over to her, and grabs her face gently.
"Arya, are you awake?" He asks, and gets a small whimper in response.
"Atticus" She says weakly, struggling to keep her eyes partly open. Atticus looks over her injuries as he tears off part of his pant leg and wraps it around her shoulder. He notices the wounds on her hands, and recognizes that they are defensive. He slowly lifts Arya up, and places her on his back.
"Now I know it might hurt your hands, but I need you to hold on as tight as you can." Atticus says. Arya nods and wraps her arms around his neck. She winces, but continues to hold on as Atticus begins his long run back to the inn.
Crossroads inn- Eddard Stark stands before King Robert, and neither of them are very happy. The queen stands next to her eldest son, Joffrey. He cradles his arm as if it was put in a meat grinder, where in reality it would barely scar. A loud commotion draws the attention everyone in the room.
"Help! I need help!" a voice that Ned recognizes as Atticus's yells. Everyone turns around, and many gasp as they see the boy carrying an obviously injured Arya on his back. Both Jon and Ned run to the boy as he lays Arya down on a table. The Maester also hurries over, and begins to assess her wounds. Atticus is motionless for a moment, but then begins a very fast walk in the direction of his cousin. Both Jaime and Ned know what he is about to do.
"Atticus don't..." Jaime says, but is too late. Atticus punches Joffrey right in the face, knocking the crown prince to the floor. Ser Mandon Moore and Ser Meryn Trant both draw their swords, but are stopped by Jaime and Jon, who have there own swords drawn.
"Draw your sword on my son again and you will find that you will be forced into an early retirement, Meryn" Jaime says, as both Ser Meryn and Ser Mandon sheath their blades.
"If you ever lay a hand on my betrothed again, Tommen will be the one ruling the Seven Kingdoms." Atticus says, threatening Joffrey.
"How dare you threaten your prince." Cersei says. Atticus turns to speak, but is interrupted by the king.
"Quiet woman. Can't you see that the girl is in much worse shape than Joffrey?" Robert says, pointing to Arya.
"That is only because she attacked your son. We have a witness, if I remember correctly. Where is Lady Sansa?" Cersei says. All eyes turn to Sansa, who nervously looks around before speaking.
"I can't remember... it all happened so fast." She says, and all those who have spent any time in King's Landing can tell she is lying. They are interrupted when Rebel walks in, holding Joffrey's sword in his mouth. Ser Barristan leans down and picks it up.
"Your grace, this is the prince's sword." He says, and shows everyone the obvious blood on it. Ned looks at the blade, and is tempted to punch Joffrey, but resist the urge.
"I should head back to Winterfell for this. But I swore an oath, and I won't break it." Ned says. Robert sighs and stands up.
"I would say that we punish are children, but it looks like your girl has already been punished." Robert says, and goes to leave, only for Cersei to stop him.
"What of the beast that savaged your son?" She says. Robert stops and turns to face of one of his guards.
"There has been no sign of the wolf, your grace" The guards says.
"So be it." Robert says, only for Cersei to give a sly smile.
"We have another wolf." She says, referring to Sansa's wolf, Lady. Before the King can say anything, Atticus walks up to him, and whispers into his ear. After a moment, Robert decides to speak.
"No, the wolf will not be harmed. This matter is closed." He says, and leaves. Cersei and Joffrey huff and walk off. Ned sighs and goes back over to his daughter, and find's Atticus sitting next to her, worry on his face.
"It seems I might have found a Lannister I can trust" Ned thinks to himself.
Weeks later- Atticus follows the Stark men as they enter the gates of King's Landing. He looks over at the carriage with Arya and Sansa, and frowns when he notices how the former winces when she moves her arm too fast. He looks at her hands, and sighs, as he sees how her left forearm an right hand are bandaged up. He also notices how the two sisters are looking away from each other, and that their Septa is in between them. Atticus is snapped out of his thoughts as Ned gets off his horse.
"Atticus and Jory, see the girls to their rooms." He says. Atticus nods, and goes over to the cart and helps Arya down while Jory helps Sansa. He leads them up to the Red Keep, and into the Tower of the Hand.
"That is your room Sansa, and this one is yours Arya" He says, pointing to the two rooms opposite each other. Sansa nods as she goes into her room and begins to get settled. Atticus opens Arya's door, and leads her in.
"How are you feeling?" He asks, as Arya looks over her chambers.
"I'm fine, it only hurts when I move my arm to quickly." She says. Atticus sighs and walks over.
"That's not what I mean. I know about what the hound did to the butcher's boy." He says, Arya tears up and hugs him.
"It's all my fault. If I hadn't asked him to help me train, this never would have happened." She says in between sobs. Atticus shushes her softly and rubs her back gently, trying to calm her.
"It's not your fault, sweet wolf. Joffrey killed him, don't forget that." He says. He holds her for a few minutes, before she raises her head, smiling a little.
"Sweet wolf?" She asks. Atticus laughs, a bit embarrassed.
"Well, you have always been sweet to me, so it seemed fitting." He says. Arya smiles at him, and looks him in the eye.
"Well, as long as you don't call me my lady." She says, and they both laugh. Atticus stands up and goes to leave. Arya stops him before he leaves.
"Please don't go. When I close my eyes, I'm afraid that I won't open them again." She says, as it finally hits Atticus. She is traumatized. It doesn't matter how tough you are, if you almost die at ten and two, you will have some mental scarring. Atticus puts his hand on her chin, and points her head up, so that they are face to face.
"I promise, I won't let anyone hurt you anymore Arya." He says, and leans down, and kisses her on the forehead.
"Goodnight, Atticus." She says, as he leaves the room. Atticus sighs and makes his way to his room, and finds Ned waiting for him.
"Hello Lord Eddard, how did the first council meeting go?" He asks. Ned sighs and shakes his head.
"Not good, Robert is throwing a tourney in my name. He needs to borrow one hundred thousand gold dragons from your family." Ned says. Atticus smiles at him.
"Sure thing, I bet I can even get my grandfather to forget half of the loan." Atticus says. Ned smiles at his future good-son.
"Thank you Atticus, I knew I could trust you. Speaking of trust, what can you tell me about the council members?" Ned asks. Atticus thinks for a moment before speaking.
"Well, Littlefinger would kill every one he knows if he could get more power from it. Renly is nice, but lazy, and I believe he has someone in his ear telling him what to do." Atticus says. Ned nods, as he got that vibe from them both.
"What of Varys and Pycelle?" Eddard asks.
"Varys is the only one who can be trusted farther than you can throw him. Pycelle on the other hand reports directly to my aunt and grandfather." Atticus says. Ned looks at him, and nods in understanding.
"Well, I guess that is all I wanted to ask." He says, and turns to walk away, only for Atticus to stop him.
"For the loan, I want two things in return." Atticus says seriously.
"And what are these two things?" Ned asks.
"First, assign Jon as Arya's sworn shield. I think she is scared something else might happen, and having her brother would calm her down. Second, I want you to tell me everything that happens when your on the council." Atticus says, surprising Ned.
"I will make Jon her sworn shield, but why do you need me to spy?" He asks.
"Because, my aunt has the highest social standing of anyone in my house, and my grandfather has both the wealth and fear that comes from the name Lannister. I need a weapon besides what I already have." Atticus says, and opens his door to leave.
"And what do you have that they don't?" Eddard says. Atticus flashes him a smile.
"The loyalty and love of my bannermen." Atticus says, before shutting his door.
AN- Another chapter done! I hope you all enjoy, and remember to R&R. I would like particular feedback about Arya and Atticus's relationship if you can, but all reviews matter!