We All Go The Same

Arya woke before the sun. She couldn't get back to sleep and so the night passed slowly. She sat by the window, watching the city while Sansa slept on the bed. But when the sun rose, so did Arya.

She walked on tip-toe back to where she'd left her father and Gendry and as she turned the corner she saw them parting ways.

Gendry spotted her and walked over, her father smiled at her a sad smile before disappearing into his office. Arya opened her mouth to call out to him but heard the door closed firmly behind him.

And so she was left with Gendry.

"How are you?" She asked cautiously. She hadn't expected this feeling, but she was slightly afraid of him. Mayhaps it was seeing him at his weakest point, and knowing now that he was a man with nothing to lose. And a man with nothing to lose could be dangerous.

He rubbed his eyes, his hair was a shaggy mess of black and his face was shadow with the beginnings of an unkempt beard.

"I remember only pieces of last night." His eyes widened suddenly, "How much did I tell you."

Arya stepped back. "Everything." Gendry's eyes squeeze shut, there were dark circles underneath.

"That's what I was afraid of." He said. "Your father was hesitant to tell me how involved you and Sansa were."

"We found you in the gardens, drinking. We thought it best to get you somewhere safe, considering how much talking you were doing."

"A wise decision on both your parts." He said, grimacing. "Thank you."

"What's gong to happen to you now?" Arya asked. "Sansa was worried." She shifted closer to the wall.

"I've been guessing the answer to that question all morning." He said, he looked afraid, it was the first time she'd really seen him this pale. He was white and ghostly, and he wasn't speaking. And she didn't know how to comfort him.

"I might be sent to Wall, if the Queen is feeling generous. Or..."

The other option hung unspoken between them: Death.

She stood there awkwardly, saying nothing, her brain felt frozen.

"Look, Arry, I feel like I need to... well it's just something I should... just a warning but... things are about to get tense here in the Capital. Your father told me that last night, after I passed out he sent some letter off to Stannis, containing some new information he'd discovered. He says things could go from bad to worse here and when it does-" He was cut off then, those Arya was hardy able to internalize what he was saying. Over his shoulder, she saw the Queen approaching.

She stood down the hall in her massive, flowing gowns, with her braids of golden Lannister hair flowing down the fabric and piled on top of her regal head, ensconcing her small gold crown.

"She doesn't look generous." Arya whispered. The Queen's eyes were unblinking, and pinned straight on Gendry. Then she turned on her heel and entered the Hand's chamber. The guards stayed outside, eyes low and menacing.

"We should go." Gendry said, his voice was quiet. When she turned to him, his face was still pale but he no longer looked flustered and afraid. He looked his usual self, calm and sure. But now she knew what kind of fear he was masking. "We need to go, Arya." He put his hand on her arm and pulled her down the hall. As they rounded the corner Arya could see the guards entering the room.

"They're going after my father." She whispered. Now Arya began to fight. Gendry grabbed both her arms but she continued to buck and kick her feet in his direction, twisting her arms inside his hands, as she pushed against him with every muscle she grown over the last month of sword fighting, she felt her hair fall lose of her braid. "They're going after my father!" She repeated, her voice rising to a scream. "I have to go back, I have to help him!"

"You can't help him, I'm helping you." Gendry muttered. "He knows what he's doing. He's known this whole time."

"What're you saying?!" She continued to fight him, and she wasn't doing to terribly. The girl was strong too. "I have to get back to my father."

"You shouldn't try to fight people who are bigger than you." Gendry said. He ceased fighting her all at once, only to pick her up and bind her legs inside the grip of his strong arms. She could barely wriggle at this point. He hoisted her over his shoulder, holding her legs in one hand and her hands in another. He could feel her squirming, he could tell she was uncomfortable, probably even in pain, but this was what he was supposed to do.

He disappeared into one of the staircases. One of the old, dark, secret ones he'd never told her about, of which there were only three. She'd grown surprisingly still. Strangely still, in fact, and quiet. She'd stopped wriggling altogether except for the pain she must've been in with him twisting her wrists to keep her in place.

At the bottom of the staircase, in the quiet, cold and wet din of the unknown, he put her down, places her gently against the stone wall and gentle shook her, trying to hold her up and keep her feet firmly planted on the ground.

"Arya?" He said gently, trying in the dark to see into her light grey eyes, but he could barely make out her silhouette. "Arya, are you okay?"

He felt a sharp pain to his shin put there by her boot, and then a wisp of air as she pushed past him back to the staircase. He reached out and grabbed her wrist. They struggled, together, both grimacing and whimpering in pain, two equal forces fighting futilely. She got almost halfway up the stairs before he caught her.

"We don't have time for this." Gendry growled. He was being rough, he was being unfair, he was doing what he was told. His teeth gritted together as he strained to get out the words. "We know what we're doing. Right now, you have to come with me."

"No."

"Please?"

Arya laughed at that, though it came out like a growl that matched his. "No." She reached for Needle in his scabbard but barely managed to grab the handle.

He grabbed her head and placed a kiss on top. "I'm sorry about this. But I have my orders."

The room felt darker, perhaps it was how close he was standing, or the fuzzy feeling in her head. Or the fact that she was falling, falling, falling and then his arms caught her and picked her up.

When she woke up, she was placed over someone's shoulder and she was outside. The world was loud, and bright, it sounded like it was one fire, but the only heat she felt was the heat of the sun on her back. Her hair was falling into her eyes and scratching at her face. It had been hacked to bits. She wasn't sure who was carrying her but the minute she looked up she didn't care.

The heat and the noise came from the crowd. People were covering the front of the Red Keep, and at the front doors people were lined up and there was man standing front and centre. It was her father.

"What is my father doing up there?" She asked, a little too loudly.

"Shut up." Whoever it was was shaking her and forcing her to stare down at the ground passing under her feet. "Don't say another word until we're safe."

She did as he said. Her head hurt and she felt too weak to not simply lie against the strong muscles of his back. My father is on his knees at the front of the Red Keep, when will I ever be safe again?

She was silent as they wound through the streets, she got only one more look of the Keep, perhaps, if she was lucky it would be her last. But it was more gruesome than anything she'd experienced there. She saw the sword swing, and her father's head rolling down the steps of the Red Keep. She heard how the people cheered. And one loan voice screaming in pain over all the others, howling and crying. She wished it was hers but couldn't find it in her to make a sound.

As she was dragged through the Street of Steel, the image played over and over before her eyes, until her carrier turned a corner and her head met the back end of away cart. And mercifully, Arya Stark's world went black again.

End Part One