Chapter 9
We didn't get very far before we had to stop to let the people going to the Wall leave. I was seated on Shadow at the front of the procession next to Eddard, he dismounted his huge charger and walked over to where his brother stood. He embraced him strongly and patted him on the back heartily. I tuned out until I saw Ned walk up to Jon and offer him his hand. I looked up and met his eyes, I let out a tear and I soon started to cry. I felt like I was leaving everyone behind or everyone was leaving me. He saw how upset I was and he walked up to me looking slightly wary. He put his hand on my leg and squeezed it. "I'm sorry Kayla, I didn't want to put you through all of this pain, it's just... I don't know. I can't stay in Winterfell, I can't stay where I don't belong." He looked up at me with those beautiful eyes, I blinked trying to commit the picture of his face to memory. "Then I don't belong either Jon." another tear rolled down my face which he managed to catch with the end of his finger. I let out a long breath and tried to stop crying. Jon sighed and looked deep into my eyes, "I'm really going to miss you Kay, God's I forgot how beautiful you are." I looked at him "Then don't go Jon, stay with me. We can move away somewhere, we don't have to stay in Winterfell." He sighed and rubbed a hand over his face and through his hair. "I have to go Kayla, you deserve so much better than me, you have to find someone else, someone who can look after you and who can give you true born heirs, not bastards." He spat out the last word and looked at the floor. It was then that his Uncle shouted for him, he looked up at me one last time and walked away, away from me and away from everything that I had ever dreamed of. I rubbed my face with my glove to try and get rid of the tears. Sensing my unhappiness my dragons landed on the floor around me. They all jumped on Shadows saddle and huddled close to me. I buried my face in Shadows soft mane and tried to forget everything. There was a warm hand on my back which caused me to look up. Jaime was next to me on his golden charger. He gave me a warm smile which I returned and he pulled me close into a hug. I let out my breath and snuggled further into his cloak. His hand rubbed my back reassuringly and he said "Don't worry my Princess everything will get better."
It was a few weeks into the trip when we arrived at the inn, by this point we were all fed up of riding and just wanted some time where we weren't on a horse. The southerners horses had just about come accustomed to my dragons, they didn't shy as much when they went too close to them. I slowly slid off of Shadow, my legs throbbing slightly and made my way over to the river bank. My dragons and Shadow Fax followed close behind he, eager to get a drink form the river. I collapsed onto the ground - very unladylike, but there wasn't anybody looking - and laid there for a moment with my eyes closed. I let out a loud sigh, content enough just to sit there for a while. There was a rustling sound close by and the crack of sticks. I reluctantly opened my eyes and carefully got up from my spot on the grass. I signalled for Emrys and Draco to come with me and I left the other dragons with Shadow Fax, he would take care of them and make sure no harm came to them. Luckily I still had my sword strapped to my waist so I didn't feel completely unprepared for a threat. Anyway I could always use my magic if I was desperate. I silently made my way over to the clearing near the creek, when I got close enough I saw Arya and the butchers boy sparing with wooden sticks, Arya was absolutely covered in mud and didn't look an inch the lady she was meant to be. I chuckled to myself and started to walk away when I heard more voices. I turned back around and saw Joffrey prance into the clearing with a wineskin in his hand and Sansa at his side, looking a little flushed. He started to shout at the butchers boy about hitting a lady, it was when he drew his sword that I stepped in. "What do you think you're doing?" I shouted at him while slightly unsheathing my sword, I walked up to Arya and called for my dragons. They landed a few feet away from me and a deep rumble started to form in their chests. Nymeria, who was stood next to Arya also started to growl as she edged closer to Joffrey. "I'm teaching this boy a lesson, so move out of my way you stupid orphan." He shoved me aside and I stumbled slightly. I looked up to see Jeoffrey with a sword in the boys face. This was when Arya started to shout at Jeoffrey and she picked up her stick, she was just about to strike him but Nymeria was too quick. She grabbed hold of his hand and bit down. This caused a high pitched squeal to come from the Princes mouth and I drew my sword and stepped forward. Arya called off Nymeria and Joffrey stalked towards her, pure rage in his eyes. All of a sudden he started slashing his sword at Arya who only had her stick to protect her. I stepped in front of her and parried his blows, Draco and Emrys edging closer, teeth bared. I quickly and easily disarmed him with a flick of my sword and he was soon on his knees with the tip of my sword at his throat. Sansa grabbed hold of my arm and pulled me away from Jeoffrey muttering about how we had ruined everything. Arya grabbed Joffrey's sword and threw it into the river. It was then that we heard shouts and voices, I grabbed Arya's arm and pulled her into the forest. We ran for a long time, it was dark when we stopped by a large oak tree. "Arya, you have to send Nymeria away, it's the only way to stop her from being killed." She looked up at me suddenly, "No! I can't. She's my best friend." I looked at her mucky face and sighed, "I know Arya but she attacked the future King, there's no way that they will spare her life if they get hold of her, no matter who's to blame." Before she could answer there was a rustle in the bush next to us, Arya quickly shooed away Nymeria by throwing a stone at her and I pulled out my sword in case the Lannister soldiers decided that they wanted some target practice. "You can put that down Princess, we won't hurt you." I had never been so happy to see Jory's face in my entire life. "Thank the God's that it was you that had found us, I dread to think what might have happened if the Lannister men had got to us." Jory chuckled and patted my back, "You would have slain them all my Princess and made it home just in time for tea." This made me laugh, I looked down at my arm and saw that it was dripping with blood. I didn't say anything though because I wanted to be there when Arya was taken in front of the King. "Right, you best take us to our execution then Jory." He chuckled slightly and put and arm around waist, helping me along.
When we arrived back at the Inn, Ned was walking back and forth, a deep scowl on his face. Jory said "My Lord we found them." Ned turned around and all worry slid away from his face. "God's am I pleased to see you both. Come we best go see the King before Jeoffrey manages to tell them all his lies." We followed him to the room that was acting as the King's council chamber. The room was filled with people, the King and Queen sat on their thrones, slightly elevated above everyone else. Jeoffrey was stood near his mother practically hiding behind her skirts. His hand had been bandaged and he was stood there stroking it slightly. Ned lead us to stand in front of the King, he faced the King and said "What is the meaning of this? Kayla and Arya did nothing wrong." Cersei seemed to bristle "How dare you speak to your King with such disrespect!" This seemed to wake the King up "Quiet women." Cersei scowled and mumbled something to herself. "I am sorry, Ned. I never meant to frighten them. It seemed better to get this business done quickly." The Queen stood up from her chair and took a step forward "Your daughter and this stupid little princess attacked my son. Even the butcher's boy attacked him. And that dog of hers nearly bit Joff's hand off." Arya interrupted "She only bit him a little, he was hurting Mycah." The Queen bristled even more and grew red in the face "Joff told us what happened, you and that boy set about him with wooden clubs, then she came out of the trees and hurt him too with those ghastly dragons of hers." I scoffed loudly, this seemed to catch the attention of both the King and the Queen. "Do you have something to add? Maybe it will shed some light on this situation." I nodded to the King and started to talk, "I was laid on the riverbank when I heard noises like that of someone fighting so I took Draco and Emrys and I walked through the woods to see what it was. When I first reached the river I saw Arya and Mycah practicing with wooden swords, which is perfectly fine by the way." This caused the King to chuckle and the Queens scowl to deepen further as if her face was about to turn into a crater. "I was about to leave when I heard the lovely Prince here shouting at Mycah about how he shouldn't be hitting a girl, let alone a lady. Personally I don't think he can really hold his drink very well." This caused Joffrey to jump up and shout "Hey of course I can hold my drink I'm a prince!" I snorted again, "Shut up Joffrey let her finish." I bowed my head slightly and continued, "That was when I showed myself, Joffrey started getting very angry and Nymeria jumped at him because he was threatening Arya.." Joffrey spoke out again "That's not true she sent that beast of hers at me, I didn't provoke her!" The King seemed to be getting annoyed now "Will you be quiet you fool!" His voice boomed and Joffrey shrank. "Arya called Nymeria off before she could cause any real damage, that was when he drew his sword on Arya and started to attack her. Bearing in mind that all she had was a stick. So I stepped up and disarmed him quickly, that was when Sansa pulled me off of him before I did any real damage and Arya threw his damned sword in the river." I hadn't noticed that while I had been speaking that Jaime had made his way to my side. Joffrey ran up to me as if he was going to hit me and Jaime grabbed my arm as if to pull me out of the way but it caused me to yelp out in pain. Jaime looked at me and lifted his hand up to see that it was covered in blood. "Looks like we have proof that Joff attacked them." He gently peeled back my sleeve, causing me to hiss slightly. He muttered a sorry and let out a whistle, "That's pretty deep Princess, we best get that sorted straight away. Come on I'll make sure you get there safely." When he said the last bit he looked at Ned who nodded slightly at him. "But I want to stay to the end to make sure the truth is told." I started to slur my words and my sight started to get a bit blurry. Jaime put his arm around my waist and said "I don't think you'll make it that long." Before I could retort he led me out of the room and took me to the Maester who bandaged me up and ordered me to rest and not use my arm for at least a month. He also gave me milk of the poppy which made me very sleepy. I vaguely remember being carried in a pair of strong arms and being gently placed in my bed, then someone kissed me on the forehead and said "Sweet dreams Princess."