Arya's handmaid Kalla helped to draw her a bath after they returned to the castle. Arya had never liked having maids to brush her hair and help her put on her clothes but in this instance she was very tired and she knew that Lord Tywin would hear of it if she refused help.
After her bath, Arya climbed into bed and tried to fall asleep. It really was difficult to do without her guards at the door. They had been there when their Lord had executed the men from the ship. Most of the men here had given every indication of being loyal to their Lord Lannister. She knew that those four wouldn't hurt her, not without risk to their lives. Ser Hiram had made her laugh on several occasions and Ser Preston had told her about the time he met her Uncle Brandon many years ago. A few times, they had been kind enough to wake her from her nightmares. Not having them there meant that she would have to sleep through the horrible dreams until she woke on her own.
It wasn't entirely the fear of nightmares that was keeping her awake this night. There was also the memory of what it had been like to be kissed like that. She had never been kissed before. She couldn't quite believe that she had kissed Jaime in the way that she had. Sansa would have hated that her sister was behaving like that.
When she eventually fell asleep she dreamed at first of riding on a horse and being kissed. Then the dream changed. She was in the cabin of a ship, in chains. Someone had turned her over onto her stomach and shoved her face into the floor. He was pounding inside her and the grip his friends kept on her body made it impossible to move. She was screaming at them, just screaming and screaming, and they wouldn't stop. She ran out of strength for screaming and fighting but they still weren't done. The pain grew worse and somehow she found the strength to scream again.
Then she was sitting bolt upright in her bed, someone's hand on her shoulder to wake her. It was Tywin Lannister.
"It seems you've had a nightmare." Tywin said calmly. "My room is just down the hall. I heard your screams."
"I'm sorry I woke you my lord." She tried courtesy, hoping it would make him go away. "I will be fine now."
"Perhaps if you have trouble sleeping, you should take a sleeping dram. It isn't appropriate for Lady Lannister to be screaming and waking the household at all hours of the night."
Arya could only glare at him. "I'll keep that in mind my lord."
"You'll do better than keep it mind. Find a way to end these nightmares. There are plenty of methods to help you sleep more soundly. More exercise by day, a glass of wine at bedtime, or a sleeping dram from the maester. I don't care which one you choose. I will not have rumors spread around that you are screaming at night because we have somehow harmed you. End it, is that clear?"
"And if I don't?" Arya said defiantly.
Tywin raised an eyebrow, amused by her defiance. "Then a sleeping dram will be brought and you will drink it, willingly or not. Besides, it is for your own good to overcome your fears. I mean you no harm in asking it."
"Yes, my lord." Arya said, but the words were tinged with anger.
"Good." Tywin said, making for the door.
Arya lit a candle and took out a book after that. She wasn't much for reading but she needed to stay awake. She wasn't going to drink anything that clouded her thinking like a sleeping dram. She had seen what milk of the poppy did to her father and she wanted no part of the Maester and his herbs. She would read. It was either that or go back to Jaime's bed and she wasn't willing to do that just yet. She had already gone to his bed once and she had been the one to kiss him. Going back there now would only make her seem desperate. Like one of those desperate silly maidens that Jeyne Poole and Sansa were always acting like. It was a very long and boring night but Arya managed to stay awake until dawn when Kalla came for her.
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Arya seemed tired at breakfast, that much was obvious to Jaime. He had slept pretty well himself, especially given how well the previous evening had gone. He had known that Arya was distracted by his proximity but he hadn't known to what extent until she had thrown herself at him to kiss him. It could have easily gone the other way though. He had been wanting to kiss her for a long time and had kept his distance so he wouldn't frighten her after what she had been put through on her journey back to Westeros. Clearly she was feeling more comfortable with him now. And clearly, she was exhausted.
"Arya?" Jaime put his arm on hers to wake her from where she had fallen asleep at the table.
She lifted her head groggily.
"I take it you deed not heed my advice." Tywin said to her from across the table.
She only glared at him, probably too tired to find the words she wanted to say.
"Falling asleep at the breakfast table is hardly an improvement over screaming in your sleep." Tywin said.
"What happened?" Jaime asked her. "Did you have nightmares?"
"She did." Tywin answered for her. "And I informed her that she needs to find a way to not wake the entire castle with her screams. I offered a sleeping dram and she refused it."
"So you stayed awake all night." Jaime said worriedly, finally understanding what had happened.
"I wasn't about to let him force a sleeping dram down my throat." Arya protested.
"Jaime, after you are wed you will see to it that your wife behaves herself as befits a Lannister." Tywin told his son. "She will not scream at all hours of the night or sleep at the table."
Arya's eyes met Jaime's. "I'm sorry." She whispered and he noticed then that she was wearing her dress again. "Next time I'll just drink some wine or something."
"No." He shook his head, hardly able to believe that it had come to this so quickly. "No, you don't have to protect me from my father. Next time he tries to make you do something come to me and I'll put an end to it."
Jaime's eyes met Tywin's to see if he had been listening. He had been. Tywin regarded him coldly but he said nothing. If Jaime wasn't mistaken there was just the smallest hint of a smile playing at the corner of his father's lips.
"Where were the two of you last night?" Tywin asked. "I noticed you seemed to have left the castle and the grounds after dinner."
"We went for a ride." Jaime told him.
"Only one horse was taken from the stables." Tywin pointed out.
"So we shared a horse. What does it matter father? I suppose you would prefer I hated the wife you chose for me and didn't ever want to take her anywhere?"
"No, I would prefer that my son didn't go riding off into the middle of the night with his betrothed like some besotted young lad. If my men were able to follow you to that beach and see your behavior then anyone could be spreading rumors by now." Tywin said.
""What kind of rumors could possibly be spreading? That I kissed my betrothed on a beach? Who would even care?" Jaime asked.
"Clearly you have missed the point of most of what I have been trying to teach you. No one will ever believe that you are a great warrior or that Lannister house is one to be feared if everyone knows that you sneaked off in the night only to be knocked to the ground by a woman." Tywin said stubbornly.
"No one is ever going to believe I'm great warrior ever again Father." Jaime said, holding up his golden hand. "I've accepted that. It's time you did too."
With those words Jaime got up and left the table. Arya left too. She tried to follow him, her hand catching his arm but he sped up and shook her free. She stopped following him then. He didn't look back. He didn't want to see the hurt in her eyes.