Chapter 6

Back Alleys and Blacksmithing

It was a week after we had made our trip down to the dungeons and heard about someone plotting against Lord Stark. I had thrown myself into the training I was receiving from Dorian, and had even found a knife that I could keep easily concealed on me at all times just in case.

While working in the forges I had started playing with the metal a little bit to see what other kinds of weapons I could make. I stayed with bladed weapons but I changed length, curve, number of folds and so on. It was interesting, and the best part was, the old man was too drunk to notice the decreased amount of metal.

Today I was walking back from the market when I saw Lord Stark talking to Little Finger. All of a sudden he slammed him up against the wall and started choking him until Lady Stark poked her head out of the window. Hoping to figure out what was going on I slipped around the back and entered through the servant's door.

I grabbed a plate of fruit and moved upstairs offering people fruit as I went, looking for Lord and Lady Stark. I found them in a back room.

"The mere suggestion that the Queen's brother tried to kill your son would be considered treason." Little Finger said.

"But we have proof, we have the blade." Lady Stark insisted.

"Which Lord Tyrion will say was stolen from him. The only man that could have said otherwise has no throat. Thanks to your boy's wolf." Little Finger rebuked.

"Peter has promised to help us find the truth. He's like a little brother to me Ned, he would never betray my trust." Lady Stark said to Lord Stark trying to make him see things her way.

"I'll try to keep you alive for her sake. A fool's task admittedly, but I've never been able to refuse your wife anything." Little Finger said. I noticed he had an odd look in his eye that was hidden behind a face of sincerity. Knowing if I stayed any longer I would be at risk of discovery so I slipped out of the room and headed back downstairs so I could slip back out to the street unnoticed.

Walking back to the palace I caught the whiff of a familiar scent and noticed a small figure walking on the other side of the street. The hood was up so I couldn't see the face but her scent was as familiar to me as my own thoughts. Making my way over to her I kept my voice low.

"My Arya what are you doing outside of the palace walls." I whispered.

"Rickard! I was just looking around the city, no one recognized me." Arya explained.

"We need to get you out of here, your father will be headed this way shortly." I stated. Arya got a panicked look in her eyes confirming that she had left the safety of the walls without anyone's knowledge. Taking her hand we slipped into a side alley and start weaving in and out of the alleys heading back toward the palace. This way would take longer but would hopefully stay far enough out of the sight lines of Lord Stark and his men.

As we had just made it to the last alley way and were about to burst out into the street our way was blocked by two boys who looked to be around 14. I was about to turn around when I saw another that looked 16 on that end.

"Stay behind me don't do anything." I said commandingly. Arya just nodded noting the danger we were in and her lack of a weapon. Turning back to the two in front of us I spoke. "Remove yourself from our path, or bow down to the inevitable."

The two boys laughed and pulled out wooden poles they had hidden behind their backs. The older boy on the other end of the alley nodded to the two. I moved forward and pulled out my small knife. One of the boys took an experimental swing at me which was his only mistake, because as he dodged I slipped in past his guard and opened up the artery on his leg, making him cry out in pain as he dropped to the ground to hold his leg in a vain attempt to stop the bleeding. Unfortunately the other had been waiting for something like this and used that time to swing at my head.

I blocked the blow with my other arm but the blow was too strong and resulted in breaking my arm, and causing Arya and myself to cry out. Backing away I kept my broken arm close to my body and put myself back in front of Arya. He took another swing at me and I went to do the same thing to him as I did to his friend but noticed his other hand coming down in a fist. Changing the direction of my blade I lodged it into his ribs, around where I thought his heart was, as I allowed his fist to connect with my face, only to here another crunch.

I jumped away from him, blade still in hand as the boy fell to his knees and then to fell to the floor dead. Looking over I noticed that the other boy was almost dead as well. I froze.

I had seen dead people but this was the first time that I was the cause of the death. I felt the bile rising in my throat as the reality caught up with me. I would have stayed there had I not heard a scream.

"Rickard, look out!" Arya screamed.

I turned around to see the older boy was right there with a knife headed straight for me. I fell backwards and the blade slashed across my face leaving a shallow cut rather than the damage it would have done. I quickly blocked out the pain and used the fall to turn it into a backwards roll and finished by springing right back at my attacker with a feral snarl. Unfortunately this boy knew what he was doing and grabbed my wrist and pulled it upwards as he plunged his blade in my stomach, smirking the whole time.

"NOOOOO!" Arya screamed as she saw this. The boy turned his head toward her and smiled lecherously at her. Releasing my wrist, he was starting to turn when I made my last desperate move. I took the blade still in my hand and cut his cock off. He fell screaming as his blood flew from his privates collapsing to the ground in spasms.

Arya quickly dashed over to me with tears streaming down her face as she looked at the damage that had been done to me. She was about to remove the blade from my guts but I cried out in pain when she touched it.

"You need to get to the palace My Arya. It's not safe here. Go now." I said weakly.

"No I'm not leaving you, and you're not allowed to leave me. Got that! You're not allowed to die." Arya cried.

I reached up and wiped her tears away. She looked up trying to see if there was anyone who could help her. Just at that time she saw her father walking past the alley.

"I'll be right back." She said to me quietly.

"Father, Help!" Arya cried out running towards the end of the alley. Lord Stark turned at the sound and paled as he saw Arya running towards him with blood all over her cloak.

"Arya! What happened, why are you out here." Lord Stark said rushing towards her, his soldiers following him.

"Hurry, he's dying." Arya yelled as she reached her father and tried to pull him further into the alley.

"Who's dying, are you hurt, why are you covered in blood?" Lord Stark questioned, fear clouding his eyes and voice.

"Some men attacked us and Rickard protected me but he's dying. He needs help father, hurry she cried, fresh tears falling down her face. Loosening his grip on her slightly she took off back down the alley with all of them following her as she quickly came back to me.

"Rickard, it's going to be ok. Father's coming he'll get you some help." Arya cried as she wiped some of the blood off of my face.

Lord Stark looked around the area and saw the three dead boys and the one his daughter was leaning over.

"Ben, Rojer get him back to the medic in the palace. Simon, gather some men and collect the bodies I want to know who they were and why they targeted my daughter. Let's go, Arya come here." Lord Stark ordered and then scooped up the still hysterical Arya. I saw two soldiers come and lift me up before everything went dark.

# # # # # #

The next time I woke up I was lying on a bed that was almost as soft as I remembered Arya's to be. I then noticed that I wasn't able to see out of my left eye because something white was blocking my vision. Ignoring it for now I looked around myself.

My arm was in a sling, and there was a bandage across my abdomen that had a little dried blood showing through. I was in a small room with just enough room for the bed and a work space, I assumed was for the physician. There was a mirror in the corner but it wasn't facing me and I didn't feel like moving.

As I laid there the doctor walked into the room.

"Oh good, you're awake. It was a little touch and go there for a bit with that stomach wound but I'm happy to say that you'll make a full recovery. You have a slash on your face that went from an older scar over your nose and stopped at your cheek, you're lucky you didn't lose an eye. Your arm and cheek bones were broken but if you take it easy for the next 3 weeks it should be alright. The same goes for your stomach, which shouldn't have spicy foods for a while," spoke the doctor.

I nodded simply. "I'll go and inform the Starks that you are awake." The doctor stated as he left the room.

Not 10 seconds later there was a blur as someone sped into the room and dove at me, wrapping me into a supremely tight hug. I groaned even as my arms wrapped around her.

She buried her head in my chest as tears slid down her face. "My Arya I need you to ease up on the hug a bit you're crushing my stomach." I moaned.

She instantly released her hold on me with a slightly guilty expression and slid off the bed, but quickly grabbed my hand and stayed as close as possible to the bed. Then Lord Stark entered my room.

"I want to thank you for protecting my daughter. To whom do I have the pleasure of greeting?" Lord Stark asked.

"Rickard Snow, my Lord." I said.

"So you're from the North. What are you doing in Kings Landing?" Lord Stark continued.

"I traveled with the caravan south and have been helping out at the forges and practicing with the soldiers, my Lord."

"Understood, when you're feeling better I want you to report to my study sometime this week so we can have another chat." Lord Stark said giving me an appraising look before directing his gaze at Arya and the closeness she was keeping to me. "Arya you have 5 minutes to visit with your friend then I want you to return to your room."

Arya nodded, but kept her gaze on me. Once Lord Stark had left she quickly punched me in the shoulder of my good arm.

"Ow!"

"Don't you ever scare me like that again. Do you here me." She stated angrily before she started to tear up again. "I don't want to lose you."

"You can't get rid of me that easily." I responded wiping away some of her tears. She smiled slightly, gave me one last hug and left me to rest.

# # # # # #

Three nights later I was approached by Arcania in my dreams.

*Dream Begin*

Hello Harry she said.

"My Lady"

You've done a good job but the trouble is almost upon you, the other gods are getting ready and have their instruments poised.

"The Lannisters"

They are just the first stones to get the avalanche moving. Tonight you must go down to the forge with your dragon teeth. I will guide you a little but the design has to be your own. One knife and sword for you and one for your Arya. I will give you the strength to do this but it will only last until the sunsets today.

"What are the dragon's teeth for?"

You will crush them into dust and add them to the boiling metal as you forge each weapon. Let your magic flow through you and into your tools as you work and my hands will help guide.

"Of course my Lady."

*Dream End*

As I awoke I felt full of energy and utterly invincible. I felt better than I had ever felt before. Quickly getting out of bed I rushed to where I had stashed the dragon's teeth and grabbed them before heading down to the forge and began working on our new weapons.

# # # # # #

I was exhausted. I had worked non-stop for over 16 hours and my new found strength was quickly leaving my body. Gathering up the weapons I quickly went to my quarters, traveling silently and staying away from all other people.

Once there I moved over to the trunk that held extra clothes for myself that I had bought with the money I got from working. I quickly placed all three weapons on the bottom of the trunk and covered it with my clothes. Then I returned to my bed and promptly passed out.

# # # # # #

When I awoke again it was to find that two days had passed and that today was the day I was to go and speak to Lord Stark. Gathering myself up I got out of bed and went about the morning routine. Looking in the mirror I noticed that the cut on my face was now a scar, a fresh one, but possibly healed a little faster than it should have. My arm while it still ached had regained most of its mobility, and my stomach no longer hurt. Must be a blessing from Arcania

Feeling I should keep up appearances, after dressing I reapplied the sling, and headed out. I moved through the palace until I came to Lord Starks study, which had a guard standing outside.

"Lord Stark requested my presence." I told the guard who nodded and went inside to inform Lord Stark.

After a few moments the guard opened the door and from within the room I heard, "Come in."

Taking a deep breathe I walked in.

AN: Sorry for the wait, been dealing with a lot of crap on my end and my editor went on vacation. Keep reviewing everyone.

Link for what the weapons look like are on my page

Ok so side notes to the people that read more than the first line on any authors author notes. The polls are in and the have resoundingly decided to keep Ned Stark alive so now the question is does Harry trust Ned with his secret or does he keep it to himself.

Now the fun part, answering queries and comments from reviews.

GJMEGA – good catch on the radar got too caught up in the writing to notice the slip up. As far as reading the books, I'm holding off because I don't want to be disappointed by the TV show (which I enjoy) like I was when the HP movies finally came out.

Darksnider05 – it is an HP/GoT because it will eventually bounce between the two, just because it is predominately GoT right now does not mean it will remain so permanently. The name choice was to be more in tune with GoT universe and would have been unrealistic for Harry to show more intelligence than he did in the beginning otherwise the adults would have started freaking out. As far as Arcania's involvement she shouldn't show up too much and will act more like an early warning from this point on.

Thanks for reading.