To Arya's horror, Meg and Genna brought sewing to help keep her occupied that afternoon.
"What's that?" She asked of the folded fabric that blonde Meg had in her hands.
"It's needlework." Genna answered for her. Meg hardly ever spoke at all. She was always very shy around Arya. "We brought so many colors of thread so you can make anything you want m'lady."
"I don't do needlework." Arya told them.
The hand maids looked at each other. "What do you mean?" Genna asked her.
"I mean I don't do needlework. I hate it and I'm terrible at it anyhow." Arya told them honestly and saw immediately that they looked hurt. "Besides, the only reason ladies do needlework is so they can gossip about everyone while they do it. We can still do that without the sewing. Right?"
The girls smiled and pulled out the chairs at the table in the corner of the room and moved to sit near her bed.
Arya didn't want to end up talking about herself so she started off the conversation by asking about them. "So have you always lived at Casterly Rock?"
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Jaime had a pile of correspondence on his desk that needed to be taken care of. His household steward would send most of the replies for him but he still had to open everything and read them all. There were ten sealed parchments besides all the unsealed ones he hadn't taken care of yet. He began opening the papers. They were mostly all from his bannermen and vassals asking for his judgement in local matters. Then he saw one with the Hand's Seal. Tyrion had written to him.
Dear Jaime,
By the time you receive this, Arya Stark will have already arrived. I couldn't safely send this letter by bird or it would have reached you sooner. When it becomes appropriate please give Arya my apologies that I could not do more for her. I do what I can but I can not prevent Her Grace from all of her plans. In this case the only thing I could do for Arya was to convince Her Grace that marriage to you would be more of a punishment than simply executing her. The flogging could not be avoided. Of course I know that Arya will cared for at Casterly Rock. I hope she knows it as well. And I hope you know that I did not intend this to be a punishment for you either. Perhaps in time the two of you can at least be friends.
-Tyrion
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Arya ate dinner in her chambers with Meg and Genna. After spending a few hours with them she decided that were alright for company. Just after dinner Jaime arrived and the maids scurried out of the room.
Jaime sat in one of the chairs to take his boots off. She noticed that he did not take his golden hand off. The chair he sat in was within reach of the bed where Meg had left it. Curiously, Arya reached over and touched the golden hand.
"Does it come off?" She asked and then realized that maybe he didn't like to talk about it.
"It does." He said meeting her eyes. Then he sighed and began undoing the laces on his hand. "See?" He said, passing her the hand.
She took it, but she really wasn't interested in seeing the hand. She reached over and took his right arm and gently pulled back the sleeve. He let her. When it was bare she ran her fingers across the stump. He swallowed.
"What really happened? You didn't tell me when I asked." Arya said.
So this time he told her.
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When Arya reached for him in her sleep that night Jaime wasn't sure what to do. On the one hand he was perfectly willing to comfort her and on the other hand if she woke up to find that he wasn't Gendry she wasn't going to be the least bit comforted. Still, the way she was cuddled up next to him clinging to his shirt, he couldn't push her away.
She awoke with a start in his arms that night. She pulled away swiftly and he let her go. She sat up and reached for the spear at the bedside.
"Arya don't…" He said gently. "Just stay here."
"And do what?" Her voice sounded panicked and angry.
"Tell me about him?" He suggested.
"Why?" She said with disbelief.
"It couldn't hurt and maybe it will help."
"He was a blacksmith." She began. "He was very good at his work. I talked to your steward about sending for some of the things he made... you'll see that they were good…"
"What else?' Jaime asked her. Talking had to be healthier than hurting herself, didn't it?
"When I met him I was just a kid and disguised as a common boy. He knew I wasn't who I said I was and when I finally did tell him I was Arya Stark he teased me about being a lady...even after I found him again he still kept calling me m'lady…" Arya said.
Jaime saw her brush away a few tears.
"Now every time the servants call me that I want chop their heads off for saying it and not being him." Arya admitted.
"I guess we had better keep the axes away from you then." Jaime said.
Arya laughed, actually laughed at that. Then she lay back down in the bed and curled up next to him. She wasn't touching him, but there was barely an inch of space between them. "Good night Jaime." She said.
"Good night, Arya."
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Arya woke in the morning still curled up next to Jaime. He was still asleep. She didn't know what to make of him at all. She had thought she would have to manipulate him into helping her and now she was beginning to think that maybe he really would do it willingly. Maybe he had intended to all along. He wasn't what her father had thought he was, she knew that now. And though it was rather disgusting how he had been with his sister, Cersei was gone now and there was no sense in being bothered by it anymore. He had been right last night. It had helped a little to talk about Gendry. It had helped more than walking on her hurt leg ever did.
Jaime awoke and found Arya staring at him. "Aren't you bored just laying there staring at me?"
"No." She said without thinking then felt herself blush. She hadn't been bored. She had liked looking at him.
"Oh so you were enjoying the view?" He teased.
"I was not." Arya said, embarrassed at herself for not being able to come up with anything more witty than that.
"Why not just admit it? For instance the other morning when I walked in on you the other morning in the tub I liked what I saw. I'm perfectly willing to admit it if I see something I like. Why can't you?" He asked her with a grin.
"Fine. I was enjoying the view but not anymore. I think you should go." Arya said, angry with him for making her uncomfortable.
Jaime got up and left the bed, laughing to himself as he went.
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Jaime was careful to wait for Arya's reply when he knocked on her chamber door to bring her to breakfast that morning. He didn't want a repeat of the incident when he had walked in on her getting out of the tub.
"Come in." She called out.
Meg and Genna were emptying out the tub and Arya was sitting in a chair already dressed and combing her wet hair.
"Do you want to to go the great hall for breakfast or have it brought up here?" He asked her.
"I'll go down to the hall." She said.
He picked her up to carry her down to the hall and she did something she had never done before. She put her arm around him rather than leave it to be pinned between them. It could very well mean nothing he knew. She might just be more comfortable this way. Except that the way she rested her head against his neck and shoulder told him otherwise. He had no complaints. He liked having her close, her breath against his neck…
Some of the members of the household were happy to see her. She was making an impression on them already. Most of them had only spoken to her in passing when they had cause to deliver something to her room or at the meal the evening before but even that was enough to see that she was well liked by the household.
After the meal had ended and he picked her up to bring her back to her room there was no doubt about it. She was cuddling with him. Just before he set her down on her bed he felt her lips ghost across his neck. He stopped and instead of letting her go he turned and sat on the bed with her still in his lap. She didn't pull away or ask what he was doing. Instead she kissed his neck again. Impulsively, he turned and kissed her lips. She kissed him in return, pulling herself closer to him as she did. Then with a gasp she pulled away. She had tears on her face.
"Let me go." She whispered. "I'm sorry… please just let me go."
He nodded and moved to set her on the bed.
"I'll go. I'll send Meg and Genna to keep you company today." He said. He wasn't sure he could remain close to her all day and not be distracted by what had just happened. She probably felt too guilty to face him anyway. He headed back to his solar to finish answering his correspondence, then changed his mind and went for the practice yard instead.
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What in seven hells had just happened? Arya couldn't understand how that had happened. She had known she liked being near him. She had known it since the morning after the wedding and she had never allowed herself to do anything about that before. Why had she suddenly been comfortable enough to act like that? It was partly because she was lonely she supposed but that didn't make it right. It made her angry that it had felt so nice to be close to him for a little while. It made her angry that for half a minute she had forgotten that she was a widow.
Arya reached for her spear and got up and crossed the room. She yanked open the door to her wardrobe. Her old clothes were in there along with new things that had made for her since she arrived. She didn't see what she was looking for. She started pulling out clothes and throwing them on the floor. Still she couldn't find it.
"What are you doing m'lady?" Genna said from the doorway.
Arya almost screamed at her. The room was a wreck by then, clothes all over the floor.
"Why isn't there anything black? I need to wear something black and there's nothing here!" She shouted.
"I'm sorry. I'll have something brought up to you right away m'lady." Genna said, trying to make an escape.
"Genna!" Arya yelled after her. Genna poked her head back into the door, eyes worried. "Don't call me m'lady!"
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Dear Tyrion,
The wife you have sent to me is impossible. I can't make sense of her. One minute she is yelling at the servants, the next she is crying uncontrollably, the next she is kissing me then pushing me away. Half the time she refuses to rest and allow her injuries to heal and the other half of the time she seems glad for me to carry her to keep her from walking. I can not think clearly when she is nearby and I can't get anything done when she isn't. Couldn't you have sent her to marry someone else? Anyone else? I suppose it is too late for that now and I must accept my lot in life. Give my regards to the queen.
-Jaime
Dear Sansa,
I only just recently heard that you are in the Vale and married. Everyone tells me that you seem happy there. I hope that's the truth of it. I am on my second marriage now. I was in Braavos for years and had no idea you were alive. I came back to Westeros and was married for a short time, but he died. The queen arranged for me to be married to Jaime Lannister. He's not as bad as I thought he would be. I wish you were here so I could talk to you. There are so many things I want to say. There are so many things I want to ask. You've been married a couple of years by now. Maybe you could help me make sense of this messed up marriage I'm stuck in. Maybe it isn't the marriage that is messed up, I think it's me. I'm just not ready for this. I'm sure you know more about being a wife and the lady of a castle than I ever did. I'm just hopeless when it comes to this stupid stuff. Please write back and tell me all about the things I've missed.
Love Arya
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Jaime managed to avoid Arya all day that day. He finally went to see her for the evening meal. Genna and Meg left the room when he arrived. Arya already had a tray of food on her lap. He'd already eaten in the great hall. She picked at her food, barely looking up at him. He noticed that she was wearing black. He approached her and sat on the end of the bed.
"Arya, about earlier…" He began.
"We don't have to talk about it." She said.
"I think we do." He said. "I shouldn't have kissed you. It was too soon and you're not clear headed enough to know what you really want."
"It's not that…" Arya said. "I know what I want…" She said but she looked thoroughly ashamed of herself.
"But you feel disloyal and guilty for wanting it." Jaime finished for her.
Arya nodded.
"I'm going to give you more space to mourn than I have been." Jaime said. "I'll sleep in my chambers tonight. Tomorrow we can go riding again. Maybe that will be a better distraction for you."
"Oh." Was all Arya said. She looked as if she were about to protest his plan.
He didn't give her the chance. "Good night Arya."
She didn't say goodnight to him. She just watched him leave, seemingly in shock.
