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A/N: Thank you for everyone who left a review, followed and made it your favorite.
A quick update, right? I am so pleased with myself. Yes I know this one is smaller than the other ones, but if I didn't cut where I did we would be looking for an almost 7000 words chapter and then the next update would take more time to post and I am trying to post more frequently, lol. Well I hope you don't get too upset with me about it!
Anyways, enjoy it!
Until next week! (Hopefully, lol)
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Somewhere in the Riverlands - 299 AC
Jon can't take his eyes from Visenya and Robb and he knows he is not the only one. It was plain to see that his brother was not bothering anymore to pretend that he and the Martell woman were only allies. He was making his courtship known to everyone and at first it looked like it had put another weight on top of Visenya's shoulders. Now he knows that it actually it did the opposite, especially when she had told her sisters what she had decided about Tyene.
She takes a breath and straightens her shoulders "Tyene will be not be given freedom to move as she wishes. She will always be escorted by Martell and northern soldiers." Nymeria tenses at the sentencing and Visenya holds up her hand to stop her sister from speaking "If she wasn't my sister her sentence would be very different."
After the meeting is done and everyone has left, he sees his brother and Theon walking in front of him but he lingers and he can hear the way Nymeria is speaking at Visenya "She is our sister Visenya!"
"That is why this is much worse than you are seeing as!"
"She made a mistake, it does not warrant you to treat her as a prisoner!"
"WE CANNOT HAVE MISTAKES!" Jon is surprised with how the normally level headed Martell yells, he can imagine the way her eyes are sparkling with anger "We cannot have stupidity and I cannot have someone in my personal fold who I do not trust."
The room is silent and he wonders if she had surprised her sisters by her temper as he had been or if this is a facet of hers that they are not privy to.
"She is right, Nymeria." Obara's commanding voice breaks the silence "Tyene did not come here with the intention of helping, but following commands of our cousin. If Visenya does nothing it will make her look weak." He hears someone walking around the room and he believes it to be Obara as her voice sounds further away than before "Visenya isn't representing House Martell, she is standing in for a Targaryen." There is something in the elder Sand tone that makes him frown.
He moves away from the door when he hears someone heading to the door, he quickens his steps and reaches the end of the hall, he turns to where he had seen his brother going and turns to see who it was that had left the room. He isn't so surprised that it is Visenya coming his way, but she does not see him as she turns to the other direction.
That discussion he had heard had obviously made an impact between the three sisters. Obara was clear that did not see Visenya's decision as something condemnable, but Nymeria had. Their meeting was always colder than it was with Obara and he had seen Visenya and Nymeria training on the yard on time and he had not known if they were truly trying to kill each other.
Nymeria's whip lashes against Visenya, who gasps in pain. Jon widens his eye at the scene and he is taking a step to intervene when the cluster around the two woman become worse and he has to maneuver around too many men yelling at them, betting on who would win.
He sees that Visenya throws two daggers at her sister, who, if she hadn't moved would have been impaled by it. The purple eyed woman stops her sister's whip holding her arm and entwining it around her limb. He widens his eyes when Visenya pulls it towards her, bringing her sister to her.
Then there aren't any more weapons used.
Visenya gives Nymeria a punch in the stomach following it with an open palm slam of her hand on Nymeria's breast bone. Her sister seems without breath but she is able to send a punch to Visenya's side and grazes the underside of Visenya's jaw. Visenya is quick in moving away from her sister and he sees the way she holds her arms in front of herself, in the same manner he had seen her do with Losso.
Nymeria cocks her head to the side but decides to attack and Visenya moves away, he can read the way the older woman becomes frustrated with how Visenya is escaping. Then it all shifts.
Visenya is on the offensive and she is moving much quicker than he had ever seen her, Nymeria has little time to defend herself, because as she is about to block Visenya is already moving to a different place. He moves again to intercept when Nymeria brings her knee to Visenya's stomach and she gasps in pain.
The purple eyed woman disengages but Nymeria follows sending punches to her sister who in a very impressive move grabs Nymeria's hand and twists he winces at the way it bends in a way that must hurt, but he knows it is not broken.
Then it turns even more vicious.
He is about to enter when Obara pushes everyone away and goes to her sisters. The bigger woman grabs both of them by their clothes "Do you want me to settle this?"
Visenya throws her sister's hand away from her and goes not before glaring towards Nymeria.
"I didn't think he would be able to convince her" Theon comments by his side, he nods. They had marched from the Twins a few weeks ago, they had stayed there a week before both Robb and Visenya had deemed it was enough time to stall and see if the lord who had been speaking with Tywin would act.
He had not and he seemed to be taking his time to act.
So they had moved their armies and where going to battle against Tywin's forces now, Robb hadn't wanted Visenya to be a part of it. He had thought that Robb would combust with the way her eyes had glared at him when he said so to her. He hadn't wanted her anywhere near battle and that he wished her to stay back with Lady Catelyn, Jon chuckles remembering the way she had sneered when his brother had said that.
"Convince her to not be at the front" he shakes his head when Theon chuckles a fond smile on his lips. It was weird but the heir to Pyke and Visenya had a strange friendship, they were always competing on the stupidest of things, he teased her and flirted shamelessly but there were the quiet times between them which spoke of camaraderie and fondness.
Jon sees Robb leaning his forehead against hers, her hands are on his hands which are holding her face, she says something to him which makes his brother laugh but then the russet man is turning sober again, his eyes serious upon her form and Jon knows that should anything happen to her Robb wouldn't ever be completely fine.
She kisses both of his hands before kissing the corner of his lips and then she is pulling away from him, he can see the tension and the way Robb wishes to gather her into his arms and take her away, but she is battle ready and she won't turn away from this. Aegion stands by her side as she takes a seat on top of her Dothraki horse, Losso faithfully to her right and Mors is standing by her other side. She gives his brother a small smile before making her horse turn and go to where it was agreed she be.
Robb watches them go and Jon wishes he could have something to say to his brother, but in truth there is nothing he could say. He doesn't know what will happen nor does he want to give his brother any false hopes. When Visenya disappears from view Robb turns back towards them and Jon sees on his blue eyes his rage and some fear.
"Is everything ready?" he asks without preamble and without letting either of them offer words of support, Jon chances a glance to Theon and sees the Greyjoy nodding to his brother.
"We are only waiting for you."
"Then let's crush Tywin's favorite son."
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Somewhere in the Greenfork – 299 AC
Arya looks at the destruction happening around her. The Brotherhood without Banners had marched to a battle which Lord Dondarrion had informed her it was her brother that was leading it. She knows he hopes to exchange her for a hefty amount of money so he can maintain the brotherhood.
Gendry had been more than happy to follow and she didn't have a choice in that, she looks to her right and sees another who hadn't a choice over it, The Hound. He was glaring at anyone that moved and he was extremely mad that he didn't have a sword should he need to defend himself. Arya knows how he feels, she had lost the protection of Needle, but she vowed she would get her sword back.
She hears the hooves of a horse nearing them, the men around them prepare themselves for an offensive, Arya turns towards the sound and she cannot help but gasp at the sight, it is a horse slightly bigger than a northern horse, studier as one, but with a narrower head as if it was a sand steed. The dark brown color of the horse seems to shine and she faintly realizes that it is the same color as the owner's hair. Said owner is almost standing on the horse, a spear slaying Lannister soldiers when the last enemy falls to the floor the person turns to them.
Arya realizes it is a woman, her purple eyes gleaming in the light.
"Who are you?" she asks just as another rider comes to her, their horses are similar, though the man's is bigger than hers.
"We are the Brotherhood without Banners" one of the men answer her and Arya sees her getting off her horse, the man tensing behind her but he doesn't follow, something tells Arya that he is much deadlier on top of his stallion.
The Hound moves slightly by her side "You are the Martell bitch" Arya looks appaled at the man, she shouldn't be surprised with how he speaks to the woman, she turns her eyes back to the purple eyed woman and sees her smirking.
"Yes, I am Visenya Martell" her eyes are narrowed on his form, something akin to appreciation in her orbs "and you are Sandor Clegane, the Hound." Arya sees the sneer on the man's face but it is the Dondarrion's men who make Visenya turn her eyes away from the hulking form of Clegane.
"Whose side you are on?" one of them asks and the Hound scoffs.
"As if Oberyn's daughter would side with Tywin" Arya sees the feral smirk on the woman's lips and involuntarily Arya takes a step away from them, she can still hear the battle going and it immediately brings the Martell's woman eyes on her.
Purple eyes narrow on her figure, Visenya takes a step closer to her and the men around them close around her, the Martell woman hisses at them, her eyes turning into fury "If you want to live let me see the girl" Arya knows that she is not bluffing she will kill the men if they do not let her through. They seem to realize the same thing.
Arya tenses when the striking woman comes to her, she had been amazed to see that the other female had been able to recognize her as the same gender. People still seemed to think she was a boy. Bloody fingers pull Arya's hair away from her forehead, purple eyes locked into her grey eyes "There is no mistaking you, Princess Arya, you look like Jon and I imagine your late father."
"Mori jad" the man on top of the horse says in a foreign language but Visenya doesn't move away from Arya, which makes her tense even further, she doesn't know what this woman would want to her. It seemed far too many people wanted her to have some leverage on her brother Robb.
"I am your brother's ally, we separated our joined armies to surprise Tywin, your brother is now heading to Riverrun, once we finish this we will join him" Arya wants to believe in her, she wants to hope but the road has teach her not to. Visenya seems to read that in her grey eyes "I wish I had taken Robb's offer of having Jon or Theon with me."
Arya widen her eyes, thinking she got Visenya lying "Jon took the black"
Visenya shakes her head "He didn't, he ran away from Castle Black to be by Robb's side. He told me he heard you and Sansa had been taken as hostages" there is something in her eyes that Arya calls desperation especially since the man on top of the horse speaks again "he was desperate for news about you, he told me you were his favorite sister, no, sibling, that you liked to run from your lessons to be with him in front of the weirdwood trees" everything she is telling is the truth, but Arya still doesn't want to believe in her, she doesn't know if she can take another deception, Visenya sighs closing her eyes, frowning as if trying to remember another thing only she and Jon would know about.
"He told me that when you were leaving to King's Landing he gave you Needle, because he wanted you to have something to remember him by and something to protect yourself with." Arya throws herself into the older woman's arms, tears falling from her eyes. There is no way the woman knew this if not from having spoken to Jon. "I will take you back to your pack, where you belong."
It is a promise, one that Arya somehow knows it will be fulfilled.
"Mori jadolat" the man on top of the horse yells, Visenya gently disengages from Arya. She eyes Sandor and hands him her longsword, the men around them start to protest, telling her how the Hound is dangerous.
"Do you wish to die?" she asks icily still holding her longsword for Sandor who is waiting for the men around them to let him take it "Lannister men are coming and I prefer to have an able Hound fighting by my side than having to protect him."
Clegane pushes the soldier away from him and grips the sword he smirks at the purple eyed woman "Brash as your father."
Visenya clings to Arya's arm and moves her to the horse she had been on top of minutes ago "If something happens you do not wait to head towards Fairmarket, you will see my army and they will take you to your brother."
Arya wants to speak and tell her she won't leave Visenya's side, not when she had so much information about her family, when she was the only person in a long time which she finally believed in. But there is no time, Lannister soldiers come through the trees and Visenya is already spinning a spear and killing anyone to seems to step too close to Arya and the horse.
As the fight continues and Visenya is agile in moving out of the way and killing her opponents Arya cannot help but wonder if the Targaryen Queen looked like her in battle and if this Visenya had a dragon how much deadlier she could be.
The Hound moves towards Visenya and Arya wants to tell the other woman to look out, she doesn't trust Sandor in the slightest, but the hulking man kills a soldier that had been getting too close to the Martell woman. Arya had never seen so much blood around her, there are severed heads, men clutching their throats as if something is burning them from the inside out, there are moans of pain and agonizing screams echoing around them.
She snaps from the view when Visenya pushes the Hound away from an attack and barely dodges from being impaled by the sword, but Arya knows that the sword actually hit her. "Grab a horse" Arya hears her telling Clegane through clenched teeth and then she is heading towards Arya and it is then that the young girl realizes that only two of Dondarrion's men are still standing and there are no more Lannister men alive or well enough to be fighting.
Visenya with some difficulty seats behind Arya on the horse, without looking to the others she moves her horse and Arya can hear the disagreement coming from Dondarrion's men, but the older woman doesn't care about it.
"Where are we going?" Sandor asks coming to stand by Visenya's left, while the foreigner is dutifully in her right.
Arya turns slightly to see Visenya unclenching her jaw "Riverrun, where Robb is."
Arya's heart beats excitedly with that news and she is so lost in her own excitement that she doesn't notice that Visenya is gripping the reins of the horse with too much force or that there is a tiger running alongside them.
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Riverrun – 299 AC
He wasn't expecting Visenya to arrive so soon, he had thought that she would stay with her army after the battle at the Greenfork, but his scouters had clearly seen her and announced she was close to arrive. He hadn't cared that he was in the middle of a meeting, he had only stood up and headed to the door.
He arrives at the same time that three horses are coming through, he easily recognizes Losso, the other man he doesn't know and the third horse is with Visenya and someone else. His eyes lock onto familiar grey orbs and his heart beats wildly in his chest, he moves towards the two of them as if in a trance and his sister jumps down from the horse and runs towards him.
Arya, hair chopped off, dirty breeches and cheeks, but he would recognize his sister anywhere, the same shade of grey as Jon and their father's eyes. He engulfs her in a tight hug, he wants to cry of relief and he knows his sister is crying and he gently puts her at arms-length to really look at her.
Her cheeks are slightly hollow, her grey eyes are shadowed and he wants to kill the Lannisters for making her grow up far before her time, she grown a few inches, but she clearly would never be a tall woman. "Arya I was so worried about you" he tells her and more tears fall from her eyes.
"I almost didn't believe in Visenya" he hears his sister voice and he wants to grip her back into his embrace, he knows her voice was never this suspicious she was always willing to believe in everyone, in the good of people. "She spoke of Jon and how he had given me… Needle" Robb nods smiling remembering that Jon had said something of that sort to him once they had been in front of a fire and both couldn't sleep because they couldn't stop thinking about their sisters and the terrors they were passing without them there to protect them.
"Jon is here" he tells her before ever saying that their mother was there as well, but he hadn't need to speak those words because as he says he hears Jon yelling Arya's name and Robb takes a step to the side but still remains close to his sister and then she is enveloped in another crushing hug.
"Is it really you little wolf?" Jon asks a little dazedly into her hair and Robb laughs Arya only nods hiding her face on Jon's neck like she had done back at Winterfell when she was hiding the fact that she was crying.
As the two reunite he looks to where Visenya was and he finds that she is no longer there, neither is Losso or the other man that had come with her, he searches for her and sees Losso carrying her on his arms and a Maester coming towards them.
He feels himself being pulled into two directions staying with his sister or going to Visenya.
Arya touches his hand and she too was looking wildly to the yard "Where is she?" when he takes a few minutes to answer he can see some desperation on Arya's eyes "Visenya was in need of a Maester, she got hit back at the Greenfork and again when we were approached by bandits on the road." Her grip tightens on his hand "She protected me there at the Greenfork and from the bandits."
He knows his sister speaks the truth especially when Aegion comes towards her and licks her face, ridding her from the tears that had fallen. With a nod to Jon both close rank around her, holding each of her hand and he knows that she is annoyed about it, but she lets them as he takes them to where he had seen Losso taking Visenya.
"Father… father was going to take the black, but Joffrey" Arya breaks the silence as they walk through the corridors, they can already hear the Maester giving orders to whoever was around. With her words he was expecting to hear her voice crack, to wail, but he hears such ferocity and hatred for what happened that he knows that she is no longer the naïve girl she had been before leaving for Winterfell and his heart breaks a bit at that.
"Winter is coming, Arya" he says with the same ferocity she had before, it brings a smile to her lips and he knows she understands him, they will get their revenge.
They arrive in front of the door and see Visenya lying in a cot, her stomach bare showing two wounds, one slightly wider and deeper than the other, Arya is quick in going into the room, grabbing one of Visenya's hand.
Robb had never seen Visenya so pale or the dazed eyes she had, there is a small smile on her lips as she looks towards Arya "I am fine, princess" with her other hand Visenya caresses Arya's cheek "go stay with your pack, I am well protected here" Visenya says nodding towards Losso and the other hulking man.
It was clear that Visenya hadn't noticed them, Robb is sure that the Maester had given her milk of the poppy "You were the only one that kept your promise" Arya says voice breaking and Visenya's smile turns kinder, motherly.
"My father taught me to only promise" she gasps in pain when the Maester starts to treat her wound "he taught me to only promise what I can keep." She hisses again in pain and Robb takes a step to get in the room, but Jon stops him "Go to your pack, Arya."
Arya shakes her head at the order the hulking man takes a step towards them "She doesn't want you to see her in pain, go before she starts screaming." Arya lifts her chin defiantly at that, but one look at Visenya's pleading eyes makes her let go of the hand she was holding and go towards the door and closing it behind her.
"Your mother would like to see you, little wolf" Jon says and turns with his arm around Arya's shoulders, Robb looks a while longer towards the closed door, his fist closed it tightens when he hears her moan of pain that turns into a scream which is quickly smothered.
Jon calls for him and he turns only because he knows his mother would never forgive him if he was not there when she saw Arya again. He turns but with his heart on his stomach.
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Mori jad - They are coming/they come
Mori jadolat - They arrived