"I can tell already you think I'm the dragon,
that would be so like me, but I'm not. I'm not the dragon.
I'm not the princess either." –Richard Siken

Chapter 6

"You're dying aren't you?"

"Arya!"

"What? She's my good-sister. I deserve to know if she's dying or not."

"She's our good-sister you stupid horse face."

"Girls," Mal sternly reprimanded both Stark heiresses. "Arya, I am not dying and Sansa, be nicer to your sister."

"I'll stop if she stops asking stupid questions." Sansa said. Arya stuck her tongue out at her sister in retaliation.

"Arya" Mal warned.

The three ladies were sewing under Septa Mordane's careful instructions. Mal was hoping for an easy day but when it came to the Stark sisters nothing was ever easy.

"Then why are you sick all the time?" Arya asked rudely. She was already in a foul mood being forced to do another sewing lesson and being in Sansa's company was just exacerbating her mood.

"I've probably picked up a cold, that's all." Mal explained tiredly.

Nothing could derail the inquisitive young Stark. "Well then why is no one else sick?"

"Arya, leave her alone." Sansa snapped.

"Sansa," Septa Mordane attempted to quell the rising situation as gently as she could. "That's enough out of you two."

Mal raised a hand up. "Its fine, Septa, I can handle this," she then turned her gaze back at Arya. "I don't know why no one else is sick. Perhaps, it is because you're all used to this weather and I am still getting used to it therefore I end up sick easier than the rest of you."

Arya scrunched up her nose. "But you've been here for five months!"

"Arya, what is your point?" Sansa acidly demanded her little sister.

"My point, stupid, is that it's odd that she's sick when no one else is. She's acting just like mother did when she was pregnant with Rickon."

"That doesn't mean she's pregnant, horse face."

Mal had been sewing absentmindedly while the girls were bickering but had ended up stabbing her finger when she heard the word 'pregnant'. "Ow!" she exclaimed loud enough to catch the attention of everyone in the room.

"Oh dear!" Septa Mordane exclaimed as she rushed over to Mal's side to check her wound. "It looks deep, my lady, I think you should see the maester."

While this was going on the Stark girls had started a pinching contest between each other. Arya had delivered a rather painful pinch to Sansa's side when Septa Mordane rounded on her "Arya Stark, I've had enough of you for the day. Go to your room."

Arya looked insulted. "Me? She's the one that started it." Arya sent her sister a nasty glare that Sansa merely sneered at.

The septa put her hands on her hips. "And I'm finishing it, now shoo." Septa motioned for her to leave before going back to her seat next to Sansa and resuming her sewing.

Arya looked towards Mal as if to ask for her help but Mal merely shook her head causing Arya to let out a huff before rushing out of the room. Mal watched her leave with a sad smile on her face. "You should be nicer to her." She thought out loud.

"Forgive me, my lady, but that child is a little animal. I doubt even The Maiden herself would be able to turn her into a respectable lady."

Mal frowned before standing to leave; Septa Mordane went to her feet and gave her a small curtsy. "No, I think you're right. I doubt that Arya would ever make for a good lady, or a good septa for that matter. But she is still Arya Stark and she deserves the same amount of respect that all the other Stark children receive, septa." Mal finished with a nod to her and a smile for Sansa before leaving the room.

"Now, shall I deal with the maester or Arya first? Neither option seems very appealing right now."

Truth be told, Mal was more afraid of Arya than the maester but as she slowly made her way up the maester's tower her fear of maester became more pronounced.

"How long has it been since my last moon's blood? Gods, I can't even remember, 2-3 months ago? I've been so caught up with my duties and spending time that I haven't been keeping track."

Stopping on the staircase Mal rested her hand on her stomach. "Could there be a little spark of life growing inside of me right now? A little piece of Robb and me, a child we have created out of love? Do I carry the Stark heir that will one day take the role of Lord of Winterfell?" Mal continued her walk up the winding, narrow stairs "And they will be Doran Martell's oldest grandchild. Should Arianne fail to make an heir for Dorne, this little pup could be ruler of Dorne." A sudden chill ran up her spine shaking her head to rid her of her thoughts Mal knocked on the maester's door.

She heard a muffled reply before the sounds of clicking chains got closer to the door. "Ah, my lady Stark, tell me, what do I owe the pleasure of you visiting me." The maester gave her a warm smile

Holding up her injured finger she explained. "I've had a little sewing accident."

The maester smiled fondly. "No worries, my lady. I can have the wound healed in no time." He opened the door wider and motioned for Mal to come inside.

Mal hesitated at the doorway which caused the maester to frown."Is there something wrong my lady? You don't need to worry it won't hurt in the slightest."

She shook her head. "It's just that I've also come to ask you something. You see I haven't had my moon's blood in a couple of months," Mal felt her face heat up as she spoke. "And I was wondering- well, I mean is it possible that I—that Robb and I are—we have been very-"

The maester held up his hands to put the poor girl out of her misery. "Say no more, Lady Mal, I'll help you figure it out."

Mal sighed before giving him a large smile of thanks and entering the room.

Mal had returned from the maester's tower feeling light-headed, she wanted to return to her rooms and lie down for a bit but she knew she still had to deal with what happened to Arya earlier in the day. Mal knocked on Arya's door and after hearing a rude "go away" Mal opened the door and found her little good-sister pouting on the bed.

Mal gave Arya a sympathetic look and looked around the room. "I like what you've done with the place." She joked trying to lighten the mood.

"What do you want?" While Arya liked her brother's wife she couldn't help but feel betrayed over what happened in the morning.

"May I sit?" gesturing to the stool by Arya's bed, Arya nodded as she watched Mal move closer. "Don't look at me like that. It's positively frightening; it's the look of a true wolf." Arya shifted with pleasure at the compliment and relaxed her glare.

"Do you really think so?"

"I know so. D'you know out of all the Stark children, you're the most intimidating pup."

Arya frowned. "Is that a good thing?"

Mal shrugged. "It can be, when you get older you'll find a little intimidation goes a long way. A man would be a fool to cross paths with you."

Arya snorted. "Not very likely, my mother and father will marry me off to some noble's son and I'll spend the rest of my life in some boring castle, doing boring things until I die a boring death."

Mal tiled her head. "It might not be all bad, I don't think this castle is boring, or do I find the things I do boring. You may even end up in love with your husband like I love Robb."

"Not me, I don't want to be anybody's wife." Arya cemented with a shake of her head.

Deciding to entertain the 10-year old's ideas Mal ruffled Arya's hair. "And what shall you be, hmm? Shall you be a great and fearsome warrior queen like the fabled Nymeria?"

"Nymeria, who is that?"

"Don't tell me you've never heard of Queen Nymeria? What do they teach you Northerners?" Mal lightly teased as she tickled Arya's tummy.

"Well I bet you know nothing of Bran the Builder and the children of the forest." Arya said after she had a little laughing fit.

Mal quit her ministrations. "You have me there, Stark. Queen Nymeria was queen of the Rhone. According to legend Nymeria led 10,000 ships out of the Rhone and landed on Dorne. She ended up marrying my ancestor, Mors Martell, and together the two of them conquered Dorne into what it is today. It's said that all of us Martells have the blood of Nymeria flowing through us."

Arya sat there quite intrigued. "And she fought like a man?" Mal nodded. "Rhaenys and Visenya were always my favorite warriors. They fought alongside Aegon to conquer the seven kingdoms."

"They only conquered six kingdoms. Dorne didn't enter the fold until long after Rhaenys and Visenya's time." Mal corrected with pride in her voice.

"Whatever" Arya said with a roll of her eyes

"About this morning, I'm sorry if I hurt you. But you have to understand. It's a septa's job to train young noblewomen in the art of being a lady. I know that being a lady isn't a top priority for you, and the septa's words can sometimes be a little grating but please don't take what the septa tells you to heart. Just smile and nod and when you come back to your room you can scream all you want." She finished with a grin.

Arya frowned. "But what about Sansa? I hate how Septa Mordane is always going on about how perfect she is and how she's so graceful. It's sickening." She finished with a scrunch of her nose.

"You forget that I have an older sister as well. I understand how difficult it is to be the younger sister. All my life my family has been comparing me to Arianne, she's a great beauty y'know and very fiery much like yourself," Arya rolled her eyes. "Yes, I think you two would get along just fine. I was much like Sansa growing up and it caused a rift between us very early on. And now that I'm very far away from her, I realize that I regret not spending our years together becoming better friends."

"Do you miss her?"

"Yes, I do. I even miss our fights. Our relationship is complicated but she's my sister and I'll always love her. And I know that whatever she thinks of me, she loves me too."

Arya stared at the floor and mumbled. "I guess I love Sansa too. But she's still stupid."

Mal snorted a laugh. "I suppose that'll have to do for now. I'm sure your mother would appreciate you going to Sansa and making up with her. I would really like it too, because I would like for both of my child's aunts to be cordial with each other."

Arya's eyes widened. "REALLY! You're going to have a baby?" She jumped up and down on her bed before jumping down and giving Mal a big hug.

Mal laughed as she hugged her back. "Yes, it's true Maester Luwin confirmed it. But you must keep it a secret. I haven't told Robb yet; I want to tell him tonight so you need to keep it zipped. D'you promise me that?

Arya nodded her head furiously before hugging her again.

Mal was sat in a large armchair near the fireplace in her room. Robb was out for late night ride with Theon and Jon and she was determined to stay up and wait for him. To pass the time she got a few of her gowns out and started altering them to make room for her soon-to-be expanding belly.

She was working had finished altering one gown and was working on another when Robb walked in.

"Hello, love" He said as he kissed her head. She wrinkled her nose when she smelled the sweat on him.

"Did you have a good ride?" she asked as he made his way over to a water basin and started to wash his face and some of the sweat on him.

"Theon and Jon decided to have a race between the two and while they were racing a shadowcat came out of nowhere and spooked Theon's horse. The horse threw him off and we spent hours trying to track him down." He had changed out of his dirty clothes and made his way over to where Mal was sitting.

"I'm sorry if I made you wait. I know you haven't been feeling well lately." He put his hand on her knee and gave her a soft smile.

She grinned at Robb. "I'm actually feeling much better and I've been occupying my time quite well." She gestured to the gown on her lap.

Robb tilted his head as he looked at the gown. "What are you doing? Has your dress caught a snag?"

Mal shook her head. "No, I'm letting them out a bit, I've found that they're a little tight and within the coming months they'll be getting even tighter."

"Perhaps the dressmaker will make you new ones. It's only natural that you're gaining a bit of weight now that you've finally made yourself comfortable here in Winterfell." Robb said in a confused tone missing the point entirely.

Stifling a giggle she continued. "I doubt even the most talented dressmakers will be able to help with my situation."

Robb gave her a sympathetic look before moving to join her on the chair and gathered her in his arms. "Don't worry, princess. I'll love you no matter how much you weigh."

Mal gave him an indignant slap on his chest. "Robb Stark, I am not getting fat."

Robb kissed her nose. "There's no need to feel embarrassed love," he moved his hands from around her waist down to her bum and gave it a little squeeze. "I happen to like you with a few extra pounds on you." He finished with a laugh.

Mal struggled to get out of his hold and jumped to her feet. "You Northern scourge, I am not fat. Had you owned a brain in that pretty head of yours, you'd realize that I am pregnant." She finished with a stomp of her foot.

Robb remained quiet for a few moments. "P-pregnant?" he asked quietly

Letting out a huff she replied. "Yes, Maester Luwin confirmed it for me today. He said I'm about 3 months along, I should feel the babe quicken any day now. That's why I've been sick lately."

Robb shot out of the seat as quick as lightening and pulled Mal into a great bear hug. He hugged her tightly before remembering that she was pregnant and lightened his grip.

"I'm pregnant, Robb, not made of glass. You don't have to worry about being gentle." She told him as she brushed the hair off his forehead.

"You have given me the greatest gift a wife could give her husband. I love you so much."

She gave him a sweet kiss that he eagerly returned. "I love you," she grabbed his hand and rested it on her stomach. "And I love our little princess."

"You think it's a girl do you? And what if I say it's a boy?" Robb chuckled.

Mal looked at her husband fiercely. "She is a girl, and she will be the first Lady of Winterfell."

Robb knelt and kissed her stomach. "I'm sorry little love, this isn't Dorne. Even if our girl is born first she will never be Lady of Winterfell that's a job for her brother."

"A woman can be just as good as a ruler as any man." She stanchly told him as she ran her fingers through his hair.

Robb rose to stand again. "I'm sure she can, but not here in the North. The Northern lords would eat her alive. "

Thoroughly confused Mal tilted her head. "And if a lord and lady only had a girl? What would happen then?"

"Well, it would be an unfortunate situation but if there were no other heirs than she would become Lady of Winterfell, but it would be better for all of us if you had a boy, Mal. No one would question his right to be lord."

Mal snorted. "Arianne always had this crazy idea in her head that our father was going to supplant her with our brother Quentyn. She has every right to rule, and so does our daughter if we have her first."

Robb frowned. "It doesn't matter anyway because he is a boy."

"Girl"

"Boy"

Robb led her over to her bed and lied her down on the bed.

"Girl, and she will be a beautiful girl and we shall name her after my aunt Elia."

"Boy, and he'll be named after my Uncle Benjen."

He removed his clothes before joining her on the bed.

"If it is a boy we shall name him after my Uncle Oberyn."

He helped her remove her clothes and get under the covers

"And if it is a girl we shall name her after my Aunt Lyanna."

Giving her a deep kiss he entered her with a soft grunt putting an end to their discussion.

A/N: Thanks again for reading.