Gara

-ooo-

"Have you ever seen an imp?" Asked Arya as the hall filled with the many lords and ladies who had accompanied the King from King's Landing. Gara had been keeping her eyes firmly in her plate as she sat in amongst the ladies. Gifu was seated as far from her sister as possible next to Sansa. Turning a blank look to the girl, Gara shook her head,

"What?" Arya sighed and rolled her eyes and beckoned for Gara to lean down; which she did and Arya whispered, her mouth close to Gara's ear, "Have you ever seen an imp?" Gara frowned as she sat up; Arya had been going on about Tyrion Lannister, the 'imp' all morning – it was little wonder Sansa was tired of hearing about him. Shaking her head at the girl, Gara said;

"No, I've never seen a dwarf." A brown eyebrow was raised up at her and Gara stared the young Stark down until Arya's eyes trailed the floor;

"If you're to call him an imp then you'd best be sure that he's not within earshot. Imps are short, not deaf."

There was a pause as Arya took the time to look contrite before she looked up eagerly and said, "I've been practicing my archery," Gara nodded – only giving the girl half her mind - as her eyes roamed the hall and fell on Jaime Lannister as he strode into the high-ceilinged room, and at his heels walked his brother, the dwarf. Although Jaime was a strapping knight, with a strong jaw and golden tussled hair, and the imp, Tyrion, was a dwarf, Gara could see the brotherly resemblance. It mostly lay in the hair and smug, self-satisfied look that all Lannisters seemed to possess.

Her attention was drawn for a moment to a man in black; he was a tall man and very ugly, Gara knew this man to be the Hound. An ugly scar covered the whole right side of his head and face. It looked to be burns, but Gara was not about to hazard a question and ask him; he'd likely rip her to bits and be done with it. The Hound was usually in the company of the Prince, another sneering Lannister face to behold, Gara thought with dread. Horn had told her many ghastly stories about the Lannisters when he had fought in King Robert's Rebellion. Gara shuddered to think of the handsome and gallant-looking Jaime Lannister plunging a blade into the back of the Mad King, Aerys Targaryen; and the brutal slaughter of the Targaryen children in their nursery on the orders of Jaime Lannister's father when the Mad King fell.

She wasn't sure if these tales had embellishments, but Horn had always told her that he had no reason to lie for all that he had to keep to himself could be concealed under his big black beard; and Gara had seen the mammoth man with a shave and there was nothing out of the ordinary under there, so she believed him. The stories frightened her more now that she had faces to these names of traitors and murderers – especially when they swaggered around looking so wantonly at ease with themselves. Safe in their money, Gara thought bitterly and refused to even look at any of them. It heartened her to see the very King doing the same thing, although she saw the Queen's green eyes flash in silent, obedient rage as King Robert grew belligerent and descended upon the hall to cavort with portly wenches who were not even a fraction in good looks in comparison to the Queen. That must infuriate her, Gara said to herself as she watched the rigidly composed Queen; and despite herself, Gara felt pity for the woman.

"Whykeham!"

Called the King when he spotted Father, Gara had to smile when she saw her father stride over to the King and hug him warmly; the years were stripped from his face as he did. King Robert looked appalled at the thin old man before him and Gara watched her father laugh and brazenly pat the King's expanding belly. It was then that Whykeham waved over his daughters; Gifu alert as ever was at his side in a heartbeat, already making an impression, the King bent his head over her fingers and uttered,

"Enchanted," Gifu giggled lightly and bowed her head very graciously and before long, Gara was before the King too. King Robert's dancing eyes looked from one girl to the other and he placed his hands on Gara's shoulders and kissed her cheek and said pleasantly,

"Why, I've not seen you girls since you were squawking babes. Tell me, Whyke, how does an old hound like yourself sire something s' fine?" Gara gave her father a sidelong look as he chuckled in his furs, "I think their mother had more to do with how fine they look than that of me, my lord." King Robert looked sympathetic for a moment before he clapped Whykeham's shoulder,

"Aye, they do look akin to their dear mother. They're a blessing to you."

Whykeham bowed his head and thanked the King humbly as Robert's eyes twinkled on the girls; he clapped his hands and demanded a country song be struck and motioned for some dancing. Gara sighed; she was in no mood for dancing, but her eyes were drawn to a man approaching them. He was beautiful. Dark blonde hair that was pulled back out of his face hung to his shoulders, a pair of glimmering green eyes sparkled under his golden eyebrows. His nose was slightly hooked giving him a hawkish look, with a rosebud mouth that was outlined by a perfectly trimmed goatee. Gara gasped as he strode towards her and knelt at her feet and took one of her dainty hands in his large ones. Even on his knees he came up to her waist, he was broad and lean, although he had a certain seasoning. Gara was quite entranced, despite the fact that his appearance – all of it – strongly indicated to her that he was a Lannister.

"My lady," He said easily and kissed her hand. Gara was agape; the whole court was watching them. Then it hit her. A Lannister approaching her from completely out of the blue and kissing her hand, that truly could only mean one thing; this lion had gotten his ropes crossed and he was beginning to court the wrong sister. Snatching back her hand – not in an unseemly manner - she giggled airily and did her best to sound like Gifu,

"Please, my lord, I am a young maiden and can't be mooned over so publicly, no matter how good I look."

There was a pause and Gara saw Gifu tense beside her, dressed in identical dresses, Gara thought that if she could enchant him then lose him then Gifu would be able to repair the damage that had been done. The Lannister man got up and smiled down on her with very warm eyes and held her hand to his mouth before breathing on her fingers quite intimately,

"Forgive me, my lady. I meant no offence. My name is Thegane Lannister, and you?"

Charming snake, she thought and grasped for words. She could see Arya cocking her eyebrow confused, she could see Cat covering her mouth at the Lannister's mix-up, but then she felt Gifu press her hand into the small of her back and come up alongside her, smiling radiantly – even when she was pretending to be Gara, she still captivated him more than when Gara was Gifu.

"This is my sister, my lord, Lady Gifu Bloodhelm." The Lannister cocked his head and looked at Gifu before uttering,

"And you are?" Gifu smiled, "No one of much consideration, but I am Lady Gara Bloodhelm."

"I'd consider you." Was all he said before sweeping them a bow and departing through the crowd with an unseemly looking man in a black cap in his wake. Gara barely had time to regain her breath when Father leaned in and said,

"Well handled, girls. That could have been quite embarrassing for the lord. Go and get changed, Seven Hells, we don't want another switch. Go!"

-ooo-

With a yelp Gara was thrown into her and Gifu's chamber. Gifu was a picture of malice, of spite, as she slammed shut the chamber door and flew at Gara wildly. Jealously clawing at her sister, she spat,

"You evil little cow, you planned that whole thing! Can't keep that fool, Robb, so you-you snub me! Before the whole King's court, you make me look a fool!"

"Seven Hells, Gifu!" Screamed Gara, gripping Gifu's wrists and holding her back with her greater strength and shouted as Gifu continued her frenzied attack, "Peace!"

There was silence as Gifu fell back; her eyes flinty and Gara thought she might go for her again. Pinned up against the foot of the bed, Gara slinked around and made sure she had a retreat this time and eyed her sister as Gifu pressed the back of her hand up against her head and snarled,

"I feel ill...You make me feel ill."

She turned an eye on Gara and hissed, "You're a snake, Gara, and I swear if you so much as look at him again..." She trailed off and sank to her knees and Gara frowned down at her confused,

"Gifu...?"

"It's nothing! Get away from me!"

Gara did no such thing seeing Gifu's pained expression. She lowered herself to Gifu's level and recoiled with a yip of pain when Gifu clawed her just above the eyebrow drawing blood and making Gara's eyes water. She fell back so hard that she bashed her head off the end of the bed and groaned, gripping the back of her pained head as Gifu got to her feet and looked down on Gara. Gazing up, Gara reckoned that if Gifu had any sort of weapon she would have struck her sister to kill in that moment. Gara kept her eyes locked with Gifu's ignoring the throb just above her left eyebrow and the blood that trickled down her face as Gifu spat with a cold accuracy that Gara utterly believed,

"Get in my way once more, sister, and I will kill you. Words or no Words, I will have new ones soon,"

Gara's brows twitched painfully as Gifu strode to the door and looked back at her fallen sister,

"And you know what they say about Lannisters and their debts."

-ooo-

Gara was in truly no mood to return to the hall for dinner. Cleaning her gash on her head, she hissed in pain at Gifu's claw marks and cursed her sister and her spite. She changed her gown too, a simple satin dress of dark blue, the one she would have worn the night before until Gifu advised against it. Well it's not like Robb's looking at me anymore, and I'm not allowed to shine bright, so what's the point? She reasoned with herself as she eyed the sad-looking girl in the mirror and a tear slid down her cheek. Without preamble, Gara felt her chest tighten and lay her head on the table and wept on the polished wood for a few minutes until she felt a little better.

Finally dinner rolled around and Gara peeped into the hall. Straight away, she spotted Gifu, in beautiful lavish gown of deep green – it actually resembled the colour of her betrothed's eyes. She was laughing; looking beautiful; an enchanting devil that was enslaved by her own ambition, beauty and delusions of grandeur, she was sitting next to her betrothed captivating him. Gara felt a disturbing feeling as she realised that she hated her then in that second. She despised her sister with the same gravity as she loved her, but she never could truly feel either. Backing away from the threshold, Gara needed air and ran at nearly a gallop to get away from Gifu's laughing image and burst out the door that led to the courtyard.

It was cold outside and Gara's breath plumed out before her as her chest heaved up and down. Her throat felt like it was closing and she struggled to pull air into her lungs. She frowned and tutted at the pain it caused when she heard a horse's hooves beat the earth, turning, she followed the sound and came upon the training grounds that were littered with dummies for the combatants. She smiled, despite her mood when she saw the outline of Benjen Stark. He was talking with someone and it was only when she saw him turn to go inside that she saw that it was Jon. Emerging from her shadowed vantage point, Benjen stopped and looked at her as she dipped into a deep curtsy. He waved a gloved hand as Jon looked on,

"Ah, don't curtsy for a man of the Watch, little lass." Gara frowned,

"And why should I not curtsy?"

She asked impudently,

"You are from a noble Order and you make sure Wildlings don't come down here and tear the skin from my flesh and you freeze your arse off for more of the year than I'd care to at the end of the earth on an extremely high wall. So if you don't mind, I'll curtsy if I bloody-well please."

The silence rang out between them for a moment and Gara saw Jon smile as Benjen broke out in a laugh and came closer to her, closing the distance, he wrapped her in a kindly embrace and sighed,

"Ah, Little Spear, you know how t' warm this crow's heart."

He said simply as Gara smiled and returned the hug; Benjen was Lord Stark's younger brother and a man of the Night's Watch. He resembled his brother, in that he had the same long nose and face, but Lord Eddard was of a lighter complexion than Benjen who was dark-haired like his nephew, Jon. With a nod for her and one to Jon, he left them alone in the yard and made his way inside to the warmth of the feast. They watched him leave before Gara turned to Jon, her hands behind her back; she strolled over to where he was standing with a sword in hand. Jerking her head in Benjen's direction, she asked,

"Is he here to take you to the Wall?" Jon shrugged before lining up his blow and taking a swing at the dummy. "I asked him," He said and then bowed his head,

"Actually, I begged him."

Jon admitted with a look to her and Gara smiled sadly. As they looked at each other, Jon's brows knotted and he passed his sword from one hand to the other and came up before her. Gara stepped back but Jon's frown only grew deeper and she relented in her retreat and let him push away her hair,

"Who gave you that?" He asked concerned and Gara looked up at him and said tactfully,

"Who d'you think?" Jon shook his head and sucked in a breath, "She's poisoned, your sister."

"I know."

"You shouldn't let her push you around like that."

"I know."

"Stop saying 'I know'! I know that when you say that you're only agreeing to stop me talking."

"Then take the hint," Gara said with a grin and despite himself, Jon smiled back and shook his head again. "Why're you not inside?" Asked Gara and regretted asking when Jon simply shrugged and said,

"Lady Catelyn didn't think it was appropriate for a bastard to be at the feast..." Without even thinking, Gara touched his shoulder and felt him cover her hand with his in thanks for her comfort before he turned and shrugged her hand off and asked,

"And why're you not in there? You and Robb still not spoke?"

Gara shook her head, her sadness apparent on her face. Jon's own face was sympathetic and he leaned his sword up against a railing before planting his hands on her shoulders and reassuring her warmly,

"Don't fret; he'll just be on edge because of this visit. When all's done, he'll be back to normal. He probably just doesn't want to be too brazen in case his mother has her eye on someone for him," He stopped himself when he saw her expression fall and her sadness was replaced by melancholy.

"Not that I've heard anything. Maybe you should speak to him?" Gara shook her head and smiled, her eyes downcast in her cloak, she shivered and looked back up at him and bowed her head,

"I should be getting back; I'll see you tomorrow for the hunt." He nodded his head too and pressed his head against hers and uttered, "Don't be sad," Was all he said and Gara nodded before turning to leave. She was halfway in the door when she looked back,

"Jon?" She called as he picked up his sword again and looked at her,

"Yes?"

She faltered before settling on,

"See you later."