Arya
When Arya awoke she felt better than she had in days, the fever had lifted and she finally found herself able to breathe through her nose. She sensed a weight on top of her and knew it to be Nymeria but she felt an unfamiliar weight to her left something which shouldn't have been there. She cracked one eye and almost leapt when she saw her sister grinning intently at her, her face very close.
"I am getting married!" Sansa squealed, it was now Nymeria's turn to jump.
"You're already married, you mental woman… It's me who's to get married the gods forbid." Arya groaned as she pushed the bristling Wolf off her and made to sit.
"My marriage to Tyrion was dissolved by a new bill passed by the Southern queen… so I had to find someone else." Sansa was now on her knees, surprisingly still in her night gown and house cloak.
"You work fast, who is it then?" Arya yawned.
"Podrick." Sansa sighed then giggled. she couldn't help but laugh… only it wasn't so laughable after all. He was exactly the type of person Arya had always imagined her sister ending up with, a brave knight with handsome features and a kind heart. It all made sense from the perspective of eight years ago.
"Congratulations my sister." Arya said with none of the sandy bite her voice usually carried.
"I want you to be by my side" Sansa held her little sister's hand "in a dress" she concluded quickly and Arya did her best to try and suppress the groan escaping her mouth.
"Does this mean I don't have to marry?" Arya gasped excitedly, knowing the answer full-well but still wanting to make her protest noted.
"You know you do, and I will find this smith. I've sent ravens to friends in Kings Landing, they are making enquiries." she smiled smugly.
Arya had thought a lot about her sister's words of late, and she knew she needed to help her. She needed to unburden Sansa Stark in any way she could, simply because she was now the head of their family. She had been no real help to her during the war but she could help now. Arya let a grin crack her usually sullen face "Did you kiss him?" she asked with a girlish giggle neither of them had been prepared for, even Nymeria looked momentarily stunned at her mistress.
"In my room last night, I was in my night dress." Sansa gasped and covered her mouth, as if this had been the most scandalous thing to ever happen in Winterfell. Arya grinned, it wasn't so hard to indulge this side of herself, she'd always been so reticent to fill the 'little girl' role so many had forced on her but she hadn't seen Sansa so happy as she was now, clutching her hand gushing about a boy she'd kissed, Arya knelt too so they were facing each other both giggling excitedly. Arya would play this part for her Sister, the sister who'd never given up hope she'd return, the big sister who'd never stopped loving her even though she'd become so very unlovable.
"Did you… lay with him?" Arya wasn't sure how you best asked a queen if she'd been bedded, even if she was your sister.
"No." Sansa shook her head a little wearily "it wasn't for lack of trying."
"typical man." Arya shot back, like she'd seen the Braavosi wenches do on the shore when they talked about the trivialities of womanhood.
"He insisted on finishing his guard duty, I wanted to keep kissing!" Sansa giggled again, the door had opened unbeknownst to the two and Samwell Tarly now stood red faced his Maester chain clinking loudly as though to alert the pair
"My Grace… Graces!" he sputtered as he turned on the spot nervously, Sansa and Arya laughed harder as the odd Maester blushed.
"Princess Arya needs bed rest my Grace." He pleaded.
"I'm fine Maester Sam, look!" she leapt to her feet and jumped on the bed as If to demonstrate, her wolf and her sister joined her. She felt like they were children again, teasing old Maester Luwin as he chased them playfully around their nursery as their Septa shouting at them half-heartedly to behave like ladies. Even Sam cracked a smile at the site of his Queen and Princess bouncing on a bed with a deadly wolf.
"What are you two doing?" Jon had entered now, his voice booming a look of pure shock on his usually sullen face.
"Sorry Jon." Arya said, pouting like she'd done when she was nine. Sansa on the other hand pulled herself up to her full height.
"Your Queen is standing on her sisters bed." She said haughtily and added a little bounce as if to punctuate her point.
"My Queen is late to break her fast with Lord Tyrion." He said with an eyebrow raised.
"A queen is never late Jon, everyone else is early." Sansa rebutted as she stepped from the bed and sashayed out of the room.
"What is going on with her?" Jon laughed as he stepped forward and lifted Arya. She may be Seven and ten but she had barely grown to his shoulder and he missed carrying her around.
"She's getting married." Arya liked knowing what others did not, it gave her a thrill to see Jon and Sam's shocked expression.
"She's already…"
"Apparently not."
Arya changed into her cleanest breeches and shirt, she combed her hair and tied it back in a messy braid and headed to the Winter Hall to join the house in breaking fast. When she arrived she found her sister, the imp and Jon all deep in conversation. Sansa was beaming and Podrick was nowhere to be seen. She sat and noted the Imp was looking exceedingly pleased.
"Will your betrothed not be joining us?" Arya asked looking around the hall.
"Young Podrick came to see me this morning and I sent him to be measured for new attire. New armour too… he'll be a king soon enough." Tyrion said as he finished off a piece of burnt bacon. The Northerners cleverly used the ice around them to preserve meats well into the winter. A frozen ham could last years before turning, even if it didn't taste as good as fresh.
"Did he ask for your blessing?" Jon asked curiously.
"He asked me to stand with him, in lieu of his family… I of course agreed. He saved my life on more than one occasion and protected those I care for, I owe him a great debt and a Lannister always pays his debts. Which is why" he cleared his throat a little, perhaps he was choking up, the idea made Arya frown "I have decided to give Podrick a small holding, his own source of income. If I'd had a son it's what he would have got… and his own family are useless"
"You might still sire children..." Sansa made to interrupt
"If I do I'll give him one of my other holdings, I am not going without. Jaime has shed himself of all worldly possessions and spends his days playing at sword fighting with a woman twice his height, perhaps he means to feel like me" he added the amusing aside to the delight of the queen "… I am the last Lannister my dear and I am the hand of the Dragon queen… It is quite likely that I am the richest man alive." He reached for more bacon.
"buy your own bacon then." Arya said under her breath so that only Jon could hear her, as she watched the ever decreasing mound of crisped ham. Jon sniggered but Sansa and the Imp either didn't hear or were choosing to ignore her.
"Thank you my Lord." Sansa said, fresh tears welling in her eyes "It will mean a lot to both of us that you will be there." She cleared her throat and looked for a distraction finding it in the frowning face of Arya. "But I am not the only one to be wed, if you could stay long enough for us to find Princess Arya's lost love."
"Shut up Sansa!" Arya shouted, it seemed the miscategorising of Gendry into a "love" had touched a nerve which resulted in her childish outburst. She breathed and found her calm, none of her table mates seemed vexed they all just seemed amused at her mini tantrum. "Besides" she added with a small soft smirk "You will never find him." 'But that'll just mean Sansa gets to pick'… she groaned inwardly with agitation.
"find whom?" Tyrion asked, laughter lighting his eyes.
"Her Bastard Smith." Sansa stated plainly.
"A bastard smith?" The imp looked alert like a wolf that has just caught scent, Arya shifted uncomfortably… suddenly it felt like the world was going to collapse about her with that look in his eye.
"yes"
"A Bastard Smith from Kings Landing?" Sansa nodded "with raven hair and a bull's helm?" The imp grinned wider now as he watched Arya's face closely, he caught her in a slight widening of the eyes. "Now what was his name?" he pondered dramatically as he tapped his chin "Gore… no… Renwick… no" he snapped his fingers "Ah…Gendry." Arya gasped and Sansa clapped her hands
"That is the very one my Lord" Sansa declared looking smugly at her younger sister who now blushed furiously, a rarer sight than the Cromwell Comet.
"How?" Arya asked through gritted teeth.
"He drinks and he knows things" Jon said with a half-smile.
Tyrion leaned back in his chair at the high table and thought for a second, he swirled his goblet as he looked up at the three Starks who stared at him, a younger Arya would have hurried him. The imp chuckled then looked directly at her "I know where the bastard is because my sister tried to have him killed"
"Who didn't your sister try to have killed?" Arya responded, desperate to hide her current tumult of emotions (mainly shock with a close second being irritation) behind a cloak of indifference. The Imp seemed to like this, and rewarded her with a twisted grin.
"If you will all cast your minds back I'm sure you'll remember my dear departed sister called for the slaughter of every Baratheon bastard in Kings Landing what you don't know is that one got away… a Smith named Gendry with a bull helmet" he watched their faces as surprise and realisation dawned. "If there's one thing a Baratheon loves… it's a Stark" the imp added this as if for himself.
"He is Robert Baratheon's son? Robert Baratheon's son will marry Ned Stark's daughter" Sansa said thoughtfully looking closely at her little sister.
"And the queen of the south would be happy with that would she? A Baratheon legitimized and given a place of power in the North?" Arya rebutted, suddenly the idea of marriage and Gendry seemed very real.
"What more shows strength than placing your rival in a position of power? The queen of the South has Dragons my princess there will be no further rebellions from the North. Besides My queen has a poetic soul young princess, she will see, as I do, that a Baratheon and a Stark warding the North as a unit will bring some form of closure to the whole business. The rebellion, the night wars, the taking of Kings Landing… this opportunity offers a broken world a very happy ending."
"I am not some princess in a story!" Arya barked angrily.
"But you are." Tyrion laughed "and my what a princess you make…The wolf girl of Winterfell and her Bastard Baratheon."
"He's probably already married!" Arya was grasping at straws.
"He is not."
"How do you know imp?"
"Well since you asked so nicely… it is in the best interest of the crown to keep a close eye on those who might at some point think that they deserve that crown. Robert had many bastards and I know where all of them are, at least I think I do. Robert did like to put it about." He grinned puckishly and Sansa chuckled a little in response, Arya remained stone faced.
"He's probably forgotten me." Arya said under her breath
"Where is he my Lord?" Sansa asked, ignoring her sister's sullen expression
"I'm surprised you didn't meet when you travelled North My Grace" he nodded to Arya and took a sip of his wine "Gendry is at the twins, he is a knight and helps in the armoury… something just came to me, I received a raven a few years back from Edmure, said there was a boy in his employ who'd fought for the Brothers without banners who wanted to help in the search for princess Arya… it seems the Bastard Smith did not forget his little friend… tell me princess how did Ned Starks Youngest daughter end up in the company of Robert Baratheon's Son?" Arya could tell he wanted her to like him, the way her sister liked him. But she had none of the experience with him that her sister did. She had none of the warm feelings the other Stark children seemed to have for the imp.
"When I escaped Kings Landing with the Night's Watch I was dressed as a little boy…" She didn't get to finish because Tyrion had thumped the table triumphantly
"That's how you did it then? I always wondered… I thought you'd stayed in the city" He smiled to himself and nodded for her to continue.
"I did, for a while. I stayed in Flea Bottom until they killed father." Arya's voice seemed smaller.
"were you there Arya?" Sansa suddenly asked.
"yes." She replied "I saw you and the Lannisters and that's where Yoren, a crow and a friend of father, he covered my eyes and cut my hair and called me boy." She spoke softly, calmly but her eyes focused just behind the heads of her tablemates.
"I knew Yoren…" Jon added "he's dead?"
She nodded.
"And Yoren's… party, is that's where you met the smith?" Tyrion cajoled sweetly. He made it so easy to talk, that was his magic.
"yes and he looked after me, helped me at Harrenhal."
"You were at Harrenhal? When?" the Imp seemed happier than she would have imagined at the grand story of her escape from his family.
"I was there when the Lannister's lost it to the North, and I served as Roose Bolton's cup bearer" she said suddenly smug, if nothing else the imp was exactly the perfect person to appreciate the audacity of this act. This appeared to surprise everyone at the table, she hadn't told her siblings the particulars of her odyssey, only the deaths.
"You were at Harrenhal when my father was there? You served Lord Bolton his wine and nobody knew? Nobody knew who you were?" The Imp laughed and clapped his hands vigorously "The whole world was searching for you and you hid in plain sight?" she nodded "I can see why the many faced god called to you." He laughed and clapped his hands again but noted her sudden stony demeanour, she hadn't told them about the faces.
"The many face who?" Sansa asked curiously.
"It's the god of the assassins who trained me." She made the word 'assassin' clear and directed it at the imp, best he knows she could sneak into his house and poison his entire larder without him knowing.
"They trained you? How wonderful, I've always been fascinated with their gifts." Tyrion responded only a little cryptically.
"Gifts! That reminds me… Arya, entertain lord Tyrion with one of your stories. The stewards will have to dole out some gifts to the locals to bless my wedding… I think we have a surplus of snow stored fish don't we Jon? Is that mean?" She pulled Jon by the elbow, "Come Hand of the queen, you're in charge of the purse which means you are in charge of my wedding." Jon groaned with sudden realisation as he stood, Sansa scurried off to find Jemmy the head steward, Jon following behind with tense shoulders.
"Is it true you can wear the faces of the dead?" the imp asked with one eyebrow raised now they were alone, they were doing this then.
"Not anymore."
"So you did?" he probed further, she eyed him. They hadn't sworn her to secrecy, they hadn't had to.
"no." she lied easily.
"But you could?"
"perhaps." She already knew he knew the truth; Jon had told her he'd been the one to lead him to her. He'd been the one contacted by the many faced for a meeting.
"Did they tell you to come get me?" she asked, she'd been dying to know.
"You don't like me do you?" he countered with his own question.
"It's not a matter of like my lord, it's a matter of trust. I have no cause to place mine in you."
"This is true, perhaps I can give you cause." He stroked his chin and thought for a second "I have known your whereabouts for these past three years." Her expression remained changeless "I contacted the house of black and white through a bird on Braavos, you were back in your cockle-sellers guise on the job no doubt." Her eyebrows shot up "The old man said you were safe and unless I could offer you the same you would stay where you were. He was right, you would not have been safe here"
"I could have helped."
"My Grace we all serve in our own way, I barely swung a sword in the end… but I helped. You helped by staying alive… and if your brother Bran is correct, perhaps in other ways too. Seeing through the eyes of a wolf must be marvellous" He whispered the last, he seemed to have the confidence of all the Starks then. "I kept your whereabouts a secret and told no one because I knew if you wanted to be found you would, I knew you were safe and when the war was won and your sister seated I sent another bird to your masters with many faces and they said 'Arya Stark is ready to come home' so I came and got you, with your brother because I knew you'd need a Stark." He concluded with palms raised in a trusting gesture.
"Thank you." Was all she said before returning her eyes to her plate.
"I had very little cause to speak to your father, but when I did I asked him about Lyanna Stark. I wanted to know what sort of woman had trumped my sister, the fairest in the land, from beyond the grave." He patted her hand to get her attention "Do you know what he told me?"
"That she was like me?" Arya knew the answer; her father had told her before. She was sure it was in a bid to make her feel less bad about her horsey face.
"Yes, and I looked at little you, a scrap of a girl, head strong and talented… and I understood. You're more than Cersei could ever be." Arya scrunched her brow in disbelief at this statement.
"My Lord imp… Please do not think you can win me over with flattery. I am not a great beauty; of this I am aware. That's Sansa and that is perfectly fine with me. I am Arya horse face; I am 'plain' as the Septa put it I am…"
"Effortless beauty… My Grace you are life itself personified, whomever told you that you had a horse's face was an ass." A voice from behind him made him stop
"That would be The Queen in the North" Sansa had re-entered unnoticed. "And he's right I was an ass" she added to Arya who was still looking at the imp in utter disbelief.
Tyrion continued with a small apologetic smile to Sansa "All I am attempting to say, to make you see little Stark is that you are not the ugly duckling you've been led to believe you are. And if perhaps this is what is causing you anxiety with your nuptials… all I mean to say your Grace, is that you needn't worry."
"I'm not worried, I'm fine" she almost screeched, her vocal chords betrayed her. Everything she had learned in the house of black and white seemed to be crumbling away, the tough assassins shell she'd so carefully cultivated seemed to be almost entirely corroded by the comfort of Winterfell. 'What have I become?' Arya wondered as she raised a finger to prod at her pleasantly blushed cheek "Ugh." She exclaimed in disgust "I'm going to swing a bloody sword at something".
"She's so like Jon." She heard the imp exclaim with a smile no doubt, as she stomped from the hall.
