A little more than a week had passed since Torrhen was attacked by bandits. To everyone's surprise, Torrhen had recovered from the attack quite quickly. Well, to the Southerner's surprise, Torrhen had recovered quickly, as far as Sansa had told her anyway. Sansa had also spoken of how the southern ladies fawned over Ser Jaime for being so brave and being a true knight for rescuing Torrhen. She mentioned how the ladies were jealous of Torrhen's betrothal to him, and wished that he would rescue them. Torrhen bitterly thought that they can have the Kingslayer for all she cared, he'd barely done anything so far to warrant her trust, respect, or admiration. Arya told Sansa that those southern ladies are stupid, and that they shouldn't rely on men - let alone the Kingslayer - to save them. Torrhen smiled her youngest sister, and the wilderness she possessed.
Since the attack, Torrhen often wondered about the Kingslayer. The golden knight plagued her thoughts, no matter how hard she tried to force them out of her mind. Yet, when Torrhen could catch a moment of peace, Jaime Lannister clouded her mind. His behaviour made her uneasy, as did the behaviour of her direwolf Icus whenever the young beast was around the Kingslayer. Figuring out the puzzle that was Jaime Lannister left her mind in pieces. Why had he defended her against Greyjoy in Winterfell yet stood by and watched as four bandits attacked Torrhen? - who had no weapons on her, and no means of defending herself. Why had her direwolf Icus growled so fiercely toward him that he avoided Torrhen when she was with her animal companion?
Many questions surrounded Ser Jaime of House Lannister, and he offered no answers. It seemed like the entire realm tried to guess as to who Ser Jaime actually was but settled on 'the Kingslayer' after so long. However, unlike the realm, Torrhen would be forced to spend more time with the Kingslayer considering she would have to marry him soon enough, their betrothal alone would have to force them to spend time together to 'get to know one another'. Although with his Kingsguard duties, Ser Jaime is thankfully otherwise preoccupied. Torrhen is positively sure that that will change once he released.
The attack has made Lord Stark more protective of his daughters, as Torrhen is never without a guard, or her direwolf. Icus hasn't left Torrhen's side since she returned to the encampment covered in blood, and snarled at anyone that tried to approach her that was unfamiliar. It seemed that the only people who were could approach Torrhen without a dangerous growl from Icus was the Northmen. Torrhen didn't trust anyone from the South, and neither did Icus, apparently.
As for her sisters, Sansa had been spending more time with the wretched little Prince Joffery. It was painful to watch them together, and Torrhen couldn't help but cringe at the two of them converse. And Arya spent her days running around the encampment, getting as dirty as she possibly could. Torrhen thought she did that purposefully to annoy the Septa and the maids that were charged with taking care of the Stark girls. Torrhen had been sending letters to Robb at every opportunity, and her latest consisted of the attack on her, as well as her suspicions on the Kingslayer. Robb would write letters back, but there were fewer than Torrhen sent, and usually they were double the length. Torrhen would wait happily for his responses, but after her last letter, she almost didn't want to write a response. She'd only told him what happened out of obligation because she knew he'd find out eventually, and she'll be getting an angry letter from him. No doubt, she'll get an angry letter anyway, but at least it wouldn't be for being a bad sister.
Torrhen was very alone in the South. The kings court had taken residence in the Darry. Lord Stark was away and dealing with what seemed to be very important things, or at least Torrhen hoped it was since it took almost all his time. Without the company of her brothers, Torrhen's life had become very dull of late. The courtyard that Torrhen was currently wandered through made her miss Winterfell where she knew most of the people who lingered. The people here were strangers, who offered no warm smile as Torrhen passed.
"Tori! Tori! Help!" Arya came sprinting toward Torrhen, with Nymeria close behind. Torrhen watch concerned as her younger sister came running at her with a terrified expression on her face.
"What is it?" Torrhen asked with the same level of desperation that Arya's tone held.
Arya stood in front of Torrhen with messy hair and her gown smudged with dirt, tugging on Torrhen's dress. "It was an accident! I swear! Nymeria never meant to hurt him! They'll kill her, Tori! They'll kill her, you have to help me."
"Arya! What are you talking about?!" Torrhen demanded, getting more agitated as Arya constantly watched around her, her eyes bouncing between people. Torrhen looked down at Nymeria to see that she had a bit of blood stained around her mouth.
Something must have spooked Arya, because she took off running again. Torrhen scanned the area looking for whatever Arya was looking at before she ran away. The only thing she saw was the Lannister guards that had accompanied the royal court. Sighing, Torrhen lifted her skirts so that her feet could have room to move and proceeded to run after Arya. She followed her little sister as she kept running toward the forest, all the while calling after her and telling her to slow down. Torrhen's dress restricted her from catching up to Arya as she lagged behind and Arya never slowed down.
They had run deep into the forest that was near the castle of Darry until Arya had finally decided to slow down. She still continued to wander through the forest, tripping over roots of trees and pushing hanging branches and leaves out of her way as she walked. Torrhen was finally able to catch up to her younger sister. She grabbed Arya by the shoulders and spun her around so that she could look at the terrified expression of Arya's face.
"What is the matter with you? What is going on?" Torrhen demanded, in the same voice her mother used when scolding Torrhen and her siblings.
"They're going to kill Nymeria, Tori! We have to hide her, make her go away so they can't get her!" Arya repeated.
"What are you talking about? Arya, tell me what happened," Torrhen pleaded with her sister, becoming more concerned by the minute.
"I was practicing sword fighting with Mycah, the butchers boy. We were playing with sticks, I wanted to learn how to fight with a sword like you, and Robb, and Jon. But then Sansa and that stupid Joffery came along and ruined it. Joffery was being mean to Mycah, and then he was being mean to me. He was going to kill me! But Nymeria bit his arm, the one that was holding his sword. He's going to kill Nymeria, I know he will. You have to help me, Tori, please. They can't kill Nymeria." Arya was sobbing by the end of her tale.
Torrhen stared at her younger sister, both stunned at what her sister and her direwolf had done, and amazed at her intelligence to know that Joffery would want Nymeria punished for what happened to him. Very quickly, Torrhen glanced around her to make sure no one was around, because no doubt they'll be looking for Arya and Nymeria. She grabbed her younger sister by the arm and pulled her deeper into the forest, both their loyal direwolves following along keeping an eye out as well for anyone approaching.
"Why were you practicing sword fighting, Arya?" Torrhen questioned as she pulled her along in the forest.
"I want to be a knight! I want to fight!" Arya exclaimed as they walked, having calmed down slightly.
"Why would Nymeria attack Joffery? Why would you let Nymeria attack Joffery! You know the Southerners don't like our direwolves!"
Arya wretched her arm out of Torrhen's grip and glared defiantly up at her older sister. "It was Joffery fault! He hurt Mycah! He was going to hurt me too if Nymeria hadn't done anything!"
Giving an irritable sigh, Torrhen grabbed her sister's arm again and walked more until they reached a small river. "They can go through the river, the hunting dogs won't be able to track them."
"Nymeria will tear those dumb dogs apart if they tried! And anyone who would try to hurt her!" Arya shouted angrily.
"No, Arya," Torrhen said firmly, getting on her knees to look her sister directly in the eye. "Nymeria isn't safe here, you said it yourself that they'll have Nymeria killed for what she did to the prince. We have to let her go, she can't stay here."
Tears started to gather in Arya's eyes again, the stone grey colour of her eyes softening with tears. "I don't want Nymeria to go, she's my best friend."
Sighing again, Torrhen pulled her little sister into her arms, enveloping Arya into a hug in an attempt to comfort her. "I know, Arya. I know. But we have to." She let go of Arya, and wiped her tears with the sleeve of her dress. "Tell Nymeria to leave."
Arya turned to her direwolf, still sniffling. "Go Nymeria, you have to leave."
The young wolf titled her head to the side, almost as if Nymeria was confused at Arya's command. Torrhen watched with a pained expression knowing that this was going to be difficult. Tears already began to fall from Arya's eyes as she was forced to chase away her direwolf companion.
"Leave!" Arya yelled, trying a more aggressive approach. "Go away! I don't want you anymore!"
Torrhen joined in this time, pushing at the direwolf, nudging at the small beast to leave. Both Stark sisters attempted to persuade the young direwolf to leave, and resorted to throwing rocks at the poor beast to get it to leave. Eventually, Nymeria turned away to leave, slowly trotting away and looking back at Arya every few steps to see if she had changed her mind. But Arya just watched Nymeria leave, still yelling at her to leave, her voice thick as she cried. Torrhen looked at her own direwolf companion, who whined as her sister-wolf trotted away. Torrhen wrapped her arms around her direwolf for a moment, and gave a sad smile when she felt Icus' rough tongue lick her cheek. Torrhen let go and stared at her own direwolf. Icus' golden eyes stared back, and they looked so human that it should've scared Torrhen. But it didn't, Torrhen would never be scared of her own direwolf.
"You have to go too, Icus," Torrhen said quietly, running her fingers through Icus' soft coat of fur. "You have to protect Nymeria."
"What are you doing?" Arya asked between sobs.
"I don't want to risk them hurting Icus either, and this way Nymeria won't be alone," Torrhen explained gently. She turned back to Icus. "Go on, Icus. Go to your sister."
Icus sat there and stared at Torrhen for a moment. For that moment, Torrhen was afraid that she would have to resort to throwing rocks as well. She didn't know if she could do it to Icus, throw rocks and resort to saying mean things to get her direwolf to leave. It hurt enough watching Arya do it to Nymeria, living through it twice was unnecessary pain to add. Fortunately for Torrhen, Icus understood what was being asked as the clever beast stood and ran off to join her sister-wolf. Icus stopped, took one last look at Torrhen and Arya before turning and running through the river to catch up to Nymeria.
Arya's quiet sobs had turned into full blown crying now. Torrhen went over and pulled her little sister into her arms, quietly rocking her and trying to comfort her as well as trying to not to cry at the loss of their direwolves.
I'll come back for you, Icus, Torrhen thought to herself and she attempted to quiet Arya's sobs.
Torrhen didn't know how long they stayed there, holding each other tightly. All she knew is that it was dark and cold before anyone found them. Neither Torrhen nor Arya wanted to move after their direwolves left, instead opted for sitting in the forest with Arya wrapped in Torrhen's arms and mourned the loss of their beloved companions. For a while, Torrhen was thinking about how she was going to tell this to Robb. No doubt it would upset him as it has upset her.
The sky through the trees above them changed from light blue, to dusk orange, to the black sky littered with stars of night. Torrhen watched the sky change, numb to everything surrounding them, everything except her younger sister who sat shivering in Torrhen's arms. Torrhen hugged her younger sister closer to her body in an attempt to keep her warm, all the while oblivious to the chill in the air.
Torrhen sat, watching the sky change, but not through her own eyes. She was almost sure she was dreaming by what she was seeing. The world moved so fast around, the trees blurred as Torrhen sped by, even though she wasn't moving at all. The sky continued to change colour just as Torrhen saw with her own eyes, but in her mind's eye, everything around her was moving so quickly. Torrhen couldn't understand it.
The bushes rustled around them, and both Stark girls tensed. They stared in the direction of the noise, hoping that it wasn't anything important. That perhaps it was a wild animal native to the forest that was scuttling around in the bush. Neither wanted to move, neither felt ready to go back to the encampment and face whatever was waiting for them. Arya in particular didn't want to face her punishment for attacking the prince, and Torrhen didn't want to face the reality of continuing to Kingslanding without her direwolf as company. Unfortunately, the gods weren't in favour of them today, and a figure in Lannister guard armour stepped through the bushes, the light from the fire of his torch both startling and hurting Torrhen's eyes as she shied away from the light. The Lannister guard looked at Torrhen and Arya wrapped in each other for a moment before moving toward them. Both girls instinctively shuffled away from the man with the torch.
"I've found them! They're over here!" The Lannister guard yelled to what Torrhen thought was probably the other guards looking for them. He turned to the Stark girls who still sat on the ground, squinting up at him as their eyes adjusted to the light. "Lady Torrhen, Lady Arya, the King and Queen request your presence," the guard told them in the most monotone voice Torrhen had ever heard.
"Where is our father?" Torrhen asked, pulling her younger sister's body tighter against her as Arya hid her face from the Lannister guard. "I want to see my father."
"You'll see your father after you see the King and Queen." The Lannister Guard gripped Torrhen's arm and yanked her to her feet. Arya stumbled out of Torrhen's lap and Torrhen reached out for her sister to steady her. "Move, now," the guard ordered, pulling Torrhen in the direction of the encampment.
Arya clutched to Torrhen's skirts, wrapping her arms around Torrhen's waist. Torrhen gripped the dress of her younger sister just as tightly, and held her against her body as they stumbled together back to camp with the guard that found them pushing them along, nudging Torrhen in the right direction. As they walked, more Lannister guards joined up with them. No one said anything to the Stark girls, and they didn't say anything to the Lannister guards that escorted them. They all walked in silence through the forest, the fire from the torches the guards were carrying giving them enough light so Torrhen and Arya wouldn't trip over tree roots or stumble into bushes.
"You've found them, well done…" the arrogant voice of Ser Jaime Lannister broke their tense silence.
"Arton Tellar, ser," the Lannister guard that found them said.
"Right. Tellar. I will make sure you are rewarded for finding my betrothed, and her younger sister," Ser Jaime announced to the guard.
"Thank you, ser."
Ser Jaime then turned his green, flashing eyes toward Torrhen who stared back defiantly. He gave an amused smile at Torrhen's defiant attitude toward him. He'd heard what the nasty little she-wolf had done to Joffery through Cersei, and what his twin sister wanted to be done about it. Unfortunately for Cersei, but fortunately for the youngest Stark girl, someone else had found her first, and Torrhen - his dearly betrothed - had been with her. Jaime wouldn't have tried anything with Torrhen around since he knew that she could put up a decent fight.
"The King and Queen wish to see you," Jaime told both Stark girls.
"Where is my father?" Torrhen demanded, her arms wrapped protectively around the youngest Stark girl.
"Out looking for you, I assume," was the Kingslayers' smart reply. His arrogance was really starting to annoy Torrhen more than usual.
"I want to talk to my father."
Ser Jaime gave Torrhen the most condescending look he could muster, because he could see how tired Torrhen was, and how much he was starting to annoy her. "I'm afraid that has to wait. The king is an impatient man, and you've kept him awake by hiding in the forest for hours. He isn't the happiest of people right now, so if I were you, I wouldn't anger him any further."
He watches as Torrhen's face changed from determination to submission. She backed down quite easily, and Jaime couldn't keep the thought out of his head that Cersei would still put up a fight. His twin sister couldn't hold a sword or shoot a bow, but she had a tongue like fire and was always ready to defend herself. She'd never have backed down so easily at something so simple. Then again, Torrhen didn't have Tywin Lannister as her father who would've stared down any king and made them obey him.
"Let's not keep the King waiting any longer then," Jaime said when it was clear Torrhen wasn't going to resist anymore.
A/N: So. uh. Hi? Sorry I guess for the super long wait? I don't know, I've just been stuck for ages, but hopefully I'm getting better. Also, season 5 of Game of Thrones. That happened, and I did not agree with it. I'll try to update more often. Reviews and all that are welcome.