A:N Hello lovelies. So it has been forever, I know I'm sorry for the wait. More will be reviled as to the why at the end in another note. Now I have to say I uploaded this from my phone and there might be slapping and grammar issues. Let me know if there are so Ivan come back and fix them. Read on my friends, read on!
"What in the name of the bloody old gods and the new were you thinking?" Robb screamed at Jon. The hunting party had come across the dead bodies that the wildling woman had killed and they followed the sounds the others were making as they moved the dire wolves. When Sansa told Robb what she knew about the situation he had rounded on Jon in a furry. "You just fucking stood there and helped the witch with the wolves. You stood beside her and you didn't even attempt restrain her. She was a confessed murder, of my people and you let her walk away. How can you call yourself a son of a Stark, a son of the King when you just let that woman leave! You bastard, you are no child of the North, you are nothing here. You better pray to what ever gods you look to because if we do not find her justice will be taken out on you." Robb shouted at Jon.
"Threaten me again Stark. I will have your head." Jon growled.
"You have no idea what we found. Do you want me to describe the scene we found? The bodies? How they were torn apart? How they were disembodied? I saw men, good northernmen torn apart. Their bodies left out on the cold ground left like animals. They didn't even look like men anymore, just a mass of blood and bones. Now I have to go find their loved ones and tell them what I found, what I saw. This wildling bitch left these good men on the ground." Robb shouted. "Have you ever seen a man gutted Prince? Have you ever had to tell the families of good men that their loved ones were butchered like they were nothing but meat! Because I will have to do just that and tell them there will be no justice for them because the Prince let the killer of their loved ones walk with out even batting an eye!" Robb was shouting at Jon.
When the hunting party was led to the bodies by the hounds they all had been horrified at what they saw. It was a sight that would leave them all with nightmares. The clearing they had found the men in was covered in blood. Heads no longer attached to bodies. Limbs tossed like hacked meat. The smell had been the worst. The insides of the victims were left to burst in the sun. The once green of the woods had been turned red from the life blood of the men who had fallen.
Jon had no idea what had come over him when he had been around the wildling woman. She had calmed him, made him see things her way to help her get what she wanted. Now that the task of assisting the girl and the wolves was over he felt like a fool. He knew better, he was the son of the king, a son of the north but still he had allowed a wildling go because she was beautiful. He knew everything his cousin was accusing him of was true, yet he had not felt as if he was in control of his facilities. He suspected she had used a magic from beyond the wall on him. He knew all of this, felt it all but no man, kin or no, could talk to him like that.
"You cannot speak to me like that! I am the Prince. I will take you down if I have to. I owe you no explanation." Jon spat. His anger over his mistake making him last out at his cousin.
"You could try you weak son of a bitch." Robb and Jon lunged at one another, each reaching for their swords. They never pulled the steal free. Theon and Rickon had Robb pinned to a tree and Jon found himself on his ass looking up at his brother. He rubbed his jaw where his brothers fist had connected.
"I am getting tired of telling you fucking assholes to cut this shit out!" Aegon bellowed. "The Others bugger you raw I just told you to get along. Act like the nobles you are. If I have to say this shit one more time I will be burning it into your flesh to remind you. Get along or suffer."
Aegon looked down at his brother and shook his head when Jon opened his mouth to speak. He got down to look Jon in the eyes. Jon shifted uncomfortably on the ground. He wanted to rub his jaw, but didn't want his brother to know it hurt him to be hit. Aegon had not held back, but had used all the strength he held in his body to place Jon on his backside in the dirt. Aegon spoke softly for only Jon to hear him.
"You fucked up, I know you know this. You are supposed to be the bloody calm one. But now I understand where this uncommon temper of yours comes from. Now you better apologize to Robb. He had every right to say what he said. You did disgrace your family and the country your family is from. Now dust the dirt off your ass. You will not disgrace our family anymore. Pull yourself together Jaehaerys Targaryen, be the son of a king. We have a wildling to find." Aegon stood and addressed the group gathered around him. "I want twenty men to come with me to get this killer. We do not allow murders to walk free. The best trackers come with us. The rest of you get those creatures to Winterfell."
The wolves were on the improvised stretcher. The mother growled at everyone but Bran and Jon. Bran spoke softly to the animal and his words seemed to sooth the mother. The pups were nestled next to the she wolf. They had tried to attach the stretcher to one of the horses to drag behind them, but horses were to scared of the wolves to come close to them. The strongest men would pull the stretcher until the group met up with the wagon Dany was sent to fetch for them. Aegon hoped the wagon animals were not as skidding as their horses.
The group splintered into two, those who would stay and those who would go. The kings guard stood with their princes. Robb had shaken off Rickon and Theon Greyjoy and was standing calmly as Sansa spoke to him. Arya was speaking with Bran and Myrcella.
"You were with the men when the bodies were found?" Arya asked.
The other girl nodded her head. Her eyes were large with the horror of what she had seen.
"Yes." Myrcella answered. "Robb speaks the truth. The bodies were torn apart. No normal human could have done this." She walked away from her then and went to talk with her brothers. Gendry hugged his sister and Joffrey looked pale as they spoke.
Arya was watching the small groups that had formed and saw that no one was moving fast enough. She said so to Bran.
"They are scared." Bran said to his sister. "Things are happening that are not normal for them. Give it a moment, they will decide what to do."
"We don't have a moment." Arya snapped at her brother and stalked off to her horse. She lifted her sword from the saddle and strapped it to her side. She had made up her mind to join the men the prince had decided would go out and hunt the girl.
"You are not thinking of joining the hunt for the wildling?" Gendry demanded. His voice was disbelieving and mocking at the same time.
"I know these lands. I know how to track. We need to find this woman. I was distracted back when we found Jon by the wonder of finding the wolves. Now I want blood. If what Robb said is true she killed my fathers people." Arya said as she strode to the prince. Her shoulders were set and she would be going along with or without the say of any of them.
"I'm not telling you can't come along. I just figured you would go with the wolves and the rest to protect them." Gendry said as he went to catch up with her and the others. "They will need someone to make sure nothing happens to them."
Arya stopped and looked at Gendry. He was trying to make her agree to his idiotic idea of her staying behind to protect the wolves and the women. She opened her mouth to put the boy in his place, but her sister beat her to it.
"Joffrey, Bran and the others are going back to the castle. They will meet with the men from the castle and they will be well protected." Sansa said. "There will be men at the bridge to show the king and the others on their way to where we will have gone to track the woman. There is no need for Arya to stay with them." Many of the men present looked at her and their mouths fell opened. She stood there with a quiver of arrows on her back and a bow across her chest.
"Lady Sansa, what are you thinking you are doing?" Ser Arthur asked. He usually kept his composer, but with all the strange events of the day he could not hold himself in check.
"I'm a Stark too. These are my lands as much as my brothers. I want to make sure I can tell the families of the men who she killed that there will be justice." She looked at all those gathered daring them to defy her. Arya just smiled at the idiotic looks on their faces.
"But Lady Sansa, no disrespect, but you couldn't even throw a punch earlier today." Gendry said.
"That was because I wasn't trying. I didn't want to hurt your fool of a brother for getting in my way. But I will not forget how to shoot my bow." Sansa spoke as calmly as her lady training had shown her how.
"Don't try arguing with either of my sisters. They are both stubborn and know how to get their way no matter what." Robb said to the group. "I suggest we just start the search."
"Rickon and Joffrey have command of this group. Lead then to the castle and tell my father where we have gone. Now let us depart before more unnecessary problems arise." Aegon comanded. The two groups separated and moved to their tasks.
The hunting party said their farewells and they walked into the woods in the direction Jon had said the girl had gone. No one spoke, they were all trying to find the tracks the girl should have left. They walked for a mile until the group reached a stream. They stopped and spoke about what they should do.
"I don't want to break the line." Gendry said as they sipped water.
"But this method is not working. We have seen hardly any tracks. The last one was below the hill back there." Robb said as he waved behind at the way they came.
"What if we are not thinking this out. Wildlings don't think like normal people. If I was trying to evade a group of people I would go up, climb a tree." Theon said as he scanned the trees. Everyone let their eyes follow his.
Sansa started walking away from the stream and down the hill they had just climbed. She had thought she had seen something in a tree when she had looked up like everyone else. She was reaching for an arrow to notch in her bow when she felt a arrow fly past her and impact in the tree next to her head. The rest of the hunting party heard the thump of the shaft as it impacted and all looked to see Sansa frozen and her face pale.
"The next one will be in her pretty blue eye. Everyone leave this place. I have said I would come in a week to see if the wolves are alive. Let me go back to my people." A voice shouted down at them from a tall pine they had all passed beneath.
"Alright. We don't want to harm you. We will just walk back down the hill and leave you." Robb shouted. All the men were nodding and readying to walk away.
"Hold your ground!" Arya shouted. She looked across to her sister. The men froze and all looked at her confused. They all wore the same looks on their faces Jon had worn when they first came across him. "Do not listen to this witch."
Arya advances on the tree. An arrow stopped her in her tracks. She stepped back and glared into the branches.
"I said leave here you wolf bitch before I have to kill you." Val shouted from her place in the tree.
"You threaten well when you hide in a tree. If you had your feet on the ground you wouldn't be so brave." Arya shouted. She was trying to keep the wildlings attention. She knew Sansa would do the right thing. Sansa might seem like a sweet porcelain flower but she was made of steal. Arya hoped Sansa would shoot the bitch in the tree and they could end it.
"I'll stay up in the tree little girl, until you all leave. Your men are already leaving." Arya resisted the urge to look away from the girl in the tree. But she heard movement behind her.
"Arya just do what she wants." Gendry said. He sounded close to her.
"You stay back." She said to him. Her eyes flicked to the side to make sure the men behind her listened.
"Arya she said she would come to the castle in a week. Surly we can leave her." Jon said from his place among the others.
"Go home." The girl in the tree said again.
"Arya, let us go. She will not harm us. Look at her, she is not going to do anything." Robb said as he inched close to her.
They all were acting so strange. Arya looked to Sansa. Her sister was not effected by the strange wild woman in the tree.
"What have you done to them?" Sansa demanded.
"I have not done anything. How could I? I'm up in a tree. They want to leave here, and if need be they will throw you over their shoulders to take you away from here." Val shouted down.
Sansa saw Gendry close the distance to Arya, but her sister was ready for the big man. Arya pivoted and moved away from the large man. Sansa looked back in the tree and saw the woman and her smile. Sansa swung her bow and pointed it at Gendry.
"If you move again I will put an arrow in you." She said calmly. She ignored the shake in her arm, the sweat on her hands.
"Sansa put that down." Theon said from his position across from her.
"Don't move!" Sansa shouted. She swung the bow at Theon and swallowed. She had told him just the night before how good she was with a bow. If he moved he would see just how good. She aimed for his left shoulder, intending to would him.
"They will move. They want you to leave." Val said again. Wind whispered in the forest and the men moved again closer to the girls and their trapped victim in the tree.
"Jon, help me." Val shouted.
Jon started to move, to rush his cousins. He was reaching for Arya, who was watching Gendry, who was closer to her and had not seen Jon move. Yet there was another in their group aside from the girls who was not under the sway of the wildling woman. Ser Arthur Dayne stepped forward and stood between the girls and the other men. He shouted at the others gathered around them.
"We are not going to be swayed by the magic of this woman. You men are stronger then this. Fight her spell." He shouted into faxes of Gendry and Jon as they closed in on Arya.
"Step aside old friend. We mean no harm. We just want to leave here and return to Winterfell." Jon said calmly.
"Forgive me my prince." Arthur said to Jon and hit him in the side of his head with his closed fist. Jon fell to the ground, out cold.
The distraction halted the men and gave Arya time to back closer to her sister and the tree with their captured girl. Sansa looked up at the tree. Val's face had lost her smile and she looked worried for the first time.
"Who is this man who was able to throw my suggestion so easily?" She demanded to those on the ground.
"I am Ser Arthur Dayne, the Sword of the Morning." Arthur said as he watched his fallen prince lay on the ground.
"Sword of the Morning? You carry the sword forged from the fallen star eons ago?" The girl asked.
"Yes." Arthur said with clenched teeth. He felt anger at what he had been forced to do to Jon. His duty, the only one he had had for many years was to protect the crown. To make sure that no harm came to the royal family. He had hurt his charge, made him fall when his strength was needed most. But there were larger matters to contend with. If this woman could stop these blood thirsty men in their tracks with nothing but her voice there was no telling what she could do.
"You are an enigma Sword of the Morning." Val said sweetly to the man she could not control. "You are not of Ice or Fire, but of the stars. With that sword attached to your side I can not control you like I can these others. They are of this land, as I am. They are easily influenced. The Dragon Borne Prince is not as easy, but he is a man, men are all pray to me. I can hold him but not control him. It is a pity that they have to harm you, but it is what must happen." As if to prove her point about the men all being under her sway she called out. "Gendry is it?"
Val looked down to the large young man and smiled at him. Gendry and the others looked up at the tree to the girl and their faces went slack, as if they were no longer in control of their minds.
"What will you have of me?" Gendry asked.
"I wish to go home. You and the others shall help me. Help me return home. Subdue these ruffians." Val said. The men nodded their heads as if getting ready to do the girls bidding.
"What are we going to do? We cannot allow this witch to escape." Sansa said to Arya and Ser Arthur.
"We have to fight them." Arya said simply.
"Fight them? There are sixteen men we would have to subdue." Sansa said as she shifted her gaze to the man who were creating a semi circle around their small group.
"I can take ten, maybe more. Our goal isn't to kill, just to incapacitate them so we can capture the witch." Arthur told the girls. His hands clenched at his side and he set his jaw as he looked at the other prince he was supposed to protect. He knew he would have to alter his vow yet again to protect his charge. To protect the crown he must hurt the heir.
"I can take four, maybe five." Arya said as she watched.
"That leaves me one or two." Sansa said with resolve.
"And don't forget someone has to get her out of the tree." Arya said without looking at the tree. "Do you think you can do that sister?"
"If I must I must." Sansa said.
"Then let this begin." Ser Arthur said.
"No," Arya said, "it ends."
The men who were around them sprung on the waiting trio. Arthur moved as fast as light. He was a blur of motion. He took on the strongest of the hunting party. He attacked Gendry with no thought, punching him on the side of the head. Hendry fell but got back up. Arya had taken that moment to deliver a swift move of her leg to kick him in the jaw. He fell to the ground and stayed down. Arthur then turned his attention to Theon. He kicked Theon Greyjoy so that he was doubled over to deliver a thwack to the back of his neck. He crumpled in a heap on the ground, staying down. He watched as the Winterfell men came upon him and made easy work of men who were not trained fighters. He was at seven men down, seven of his ten conquered. He had three opponents left. One more untrained man, his prince and his brother of the Kingsguard. The hunter went down with a solid punch to his face. Arthur walked over the unconscious body.
"My prince please, hear me. Please do not make me do this. Fight the witches words, remember who you are!" Arthur screamed at his prince.
"I have to help her escape." Aegon said. "Barrister remove this man who is in our way."
The other knight of the Kingsguard unsheathed his sword and walked closer to the other man. Arthur took ahold of his sword and felt his connection to Dawn sing up his arm. He knew that the moment he drew his sword the fight would only end in blood.
A rock came out of nowhere and hit the other man between the eyes. He dropped his sword. Ser Arthur looked behind him and saw that Sansa had a collection of stones around her and was using her bow to send the projectiles at their targets. Ser Arthur looked around and saw four men on the ground with a rock near their heads. He smiled at her as she picked up another rock and looked around for a foe to use the missile on.
Arya was not doing as well. She had sadly misjudged her capability in being able to injure her elder brother. Robb looked as if he was fighting the wildlings powers, but he was still not strong enough to break her imposed will over him.
"Please Arya. Hurt me." He swung his fist at her. "Put me on the ground. I do not want to hurt you! I am fighting her magic, but I can not hold her long."
Arya looked around her. She saw a stick on the ground and went to grab it. She looked at her brother and she swung it at his head. Robb had stood perfectly still so she could make a solid connection. He fell to the ground. Now there was only one man left standing.
"Prince Aegon fight! Robb fought it, and she herself said you are not under her sway as much as he should have been. You must fight like he did, you can too!" Arya yelled at the prince. He shook his head and advanced on Arya. She raised her improvised weapon and was ready to strike the prince. Ser Arthur had finished with the last hunter and turned to see Arya swing at his princes head. The blow never happened. Aegon side stepped it. Arya dropped her stick and grabbed the hilt of her sword.
"Lady Arya no." Ser Arthur shouted as her blade was drawn clear. He took hold of his own sword and it burst into light as soon as it was free. It blinded everyone in the wood. Aegon froze in place, seemingly coming back to himself. The witch in the tree threw her hands over her eyes. Sansa looked away from the blinding light and looked up. She saw the girl in the tree wasn't holding on to the tree for security. Sansa still held a rock. Using the moment it took for her to drop the rock she held an arrow from her quiver and strung it on her bow. She aimed for the girls shoulder and let it fly. It hit home and the Wildling fell from the tree. Arya moved to The other girl who had picked herself up from The ground with the arrow still in her shoulder. She snapped The shaft off and stood glaring at the three who circled her.
"You think you have stopped me?" Val taunted. "I am more them anyone you." She pulled a blade from her side and stood ready.
Arya moved forward, Needle in her hand. She moved in and the two women slithered around each other. Steal rang against steal as they engaged each other in battle. Arya was angry at what this one woman had done. She had slaughtered innocent men, killed them like animals. No matter what their crimes were, no matter what they deserved for trying to kill the wolf and this creature she was fighting they did not need to be slaughtered like beasts.
They fought, thrusting blades, circling one another. Val had slashed Arya in the arm, but she did not back down. She pressed her advantage and when twe moment was right she thrust her sword at the other girls unprotected abdomen. She pushed her sword into her flesh and stepped close to speak to her.
"You have used your last breath to escape. Next time you open your mouth it will be to scream in pain for the lives you've taken." Arya said as she pinched the other girl in the side of the head, the way she had seen Ser Arthur do to many of the men littered on the ground. Arya let her fall and let the momentum draw her blade from her opponents body.
Once their foe was on the ground the three fighter looked at one another. Sansa could not say who started it but they all found themselves laughing at the events that had just transpired.
"Ser Arthur does your sword always glow like that when you let it into the light?" Arya asked.
"No my lady. It has never done so. But there are legends about this sword. It is said it was made from a fallen star. It allows its bearer protection when the light is darkest and in the hour of our greatest need. Yet I believe it was just a trick of the setting sun. Nothing magical." He said as he slid the blade in its home in the scabbard at his side.
"It is a good thing you did that trick, or I might not be standing. I should not have pulled my blade. I know better. I could not have used it on Prince Aegon, like I could not use it on Robb." She said as she placed her own sword in its home on her side. She held out her hand for him to clasp and he took it.
"You have much to learn still Lady Arya when it comes to the sword. If you wish while the time allows I would be honored to become your teacher." Ser Arthur said and meant the words that came out of his mouth.
"I gladly accept your offer ser." She smiled at him and the look on her face was more brilliant than the light that had emanated from his sword.
"What in the seven happened?" Aegon demanded.
The three left standing looked over at the prince then back to each other. They were unsure of how to start explaining the confusing events of the last few moments. Arya just shrugged.
"She did something to you." Arya said as she walked over to the fallen girl. She poked Val with her shoe. Val didn't move. "Lets tie her up while she's passed out."
"We should gag her." Sansa said. The two girls began binding their captive, leaving the Knight to answer the prince.
"Arthur answer me. What happened." Aegon said with a growl.
"She spelled you. She told you and everyone else to let her go. You and the other men attacked us. The ladies and I had to stop you from releasing her. The only way we could do this was to render the men unable to fight." Ser Arthur said to his prince.
"You three took on all these men?" Aegon asked. "How did you escape her influence."
The prince walked to the unconscious girl on the ground. This was the first time they had seen her clearly. Her white hair was spread around her and her face looked beautiful. Aegon felt as if he was looking at the face of a kinswoman. Her cheekbones were sharp, her lips plump. In many ways she looked like his grandmother. He wondered if his grandfather had met this creatures mother many years ago and had banished her beyond the wall. His grandfather could have created a bastard and from that union this girl could have been borne. Or she could be the child of a long ago lost dragon who ventured above the wall. He remembered tales of one of his kinsmen going above the wall to never be seen again. He didn't know. But one thing was sure, she was breathtaking. No wonder the men fought for her.
He had no clear recollection of his actions that had caused his men to try and defend her. He felt no pull to her now, but curiosity. He looked down at the ground at the men littered around them like fallen leaves. Jon lay close to him, a bruise blooming on his face. He did not know if it was a result of his punch earlier of the efforts to render him unconscious. At this moment he cared little.
"She needs to be tied." Sansa said as she moved to do this task. She removed rope from her quiver and tied the girls hands together. Arya handed her a cloth she had taken from one of the mens shirts to use as a gag.
"How did you three escape her?" Aegon asked as he watched.
"She said that men were easy to influence. My sister and I thankfully were with you to prevent this witch from just walking back to her land. Ser Arthur was spared for reasons we do not understand clearly, but the witch said it was due to his sword. It is not of this earth so he was harder to control then you." Sansa said as she stood and looked to the prince.
"Yes, it was fortunate that you came along with us." Aegon said with a smile.
"Good thing Ser Arthur is a strong man." Arya said. "We were lucky he was with us. You lot were useless. I don't imagine I will ever allow you to hunt with me again."
She smiled at the prince and he couldn't help but laugh at this girls statement. He saw why his brother liked this girl so quickly and how the Baratheon heir could have fallen under her spell so easily.
"From this moment on I will never hunt without you with me." Aegon said.
"Maybe you are right. You'll need someone to watch your backside while you think with things other then your brain." Arya told him while she walked to her brother and try to wake him.
The four started the task of waking the men. Shaking them, slapping them and shouting at them did not wake them.
"What in gods name did you three do to these men?" Aegon demanded.
"We did what we must." Sansa snapped.
"We can throw water on them." Arya said after she tried yet again to wake her brother.
"Yes, that will do." Ser Arthur said. "I will go and gather it."
Arya and Sansa checked over the men and made sure they were alive. The prince helped move the bodies so they were lined up. When they were finished Ser Arthur had returned with enough water to wake a few of the men.
"Let's start with Jon and Robb." Arya said.
"Lady Sansa is she always so," Aegon waved his hand in the girls direction at a loss of what to say that would not be rude.
"Bossy?" Sansa asked.
"Yes." Aegon said with a laugh.
"I do not think I am bossy. I think I am a leader. If you wish to take charge my prince, feel free to step in at any time." Arya smiled sweetly at Aegon. The prince opened his mouth to tell her he would take charge when Sansa began helping Ser Arthur empty the water on the faces of Jon and Robb.
The two woke screaming and sputtering the water from their mouths. Robb sat bolt upright and looked around with wild eyes. Robb choked and looked over to his sisters. He tried to speak but no sound came out his first try.
"Before you ask Sansa hit you with a rock." Arya said.
"As rock?" He rubbed his head on the lump that was forming between his eyes. "I don't remember it that way. It was you Little Wolf. You whacked me over the head with a log."
"It was worth a try. You'll have two beautiful black eyes to show for being an idiot." Arya said as she hugged him. She would never admit it but having to fight her brother in reality had shaken her. She had not used all her abilities on his, she had held back. No matter what had driven him to attack her she could not force herself to hurt him. She looked at Sansa and knew out of the two her sister was the strong one. She had fought to save them all, she had been the one to show strength. Arya had not even been able to beat her brother. Put of all the men littered at her feet she only had one take down to her name.
"Jon is awake." Aegon called over his shoulder to the Starks. They walked to their cousin and Robb held out his hand to help the other man to his feet.
"I owe you an apology. If what I remember of the events is true the wildling woman spelled us. I now understand how you allowed her to flee the first time." Robb held his forearm out for Jon to grasp. Jon looked Robb in the eye and saw that he sincerely meant what he was saying.
"Apology accepted Robb Stark. Thank you for understanding that I had no control of the situation. I am just glad that she is now captured. I believe she will have a lot to answer for. How many men did she kill and do we know who they were?"
"We found seven bodies. No house colors." Robb said.
"We can tell the king and father this when they find us. Let's wake the others." Sansa said as she walked over to Theon and unceremoniously deposited her water skin on his face. He woke sputtering and cursing.
They were onto the last group of men when the king and the others found them. No one was smiling as they stood around looking at the captured girl.
"This is the girl? This one killed seven men and almost took the 20 of you?" Robert Baratheon asked his son. None in the woods had yet told the king or the others what had truly happened yet. Most of the men were to embarrassed and the others had no idea how to explain the events that did not sound like they were deranged.
"She is more then what she seems Lord Baratheon ." Arya said to the large lord. He blinked and looked at the girl.
"You Northern women. More then what she seems the girl says. Ned what do you do to your women folk here that make them so different?" Robert said with a laugh. He was trying to lighten the mood around him. The king, Ned and the rest were far to serious for his liking.
When they met the group with the animals loading the creatures into a wagon they had been blown away by the reality that the animals were real. They had been told the hunting party consisted of 20 and they were tracking the girl. They had been assured that the group would have no problem finding the woman they were searching for. When they came upon the group in the woods all but four were battered and bruised and oddly enough soaking wet.
"They freeze us. The cold can do strange things to you." Arya said dryly.
Robert smiled at her and winked. This girl was something he had not expected. He watched her and felt his heart sink slowly knowing his son was falling for the girl. He knew the boy would be put out to be putting it mildly, he would be pissed, devastated, broken hearted when he learned he was to marry the girl he was falling for sister. Robert looked at his son as he watched Arya speak with her father and the King. He was saddened but he knew the agreements that had been made were for the good of the realm.
He looked back down at the girl on the ground. She was part of the reason why the agreement of the kingdoms had been made. The kingdom was in danger. He had seen the signs of the changes the kingdom, he knew something was coming. Looking down at the girl he wished his life could be simple.
"What are you thinking my friend?" Ned asked as he came to stand beside Robert.
"I was thinking of how I wish I could just drink and hunt and whore like I did as a young man. Not to have responsibility or honor you were always trying to drum into my thick skull."
"You can. But now you have that honor and responsibilities. There is no going back once you get those things." Ned said with a slight smile.
"You're right old friend. Also I'm to scared my wife would cut my cock off if I did anything like that. I see the king is finished taking to his guards who went with the princes. I cannot wait to hear the full details of this story once we reach Winterfell."
"Nor can I. The Kings Justice awaits this girl when she comes to." Ned said as he walked to his king. "Rhaegar are we ready to return to Winterfell? I have to alert Lord Bolton we have captured the murderer of his men."
"We are done here. Let us get these children home to their mothers. I am sure they are all waiting to fuss over their sons." He looked pointedly at his two and they both paled quite noticeably.
The group walked through the woods to the bridge and the waiting horses. Once they were on their way back to the castle Arya rode between her father and Robb. The men had agreed that the prisoner would be strapped to her saddle incase she woke up since they were unsure how the girls had remained unmoved by her.
There was movement behind Arya and she turned to look at the girl behind her. The girl blinked her eyes up at Arya. Arya gave the girl a bright smile as she watched her test the ropes keeping her in place.
"You won't get away from this witch. And don't even think of trying to talk. Not only are you gagged but I'll personally cut out your tongue. Now once we get to Winterfell you'll be put in a cell. We have some questions for you, and you'll answer them. Then you will meet the kings justice." They rode in silence the rest of the way to Winterfell.
A:N So you are all wondering why it has taken me so long to post. I can say that I welcomed world a little girl! Yes I had a baby. She is the light of my older children's eyes, as well as her daddy. He went on a deployment one month after her birth at the end of January, so things have been very crazy for me. Then we suffered a personal blow at a death of one of our best friends, our daughters godfather. So writing and posting fell on a major back burner. But despite it all writing and posting has been my way of a distraction. But I am glad to post something.
I am not a good action writer I will say. I have mixed feelings over this chapter. The fight scenes are not my cup of tea. But I couldn't not post. I hope you all like what I did. And again I posted and wrote most of this on my phone. Tablets are to big to deal withbwjem you only have one hand. I can't say when the next one will be done, I haven't started on it yet. But if there are mistakes let me know. I'm opened to an editor.
As always thanks to Mx4 and Newgirl for your supported helpful hints. I might not always do what we talk about, but you are my guiding light.