Disclaimer: I do not own A Song of Ice and Fire.

Another dragon, another wolf, another stag

Chapter 6: Arya

"Talking"

"Thinking"

(Location: Riverrun)

"Would you hurry it up?" Arya demanded of Sansa as they walked down a corridor. She was moving at a quicker pace than her sister and it was really annoying.

"You don't need to run around like some kind of dog," Sansa told her. She was walking the proper way a lady should, which meant she was walking too slowly.

"You're being stupid. Why am I stuck with you?"

"Stuck with you?" she repeated, looking like she had heard something foul. "I'm the one who has to look after you." She sighed dramatically. "Why did Mother have me watch you? I could be sitting with the princess and talking about so many lovely things?"

She snorted at that, like she had seen Osha do so many times. "Like tea and embroidery?" she asked mockingly.

"Yes," Sansa agreed. "We could have been doing that yesterday, instead of leading our direwolves around the castle." She fixed Arya with a look as she said those words.

"That wasn't my fault and you know it. Robb suggested it and we all agreed to it," she retorted.

"I most certainly did not and because of it, Jocelyn was the only one who spent time with Princess Rhaenys."

She heard the slight disgust in her sister's voice at the mention of their other sister and gave her a look of her own. "Jocelyn is our sister."

"Half-sister," she replied instantly. "And more Dornish than anything," she added.

"She's more like you then I am. That's why you stay around her so much." Her and Jeyne Poole and Beth Cassel, they were all so stupid. All they did was talk about embroidery and when it wasn't embroidery, it was about all the songs and tales from the south. It was enough to make Arya gag.

But what made her even more annoyed was how stupid Sansa was being now. Now that they were in the south, she behaved like Jocelyn shouldn't be around them anymore then she should be, whereas in the North she was a constant companion.

"Would you hurry up already?" she demanded of her sister once more. She wanted to see the tents and the people outside the castle walls. Sansa decided that she would come along but she was taking too long.

"They are not going anywhere, Arya. Besides, you hardly look like someone who should be seen by gallant and true knights."

She looked down at herself, looking at the breeches she had stolen from Bran and her own tunic. Neither of them was dirty nor foul smelling. She didn't see the problem with them. But of course, Sansa would find a problem with them. Sansa always found a problem. But she held the words that were bubbling up in her throat.

They kept walking down the corridor and soon came out into a room. It was a small room that was empty and cluttered. At the other end was a door that was opened just a little bit. "Do you have any idea where you are going?" Sansa asked her.

"Of course I do," she replied. She had been down this way before. Just beyond that door was the courtyard near the main gate. Beyond the main gate would be the camp. A lot of interesting things would be in the camp and they might actually see some of it, if her stupid sister would hurry up.

When they finally got out to the courtyard, it felt like it had taken longer than it should have. "There, you see?" Sansa said to her. "We're there."

"No, we're not. We'd be there if you'd move faster."

"I was walking perfectly fine."

The two of them heard and saw a few people moving around in the courtyard. The noise they made was enough to make a low constant hum in their ears. They could see the people walking around but didn't pay much attention. They had the same kind of people in Winterfell but they knew those people.

"Hey, you," she heard a girl's voice say. Her accent didn't sound like she was from the North. Her head turn to the direction of it and saw three older girls coming towards her. They couldn't have been much older than her or Sansa. "Yes, you, boy," the girl in the middle said. She had brown hair and wore a green dress that didn't look good on her. "Where are our horses, boy?"

"…Are you speaking to me?" she asked, unsure if she was or not.

"Yes, I am." She rolled her eyes. "Now, where are our horses?"

"Why do you require horses?" She wasn't insulted that she had been called a boy, but she could Sansa's slightly horrified look out of the corner of her eye.

"Don't question your betters, boy," the girl on the left snapped. "Clearly the gods didn't bless you with the wits to understand that."

"Your pardon, my ladies," Sansa finally said. "But I fear this must be a mistake."

The three of them turned their gaze to her. They looked her up and down, like they were looking at something they were still deciding on. "Who are you?" the middle one asked.

"My name is Lady Sansa—"

"Lady?" she repeated with a scornful laugh. "When did Lord Edmure find it fashionable to present his bastard to proper ladies?"

"Ba-bastard?" repeated Sansa, her voice taking on a stunned tone. Arya could've guessed that she hadn't expected those kinds of words. But while her sister might've been stunned, she was angry. How dare these girls call her a bastard? If she had a weapon, she would run them through on the spot. No, that would be too good for them. She would let Nymeria kill them.

"Oh, are you hard of hearing too? Yes, I name you Edmure Tully's bastard, Sansa Rivers. You are no lady."

"Of course she's no lady," the girl on the right said scornfully. "Look at her dress. I think I've seen the servants in the castle wear something like that. Perhaps it was something from the kitchen." They shared cruel laughs at her bad jape.

Arya really wanted to reach out and throttle the three stupid girls. She might not like to wear dresses like Sansa, but she knew that Mother and Sansa worked hard on her dresses. Sansa was beginning to tremble and Arya could see tears beginning to leak up from her eyes.

"Is something happening here?" asked a new voice. Both Arya and Sansa turned to see another girl walked towards them. She was older than all of them but could not be old enough to be seen as a woman. She wore a plain dress and her black hair was cropped short. Her blue eyes stared at everyone. At her side was another girl, this one was much younger then everyone, even Arya. She had the exact same hair and eyes but her ears were way too big.

"Oh look, the Usurper's bastard," the girl on the left remarked. Her idle comment made both Arya and Sansa stare at her more closely. They had known of Robert Baratheon from their father, but they hadn't known he had a child.

"You three are from House Tyrell," the bastard replied, looking at all three of them. Arya didn't know how she could see that. The three of them might've had flowers on their dresses but so what?

"How astounding, you can tell," the middle girl said. She looked down at the smaller child. "Who's that? Your little sister?" she asked.

"She certainly looks ugly enough for it, especially when those ears," the Tyrell on the right said. "Mayhap the Usurper decided to sleep with a Florent."

"Or just an ugly whore," the one on the left said. They all shared a giggle and Arya was really wanted to hit them. The smaller girl hid a little behind the bastard, still watching everything quietly. "So why are you here, bastard? Are you here to defend your fellow bastard?"

She did not answer, instead looking around the courtyard. She was searching for something but Arya didn't know who or what it was. But when the prince and his betrothed stepped out, she spoke. "Lady Margaery, a moment of your time, please?"

All three of the girls froze at those words and exchanged nervous glances as the prince and the betrothed came forward, one of the Kingsguard following silently behind them. "Yes, what do you need, Mya?" Margaery asked sounding vaguely annoyed at being called over like this. She looked just like the three girls, which marked her as a Tyrell. But she was different from them as she was older and looked much elegant. Arya didn't trust her for it. If she was a Tyrell, that just meant she would be just as mean.

"Could you please see to it that your cousins here have some brains beaten into them?" Mya asked, gesturing to the three Tyrell cousins. They and Sansa looked shocked at the suggestion but she approved.

"And why would I do that?"

"Because they insulted both the daughter of Lord Eddard Stark, the Lady Sansa, and also my cousin, Lady Shireen Baratheon," she answered. As she spoke, the shocked looks on the faces of the three Tyrells turned into ones of horror.

"Th-th-the Lady Sansa Stark?" the one on the left said. Her mouth was opened and looked it would not move. Arya was tempted to shut it for her and tell her to never open it again.

While the Tyrell on the right looked just as horrified, the middle one seemed to regain her wits. "So she's not a bastard. Instead she's a tr—"

"I would not finish that sentence if I were you, my lady," the prince said to her, his voice sharp like a sword. "She is the daughter of Lord Stark himself and as such, a higher pedigree then you. You insult yourself and your family by deriding her." He looked at his betrothed. "Margaery, perhaps you should do as suggested. I dare say your cousins will need it."

"As you say, my love," she said before turning to look at her cousins. "Come with me before you make this worse. We are going to speak with my grandmother." They didn't look like they wanted to do that but one look from her quelled them and they walked off.

When they were gone, Sansa finally broke. The tears finally began to pour down her cheeks as she began to sniffle. She turned back around. "Where are you going?" Arya asked her the second she turned.

"I…I have no wish to see the grounds," she said.

"But I can't go unless you go with me!" Mother had given them permission so long as they had gone together. If Sansa left now, she couldn't go.

"I'm sorry, Arya."

She was so stupid. Now she was being selfish as well. "Just because they insulted you, you can't go outside? Coward," she told her sister.

She couldn't even bother to try and say anything in reply. "Lady Sansa, my cousin is interested to hear about Winterfell from someone who has lived there," Mya said to her, cutting into the conversation. "Is there a chance you could take us to your lady mother?"

Sansa sniffed her tears back. "O-of course, please follow me."

"But what about me!?" demanded Arya. Stupid Sansa was ruining everything!

"If it pleases the lady, I will step in and walk with you," the prince said, making her look at him. He had the features of his father, the white hair and the purple eyes, and he wore his clothes in the colors of his house. His hair was straight and fell to the back of his neck. Sansa might've found him beautiful but she found that it made him look a bit girly.

"I'm not a lady," she snapped at him.

"But you are Arya Stark and therefore, a lady of noble birth. And I have an interest in seeing the grounds too." He sounded sincere in his words but Arya didn't know him. She would have to be careful.

"Yes, that will be fine. I thank you, Prince Aegon," Sansa told him through the tears. "Lady Shireen, if you will follow me." She walked back into the castle and the other two girls followed her.

"Stupid Sansa!" thought Arya.

"She is something, isn't she?" the prince asked out loud.

"She's just being stupid," she replied.

He looked at her and asked, "Who?"

"Sansa," she answered.

"I was talking about Mya." There was something in his voice when he said those words. It made him sound like an idiot.

"Your Highness, you are betrothed," the Kingsguard said quietly.

"That wasn't my choice," he said back.

"She is a bastard."

"I don't care."

"What made you say that about Mya?" Arya asked him, curious to know.

"You saw what I saw, my lady. She managed to get your sister to lead the way back to your mother so that she can receive comfort and also so her cousin could satisfy her curiosity, while allowing her the chance to leave, all with a simple question."

Once he explained that, Arya could see it. He was right. It was impressive, but that wasn't what she was concerned with. "Come on, let's go." She started walking where she wanted to go. She took the lead as the prince and the Kingsguard followed.

They passed a large group of men all training. There were crests and banners everywhere and while she didn't know most of them, she knew that the moon-and-falcon one was for House Arryn. That must mean that these men were from the Vale. At the far end there was an old man wearing that same sigil watching all the others train.

"Lord Arryn is vigorous in his training," the Kingsguard remarked as they passed. When they had come into sight of the Valemen, he had shifted his position so that he stood between them and the prince.

"I have heard he has done more than that," the prince said. "He has gone out to the mountains and made peace with the clans who live there. They've sworn their allegiance to him." He looked up at where they were and found that they were standing at the entrance to the godswood. "Why are we?"

Arya ignored him. Instead, she whistled loudly, like Robb had shown her. It echoed through the air and the prince winced at it. "That's loud," he said when she was done. "Why did you do that?"

Her answer came running out of the godswood, up to her, and around her, sniffing her. "Nymeria, stop moving around so much," she told her wolf, trying to make her hold still.

"By the old gods and the new," the Kingsguard breathed as he stared at Nymeria. "The rumors were true. Ned's children have direwolves."

She turned to look at him when she heard those words. "You know my father?" she asked. Nymeria finally stopped moving and came to her side, watching the Kingsguard.

"Aye, I do. Has he not told you about me?"

"I don't know. It might help if I knew your name." That made the most sense to her.

Prince Aegon chuckled. "She has you there, ser."

He laughed too. "Aye that she does," he admitted. When he was done chuckling, he bowed his head to Arya. "My lady, my name is Mark Ryswell."

She knew of House Ryswell but not that name. "I'm not a lady," she told him. "That's Sansa."

He laughed again. "Yes, I can see that you're not a lady. You're more like your aunt."

"You knew my aunt?"

"No, I've only heard tales of her. But I knew her brother, your father, Lord Eddard Stark. I served with him beyond the Wall and when he sailed south."

She still didn't know the name but she did know that her father had sailed south once. "You were with him when he found Aunt Lyanna," she said to him as they walked away from the godswood and towards the ground, Nymeria by her side.

"Aye, I was."

"What happened?"

Even as he walked forward, he spared her a quick look. "Your father did not tell you?"

She shook her head. "He doesn't talk about what happened." The one time she remembered her and her siblings asking him about it, he told them all to leave it be in a very stern voice. It was one of the few times she had seen him use his "lord face" on them.

"Then it is not my place to say."

"Come on, Ser Mark. I am curious as to what happened at the Tower of Joy too," Prince Aegon said to him.

"It is still not my place, your Highness."

He looked at the Kingsguard with an annoyed expression. "And if I ordered you to tell us?"

Ser Mark looked pained. "Prince Aegon—"

"I wish to have an answer, ser," he replied, coming to a stop. "If I order you to tell us, will you?"

"…I would answer, your Highness." Arya could tell that he didn't want to. The prince should just leave him be. But there was a part of her that wanted to know too.

She waited for Prince Aegon to say the words. He didn't disappoint. "Then tell us, ser," he commanded as he started walking again.

Ser Mark looked one way and then the next. Why, Arya didn't know. "Perhaps he's making sure that we are alone?" she asked herself. It seemed a little childish for him to do that. He was a Kingsguard, why would he have to look around like that, especially when they were currently alone?

"This is not a joyful or adventurous story," he began. "After the wilding threat had been stopped, Lord Stark turned his army around and headed south to join Lords Baratheon and Arryn. But by the time we had reached Winterfell, news had come from the south of the rout at the Trident, of Robert roaring for Rhaegar but receiving only arrows, of Lord Arryn bending the knee when he realized that the battle was lost. But there was a message telling Lord Stark of his sister's whereabouts. Knowing that bringing an army would only announce his presence, he instead took five companions and rode for White Harbor."

"Were you one of those companions?" Arya asked him, her voice betraying her excitement at the entirety of it.

"Aye, I was. We sailed from White Harbor down the Narrow Sea until it became summer. We sailed around the Broken Arm of Dorne and then into Dorne. When we could not sail anymore, we rode. We rode until we found where the Lady Lyanna was: the Tower of Joy. The sun was high in the sky and hot as we rode up to the tower. Before the door stood three of the Kingsguard, Ser Oswell Whent, Ser Arthur Dayne, and the Lord Commander, Ser Gerold Hightower.

"Did you fight?" she asked.

He shook his head. "No, we did not. I think that if we had, there would be fewer of us left."

"Then what happened?"

"Are you sure you wish to know?"

"Continue the story, Ser Mark," Prince Aegon commanded. They were outside the castle proper and on their way to the grounds. The path between the two had more people going towards the grounds rather than the castle. They walked a little ways away from the others so that they may have a sense of privacy (although the armor of the Kingsguard and the direwolf did not help).

"Lord Stark rode forward first. He announced himself and demanded his sister. Ser Gerold said that she was resting and would not be disturbed. Lord Stark asked that they stand aside so that he might see Lady Lyanna. Again, the Lord Commander said that she was resting and would not be disturbed. It seemed that we would draw our swords and fight. But then, somehow, the tower was caught on fire."

Both she and the prince stopped to look at him. "Caught fire?" Prince Aegon repeated.

"Aye," he simply said.

"How could that be?"

"As I have said, my prince, we did not know. Before any one of could do anything about it, the tower was ablaze, burning so brightly that none of us could get close in fear of being burned. Lord Stark had to be restrained by his companions to prevent him from racing into the tower. We stood there, watching hopelessly as the tower burned. It had been seen and aid had been sent quickly. The fire had been doused quickly but we all knew that it was too late."

He fell silent again. The story didn't feel right ending like that, so Arya asked him, "What of my aunt?"

"We found her remains when the fire died, hers and her daughter."

"Her, her daughter?" the prince repeated. Arya was just as stunned. Even Nymeria seemed to be so too, letting out a confused yip.

"Yes, her daughter. Lady Lyanna was pregnant." His face became pained for a moment and then it vanished. "I will speak no more on this. I fear I've said too much already."

"…Yes, you might have."

They kept walking to the tourney ground. The air about them was somber and serious. Now Arya knew why her father never spoke anything about the war. She wouldn't want to talk about it either, especially the way he told it. It wasn't like any kind of story she had heard before, not the stories Old Nan told or the songs that Sansa loved to listen to. The knight told it to them in a voice that full of emotions she couldn't understand.

But when they started walking in the tourney grounds, the air around them lightened. They saw men from all over the Seven Kingdoms. Arya saw men from the North, the Cerwyn axe, Karstark sun, Umber giant, Glover mailed fist, and others too. But for every sigil of the North she saw, she saw five more from the south. She saw roses, turtles, suns, bees, arrows, bulls, lions, birds, and many more.

As they walked and looked, the prince chuckled. "My lady, if your eyes grow any wider, they might just pop right out of your head," he told her as they walked between the tents, on their way to the tourney grounds to see what has been done.

"I'm not a lady," she told him back.

"You are the daughter of Lord Stark. By that name alone, you are a lady."

"I am not a lady. I'm just Arya. I don't want to be a stupid lady."

"Then what do you want to be?" he asked her, amused curiosity coloring his voice.

"A knight," she declared.

He laughed at that. "You're a girl."

"So?"

"Girls can't be knights." They came to a stop in front of a tent. He stood in front of her and looked down at her. She returned his gaze determinedly. Nymeria sat on her hunches and watched them both.

"That's stupid. Girls can fight as well as boy." She had seen Jack's cousins train in the yard when the Mormonts had come to Winterfell once. Dacey had even offered to teach her a few things on how to handle a mace. If Mother hadn't come by at that moment, she would've gladly said yes. And she had seen Osha wield a spear.

"No, they can't."

"My prince…" Ser Mark began. He was obviously going to try and say something in the prince's defense.

Arya wouldn't let him, even if he knew Father before. "Yes, they can. I've seen girls fight."

"They don't fight. They grow up to be ladies."

"That's not true!"

"Of course it's true!"

The flap of the tent they stood in front opened and out stepped a woman. "What is the meaning of this?" she asked them, her eyes sweeping over them all. She saw the white armor of the Kingsguard and then the prince. With wide eyes, she knelt to the ground. "Your Highness."

The prince looked at her for a long second. Arya just smirked in triumph. The woman kneeling wasn't wearing a dress. She was wearing boy's clothes and had a sword at her side. She had just proven what Arya had been saying. "Rise," the prince finally said and she did so. "What is your name, my lady?"

"Brienne of Tarth, my prince," she answered. Now that she was standing up, Arya could actually see her and could see that she was as tall as Ser Mark, if not taller. But she also wasn't pretty like Sansa was. In fact, Arya would call her ugly.

"And why are you here at Riverrun?"

Her face showed her confusion. "I am here to participate in the tourney."

"Oh…um, very well," he said, stumbling a little. "May you fight well and earn glory."

"Ha, see?" Arya said to him. "Girls can be knights and I will be the greatest one there is!" She wouldn't be a lady anymore!

To her surprise, the prince laughed and said "If you can do that, I will let you become one of my Kingsguard when I ascend the Iron Throne."

"Really?" she asked him instantly. "You promise?"

His laughter fell silent and he looked surprised for a moment. But then the surprise vanished. "Aye, I promise."

"Swear it on the gods." An oath to the gods was always held and kept.

"I swear to the old gods and the new that I, Prince Aegon Targaryen, will appoint Arya Stark to my Kingsguard should she become the greatest knight in the lands."

"I, Ser Mark Ryswell, have seen and witness this promise," the Kingsguard declared solemnly. She just grinned in victory. She had a goal now. She wouldn't have to be a stupid lady if she was in the Kingsguard.

But she was so caught up in her glow of victory that she didn't noticed that the prince and his Kingsguard were leaving until they were almost gone. "Hey, wait!" she called after them but they didn't stop.

"My lady Stark," the woman standing in front of the tent spoke, getting her attention.

She felt embarrassed, having forgotten about her. "I'm not a lady," she replied automatically.

"Have you swung a sword before?"

The question surprised her. "What?"

"Have you swung a sword before?" the woman ("Brienne, her name is Brienne," Arya reminded herself) asked again.

"I've sparred with my brothers in the training yard," she answered.

"With an actual sword?" she asked.

"No."

"I see."

"See what?" Arya didn't know what she was going on about and it was getting annoying.

"Follow me, if you would." She turned around and started back to her tent, a small drab thing really.

"Why?"

She turned back around and looked at her. "You want to be the greatest knight in all the lands? You won't be able to do it unless someone teaches you."

Again she was surprised but quickly became happy. "You're not japing?" She really was hoping that she wasn't. That would be too cruel of a prank to play.

"No, I'm not. Come on. The wolf stays outside." She disappeared back into the tent. After telling Nymeria to stay, Arya went in after her. After leaving the tent hours later, she had sore arms, was completely exhausted and knew about how to unstrap a gauntlet then she would've thought possible. But there was a smile on her face that nothing could make it come off.

End

Author's note: Thank you for all the reviews you've sent me.

The Tyrell girls made assumptions about Sansa. They assumed that since she was a redhead with blue eyes, and that since she wasn't dressed as fashionably as they were, she was Edmure Tully's bastard daughter. Edmure is known to drink and wench, so the conclusion isn't that far off. It just got them into trouble when they made the assumption and paid for it.

Ser Mark Ryswell stayed in King's Landing when they docked there for supplies and to announce what happened at the Tower of Joy to the king. As for why he's on the Kingsguard, I'm maintaining that Ser Jon Darry died at the Trident and Rhaegar chose him over any others (there might've been a guilt-trip involved).

I would like to thank the author Salamon2 and his series "Rise and Fall of the Baratheons" for the idea of the Arryns making peace with the mountain clans. I simply put in Jon Arryn instead of Denys Arryn. It's a good idea and I wonder to see how it goes in his story. But for me, I'll probably just have a clansman be a good friend of Harry Hardying.

I'll see you next chapter!