No One, No More

by joen1801

Arya Stark has spent five years serving the Many-Faced God, she convinced all of her comrades she was truly no one. When opportunity arises to have justice for her family she dons her own face once more and walks a different path.

9. Chapter 9

AN: As always thanks for the reviews everybody

Birdy1210: No need to worry I'm going to keep switching back and forth from chapter to chapter between my stories. I know my other one seems to be quite popular but I really enjoy writing this story so I'll be coming back to it till it's done. Glad you liked the way I handled the reunion and how I wrote Sansa as I enjoyed writing her. Hope you like how I handled Walder in this chapter.

A Frozen Shadow: Hope you like what happens to the Frey's. Rickon should be in the next chapter and Jon might be though it is less likely.

lestibur: Thank you, glad you liked it.

JP: That is part of my goal with Aerion and definitely my goal for the all-around story so it's good to know you feel I've succeeded.

naleight: I'm happy you like Arya and Aerion's relationship as I certainly enjoy writing it As for Sansa I'm really happy you and others liked the way she was written, I wanted to get that balance between loyal Stark and the more world-wise woman she is becoming. With Arya and Sansa while they have never been cut from the same cloth I think they're similar yet different experiences would give them a far better relationship. Yeah the scene with Dany and Sansa was fun to write, Dany has always negotiated from a position of power it was kind of fun taking that away from her and forcing her to react instead of being the instigator. Maybe Aegon has just turned over a new leaf ;) we'll just have to wait to find out.

LaurenSelbyHughes: Glad you love the story, Arya is one of my absolute favorite characters so my primary concern when starting this was doing her justice.

GoDrinkPinesol624: Wait no more

Beloved Daughter: Sansa was fun to write, glad you enjoyed how she turned out and yes she definitely has some bite to her now.

Disclaimer: A song of ice and fire is the property of George R. R. Martin no copyright infringement is intended and no profit is being made from this story.

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They pushed quickly through the biting cold of night, moving constantly to keep warmth in their bones. The twelve infiltrators left a half an hour before the force of 500 meant to take the eastern tower of the Twins. The journey was silent the only sound being the soft panting of Nymeria loping beside her human, and the whipping wind around them.

Aerion looked over at Arya and couldn't help but notice her demeanor was far different now than when previously they had gone into battle together. Of course he hadn't seen her on the Iron Islands, when a single minded focus born from years of experience had overtaken her. He found her whole approach to the matter incredibly impressive. Though he couldn't help but find it reminiscent of his behavior after his various failures but there was a glaring difference that Aerion couldn't help but notice. She is in complete control of herself.

In that moment he had a feeling that the woman walking, stalking more like, just a little in front of him would never cease surprising him.

After five hours, they were getting close to their destination. In the distance, the outlines of the twin towers of the Crossing could be seen through the darkness. The tents and fires of the Bolton and Frey army could be seen on the far side of the river. They will have only one advantage, our entire army will have to push through the gates. The choke point will give them the opportunity to fight us a few hundred at a time. We'll have to figure out some way of removing that advantage. Still having a foothold in the eastern tower would be a very good thing.

The moat surrounding the wall was frozen solid by the winter which would make it all the easier to climb the walls and infiltrate the castle. It would be nice if the winter had done us the favor of freezing the actual river but that would apparently be too much to ask. The walls surrounding the castle were thirty feet high. The drawbridge was raised though the road leading into the castle was cleared of snow, something that would benefit the soldiers when they arrived.

The plan was to use grappling hooks to scale the walls, kill the guards on the walls undetected and take control of the gate house. Arya could take the face of one of the actual guards and keep the others safe from any suspicion.

Silently they approached the southern part of the wall, avoiding the gaze of the guards on duty. All twelve of the black clad infiltrators stood with their backs flush against the walls when finally the silence was broken.

In whispered High Valyrian Arya addressed one of the Unsullied, "I want you to walk around the perimeter and find out how many guards are on the wall."

The eunuch she addressed only nodded before leaving quickly. They waited in complete silence until fifteen minutes later the runner scout returned, "Ten guard." The Unsullied told Arya promptly.

"They walk the wall I assume." The Unsullied nodded. Arya paused for a moment as she pondered the information, "Okay it appears there isn't a guard just above this point which would mean that there is likely to be one somewhere else nearby. If we're lucky he won't be paying any attention to what is going on around him this late at night."

Arya stepped away from the wall momentarily to look up before whispering to the others, "Hooks."

Two of the Unsullied stepped away from the wall and pulled the grappling hooks from their hips. They had considered having every person carry one but thought better of it realizing that it would only give the Frey's greater opportunity to discover them.

The Unsullied threw the hooks up and over the wall, even from the ground they could hear a muted clang as metal hit stone. With a couple of practice tugs the Unsullied checked to make sure the grapples had dug in before beginning the thirty foot climb to the top of the walls.

Arya and Aerion were the last two to travel up the ropes, with a quick nod at one anther they made quick work of the upward climb and just six minutes after the hooks were thrown the entire infiltration team was atop the wall. Aerion quickly took note of his surroundings as he hefted himself over the side of the wall.

There was only one guard on the southern stretch of wall which was unsurprising as the Frey's likely assumed the only threat was to the north in the form of Stannis Baratheon. The guard was standing next to a door leading into one of the battlements as he stared blankly out toward the Kingsroad.

Arya made a motion with her hand that clearly indicated she wanted them to follow her as she walked quietly along the wall. Fortunately, because of their good planning there was absolutely no one in the courtyard to notice them skulking in the shadows along the wall.

Arya led the group, Aerion just behind, as they reached the guard. With a feline grace, which Aerion couldn't deny was incredibly enticing despite the intensity of the situation, she kicked the guard in the back of the knee while simultaneously bringing her hand up to his mouth to muffle the yelp that escaped the soon to be dead man's mouth. In one quick motion Arya brought her dagger up to the man's neck and all watched as blood began pouring down and staining the twin towers upon his chest.

The body was quickly dragged into the battlement and propped against the wall. Aerion looked at the young man as Arya took stock the situation. The Frey boy was no older than fourteen, probably one of the forgotten children or grandchildren of the Late Lord Walder. Aerion noticed that his eyes were still staring blankly out into the distance the light having left them when Arya finished her work. Doing the young man a small kindness Aerion reached down and closed his eyes gently.

Arya meanwhile was leaning her head out the door they hadn't come through to look along the next stretch of wall. Aerion stepped up behind her and assessed the situation as well. Five of the other nine guards were walking this stretch of the wall, all of them shivering in their armor clearly less than pleased to have been given the nighttime guard duty. One appeared to have fallen asleep as he leaned on the parapet in front of him; two of the others were talking to each other in low tones apparently thoroughly enthralled in their conversation. The last two were diligently doing their duty as they looked out into the darkness for any sign of attack.

Arya pushed Aerion lightly in the chest and back into the room. The ten Unsullied arranged themselves around the room to attack any who entered from the staircase that led down to the courtyard. Arya approached the body and examined it for a moment before addressing the room, "Give me ten minutes to prepare this face, I will deal with the more… attentive guards while you," she pointed to Aerion and two of the Unsullied, "deal with the other three." She turned to the other seven black clad eunuchs, "Head down the stairs and dispatch any of the other guards you find. Take control of the gatehouse as discreetly as possible, we will need the room when the rest of our forces arrive."

Everyone quickly moved as Arya began preparing her second face since returning to the Seven Kingdoms, she noticed Aerion staring at her in obvious fascination and seemed to hesitate for a moment, speaking almost shyly "You don't have to watch me do this."

Aerion quirked an eyebrow, genuinely surprised by her concern, "Why wouldn't I want to see this? I find the whole idea of taking another's face incredibly interesting." He didn't realize how much that little comment meant to his lover.

Arya gave him a small smile, "Okay then, just don't stand to close wouldn't want you to interfere with the process."

"Wouldn't dream of it." They both chuckled briefly before Arya started preparing the face for use. When she was done Aerion couldn't believe the simplicity of the whole thing. Then again, I shouldn't be. The Faceless Men must have needed to change faces while on assignment on a regular basis; given that they have been around for hundreds of years it makes sense that they would be able to do it very quickly. Ten minutes later, as promised, Arya's beauty was masked by the rather ugly and thin haired Frey boy.

Aerion had to resist the urge to laugh as Arya started batting her eyelashes in what would have been an attractive way had it been her actually doing it. When she leaned into kiss Aerion he stood his ground until she was a mere inch away at which point they both starting chuckling softly. She leaned into whisper in Aerion's ear, "I honestly wouldn't have been offended if you had simply pushed me away."

Aerion hummed to himself softly, "I was tempted, but it was far funnier than it was awkward and I know you well enough to know you wouldn't have gone beyond teasing me."

Arya pulled back and they both turned to find the Unsullied still in the room looking at them curiously. Aerion blushed slightly while Arya did as she always did and schooled her features instantly. I may be good at not showing my embarrassment but sometimes I really wish I could be as good as her.

Arya approached the door quickly but stopped before opening it, "Wait until I have the first two distracted before you approach the other three. They nodded before she opened the door and made her way out onto the wall again.

Aerion watched through the crack of the door as Arya approached the guard closest to them and struck up a conversation, the older man seemed reluctant to speak at first but as Arya gestured for them to walk over and speak to the other clearly attentive guard he nodded his head and they began meandering toward the other battlement.

Aerion looked to the Unsullied and with nary a gesture they made their way out into the bitter cold again. The two talkative guards had taken to looking out over the courtyard paying absolutely no attention to their surroundings. He gestured from the two men to the two Unsullied and they quickly made their way, knives drawn, toward the two men as Aerion approached the man he believed to be sleeping.

The guard was in his fifties but instead of the twin towers Aerion expected to see on his chest, he had the red horse of House Bracken. Aerion noticed that he was missing two fingers on his left hand, and his ear was blackened with frostbite. Foolish of the man not to properly cover up in the winter, and they say age breeds wisdom. He was short, only five foot-seven and pudgy. As Aerion approached him from behind, the man did something Aerion wasn't expecting; he turned to gaze at Aerion's shadowy figure. Dull brown eyes widened as his bushy eyebrows shot straight into his hairline. He made to scream out to his fellows but Aerion reacted too quickly; he took his knife and gripping it blade down he drove into the man's temple, which caused a grunt of pain that Aerion was incredibly thankful wasn't a cry of anguish.

Aerion was silently berating himself for his foolishness. Never assume anything in a hostile situation it can get you and the people you are fighting with killed. He quickly moved forward toward Arya who now had the two remaining guards' full attention. She turned and caught Aerion's eye for a moment gesturing subtly to the one on her right. Aerion moved up behind the man and as he made to drive the knife into his neck he saw Arya move beside him, slashing the last remaining guards throat quickly.

"Prop them all up to look like they are still on guard." Arya commanded curtly. Aerion gave her a questioning gaze but she completely ignored him, something that didn't entirely surprise him given the situation.

The infiltrators quickly did as their leader commanded and propped the dead guards up to look as though they were surveying the thick darkness of night. Keeping them propped up by driving their own weapons through flesh and into stone. Aerion found it slightly distasteful but couldn't argue that it was a very good idea. He realized that this was similar to how Arya described her escape from Harrenhal five years ago. Only difference is we're trying to get people in instead of getting people out.

Arya turned to Aerion, "Go and check on the others."

Aerion nodded and quickly made his way back into the battlement and down the stairs as quietly as possible. When he reached the winch to the gate and drawbridge he was shocked to find that one of the Unsullied was injured while taking the area. Aerion needed to take only one look at the man's wound to know that he was going to die. His humors were pouring from his stomach even as they applied pressure to stem the tide. "What happened?" Aerion snapped a little heatedly.

"That one," Hero, one of the Unsullied gestured toward a dead Frey, "was skulking in the shadows and attacked Red Ant from behind."

Aerion sighed, "Right, nothing to be done about it. He is going to die." It was blunt but the truth, everybody in the little gatehouse knew it, Red Ant better than any of them. Nobody moved for a long moment after Aerion's declaration.

That was until Red Ant rasped out, "Just kill me. I die knowing I served the Breaker of Chains and that is enough for me." Aerion nodded and stepped over drawing Serpent's Fang as he moved, "It is good to know I die at the hands of such a good warrior in the end." Aerion gave a sad smile before he drove the black steel between Red Ant's ribs and into his heart. The Unsullied soldier gave Aerion a weak smile before going limp.

Silence sat heavily in the little gatehouse as they each bowed their heads in honor of their fallen comrade, a minute later Aerion addressed the others, "How many guards in total did you encounter while you were taking the gate?"

"Nine," Grey Worm told him, "three were asleep and the others were extremely drunk."

"You checked through that door?" Aerion gestured in the direction he hadn't come from. The Unsullied nodded. "Very good, we have only to wait for Arya then."

"We could open the gate now."

"No," Aerion responded a little harshly, "we open the gates too soon and men in the tower will notice and we will be overwhelmed before the rest of our forces arrive."

Hero seemed almost cocky as he responded, "Unsullied could withstand ten times our number."

Aerion chuckled in half part derision and half part surprise, "I respect your bravado friend but that doesn't change the fact that there could be as many as a thousand fighting men inside of that castle and ten men can't withstand those kinds of odds. We need the element of surprise in this."

It was at that moment that Arya walked through the door, "Aerion is right until we actually see our forces approaching we can't open the gate. The less chance we give them to notice our presence the better." She looked at the dead Freys around the gatehouse, "Prop them up to look like they are still living."

The task was quickly finished and they stood there in almost complete silence as they awaited the 500 men who should be arriving shortly. Arya and Aerion looked around corners warily to make sure there were no approaching soldiers, there luck didn't hold entirely.

A gruff voice rang out from the other side of the partially snow filled yard, "Oi lads, everything alright out there?"

Arya looked at Aerion briefly before turning in the direction of the voice. The man in question thankfully couldn't see much of what was going on, "Aye we're fine," Arya's voice came out with a surprising masculinity that Aerion wasn't expecting, " that fucking coward Stannis hasn't come down past Greywater Watch in months and it ain't going to change tonight." I suppose it makes sense that she could change her voice as easily as she changes her face.

There was a full bellied laugh that rang out through the emptiness of the yard before the out of sight guard responded, "Aye, the fucker is probably too busy with that Red Woman of his to worry about actually taking back 'what is rightfully his'." The guard finished sarcastically.

Arya laughed though it was hollow to the ear, "The only thing that's rightfully Stannis Baratheon's is that stick up his ass."

Aerion could hear the light crunch of snow beyond the gates and went to look out from the iron bars of the gate to see their approaching forces. He quickly returned to Arya's side to whisper in her ear, "They're here, we either need to kill that guard or get him to go back into the tower while we open the gates."

Arya looked over her shoulder, gazing out toward the men walking toward the frozen moat. She turned back toward the guard who had kept himself situated in the doorway to the tower, "Well there is nothing going on out here, might as well get back to the warmth of the castle."

"Trying to get rid of me, ey there lad?" Was the lighthearted reply.

"Of course not, I just know I sure as hell don't want to be out in this gods forsaken cold; can't imagine you would want to either."

They heard another laugh that seemed far louder than necessary, "True enough, I'm freezing my balls off out here. I'll see you later lads." Mercifully they heard the large door to the tower close after a moment and they both breathed a small sigh of relief.

Arya turned to the Unsullied, "Lower the drawbridge slowly, we don't need it crashing down and stirring every Frey in that castle." They did just that, inch by inch the drawbridge dropped until the heads of the men on the other side of the moat could be seen waiting a little impatiently. Arya turned to Aerion, "Raise the gate, quietly if you can manage it."

Aerion moved over to the gate winch and slowly pulled the gate upward, a soft creaking emanated through yard. Just as he heard the soft thud of the drawbridge hitting the other side of the moat he raised the gate just high enough for all of the men to enter the courtyard. Nymeria came bounding in alongside the men panting happily as Aerion pet the back of her neck.

Loras was the first man through the gate smiling broadly, "You know," he said to Aerion, "it is nice being the youngest brother, means I get to go on all of the most dangerous assignments without fear of anything happening to the family name."

Aerion laughed, "I'm sure Garlan is positively fuming that he didn't have the opportunity to walk through the cold of night without the opportunity to sleep, in order to fight an unknown number of people in the close quarters of a castle."

Loras' smile only widened as he patted Aerion on the shoulder, "Glad we are on the same page."

Aerion pushed his hand away good-naturedly, "Oh sod off, we have work to do."

Loras's smile dropped, "You're right, is the door into the castle open."

Arya, once again herself, answered as she approached the pair, "Yes, the man who came to check on things didn't have the good sense to lock it behind him when he reentered the castle."

"Then let's get this done." Loras said a little haughtily.

Arya and Aerion looked at one another with mirth in their eyes as they moved forward with 509 men at their back. Aerion realized they hadn't thought of one important matter, "Wait a moment," Arya turned to look at him, "we need to have men keep watch of the gate that leads out onto the actual bridge." Aerion could tell she was berating herself internally for not realizing that herself.

Loras was far more demonstrative in showing how stupid he found his lack of attention as he smacked himself rather loudly on the head, "You're absolutely right, if an alarm is raised we will need to have men down here to make sure the gate isn't raised for reinforcements to enter."

Arya addressed the first person she saw, one of the men from the Vale with the three ravens of House Corbray on his chest, "You, take ten men and hold the interior gate against any who try to open it."

The man obviously wanted to protest but when he noticed the way Aerion and Loras were appraising him seemed to think better of it, after all the knight was there when the two thoroughly dismantled Lord Hardyng and he wasn't as young as he used to be, "As you command Lady Stark." Loras was the only one of the three who realized Arya had just given Lyn Corbray, the man who killed Lewyn Martell in the Rebellion, the task of holding a gatehouse when it probably wouldn't even be necessary.

Arya oblivious to Loras's barely contained laughter started walking toward the main door of the castle again as Ser Lyn broke off with ten of his men toward the interior portcullis that led out to the crossing.

Aerion and Loras pushed open the door cautiously as they entered the eastern castle of the Twins. There was no one in the entrance hall which was fortunate. The tower was quite large, having six floors and dozens of rooms including a barracks on the lowest floor.

There was a door to what they could only assume was the Main Hall of the first floor just in front of them with two other doors to each side. The Great Hall where the Red Wedding had taken place and Walder Frey had his carven black oak chair was at the top of the tower.

Arya spoke to Aerion and Loras in hushed tones, "We will need to spread out our forces, I sincerely doubt there is anyone in the Great Hall this time of night but it is a possibility. We'll each take a third of the force and make our way through one of the sets of doors, if you come to the stairs leading to the upper levels I would suggest you wait until the rest of us arrive, we have no idea how many men in total occupy the tower." She turned but stopped, "Oh, and I don't think it should need mentioning but remind your men that any women and children they encounter are to remain unharmed."

The two men didn't respond but did as she asked without question. Aerion found it funny how even though she was only nearly sixteen years old she could command such respect. Then again that is no small part of the reason that I fell for her to begin with, there is that certain something about her that commands respect and it has nothing to do with her family name. Aerion led a group made up of men from Dorne and the Unsullied through the door to the right. They checked every side room they came to as they traveled through the halls of the Twins. More than once a knife was dragged across a sleeping soldier's throat. They made quick work of these rooms. Better they die in their beds than have to fight in the battle that is sure to occur at some point, our presence can only go unnoticed for so long.

Aerion's thought turned out to be prophetic because as he opened the next door he heard a cry go up somewhere else in the castle, "INTRUD…" that was all the helpless guard was able to get out before he was silenced but Aerion had no doubt that it roused the other guards, at least those on the lower floors.

Unfortunately for Aerion, he just happened to find himself opening the doorway to the sleeping quarters of what appeared to be the bulk of the men on the lower level. It was a very large room that had doors that led off into three other rooms. If he was to guess he would say over a hundred men were housed in the barracks. Just my fucking luck.

Noticing the various men around the room waking from their slumbers he acted quickly, bringing his sword down in a quick arc and cleaving the skull of the nearest Frey. Blood sprayed out from the wound as blade cut into brain matter and a short but pained noise came from the dead man's throat.

The men at Aerion's back quickly entered the room and that is how the blood bath began. For the first time since the Red Wedding the Twins saw true bloodshed but this time it was Frey blood that flowed like the river they guarded miserly. As over a hundred men flooded into the large barracks, blood stained the stone floor and splattered against the walls.

Aerion admitted that fighting in a room like this was one of his least favorite things to do; skill meant far less than luck when your movements were hindered by a throng of enemies. Men began pushing their way into the larger room from the three smaller ones and soon it became absolute chaos. Blood and sweat were pungent in the air and the heat of so many bodies was almost suffocating as the men in the room fought with everything they could to avoid their deaths.

It was abundantly clear to Aerion that every Frey was going to be strewn across the ground by the end of this fight, they had absolutely no coordination and the surprise attack had them scrambling. Aerion found himself fighting a man maybe twice his age, who managed to stand and pull his longsword from its sheath just before Serpent's Fang drove through his exposed back.

Aerion was taken off guard by a shove as one of the Dornishmen was forced into him. The momentary distraction was nearly his undoing as the Frey slashed at his chest; Aerion just barely managed to move back from the blades reach and the tip of the sword left a thin cut in the sturdy wyvern-hide jacket upon his chest. Aerion steadied himself by pushing up off the wall and with a slash steel met steel. The force of Aerion's strike was enough to shatter the blade in the Frey's hands, with a loud clang. The strike continued through and the blade cut deeply into the Frey's unprotected collarbone with ease, a sickening cracking sound reached Aerion's ears as the bone yielded and the blade moved toward the man's lung. As Aerion pulled straight up blood spurted out of the wound and onto his forearm and hand. They must be using some pretty shit steel if I was able to shatter his blade with such ease.

Aerion had little time to dwell on the fact though as he felt a blade cut into the back of his leg. He turned and drove forward with a single thrust that went right through the offending Frey's mouth and out the back of his head. The blade shattered the yellow teeth and gum as it made its journey and the droopy eyed Frey twitched as he died.

At that moment the door on the other side of the room burst open and Arya and the men she lead from the sell-sword companies funneled into the room quickly. The Frey's now fighting the small skirmish on two fronts had no chance of surviving. Above them they could hear movement as the fight attracted the attention of the other occupants of the tower.

"Go back to the stairs and make sure no one can enter the lower level!" Aerion bellowed out over the moans of pain and death around them. The Unsullied near the door moved immediately and made their way out of the barracks and back the way they had come. When Aerion turned back to what remained of the Frey's in the barracks he had to quickly avoid a slash aimed at his neck but as he made to stab upward and through the man's lungs he realized that he was already dead. Looking behind the now dead Frey, he saw Arya looking back at him.

The Dornish and the sell-swords finished off the few remaining fighters. Looking around Aerion had to assume he had misjudged the number of men inside of this barracks. It appeared to Aerion as though the unprepared Frey's had lost over 200 men in the skirmish. He could see at least fifteen Dornishmen interspersed amongst the dead and just a few of the Unsullied.

Aerion limped on his first step, having forgotten about the slash on the back of his calf but quickly righted himself. Aerion noticed that Arya was favoring her right hand as he walked over to her, "What happened?" He asked concern lacing his voice.

Arya smiled at him slightly before shaking her head, "I was knocked over in the bustle of the fight and one of the fuckers stepped on my hand to make me drop my dagger. He probably broke at least one bone in my hand."

Loras and his men burst into the room at that moment and looked more than a little put out, "Of course you two go and finish everything before I can get here." They both stared at him for a moment until he coughed uncomfortably.

Aerion was the one who spoke, "While I appreciate your attempt at levity Loras now might not exactly be the time." The maiden-like man just nodded stiffly obviously realizing that his comment was in poor taste considering the smells and sounds of death that pervaded the large room.

Arya started making toward the door that Aerion had come through, "You found the stairs to the upper levels this way?"

He nodded his acknowledgement, "The Unsullied are holding it against any who might try to come down from there."

"They would be foolish to risk such an attempt. It would be smarter to establish themselves at the top of the stairs and wait for us to come to them. If what I heard of the Red Wedding is true then they have more than enough crossbowmen waiting for us at the top of the stairs." Bitterness laced his lover's voice and he gave her arm a gentle squeeze that quickly broke her from her darker thoughts.

"How many do you think are left?" Loras asked completely unaware of Arya's brief moment of rage.

"Well between the barracks and the rooms we cleared out I wouldn't be surprised if we killed nearly 400 of the defenders. I would assume that the women and children are in the uppermost levels which would mean the rest of the defenders are on the next couple floors. Best guess is we'll have to fight another 600 before we have full control of the castle." Arya thought out on the fly.

They arrived at the staircase where ten Unsullied had killed what appeared to be fifteen Frey's who tried to find out what was going on the first floor. "Do we know exactly how many we lost during that first scrum?"

"Only twenty." Said Grey Worm from behind them, "Catching them by surprise gave us a huge advantage, at least half of them met there end before we even had the chance to react properly. Add to that they had no armor to protect them and it is easy to see how we could have such success." Arya and Aerion were the only ones who actually understood the eunuch as he spoke in High Valyrian.

"Good," Aerion began, "that means we have nearly as many men as they do, though they clearly have the advantage of position at this point." He finished while eyeing the stairs. "We send every man with a shield up the staircase with others behind them bracing them in case they are pushed back when they reach the top. Chances are they will just bombard us with crossbow bolts when we reach the top so we should be able to push in and establish ourselves on the landing." The other two commanders nodded their consent and they quickly had every man with a shield assembled at the foot of the stairs two abreast.

They climbed up to the second floor of the castle quickly and as the first man reached the top there was a clearly audible thud as a crossbow bolt lodged itself into a shield. Aerion and Arya were standing ten steps behind the first man to reach the second floor and they could clearly hear as the continuous thud of crossbow bolts hammered into the line of shields but despite this onslaught they were able to move forward along the landing.

By the time they reached the top of the landing, Nymeria had blood on her mouth from where she had killed more than a few Frey's, the nearest crossbowmen who cowered in fear at the sight of the massive wolf. The sight seemed to terrify every Frey soldier as they stopped loading their crossbows and merely stared at the massive beast as it mauled their comrade. Aerion noticed a slightly malicious smile that took over Arya's face and that was when he realized why the Frey's were so afraid. Grey Wind supposedly killed dozens before finally dying, it isn't surprising they would cower before a direwolf.

Aerion wasn't going to give the Frey's the opportunity to regain their bearings. He moved forward and removed one of the crossbowmen's head from their shoulders as even more of their men pushed up and onto the second floor. Arya beside him stabbed a man in the throat with Needle and screams of fear echoed through the halls of the tower as they killed every single Frey defending the entrance to the second floor. Thirty crossbowmen lay strewn about the room in a bloody heap but the attackers paid them little mind once they were out of the way.

The makeup of the second floor was much the same as the first floor, the only difference being that they could hear the ruckus of men moving behind the door directly in front of them. Aerion turned wearily to Arya, "Shields to the front?"

She nodded, eyes hard as stone as they moved over to the door, "There will be more crossbows on the other side of this door, probably not as many though; I doubt they expected us to make it past the landing."

"They are fools then, they only had thirty in that room and we only lost twenty in the forward push."

"The Frey's aren't known for their skill in battle love," the endearment lacked its usual warmth in the heat of battle, "they are only known for being oathbreakers who affront the gods." Aerion could understand her anger in the moment so decided not to comment and just moved up behind the shield and spearmen who would push open the door."

It was just as they pushed open the door that they heard a bell begin to ring from the top of the tower. I'm surprised it took them this long to alert the other end of the crossing. That Corbray better hold the gatehouse otherwise we are absolutely fucked. Aerion was pulled from his musings as the doors just in front of them opened. Arrows and crossbow bolts bombarded them, he heard a scream from just in front of him as one of the men at the front took an arrow straight through the neck as he failed to hold his shield as high as he should have; three men in total fell to the volley of deadly projectile but they didn't give them a chance for a second volley as men flooded into the large room.

This battle was almost exactly the same as the one on the lower floor, lacking need for true finesse instead relying on basic instinct to keep away from the veritable sea of blades that cut at them in the closed quarter. As they pushed further into the room Aerion noticed some of the Frey men fleeing out one of the side doors. Probably retreating to the upper levels of the castle.

When everything was done every Frey who hadn't fled was laid dead on the floor, pools of blood stained the grey stone and Aerion doubted that they would ever fully come out. They killed another 200 Frey's on the second floor and found the fully stocked kitchens and larder while fighting before they approached the next set of stairs.

The trend continued as they pushed up floor by floor thankfully never hearing footsteps beneath them, meaning the gate was being held by the men of the Vale. After what felt like hours, and what actually was for once, they found themselves with just half as many men as when they started their assault though the Frey's were doing far worse. Just fifty men stood on the other side of the door to the Great Hall of the eastern tower of the Twins. Every room they had entered on the fifth and sixth floor had been filled with cowering women and children who had been abandoned by the men who were supposed to defend them.

Nymeria's usually grey fur looked almost black from the blood that stained it. Even the direwolf appeared winded as they tried to break down the last door between them and the seat of House Frey; it had been barricaded in the time they made their way systematically through the castle. Aerion looked over to Arya and gently wiped a bead of sweat from her brow. She looked at him and smiled gently despite the situation and her obvious weariness. They both had their attention drawn to the doorway as it began splintering from the bashing it was taking.

With one final hit the door caved in and the last 200 of Daenerys's forces pushed to kill the last of the defenders. Aerion had to admit that the men fought hard in their desperation to avoid death.

Aerion found himself fighting another of the Frey's of the Twins; he tired of looking at the blue towers that adorned their chests. This one had more skill then most of the other Frey soldiers he had fought to that point and he was seemingly a knight unlike many of the soldiers who had been relegated to the barracks down below.

The man was stout and wiry, and his black beard had various strands of grey interspersed. Luckily for the Frey, Aerion's exhaustion had him moving just slightly slower than usual.

Still Aerion even exhausted from hours of battle was more than a match for the fresh as a daisy Frey. Aerion parried the man's blows fluidly and dodged a dozen slashes before he found an opening in the man's surprisingly poor defense. He must be used to people falling to his attacks fast enough that he never had to worry about anything else.

Driving forward Aerion batted away an errant slash before he pushed his sword through the man's thigh, destroying his femur with ease and causing a loud scream to emanate through the hall. The noise drew the attention of the few remaining defenders. Aerion quickly pulled his blade from the now gushing wound and brought it to the Frey's throat. Staring the man who was maybe twice as old in the eye he dragged it along his throat and watched as the older man spit up blood as he tried to drag in air that would do nothing to stay his death.

As Black Walder fell, Arya was preparing to kill a young man when something extremely surprising happened; Nymeria stepped in front of her human and began sniffing the young man before turning to face Arya and nuzzling at her. The young Frey looked at Nymeria in shock before speaking, "We surrender." He and one of the other men, who appeared to be his brother, glared at the other fifteen men who stared back before reluctantly dropping their swords.

Arya stormed up to the young Frey who surrendered, "Why didn't Nymeria attack you?" She asked heatedly.

"Nymeria, as in Arya Stark's direwolf Nymeria?"

Arya eyed the young Frey critically, "Yes, how the fuck would you know that?"

"My name is Olyvar, I was King Robb's squire. My father and Black Walder," he gestured toward the dead man at Aerion's feet," sent me, Perwyn and Alesander away before the Red Wedding," he continued hastily when he saw Arya bring her sword up to strike him again, "because we were loyal to him and his cause."

"So why are you back here fighting for your worthless family?" Arya spat out.

If Olyvar was offended by Arya's vitriol he didn't show it, "Since they sent for our return we haven't been allowed out of Black Walder's sight for even a day; it was either die fighting or die in a cell. I would rather die with a sword in my hand if I must die."

Arya seemed to be warring internally so Aerion walked over to his conflicted lover, "He surrendered willingly and Nymeria recognized something in him that caused her to stand between you and the kill, shouldn't that be enough?"

She looked at him through narrowed eyes, and Aerion wouldn't be surprised if she decided to slap him but she just sighed in defeat before turning back to the young Frey, "Where is your father?"

Olyvar gestured behind him where there was a door leading out of the main hall, "He is there though he is sickly, I doubt he has long to live."

Arya laughed, the sound unsettling, "Oh he certainly doesn't have long to live, I have another name to remove from my list."

"So you really are Arya Stark then?" Olyvar asked suddenly as his eyes took in her body.

Arya and Aerion both glared at the young man rather fiercely and he blushed under there gaze, "Apologies, I just didn't think to meet a ghost. You were betrothed to my half-brother Elmar; I have no doubt that he will regret my father's decision to cancel that betrothal if he could see you now."

Arya smiled mischievously, "Assuming he lives through the next day, he will only regret your father's decision as long as it takes him to find out that I am a former Faceless Man." Aerion and Arya would never get tired of the reaction that piece of information elicited as appreciation turned to obvious fear.

Olyvar gulped loudly, before speaking quietly, "You are probably right about that."

"Glad we agree," Arya said far more sweetly than most people could have managed, "now I have some business with your father."

(POV SHIFT)

Arya walked to the door with long strides; the potential of finally seeing justice done upon one of the men responsible for her brother and mother's death driving her forward. Both Aerion and Nymeria followed behind her closely. Arya briefly thought about telling her lover to stay in the Hall for this but decided against it. He has been with me for just about everything so far, no reason to stop him from being with me for this.

As they walked through the door there was a pungent odor of piss in the air and Arya realized that she had probably only reached Walder Frey days before death took him by natural causes. The bald, mostly toothless, all around decrepit ninety-five year old man stared at them as they entered. A disgusting laugh emanated from the large four poster bed as they drew closer despite the urge to vomit from the smell.

Arya heard a whimpering sound over to her side and was surprised to see a woman, who she assumed was Walder's wife, standing over in the corner. She was staring wide-eyed at the direwolf as the great wolf sat down on its haunches at the foot of the bed with teeth bared. Nymeria knew instinctively that this was one of the men responsible for the death of one of her packmates and wanted his blood.

Aerion move over to the woman and quickly guided her out of the room where she was taken care of by Olyvar and shut the door behind them. The noise coming from the old man hadn't stopped and Arya eyed the man with disdain, "What is so funny Frey?" She finally asked tiring of his incessant cackling.

The thin voice of Walder Frey echoed in the near empty room at the top of the crossing; the crossing which was the only reason any of the lords of the Seven Kingdoms gave him even an ounce of respect, "I know who you are pretty thing, only a fucking Stark would have one of those beasts at their beck and call. So based on the look of you, I would have to assume you are Arya Stark."

"You would be correct." Arya was surprisingly calm as she addressed the oathbreaker.

"Just my fucking luck," a bit of spittle escaped the tiny old man's mouth as he raged slightly, "I thought the lot of you were dead or broken; you were supposed to be married to that Bastard Bolton but here you are alive and well, something I know wouldn't be the case if you were actually the young girl forced to marry that man. The gods certainly have a sense of humor if a Stark is to kill me in the end." He took quite a while to get the whole thing out.

"No," Arya said calmly, "the gods don't have a sense of humor. There are the old gods whose influence in the south died when the heart trees were destroyed and then there is death; he will always have his due."

"Ah, death," Walder spoke almost fondly of the potential, "you have wrought more than your fair share of death today."

Arya ignored the comment, already being well aware of the death she had taken part of in the night and knowing it was for the good of the realm, "I wonder, do you regret it now on your death bed?"

"What are you talking about you foolish woman?" Walder's speech was labored but even so the venom in his voice was obvious.

Arya didn't rise to the insult, "Your house will fall into anonymity, the name that you have done so much to strengthen, to see grow through your lust and your low cunning will come to nothing." The comment struck a nerve as the look Old Walder Frey turned on her would have curdled milk, and cause any baby to scream but Arya was made of sterner stuff and felt the need to laugh at the old man's attempt at intimidation; Aerion actually did laugh slightly.

Arya continued, "All of your sons and grandsons save the three that were loyal to my family above yours will be outcasts, never being accepted in betrothal. Something tells me Olyvar, Perwyn and Alesander will take their wives' family names when the time comes, and your daughters will marry into other houses, at least the ones that are pretty enough to overlook the poor stock from which they came. And let's not forget that a Frey will never again control the Crossing or Riverrun." Walder went into a coughing fit as he stared at her in silent anger.

"I'll be honest, I can understand removing your men from the fight against the Lannisters. I loved my brother but he was foolish, the lines between love and duty became blurred to him and he made the wrong decision, but," Arya now drew closer and stared down into the beady eyes of the vile man in front of her, "I cannot understand why you would bring him here, break some of the oldest traditions of the First Men and kill thousands all because of your wounded pride."

"I hope the few years your family controlled Riverrun was worth the destruction of everything you spent your life building." The usually vocal man was silent for a long time before speaking.

"You are all the same: the Tullys, the Starks, the Arryns, all of you looked down on us. You asked me if I regret what I did, well I have an answer. No," He spat the word out almost gleefully, "I don't regret a fucking thing I did to your family, I have never felt such joy as when I watched my son cut open your mother's throat, the lying bitch that she was, or when Roose Bolton shoved a dagger through your brother's heart."

Arya stepped back a moment, "I hate you Lord Walder for what you did to my family, but I don't think any less because your family is nothing more than a bunch of up jumped gate keepers." Her voice was dangerously quiet as she continued, "No, I have lived a hundred lives since last I was home and cannot judge you for that. I look down on you because you are a vain, petty and pathetic little man with nothing more than the lowest of cunning who only developed a spine when he had the backing of the most feared man in the Kingdoms."

Walder began another coughing fit, "So kill me then and take your vengeance you wolf bitch."

Arya drew Needle from her hip and pointed it at the man's chest, "You know when I discussed you with the Queen I told her you would live long enough for my blade to taste your blood, from the smell of you it is obvious I only arrived with a couple of days to spare. Your death it will be painful if I let the disease that is taking you persist." The last was said almost to herself.

"You're going to let me die painfully then?" There was a hint of fear in the disgusting old man's voice.

Arya's response was to drive the thin blade into Lord Walder's throat causing him to widen his eyes in surprise, "Justice is more important to me than my selfish desire to see you suffer. Besides, it is not for me to give another suffering, just the gift of death. Whatever comes after life I hope yours is eternally agonizing," Walder Frey's blood did not pour from his body like most of the healthy young men she had killed in the night, no his almost oozed from his body in thick yet slow rivulets. His tiny eyes closed as he took one last shuddering breath before the disgustingly vile old man left the world forever. Nymeria gave a distinctly happy bark, which caused a small smile to break out across Arya's beautiful face.

Wanting nothing more than to be away from the dreadful odor that seemed to pervade every stone of the Lord's Quarters, Arya grabbed Aerion's hand and exited the room quickly. Walder's wife was standing fearfully over by the other Freys while at that very moment Loras entered the room clearly looking for someone, "Arya you may want to come and meet one of the women we found."

Arya raised one eyebrow in question, "Who could I possibly have any interest in speaking to?"

"Your aunt and cousin." Loras said with a small smile.

Arya looked completely perplexed before she realized who the Tyrell knight must be talking about, "Why is my Uncle Edmure's wife still at the Twins?"

Olyvar spoke up, "The winter and war made it impossible for them to travel to the Rock. The winter is also the reason my father was still on this side of the Crossing, it was believed the weather would have killed him even with such a short journey. I'm sure you noticed the stifling heat in his quarters." Arya nodded her head in acknowledgement. Might as well go meet the woman my brother should have married.

"Please take me to my aunt, Ser Loras." He nodded and she and Aerion followed him out of the room and through the corridors.

Aerion addressed Loras, "I must assume seeing as we aren't all dead that we were able to hold that gate."

"Yes," Loras confirmed, " I went to check on the gatehouse while you two were busy with Lord Frey. We allowed very few of the occupants to reach the gatehouse, Ser Lyn seemed a little perturbed that his skills were being put to such poor use." He finished with a chuckle.

"Hmm," Arya began, "I didn't realize that was Ser Lyn Corbray, I will probably have to apologize for slighting the honor of the man who killed a wounded Lewyn Martell."

Aerion laughed, "Yes knights are such prickly things, they have far too much pride."

Loras glared at the younger warrior, "You wouldn't be saying that if Ser Barristan knighted you."

"No," Aerion chuckled, "I would definitely be saying that if I were knighted, not all knights are the same after all; in fact, Ser Barristan is the perfect example of what I'm talking about."

Arya broke them from there banter by bringing their attention back to more important matters, "Why didn't the Bolton's on the other side of the Crossing bring their forces against the gate."

"Well the first reason is probably that they haven't taken the time to clear the bridge of snow in what appears to be months, so even if they sent reinforcements they still have a great deal of digging to do." He shrugged his shoulders slightly, "Then, even if they reached the gate I doubt they had the necessary equipment to bash down their own fortifications." He stopped as they reached an oaken door. "They're in here."

Arya opened the door and immediately heard giggling off to her right where a pretty petite woman was tickling an auburn haired four year old girl bundled in more furs than were probably necessary. So that is why my Uncle Edmure is alive, his first child was a girl. Their presence in the doorway was noticed by both mother and daughter and identical brown eyes stared at them. Roslin quickly righted herself and smartened up her daughter, "I'm sorry my Lords, Lady I was just trying to entertain little Minisia. She was more than a little scared of the fighting; I thought it best to do what I could to take her mind off of things."

"Minisia, you named her after her grandmother?" Arya asked softly as she looked at the little girl.

Roslin's eyes fell onto Arya and quickly began taking in her features, she ignored the question, "You look like a northerner, but I'm afraid we've never met."

"You are my aunt by marriage Lady Roslin, and little Minisia there is my cousin." Minisia seemingly bounced over to hug the young Stark before Roslin had the chance to stop her. The little girl was oblivious to the blood that stained Arya's armor and clothes. The child spoke up innocently, "I hope you're nicer than some of my other cousins."

Arya patted the little girls head fondly, "I apologize for the intrusion my Lady, but I thought you would like to know that your brothers, Olyvar and Perwyn survived the battle and that none of the other Ladies of your house have been harmed."

"Minisia sweet thing, go into the other room and work on your reading." The little girl released Arya's leg and did as her mother bid.

"She seems like a bright child." Aerion said with a slight smile in the pretty woman's direction.

She didn't even seem to register Aerion's words as she stared into the distance blankly, "My father, is he dead?" Roslin asked in a monotone.

"Yes, I…" but Arya was interrupted before she finished the thought.

"Finally, I've been waiting for that piece of shit, who I sincerely doubt was even able to sire me, to die since the day he killed your brother." Arya and Aerion both looked at the small woman in wide-eyed surprise from the venom that laced her otherwise gentle voice.

"I know why I hated your father, but why do you?" Arya asked genuinely curious.

"I was forced to participate in the Red Wedding." Tears threatened to spill from her eyes, " I am ashamed to say I knew what was going to happen and did nothing." Roslin paused, "I love my husband and I was never happier than the day that Minisia was born because I know he would be dead if I had a boy. So tell me niece, why wouldn't I hate my father?"

Arya gave the older woman a sympathetic look, the only woman who ever had a worse wedding night than Roslin was probably whatever poor girl was forced to stand in for Arya when marrying Ramsay Snow. "You're right Lady Tully," the title brought a small smile to the woman's face, "you had good reason to hate your father as well.

At that moment they were interrupted by Ser Lyn, looking more than a little frustrated, "The Queen has just arrived, she requests your presence." He addressed Arya, Aerion and Loras.

Arya turned and bowed her head to the well-known knight she had unintentionally slighted, "I would like to apologize Ser Lyn, it has been a very long time since last I was in the Kingdoms and I must admit I did not recognize the Lady Forlorn on your hip; I would not have relegated you to simply guarding a gate had I known who you were."

The middle-aged man's back straightened, "Your apologies are accepted my Lady, I cannot blame you for a mistake in the heat of battle particularly not as it was a mistake made by a woman." He said the last as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Aerion and Loras both looked at Arya waiting for her likely harsh response, "Do not misunderstand me Ser, the lack of a cock between my legs is not what caused my mistake. I wouldn't have recognized you either way." She looked at Aerion questioningly, "I was the leader of this little infiltration team wasn't I?"

Aerion resisted the urge to chuckle, "Yes, Lady Stark."

"And correct me if I'm wrong but we managed to take the castle losing a fourth of what the enemy lost."

"Yes, Lady Stark." This time Aerion wasn't able to restrain the small chuckle at watching the beautiful young woman who shared his bed outright mock the pompous knight.

"Hmm funny, you would think with my being a woman we were bound to fail." Ser Lyn was red in the face but chose to hold his tongue lest he embarrass himself further.

"Well the Queen awaits, wouldn't want to anger her." Arya threw a little smirk Ser Lyn's way as she emphasized just who was in charge of the entire army. She turned to her aunt with a gentle smile, "It was nice speaking with you Lady Roslin, however briefly it may have been. You might be interested to know that Queen Daenerys has every intention of reinstating House Tully as Lords Paramount in the Riverlands and that my Uncle is still alive and well at the Rock."

Roslin returned the smile before responding, "I knew my husband was safe but thank you I didn't realize that the Tully name would be restored to its rightful place."

As the three walked from the room both Loras and Aerion still hadn't fully schooled their features to hide the slightly vindictive glee they felt at Arya making the Knight of the Vale look a fool. As they rounded the corner Loras actually broke out laughing, "I've watched my grandmother putting men in their place since I was a child, my sister learned the talent well, but that was one of the single best displays of dismantling a pompous knight I have ever seen."

Arya smirked mischievously, "Maybe you would like me to have a go at you next, oh Knight of Flowers?"

Loras shook his head still chuckling slightly, "Perhaps another time." Arya winced as she bumped her broken right hand into the wall unintentionally. I completely forgot about that. Not surprising really; the adrenaline from battle is finally wearing off. Aerion looked at her with concern in his eyes but she just waved him off.

Arya returned her attention to Loras, "Still I very much appreciate being compared to your grandmother; from everything I have heard she is quite the fearsome woman."

"Truer words were never spoken." Loras said almost reverently. They continued on in silence after that, walking through the blood stained halls of the Twins. Bodies were being carried outside and the servants, none of whom were harmed in the fighting, were instructed to begin the process of cleaning up the pools of blood that were left behind.

As they exited the tower they found Daenerys standing with Ser Barristan, Aegon and Grey Worm, who already appeared to be giving her the details of their successful infiltration. The Queen as usual was wearing far less in way of furs than those around her. I think every man in the North would be glad to have blood of the dragon if it meant they could withstand the cold so easily.

Daenerys saw them approaching and waved them over, "I see that you were able to give me the Twins as promised." The Queen kept a straight face though the urge to smile was obvious.

Arya bowed her head, "The Crossing isn't yours yet your Grace, but it will be tomorrow."

Aegon directed a smile her way, "This conquest has certainly benefitted from both you and Aerion."

They both gave him a gracious smile though they were confused by the complement. Daenerys seemed equally surprised but agreed with her nephew nonetheless.

The Queen looked to her various advisors, before turning her attention to the three who had actually participated in the fighting, "Each of you should find a room within the castle and rest; you will need your strength when we take the other side of the Crossing tomorrow."

"Thank you, your Grace." All three of the blood covered fighters said in turn.

Aerion gripped Arya's left hand and they quickly made their way back into the warmth of the castle. They traveled back up to the fifth floor of the tower where far fewer dead were strewn about and found an empty room. There was a bed large enough for the two of them and a large wooden tub that they both were ecstatic to find was filled with warm water. They quickly stripped of their bloodied armor. As they lowered into the tub beside one another they each released pleased sighs as the warm water worked into their tired muscles.

Aerion lightly gripped her injured hand underneath the water, "Do you know where you broke it?"

"No but I'll be fine love, I know how to work through the pain." She said with a slight smile.

"I know Arya but I prefer it when you don't get hurt."

Arya chuckled lightly, "You're one to talk, this is the first time I've been properly injured you seem to get some deep nick or cut every time we go into battle."

Aerion lifted his leg out of the water to show her the red gash on the back of his calf, "I suppose you're right; to be fair though I am a much bigger target."

Arya rolled her eyes playfully, "Excuses don't suit you." She reached for a rag on the side of the tub and began scrubbing the blood and grime from Aerion's skin before he did the same for her. They relaxed until the water started to cool before removing themselves from the tub and jumping underneath the furs. Lack of sleep over the previous day had them both out the second their heads hit the feather pillow.

---

Aerion and Arya both woke up refreshed the following morning and quickly made their way down to the Main Hall, they were surprised to find that very few people were still there and that most were outside clearing the bridge of the large piles of snow.

As they exited the building they found Garlan speaking with Dickon Tarly who he quickly dismissed as they approached the Lord of Brightwater Keep, "It seems everybody from your little mission the other day was more than willing to sleep the day away, my brother hasn't even come down yet." He finished with a chuckle.

"Is the bridge cleared?" Aerion asked immediately getting down to business.

Garlan smiled, "Oh yes, men worked in shifts all night. Of course it helps that the Boltons dug out the last third of the snow for us in their attempts to send aid to this side of the river."

Arya scoffed, "They were far to over-confident in their ability to hold this castle."

"It's probably because they haven't actually had to defend it from Stannis in a very long time." Aerion reasoned.

Arya hummed her agreement before returning her attention to the Tyrell Lord with them, who was smiling slightly at them, "When do we attack?"

"Soon," Garlan responded, "our biggest problem is that we can only march five across along the bridge and we need to use a battering ram to destroy the gate."

"Which means that we are going to be open to arrows, and oil, and fire" Aerion listed off grimly, "we will have to put as many shields as we can in the front and I can't imagine that anyone is going to volunteer."

Garlan smirked, "Usually you would be right, but Ser Lyn seemed… upset that he was unable to do more in the battle here yesterday and a thousand men of the Vale have volunteered to be the first through."

Arya was slightly surprised but admitted people had done worse over slightly wounded pride, "Well if that is his decision; the interior gate isn't as well reinforced as the exterior gates, which could very well mean far fewer of our forces die in the assault."

"The cold will help as well, the metal will rend far more easily," Garlan gestured behind him to the large battering ram, "my guess is twenty strikes from that and the gate will yield but we're still going to have to funnel in five at a time."

"That would be the time to use the dragons." Aerion stated bluntly.

"You would have them unleash their fire with our forces so near?" Garlan asked with some heat.

"I would have them fly over the enemy force, maybe even close enough that they could strike with their claws; it will push the enemy back from the gate and give us the opportunity to gain a foothold. Once we force them to retreat from the castle, the dragons can unleash their fires." Arya and Garlan both nodded their agreement.

Arya turned to walk away, "Well we best go tell the Queen, something tells me she will be unhappy you didn't give her this little piece of strategy before we marched." She said the last with a laugh.

Aerion followed close on her heels as they left Garlan behind, "I didn't know whether we would be successful in taking this side of the river, nor did I know how long we would wait before attacking the other side."

"In other words you didn't have your brilliant idea until just now and are trying to cover for it." Arya teased with a wink in Aerion's direction.

He smiled sheepishly, "Yes or it could be that."

When they found the Queen just outside the gates Arya was surprised to see Drogon and Nymeria sniffing each other when suddenly the direwolf's tongue flashed out and licked the snout of the massive winged beast. Daenerys appeared highly amused by the whole thing and smiled as they approached, "This is the first time the two storied creatures have actually met each other, and it would appear they enjoy each other's company."

"I would have to agree." Arya responded with a chuckle.

"Well I doubt you sought me out to watch me laugh over the antics of a dragon and a direwolf, what did you want to discuss?" Aerion quickly relayed his plan to the Queen who stared at them for a long moment.

Finally Daenerys spoke, "It will put the dragons in danger." It was a weak argument and all three of them knew it.

"But it will save hundreds if not thousands of men's lives. If it is done right, you will be able to swipe down and push the defenders back without putting the dragons in any real danger. After all, the archers will be far more focused on the vulnerable forces on the bridge."

Daenerys sighed, "You're right it will likely save hundreds." As the Queen conceded they went their separate ways to prepare for the upcoming battle.

It was an hour after their little chat and Arya and Aerion found themselves in an unfamiliar position, waiting far from the front line for the gates to fall. The clash of the battering ram against the steel of the gate could be heard even across the expanse of the Green Fork River. The screams of dying men could be heard and Arya only hoped that it was as much the archers on the wall as it was the men along the bridge.

Just fifteen minutes after the assault started, the entire army heard the sound of rending steel as the battering ram destroyed the gate on the other side of the Crossing. The lines along the bridge started moving forward as the army pushed forward into the courtyard on the other side. It was at that moment a great roar was heard from the sky as the dragons swept down upon the combined Bolton, Frey and Lannister forces. Screams not of pain but of terror cut through the cold air of the early afternoon, Arya looked over to Nymeria as she answered the dragons roar with a howl of her own.

Hundreds of Daenerys' soldiers funneled into the enemy stronghold shields in the front, knowing that the enemy would have their archers aiming inward as they entered, the entire process was far easier than anyone expected as many of the defenders cowered at the sight of the dragons just as Aerion had hoped.

As Aerion and Arya moved forward along the bridge they had to walk over the dead bodies of their fallen comrades, who were either burned or littered with arrows, a small number still lived though they were crying out for death as the army passed them by.

The pair entered the courtyard to the sounds of steel on steel and anguished cries, soldiers were pushing onto the walls killing archers as they went. The flayed man of House Bolton was the most common sigil amongst the enemy ranks though Arya could also the lion of Lannister, towers of Frey, the black crown and rusted axes of House Dustin and perhaps the most surprising was the white sun on black of House Karstark. My father always said Barbrey Dustin could hold a grudge but the Karstarks were our kin. Though Robb did kill Lord Rickard from what I heard, apparently they can hold a grudge as well. Arya hated the idea that any Northern House would side with the Boltons but was happy to note she saw no others amongst the enemy number.

Though it was not the smell of fighting that made Arya want to wretch as the battle raged on around her, it was the desecrated bodies of two men, one bearing the stag encased in fire of Stannis Baratheon, the other the merman of House Manderly, which absolutely revolted her. They were flayed from head to toe, the musculature and bone bare for the world to see. It was probably meant to terrify our forces as we entered and break our resolve to fight. As she forced back the urge vomit in revulsion Arya didn't feel fear, only a white hot anger that welled up inside of her.

Arya attacked every pink flayed man she could see with as much fury as she could muster as in her opinion they were the absolute worst humanity had to offer. Robb was their King and he did nothing to wrong them, though their House has always yearned for control of the North. And then to desecrate bodies in such a way only insults the Old gods they supposedly worship.

Daenerys's army pushed and pushed at the enemy defenders until finally they were overwhelmed and forced outside of the castle's walls. Over 15,000 of their forces were now on the other side of the Green Fork and it was as their enemy retreated that Daenerys turned the battle into an absolute massacre.

The three dragons unleashed a torrent of flame that brought the scent of burning flesh to the air and left the traitorous bastards with almost no way of retreat. It was at that moment that Arya realized that Nymeria's earlier howl was done in more than response to the dragons roar as a hundred wolves ran up the great snow banks and began attacking the retreating Bolton forces.

Fear ran through the enemy as they found themselves battling both beast and man. Arya bellowed over the noise of combat to her fellow fighters, "The wolves are Nymeria's pack! They will not harm us!" The message quickly made its way through the ranks and no wolf died from the blade of the Queen's forces.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Aerion engaged with a thin balding man. His face was pockmarked, eyes colorless, and cheeks gaunt. She hadn't seen that face in six years; not since he'd used Ice to chop off her father's head, but she said the name in her mind every night before sleep took her. Ser Ilyn Payne. The former King's Justice wielded the greatsword gleefully, expecting an easy opponent. What he found instead was a quick death. The mute took a great wide slash at Aerion's side, but he jumped back with ease, keeping himself steady despite the snow beneath his feet

Aerion lunged forward with the tip of Serpent's Fang pointed at Ser Ilyn's throat. The grim man, made to block the blow but it was a feint. Instead, Aerion diverted the blade at the last second, driving it down through Ilyn's boiled leather armor and into the man's groin. Ser Ilyn fell to his knees with a throaty scream that carried over to Arya as she batted away a Karstark soldier's strike, and drove her dagger through his throat. Even in the heat of battle she managed to keep her attention on Aerion and Ser Ilyn.

Her lover stepped up beside Ser Ilyn, where he now kneeled on the ground and looked across the short distance between them and met her eyes. Without seeking her permission he brought the black blade down in a quick precise arc that cleaved through Ser Ilyn's neck and spine in one motion and severed his head from his body with a shower of blood that painted the snow a bright red. Arya mentally crossed another name from her list, unsurprised that at least one was attributed to Aerion, before she put her full attention back to the fight around her.

Two hours in and the fight was beginning to come to an end. At that moment, Arya found herself fighting a Bolton with prominent and ornate steel greaves that guarded his long legs. Arya knew there were no knights in the North but they were just as skilled and Bolton's men, traitors or not, had been fighting wars for six years.

The lanky yet strong man attacked Arya with a mad gleam in his eye that seemed entirely appropriate for the house he served. It was obvious to the former assassin that he thought to overwhelm her with sheer force, which was a good approach given his greater size but Arya continually frustrated him, ducking and dodging away from each strike. Unfortunately for, she made a mistake and found herself on her back as she took a hard hit to the shoulder.

The Bolton spat down on her forcing colder anger to effuse her every nerve, "We might not win this fight you fucking cunt, but your dragon queen won't last long if she is relying on the likes of you to do her fighting."

As the man made to strike a final blow Arya gripped the dagger from her hip with her right hand, ignoring the shot of pain in her broken hand. She rolled away from the falling blade and bounced to her feet, the strike that would have cleaved her skull in two clanged against stone instead. Arya took her wolf pommeled dagger, and drove it into the jaw of her opponent and up into his brain and then with a cry pulled it free of his skull a moment later, blood squirting out around her hand in the process.

Arya could feel her hand throb in protest to her actions put she paid it little attention as she noticed the remaining Bolton forces surrounding a clean shaven, grey haired, man with nary a scar on his body. Even across the thirty foot expanse separating them, Arya could see the tell-tale mist grey eyes of Roose Bolton. She moved forward oblivious to all else around her, something that she would usually recognize as incredibly foolish.

It was lucky for Arya that her lover was paying more attention to her surroundings than she was as Aerion parried a strike aimed at her back without her knowledge. He made quick work of the Frey man who thought to kill the Stark woman, shoving his black blade straight through the man's sternum and passing through his spine on the other side.

Aerion noticed Arya's focus and stayed close to her as she continued walking toward the man who betrayed her brother. She dealt with anyone who walked into her path along the way while Aerion guarded her flanks. Nymeria did her part too, tearing out the throat of a few of the men Aerion didn't have the opportunity to intercept. Just a few feet from Roose Bolton, Arya noticed her two protectors and a shadow of a smile ghosted across her face at the knowledge they had kept her safe in her single-minded haze.

Arya wanted to make sure that the Leech Lord saw her before he departed the world. The men around Lord Bolton began to fall as their position was overwhelmed by the greater numbers of Daenerys' forces, so Arya knew she had to act quickly if she wanted her blade to be the deed. She stepped up in front of the last man alive responsible for her brother and mother's death. She didn't think it was possible but the pale man actually managed to lose even more color from his face as his eyes took in her furious visage.

Arya kept her mouth tight in determination, not allowing herself to feel the slight sense of victory at seeing the fear enter the usually emotionless eyes. Roose was not the skilled fighter her father was; he was a schemer through and through. Arya decided to draw out the fight if only slightly, she left cuts on his previously unblemished skin; a cut on each cheek and one of her slashes even took out a chunk of the man's nose. It is not my place to make men suffer only to give them the gift. Arya internally chastised herself.

Roose was attacking her wildly as the battle was all but over around them. She ducked under one more swing and brought Needle up and threw his elbow forcing him to drop the blade in his hand with a loud cry. A few of the other fighters stopped to watch as she had the Warden of the North at her mercy.

Metallic grey met eerie mist grey, "The North always remembers you piece of shit." Roose made to reply but didn't have the opportunity as she drove Needle forward and into the traitor's heart. Arya leaned in to whisper to the quickly dying Lord, "Your family name dies with you." She enjoyed the anguished keening that came from the Leech Lord as she pulled Needle from his chest with a spurt of blood. No light left Lord Bolton's eyes. He has been dead inside probably his whole life, why would I have expected any different.

Arya's attention was pulled from the dead man in front of her as a large grey blur ran by her, weaving around the fires in pursuit of a lone horse fleeing the battlefield. The horse couldn't match the direwolf's speed moving through the snow and in just fifteen seconds after running by she watched as the coward was pulled from his horse and dragged to the ground. Nymeria took a few minutes to drag the struggling man back to Arya and in that time Aerion stepped up beside her and rested a hand on her shoulder.

When finally the last Bolton alive in the Riverlands was dragged before the pair, a deep bite wound was leaving a trail of blood as Nymeria continued to pull at him while growling angrily. Arya instantly knew who the man was. So this is Bolton's bastard, the one who burnt down Winterfell.

"Where were you heading bastard?" Aerion asked before Arya had the chance.

Ramsay's nostrils flared at the insult that Aerion didn't even truly intend, "I am a Bolton." The ugly and surprisingly fat man said defiantly.

"No," Arya said calmly, "you are Ramsay Snow, bastard son of the corpse just next to you. A piece of paper doesn't change what you are. My brother Jon wasn't a bastard despite his birth, but you… you are the absolute epitome of a bastard."

"What would you know of it?" He spat at her feet.

"More than most, I am Arya Stark after all." Ramsay's eyes widened and she could see the animalistic madness that gleamed there, "You'll understand if I am glad I couldn't make it to our wedding."

"Oh, I would have had fun with you." The bastard cackled. Nymeria snapped at his neck with a bark causing the man to cease his laughter even as Arya put a hand to Aerion's arm as he went to take Serpent's Fang from its sheath.

"How many of the men in that courtyard back there," she gestured back toward the Twins, "did you flay yourself?"

"A dozen, twenty, I tend to lose count. I had such a grand time doing it though." Both Aerion and Arya couldn't hide the rage in their eyes, burning hotter than the dragons' fires, at hearing the man's. I doubt I have ever met another who deserves death the way he does, his death will be a gift… A gift to all those who he has tortured.

Arya caught Nymeria's golden gaze and with a single gesture the she-wolf pounced on the kneeling man. Her sharp fangs dug into Ramsay Snow's fatty neck and with a yank the sound of tearing flesh reached the pairs' ears. They watched as the Bolton name faded from the Seven Kingdoms for good.

Arya looked out across the battlefield and watched as wolf and man alike moved around putting those who were dying of their wounds out of their misery. The wolf pack seemed to be congregating in one area as they began feasting on the fruits of their labor. There was almost nothing left of the 20,000 men Roose Bolton commanded. A few men from the Westerlands surrendered as did a few Northerners but nearly all were dead.

It was with that thought that Arya realized what she had just accomplished. Justice, justice for father, mother and Robb. She didn't even notice as tears started to fall down her face but Aerion did.

He hugged her into his chest and she appreciated the warmth he provided as she continued to cry, "Are you okay?" She felt the rumble of his chest.

Arya pushed away and smiled up at him, "I am wonderful Aerion. I have no more names left to cross off my list, no more faces to haunt me at night. I am glad I was finally able to do what was right by my family." He smiled down at her before laying a gentle kiss on her temple. They walked slowly back toward the castle Nymeria panting softly just beside them. Many found the slight smiles on their face a little odd as they passed but when Daenerys saw them she only smiled and nodded her understanding.

There is still so much left to do but at least this is done. I promised to end them and I have. That was Arya's last thought as she drifted off to sleep that night head resting on Aerion's chest.

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AN: I hope people like this chapter; I particularly enjoyed writing Arya's conversation with Walder Frey and Ramsay Snow's death.

Oh just wanted to say how awesome it is that this officially has over 10,000 views and how much I appreciate everybody who reads this story.