Chapter 12: Find A Way
King's Landing
Arya turned around in her bed, trying to go back to sleep again. And failed. After a few more tosses and turns, she sat up slowly with a sigh, rubbing her eyes. She drew her knees up to her chest, looking out of the windows into the clear, blue sky. It was mid-morning; she had slept late again.
Irina had been in the room, she could tell. The windows were open, there were fresh flowers in the vase, and clothes had been laid out for her in a chair. Arya had appointed the girl as her handmaiden. She quite liked her, and the girl was just a couple of years younger than her.
A knock sounded on the door, and she looked around. The person was persistent, and kept knocking frantically. She got out of bed, and went towards it.
"Who is it?" She asked, without opening it. If it was some guard or servant, she would drive them away.
"Miss me, love?" Arya bit her lip at the sound of his voice and grinned.
"What if I didn't?" She didn't open the door.
"I doubt that." Jon sounded amused, too. "Now, let me in please, Arya."
"No," she shot back playfully. "Shouldn't you be downstairs, My Prince?"
"Let me in, Arya. Or I will go around the castle and climb up your window."
"No, you won't." She laughed, hand on the doorknob.
"Yes, I will. But then, I'd have to cover my face, and the guards will think I'm a-"
"Oh shut up." She opened the door and pulled him inside in one second, then in the next her lips were on his.
"You said you didn't miss me," he said between kisses. His hand trailed down her back along her spine, settling itself on the small of her back. Arya rolled her eyes, and stood up on her toes, arms wrapped around him, and her lips busy with his.
When they finally pulled apart, Arya opened her eyes, looking at the man infront of her. She ran the tips of her fingers over the stubble on his cheek, like she'd wanted to. Jon smiled, and tilted his face sideways to kiss them.
"Good morning," she said.
"Morning, wolf."
Arya pecked him again on the lips. He turned her around and clutched her waist, nuzzling his face in her neck.
"Jon?"
He nipped her skin to show he was listening.
"Now that things are... good, will you teach me swordfighting again?"
"Well, it was because of you things got bad in the first place," he whispered in her ear.
"No, it wasn't!"
"Yes, it was. If you weren't so stubborn-"
"I wasn't stubborn!" She turned on her heels. "I just didn't know." She shrugged.
"Liar."
"Stupid."
Jon chuckled. "I've known a long time." He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Probably since I first saw you."
"That's ridiculous."
"You're blushing."
Although Arya knew he was right, she meant to retort, but the door clicked and opened before she could.
"My Lady-"
The girl shrank back gasping, somehow keeping herself from stumbling over. They had forgotten to lock the door.
Damn.
Arya froze in her spot. Only then she realised Jon had one hand around her waist and the other on her neck. And they were standing close. Really close...
The girl's cheeks turned a deep shade of red and she looked down on the ground, mumbling apologies.
"It's alright," Jon said to her in a kind voice, but it seemed to make her more nervous.
"She's seen," he whispered to Arya.
"I'll take care of it." Arya kissed his cheek again. She wanted to kiss his lips, and by the look on his face, he wanted it too, but they pulled away from each other's arms, and Jon left the room, throwing her a 'come down soon' and a smile that made her skin warm.
"Irina, close the door and come here."
The girl walked with nervous steps, undoubtedly frightened. Arya sighed.
"I am not going to do anything to you," she said.
"I am sorry, My Lady. I know I shouldn't have barged in. I should've knocked, but I thought you were sleeping, and I didn't know Prince Jon..." She blushed again.
"It's okay, don't worry so much." Arya took her hand and Irina's eyes went wide. "Jon won't say anything."
"The P-P-Prince might be a-angry, My Lady." She was very close to crying.
"Did he look angry?" Arya asked.
Irina shook her head.
"You won't tell anyone what you saw?" Arya asked. If she told anyone before Jon talked to Rhaegar, things might get messy.
"No, My Lady." She looked at Arya. "Isn't Prince Jon to marry My Lady's sister?"
"He was." Arya nodded. "But the betrothal will break, and Jon, he'll- he loves me."
The girl smiled. "My Lady would be Queen."
"Someday, maybe," Arya agreed. That was the problem: marriage. Arya had turned a black eye on marriage ever since she remembered. It meant leaving your family, staying away from home. It meant living life fulfilling duties and according to a husband, and having children.
But, I am far from home already, and Jon is different. He wouldn't...
She shrugged the thought off. Marriage was a long way off, that much she was sure of.
"What about your sister, My Lady? Won't she be sad?"
"No, she won't." Though she trusted this girl, she wouldn't tell her everything.
"I'd like to see My Lady as Queen. You will be a good Queen."
Arya smiled. "You won't tell anyone until it's official?"
"No, My Lady. I won't."
"Thank you."
0-0-0-0-0-0
"Something has happened, hasn't it?"
"No."
"It has," Aegon said again as he glanced between his brother and Arya. Both of them had been stealing glances at each other the entire time they have been sitting, and he had noticed. But Arya said nothing, and only smiled. Aegon found that strange too.
"Where did you disappear after the dance?"
Arya choked on her bread and Aegon gave her a glass of water. He glanced sideways to watch Jon, who face turned to one of worry. He glanced away when his eyes met Aegon's.
We're supposed to be angry at each other.
"We didn't disappear. You didn't see, we were right there," Arya said trying go focus on the food.
Aegon brow arched. "I never said you two. I said you." He chuckled. "What are you hiding, Arya Stark? Spit it out."
She dropped her spoon on the plate with a sigh, and Aegon knew he had won.
"You fancy yourself too smart, don't you?" She asked, narrowing her eyes.
"I am the smartest one around here. Now, that was not the subject." He leaned close to her.
"We talked," Arya mumbled. She took the spoon again and started to fumble with the food.
"And then?"
"I love him," she said. Aegon felt himself grin wider. Fuck their argument. He needed to go see Jon and tease him relentlessly about this.
"It's about time."
Arya nodded. Aegon was really glad for her. He could have bet on her loving Jon since Gods knew when. The only thing stopping her from accepting that was her stubborness. And his brother. He thanked the Gods for getting him out of his misery. He finally got her.
Someone coughed and Aegon turned to see it was Jon. Sansa, sitting beside him, patted his back, but he kept on choking. In seconds, everyone turned to look at him; he was still not stopping.
Aegon felt Arya tense beside him, and putting his hand over her reassuringly, he turned in his seat. Jon put one hand on the table and pushed himself up from his seat, but...
No!
Aegon heard Sansa's gasp of horror, and his Mother's cry of Jon's name as he rushed to his side. Jon coughed harder as he tried to crawl up from the ground, but to no avail. Ser Barristan Selmy, who was standing beside Rhaegar, held him up by one shoulder and Aegon by the other.
"Jon!" Lyanna screamed, and ran to his side. The King stood up, and did the same, while the others at the table were disturbingly silent. Jon started coughing out blood, and Aegon paled.
"Take him to his chambers," Rhaegar told a guard, but Aegon intervened, saying he would do it instead. Rhaegar nodded, and tried to console Lyanna who was now crying. Aegon looked at Arya, who was staring at them, a horrified look on her face. Sansa was now by her side. He nodded at them, and they took Jon upstairs; he had passed out.
"Get the Maester!" Someone shouted as they laid Jon down on the bed. Aegon touched his neck. It was icy cold.
The Maester was there in minutes, hurrying towards them.
"Prince Aegon." He looked at the knight. "I think it'll be better if we go out."
Aegon left the room without replying, and leaned against the wall, finally registering what had just happened. He ran back downstairs. No one had left the room, or had not been allowed to. The Queen was sitting on a chair and sobbing. Margaery was by her side. Aegon's eyes searched for the sisters, and found them on the far side of the room. His Father was nowhere to be seen.
"Arya," he said gently when he reached them. She turned to look at him, and he noticed her swollen eyes. Sansa softly stroked her sister's hair.
She's crying. Gods!
"The Maester has gone to see him," he said. "He'll be fine, Arya."
Arya didn't say anything. She was looking straight ahead. She is scared. His mind went to his brother upstairs, and he muttered a silent prayer to the Gods.
He heard the sound of footsteps behind him. "Prince Aegon, the King has called you to the solar."
Aegon reluctantly followed the guard, after laying a hand on Arya's shoulder and throwing a small smile at Sansa. Her eyes were glazy too, and he suppressed the urge to crush her to his chest.
"Aegon," his Father called just as he closed the door behind him. He saw Varys and Connington standing. The eunuch bowed to him slightly.
"His food has been inspected," Rhaegar said gravely. "There was poison in the wine."
Aegon's hands fisted to his side, and fear loomed in his heart.
Just then a knock was heard on the door and the Maester entered.
"Your Grace."
"Is he alright?" Aegon asked.
"I can confirm it is a poison, My Prince. But..."
"But what?" Rhaegar asked.
"It is quite a strong poison. But the amount is very, very low. The only damage it could do was what you've already seen. I do not understand that if someone wanted to poison Prince Jon, why would they give him such a small amount."
"I think it was Jon's luck they didn't. And the culprit's foolishness." Rhaegar turned to Connington. "Have the gates been closed?"
"Yes, Your Grace. No one can escape or enter."
"Good. Grand Maester, you should be with Jon."
"Yes, Your Grace. I'll go right away. Queen Lyanna is with him now, and the Stark girls. He'll take time to wake up."
Rhaegar nodded. The Maester left and the door was locked.
"Any suspect yet, Varys?"
"No, Your Grace. I have taken a sample of the poison. It wouldn't take long to now its origins."
"The Tyrells, Your Grace," Connington said in a hard voice.
"We cannot be sure, and surely we can't point our fingers at them without proof."
"Father," Aegon said, and all the eyes turned to him. "Maybe it wasn't Jon who was supossed to be poisoned." Rhaegar eyes turned hard.
"Jon is a Prince of Westeros," he continued. "This is a futile effort. If someone wanted Jon dead, they'd take care not to mess this up. How many times can you sneak poison in his cup?"
"Prince Aegon is mostly correct, Your Grace," Varys said. "A poison for Prince Jon would've been prepared carefully. They won't be careless with it."
"But who was it meant for, if not Jon?"
"Whoever did this," Aegon said, "must be punished severely. This is a treason against the Crown."
"I know that, Aegon," Rhaegar said.
"I know you do, Father. But if it is someone from an important house, I suggest you punish him the same as you would a lowborn."
"You don't have to worry about that."
Varys accompanied him on his walk back to Jon's room.
"It's been a while since I saw you, Lord Varys."
"Yes, Prince Aegon." Varys nodded. Aegon didn't detest Varys like he detested Connington, and he even had a sense of admiration towards the spymaster. Varys, in turn, seemed quite respectful towards Aegon, if not simply fond.
They entered the room, just as Lyanna and Sansa were exiting.
"Aegon," Lyanna said. Her eyes were red, and her voice was broken. She passed him swiftly, Sansa behind her. She threw a brief nod at Aegon, and their hands brushed each other's.
His eyes went to the other person in the room. Arya turned to look at him.
"The Maester went to do some work."
"Did he say he'll be fine?" He asked her. He wanted her to say the words, so she might believe them. Nothing will happen to Jon.
"Yes."
"My Lady," Varys interuppted them. "You can go and take some rest if you want to. You seem tired."
"No!" The sound of her voice surprosed the men. Arya took a deep breath. "It's fine, really. I am well enough, Lord-" She looked up at him.
"Varys, My Lady."
She nodded and turned back to Jon. He saw her slide her palm over his hand, with a gentleness Aegon didn't believe she had in her. Varys was looking at them too, his eyes narrowing.
There was a knock on the door and Margaery and Loras walked in, arm-in-arm. They bowed to the men, and Margaery wiped a tear off her face, which Aegon believed was very much false. They went to stand by Arya's side, and Aegon noticed Loras lay a hand on her shoulder, and threw her a small smile. What surprised him was that Arya returned it.
"Oh, Lady Arya, it is such a misfortune! To think he was smiling and talking one minute, and then became ill the next. Oh, poor Prince Jon!" Margaery voice would've fooled most, but none of the people present in the room.
"And I see you've been crying," she said again. "It's not strange, after all he is to be your brother by law."
Arya flinced, and Aegon knew everyone noticed. He knew she was likely to punch Margaery too, if she went on any further. To his surprise, Loras seemed to mirror his sentiments.
"I think it's best we do not talk of his condition now, sister. Lady Arya is very sad. We must not worry her more. Come."
He leaned in to whisper something in Arya's ear, and she nodded. If Margaery was offended, she acted well and hid it. They greeted Aegon and Varys formally, and left the room.
"Good actors, those two."
"I know you share my suspicions of them," Varys said.
"I never appreciated them. Although Loras seems fine, I never really befriened him."
"Lady Arya is quite the contrary," Varys mused. "Some would say the way Loras Tyrell looks at her, it might not be long until she settles in Highgarden."
"Highly unlikely, Lord Varys." Aegon couldn't stop the smile forming on his lips. "Arya is more likely to drive a dagger through his heart."
"He seems to think otherwise."
"It's only for a few days."
"Until?" Varys asked, raising his brow.
"Until someone rights the wrongs."
He looked at them. Jon and Arya looked too similar. Arya was paler, but the small contrast was veiled by the grey eyes and dark hair they both had.
"There may be another motive," Varys said, pulling him from his reverie.
"What do you mean?"
"What if killing Jon wasn't the motive after all? The culprit could have hoped to acquire something else. Knowledge, of a very different kind."
Aegon kept looking at Varys questioningly. The spider's words were riddles most of the time, and even though Aegon deemed himself smart enough, he was no equal to Varys in such things.
Varys was staring straight ahead at Arya.
"In times of tragedy, even the best kept secrets spill out. Our tears always betray us."
Varys turned to look at Aegon. He was still pondering over what he'd just said, still trying to understand.
Aegon's eyes suddenly widened in shock.
Arya!
"What hurts a man most is losing someone he loves. Family, friend, ally, or the worst..." He left the words unspoken.
"She is safe in King's Landing," Aegon countered.
"As we thought Prince Jon was. Until today." Varys smiled one last time at him, and bowed. "Things may be entirely different than what we think. I must leave now. There are orders to follow." Aegon nodded.
"You two seem to be good friends."
"That's not the word I'd use." He walked towards her, and sat down on the chair beside her, running his hand through his hair.
"You've cried," he said.
"And it didn't kill you." The jape fell just like another word from her mouth, with no mirth in it.
Aegon looked at Jon carefully for the first time since he'd fallen unconscious. The blood had been cleaned from his chin, and his breathing was more even than before. He touched his neck again. It wasn't icy, but it was still cold.
"You should go see Sansa," Arya said, her fingers stroking Jon's hair, her eyes fixed on him. "She has been strong today. She wiped my tears, then Aunt Lyanna's. She cried too, but she didn't show it. It's been a while since I've seen her hide her tears. I am always the one who doesn't cry, and still..."
"It's not a sin to cry. And don't worry, it was only me and your sister who saw you, I won't tell anyone, but I just might taunt you about it."
Arya let out a small laugh and shoved him lightly in the shoulder. "Stupid."
"Glad to have you back, My Lady." He looked at Jon. "You must be cautious. The person who tried to harm Jon might still be around. If he is dangerous, he could hurt you too." Let Varys be wrong.
"Why would someone hurt me?" She asked genuinly surprised.
"Just be cautious," he said, without answering her question.
Arya shrugged. Aegon walked back to his room some time later, after literally pushing Arya inside hers. She kept insisting she stayed near Jon, but he didn't listen. Jon could take days to wake up, and Arya needed rest too. He knew it had been too hard for her.
As soon as he opened the door, he saw Sansa, who jumped in his arms.
"Aegon," she sobbed against his neck.
"Hey." He cupped her face in his hands, and wiped her tears using his fingers. "Don't cry, love."
"I was so scared something would happen to him, and Arya was so, so sad. I thought if anything like that happened to you, I'd lose my mind."
"I'm right here. Nothing will happen to me." He kissed her, and turned around to lock the door. "You shouldn't be here. Someone will see an-"
"I just wanted to see you." Her voice sounded so scared and small he almost thought he would cry himself.
"It's fine." He hugged her tightly. Sansa relaxed in his arms, and he kissed the top of her head.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0
"How dare you talk to me like that?"
"You were making fun of her," Loras replied calmly.
"So?" Margaery asked mockingly. "I'm not exactly fond of her."
"But you have no right to speak to her like that!" He shouted.
Margaery gasped in surprise and shook her head. "You're yelling at me because of her? What right do you have that you're defending her so?"
"She is my friend," he said stiffly.
Margaery scoffed and pushed her hair over her shoulder. "Don't get too attached, brother. At the end of the day, she won't hesitate to hand over your head to him. You know why we're here. Don't wander your mind off to other things."
"She is not a thing." He eyed her with a hard look.
Suddenly, Margaery's eyes sparkled a little. "We could use it to our advantage, you know. But still, I suspect she'd leave the Crown Prince of Westeros for you."
"We're still not sure if-"
"What is wrong with you?" She smiled smugly. "Do you love her, Loras? That little wild wolf."
"That is none of your business." He took a seat on his bed.
"Yes, it is. Have you forgotten, dear brother, that we're already their enemies?"
"I am not. If I stop our plans-"
"Don't." Margaery's voice was as hard as steel. She glanced him over and turned around. "Don't let Father hear that." She left the room, and Loras lied on his bed.
He had seen the dried tears on Arya's eyes today, and it had made him somewhat sick. He knew this wasn't part of the plan, but then neither was she. They hadn't even known the youngest Stark girl was supposed to be in King's Landing. The plan was for him to seduce Sansa Stark, the betrothed of Jon Targaryen. But had he even spoken properly to her once? The younger girl took all of his attentions.
But Margaery was right, there was no way in the seven hells she would leave Jon for him. She clearly loved him, and thanks to his Father, it wouldn't be a secret much longer.
He probably wasn't in love with Arya, but he really liked her, and he wanted her. Women usually fought each other for him, but this girl was so different. She wouldn't offer herself to him, and he didn't expect her to. But he had to keep trying. Maybe, just maybe, she might actually begin to like him more.
But it won't be because my father wants it.
He could keep her safe from the war. She was still innocent, and war is cruel. He could take her to Highgarden if things in King's Landing turn ugly.
He would like that.
A/N: Hello, munchkins! HAPPY NEW YEAR! This chapter took a little longer than I had anticipated, but it's the holidays and I had been really busy (stuffing myself up xD). I hope you liked the chapter, and please, please, please, don't forget to leave a review. They're like hot chocolate in December.
If you find any grammar or spelling mistake, please tell me so I can fix it. This work doesn't have a beta and I absolutely hate proofreading.
Have a good day! Cheers! xoxo