Chapter 2

Arya woke with the taste of blood in her mouth. It had been a long time since she had dreamt a wolf dream. She felt as though it was a sign. She had made the right choice. She was a wolf, not a sheep. She would not blindly follow orders any more. She was torn though. She knew the House of Black and White would send another after Aegon. Killing the messenger hadn't prevented it, it would merely delay them. She wanted to work on her list but if she left then Aegon would be doomed.

She watched him out of the corner of her eye. He had let his silver blond hair grow and Duck was teasing him about being pretty. Duck smiled at her as she came close with the wine. She was posing as a serving girl again and had managed to get pouring duty at dinner. The face she wore now was a pretty one. She had hoped it would help her get closer and so far it seemed to be working.

"What do you think girl?" Duck asked.

It took all of Arya's training to keep herself composed. Aegon was grinning and looking directly at her. She quickly japed back.

"If he keeps growing it His Grace will have better hair than mine"

Laughter roared and Arya moved along to pour wine into Aegon's cup. A hand blocked her and her eyes met a set of pale blue ones full of disapproval.

"His Grace needs his wits about him. No wine".

Smart man Arya thought. She gave her best gracious nod and kept moving despite Aegon's protests. Jon Connington was going to make things both easier and harder for Arya. He was distrustful and suspicious of almost everybody. He seemed in a permanent bad humour. He was the one person who had questioned her presence. It consoled her a little that he was keeping such a close watch but it still wouldn't be enough to stop the next assassin. It was however enough to restrict her getting as close as she would like.

She watched Lord Connington a moment. She had figured out his secret. It didn't take much. He never went without his gloves and she had fetched him "the worst wine" on more than one occasion now. She knew he wasn't drinking it. He was too sober. She had also spotted something else curious. The septa wasn't a septa, not a true septa anyhow. She didn't know what the real story was there but it didn't concern her.

As the days passed Arya crept around quiet as a shadow at night. It wasn't hard to hear things. She knew what was going on in Kingslanding and much of the rest of Westeros. She knew what battles were being planned and who was considered an ally or a foe. It was encouraging to learn that many of Aegon's foes were hers as well. One of her most useful habits was to hover near the halfmaesters room and overhear conversations about the contents of messages. On this particular night Connington was with the halfmaester and Arya knew she would hear nothing. He was too careful. There were no open doors when the Hand was having his secret conversations.

Arya slipped into the kitchens instead. She had managed to become a fixture and nobody took any notice. When it was said that His Grace wanted fruit and cheese nobody cared when Arya took it. She was puzzled to find nobody guarding the door to his chambers until she opened it and found Duck in the solar playing some sort of game with Aegon. The supposed septa was seated watching them. She set the food down murmuring about having brought what was requested but they were so deep in concentration that only the septa acknowledged her.

Arya made to walk away then couldn't help herself. "What game is that?" she blurted.

They looked up at her and she silently cursed herself. Stupid, drawing attention. She mumbled an apology and began to retreat until Aegon spoke.

"It's called Cyvasse"

She stopped and watched a moment, curious. "Who's winning?"

Aegon's smile was blinding. "I am"

"Only because I let you" Duck grumbled.

Arya couldn't help but laugh. The game ended on cue and Arya was beyond startled when she was spoken to again. "Do you want to play?"

She struggled with herself. Despite her years of learning to train her face she must have shown something because Duck vacated his seat. She sat opposite Aegon and listened as they explained the rules. She was beaten soundly the first two games but she learned a lot. She didn't just learn the rules, she watched Aegon's face and that taught her far more. She began to anticipate some of his moves and the third game was a little closer.

"You're getting better" Aegon said, smiling.

"Thankyou your Grace" she replied.

"What is your name?" he asked.

The lie rolled easily off her tongue. "Cat"

He set up the board once more and Arya was acutely aware they were now alone. "You are very trusting your Grace" she observed.

Aegon's head jerked up and his eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

"You don't really know me" she said, keeping her voice level.

Aegon laughed. "Are you going to kill me?"

Arya forced a smile she didn't feel. He was completely clueless. "No your Grace".

He cocked his head to the side. "Do you want me to send you away?"

Arya answered a little quicker than she should have. "No". His smile widened and she cursed herself again. She felt herself blush. Gods, he is going to think I like him.

"Stupid" she retorted. "Don't look at me like that".

His smile grew even wider. "You call me stupid?"

"I apologise Your Grace" Arya said unconvincingly.

"Don't, you're more interesting when you insult me. Besides Duck is just outside, I'm sure I'm safe enough".

Arya was trying to figure out how to correct him when she realised his gaze had intensified. She felt the urge to squirm as he looked at her far closer than she would have liked. "Your eyes are an interesting shade of grey".

She leapt to her feet knocking the cyvasse pieces to the floor in the process. "I must go your Grace" she muttered, whirling around and ignoring his astonished expression. As she fled to the door she heard him call after her.

"Did I do something wrong?"

She threw a quick "No" over her shoulder and pushed through the door and past Duck. She slowed her paces and tried to calm her breathing. My eyes were meant to be brown, not grey. She made her way through the passages and found her quarters. A looking glass was sitting on a nearby table. She picked it up.

The Kindly man had wanted her to show her true face to Aegon but she had resisted. As she looked into the mirror Aegon's words were confirmed. The glamour had slipped. It wasn't completely her face but he had seen far more than he was meant to, far more than she intended. She slammed the mirror down, breaking it in the process.

What am I doing?

Somewhere in the distance a wolf howled.