More pies, a choice to make at the crossroads, meeting old friends, more show-verse dialogue but altered for my own purposes.
Not a great deal happens in this chapter, despite it being hugely important, just setting things up, and it felt nice to get away from Winterfell.
No One
No one was hungry, baking pies and not being able to eat them had that effect on a person, not that she fancied the fillings, and to be fair, the pastry didn't look particularly good either. She'd need to work on that for next time, if there were a next time. The smell of baking bread coming from the inn was even more enticing, too enticing, journey be damned, she was going to stop for food. It was probably a good idea to see what she'd missed, inn's were a good place for gossip, after all, to do what she wanted to do, she needed to know what was happening in Westeros. Inside, the inn was full, trying to filter out conversations would be tricky, she looked around for a spare table and found one, which was next to a table with two burlesque looking men talking, eating and drinking, perfect for No One, or so she hoped, so she listened.
"They say her dragons are bigger than Aegon's." No One had heard rumours of a Dragon Queen to the East, had she landed in Westeros?
"Aegon doesn't have any dragons." No Once frowned, who was Aegon?
"Not that Aegon you dickhead, Aegon the Conqueror."
"Horse shit. Cersei is just trying to frighten us."
"If it's true, if she lays siege to King's Landing prices will triple." No One suspected the men were merchants.
"Aegon seems like a decent bloke, maybe he can steal her dragons. I doubt he'd do anything with them." It sounded like there was another Targaryen in the mix, except one that might not be mad enough to use the dragons to destroy Westeros, although she doubted that. Would that mean another name to add to Arry Stark's list? Daenerys Targaryen, she kept that in the back of her mind.
"Mayhaps he would melt this fucking snow." she listened further, clearly there were worries among the smallfolk about prices, possibly starvation. Despite never experiencing winter in her living memory, she'd heard tell winter was hard. The timing of the Dragon Queen couldn't have been worse.
"As long as we get back there before the prices start going up."
"One more round. It's a long ride."
No One was slightly distracted when footsteps approaches No One's table.
"Arry!" the familiar round face of a someone Arry knew from long ago stared at her. Hot Pie was his name, and he was carrying a tray of food and ale with a huge grin on his face.
Maybe would be able to help fill in the blanks, best the No Once becomes Arry. "Hello, Hot Pie. Sit down." she said; he sat opposite her. "Who's that for?" she asked reaching over and grabbing a pie from the tray and hungrily started eating it. "Mmm. This is good." she nodded. If he'd made this, then Hot Pie was living up to his name.
"You think so? The secret is browning the butter before making the dough. Most people don't don't do that because it takes up too much time." he told her.
"I didn't do that." she thought, taking note for next time.
"You've been making pies?" Hot Pie asked.
"One or two." Arry nodded, although she doubted Hot Pie would approve of using the Frey brothers as a filling.
"I can't believe you're here. Did you meet the big lady?" Hot Pie asked.
"Big lady?" Arry frowned.
"The lady knight. I figured she was a knight because she had armour on. She was looking for your sister but I told her about you. Did she ever find you?" typical Hot Pie, he still thought any person wearing armour was a knight. However, she knew who he meant, a long time ago Arya Stark had encountered a large woman, dressed in armour. She'd fought the Hound and won.
"She found me." Arry replied.
"What happened to you Arry?
Arry paused, she wanted to tell him something, but couldn't think of anything he'd approve of. Certainly not knowing to brown the butter before making pastry. "You got any ale?" she asked instead.
Hot Pie began to reach for a pitcher on the tray, but Arry reached over and grabs it before him, pouring herself a cup.
"Where are you heading?" Hot Pie asked.
"King's Landing." Arry replied, pouring herself some ale into a tankard from the pitcher.
"Why?" Hot Pie frowned.
"I heard Cersei's queen now." Arry gulped on the ale.
"I heard she blew up the Great Sept. That must have been something to see. Boom." Hot Pie told her.
"Hmm." Arry nodded in agreement.
"I can't believe someone could do that." he shook his head.
"Cersei would do that." she sighed.
"I thought you'd be heading for Winterfell." Hot Pie said.
"Why would I go there? The Boltons have it." Arry asked.
"No. The Boltons are dead." Hot Pie told her.
Arry stopped eating and put her food down. "What?" she asked.
"You not heard?" Arry shook her head. "Lady Sansa was kidnapped by the Bolton bastard. The big Lady rescued her and took her to the Night's Watch to find her bastard half-brother. He's your brother right?" this time it was Arya Stark who nodded. "Anyways, while she was there, she met the Lord Commander of the Nights Watch who'd died and was brought back the dead by a red witch. It might be that same one we saw." her stomach dropped, her mind wandering to the fate of Gendry. "Turns out the Lord Commander was prince Rhaegar's son, Aegon Targaryen. And because he died he wasn't Lord Commander anymore."
"What's this got to do with the Bolton's?" Arya asked.
"Well, Prince Aegon helped Lady Sansa take Winterfell back from the Bolton's. It was a big battle, they call it the battle of the bastard. He had giants and wildlings and the Vale helping him." Hot Pie told her.
"Why the battle of the bastards if it was a bastard and a prince?" Arry asked.
Hot Pie frowned. "Not sure to be honest. Maybe it should battle of the bastard and the prince, but battle of the bastards sounds better."
"Fair enough." Arry agreed, whispers and rumours did sometimes distort the truth.
"I do know the prince fell in love with Lady Sansa. They've been crowned King and Queen in the north and they're getting married. Or they probably already are married by now, who knows. Everyone is talking about how he rose from the dead to return Winterfell to the Starks. He's a hero and the ladies say he's really handsome too. A great warrior by all accounts, the greatest swordsman in all of Westeros, riding into battle with help from a great big white wolf." Arya's heart raced, Hot Pie was talking about Ghost. "Did you know they call Queen Sansa the red wolf." he leaned over. "Everyone except the merchants are going to Winterfell, they want him to take the crown from Cersei and stop the Dragon Queen."
"I heard someone mention Aegon and dragons." Arry nodded. "Sansa always did like the romantic stories of princes rescuing the fair maiden." she spat.
"Not sure it was that romantic." Hot Pie sighed. "I heard she chopped the Bolton bastard's cock off and fed the Bolton bastard to his dogs. Ooh sorry Arry, I shouldn't swear in front of a..."
"I'm still Arry." Arry said, slightly more impressed with Sansa the a few seconds ago.
"But your sister is a Queen."
"Hmm." Arry started picking up her things to leave. "Thanks for the pie." she reached to her side and produces a bag of gold and opened the pouch.
"Friends don't pay. I can't believe I thought you were a boy. You're pretty." he smiled.
"Thanks." Arry stood and walked past Hot Pie. She turned and puts her hand on his shoulder. "Take care of yourself, Hot Pie. Try not to get killed."
"No, I won't. I'm like you, Arry. I'm a survivor. You take care too, there's Lannister soldiers at Moat Cailin, although I think they've sworn to King Aegon and Queen Sansa." Hot pie told her.
That got Arry's attention. "The Lannister army?"
"Yeah, King Aegon's got the biggest army in Westeros. The wildings, the north, the Vale, the Riverlands; even the Tyrell's and now the Lannister's are siding with him. Well Jaime Lannister is." Hot Pie explained.
"Jaime Lannister has gone against his sister?" she asked.
"All three Lannister's on each side. Cersei is in Kings Landing, Jaime with the King and Queen in the North and the Imp is with the Dragon Queen. It's going to be a battle of lions." Hot Pie nodded.
Or a dance of dragons, Arry thought to herself as she walked out of the Inn without looking back. No One climbed on her horse and wistfully looked to the north. If she went north, Arya Stark could see her sister again, maybe ask King Aegon about Jon, surely he must know him. Would No One make a difference in the north? She looked south, No One could kill Cersei and take her face. But what would happen to Kings Landing when the Dragon Queen came? Having three dragons wouldn't necessarily make her mad, but there was going to be a war with Daenerys and Aegon, of that No Once was certain. No One should support King Aegon and Queen Sansa, after all, they were family, but that didn't mean King Aegon was a good man, just because he'd taken Winterfell for her. In fact, he'd probably only taken it for the Stark men and to help him take the Iron Throne. Of course Sansa would be too stupid to see that, after all she did fall in love with Joffrey simply because he was a prince. No One needed to choose, north to Arya Stark's sister, or south to Cersei. To be fair, it wasn't the difficult of decisions to make, she turned her mare south and began to make her way to Kings Landing, hoping she would make it before the siege.
Winter is coming! Once upon a time they were just words to No One, now as the snow was falling from the sky, reality had set in, winter was indeed coming, or was it already here? If it was snowing in the Riverlands, then it must be here, she shivered as she worked on lighting the fire. It had been four days since she'd been at the inn and had spoken to Hot Pie. The weather had finally caught up with her all the while her mind racing after learning about Sansa taking back the north. So much of the story didn't make sense. The most believable part was the Lord Commander being brought back from the dead by the red witch, who she was certain was the same one who'd taken Gendry from her. She'd seen a man rise from the dead, Beric Dondarrion, his red priest was Thoros of Myr, all it took was a prayer to the red god and he lived once more. What disturbed her was why a Targaryen would be named King in the North, after what happened to Lyanna Stark, it made no sense. Not even a marriage to Sansa Stark was enough to explain him becoming King. Why would Aegon Targaryen be at the wall? Hadn't he been murdered by the Mountain? And what had happened to Jon? Hot Pie mentioned the King riding into battle with a white direwolf, she assumed it was Ghost? Had Jon been involved in the battle? Or was Ghost fighting for Sansa at Jon's command? Was Jon even alive? No One was desperate to know the answers, but now was not the time to go north, she had her own battles to fight. Once she'd dealt with Cersei and she'd go north and find out who this mysterious Aegon Targaryen was and whether he was good enough for her sister and Winterfell, or if he was another bastard who needed to be fed to the hounds, or maybe a wolf.
No One had tied Dotty, her dapple grey horse, to a tree. She'd grown quite fond of her mount, after all, they'd spent the last few weeks together, and Dotty was a good natured beast. She was always quiet and well-behaved. She would only panic or get stressed if there a good reason. Which was why, when No One was trying to get the fire going, did she start to be concerned about Dotty's behaviour. The horse began to tug on her rope; she whinnied and neighed, clearly becoming agitated. Suddenly No One was on full alert. She grabbed her sword from next to the fire and stood, assessing where the danger was coming from; she could sense it herself, this wasn't one threat, it was multiple. She spun around and saw her foe, first of all it was one wolf, then another and another, No One and Dotty were completely surrounded by a pack of wolves. No One's heart pounded, she didn't usually feel fear, but there was a fear growing inside her. No One could kill humans, but wolves were different, after all, once upon a time she had been a wolf herself.
As the wolves began to circle her, another one appeared, the pack leader. Except this one was different, it wasn't a normal wolf, she was large grey and white direwolf, barring her teeth. No One immediately knew the direwolf was female, she knew instantly who the direwolf was.
"Nymeria?" Arya couldn't believe her eyes, she set her sword down and gradually approached the direwolf. "Nymeria, it's me, Arya. I'm heading south first, but then I'll be going back north girl, back to Winterfell. I'll finally be going home. Come with me." Arya Stark stretched her hand out towards the direwolf. "Come with me." she almost pleaded, her heart breaking at the sight of her childhood friend. Nymeria sniffed and stared at her for a moment, as if thinking about the offer. Having made her mind up, the direwolf turned and began to leave, as she did, the other wolves walked away with her. "That's not you." Arya whispered, then she was No One again.
The stench of Kings Landing hit her before she saw it. It smelled of shit and rotten cabbage. Minutes later she saw the red keep towering into the sky. No One hoped she'd gotten there before the siege had started, if not then she'd have to get in through one of the hidden entrances she'd discovered from her previous time in the wretched place. Of course the city was different now, or so she'd heard from the rest of her travels. The Sept of Baelor no longer stood, many of the brothels had closed. Even Littlefinger hadn't been immune from the wrath of the now defunct Faith Militant, although No One had to admit, Cersei might have done something useful by blowing them up, they sounded more of a hassle than of use. If gossip were to be believed, the only person she would know in the entire Red Keep, was Cersei herself. The Mountain was still by her side, but he was some undead monster. Why couldn't people stay dead? No One wondered. Suddenly death was beginning to sound a lot less final than it used to. Of course, everyone Arya Stark had loved and lost, had stayed dead.
No one had decided to approach the capital along the coast, for there she would find ways to get into the Red Keep, which was her main goal. If she managed to get to the port, she knew there was a way back into the castle, which would take her underneath the Keep, along past the dragon skulls and eventually into Maegor's Holdfast. From her position, it wasn't clear whether there was a siege at all. The Dragon Queen was armed with three dragons, an army of eight thousand Unsullied and a hoard of Dothraki screamers, and right now, No One saw anything which vaguely resembled anything like the stories. She had left Dotty to be stabled at an inn for three weeks, she'd paid them in gold so that they didn't sell her horse, promising them two extra gold dragons when she returned for ensuring she had the best stables they offered. After that, No One had continued on foot as she was expecting to have to climb down some rocks to find the secret entrance she was looking for. The one thing which had grabbed her attention were the amount of ships in Blackwater Bay. Kings Landing was a large port, and ships came and went all of the time, but something was different, the first thing to jump out was they weren't sailing anywhere, they were just anchored out to sea. The next difference was the sheer volume of the stationary ships. There seemed to be hundreds of them. However it wasn't until she had gotten closer had she realised why there were hundreds of stationary ships anchored off the coast of Kings Landing, they all bore the kraken sigil, house Greyjoy, or more specifically, in all likelihood was Euron Greyjoy. No One had heard the Queen had taken up with the pirate after Jaime Lannister had fucked off north to betray her for another woman; if the rumour mill was half true, the fact that the name Brienne of Tarth was circulating had made No One laugh. The most handsome man in all of the Seven Kingdoms had decided to leave his long standing lover for the ugliest woman in the Seven Kingdoms. Westeros had turned upside down since she'd been in Braavos, some good, some bad. At least the appearance of Euron Greyjoy had given No One an idea of how to get to Cersei, although it would still take time. But as long as the siege held off for another couple of weeks, she'd be able to pull it off.
Finally No One found the spot she was looking for, if she climbed down the footholds in the cliff, she would come to an aperture in the rock face, which was supposed to be a sewer, although it was in fact an escape route and had never been a sewer. She swung her bag around her back, slowly and carefully, she descended towards the opening, her gateway to finishing her kill list, only then could she head north, just as she'd told Nymeria.