Chapter 13: The Fight

The second week of the Seventh month of the year 297 a.c

Winterfell

Kyria Stark

Uncle Benjen's arrival didn't stop Robb, Jon, and Kyria from meeting regularly. On the contrary. Kyria was determined to prepare her brother to the best of her abilities for what awaited him.

Robb protested. His enthusiasm had only lasted a couple of days, unfortunately. Jon sulked, but she could not be reasoned with. They were going to learn even if it killed them. Or her. Or the books. Whoever would come first.

Which led them to this peculiar session.

The slam of a dusty old book against the table made both boys jump out of their skins. Jon sneezed. Robb blinked.

"Politics?"

"Kyria, we did that already."

"No, not politics. Communications."

Twin blinks.

"You do realize we already know how to communicate?"

Kyria fixed them. Long and hard.

"What?"

"Unfortunately brother, I can assure you you do not know how to communicate. You know how to talk."

"And it's different?"

"Yes. Yes, it is."

Twin blinks. They looked like a couple of disheveled owls. She rolled her eyes, and they dare ask why she was saying they only knew how to talk. Boys.

"Talking involves using words in sentences when the situation calls for it. Communicating means using those same words to impact your environment, lead the conversation where you need or want it to go, or manipulate your interlocutor into a place where you can obtain what you want from him."

Jon frowned his nose, immediately revolted by the words.

"Manipulate? Kyria-"

"I'm not sure-"

"Oh dear, I am not asking you to convince someone to poison me in my sleep."

Jon almost swallowed his tongue. Poor boy.

"Jon, you are going to enter into a thousand years old brotherhood full of very stubborn old men and young fools Who would have chosen anything else than what they have as a career. Being your usual bloody self will gain you no favors."

"I won't go there to make friends, Kyria."

She kept looking at him. Sternly. He caved first.

"You will be going to the coldest, hardest place on this side of the Wall. You will pledge yourself to a brotherhood that demands celibacy. You will have no family but the Watch. Making friends will be the only way for you to survive."

Jon blinked and leaned back on his chair.

"Uncle Benjen-"

"Will not spend all his time holding your hand, Jon."

Robb moaned in his hands.

"Alright. Alright, you win. We'll take a look at your damn book."

Kyria smiled. She happily ignored Robb's rumble of injustice and 'why am I included I'm not going to the bloody watch' and opened the heavy book. She chirped her first explanations to a resigned Jon who obediently bent over the pages with the expression of someone who accepted his fate begrudgingly.

She patiently explained what this was about for two hours, forcing each brother to read the passages she put under their nose and quoting far too many books and situations for their liking. They only begged for mercy three hours later, when it became apparent that she was ready to carry on for the rest of the day.

"One hour Kyria! Just one! Uncle Benjen said he would show Bran how to use a bow! I want to see that!"

"I do not think you still need lessons on how to use a bow, do you Robb Stark?"

"No I don't but Bran needs it and I would like to see if uncle Benjen can help him with that."

"Do better than us you mean." mumbled Jon.

He immediately winced and Robb switched on his seat, which made her think someone might have been kicked under the table.

"Oh alright. One hour."

"Thank you, my lady!" bowed Robb in an overly dramatic gesture that made snicker Jon.

Kyria glared, huffed, and clacked her heels against the stones. Her brothers were still mocking her by the time they climbed down the stairs of the great tower. Ungrateful boys.

As they had predicted, they found Benjen in the yard with Bran and his bow. Rickon was nowhere to be found for once, but some of the guards were lurking around the training yard, curious to see the Ranger teaching his nephew.

Benjen looked at ease with the boy, his black doublet open around the throat and his forehead slightly damp with sweat indicating an interrupted training session of his own. He was moving Bran's arms professionally, talking slowly as the boy listened obediently, huge eyes shining with barely contained admiration.

"Your grip is too tight Bran, you won't be able to aim properly with an arm so tense."

Kyria dragged her brothers to the bench on the right corner of the yard, away from any potential accident. They grumbled but followed her without too many protestations.

"We could come closer, you know?"

"Why should we? I see perfectly well from where I currently am."

Jon rolled his eyes. Robb sighed, but they stayed where they were. Bran shoots his arrow, which hits the target. Completely to the side and as far from the center as it could be while still being stuck in the thick wood, but still. Straight through it.

Robb snorted but Jon escaped a little "oh" of surprise.

"That's progress isn't it?" asked Kyria.

"We could say that." smiled Robb.

She knocked him in the stomach.

"Don't be mean, the arrow didn't fly right past the target this time! I'm calling that progress!" she decided.

Jon snorted, but didn't comment.

Benjen made Bran seek his arrow. Kyria watched as he positioned himself again in front of the target, and adjusted his arms. She's curious. As she watches Bran practice, an ich twitches her fingers. She found a sudden understanding of Arya's fascination with their brother's training.

As Jon and Robb started commenting around her, Kyria wondered if she could try to do it too.

"Do you think I could do that?"

Robb stopped mid sentence, and looked at her with round eyes.

"What?"

She gestured to the training yard where Bran was back at running after his arrow.

"This."

"You want to try?"

She shrugged.

"I don't know. Maybe. Why not?"

They exchanged a glance above her head and Kyria breathed. She can understand their surprise. But they could try to be less obvious about it. It was a little bit offensive.

"It just… doesn't really sound like something you would like." dare to voice Jon.

"And why is that brother?"

The boy blushed, obviously thinking carefully on what he should say.

"Well… you always look more interested in… other activities."

"You mean books."

"I didn't say it."

"But you thought about it."

Jon mumbled something, but they both knew she was right.

They are interrupted by the giggling mass of girls approaching. Sansa, surrounded by Jeyne Poole and Beth Cassel, walked around, still smiling from whatever gossip they had been sharing. Lady, the little pup, was obediently trotting along her mistress steps, her fluffy neck decorated with colorful bows.

"Sansa!"

The girl looked up and smiled happily at the sight of her siblings quietly displayed in a corner of the yard. For once she didn't have to dirty her pretty dress to join them, much to her delight. Robb obediently moved aside to make some room for their sister who wiggled her way between them.

"Have you come to see Uncle Benjen train Bran too?" ask Robb curiously.

She shook her pretty little head.

"We wished to see the glass gardens. Beth said the lemon trees are flowering! Uncle Benjen is teaching Bran?"

Kyria pointed to the yard, where Bran was jumping excitedly. As if summoned, the little boy turned his head to them, and waved happily.

"Sansa! Kyria! Robb! Jon!"

They waved with more or less enthusiasm. Benjen smiled and with an encouraging nod, invited them to join their little discussion. Kyria wrapped her arm around Sansa's, leaving her no choice but to follow. She hadn't forgotten their discussion a couple of months ago. How inadequate and isolated she was with their siblings. Well sharing Bran's training session with Benjen could only help.

"Did you see that? I hit the target! Look!"

"We did Bran, that was very good!" praised Kyria.

"Uncle Benjen is a miracle worker for managing to teach you how to do that." mocked Robb.

Bran pouted.

"Maybe you're just a bad teacher!"

Kyria laughed. Sansa gasped and Benjen ruffed Bran's hair.

"He is good."

"Is he?"

"Shut up Robb!"

"Bran!" gasped Sansa.

Kyria laughed again, delighted by her siblings' antics.

"And how can we help you today, ladies? My lords?" teased Benjen with a smile.

Sansa flushed prettily as she did every time she was referred to as a lady. A snort was heard behind Kyria but she chose to ignore it. Jon could sulk later.

"Well we were curious about you, uncle." confessed the eldest girl.

"Were you?"

"We wished to see how you would manage to teach anything to our little Bran."

Bran grumbled, offended, and Robb smiled brilliantly.

"Oh really?"

"Robb said I was hopeless!" blamed the younger child.

"Because you were!"

"Now, now children. Believe in my experience when I tell you no one is ever hopeless."

"Really?" doubted Jon.

Bran tried to hit him. He missed, much to Snow's amusement.

"No one truly Uncle?" asked Kyria.

"Absolutely."

She smiled hopefully.

"Would you mind trying to teach me then?"

Silence deafened the yard. Benjen looked merely confused.

"Teach you what my dear?"

Kyria waved her hand in the bow's direction. The weapon was still securely in her little brother's hand.

"Are you sure Kyria?" argued Robb, "you've never done anything like this before."

"I am. Why not? Uncle Benjen said it! No one is ever hopeless."

"I don't think Uncle Benjen had this particular situation in mind."

Kyria turned in the man's direction, awaiting his decision. He looked back at her pensively. Robb continued his argument.

"Using a bow is not something a lady should do, sister." tried Robb, more and more nervous.

"And of course as an expert of all things a lady is expected to do you have ultimate knowledge of the subject brother. Should I hand you my needlework?"

His face flushed alarmingly fast.

"Kyria…" hesitated Sansa, her hand pressing against her sister's arm.

"I'm not saying anything of the sort, Kyria. But why should you bother with something like that? I am not interfering in your lessons and duties. I think you should do the same with ours."

"Oh so it is a duty."

"Now children. I think we can all argue without any casualties. And you both have an oddly sharp tongue for your age." noted their uncle in a soothing voice.

Kyria breathed. She shouldn't work herself up in such a way. She had to work on her temper. It was getting really bothersome. With a repressed sigh, she managed to get her emotions back in check.

"I am only saying, there is no harm in trying to shoot with a bow. Arya does it all the time."

"Kyria this isn't exactly proper for a lady to… do this."

"And since when is trying new things forbidden? I'm not going to fight any war anytime soon Sansa. Merely trying a new experience."

Robb sighed, and bemusedly accepted. Not that he had much of a choice anyway. But it was good to have him keep some of his illusions. With much patience and practiced habit, her uncle then managed to explain to her how a bow is supposed to work. How she had to put her hand, how she had to move her arms, position herself in front of the target, and finally, when everything was in place, how to shoot.

Her arms protested at the unusual position and tension. Her hands hurt from gripping the wood too tightly. But she did shoot. The arrow gloriously planted itself right in the middle of the yard. Far from its target.

Robb's laugh could have shaken the walls. Kyria didn't take offence. She took back her arrow and tried again. By the seventh try and a very healthy amount of advice from both her uncle and Jon, she managed to hit the target. Bran sweetly praised her abilities, to her delight.

This could be fun!

"Do you want to try too, Sansa?" inquired innocently the little boy.

The until now smiling girl paled dramatically at the idea.

"M-me? I- no! This is unproper!"

"Sansa, we talked about this, remember?", objected the oldest sister.

"Y-yes but…"

"There is no arm in trying."

Sansa looked down at the bow in her sister's hands. Benjen took a step closer and gently pressed the girl's shoulder.

"Don't worry Sansa. You are allowed to have fun too."

Oh she could have kissed him. That was exactly the thing she needed him to say at this moment.

"Come on Sansa, try. I agreed to have you put a flower crown in my head. You should at least try once." argued Robb.

Kyria did a double-cross at him.

"What?"

"I thought you were against us mere ladies trying to walk on your field of skills?"

The young man shrugged and somehow managed to stop himself from blushing. Huh.

"Well… there is no harm in trying."

The main subject of the debate felt obliged to argue again.

"I still don't think-"

"Sansa. If I can tress a crown of winter roses, you can shoot this arrow. Don't make me beg you."

Sansa blushed. Kyria was tempted to applaud. Manipulation! She knew he could do it!

To her complete surprise,-and pride!- this won their sister over, and with a small nod, she took the bow from Kyria's hand.

It took less time for Sansa to get the feeling of the bow. Benjen barely needed to advise her. It was obvious she had been very attentive when it had been Kyria's turn. The little Benjen had to actually explain was absorbed by the girl like words of one of the gods themselves. Or Septa's.

A loud door shut closed somewhere behind their little crowd, but Kyria paid it no attention. It was a busy time of the day.

Sansa nodded one last time and Benjen took a step back. The arrow was shot. Kyria held her breath. A good thing for her brother next to her almost strangled himself as the arrow hit the bullseye of the target.

"Seven hells!" gasped Jon.

Kyria's jaw went right on the floor, as Robb's surprise laugh rumbled into the field. Bran happily applauded and jumped on the tip of his toes, excited to see such a spectacle.

Benjen looked surprisingly proud, like he had just watched his own child take its first steps.

"That was fantastic Sansa!"

"You have talent!"

The girl blushed and blamed the beginner's luck.

"You do know there is only one way to check this hypothesis." cooed Kyria in a delighted tone.

The opportunity was just too good to pass.

It took far less persuading for Sansa to try again. The second result wasn't as spotless as the first but it still was better than what both Kyria and Bran had shown so far in terms of skills.

"You have a natural talent at this thing my dear," commented Benjen.

Sansa's smile grew wider, the apple of her cheek flushed pink.

The snapping of feet against the dirt interrupted their cheers.

"That's rubbish." snarled Arya between her teeth.

She had another bow and a handful of arrows she somehow took from their barrel while no one was looking.

"Arya?"

The girl pushed her shoulder into Kyria's ribs, making her step aside and almost hit Sansa with her bow in her positioning. She then shot arrow after arrow in an efficiency Kyria only ever witnessed in Theon. And he was the best archer there was around. Every single arrow hit the target around the bullseye.

Once she was out of munitions, she smugly turned to face her family.

"That's how you do it." she claimed proudly.

"Arya!"

"What! You were all cooing at Sansa over nothing! She's not even good at this! I am so much better than she'll ever be. I don't even know why you bother with her!"

"Arya that's enough!" snapped Kyria.

The girl bared her teeth in a move that reminded her a lot of Nymeria.

"What! It's true! Sansa is useless at anything that is not related to being a perfect boring lady everyones knows that!"

"Arya stops this." warned Benjen calmly.

"But it is true. She'll never be good at anything else! It's all she's useful for! Boring girlish stuff no one else but her and her stupid friends care for!"

"Arya!"

Sansa gasped and dropped the bow as if it had burned her hand.

"Shut up!" she wailed.

"Arya you're being mean!"

She merely snorted at her little brother's attempt to shut her up.

"It's not being mean if it's saying what everyone is thinking."

"We are not all thinking that Arya," growled Kyria in an attempt to stop the girl's tirade.

What was wrong with her?

"We get it Arya, you're good." exposed Jon taking a step forward. "But this is not a reason for behaving like that."

The little girl took a step back. She looked insulted.

"Arya, you should apologize to your sister." demanded Benjen with a stern voice.

He was not smiling.

Being faced with their collective disapprobation seemed to be too much for her. Like a cornered animal, she attacked, going for the throat as vicious and bloody as a wolf could be.

"Why are you turning on me? It's not my fault! Everyone knows Sansa is boring and empty headed! She can't even think by herself! The only thing she's good at is being pretty! She needs Mother or Septa or Kyria to think for her! It's pathetic!"

"Arya stops it!" roared Kyria.

She took a step forward, hiding her trembling sister from the ihre of the younger girl. To her horror, Arya decided to change her victim.

"Shut up! You're no better! You disgust me, the both of you! Acting all mighty and perfect! No one's even like to have you around! Sansa is pretty so she's tolerated and she's Mother's favorite! And everyone's pity you Kyria! You and your damaged brain! Even Jon and Robb pity you! They let you boss them around like your servants because Mother said we had to be nice to you! No one tells you anything because you're broken and damaged!"

"ARYA!"

Jon's booming voice jumped Kyria's heart out of her chest. He was followed by a buzzing in her ears, and the burning of her hand.

It took her a moment to understand the link between the sudden pain in her hand and the red mark growing in her sister's cheek. When she did, she took a step back, her heart beating in her throat and her temples burning with burning rage.

Arya seemed shocked. By her words or by Kyria's answer, she couldn't say. Nor did she take the time to ponder over it.

She had nothing to say. The words out of her sister's mouth were like boiling oil in her throat. Painful in a way she hadn't known existed.

No one talked. At her feet, Frost was growling slowly at no one in particular, reacting to her distress and fury. Sansa was sobbing behind her. Her own hands were shaking hard behind her skirt.

After a while, Benjen opened his mouth again.

"Ary-"

"I HATE YOU!" bawled Sansa.

Arya jumped.

"YOU RUIN EVERYTHING! ALL THE TIME! WHY DO YOU HAVE TO DO THAT?!" sobbed the girl.

She ran away in loud cries before anyone could do a thing. Kyria followed silently.

"Kyria, wait!" called Robb. Or was it Jon?

She ignored him. Whoever that was. She made a beeline for the door of the main keep, blood pumping in her head like a hammer on an anvil. Only once locked in her room, did she realize the tears running down her face.

Her mind stayed silently blank as painful sobs made their way through her throat, cut by cries of rage she couldn't contain.

TBC

NOTE:...Hi?

I apologize?
Please don't hate me?
I feel like I should remind you that a dead author can not write much...
:D
I love you guys?
If I promise that everything will be explained soon will you stop glaring at me like that?
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