Among Lions and Wolves • |Book 1|

.chapter seventeen.

They had stopped briefly, allowing the king and his men to ride on an early morning hunt whilst they stayed behind stretching their legs.

Rhaella had left sweet Myrcella and ventured down to the stream, wanting nothing more than to get away from everyone.

As she came through a thinning in the trees, she heard a girl's sharp tongue followed by whimpering. Peering around a tree, Rhaella recognized both girl and wolf. She had met them both back in Winterfell.

Arya Stark was combing out the dried mud that clung to Nymeria's dirty coat. The wolf did not find the task to be at all pleasant. She whimpered and wiggled away, doing her best to avoid the comb.

"Perhaps the comb hurts her," she said, stepping out from behind the tree. "Maybe if you were to wet it first and then brush it through it might help."

Arya looked up, her dark hair untidy and her long face covered in dirt. She looked so much like Jon.

"I've tried that," she replied, sitting back on her heels. "She just won't sit still."

Rhaella smiled softly and approached the pair. Kneeling down next to the wolf and running her fingers through the matted fur, she looked at Arya.

"You realize your wolf is a reflection of you, right?"

Arya grimaced, "She is not!"

"She is," she replied, rubbing the wolf's neck. "So full of spirit and hard to control. It's not a bad thing really. It's good that you are spirited. Don't ever let anyone break that."

She brushed aside her dark hair and stared at Rhaella, "You're different than when I first met you, you know that?"

Her pale eyes turned to Nymeria, "Pain changes you," she replied, her voice gentle. "It may even break you but in the world we live in, you must never break. Breaking is weakness and the weak never survive."

"Yeah, you've definitely changed, you talk more."

Rhaella glanced at Arya. There was a smile plastered on her long face, a smile that reached her dark eyes. Rhaella smiled back, tears stinging her eyes. She was a painful reminder but she was also a good one as well.

"There you are! Oh, Lady Rhaella, I didn't see you," Sansa Stark approached them. Unlike Arya, she had been neatly groomed and clean of any speck of dirt. She also wore a new gown, something much lighter than those of their warm cotton ones.

"I've only come to tell my sister that we are to join you and the royal family in the wheelhouse when we go back."

"Oh, right," Rhaella stood up. "I nearly forgot about that. Right," she turned to Arya. "We best get this thing in the stream or Cersei will never let her in."

"There won't be any need," Sansa said, "I know the princess fears them, it wouldn't be right for us to bring them with."

"Then I'm not going," Arya said, glaring at Sansa.

"Yes, you are!" She hissed, exasperated. "You will go and you will get cleaned up!"

"I won't!" Arya snapped back, jumping to her feet. "I'm going riding anyway, so you can tell the queen I won't be coming."

"But there will be lemon cakes! Arya, must you ruin everything? Arya! Arya! ARYA!"

Nymeria had seized her moment of freedom and sprung through the stream splashing Rhaella in the process. Ignoring her delusional sister, Arya had gone off after her wolf, spraying Rhaella even more.

"I am so sorry!" Sansa exclaimed, rushing over to a soaked Rhaella. "I apologize for her, she was clearly raised by savages!"

But Rhaella wasn't upset, not even in the least bit. Laughter escaped her lips, echoing loudly for all to hear. Arya had stopped thrashing around and turned to look at the soaked Rhaella. She too burst into laughter.

"It's not funny!" Sansa cried, turning to her sister. "You should apologize right now!"

With her back turned to Rhaella, Sansa paid little attention to the older girl stepping into the water. Arya's howls grew louder as tears fell from her eyes. She doubled over, holding her stomach. The scene had angered Sansa, leaving her unaware of what was about to happen.

Rhaella cupped as much water as her hands could hold and she threw it onto Sansa. A pig could never match the squeal the escaped the eldest Stark girl's lips.

Tears now streamed from Rhaella's eyes, her knees buckling and sending her down into the water. Arya, too, had joined her in the water, wheezing as she clung to her sides, her face a bright red.

"That is not funny!" Sansa yelled, stomping her foot. "Look at my dress, it's ruined! How ever will I meet with the queen now?" Her face that had once been redder than her hair slowly started to lose color. She was no longer fuming as tears welled in her eyes and pooled over.

Leaving the two girls howling and gasping for air, Sansa Stark ran back to where they had been camped.

Rhaella climbed out the water onto the bank, her back pressed against the soft dirt. She laid there, staring up at the blue sky, her breathing returning to normal.

She hadn't laughed like that in so long. She hadn't felt that happy since Winterfell. For a moment, Rhaella had forgotten all about the pain that had been present in her chest. And then the tears came.

"I'm sorry," she said to no one in particular as she sat up and wiped away at her tears. "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay," a hand rested on her back, rubbing it softly. Rhaella realized it had been Arya who was beside her. Taking the girl by surprise, Rhaella hugged her tightly and began sobbing onto her shoulder.

"I miss him too," she said, rubbing her back still. "He was a good brother. He was the only one who believed in me."

They fell even harder now that she knew who Arya was talking about. Perhaps it had not been as much of a secret as Jon and she had hoped.

When the tears finally stopped and the girls were dry, Nymeria laying at their feet, Arya spoke.

"He gave me a sword. It's in my trunk, but when we get to King's Landing I will show it to you. I gave it a name," she said. "Jon said all the best swords have names."

"What did you name your sword?" Rhaella asked.

"Needle," she replied proudly.

Rhaella smiled and even laughed a little, "A fitting name for a sword belonging to a lady."

"I'm no lady," she replied. "I don't want to be a lady."

"Even ladies can be warriors too," Rhaella said. "Sometimes they're called queens of Goddesses."

"Nymeria was a Goddess, that's why I named my wolf that."

"A very fitting name for a wolf of Arya Stark," she said. And then switching back to Jon, she said, "Jon had something made for me too."

"I know," she smiled. "He told me. He loves you, I can tell. I've never seen my brother cry before and he had been crying before he came to see me. It sucks that it has to be this way."

"I agree but by duty, I am bound to Robb, no matter how much my heart aches, I will one day become the next Lady of Winterfell."

"I'd rather you be a Snow than a Stark."

"Do women even take a bastard's name?"

"I don't know," she replied, "Maybe you can give him yours."

Both girls burst out laughing at the thought of Jon becoming a Tydore.

"I'd rather be a Snow," she said.

____________________

I may have cried again.
WHY AM I SO EMOTIONAL?
Also, let us appreciate that moment where Rhaella decided to splash Sansa.
And the Arya and Rhaella moment.