Rivers of Fire and Blood

Arya VIII

Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to the Ice and Fire Novels, Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon TV shows. However, I decided to have a little play around with the characters. I do not earn any money from writing these stories, it is for my entertainment and is something I like to share.

Arya's plan for wool was certainly going better than her plans for Strygga. No matter how much she tried, she couldn't seem to attract his attention in the right way. Arya suspected Strygga saw her more as a little sister than a woman he may lust after, which Arya found very annoying. Sex had never been high on her list when she was training to become a faceless man, but once she'd had a taste, she discovered it was more than a bit nice. It had been good with Gendry, but oddly she never wanted more with him. As Arya had grown older, she had enjoyed talking politics and making new discoveries, whether it meant travelling Planetos or delving into a library, they could both be equally exciting. These were not passions she could share with Gendry as he was a heart still a blacksmith. Ranny had raised Strygga to understand politics and to be educated almost to her own level, an incredible feat considering the lack of available tools in the north to assist with reading and writing. Castle Black being opened up to them had helped as the library must have made their education interesting. After the discovery of the letters between Torrhen Stark and Aegon the Conqueror, their relationship hadn't improved. Arya had tried to look more feminine, tried fighting with him, even letting him beat her once, she'd tried to engage in intellectual conversation, but they hadn't gotten too far. Much to Arya's annoyance, Strygga was content spending much of his time with Tormund. That was why Arya decided Tormund was her best choice of person to talk to in regards to her problem.

Just as Arya and Tormund were about to settle down in Arya's solar, there was a knock at the door.

"Come in." Arya rolled her eyes in frustration at being disturbed.

The door opened and one of the gate guards entered. "There's a large Lady at the gate, she says she knows you..." he started.

Tormund's eyes lit up. "Is she tall with yellow hair and beautiful?" he asked dreamily, to which Arya had to try her hardest not to burst into fits of giggles.

"...er well she is tall with yellow hair mi'lord." the gate guard said. "She says her name is..." he started.

"Brienne of Tarth. Music to my ears. Her voice is that of the gods themselves." Tormund grinned.

"That's the one." the confused guard frowned to which Arya simply shrugged at him.

"Let her enter." Arya managed to stop herself from laughing at the clearly lovestruck Tormund.

"She has come with another woman who has three children. The woman claims to be Grand Maester Tarly's wife." the guard told her.

Arya got up. "I shall go see them for myself." she said as Tormund arose and followed her, excitement emanating from him.

She made her way down to the courtyard where she saw a large woman, dressed in the golden armour of the Kingsguard, accompanied by Gilly, three children, one of which looked to be a newborn and a grey and white dragon who was about a quarter of the size of Drogon. Arya's eyes lit up at the sight of Visenya, whom she rushed over and wrapped her arms around her neck.

"Look how you've grown." she told the dragon.

"She's done nothing but eat Your Grace." Brienne told her.

"I'm not a Your Grace. I'm still Arya." Arya replied, giving Brienne a welcoming smiled. "I thought you were protecting my brother." she frowned.

"I was My Lady." Brienne told her. "But the King, he isn't... well, he isn't quite himself." she tried to explain.