𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭; j. snow

-𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐯𝐢𝐢𝐢

KING'S LANDING 298 AC

As soon as her mother wasn't looking, Jocasta made a run for it. Ser Samson and Ser Davyd trailed behind it, but she was sprinting and juking the Lannister guards to make it to the Stark girls' room.

She had to get them out of the city. She knew it would be difficult, but she at least needed to keep them safe. Sansa would probably be in her room, but Arya, only the gods knew where she was.

She hoped to reach them before word of Ned Stark's arrest did, and prayed that she would before her mother's guards. She clutched her dark blue dress in her fingers, holding the fabric tighter as she ran, weaving through more remote hallways to avoid any encounter with the enemy.

Her feet slapping the floors and her guards racing behind her reverberated off of the dank hallway somewhere beneath the Red Keep. She and Joffrey used to play in the maze that was Maegor's secret tunnels, and she even had a mental map when she was younger. But, it was no use now; that was ten years ago.

The sun was blinding to her eyes that were adjusted to the dark. She shielded them as she attempted to take in her surroundings, blinking a few times to grasp where she was. It was mayhem. She could hear people shouting and swords clashing somewhere in the distance.

It seemed to be the fall of the Starks. With Ned Stark arrested, there was no one to speak for them now. No one would listen to little girls.

Jocasta was near the stables, and a gurgling sound and a familiar girl's voice made her squint into them. Arya. She had found Arya. Without a care of who could be watching her, she ran as fast as she had ever ran before into the stable.

A fat boy laid on the ground with a puncture wound seeping blood from his abdomen and staining his clothes. Arya's blade was held firmly in her hand, shiny with blood, and she was staring at the boy she had just killed.

"Jo," she breathed as she realized who had walked in, wrapping her free arm around the Princess' waist.

"Arya. What has happened?" she asked, fretting over the girl.

"He threatened to take me to the Queen!" Arya cried, fear in her brave, brown eyes.

"I would never let her do anything to you. I'd shove my knife through her throat before she touched you," Jocasta swore, smoothing Arya's brown hair as she looked sternly, yet sadly, into her eyes.

"What is going on, Jo?" Arya asked.

"A lot. I was in the throne room, and a lot of things have happened. Too much to explain now, my love," she said.

"Is it my father?" Arya seemed to know. She was the one Jocasta was least worried about, with her ghost-like ability to disappear and scamper through hidden passages without being detected. The Queen hadn't dug her lion's claws into her yet. May the Others take Jocasta before she lets that happen.

Jocasta could only nod at the girl's question. She started to take off her jewelry, all silver metal and sapphires. Her earrings, necklace, bracelet, and ring were piled in her hand as she held them out to Arya.

"Take them. Find a way to leave the Red Keep and pawn them. Make some money and leave King's Landing. Book a passage to White Harbor and go to Winterfell," Jocasta instructed, placing the jewels firmly into her palm.

The girl couldn't even object. "Jo, I don't know," she stuttered.

"It's a bad thing to deny a princess," Jocasta smiled.

Jocasta pulled Brightflame from its scabbard on her leg. "Here, keep yourself safe. It's Valyrian steel, you could make some good money off of it."

"No. I have my Needle," Arya smiled, holding out her blade to show Jocasta.