WARS TO COME, game of thrones

𝐈𝐕. men

𝟐𝟕𝟑 𝐀𝐂

"Finally, you as well," Rob grinned at Anrir and nudged him so hard his arm hurt. Ned just smiled quietly at him from his seat.

They had gathered at their regular spot on a balcony facing the courtyard. Rob had gotten them a bottle of fruit brandy, of which Anrir now took a sip. It burned like fire, but he tried to drink it as stubbornly and motionless as Rob.

Robert was already eleven and Anrir had finally turned ten like Eddard. When he looked at himself in the mirror he was still disappointed. Rob got more adult with each year and his features more masculine. Eddard became more mature, too. Some of the younger maids even turned their heads around when Rob walked by. Meanwhile, Anrir still had the round face of a child, his body was still plump. The growth spurt, of course, was still a long time away. Frustrated, he took the bottle again, which made Robert grin.

"Very brave," he laughed, while Ned sighed reprovingly but said no more. That hadn't changed in the last few years; Ned was quiet and observant, the voice of reason. Robert was still full of mischief and the strongest and loudest of them. Anrir felt a little lost among them. When he was alone with Ned, they talked a lot and imagined their adventures as knights for hours. With Robert, when they were alone, Anrir would just fight, compete with their wooden swords, and fool around until Anrir's father grounded them. And I when it was the three of them? Then Anrir would hang between them, quiet and eager to please Robert.

"Better stop, Jon will be beheading us," Ned said at one point, pulling the bottle out of Anrir and Robert's reach. "Don't be a little girl, Stark." Ned just rolled his eyes and Anrir had to laugh softly. "Are you plotting against me now?",Rob whined. "Pay attention, Lord Baratheon. House Stark and House Riverfall are the knife in your back,",Anrir chuckled and Robert lunged at him, scuffling they rolled over the stone until Rob held Anrir in a headlock and rubbed his knuckles over his head. "I surrender, all right, peace!",Anrir groaned and quickly eluded him, leaning against the railing of the balcony. "Well, mine is the fury,",Robert grinned triumphantly, but then leaned back as well.

"So House of Riverfall will always be loyal to you as long as I live,",Anrir announced after a brief pause. "So it's just you?",Rob snorted critically. "It's still just me, but I won't let my house be dead so easily, I'll bring it back to life," Anrir promised firmly, Ned smiling slightly at him. They could fantasize about this for hours together; how they would ride to Riverfall together and Anrir would claim his inheritance. But in reality, of course, that was impossible. Riverfall was locked and dangerous as well, his father had drilled into him several times. Still, Anrir would not stop dreaming.

"Ned and I will help your house too," Rob then promised encouragingly and good-naturedly, making Anrir smile slightly. They were not yet lords like his father, but they grew up so close to each other as if they were brothers. And Anrir firmly believed that these bonds would last. "Thanks," Anrir mumbled and quickly ducked away before Rob could poke him again in a friendly way, "Stop it, or I'll be green and blue soon." "Girl." "Shut up." "You're acting like you're still three," Ned announced reprovingly, his stern tone only making them laugh harder.

And that's what dominated Anrir's nameday, laughter and horsing around. In the evening they met secretly in Anrir's room and ate things Robert had stolen from the pantry. They fell asleep next to each other on the carpet on the floor after talking for a long time. Robert and Eddard slept before him and so Anrir just lay there for a while, trying to stay awake to hold on to the moment. Somehow everything was good right now. He didn't feel tense or out of place. This is where he belonged, with his two best friends.

His gaze slid from Robert, who was lying on his stomach with his face hidden by his dark curls, to Eddard, who was lying on his back with his arms slightly outstretched and his lips open. His stomach tingled and he quickly lay back down, trying hard to be quiet so as not to wake anyone.  He didn't want him to wake either of them and have them notice him watching them like this. Somehow that was strange, he had to admit to himself. 

Happy he was anyway.

The next morning they were chased out of Anrir's room by a maid, into the washrooms where they washed themselves with cold water, so that finally all three of them were standing in front of Anrir's father in the courtyard, still with wet hair and freezing.

"I thought that now that you've all experienced more than ten years, I could finally trust you a little more," Jon Arryn sighed, massaging the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. Robert grinned slightly beside Anrir, but had enough respect not to laugh or otherwise misbehave. Anrir's father just sighed, but didn't punish them, seemingly just letting their misbehavior pass, perhaps as a name day present for Anrir. As the three of them left for their cartography lesson, Anrir smiled briefly and cautiously at his father, relief spreading through him as he returned the smile.

Cartography was what Anrir was best at, he could name almost every river in Westeros and was also pretty good at drawing maps himself. Robert and Eddard were rather bored, but while Robert announced this loudly, Ned only sank into an even deeper and more intense silence. Anrir was not bothered by this and was happy to be absorbed in maps for the rest of the day.

After dinner, Rob still found time to practice with the wooden swords with one of the guards, and so Anrir and Ned had sat down next to each other in a quiet corner of the courtyard, where they now enjoyed the weak light of the sun side by side; even Ned, who as a Northman was naturally more attached to the cold.

"So, how do you feel now, at ten?", Eddard had turned his head towards him, his eyes slightly closed against the light, and Anrir spotted a few freckles that Ned had collected in the time since his arrival at the eyrie. "Not that much more exciting so far,",Anrir mumbled and Ned smirked, the first time Anrir really noticed that Eddard seemed the most grown up of the three of them, even though Rob was so blustery and warlike. "Me neither," Ned admitted, running his hand through his hair, which was now even more disheveled. "Well, maybe that will come soon. After all, we're not really adults for a few more years and still have time to become men. My father certainly didn't come into the world so mature and sensible already, he was a boy once." "You think so?" asked Ned, and they chuckled quietly together at the notion.

"Come on, you gossips! Be real men for once and grab a sword!",Rob called to them and Anrir rolled her eyes at the sight of their sweaty friend, his eyes sparkling enterprisingly. "Grown men aren't like that either," Anrir grumbled softly, making Ned laugh even more. Nevertheless, they stood up and picked up their training swords.

First Anrir was defeated by Ned and then by Robert, within a few minutes. Feeling slightly embarrassed, he remained sitting on the grass watching Ned and Rob propel themselves across the courtyard with their swords. Rob was stronger, but Ned had good technique and so withstood him for a while, but eventually Ned was down, Rob grinning triumphantly.

Anrir grinned at the two of them and laid down on his back, looking up at the sky. A few birds passed over the eyrie and he smiled to himself. He didn't feel grown up, but happy nonetheless. Maybe he didn't even want to be an adult yet. To be honest, he didn't believe that everything would be so great then. Right now, at ten, everything was perfect.