Chapter 103: Direwolves are Stark Kin and We Protect Them
Beron, Raka, and Vakho searched the woods and the roads beyond the camp without pause.
Arya Stark had vanished into the trees after the quarrel, and though she was one of the more troublesome children of House Stark, all three men liked her for it. It was not only that. Beron had long suspected that Lord Artos favored the girl in a way he did not favor the others, and perhaps that was because Arya reminded him of Lady Lyanna. Whether that was true or not, it mattered little to them. What mattered was finding the girl before the Lannisters did.
After a long search, they found her.
Unfortunately, the Lannister men had found her first.
The three men came upon the scene and at once moved to block the Lannisters' path.
Beron gave the first warning, knowing full well that if he did not speak first, the other two might do so with blades rather than words.
"Halt. I would request that you hand over Lady Arya to us at once. She is a Stark girl."
"We are ordered by Her Grace and His Grace to find the girl," one of the Lannister guards answered.
"She is a Stark girl," Beron said evenly. "I think His Grace would understand the men she feels safest with."
The Lannister men hesitated. They had their queen's command, but they had no desire to be the first to draw blood over a child in the woods. Not when they were facing northern men with hard eyes and harder reputations.
Then Vakho had enough.
With a curse, he drew his arakh, the curved blade flashing in the light, and stepped forward as though he meant to slither the throats of every man there who had laid hands upon the little Stark girl.
The Lannister men stiffened at once and drew their own swords.
The northerners followed suit.
There were more of them than the lions had expected, and they were not a company inclined to back down. The guards' confidence began to crack under the weight of numbers and reputation.
Beron made the final push.
"Last chance," he said. "She is a Stark, and she will be safe with Stark men. We have orders to kill anyone who obstructs our securing Lady Arya on Lord Artos's command. So think carefully before you take another step."
That was enough.
The Lannister men looked at one another, thought better of it, and released the girl.
Arya was brought back to the camp at once, and the men who recovered her asked what had happened. When they heard that the prince had put a naked sword in front of her, they all raged at once. When Arya told them the full story, they sent men immediately to secure Mycah as well.
Then they took Arya to Lord Artos.
In the Camp
Arya came to him shaking, still half-choked with fear and anger.
"I am sorry, I am sorry, I am sorry," she said as she reached him.
Artos saw her and opened his arms without hesitation.
He drew her into a firm hug, one hand on the back of her head.
"Are you hurt?" he asked. "Are you alright?"
Arya shook her head against him. "I am okay, Uncle."
"Then it is alright," Artos said in a low, comforting voice that his younger children and nephews and nieces knew well. "Everything is alright. Do not worry."
Arya nodded and clung to him again for a moment before pulling back.
"Now tell me what happened," Artos said.
But before she could answer, Ser Barristan arrived with a message.
"Your Grace has summoned both of you to the camp," he said.
"I will come after my niece has had a rest and we have spoken," Artos replied.
"His Grace's orders are more urgent, my lord," Barristan said.
Artos smiled, but there was nothing warm in it. It was the smile of a man whose patience had already begun to thin.
"Really," he said softly. "Then let us see what the king wants."
Barristan sighed, knowing he was looking at the same man he had once fought, even if only for a moment.
Artos did not go alone.
He entered the king's camp with thirty of his own men beside him. It was a statement, and he knew it. He meant for it to be understood.
The men before him made way, some by force, others because they were wise enough to move before they were forced to.
Artos strode into the hall and shouted at once, "What is the meaning of this summons? My niece needs rest after what has happened."
"How dare you speak to the king in this manner?" Cersei snapped.
"Quiet, woman," King Robert Baratheon said at once.
Cersei's mouth tightened, but she said nothing more.
"I am sorry, Arty," Robert said, though his eyes also moved to the men Artos had brought. "But we need to settle this business quickly."
Artos's people were not household guards. They were a unit. A warning. Robert saw it, and so did everyone else.
"Your niece and a butcher boy attacked my son," the queen said. "That animal of hers nearly tore his arm up."
"That is not true!" Arya cried. "She just bit him a little."
"Joffrey told us you and that boy beat him with clubs, and you set your wolf on him."
"That is not what happened!" Arya shouted again.
"Yes, it is," Joffrey said at once. "They all attacked me, and she threw my sword in the water."
"Liar!" Arya snapped.
"Shut up," Joffrey said.
"Enough," Robert barked. He was growing tired already. "He tells me one thing, and she tells me another. Seven hells."
He looked around, as though hoping the truth would simply present itself out of pity. Then he frowned. "Where is your other niece, Artos?"
"Resting," Artos said. "Quite shaken by the incident."
Cersei straightened at once. "We need her present. She is a witness to the whole affair."
"Is this a trial, Your Grace?" Artos asked, and there was something in his tone that made more than one man in the hall remember the old Artos Stark.
"No," Robert said, "but I need to hear what happened."
"Good," Artos replied. "Because we have only heard from one side not another.
He turned then and raised his voice. "Arya. Speak."
He did not know the full truth yet, but he would stand with his family regardless. That much he knew as well as his own name.
Arya told the story as best she could, including the part where Joffrey had put a naked sword in front of her and threatened her with it.
Artos's hands clenched hard at his sides.
It did not escape the notice of anyone in the camp.
"She lies," Joffrey said at once.
"My niece tells me quite a story, Your Grace," Artos said, and his voice had gone cold enough to frost iron.
Robert, seeing the shape of the trouble growing around him, only wanted the matter finished.
"There is still no proof for anyone," he said. "Let us end this. I will punish my son, and you will punish your niece. Let us be done with it."
"Joffrey will bear these scars for the rest of his life," Cersei said sharply.
"You let that little girl disarm you," Robert said to his son with open disgust.
"He will discipline her, and I will discipline Joffrey. The matter is settled," Robert announced.
"What about the direwolf? The beast that savaged your son?"
"I had forgotten the damned wolf," Robert muttered.
"It does not matter," Artos said. "The wolf defended her master."
"It is a savage beast," Cersei said. "It is a threat to our son, Robert. We need to put it down."
At once the northern men began to reach for their swords, or to half-draw them.
"Relax, damn it," Artos shouted. "We are in the presence of the king."
He was as roused as any of them.
"What is the meaning of this, Artos?" Robert roared. "You and Ned told me you were a changed man, and now look at you."
Artos roared back. "Oh, I am a changed man, Robert. That I swear by my dead wife and my sister's grave. If I were not, I would not be standing here while you threaten to kill a Stark. Half the men here would already have lost their heads."
The old rage was in him now, the one he had spent years trying to bury.
"Direwolves are not pets," Robert snapped. "Get them a dog or something."
Artos's face hardened further. "You are right. They are not pets. Direwolves are living symbols of the Starks. They are kin to us. In truth, they are more Stark than I am. And you know as well as I do what we do for our kin. I will not allow my kin to be harmed."
Robert opened his mouth, but Artos drove on before he could answer.
"You say this is not a trial, but my kin is threatened all the same. The judgment has already been made. Your boy put a sword in front of my niece and threatened her, and now you are telling me Stark direwolves must be killed?"
He stepped forward a pace, his eyes cold and fixed on the king.
"This is not a trial, Artos," Robert said, furious now. "Damn it, Artos. The boy is a fool. Do you think I do not know that? He has always been one. But he is still my son, and he is the one who was bitten. The queen demands blood for blood. What would you have me do?"
Artos's voice came flat and hard. "I do not know, and I do not care. BUT I WILL NOT LET MY KIN BE HARMED. That is my limit. I may have learned patience in recent years, but the threat of harm to my kin is where it ends."
"How dare you?" Cersei said. "A royal prince was bitten, and you speak to the king like this?"
"Shut up, woman," Robert snapped, more sharply than before.
Artos looked directly at her. "Royal prince, you say? There were royals once who killed my kin. The realm has seen what the Starks can do when that happens. That is why you are the queen, and your son is a prince."
That struck hard enough that the whole hall seemed to go still.
It was the sort of thing that should have ended in blood if men were less afraid of the king's wrath.
"Artos, back down," Robert said, and the iron in his voice reminded every man there that he was still Robert Baratheon, once called the Demon of the Trident.
Artos said nothing. After a moment, he stepped back to his place.
Then he looked at the queen again.
"This is getting us nowhere," he said. "I would not mind a trial in the capital for this. Put your accusations forward, and I will put mine. I would gladly invite Lord Tywin to be part of it."
His gaze cut to Robert.
"But you know how that would end, and you know what would follow. We can do it here, if you wish. One or two deaths will not trouble me. But I will not let my kin be harmed."
Cersei looked ready to answer, but Robert spoke first.
"Do not be absurd, Artos. Be the patient man that you and your brother promised me you would be. This matter is resolved. Your wolves will stay away from the royal court and my family. That is the end of it, and that is my command as your king. Do you understand me?"
Artos's smile was thin and venomous.
"Gladly."
Cersei began to speak again. "But Robert—"
"Quiet," Robert snapped. "Kingslayer, take your queen away."
"Yes, Your Grace," Jaime said at once.
For once, he sounded almost relieved to do it, for he knew as well as any man that this would end badly if allowed to continue.
The matter was settled, at least for the moment.
Aftermath
When Artos returned to Arya, she was still shaken, but she came to him at once.
He asked after Nymeria.
Arya told him how she had let the wolf go, to save her from being killed.
Artos listened in silence, and his face darkened.
Then he gave his men a new order.
"Find her," he said. "Search the forests and bring word if you see her."
The thought of the direwolf running loose in the woods was no comfort to him, but it was better than the thought of her being butchered for the pride of a prince.
Then he turned to Beron.
"Beron," he said, "I want you to go to Sea Dragon Point and take another thousand of our men. Bring them to King's Landing. After this, we will need them. We cannot afford to take risks."
Beron bowed his head. "Aye, my lord."
Artos thought for a moment, then added, "Bring more Demons than Winter Guards. They know King's Landing better. And they are already known to those so-called lions."
Beron nodded once and went to do his duty.
...
Please, please join the Patreon. Its really a genuine request. Please join it.
Thank you for your lovely support
Please join the patreon and join the pack
www.patreon.com/Cregantheblackwolf
Thank you for your support and I am really grateful