3.

Arya II & Daenerys III

As always, a huge thank you to all of you who commented on the last chapter. It honestly makes me so happy to hear all your feedback, thoughts and opinions on this story.

Also, thank you again for your patience with the slow updating pace. This story means a lot to me and though I have a lot of stuff going on right now, I'm still fully committed to writing it.

Hope you enjoy the update! <3

Ned's eyes softened as he read out the title of the chapter: "Arya."

Arya sat up in anticipation, exchanging a curious glance with Jon. She wondered what this chapter was going to be like, and what her descriptions of King's Landing would be.

Suddenly she remembered that her future self would still be grieving the loss of her friend and of Nymeria, sobering a little.

Her father has been fighting with the council again - Arya can see it in his face when he comes to dinner. The fifty men of the guard who eat with them rise to their feet,

"Fifty?" Arya asked loudly. That many people to guard her, her sister and her father? It seemed a little ridiculous.

"Father is the King's Hand now," Robb said. "So it does make sense that they'd want a lot of guards for him, I suppose."

"Well, yes, but -"

"And I'm sure all of them aren't on guard all the time," Jon put in. "This might just be a dinner with them, like we have in Winterfell sometimes."

"Oh, that makes sense," Arya said, a little annoyed that she hadn't thought of that. "Sorry. Keep reading, Father," she mumbled.

but Father tells them to be seated, and is pleased to see they have started eating without him.

Jory and Father talk about the tourney that is planned

Ned sighed loudly as he read that part. He still couldn't believe Robert had grown so frivolous. Six million gold dragons! He shook his head and continued with the sentence.

and Sansa begs to be allowed to go as well. Father agrees once he hears that Princess Myrcella, who is younger than them, will be there as well.

Arya says that she doesn't care about that stupid tourney. She knows Prince Joffrey will be there, and she hates Prince Joffrey.

Sansa lifts her head and says that Arya won't be wanted there anyway.

As she heard her father read this argument aloud, Arya started to get angry again. She opened her mouth to say something to Sansa, but was immediately stopped by her mother's warning look and looked down, biting her teeth together.

Father is angry as he tells them that he is sick of this fighting - they are sisters, and he expects them to behave that way.

Sansa nods while Arya stares sullenly at her plate, determined not to cry.

Ned paused to look at his daughter in concern, worried how she was handling this situation with Nymeria.

Arya was looking at her feet, careful not to betray any emotions in her face. She swallowed harshly. She wouldn't let something that would never even happen affect her like this.

Father stands up and excuses himself before leaving the table, and Sansa turns to share whispers with Jeyne Poole.

No one talks to Arya. She doesn't care. She likes it that way.

Arya frowned, listening to this. She wasn't used to the idea of not having friends, or just... having people to talk to. It must be very strange in King's Landing without her brothers and her friends, she realised abruptly.

Arya misses her brothers.

Ned's voice softened a bit as he read the next paragraph, and he allowed a small smile onto his face. It was good to hear the way his children truly cared about each other, even if it broke his heart a little bit to hear how miserable Arya would be in King's Landing.

She wants to tease Bran and play with baby Rickon and have Robb smile at her.

Robb and Bran both smiled at her now, and she smiled back, looking back and forth between them both. Her heart felt a bit lighter, knowing their relationship would still be there in the future, even if she was miles and miles away.

She wants Jon to muss up her hair and call her "little sister" and finish her sentences with her.

Jon and Arya exchanged a warm look and grinned at each other.

But all of them are gone, and now she only has Sansa left, who won't even talk to her unless Father makes her.

Sansa frowned, looking at her little sister. It wasn't like Arya would ever talk to Sansa either, she thought, a little sulkily. This was supposed to be a two-way relationship; why should Sansa try if Arya never did?

But then she remembered their moment in the stables the day before, and she felt bad. Sansa took a deep breath, and looked at her sister again, surprised to see Arya looking back at her. Shyly, Sansa smiled at Arya a little apologetically, and Arya, barely noticeably, smiled back.

Arya misses Winterfell. She loved listening to her Father talk with his men at dinner, and meals in the Great Hall, and playing with the visiting children. Fat Tom used to call her Arya Underfoot; she likes that a lot better than Arya Horseface.

Arya hates it here, and she hates listening to the men talk and laugh around her. They had been her friends, but she knows that was a lie, because they'd stood by and let the queen kill Lady. They'd let the Hound kill Mycah and done nothing.

Everyone was silent, lost in the memories of that horrible chapter.

No one had said a word. Not even Father.

As he read this paragraph in a clear, solemn voice, Ned felt a rush of shame at his future self's actions. Firmly, he resolved once more to never let something like this actually happen. He would stand up to Robert this time around, he promised himself.

Arya looks around at them all and feels ill.

She gets up and runs to her bedchamber, ignoring Septa Mordane's protests and Fat Tom, who tries to run after her. She slams the door behind her and locks it so that no one can get inside, not Septa Mordane or Fat Tom or Sansa or Jory or the hound, nobody!

Once she is alone, Arya finally feels safe enough to cry.

Listening to this, Arya felt her throat choke up a little, and she swallowed hard.

She goes to the window seat and sits there, sniffling, hating them all, and herself most of all. It was all her fault; Sansa and Jeyne both say so.

Catelyn reached out slowly to tightly grab Arya's hand. She hated the thought of her daughter in King's Landing alone, suffering like this, without her there to comfort her.

Arya sniffed once and squeezed her mother's hand in thanks, laying her head on her mother's shoulder.

Fat Tom is knocking on the door, asking if she is in there, but Arya shouts "No!" and he walks away. He is easy to fool.

Bran let out a little giggle at that, and Arya smiled a little through her own teary eyes. She was glad someone could be cheered up, even if it wasn't her.

Arya opens the chest by the bed and takes out Needle. Her eyes fill with tears as she thinks of Mycah again. Her fault, her fault, her fault.

A pound on the door interrupts her thinking, as Septa Mordane threatens to tells her father about this if she doesn't open the door at once. Arya screams at her to go away, which she does.

Arya looks out the window, Needle in hand. She wishes she could climb like Bran, so that she could run away from this horrible place.

"I'll teach you if you like," Bran whispered conspiratorially. Arya nodded gratefully, seriously debating whether she should actually take him up on his offer.

She'd steal some food from the kitchens and take boots and a cloak and find Nymeria by the Trident and return to Winterfell. Or maybe she could run to Jon on the Wall. She wishes Jon were here now, so she wouldn't feel so alone.

Arya smiled at her family, grateful that they were all here now, at least, even if they couldn't be there in this future.

A part of her wished that her future self actually would run away from that horrible place to Winterfell or to the Wall, but she knew she would never actually leave her father and sister behind.

Maybe they could all run away together?

She sighed hopelessly. She knew that would never be able to happen. After all, her father had accepted the position of Hand of the King already, and there was no getting out of it once you had the position. Apparently they were stuck in King's Landing, then.

Her father softly knocks on the door, asking if they can talk.

She opens the door. Father is alone, looking more sad than angry. That makes Arya feel even worse.

Father comes in, and asks her about the sword. He recognises Mikken's work, and says that his nine-year-old daughter is being armed from his own forge without him knowing about it. He asks where she got it, but Arya bites her lip. She would not betray Jon, not even to their father.

Jon and Arya exchanged another smile.

Father tells her that this is no toy, least of all for little girls, and that he should snap this over his knee and be done with it.

"No!" Arya interrupted immediately. She had not even seen the sword in real life, but was already attached to it. She could only imagine how she'd feel in this future, with her own, real sword, her last connection to Jon, being threatened.

She tells him that Needle wouldn't break, and he is surprised to hear that it has a name. He tells Arya that she has a wildness in her, the "wolf blood", which reminds him of his siblings, Brandon and Lyanna, and how it brought them both to an early grave.

Ned paused before reading the next line, swallowing harshly. The memory of his sister still hurt. It was true that Arya looked and acted a lot like Lyanna. Sometimes, looking at his daughter from afar, it was hard to believe his sister was actually gone. He shook his head to push these thoughts away, and kept reading with a steady voice.

Arya reminds him of Lyanna sometimes; they even look alike.

Arya is startled by this, since Lyanna was beautiful, which is not a thing anyone ever said of her.

Her father asks her what she was planning on doing with Needle, and if she even knows the first thing about sword fighting.

Stick them with the pointy end, Arya replies, which makes her father laugh.

Arya tries to explain, that she was trying to learn, but...

She asked Mycah to practice with her, she tells him as she starts to cry. It was her fault, she says, shaking.

Her father's arms are around her as she starts sobbing.

Arya's mouth twisted as her own eyes started watering too. Catelyn noticed immediately, and pulled her in again to rest her head on her mother's shoulder.

Everyone's faces were solemn in this moment.

Jon looked at his little sister across the room, his heart aching, unsure what to do to cheer her up.

He comforts her, saying she is not to blame; the fault lies with the Hound and the cruel woman he serves.

She says that she hates them all; they all lied, even Sansa. She did remember, she just lied so Joffrey would like her.

Sansa's eyes were slowly filling with tears as well, guilt rushing through her. She hated everything about this future, but especially that she would be the one to cause this.

Arya heard a sniffling sound from her mother's other side and lifted her head to look at Sansa. She was honestly surprised to see tears in her sister's eyes as well.

"Sansa," she whispered gently. "It's not your fault either, you know. Not really." Sansa shook her head. "It is, though! If I hadn't -"

"You mean, if Joffrey hadn't," Arya interrupted fiercely. "Didn't you listen to the chapter? It was Joffrey and the queen, not either of us. And this won't ever happen now, because we know. Alright?"

Sansa nodded slowly, drying her eyes. "Alright," she repeated softly.

Her father says that everyone lies, and that for example, he knows Nymeria didn't run away. She explains that they had to throw rocks at her, and her father tells her that it was the right thing to do, since the queen would have killed her.

He looks out the window for a bit, and then turns around to tell her that winter is coming. Arya was born in the long summer, she's never known anything else, but hard times are coming - they got a first taste of them at the Trident and when Bran fell.

He tells her to remember the sigil of their House.

"The direwolf," all five of the children whispered in unison.

Arya sniffled and sat up a bit straighter in her mother's arms. She would do her house proud, she thought fiercely.

When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies, but the pack survives. In winter they must protect one another; there is no time for squabbles. So if Arya must hate, she should hate those who would truly do them harm. Septa Mordane is a good woman and

Sansa is Arya's sister. They all need each other.

The room was completely silent, apart from Ned's grave voice, as everyone took those words in.

He sounds so tired it makes Arya sad, and she says with a small voice that she doesn't truly hate Sansa. It is only half a lie.

Eddard says that he doesn't want to frighten her, but this is a dangerous place; it is not Winterfell. They have enemies here and can't fight a war amongst themselves. It is time to begin growing up, and leave the willfulness and disobedience behind.

Arya promises that she will. She has never loved her father as much as in that instant. She says that she can be strong too; as strong as Robb.

Robb let out a soft laugh as he heard that line, and smiled at his his little sister. She smiled back, but immediately looked at the ground, a little embarrassed.

Her father hands her the sword back with a smile and says that she can keep it if she promises not to stab her sister with it.

The next morning, Arya apologises to Septa Mordane.

"Very good, Arya," Catelyn told her softly. "If, the gods forbid, something like this happens in the future, I want you to remember your father's words. Alright?"

Arya nodded, and sat up, drying the last of her tear tracks. "Alright," she whispered back.

Three days later, Arya is sent to the Small Hall, where a man is waiting for her.

Arya cocked her head in confusion. She looked at her father for answers, but he just kept reading with a knowing smile, not acknowledging her unspoken question.

He says "You are late, boy," in a foreign accent. He says that he is her dancing master

Arya frowned. Would she have to take dancing lessons now, as punishment for her behaviour?

and throws her a wooden blade

She gasped in shock, putting a hand over her mouth. Arya's eyes lit up as she looked between her parents. Would he teach her how to fight properly? She bit her lip in excitement, holding back any questions until her father had finished.

which she misses, hearing it clatter to the floor. He tells her that tomorrow she will catch it.

She holds the blade nervously with both hands, but he tells her that one hand is all that is needed. He tells her the steel must be part of her arm, and she puts it in her left hand, which he approves of, saying it will make the enemy awkward.

The man introduces himself as Syrio Forel. He was First Sword of Braavos for nine years, so he knows these things.

He calls her "boy" the entire time, which she objects to, but he says that it doesn't matter: she is only a sword.

He finally approves of her grip, and tells her that she is not holding a battle axe, she is holding -

a needle, Arya finishes fiercely.

"A needle," Arya whispered breathlessly, in sync with her father reading aloud. She met Jon's eyes, grinning in excitement.

He explains that this is the Braavosi water dance, not the iron dance of Westeros. Arya spends hours trying to strike him, while Syrio Forel tells her what to do. The next day their lessons continue.

Arya was still grinning brightly even as her father looked up from the book.

"This chapter is finished," he announced quietly.

A pause.

"Before we go on," Ned said, "I want to tell you something." All his children looked at him expectantly.

"I know those are just words written down in a book that I might have said at some point in the future, but they are important. I stand behind that speech wholeheartedly. We are learning a lot about our future here, and I think you have all realised just how dark the coming years will be. And in these difficult times, we need to stand together as a family. I hope all of you will be able to put your squabbles and fights to the side and look to the future together, as House Stark. Because winter truly is coming."

Arya and Sansa exchanged a glance before nodding.

"I'll do my best," Arya promised earnestly. Sansa echoed the sentiment, looking uncharacteristically serious. Bran, Jon and Robb all nodded as well.

"I know you will," Ned told his youngest daughter fondly.

He was going to keep it a secret for now, but he had already decided to ask Ser Rodrik to give Arya some fighting lessons, as a surprise. Arya had always wanted to learn, after all, and now he knew just how important it was to her. She would take those lessons seriously, he knew. And, the gods forbid, there may come a day when they are all very glad that Arya can defend herself a little.

"What should we do now?" Sansa asked.

"Well, it's still relatively early," Catelyn said, looking at her husband for confirmation. "We have time for another chapter or two, I would say."

"I think we should just keep reading, to be honest," Robb added. "After all, we need to hurry if we want to finish before the royal party arrives."

They all agreed with this sentiment, and Catelyn took the book from Ned's hands to read the next chapter, which was about Daenerys learning what it was like to be married to Khal Drogo and travelling across the Dothraki Sea with the khalasar.

Throughout the chapter, the whole family was rather quiet and sympathetic.

Dany struggled to ride for entire days at a time, getting blisters and saddle sores, and at night she would lie there, waiting for Khal Drogo to visit her in her tent, crying herself to sleep.

Sansa especially got an uncomfortable feeling in her stomach at the thought of Daenerys being so unhappy with the Khalasar, and had to close her eyes as she tried not to imagine the very realistic future of herself and Joffrey.

Robb noticed the emotion in Sansa's eyes, and leaned over to give her an encouraging smile. "We'll make sure this doesn't happen to you," he told her, his eyes serious.

"Thank you," Sansa said. The feeling still didn't go away, though. After all, even if this book could help her stay safe, that didn't mean that this hadn't still happened to Dany. And she might be a Targaryen, but Sansa was actually starting to truly care for the other girl's happiness.

Catelyn spent a while reading about Dany's deep unhappiness.

But as the chapter went on, they all slowly noticed a change in Dany.

One night, Daenerys had a dream about a dragon, and Viserys was not there, and the dragon was covered in her blood, and there was a fire that swallowed her, cleansing her. In the dream, Dany felt the flames, but there was no pain, and she felt strong and new and fierce. And from that day on, things were a little easier.

Catelyn's voice was a little warmer as she read about Dany's legs growing stronger each day, and her skin toughening, and how Dany was starting to feel like a khaleesi, surer of herself.

The family all started to smile and breathed a bit easier as Dany's mood lifted, and the descriptions of the beautiful landscapes, rolling hills and green lands took their breath away.

One day, Dany was so enchanted by how perfect the day was, that she commanded the khalasar to stop, and galloped down a ridge, blessedly alone for the first time since her wedding. She was breathing in the smells of the grass, curling her bare toes in the soil, laughing, when she was interrupted by Viserys, who was furious that she would give orders to him and started screaming at her, holding her, his fingers digging into her skin.

Sansa gasped, wide-eyed, as she listened to her mother's voice detailing the confrontation between the siblings.

As Catelyn read about the way Viserys was attacking Dany, the Stark siblings all looked at each other in complete shock. They couldn't imagine being this scared of a sibling.

Having a brother like Viserys must be a waking nightmare, Arya thought.

Dany shoves Viserys, hard, and he looks at her in shock, since she has never fought back before.The Dothraki riders arrive, and one of them, Jhogo, uses his whip to tear Viserys off Dany.

Jon let out the breath he had been holding. Dany was a Khaleesi, after all. Jon started to get a small proud grin on his face as he listened to the way Dany commanded Viserys to walk behind the khalasar, humiliated in not being allowed to ride.

Slowly, they could all feel the way Daenerys was finding her place as khaleesi, and as time went on she got more comfortable in her role as wife of Khal Drogo.

When Catelyn reached some of the more explicit scenes in the chapter, she looked at Bran, Arya and Sansa in concern before quickly reading on.

The chapter ended with Dany finding out that she was with child, on her fourteenth name day.

The room was silent as they processed these events. None of them knew Daenerys, but through these chapters, they had all come to care for her in their own way.

Fourteen was very young, Catelyn thought, feeling a little protective of this girl across the Narrow Sea. Gods, she was of an age with Robb!

But then, Catelyn supposed, there was nothing to be done about the situation. Dany was already married, and it was only commendable that she should make the best of the circumstances life had given her.

She sighed heavily, and looked up. "This chapter, is over," she announced, looking around at her children. "One more chapter before we take a break?"

"Actually," Robb said hesitantly,"I'm pretty hungry now. Could we maybe continue later?" Arya and Bran nodded in agreement. "I'm hungry too!" Bran said loudly.

"Alright," Ned sighed. "Let us all meet back here in an hour. There is still some business I need to attend to, anyway."

One by one, still lost in their thoughts, they all got up slowly and left the room, glad to take a break.

Chapter Notes

Bran IV - Catelyn V

Hi guys!

Thank you so much for your patience and support and all your kind comments. I really hope you enjoy the update. As always, please comment any thoughts and feedback!

I hope you're all healthy and doing okay in these crazy times. Stay safe <3

The break was much needed for everyone. They all felt pretty drained after days of reading all these horrible things about their futures. Arya and Bran ran down the hall toward the kitchens, relieved to be free for a few hours, and Sansa looked for Rickon to see how he was doing after being left alone with his nanny for so long.

As the younger children went on their separate ways, Robb broke away from his siblings to look for Theon. They hadn't spoken for a while, and Robb was worried that Theon felt like he was ignoring him.

Theon was out in the courtyard practicing archery when Robb found him. He turned as Robb approached.

"Hello," Robb said carefully.

Theon smiled tightly. "Hello," he answered.

"Can I join?"

"Sure." Theon stepped aside to let Robb have access to the target.

They took turns aiming and shooting at the target in silence.

After a while, Robb turned to Theon. "Sorry if I've been a bit distant lately."

"That's alright," Theon said neutrally. He shot Robb a sideward glance. "You're going to be Lord of Winterfell, I understand if you need to spend time learning things from your father."

"Yes," Robb said hesitantly. He could feel the words on the tip of his tongue, but he pushed them down. His father had made him promise not to tell anyone. He gratefully took the out Theon was giving him. "Still, it must be annoying for you."

Theon snorted, breaking the tension. "Are you worried about me, Stark?"

"No!" Robb shoved him, laughing. "You know what? Forget it."

"Alright." Theon raised his eyebrows in amusement.

Robb shook his head, rolling his eyes. "Come on, idiot," he said, grabbing the bow from Theon. "Let me show you how it's actually done."

An hour later, Robb was feeling much better as he cheerfully said good-bye to Theon, who was

heading into the village.

Robb opened the door to the kitchens to find Arya and Bran with matching big plates, clearly on their second helpings. Robb rolled his eyes at his younger siblings and got a plate for himself too, greeting the maids with a smile.

Once everyone had eaten and was back in the room, Catelyn opened the book again. "This is another chapter about Bran," she said softly.

Bran took a deep breath and mentally prepared himself for some more horrible stuff, but the chapter just started with an overview of how things were going at Winterfell.

Robb is acting as Lord, and has no time for his brothers anymore, always shut away in meetings with Maester Luwin

Robb looked down thoughtfully. This was something he was genuinely worried about... that once everything went downhill, when he would be forced to take on new responsibilities, that he'd be so overwhelmed and busy with his new duties that he wouldn't make time to spend with his siblings anymore. He resolved once again to take more time now, so that if the worst did happen, he wouldn't regret it later.

and Rickon spends all day playing with the wolves. Bran is bitter about still being in bed instead of running around with Rickon, even after his eighth name day has already passed.

"That's how long we have already been gone?" Sansa asked, shaking her head in wonder. "Apparently," Ned answered solemnly.

Bran was silent. He could imagine it now, lying in bed on his eighth name day, unable to move, with only Robb and Rickon for company. He could well understand his future self's anger.

Old Nan is at his bedside, and tells him a story. Bran says he likes the scary ones, and Old Nan asks him what he knows of fear; he, who was born in the long summer. Fear is for the winter, for the long night.

As Catelyn read Old Nan's story about the Others, imitating her voice, Bran shivered slightly. The thought of the Long Night, thousands of years ago, scared him more than he could say.

In the Long Night, children are born and live and die all in darkness and white walkers move through the woods.

Arya's eyes were big as they went more and more into detail.

Mothers killed their children so they wouldn't starve, and huge packs of spiders, big as hounds, hunted anyone who left the safety of their homes.

The room was silent, with Catelyn's voice echoing off the walls.

Even Jon and Robb were fascinated by the story, eagerly listening to how the hero tried to seek out the children and learn from their magic, but he and his secret army were killed by the cold, and his sword froze so hard that his blade snapped when he tried to use it.

All the children were so engaged in the story that they jumped a little when Catelyn's tone shifted

back to normal.

Maester Luwin and Hodor enter the room and tell Bran that they have visitors.

"This must be Tyrion," Ned said quietly. He had planned to visit Winterfell after his time at the Wall, after all.

Hodor lifts Bran out of bed and carries him downstairs, where Robb is already seated in Father's high seat. Bran can sense the anger in the hall as everyone looks at Tyrion Lannister, standing in the middle of the room.

Tyrion turns to looks at Bran, surprised that Bran is truly still alive; he could hardly believe it when he heard.

Catelyn smiled as she read that sentence, and looked over at her son sitting next to her, happy and healthy and whole.

Tyrion asks Bran more questions about his fall, but Bran shakes his head. He never falls, never never never.

"Does Tyrion have suspicions?" Sansa said softly. "Maybe he wants to investigate what happened?"

Robb nodded. "Maybe."

Catelyn raised her eyebrows at the next section of the chapter.

Tyrion gifts Bran a saddle design.

Arya gasped, her eyes lighting up. "So he'll still be able to ride!"

Bran smiled too. This was really nice of Tyrion Lannister to do, he thought to himself. Bran was actually looking forward to meeting him once the royal party arrived.

Robb is confused, and asks why Tyrion would want to help Bran. Tyrion answers that Jon asked it of him, and that he has a soft spot in his heart for cripples, bastards and broken things.

Jon chuckled softly, remembering the scene from a few chapters ago. He liked Tyrion, he decided once more.

Tyrion leaves to sleep in the tavern in the winter town after being threatened by the direwolves, which Robb apologises for. Bran goes back to his room and has a dream about the climb, and gargoyles whispering to each other, and Bran wakes up saying "I didn't hear, I didn't hear."

Bran looked down at the ground, not wanting to be reminded of that time earlier in the book. They were, of course, very lucky to have the book to give them information, but he still wished he had never had to read that chapter.

Catelyn continued reading, now at a scene about Yoren telling Robb about Benjen Stark's disappearance. Everyone looked down sadly at future Robb's heartbroken reaction as he screamed that his uncle was not dead.

Ned frowned. "I wonder what will happen to Benjen," he said, concern in his voice.

"It must have something to do with those... Others beyond the wall," Jon said slowly. "Remember when we read the prologue? Uncle Benjen went out to see what happened to them, right?"

"Yes," Ned said heavily. "Well, all we can do for now is hope that my letter helped, at least a little."

Robb and Jon both nodded, smiling, slightly reassured.

Later that night, Robb sits next to Bran's bed, telling him that Mother will be back soon. Bran is happy to hear his brother in the hopeful voice, instead of Robb the Lord. Robb says that afterwards they can go to visit Jon with Bran's new saddle. Bran hears Robb sob in the darkness, and he reaches out and finds his hand, twining their fingers together.

Robb met Bran's eyes across the room and smiled sadly, a little embarrassed. It was really hard to hear how much they would all be suffering in the future, and he definitely didn't want Bran to have to see him cry.

"The chapter is finished," Catelyn said quietly.

There was silence for a little bit as everyone digested the ending of that chapter.

"Should we keep reading?" Catelyn suggested. She looked around the room. "Arya?"

Arya looked up in surprise, not expecting the attention.

"You haven't read in a little while," Catelyn smiled, handing her the book.

"Alright," Arya said, taking the book from her. "This chapter is called 'Eddard'."

The family was quiet as Arya began reading the chapter, which started with Ned in a meeting with Grand Maester Pycelle.

After a bit of small talk about the hot weather, Ned starts to ask about Lord Arryn.

Ned's eyes widened in interest. He hoped his future self could find out more information about Jon's death soon.

Pycelle tells him about the Hand's final days, how quickly and suddenly he had fallen ill, and how King Robert sat with him for hours, raising his spirits with takes of past adventures. Ned asks if he said any final words, and Pycelle says that he only whispered "the seed is strong" to his wife and the king.

"The seed is strong," Ned repeated. What could that mean?

Bran and Sansa looked at each other, confused. The seed is strong? Did Lord Arryn mean their cousin Robert? They had never met him, but had heard a bit about him from their mother.

It was a weird way to phrase a blessing, though, Sansa thought to herself.

Ned asks if the death seemed unnatural in any way, but the Grand Maester says it was no less natural than any other case; just a sudden and unpredictable illness. Ned quietly suggests poison, and Pycelle is visibly uncomfortable, saying that he can't believe anyone would do

that.

Jon raised an eyebrow in disbelief, but said nothing.

After the conversation, Ned walks through the Red Keep and sees Arya balancing on one leg, her arms windmilling about.

Arya's voice got audibly more excited as she reached this part of the chapter. She was really looking forward to hearing how her training was going. Standing on one toe for hours sounded difficult, but she knew she could do it. In fact, Arya resolved to try it this evening before bed.

Sansa rolled her eyes at the description of Arya's task, but hid a fond smile. Slowly, she found herself starting to respect Arya's passion for learning all these things, even if she would never be able to understand how one could voluntarily be beaten with a stick.

Arya and Ned talk about Bran, and how happy they are to hear that he is alive. Arya asks if he can still be a knight.

Bran looked up at that sentence, but looked back down quickly as the chapter continued. He wasn't even sure now whether he really wanted to be a knight. Not after everything they had heard about the king and queen.

Ned says no, not seeing the use in lying to her, but tells her that Bran might instead raise castles or sail a ship or become the High Septon. With a sadness in his chest, he silently adds that Bran will never run with his wolf or lie with a woman or have a son.

Arya asks whether she can do all those things too,

Arya read this paragraph more slowly, already seeing the answer on the page.

and Ned kisses her brow and says that instead, she will marry a high lord and rule over his castle, and her sons will be knights and lords.

Arya frowned, pouting a little. She had known, of course, that she would never be allowed to do what she wanted, but it was still hard to read about her father saying no that decisively. As if even her question was a joke that shouldn't be taken seriously.

Arya screws up her face, and says no, that's Sansa. She goes back to balancing, and Ned leaves her there.

Ned looked at Arya, concerned at the obvious disappointment on her face. But surely she must realise that even if she got fighting lessons, she would never be able to be a knight? Like the chapter had said; what was the use in lying to his children and getting their hopes up, if there wasn't any realistic way to achieve those dreams? The best hope for Arya, Ned thought not without sadness, was for her future husband to be tolerant enough to allow her to keep training. Still, she was just a child. Maybe there wasn't any harm in encouraging her now, since she would surely grow out of it in a few years?

Ned sighed and exchanged a look with his wife before turning his attention back to the book.

The chapter goes on to describe Ned meeting Petyr Baelish, who tells him to question Lord Arryn's servants to get more information.

Ned says that most servants left to go back to the Eyrie with Lady Arryn, but Littlefinger

says that his squire, Ser Hugh of the Vale, is still in King's Landing

Everyone listening perked up in excitement. Maybe there was a good lead for more information after all!

and Ned is pleasantly surprised and wants to send for him at once.

Littlefinger winces and gestures towards the window. At first. Ned is confused, but slowly, Petyr explains the elaborate spy system in this city: a boy sitting on the steps reports to Varys, a guardsman on the other side of the courtyard reports to the queen,

Bran and Sansa shared a shocked look. Neither of them had expected there to be so many spies in the city.

"Really?" Bran asked softly, with wide eyes. How would Lord Baelish even know those things?

and there are many more, even unknown to Petyr. King's Landing is full of eyes. That is why he had to hide Cat in a brothel.

Catelyn raised her eyebrow, interested to finally find the reason for her unusual hiding spot. Silently, she felt a little grateful to Petyr for going those extra lengths to care for her safety. She may not have approved of his behaviour in the past, and his love for politics and intrigues have always made her uneasy, but she was still strangely happy to learn that he hadn't forgotten their childhood friendship after all these years.

Ned doesn't care for these intrigues, and is shocked to find just how many spies there are. He thanks Baelish for his help and says that he might have been wrong to distrust him. Baelish smiles and says that distrusting him was the wisest thing Ned's done since he climbed off his horse.

Arya looked up to find her family's eyes fixed on her, clearly expecting more. She grinned and said, "I'm sorry, the chapter is over."

There was a silence as everyone processed that ending.

"What a strange thing to say," Robb said after a while, frowning. "'Distrusting me was the wisest thing you've done since you climbed off your horse?' Why would he say that?"

Jon sighed. "Apparently, he has some untrustworthy plans too?"

"But... what kind of plans? And why would he warn Father like that?"

"I'm not sure," Jon said hesitantly.

There was a strange expression on Catelyn's face too, as she tried to understand Petyr's motives. Hadn't she just been happy a second ago at how helpful he was?

"Maybe it was just a dramatic way for him to leave the room," Arya suggested lightly, which made everyone laugh.

"Fair enough," Ned smiled. Still, he told himself to spend some time thinking about this later. For now, he changed the topic.

"Would anyone like to read next?"

A little surprisingly, Sansa volunteered to read about Jon's life at the wall, and how very slowly, he is getting used to things there.

Jon is evidently taking Tyrion's advice and actually helps his fellow Black Brothers in training, and starts to make friends.

Hearing that made Robb smile. He was happy to learn that Jon wasn't too unhappy at the Wall, considering how horrible his first weeks there had been.

He even befriends the new recruit Sam, who is very fat and craven, which he is mocked for.

Sansa smiled softly as the chapter went on to describe Sam and Jon on guard duty on top of the wall, bonding about their childhoods.

Jon tells Sam the story of how they found the wolf pups, which seems like a thousand years ago now.

Bran grinned excitedly at the reminder of the wolf pups in the kennels, but sobered up quickly when he saw the serious expressions on his family's faces, as they reflected on just how much would change in such a short amount of time.

He also talks about his recurring dreams about Winterfell, about himself walking down the empty halls, looking for his father or Robb or Arya, going down to the crypts, and how it gets darker and darker until he wants to scream, and then he always wakes up.

Jon frowned in concern. He hadn't had those dreams yet, though they sounded horrible. What could they mean? Was his future self just homesick?

Sam tells Jon about his childhood, how ashamed his father was at having such a plump, soft, cowardly son. Lord Tarly had tried to no avail to turn Sam into a knight, bringing a dozen masters-at-arms to Horn's Hill, but all they did was frighten Sam even more.

Arya shook her head in denial. She couldn't believe that a father would do something like that to his son.

After his second son was born, Sam's father ignored Sam completely to devote all his time to Sam's brother. On Sam's fifteenth name day, his father gave him the choice to either go to the Night's Watch or be killed in a tragic accident during the hunt the next morning.

Sansa was deeply shocked, her voice slowing down more the longer Sam's story went on. "That's horrible," she breathed, once she had reached the end. Bran nodded, his eyes wide.

Ned just smiled sadly. He had heard things about Randyll Tarly, though he had never met him in person, at least as far as he could remember. He was glad that in this future, at least, Sam would have Jon to help him and be a good friend.

Jon and Sam sit in silence for a long time.

When Jon returns to the hall, he persuades all the brothers to stop mocking Sam, and they all agree except Rast. So that night, Jon sends Ghost to leap onto Rast's bed as he sleeps and nip his throat, just enough to draw blood. Rast leaves Sam alone after that.

Robb looked at his brother with a new admiration in his eyes.

"Would you actually do that?" he asked softly.

"If someone was hurting my friend? Apparently yes," Jon answered, also a little shocked at this development.

When Sam thanks Jon, saying he's never had a friend before, Jon tells him that they aren't friends, but brothers. He realises that his uncle had said the truth and hopes he will see him again one day, to tell him.

Sansa took a deep breath and looked up, a small smile on her face. "This chapter is done," she said softly.

And so the day went on.

Robb read the next chapter, which, to everyone's surprise, was another Eddard chapter, beginning in a council meeting planning the upcoming Hand's Tourney.

Ned leaves the council meeting to go up to his rooms, longingly thinking of the cool days and cold nights of the North, and the comfort of Catelyn's arms, and the sound of Robb and Jon practicing in the yard.

He spends some time reading the book Jon Arryn had read before his death, The Lineages and Histories of the Great Houses of the Seven Kingdoms, With Descriptions of Many High Lords and Noble Ladies and their Children.

Robb had to pause to take a breath at the end of that title.

"Wow," Arya said, a little stunned. "I had no idea a book like that even existed."

"It must be very fun to read," Jon quipped, and Arya laughed.

The chapter went on to describe Ned and Jory's unsuccessful attempts to interview Lord Arryn's remaining servants, none of which had any relevant information to offer him.

Ser Hugh had been rude and uninformative, too arrogant to be interviewed by a mere Captain of the Guards. A serving girl who had worked for Lord Arryn was friendly at least, but could only tell him that Lord Arryn had spent a lot of time reading and had been melancholy about his son's poor health. A potboy said the Lord Arryn had gone out riding with Stannis a lot, visiting a master armourer and a brothel together.

"A brothel?" Ned interrupted Robb's reading incredulously. He could hardly imagine Stannis and Jon, of all people, visiting a brothel together.

Robb grinned at his father. "That's what your future self says too, Father," he told him, reading the next couple of lines. Ned chuckled at the coincidence, still not quite believing the story.

Ned goes to visit the armorer, Tobho Mott, and asks him if he ever made a helm for Lord Arryn. Tobho says no; Lord Arryn and Lord Baratheon did visit him, but they wanted to see a boy, not buy armour.

Ned narrowed his eyes in interest. This might finally give some answers to all this intrigue, he thought quietly.

Ned has no notion of who the boy could be, but asks to see him as well. Mott calls for Gendry, who is his apprentice and about Robb's age. He is broad-shouldered and has blue eyes and messy black hair. He shows Ned a helm he had made himself, shaped like a bull's head.

Jon and Robb exchanged excited looks.

A helm like that sounded amazing to have. Maybe in the shape of a direwolf? Robb thought before continuing with the chapter.

Gendry says that Lord Arryn asked about his mother, who had worked in an alehouse and died when Gendry was little. Ned looks him in the face; the shape of his jaw, the blue eyes... Ned thinks he can see the resemblance.

He leaves the armourers shop, wondering what Jon Arryn had wanted with a king's bastard, and why it had been worth his life.

"This boy Gendry is King Robert's bastard?" Arya asked, frowning.

"Yes." Ned said slowly, thinking hard. "But why is he so important to Jon and Stannis?"

"I suppose we'll find out," Catelyn said. She'd been quiet for a while now, silently listening to things developing. She was almost certain that she had a theory on what was going on, with Robert and Jon Arryn and this boy Gendry and all the intrigue surrounding the Keep, but she wanted to wait until she had more facts before she spoke.

After a short pause, Sansa asked: "One more chapter?"

Jon reached out to take the book from her and started reading about Catelyn travelling back North to Winterfell.

Bran was excited to hear about his and his mother's reunion after having been apart for so long, and started to smile in anticipation.

Catelyn decides to stop at an inn along the way. Thankfully, no one recognises her in her hooded traveller's cloak. While she talks to some of the other guests, Tyrion arrives with some men of the Night's Watch.

Sansa gasped. "Tyrion?" she asked, a little scared of what might happen.

Tyrion recognises her immediately and greets her, saying he was sorry to have missed her at Winterfell.

Robb and Arya exchanged wary looks. Their mother in the future would still believe Bran's attack was Tyrion's fault, after all. Robb hoped she wouldn't do anything impulsive.

The guests and the innkeeper stare at her in awe, not having expected Lady Stark to honour them with her presence. She greets everyone she recognises, men with sigils of the Riverlands, bannermen of her father's friends, House Whent, House Frey.

Ned successfully hid a grimace at the mention of House Frey and the ninety-year-old Lord Walder. They were important allies to have, regardless of how Ned felt about him personally.

He could already see the dawning realisation on his wife's face, as she understood what her future self was about to do.

Once she has established their loyalty to her and House Tully, she turns to Tyrion who has watched the proceedings with amusement. She points at him and says loudly that he came as a guest into her house and there conspired to murder her seven-year-old son, and asks the men to help her bring him to Winterfell and await the king's justice.

Catelyn took a sharp breath. To be fair to her future self, with the information that she had, it was an understandable decision to make, if a little rash and impulsive. Still, Catelyn could imagine that if what would happen to Bran ever did, she would also want the person responsible to suffer. It just so happened that Tyrion was innocent, but he did look very suspicious under the circumstances. She couldn't blame future her for acting the way she had.

A dozen swords are immediately drawn, and the amused look on Tyrion's face disappears.

Jon thoughtfully closed the book. He didn't even want to imagine what this development might mean for the future.

No one spoke for a little bit, not wanting to be the one to break the silence.

"Well," Ned finally said. "This is what this book is for, after all. To learn as much as we can so we can make better informed decisions now."

Catelyn nodded, glancing at her husband. "None of this has actually happened yet, remember," she said. "We have time to fix everything, now that we have more information. Whatever happens in the book, if there's a war or anything else, we know what to do now."

The children nodded, uncharacteristically serious. They all understood what was at stake. "Let's stop for today," Ned said, standing up. "We can continue tomorrow."

Bran and Arya sighed in relief, already feeling the urge to run outside.

As his family slowly filed out, Ned stayed behind, thinking. He needed to write out a plan with Catelyn and Maester Luwin, he decided, to map out their options for when the king came. He called for Catelyn to stay behind, and got out some parchment.