[IC] The Games we Play Around the Throne

[Genkai]

While the prospect of living in King's Landing tickled Sansa Stark, it left Arya feeling conflicted. She loved her home, it was all she ever knew. She loved exploring and playing with her brothers. Despite being the middle of five, Arya got along rather well with her siblings but she had the best connection with Robb and Jon. Jon was a bastard and wasn't really her brother but they did get along rather well. He gave her a light sword before they parted ways and while traveling, she was doing her best to find time to train. So far, she hadn't had much success since Sansa would turn her head up at the idea of a Lady lifting a sword to fight, and her father still seemed uneasy about the girl's new accessory. So for a while, she had to practice with a tree but it helped her get a feel for how to hold the thin sword and move with its weight.

The traveling wasn't so bad for Arya.

She had her sword and she had Nymeria and her father. The others were easy to forget about. The constant travel and camping was taken in stride, as the girl had never ventured out of Winterfell. Sansa didn't seem as comfortable, in fact she looked rather out of place but they had to make due with whatever they could deem a suitable place to camp. In time the large group was able to reach the Crossroads Inn which was a notable place to stop while on the Kingsroad en route to King's Landing. They would stop for only a day or two but it was enough of a treat for Sansa to head off with Joffrey with a smile on her face. Arya grabbed her sword and headed off to practice, Nymeria followed her obediently.

The King and her father were talking elsewhere and anyone else was someone Arya didn't feel the need to check on. She walked around the area and found a small river which didn't have anyone around. It would be perfect. As she took her sword out and began to swing at the air, making sharp wisps of sound, a pudgy boy came over to her. "H-hi there." He said and she lowered her weapon. "I'm Mycah. You're with the King aren't you?" He asked her tentatively. Arya gave a shrug and licked her lips, not sure if she ought to be talking to a boy. He didn't look too much older than her but he was still closer to Sansa's age than her own.

"Yeah so?"

"That's a nice sword."

"Thanks, my brother gave it to me before he left." Arya said. "Have you got one? A sword, I mean...maybe we can fight, you for fun." She offered. Mycah mentioned he had a wooden one and hurried off to go fetch it. Arya gestured for her direwolf to watch in the nearby woods so she didn't get hurt. When the redhead returned, the two began to take hits and dodge. It wasn't graceful but Arya was just happy to be sparring with someone and not a stupid tree. As the afternoon wore on, she heard talking nearby and turned to see her sister and Joffrey approaching. She lowered her sword as Joffrey strode over. Sansa lingered back and looked to Arya with a mixture of annoyance and embarrassment but Arya didn't know what her older sister's problem was.

"I'm sorry about my sister, she ruins everything." Sansa apologized to Joffrey nervously. "Father told you not to play with it, it's not a toy."

"I know that." Arya snapped at Sansa. "We weren't playing, we were practicing."

[Gowi]

The monotony of travel bored Joffrey Baratheon. The entire trip had been a grand display of majesty by his father to convince his longtime friend and comrade, Eddard Stark, to join his side at King’s Landing. If not for his father’s will and presence the blonde-haired prince perhaps would have commented blankly on how the trip bore him with the irrelevance of such a thing. If the King requests a task or role from his vassals they should always comply – the sort of personal view was something he had been taught by his mother as it was her tutelage not the maesters of the crown that crafted the boy’s views on politics.

However, it was not his place to question such decisions made by the king. Even if it were Joffrey would never want to bring his father’s judgment into question as everything he wanted to be was like his father, the one who brought down the Dragon Prince at the famous clashing of steel at the Battle of the Trident. It was initially why Joffrey took to martial practice with a variety of swordsmen as he did not have the strength to wield a war-hammer like his father had during his rebellion. It had always been to no avail though as his father never gave him the time of day and even gave off the impression that he did not even want to look at his own son. What did he ever do to earn his father’s scorn?

The thought was a painful one, as he opened his eyes. He and his betrothed, Sansa Stark, had stopped underneath a fruit tree along the riverside which admittedly was a rather pleasant sight. It was then that the red-haired girl of four and ten spoke for a first time in quite some time as they had been enjoying the time away from the noise of the King’s caravan.

“What is King’s Landing like?”

Joffrey smiled, though it was one he personally forced. But his mother had taught him well how to mask his feelings and thoughts which was a rather useful skill in many avenues of society; especially for a to-be king. “It is much warmer than you are used to, I promise you that much. It is my home, it will be your home and you will become at the center of all Westeros finery. You will no longer be trapped in a land of white and gray.”

His comment sent a genuine smile to her face as he shuffled his hands behind his back. “Let us continue our walk, my lady.”

The betrothal was the first act in actual acknowledgement by his father. Where he had failed with the sword or any other actions he had at least was finally seen for what he was—a man of six and ten. How he had been told that the day would come where he too would have a fair-haired maiden at his side who bowed to his will. With the way his father tutored him he always imagined the day would only come when his father would be requested to do the action away but here he was betrothed to a beautiful girl with flowing hair of velvet by his father’s will. It filled him with pride and recognition. For Joffrey Baratheon this was only the beginning of his father coming to terms with him—he would never raise his hand against him for being a fool and he would never lecture him for childish mistakes. It was wonderful.

As Joffrey thought optimistically of the future he and Sansa came upon her sister, Arya Stark, who had taken to what appeared to be sparring with a lowborn cow. He moved his arms from behind his back as Sansa immediately apologized for her sister… but what for? What was she exactly ruining pretending to be a knight? The idea that the lowborn was playing along bothered him more than anything as to Joffrey he felt the boy was mocking him. With an arrogant grin Joffrey walked in front of Sansa and approached the two ‘knights-in-training’.

“Your sister.” He looked toward the lowborn, “…and who are you, boy?”

“Mycah, my lord.”

He could smell the fear on the lowborn, was he intimidated of him? This would be quick.

“So, you want to be a knight then? Pick up your weapon, then and let us see how good you truly are.” The prince demanded as he drew his sword whilst keeping it in a neutral stance. He did not think he'd have to use it, but the boy shouldn't mock the art that was swordplay as Joffrey believed it was.

“But… my lord.”

Joffrey’s smirk dropped to a frown. “I asked you to do something, boy. Do it, pick it up.”

“…but it’s just a—”

“A stick? Yes and you are nothing more than a lowborn playing pretend. Don’t you agree?”

[Genkai]

Looking from Joffrey to Mycah, Arya felt her anger surge. Sansa had just butted in yet again, and Arya was sick of it. Her mother always loved how wonderful Sansa was with embroidery and acting lady-like and yet it seemed Arya couldn't get away from disapproving looks even on the road, a long way from him. Sansa was giving her a sour look as Arya looked back to the boys. The brunette didn't want to be brushed aside, not any longer. "Stop." She protested as Joffrey told Mycah to pick up his sword. A dangerous amount of anxiety swelled up inside of Arya as she licked her lips, trying to gauge how to handle the situation. Just minutes ago, everything had been fine and she had been having fun. Joffrey was being a bully and Arya couldn't help but squirm in her position. "If you're going to belittle him, you might as well be talking to me too!" She spoke up. Sure, Mycah wasn't a highborn like herself but to her, they were both at fault or not at all. Joffrey couldn't pick his battles, couldn't pick the weakest one to pick one.

"Arya!" Sansa gasped and looked at her sister, her mouth hanging open with horror. "Shut up." She hissed at her younger sister and tried to motion her over to where she stood, out of the way. "Come here."

"She asked me t-to..." Mycah tried to explain as he picked it up, his eyes staying on the blond, just in case.

"I did." Arya added as she hurried over and moved between Joffrey and Mycah. "You don't have to pick on him, he was helping me. i asked him to." She tried to explain. The girl wasn't sure why or even how Joffrey was bothered by this display. She just didn't understand it. "Mycah, get out of here." She muttered, glancing over her shoulder before she looked back at Joffrey. He was older and taller than her. His eyes weren't quite filled with malice or ill-intent, in fact, Arya couldn't quite deduce his expression or reasoning. While she ran around with boys in Winterfell, she never really thought much of the opposite sex. Arya knew Sansa had probably kissed a few boys or something but it was never on Arya's mind.

She vaguely wondered what Sansa and Joffrey might see in one another, they were both pretty annoying in her mind.

The pudgy butcher's boy was quick to waddle off back to the Inn. Arya gripped her sword and she heard a low growl and before she knew what had happened, Nymeria had gotten to her feet. The direwolf let out a growl, obviously wanting to defend its master and nipped at Joffrey's hand which was holding his sword. "Nymeria!" Arya called out. She may not care for Joffrey but she didn't want him to get hurt because of her or her pet. "No!" She said disapprovingly. It seemed her exclamation had attracted some attention, as she could hear her father and Joffrey's getting closer. And from the sound of it, her father was quite worried. "I-I'm alright!" She called out in a futile attempt to delay them from crossing paths. "I am so sorry." Arya spurted out as she took a step closer to Joffrey, her blade being slipped away properly.

What was once anxiety, was now dread and guilt. Arya was sure that she was going to get in trouble for using Needle but for Nymeria's attack. "She didn't mean it, she was just scared for me. I think." She said. Sansa hurried over to try and look at the wound herself but it seemed as though it wasn't bleeding, if it was, it wasn't much. Joffrey seemed more annoyed at the event, rather than the circumstances surrounding it. He mentioned that they wouldn't tell anyone, which was fine by Arya. Still, she did feel bad about what happened but if he wasn't going to tell his father, that was fine with her. Sansa on the other hand seemed quite distraught and when the two men, plus a few guards found them by the lake, she could only stammer a few words before she headed off to find some shade to sit in.

Arya glanced to Joffrey, not sure if she could trust him or not. He was a hard book to read and it made her very leery. She pressed her lips together and headed off when her father summoned her. It wasn't yet time for dinner but it seemed the parents had sensed something had happened, even if the children had denied anything happening. Arya lied and told her father she had seen a terrifying bug. It was obviously a lie since she wasn't really scared of such things but it seemed Eddard wasn't going to follow up with the matter. When supper came, that night, Arya had been unable to track Nymeria down, who had taken off to the woods after the attack. She knew she had to go join the others and eat but she was too worried about her wolf to think about making small talk with idiots at the Inn. "Nymeria!" She called out. Another scarce face was Mycah but she hoped to say goodbye before they did continue on their journey.

[Gowi]

“What happened?!”

This was the sixth time in the last several hours that he had been asked that and the voice of his mother was less worried but rather enraged that something had happened the moment he was out of her sight. Sure, she was right that ‘these sort of things’ did not happen in King’s Landing but he wasn’t allowed to do much in King’s Landing outside of things pertaining inside the castle or it’s courtyard. It didn’t matter that it happened in the first place! A very much thing Joffrey cemented when he told the Stark sister’s that he’d rather it not be mentioned—how it basically never happened in the first place. Joffrey’s eyes had a look about them as he stood there in complete discomfort before she began to ask a seventh time and he did something he thought he’d ever do—interrupt his mother.

“It doesn’t matter! It’s dealt with!” He spat in anger as he stared at his mother who he could feel it—almost did as Robert always did and struck him, but she prevented herself from doing so. With his arms crossed, Joffrey didn’t seemed to care at all of the consequences of any of his actions.

“How dare you speak to me in that tone?” She replied back, obviously upset by his outburst.

“…yes, you’re right. I’m sorry mother.” Joffrey apologized as his eyes drifted to the floor.

He had never been this upset before or this angry about something like this. He did feel bad despite the fact he adverted his eyes—but he did so less about guilt but more out of shame. He never wished to hurt his mother in such a way and he did it all because she was worried about his well-being. He moved his eyes back to his mothers and spoke once more before she had a chance to say another word.

“Can I go now?”

“Yes. But we will finish this discussion and you will tell me what happened or by the seven I will drag you to your father and have him deal with you.”

It was an empty threat, but Joffrey knew somehow she’d find out—but he couldn’t have that nor could his pride. As he walked out of the door he had a strange feeling crawl into him as his mother’s eyes remained on him until he left her sight. His mind returned to Arya’s outburst and her damned pet’s intervention, how was he supposed to teach a lesson when that was around the corner? He shook his head—in King’s Landing there would be naught such a worry. However when he returned to his mother later that evening he was brought in front of everyone as news came out about what had happened and he had to relive the damn thing over and over again, but worst of all his mother wanted to make an example of someone and it became a night neither he or Arya would forget.

[Genkai]

For now she had to retreat and go get something to eat. It seemed like Sansa had found other people to dine with, Queen Cersei included. Arya wasn't interested in stuffy small talk. So the brunette found another section to sit down and eat. She was still worried about her direwolf. She didn't feel comfortable leaving the inn without her but she didn't have much of a choice. The rest of the traveling went by without much event. Having had to leave Nymeria behind, the girl had fallen into a bit of a depression. Sure, venturing to King's Landing could be exciting but she felt more alone now. Sansa wasn't very supportive and her father was busy with King Robert.

All she had to distract herself was the idea of honing her skills with Needle. In her heart, she hoped that Nymeria would show up. As the parade of wagons entered King's Landing, Arya couldn't help but welcome the new setting. It was safe to say Sansa was even more awestruck though. As they had neared the city by the bay, Sansa kept asking random questions about the fashions and customs, her eyes filled with eager light. Arya on the other hand, was interested but kept her own emotions at bay. After all, they were further from home and further from her direwolf.

They pulled up in front of the large castle and everyone got out. A large crowd had gathered to welcome home their royalty. Not many people cared to see the Starks arrive. Either way, everyone migrated into the castle and the three Starks were shown to their designated quarters. The others who had come would get different accommodations. As they began to unpack, Sansa spoke of getting a tour. "Ask your boyfriend." Arya rolled her eyes, her own patience having nearly run out. Being stuck with her sister in a cramped space for so long had its side effects.

"Maybe I will." Sansa smiled as she began to mess with her hair, sitting in front of the mirror.

"You should go too." Ned told Arya as he went to the door.

"I don't want to. Why can I go with you?"

"I have to meet with everyone here, I'll be back tonight. Sansa, keep an eye on her." The man said and headed out. Arya took a seat at the table and couldn't help but let her expression fall. She didn't want a tour of the castle. She would much rather find her own way around. And she especially didn't want to hang out with Joffrey and Sansa. Gross. Sansa came out into the main sitting room and the two girls headed out to figure out where Joffrey was. Arya lingered behind her sister as they walked around and were soon directed to where Joffrey was, as it seemed, speaking with his mother. Sansa and Arya waited in the hall as one of the guards knocked and announced their arrival. When they were given permission to enter, they did.

"It's so beautiful here." Sansa commented politely. "I was...was wondering if we could have a tour your grace." Sansa said nervously. "Our father has stepped out for the rest of the afternoon...if you're tired and need to rest, we understand."

Arya looked from her sister to the blondes in front of her, hoping a tour was out of the question, it meant she could sneak off and do something of actual interest.