Chapter Text
Arianna watched as the visitors poured through the castel gates. To her it seemed like a river of gold and silver and brightly polished steel. There had to be three hundred or more riders, she knew, but to her it seemed three thousand. Bannermen and knights with thier squires, entertainers and freeriders and loyal followers of the court. Above thier heads a dozen or so golden banners whipped brazenly in the warm southern wind, embazoned with the crowned stage of the House Baratheon.
A swift tug at her skirts drew her attention from the riders to her yonng sister, Elia, who stared forward blindly. Lifting the small girl into her arms, Arianna sighed. Elia had been only a small babe when the raging fever had taken her sight.
Aware of the sudden quite, Arianna turned to realize the riders had all come to a stop and she was the only member of the Blackthorne Household not bowing to the King and Queen.
Blushing brightly, she quickly moved to curtsy, but Elia shifted at the quick movement and she nearly fell to the ground. Only her fathers quick grasp kept Arianna from sprawling in the dirt.
"My Grace," Her Lord father said. "I apologize for my daughter. She has alw~"
Raising his hand, King Robert brought her fathers words to a stumbling hault. "No need. Arianna was mearly looking after the little one. She shall make a good mother some day soon."
Arianna frowned at the King's words, but he seemed to take no notice.
"Come, Alec, we have much to discuss." A tall man with side whiskers beckoned, dismounting from his horse with a slight frown.
Looking on fondly, Arianna watched her father turn away and follow after the tall man and the King duitifully. Shaking her had, she handed her sister to the wet nurse, Old Crow as they called her, and started to move away when she was over come by the feeling of being watched.
Glancing over her shoulder, she realized the Queen and her twin were both looking after her with striking green eyes. The man stared after her with wide, curious eyes, yet the Queen seemed angry, as if she found Arianna lacking in some way.
Nervous, Arianna quickly vaccated the courtyard and rushed to her bad chambers, desprite to escape the probing eyes of the twins.
She had only just entered her chamber when a soft knock sounded from the open doorway.
"Come in." Arianna called breathlessly, and without a word two elderly women entered her bed chambers and began to fill her bath with hot water brought up from the kitchens and scented with fragrant oil that smelled of roses and night blooming violets.
"What are your names" Arianna asked kindly, pulling her worn cotten tunic over her head with a fluid twist of her hands.
"Genna." The elder of the two spoke. "This is my sister, Helane."
Bowing low, the one named Helane smiled. "It is a pleasure to meet the Lady of the castle at last."
"Thank you." Arianna said as Genna helped her into the tub and began to wash her long, rich mahoganhy brown hair and gently combed out all the tangles and snags. "I don't care to remember the reasons for coming to MistyOaks those few years ago, but it is nice to be home again. Father does love his travles."
Helane nodded as she scrubbed Arianna's feet and back, while Arianna slothed warm soap-sand over her arms and face.
When she was clean, the sisters helped her from the water and towel dried her skin. They helped her dress in a whispy gown the color of amethysts, which brought out the brilliant blue of her eyes. The dress only reached her knees and swayed softly as she moved about the room.
Slipping her feet into a soft, weather worn pair of sandels, Arianna smiled. It had been many years since she had felt clothes as fin as those that moved agaisnt her skin.
The elder of the sisters smiled in response as she braided Arianna's hair, twinning it elegantly into a soft bun atop the crown of her skull. "You look every inch the princess, Lady Arianna."
Blushing, Arianna turned to look into the small looking glass her mother had gotten her for her eleventh name day.
Arianna's face was small and heart-shaped, with wide dusty blue-gold eyes framed by thick, black lashes that nearly brushed agasint her high arching brows. Below, her nose was small and straight and her mouth full and lush. Arianna's had thick, long hair that reflected in the late evening light beautifully.
"Thank you . . . " Arianna gasped. "I look like my mother."
"Aye," Helane agreed. "You do."
Leaving her bed chambers, Arianna made her way thorugh the castle till she wondered across the dining room.
"Aria." Her father stated, eyes narrowed. "You left the courtyard this morning before you could be intorduced t o King Robert's family.
Blinking slowly, Arianna was forced to stand to attention while her father rattled off the names of the Queen, her three children and the Queen's twin brother. Arianna realized that Ser Jamie, the Queen's twin, was staring at her quite oddly, while Cersei, the Queen glared hostily.
As they seated themselves at the grat table, Arianna was shocked as Jamie pulled out her seat for her with a smile. Thanking him quietly, Arianna stared at her hands in confusion. Never before had a man showed her the curtisy of such, and she was unsure of how to respond in kind.
As the meal progressed Aria forgot her earlier discomfert and began to enjoy herself. The adults around her drank enough for two, and even Arianna sipped from a goblet of honeyed wine. As the moon rose, Aria found herself dancing with several of the men at arms who had traveled with the king's party.
"Are you enjoying yourself, M'lady?" One asked as he spun her away from her previous danceing partner.
"Yes." Arianna muttered, noting that the mans words were slurred. She could smell the stench of something much stonger than wine on the man's breath. "Let me go, please."
"I want to dance." The man slurred, holding her so tightly she was sure she would have bruises come morning. Clinging tightly, the man pulled her close enough for her feet to lift ftom the ground.
"No!" Aria wheezed, voice strained as she struggled to breath through the mans stangle hold. "Let me go."
"Let the Lady go." A soft, calm voice commanded.
"The Lady wanted to dance, didn't she? The man laughed, his hold tightening.
Arianna forced herself to take a deep breath before freeing her hands. Balling one into a small fist, she let fly at the man's face.
In his drunkeness, the man was much to slow to avoid the attack and cried out as her tiny fist connected with his nose with a crunch. He fell to the floor, eyes closed, while Arianna struggled to move away. Crying out, Arianna threw out her hands in a effort to prevent herself from falling to the floor.
A wirey, muscular arm caught her around the waist then and Arianna turned to see Ser Jamie looking down at her with concern. "Are you alright."
Wincing, Aria nodded as Ser Jamie gentally placed her on her feet. "I'll be fine." Arianna mummbled while flexing her fingers.
"A Lady should not fight." Queen Cersei commented, glancing down at Arianna with a hard smile.
"Well, my Grace," Arianna snapped, unable to help herself. "Please tell me what I should have done."
The Queen was raisng to her feet, eyes dark with anger, when the King waved a hand. "Enough!" The King roared. "I won't have you baiting the girl, Cersei. Not when we finished the planes for her and your brother just this afternoon."
Arianna, confused by the Kings words, turned to her father with narrowed eyes. "What plans?" She demanded, noting the quiet that decended over the hall.
Her father squirmed under her hard stare. "The betrothal of the Queen's twin brother, Jamie Lannister, to my eldest daughter."
Aria continued to stare as she analyzed his words before thier meaning was understood. "Father! You can't be serio~"
"I am, daughter. You will marry Ser Jamie with in the next moon rise." Her father said calmly, his face grave. "I had planned on telling you in privete, but the situation tonight seemes to have forced my hand."
Arianna turned wide eyes to the man standing at her side and shook her head violently as he smiled kindly at her. "I will not be forced to marry a man I do not know, nor love."
Before her father could respond, she turned and fled from the room, her long legs carriying her away from the others before anyone could think to grab her.
Ignoring the shouts sounded behind her, Arianna continued to run till she reached the stables. Not bothering with a saddle nor bridle, Arianna pulled herself on the her mare's back, kicking her into motion instantly.
"I won't." She whispered as she disseapered into the thick forest. "I won't."