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The heavy doors to the Throne Room were shoved open as King Tommen sat upon the Iron Throne, his subdued yet vicious mother standing a step below him. The Kingsguard, Gold Cloaks, and sworn bannerman had failed to protect the King from the invading Targaryen army.
And yet what army could win against three grown dragons? It was as though Aegon the Conqueror had returned in female form.
The remainder of the Kingsguard stood surrounding the Iron Throne, each knight clad in the white and silver armor that bespoke their rank, the closest to the throne stood Jamie Lannister, Kingslayer and "Uncle" to Tommen. No one saw the figure pushed to the side of the room by a Kingsguard, hidden behind the wide columns.
Every last man stood in trepidation and fear of the large group that had pushed through the doors, led by a silver haired woman of almost twenty years. Daenerys Targaryen had waited many years to enter this room; she merely smiled coldly when she saw the young man who cowered atop the throne, his gold locks covered by a golden crowd that sat crooked.
"You seem shocked little boy" she called out, "Did you think you could match your little army of fools and traitors to my dragons?".
Tommen seemed too frightened to speak, but his insolent mother still had some vestige of a lion in her.
"Do not cheat and call your victory fair witch, without your dragons you would never have made it past the Mud Gate" she hissed, her green eyes cold and unyielding.
"And yet the First Men knew when to accept defeat when they saw my ancestor atop his dragon. A pity you did not remember your history" Daenerys said, stepping closer.
The Kingsguards swords rang out when they moved to push her back. She merely smiled.
"I have come to claim my birthright" she said, "And yet your son seems to be sitting in my chair" her eyes focused on Tommen, who sank lower into his seat, not noticing one of the swords cut his sleeve.
"Mother make her leave" he whimpered. Cersei shushed the boy, but kept her eyes trained on the silver-haired woman.
"You have no right to the Iron Throne witch, Jamie saw to that the day he slew your father, the Mad King" she replied, a smirk playing upon her mouth.
Everyone's eyes turned to the man standing at the base of the throne, the blonde haired man whom all the realm knew best for his lack of loyalty and his act of betrayal. He seemed indifferent to their conversation, his eyes counting the number of foes and realizing that his few knights would merely be sport for the Targaryen's men.
"Slaying the King was your first folly" Daenerys said calmly, stepping even closer, "The second was killing your husband and beginning your tiny skirmish for the throne" another step, "the last was setting yourself up as the most hated house in all of Westeros" she grinned.
"Enough of this, if you truly believe you are the ruler of Westeros you will prove it" Cersei called out, her voice ringing through the hall.
Daenerys' army laughed at this. "And why should I prove myself to you? All I need do is call my dragons and roast you in your hall" she asked.
Cersei stiffened but regained her fervor, "A trial by combat should suffice. Pick your bravest knight, if you have one amongst that group of thieves and murderers, and beat King Tommen's champion. If you win we shall discuss terms of surrender, if you lose" Cersei grinned cruelly, "You die".
Daenerys laughed, "If you lose you die, there is no middle ground in this" she seemed to think for a moment before nodding, "Very well, pick your champion little King" she said.
Cersei looked upon the knights and realized she was forced to choose between a cripple, two old men, and a coward. Finally she smiled and called, "Ser Meryn, will you fight to defend your King's right?".
The knight stepped forward, his armor glimmering in the firelight, "I will my Lady, and I will win for you Your Grace" he said, bowing to Tommen and stepping forward to the middle of the floor.
There was a titter in Daenerys' group but the Mother of Dragons only smiled wider. "Ser....Meryn was it?" she asked, "I have heard this name before from one of my soldiers. I believe the Cat of the Canals mentions you quite often in her....prayers" she stood taller and called out, "I name the Cat of the Canals, first Sword of Bravos, as my champion!" amongst the cheers and laughter of her wild crowd.
The smaller group saw a lanky, slip of a person step forward. The man's armor covered him from head to toe, but was made of only thin links and scarves like a mixture of Westeros armor and Bravosi leather. A water dancer's sword was grasped in his hand, yet the man moved like he was born to fight.
They circled each other slowly, each gauging their opponent. Ser Meryn grinned when he saw this tiny, fool knight and moved to attack, hoping to end this farce quickly.
What no one accounted for was the knight's movement, quick and fluid like the rivers, the man danced and deflected blow after blow, letting Ser Meryn use all his strength to attempt to land a blow on the other knight.
Around and around they danced as the room filled with shouts, chanting, and calls for blood. Suddenly the chanting began to form into one clear word.
"Death, death, death, death" the crowds chanted, their calls growing louder and louder until the room boomed and shook.
Suddenly the smaller knight lept forward and cut Ser Meryn, his sword slicing into the weak joint in his left arm. Blood sprayed from the artery and Ser Meryn fell to one knee and screamed. The crowd's chant grew and grew while the knight disarmed Meryn.
"Who are you?" he asked hoarsely through gritted teeth, holding his gushing arm.
The knight slowly pulled off his helm- to reveal a girl no more than sixteen years with brown hair and cold grey eyes.
"I am No One to some, the Cat of the Canals in Bravos" she looked at the small group surrounding the Iron Throne.
"But in the place of my birth, I am known as Arya Stark, daughter of Lord Eddard and Catelyn Stark, Warden of the North and Winterfell" she said calmly and lifted her sword amongst the gasps.
"And I have waited a lifetime for vengeance" she said without tone, and brought her sword plunging into Ser Meryn's neck, slicing it through until his head dropped from his shoulders. The crowd cheered and called for more while the smaller group stared in shock at the Stark girl who had just killed a member of the Kingsguard.
Daenerys' army rushed forward and beat back the rest of the Kingsguard, one group saw the man behind the pillar and pulled him out. He surrendered easily and watched as the young Stark stepped forward and slowly made her way up the Iron Throne.
"You" Cersei's face was blotched red with anger and fear, "You were dead" she said, her voice sounded like she was speaking through a straw.
"I'm not here for myself" Arya Stark said, stepping forward with her bloody sword, "I am here for others".
With every step up she said a name. "Rickon". "Bran". "Sansa". "Jon". "Robb". "Catelyn".
She reached the Queen Regent and slid her blade into the older woman's ribs. Cersei gripped the sword with both hands as though to stop it from piercing through her, her green eyes filled with hate.
Arya yanked the sword out and pushed it through Cersei's throat.
"Eddard".
Cersei's life drained out through her wounds and she fell down the throne with loud thumps, her son coiled in the chair and wept loudly.
Arya turned and walked back down the throne and finally saw the man they had captured behind the pillars.
"Gendry?" she asked, pulling her fellow swordsmen off the man, who stared back at her with shock and happiness. "Arya" he breathed, before grabbing her and pulling her into a fierce hug. She dropped her bloody sword to wrap her arms around the man's neck.
"Stupid bull" she muttered, "Why were you here?" she asked quietly.
"The Queen Regent had heard how Stannis was using King Robert's blood to curse the other Kings" he replied, "So she thought to kidnap me and do the same" he said.
"Stupid" Arya muttered again, shaking her head at her friend's luck. Gendry laughed, "I thought I'd never see you again, I thought the Hound had killed you".
Arya pulled back to glare at him, "Like that sniveling coward could ever kill me" she sniffed, "I left him to die after he took a wound".
Gendry only laughed harder, "Same old Arya" he said, then looked at her, "Except mayhaps a little prettier" he teased.
"Oh Seven Hells, not you too. All I hear from anyone is how much I look like my father's sister, Lyanna" she muttered darkly.
He smiled, "Doesn't matter, you'll always be Arya to me" he said quietly. She smiled at that, "I missed being Arya".
He ran a hand down her face, "Welcome home" he said softly, knowing that when she went back to Winterfell to reclaim her home, he would be right beside her.
Robert laughter boomed when he saw Gendry and Arya riding towards Winterfell. "I knew we'd join houses Ned, I just never though it'd be one of my bastards and your she-wolf of a daughter".
Ned merely shook his head, "I don't know what's more unlikely, Arya becoming more of a wolf than Lyanna or the fact that the Targaryens sit on the Iron Throne again" he mourned.
"Oh piss and blood man, can't you get over that? If I can move past it so can you" Robert rolled his eyes. "Besides she gave your whelp back Winterfell didn't she?".
That made Ned smile, "And at least it went to Arya. with that boy of yours beside her there's not much that can defeat them" he leaned back against the heart tree in the godswood and let his grin grow, "My daughter is a she-wolf isn't she?" he mused, pride coloring his voice.
Robert merely rolled his eyes again and stood up, "Well I'm off to laugh at Cersei as she passes on her way to one of the Seven Hells, give Cat my best!" he called, floating off to leave Lord Eddard Stark feeling fully avenged and proud of his youngest daughter.