A few days later, not much had happened besides the fact that we arrived in Riverrun.
Robb tried to convince me to ride in a carriage to Riverrun, to no avail. I, of course, demanded to ride on horseback. Obara and Sarella did the same.
He was slowly but surely learning what a free spirit I was, and it was comforting. We were growing to know each other, I liked to think.
I was sitting in my room, brushing my hair out. It was growing quite long.
I heard a rough knock at my door, and glanced at it. I put my hairbrush down and walked over and opened it.
"Obara," I greeted, but she pushed past me.
I rolled my eyes and closed the door, turning to face her.
"You said that you'd be married the day we arrived in Riverrun," She huffed.
"Yes, well, that was when I thought we'd arrive during the day. We got here when the sun was setting, little sister, we had no time to prepare. Most of the castle is already sleeping," I said.
Obara did not look convinced, and I sighed. My sister was very high-strung, all about scheduling and honor and the like. It was what would make her good as the crown princess of Dorne.
"I promise we will marry midday tomorrow, and then you and Sarella can leave," I said softly.
I walked forward and grabbed her hand comfortingly. Her hand stayed stiff in mine, but I knew her well enough to notice her shoulders relax ever so slightly at the touch.
"There is something else we need to speak about," She said, and glanced at the door.
"I figured. I saw the looks you were giving me when you first came to Robb's camp. What is it?" I asked. I pulled her over to my bed and sat on it, and she sat next to me, her back straight.
"We... On our way up, we had to pass through Harrenhall," She started, and my eyes widened. That was the base for Lannister forces.
"Since it was just Sarella and I with no guards to stay inconspicuous, we were able to pass ourselves off as traders from Essos," Obara continued,
It worked well enough, I figured. Between Sarella's very dark complected skin and Obara's olive skin tone, they could pass as people from Essos. Many people in Westeros(excluding Dorne) were all pale, so they usually brushed off people that didn't look like them as foreigners.
"Okay, but... Why are you telling me this?" I asked.
"I think we found Arya Stark there," Obara said, and I stood up in shock.
"You had better not have been telling me this lightly. What proof do you have?" I demanded.
"I heard a boy call her by that name. It could've been anyone, but I figured I would check. She didn't say much, even when I told her that I was truly from Dorne. But it is Arya Stark. She said that as proof to tell her mother that a Northernman named Yoren helped her escape the capital," Obara explained.
"So it must be her, right? And why did you wait to tell me this?" I demanded.
"Because no one knows she's there," Obara added. My eyes widened.
"What?" I asked in shock.
"The Lannisters only have Sansa. Arya is stuck in a pin with a group of people. She's right under their noses and they don't realize it. She's perfectly safe, for now," My sister finished.
"A pin?" I asked.
"Like for pigs or something. Everyday one of them in the pin is killed," Obara said.
"I have to go tell Robb immediately," I straightened my dress and turned to leave.
I paused and pulled my sister up, hugging her tightly.
"You know, months ago, you would've looked for how giving Robb this information benefited you," My sister said, and wrapped her arms loosely around me.
"I am not the same person," I said after a moment's pause and pulled away, "And this does benefit me. It will make Robb happy to hear."
"Your feelings for the King in the North grow," Obara noted, not unkindly.
I pursed my lips, "He has grown to be a friend."
"A friend in the fortnight you've known him?" She said, raising her eyebrows, "Even I am not foolish enough to think you work that slowly."
We walked toward the door, and I stayed silent in my thinking. I put my hand on the knob and glanced at my sister, "I am not working for anything, though. Robb's different... I don't need to make it work."
My voice had a tone of finalization to it, and it was Obara's turn to stay silent.
I opened the door and glanced at my guards, nodding at them respectfully.
I turned to my sister and kissed her cheek swiftly, "Thank you for telling me. I have to go now."
"Good luck. Although with how 'different' Robb is, I don't think you need luck... Perhaps only love," She said, and despite her normal monotone voice, I could detect a hint of her lips upturning.
We went our separate ways, and I headed to Robb's room.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
I glanced at Robb's guards and went to knock on his door.
I paused, for I could hear something going on inside his room. His guard's faces never changed, and I was going to ask before a loud yell came form his room.
The two guards didn't move, and I looked at them, "What are you two idiots doing? Robb yelled- he could be hurt!"
"No one is hurting the king," One of the guards said.
I rolled my eyes and opened the doors, and looked to Robb's bed. He was trashing around, and for a second I didn't know what to think. Until I figured it out.
He was having a nightmare.
I glanced back at the guards, and one of them gave me a look. This must have happened often, then. But they didn't wake him to protect his pride.
"Thank you," I told the guards quietly, and closed the doors to his room.
I rushed to his bed and sat on it, kicking off my slippers. I shook Robb and he let out another yell.
"Robb, Robb! Wake up!" I exclaimed, placing one hand on his face. I positioned myself so thagt my face was hovering over his.
After a second his eyes shot open and he gasped. He was panting, and his face looked terrified. perhaps even like he'd been crying in his sleep.
"Sansa, Arya," He gasped out, sitting up, and my chest tightened.
His bed was big enough for two, so I sat next to him.
"Come here," I said quietly, pulling him closer to me. I pulled his head down gently so that it was resting on my chest, and I ran my fingers through his hair.
I don't even think he'd fully woken up until now, and his breathing calmed with each passing second.
"Why are you in here?" He asked, glancing up at me, but making no attempt to pull out of our embrace.
"I heard you yelling while I was taking a walk around," I lied. He already had enough troubles for tonight. Tomorrow I would tell him, after our wedding ceremony.
"I was yelling again?" He sighed, and I could feel his head shaking against me.
He took his head off of my chest, and I frowned, placing my hands in my lap.
"What you must think of me now-" He started.
I held up a hand to stop him, and once stopped I stared at him.
"What I think of you now is that same as before. You are similar to me- someone too young to face the horror of wars. I will not speak to protect your masculinity- although that is something you are not lacking, not that it would make a difference-" I babbled on for a bit, before taking a deep breath and looking at him, "It is okay to have nightmares. It does not make you weak."
"Have you ever had them?" He asked, then bit his lip, "I am sorry, I should not have asked."
"I have had them," I said, instead of telling him not to apologize, "For a time after my mother died."
He looked surprised, since I'd never mentioned my mother before.
"How did you get them to stop?" He asked, and I shrugged honestly.
"Acceptance, I guess?" I suggested.
We sat in silence, and I noticed that Robb, during the nightmare, had sweated through his shirt. Probably during all of the panicking and thrashing.
"Take off that shirt, let me get you a new one," I said, and he shook his head.
"I usually don't sleep with one on anyway. I just fell asleep before I got to take it off," He explained, but didn't move to take off his shirt.
"Well, you can get undressed now. It's not like I won't see it tomorrow," I said, as if it were obvious.
Robb glanced at me, looking like he was going to protest or say something, but after a moment he complied. He pulled his shirt over his head easily, and his toned shoulders were the first thing I noticed.
He wasn't overly built like some men were. He was muscly and toned in all the right places. It made my thighs clench together, but I ignored it.
Robb also seemed slightly uncomfortable, and I remembered what I'd heard about Northerners and their honor.
"I'll take off my shirt if it makes you feel better," I offered, and an amused smiled graced his lips as I leant back and added, "I sleep naked sometimes anyway."
And with that I knew that I'd ruined the moment. He was thinking of me naked now- well, I hope he enjoyed himself.
"Why do you do that?" He asked, "Say things that make people go quiet out of surprise?"
"Shock factor," I shrugged, "Unpredictability."
He leaned back and our shoulders touched. He looked at me and I looked at him. I felt raw in that moment, in a good way. Almost as if I were naked and vulnerable.
"What was your nightmare about?" I asked quietly.
"Sansa and Arya. I saw them beheaded," He spoke lowly, and I could tell by the look on his face that he was thinking of the dream.
"It doesn't mean anything. I'm sure they're fine," I said.
His hands were resting on the bed, and I placed one of mine over his.
"But you don't know that," He said, and I couldn't deny that.
"Don't be negative," I scolded lightly. It wouldn't help anything.
And then we were in silence again. I hesitantly leaned a head onto his shoulder.
I closed my eyes and thought about tomorrow; what we'd have to do, the ceremony, and how I'd tell him about Arya. I felt guilty for not telling him now, but now was not the time.
Before long, I was asleep.
I felt shifting around, and I let out a groan of protest.
"Be quiet, I'm just moving things around," Robb said. He pulled the blankets up over me, and I sighed happily, pulling them up to my chin.
"Robb?" I said tiredly, not thinking in my half-asleep state.
"Yes?" He asked. I couldn't see him because I was facing the wall. I was too tired to open my eyes anyway.
"You're a really good person," I hummed tiredly, before adjusting myself and falling asleep.