KINGSLANDING, WESTEROS - 297 AC

RHEA WOULD NOT consider herself to be an outspoken person. She had always been on the quiet side, even when she was a child. Helene had told her often how she had been concerningly non-vocal when she was a babe. Little Rhea would not cry during the night, or during the day, seemingly not caring if she was hungry or not. Helene and her father became so worried that at one point, they asked the maester if there was anything wrong with her health. The maester could not find anything wrong with Rhea and told them that she just simply did not cry.

Jon Arryn had also taught his daughter that in most cases, loudness was not a necessity to become remembered, but rather that silence was often the smarter option. To observe and then act, rather than jumping into action immediately. It gave an advantage to the situation that outspoken people did not have. Still, being a well-spoken person was an important part in being a good leader, because speech could impact the very way people perceive you.

So even though Rhea was a quiet person, Jon knew that his daughter wasn't mute. He had noticed over the years that the only reason that his daughter would become as quiet as a mouse was because she was holding something in. Whether that were her emotions, her secrets or her struggles, Rhea would keep them bottled in and would suffer in silence, Not wanting to burden others with her problems.

Over the past couple of days, Rhea had become mute. The people in court had not noticed of course, but Jon had. It concerned him, but he was kept busy with his duties as Hand of the King so he was not able to help his daughter. He had asked for Gillian to keep an eye out, but he too had his own duties. This caused Rhea to reach her breaking point and storm into her father's room in the middle of the night, overwhelmed with whatever had been bothering her for the last couple of days.

Jon woke up to his daughter pacing back and forth in front of his bed. She looked tense and her eyebrows were furrowed. Jon slowly sat up and observed his daughter before finally breaking the tense silence that hung around his daughter.

"Whatever is wrong Rhea?" Jon asked softly. His voice stopped Rhea's pacing and she looked at her father. She seemed to struggle to speak, before stopping herself completely and beginning the pace around the room once more.

"If you keep pacing like that you'll make a dent in the floor, sweet girl," her father said, hoping to ease Rhea a little by joking. Rhea stopped pacing at that and walked to sit on her father's bed, next to his knees.

"Something has been haunting me for a while now. It is so bizarre that I do not know if even you can know about it." She told him, and Jon immediately became serious, understanding that it was no time to make jokes. Jon looked towards his daughter and gave her a look that told her to continue talking, and that all would be well.

"You do not know about this, but since I was young, I have been sneaking around the castle by secret passageways that lead all through the castle. I have mapped out a great part of them, but a big part is still unexplored. I know it is dangerous to do it, but the feeling of discovering something that so few people know about makes me happy." Rhea said, not looking her father in the eye, afraid of the stern look he would have on his face.

"A month ago, I sneaked past the knights to explore a part of the passageways that were not explored yet and I ended up in one of the unoccupied chamber hallways. It was there that I discovered something that I had wished not to see." The further Rhea told her story, the more nervous she got about the weight of the secret. She stayed silent for a couple of moments as if preparing herself for what she was about to say. After calming down a smidge, Rhea spoke up again, now directly looking her father in the eyes.

"I witnessed Ser Jaime and Queen Cersei interacting only as lovers do, with sweet words and kisses."

She awaited her father's reaction, not knowing what to expect; would he be visibly shocked or disgusted, or maybe he thought she was a fool for spreading lies? Instead, her father looked calm and collected.

"I had my own suspicions, that much is true, but I could never confirm it." Her father said to her before continuing, "The Baratheons always have had strong genes, so why would King Robert's children not inherit the stronger gene?" "It is a grave situation, that I will be researching further, and hoping to find solid proof of the relations between the Lannisters."

Her father paused to think about the situation they had found themselves in before he firmly turned towards his daughter and told her; "You must swear to never tell anybody else besides me of the things you have seen while exploring the tunnels. You must also never tell anybody of what you saw on that particular day."

"I swear on Meleys that I will not tell anybody," Rhea replied, complying with his conditions. "If I may father, I would like to assist you in your research about the Baratheon's. I could find books about the lineage in the library," she added.

Her father contemplated it for a few seconds but eventually agreed, nodding his head. "Alright Sweetling, but you will have to be careful and not raise suspicions." After her father agreed, there was a knock on the chamber door and a guard called out to her father; "Lord Arryn, the king demands your presence." Her father sighed before saying farewell to Rhea and making his way towards the door, opening it and following the guard used to summon him.

After a while of Rhea nervously revising the events that they just talked about, she decided she needed a distraction and quickly dressed herself in her riding gear and her swordbelt, preparing to go on a ride in the Kingswood. Her first stop on the way to the stable was the Raven's tower where Meleys also resided.

When she entered the tower, Meleys greeted her with a screech and immediately flew over to Rhea. Meleys landed on her gloved hand and Rhea gave her head a gentle stroke.

"Hello sweetheart, shall we go riding?" Rhea asked her falcon and as if Meleys could understand her, the red-brown spotted falcon hopped over to Rhea's shoulder, where she often took residence when they went out to hunt. Rhea had trained Meleys that her shoulder was a safe place to sit and to wait for the command to be allowed to fly away freely and eventually when to return to her shoulder. That way her falcon could trust her when it was safe to fly away.

With Meleys on her right shoulder, Rhea made her way towards her second and final stop; the stables. In the stables were all the horses that were owned by the royal family, but at the very end of the hallway was the stable where Rhea's horse was stabled.

Her horse, which she had called Willow, was a large chestnut-coloured mare. Willow looked up when she heard footsteps approaching and when the mare saw it was Rhea, she neighed towards her. Rhea gave her horse a pet before tacking her up and mounting Willow with the help of a stableboy. Meleys flew from her place on the stable door, where she had been sat watching Rhea saddle Willow up, to Rhea's right shoulder once more.

She told the same stableboy who helped her that if anybody came looking for her, she was out riding and led Sienna out of the stable. She followed the path towards the forest and was soon surrounded by trees.

As soon as she could feel Meleys' energy, she gave her the command that she could go flying. Meleys didn't hesitate to take off and quickly soared above Rhea and Willow. Rhea put Willow into a trot and eventually into a canter. When she could see the open field in the forest where Sienna knew they could go harder, she gave Sienna the space and they galloped through the open field. It felt relieving and exciting at the same time.

When they all safely returned to the stables, Rhea led Willow into the stable once more and took off her saddle and bridle. While examining the saddle, Rhea noticed that one of the metal rings that kept her left stirrup on her saddle was on its last life. This wasn't a shock to her, seeing as she had had this same saddle since she started riding Willow. It was an easy fix as well, she only needed to bring the saddle to a blacksmith and he would fix it for a payment.

So, with Meleys on her shoulder once more and her hood up, she began to make the journey towards the street of steel in Flea Bottom. Sure, King's Landing had a blacksmith that was entirely reserved for the court, but both Rhea and her father visited a blacksmith by the name of Tobho Mott. They both thought he might have been the most talented blacksmith in the whole of King's Landing. He had made not only her riding gear, but also her sword, so it was natural for Rhea to have him fix it.

The journey throughout Flea Bottom wasn't pleasant but it was necessary. It smelled of feces in the streets and it was like there was a permanent hot fog hanging over the city. It was suffocating, and it was a major reason why Rhea enjoyed the King's Wood so much.

The street of steel was a long and wide street, on both sides multiple blacksmith's. In this street, the smell of fire and melting steel took over from the city's normal aroma. Tobho Mott's shop stood on the left side of the street, being one of the biggest.

When stepping into the shop, it was laid out like one big room, with a huge fire in the middle. After hearing the sounds of footsteps, Tobho turned around to see who it was. His serious expression quickly changed to a pleasantly surprised one, upon seeing Rhea standing there.

"Lady Arryn, what can I do for you on this fine day?" he asked her with a teasing tone in his voice.

"It seems my saddle needs some repair." Rhea brought her saddle towards him and showed what needed to be fixed.

Tobho Mott looked to be analysing the break before informing Rhea that it would not take very long and that he would be able to fix it now. He took the saddle with him as he walked into a back room, one that functioned as a workspace.

While the repair was going on, Rhea turned her attention towards Meleys. The great bird was eager to accept her affection and seemed to be enjoying the scratches under her chin.

"Is that an eagle on your shoulder?" An unknown voice suddenly asked, scaring Rhea slightly, not having heard anybody come up to her.

She turned her head towards the boy who had asked her the question. He was about her age, maybe even a little younger, had brown her and blue eyes. He looked strikingly similar to somebody Rhea had met before, but she could not place who it actually was.

"This is an eagle on my shoulder, her name is Meleys." Rhea finally replied. The boy seemed sceptical of the large bird who looking at him with almost a snobby look in her eyes. The bird's attitude was most likely caused by the immense spoiling she received from her owner. She kept staring as if wanting to make the boy disappear before her eyes.

"Sorry about her, she's not too keen about strangers. She's very loyal, this one," Rhea calmed Meleys down by scratching under her chin. The bird visually relaxed as she got some affection from her owner. "Maybe if you told her your name, then you wouldn't be a stranger to her anymore?"

The boy looked reluctant before saying; "My name's Gendry."

......

word count: 2123

pip talks!

okay so this chapter took a very long time because I had a very busy month. i kinda think this chapter is a lil crap but I just really want to be down with it and actually post it.

anyways enjoy!