LittleFinger's words weighed on Aris' thoughts. She couldn't' help but think about what he said. It was true. She doesn't know her sister anymore. She had been away so long and by the gods who knows what she was doing in that time.
So when she saw Arya outside in the courtyard speaking with Randyl and showing the boy her sword, Aris snuck into her room. She had to know that Arya was still her sister. She needed the validation that Arya was still Arya. She looked around the chamber noticing the Valyrian still dagger laying on the table unsheathed as she searched the shelves. A part of her wanted to find nothing.
Aris noticed a satchel peaking under the bed and she knelt heavily over her stomach dragging out the satchel. She reached in and felt something like rubber. She pulled out a mask and her mouth fell open. A face. She took out another one that resembled Walder Frey.
"Not what you're looking for?" came Arya's voice.
Aris jumped and rose to her feet with the face. "What are these?" she asked swallowing the bile in her throat.
"My faces." she replied plainly.
"Where did you get them?"
"In Braavos while I training to be a Faceless Man."
"What?"
Arya stepped forward. "Back in Braavos, before I got my first face, there was a game I used to play. The Game of Faces. It's simple... I ask you a question about yourself, and you try to make a lie sound like the truth. If you fool me, you win. If I catch a lie, you lose. Let's play."
"I don't want to play." Aris said nervously gripping the face in her hand.
But Arya continued to say, "How do you feel about your baby? A monsters baby. Are you afraid it'll be like him?"
Aris was a horrible liar by default. Fear struck her. What kind of horrible question would that be. Or rather who told her such nonsense.
She watched Arya pace in front of the fire pit. "What are these?" she repeated avoiding the question. Her heart raced.
"You want to do the asking?" said Arya. "Are you sure? The Game of Faces didn't turn out so well for the last person who asked me questions."
"Tell me, Arya, I am not playing your games!"
"We both wanted to be someone else when we were younger." said Arya. "You wanted to ride into the sunset shooting arrows, living your best life outside of Winterfell. Sansa wanted to be a queen, to sit next to a handsome king on the Iron Throne. I wanted to be a knight, to pick up a sword like father and go off into battle. None of us got to be that other person, did we? The world just doesn't let girls decide what they want to be." she explained. "But I can now. With those faces, I can choose. I can become someone else. Speak in their voice, live in their skin. I could even become you."
Arya picked up the Valyrian still dagger from the table and advanced. "I wonder what it would feel like to wear those pretty dresses... to be the Lady of Winterfell. All I'd need to find out... is your face." She flipped the dagger and held the handle for Aris to take and she released her breath. For a moment she genuinely feared for her baby's safety.
Aris hesitantly took the dagger from Arya and she swiftly turned on her heel and left the room.
➵
More days passed. A wild storm wailed and blew outside. Howling winds screamed as snow pelted against the stone structure of Winterfell. Aris had openly avoided Arya since their last interaction. It was awkward passing each other in the corridor. She had even told Sansa of her findings. It worried her that her sister was a faceless assassin as explained by LittleFinger, they were people who worshipped the god of death. And now their sister was one of them, or rather still is.
Randyl was snuggled under furs in his chamber that was Robb's old room while Sansa sat in her own chamber with LittleFinger to console.
"It's hard for Ravens to fly in these storms." said LittleFinger. "Perhaps he tried to send word earlier."
"No, this is the way he is, the way he's always been. He's never asked for my opinion why would he start now?" replied Sansa clearly infuriated by the first and only letter they received from Jon.
"I can't believe he'd surrender the Northern crown without consulting you, or your sister."
"This is his writing, his signature." Sansa held up the scroll that Aris had thrown down and stormed off in a rage. "He pledged to fight for Daenerys Targaryen. He's bent the knee."
"I've heard gossip." announced LittleFinger fiddling with an object on the mantle. "That the Dragon Queen is quite beautiful."
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"Jon is young and unmarried. Daenerys is young and unmarried."
"You think he wants to marry her?!"
"An alliance makes sense. Together they'd be difficult to defeat. He was named King in the North. He can be unnamed."
Sansa sighed heavily. "Even if I wanted to, Arya and Aris would never go along with it. Arya loved Jon far more than she'd ever loved me and she'd kill anyone who'd betray her family. Aris on the other hand..."
"You are family too. Would Arya really murder her own sister?"
"Do you know what she is now? Do you know what the Faceless Men are?"
"Only by reputation. They worship the god of death, I believe. I never trust godly men."
"They're killers. And Arya was one of them. What do you think she's after?"
"She's your sister. You know her far better than I ever could." explained LittleFinger approaching the desk Sansa sat behind. "And Aris, what would she do? How much does she love Jon compared to you?"
"I don't know... Aris wouldn't hurt a fly, she's never been someone to hurt her family."
"Sometimes when I try to understand a person's motives, I play a little game, I assume the worst. Whats the worst reason they could possibly have to say what they say and do what they do. Then I ask myself, 'how well does this reason explain what they say or what they do?' So tell me... what's the worst thing Arya could want?"
"She could want me dead. Cause she thinks I wronged my family. She could want Aris dead for having a baby that belongs to our enemy."
"Why did she come to Winterfell?"
"To kill me. For marrying one enemy and betraying my family. To kill Aris for marrying one enemy and having his baby." Sansa said disbelieved by the own words coming from her mouth. "She thinks we're traitors."
"Why did she unearth the letter Cersei made you write?"
"To provide proof of my betrayals. To provide justification after she murders me."
"And after she murders you, what does she do then?"
Sansa felt like chocking by her next words. "She'll kill Aris and the baby."
"Then what does she become?"
"Lady of Winterfell."
=======================
So I'm going to delay Jon's return and I need some drama peps. Anything you could think of, I'm open to anything.
And don't worry, For those who commented on the last chapter, I have taken everything you suggested into account and it will happen in the coming chapters.
It's fun to get you guys involved. I enjoy interacting with you!