* LOST / LADY !

‘     babe it is not , nor is it a girl .     ’     she chose to ignore his former comments in favor of correcting him . oh she did love correcting men . her brother was surely capable of making his own coin , feeding himself , but she was older , he was her baby brother , she wasn’t going to let that happen .     ‘     easy money it may be , but you’re under the impression that the coin we make here is our own to keep ? that whatever we make lines our pockets , puts food in our bellies . it does not , i earn not even half of what they give me when the deed is done .     ’      so yes , the more coin she earns , the better of she was , and that man had little lining his own pockets , not enough to interest her , one couldn’t blame her for that , could they ?     ‘     so forgive me , my lord , if i sound greedy , but i had to make my own way , i have no name , i have no house , i do what is a must , just like you do .     ’

‘     well , haven’t you just lowered your worth , lowered than what it was as a stark already .     ’    perhaps she should of been more polite to the lady , for her status was higher , but amusement was all she held right now .

‘      you believe i ask this because i want to ?     ’     she wasn’t here out of anything but need , a need to survive . she didn’t chose this life , she didn’t want it and perhaps if she were the lady she was born to be , then company would be given freely . but that was a luxury she could not afford .     ‘     my lord , my worth is what i make it , not you nor anyone else in this hell .      ’     she spoke of the south being better than the north and it was , she wouldn’t freeze to death on the streets here just yet . the summer was far too long for that .      ‘    but if you wish to prattle all night , prattle away , though i have a mouth to feed at the place i call a home , a mouth i cannot afford to let grow hungry .     ’     because her brother was her e v e r y t h i n g , the last reminder of their mother she so fondly adored . though she assumed he think she spoke of herself . as most did . she wasn’t speaking for him to pity her , she didn’t like the term he used , her kind , she and him were more the same then she and the rest of the girls in this bar . noble blood burnt her veins , cast away to rot or not , she was still of noble blood . her father is still noble and she is he bastard . 

‘     was never meant to , lady aryanna .      ’     she offered a shrug , if the northern lady , with all her brutish anger and northern fire , couldn’t remember who she was , who was isla to bring pity on herself ?     ‘     too young you were .     ’     part of her liked being a mystery to others , it made people think .     

‘      and what is it i get out of this ?     ’     she questioned , brow raised . she didn’t care that he didn’t want her company , less an insult to her , she could find that anywhere , but if she were to do something for him , she would require a payment .     ‘    my company is a high price , lord edrik .     ’     yes , she knew him , they shared a birth year , she didn’t remember his birth , or she doubted he remember hers but she could remember the boy he was , she could remember many of the boys and girls , all highborn married ladies and lords now she guessed , she knew all the lords and their wives , sisters and mothers , she made it a point to know everything , from the new wife and children of her father , to the lowest lord in the north . she wasn’t a stupid little girl .     ‘     after all , if i’m helping you , how am i to keep business flowing ?      ’

one by one , the coins were flipped over her fingers before they disappeared into her bust , rewarding him with a smile as she did so , just for good measure .     ‘     many thanks , my lord .     ’     she shook her curls slightly , in no mood to move from the stool she’d taken residence in .      ‘     i’ll have you know , i take care of my customers .     ’     innuendo laced her words as a salacious smirk dusted her lips .     ‘    i wouldn’t dare let anyone do so .     ’

she could handle herself , she had to be able to , so when the barkeep seemed to lose interest in her , she wondered what had caught his eye . she had long since taught herself how to act , how to talk , how to get what she wanted , these weren’t the things she’d learnt from her septa , these were things she was quick to learn in wintertown , but more so in kings landing . shaking her head , drink in hand , she returned , slamming the cup in front of him as she slid into the stool beside him once more .     ‘     you shouldn’t do that .      ’     she mused , quirked brow . she hadn’t need to see the look he gave the bar keep , she didn’t need protecting , she didn’t need looking after , she didn’t need saving , like some fair maid in those stories she was told as a girl by old nan . she didn’t need it .     ‘    you’ll cause a fair bit of trouble .      ’

he was no longer all knobby knees and awkward arms , though he still resembled the boy she knew . her closest companion , despite their ages .      ‘     oh how i wished we were those children once more .      ’     a forlorn sigh escaped as she reached for him , finally giving into her need . fingers curling around his forearm .     ‘     i wished i had the chance to say my goodbyes , gideon .     ’     but instead , she fled without a word in the dead of night .

lips parted of his denial .     ‘     you do not trust me , my lord ?     ’     she taunted but none the less hands dropped , gathering her skirts as she moved behind him , only moving to give a sharp tug of a wayward curl on the back of his head .     ‘    i’ll take however long i wish , my lord .     ’     in her mind , she was in possession of what he wanted , he could wait . but she would be quick . eyes of the inn keeper trailing her as she would moved , the less time she spent near him the better . 

     ‘     and if i am here , what has my birthground ever done for me ?     ’     she questioned and she rolled her eyes , northerners were so protective of their home and supposed had it not shunned her and left her for dead then she too would be the same .     ‘     a lot of northern lords are stupid , careless and hungry for power , but the southern lords aren’t afraid to hide it .     ’     with a shrug she rose to her feet , after all this was her duty , brushing dirt from her dress her hand outstretched .     ‘     everything has a price , whether i’m your angel or not , my lord .     ’      her fingers wiggled playfully .

they were older now , much so , moons had come and go , stars disappeared and still they remained . disgraced and alone perhaps but still fighting it seem . she wanted to reach out , but in fear of him rotting like everything did beneath her t o u c h , she kept her hands to her sides , prim and proper like the lady she once was . the smile that ebbed at her features was real , no lies hidden beneath but a small smile filled with nothing but joy , it was a stranger on her lips as of late .    ‘    i thought you to have forgotten me .     ’     she told him , for everyone else had .

          ‘     and who said it was your health i worried for ?     ’     she questioned , brow raised as she shook her head .     ‘    that drunk cunt just so happens to be one of our best patrons , what good would you do us by taking him out ?    ’     sure , there were many others , but just tonight alone had the man slipped golden coins , enough to feed her brother for a week , into her hands , she wasn’t about to turn him away simply because he got loud or handsy .     ‘     he doesn’t so much anymore , we’re all very fast learners my lord .    ’     she offered less than a shrug as she straighten once more , those northern blue eyes he’d commented on , widening .     ‘     you’re a sharp one . not many people pick up on something like that .     ’     she shook her head , tendrils of messy curls tangling themselves together as he did .     ‘     this snakepit you call the capital has nicer snakes than the frozen hell that is winterfell the north .      ’      it was spoke with a tone that seemed to sour her tongue . disgust almost .

this place , this inn was her home of sorts , no fancy dresses for the once northern lady , nothing but hard beds and ripped skirts , wandering hands and men with too much ale in their systems , she knew it well , she had to feed her brother after all .      ‘     you don’t want to do that .     ’     isla mused , elbows on table top as she faced the copper haired male with a slight amusement in her eyes . she had been referring the loud patron , after all , it was possible she was the one he spoke of , but with that much fermented drink in his belly , she doubted he could tell man from woman at this stage .     ‘     he likes to talk shit when he’s drunk .      ’     she offered with a shrug , cheek falling to lay upon her closed fist .     ‘    and as for the girl , she’s learnt through fists not to be slow .     ’    the bar keep could be rather violent to some .

‘     but it does little to prove otherwise .     ’     she returned boldly , blue eyes locked on him , as if daring a challenge to arise , as if begging him to prove her wrong .

‘     perhaps once , you may have .      ’     the once lady poole offered vaguely , with no wishes to tie herself back to north with all the damage they’d caused in just one night . isla found herself more amused than worrisome for her homeland . after all they’d brought this on themselves and she wasn’t about to latch her new life too them .     ‘    perhaps you were too young to remember .      ’     a year younger she was , aryanna stark was , isla couldn’t remember the new of her birth but she remembered name days until she’d disappeared . and she knew all her ruling lords , after demanding an education that was .

‘      and yet your words , my lord , are like all the others .      ’     and like all the others , they caused the whores eyes to roll .