Capítulo 1: Chapter 1: The Night Everything Changed
Arya remembered everything about that awful night.
She remembered that the sky was clear, and the moon was only a thin crescent, like a sliver of glass in the sky.
She remembered the chill that came through the screen of her bedroom window: a sign of the true beginning of autumn, and a warning that a long school year was still ahead.
She remembered the smell of burnt popcorn, courtesy of Rickon, who at eleven years old still hadn't figured out the right time to use on the microwave when he made his favorite snack.
She remembered the music coming from Sansa's bedroom. The Seasons of my Love. She had been playing that one on loop for the past two days and it was driving Arya mad.
" I loved a maid as red as autumn, with sunset in her hair."
And she remembered exactly what she was doing. She was sprawled out across the bed, trying to finish the last few problems on her math homework due the next day. Nymeria lay beside her, occasionally pawing at the notebook and throwing off Arya's concentration.
"I'll play with you when I'm done, girl," Arya gave her shoulder a light shove.
The dog didn't even budge. She was far too large for that. Instead, the wolf hound let out an impatient whine before leaning forward and closing her teeth around Arya's pencil. Before she could react, Nymeria leapt off the bed, pencil clutched between her teeth, her tail wagging.
Arya groaned, rolling onto her back. Between her dog and that damn song and the burnt popcorn scent making her oddly hungry, the universe was conspiring to distract her. She vaulted off the bed, giving a long stretch. "Fine then. Want a snack, girl?"
Nymeria dropped the pencil, satisfied by the offer, and followed Arya out into the hall.
When she reached the top of the main stairway, she heard frantic voices coming from the west wing and the harsh click of her mother's shoes against the hardwood floor.
"I'll call you when I get to the hospital," her mother said as she shuffled frantically through her purse. "By then they'll hopefully know something more."
"Let me come with you," Robb said, catching her arm. "Please."
"No. Watch your siblings," Catelyn said firmly. "They need you here." She rested a hand over his. "It will be all right, Robb. I'm sure they'll both be fine."
Her voice cracked with emotion and panic filled her wide eyes. Arya ventured slowly down the stairs, resting her hand on the bannister for balance. She opened her mouth to ask her mother what was going on, but she was already out the door.
"What's happening?" Jon appeared at her side, ruffling her hair as if on instinct. "I heard voices."
Arya shook her head. She did not know.
Robb ran a hand through his auburn curls. He was deathly pale as he looked from the door to the stairs and finally registered Jon and Arya's presence. "Hey… ah… Mom was…" he let out a heavy breath, looking down at the ground. "Fuck."
"Robb, what's happening?" Arya asked. She wanted to go to him but fear froze her to the steps. She had never seen her mother look so panicked. "Why did Mom go to the hospital?"
"Aunt Cat went to the hospital?" Jon asked. "Is she okay?"
"She's fine," Robb said. "It's… its Dad. And Bran."
Icy fear spread through Arya's body, a chill that came from deep inside of her and not from the autumn air wafting through the door. Her mother hadn't closed it all the way in her hurry. "They're… hurt?"
"Car crash," Robb said. "It's bad. They're both in critical condition."
"Shit," Jon muttered, taking a step back up the stairs. "I'll… I'll get Sansa and Rickon."
Arya didn't move. She listened to Jon's footsteps rush up the stairs but she stayed absolutely still, staring at Robb, hoping that he might take the words back. He stared right back at her, his mouth hanging slightly open as he searched for some words of comfort. It was what big brothers were supposed to do. Offer comfort.
At last, he reached out a hand and beckoned her to come down the stairs. "Come on. Let's… we'll wait in the parlor for more news."
Arya stumbled down the steps and let Robb wrap an arm around her shoulders. "They'll be fine, won't they?" she asked hoarsely. "It's just an accident. They'll both be all right."
"Of course they will," Robb said. "People walk away from car crashes all the time. Mom will call as soon as she gets to the hospital and tell us we're all overreacting."
Arya nodded, because that was what she wanted to believe. It was impossible that their father and brother could be dead just like that. The other night, her father had been talking about an important deal going through at work soon. He had been really busy, but he promised that he would take a full week off of work when the winter break arrived. It had been a cause for celebration amongst Arya and her siblings since her father pulled such long hours. And Bran had a rock climbing tournament in a week. He'd been practicing and talking about it nonstop. They couldn't be gone without even saying goodbye. It didn't make sense.
Within the next five minutes, the whole family had gathered in the parlor to wait. Rickon had brought the remains of his burnt popcorn with him and kept eating nervously in the silence, occasionally tossing pieces to Shaggy Dog. Robb paced back and forth in front of the window, shushing Greywind when he let out an occasional growl. His dog was picking up on the nervousness in the room. Whenever Ghost approached, the larger dog snapped at his ear and sent him running back to Jon.
Sansa sat curled up on the couch, her knees tucked up under her chin, running her fingers through Lady's fur. The only dog without an owner was Summer, who kept whimpering and nudging the door to the parlor with his great big head. He was waiting. Waiting for Bran to return.
Arya couldn't sit still at all. She moved from the couch to the arm of Jon's chair to the floor under the piano in the back corner of the room.
She was under that piano, lying on her back next to Nymeria, when Robb's phone rang and she knocked her head on the bottom as she scrambled out from under it. The pain barely registered. She needed to know. She needed to know her father and Bran were safe.
"What happened, Mom?" Robb asked. "Good news or bad?"
There was silence and Arya could just barely make out her mother's voice through the speaker, though not enough to understand any of the words. Robb's eyes widened as he listened and blood drained from his face.
"I… right. Of course. I'll… I'll tell them. You stay we'll… we'll come over as soon as we can. No, it's fine. None of us will sleep, anyway. We're on our way over."
The call ended and he let his arm fall to his side. The phone slipped from his fingers and clattered on the ground.
"What is it?" Sansa asked. "What's the news?"
"Bran is stable but… he hasn't woken up yet," Robb said. "The doctors say it shouldn't be long."
They all let out a breath of relief. He was alive at least. Alive and stable. But Robb had omitted something important.
"What about Dad?" Arya asked. "Is he… awake?"
"No," Robb murmured. "He didn't make it."
Arya remembered everything about that awful night-except for what happened after Robb uttered those words. Those moments seemed to blur and Arya felt herself swaying on the spot. Her siblings were all suddenly talking over each other or crying or yelling and the dogs yapped and whined and swarmed about the room. But she could place none of their voices or focus on their faces. She could only stand there in the middle of the parlor, trying to process Robb's words.
He didn't make it.
That's wrong, she thought. It has to be wrong. He's lying. This is a nightmare. Or a mistake. It's wrong.
She blinked hard and her vision focused again. She found herself alone in the parlor. Her siblings had already left for the car. Only Jon lingered in the doorway, looking back at her with a grief-stricken expression.
"Arya… come on. We have to go."
She nodded and followed him, still hoping that she would wake up from this terrible dream.
But she never did. Not for the drive over to the hospital. Not when her sobbing mother pulled her into her arms. Not when she entered the hospital room to find her father's body lying on the table, motionless and pale.
Her entire world had shattered… and she did not wake up.
Tywin Lannister was skimming over the notes from the latest board meeting when the news flashed onto the TV. Eddard Stark, the CEO of Stark Industries, was dead. And that confused Tywin more than it should have.
The details of the accident were clear enough. Last night, while driving home with his son an unknown driver struck his car and sent careening off a bridge. He never woke up, and the son had suffered mild amnesia and paralysis from the waist down. They hadn't yet caught the culprit.
Nothing about the report was confusing, but it was strange to Tywin that one of his chief rivals had died in such a… sudden way.
Stark Industries and the Lannister Corporation had been at each other's throats for years. In the early days, when the Starks were based in the north and the Lannisters in the west, they had little reason to interact and mostly stayed out of each other's way. But then they both moved their headquarters to the rising metropolis of King's Landing and suddenly, they had much more reason to interact with each other.
It wasn't just that they were competitors. In the beginning, they weren't. The Starks dealt largely in steel and manufacturing technology and the Lannisters ran in the sphere of luxury goods. The Lannisters had cause to use the Stark's services from time to time, but Tywin never had enjoyed relying too heavily on the whims of others. When the Lannister Corporation started developing manufacturing technology of their own and offering themselves as a competitor… then things had gotten hostile between them. The Starks had struck back by expanding their tech to high end consumer goods. From there, it became a battle of expansion and acquisitions.
It had gotten bad enough that Ned Stark suggested negotiating a compromise of sorts to help them stay out of each other's way-a compromise he only really had leverage to offer because of his contracts with the Greyjoy company, who currently dominated the shipping industry. Tywin had agreed to at least negotiate, knowing that it would be rather easy to overstep said negotiations later down the line. On the other hand, he knew that Ned Stark would never breach a contract. This compromise, if Tywin spun it the right way, could give him the edge he needed.
Now… Ned Stark had died.
"Oh. You saw the news then."
Tywin glanced away from the TV to see his brother Kevan approaching, a folder tucked under his arm. "Obviously. I'm not blind or deaf."
"That was a shock to wake up to," Kevan said. "Ned Stark's father and brother died in a car crash too, didn't they? That family has bad luck."
Luck. Tywin didn't believe in luck, bad or otherwise. "It will be another blow to Stark Industries," he said. "I wonder if they've ever lost a CEO peacefully."
"Not since before our time," Kevan said. "Will the eldest son step up? The boy just finished school, didn't he?"
"He'll be eaten alive if he does," Tywin said. "The board will choose someone more experienced if they're smart. Umber, Bolton, Karstark. A twenty-two-year-old boy isn't ready yet."
"They say he was something of a prodigy in school," Kevan said. "Ned Stark was young when he took over as well. Not as young as his son but… the power of a good family name still goes a long way with investors."
Yes, it did. Tywin imagined it was only that good family name that allowed Ned Stark to claw Stark Industries away from the brink of collapse. That and his ability to make connections. If nothing else, the man had inspired loyalty from his business partners.
"I hate to state the obvious in the wake of a tragedy," Kevan said, looking back to the TV. "But this should make things easier for us in the coming months."
Undoubtedly, it would make things easier and not only for the Lannisters. While Stark Industries scrambled to deal with the fallout, their many, many rivals would vie to fill in the gaps. Whoever struck first would gain the most ground.
And yet… there was something else strange about this situation. Something that bothered him as he studied the news report.
"Tywin?" Kevan said. "Something wrong?"
"That's three in the past year."
"Three? Three what?"
"CEOs in King's Landing," Tywin said. "Three of them have died in the past year. First Jon Arryn. Then Robert Baratheon. Now Ned Stark."
"I suppose you're safe then," Kevan said. "They say these things come in threes."
"That's superstitious nonsense, Kevan."
"You're the one speculating about three CEOs dying so close together."
"It was an observation, not a speculation," Tywin said. "Jon Arryn was old. Robert Baratheon's drinking got him. An accident killed Ned Stark. It's simply strange that it happened one after another."
"I suppose. Robert and Ned were old friends, right?"
"Yes." Tywin waved a hand dismissively. He was being paranoid. "It doesn't matter. Call a board meeting tonight. We need to plan a response to this."
Kevan nodded, setting the file under his arm on Tywin's desk. "Not that it matters now, but here is the latest contract from Stark Industries. About the compromise."
"It matters. Whoever takes over will still want us to honor it," Tywin said. "But we might get away with a few small changes in our favor."
Kevan nodded once and continued on his way, leaving Tywin to look over the contract. He thumbed absently through the papers, glancing back up at the TV again. They were still talking about Eddard Stark. About the life he led and the family he left behind. A wife, five children, and a nephew who he took in after his sister passed on. Tywin had met all of them in passing once or twice, except maybe the youngest boy. If he knew one thing about the Starks, it was that they were a tight-knit family. A loss like this would shatter them.
He did not fully expect Stark Industries to survive this transition, which was perhaps a cruel thought to have. But the world of business was not kind to those who followed the rules of decency.
And it did not stop to mourn the dead.
PENSAMENTOS DOS CRIADORES 
Maddy_Alee
Maddy_Alee Welcome to my Patreon! I'm Maddy, and I'm excited to share exclusive advance chapters of my thrilling modern AU story with you. Join Arya Stark on a gripping quest for justice after her father's mysterious death, spanning continents and years. By supporting me on Patreon, you'll unlock early access to chapters filled with intrigue, alliances, and unexpected twists. Let's embark on this exciting journey together at patreon.com/Maddy009! Thank you for joining me on this adventure.
Status de energia semanal
-- Ranking de
Poder 
-- Pedra de
Poder