Since they needed to continue walking, Regina offered Arya her hand again. "Neil came on a little too strong, and now Charlie is being stubborn about living in a place that isn't safe because she chose it." That, she assumed Arya would understand; Regina knew it to be something she would have done in Charlie's case.
"I would like to have you at the Inn with me but you're too grown--" She gave Arya a small conspiratorial smile -- 'we're better at this' -- and continued, "To share a room with me. However, the rules of this world require children to be Charlie's age to be in a room alone. So, if you were to convince Charlie she would be helping you have some independence by sharing a room with you at the Amagi, we could get her out of danger without her feeling pushed around. What do you think?"
Unsurprisingly, the task involved being clever and sneaky, and that made it immediately more appealing to Arya. "I can do that," she replied with a toothy grin. "I mean, if you think she'd want to." Charm was where Arya fell short, after all--Sansa was always better at that, making people like her, even love her.
"I think she will." Regina didn't know much at all about Charlie, but what she knew was that the girl, like Regina and Arya, had had a difficult childhood, and that she tried to take care of herself. She'd also checked in on Neil to see how he was doing, which told Regina that she cared. Give her a girl like Arya and Charlie would probably do cartwheels to look after her, and if Arya liked her, to be a part of her life.
"You just be yourself. I want to help her and Neil, but you being safe and happy comes first."
"Okay." Arya had been forced to pretend to be other people to be other people, sometimes it was hard to remember what it meant to be Arya Stark of Winterfell. But she felt safer now, with Regina, than she had felt in a long time, and that made it a little easier. "I can do that."
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"I would like to have you at the Inn with me but you're too grown--" She gave Arya a small conspiratorial smile -- 'we're better at this' -- and continued, "To share a room with me. However, the rules of this world require children to be Charlie's age to be in a room alone. So, if you were to convince Charlie she would be helping you have some independence by sharing a room with you at the Amagi, we could get her out of danger without her feeling pushed around. What do you think?"
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"You just be yourself. I want to help her and Neil, but you being safe and happy comes first."
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