Hi everyone! This is my first fic for GoT. I hope you enjoy it!
Note: Of course I don't own any characters (except Nalia who is my OC) and give all credit for the original work to G.R.R. Martin!

Nalia of House Curran stood solemnly in the small sept of her keep, while her eldest brother Dorion said a prayer over the bodies of her mother and father. Her septa stood slightly behind her with a hand on her shoulder. Nalia, who was usually annoyed by the presence of the snippy septa, allowed her to reach for her hand and grip it tightly. Nalia's other hand dabbed at her own eyes with her handkerchief.

"Thank you, Dorion," the High Septon said softly when Nalia's brother finished. "I am sure your parents would have been very proud." He turned to address the crowd of mourners made up of most of the village. "Now, my children, I ask you not to fear, but to trust in the Seven during this trying time. Death begins a life anew for our Lord, Dramond Curran, and his wife the Lady Maraelyn Curran. " Nalia watched while the Septon placed stones painted to look like eyes—one set green, for her mother, and one set blue, for her father—onto her parents' closed eyelids. Despite the seriousness of the situation, it almost made her laugh, so comical were the eye stones.

"They shall close their eyes in this world, but open them in the afterlife." The High Septon turned his head up to face the seven-pointed star painted on the ceiling. "To the gods."

After the ceremony, Nalia was still sniffling when many of the patrons shuffled out of the keep. Ardagh, the proud home of House Curran, was not a large city. The sept was made of wood, not stone, and bards never wrote songs about their strong walls or great castles. But to Nalia, it was the most beautiful kingdom in Westeros. Ardagh was by the sea, and the family's house sat perched near the edge of a cliff, where Nalia could watch the waters rage and boil long after she was supposed to be asleep. She had grown up learning to fish and steer (small) boats with her older brothers, as well as becoming quite the swimmer. She loved the warmth of the ocean's breeze and the sunshine on her face. There would be no other place she could ever call home.

This, however, was about to change. Lord Curran had had five sons, the first two being a pair of twins. Dorion, already 24, had been trained as a warrior, while his studious twin Darion was bound for the sept. The next three boys—Oran (22), Yael (21), and Grayson (19) were also highly accomplished fighters and intellectuals. The problem was that the six children of Lord Curran had no living relatives on either parent's side, and the five boys didn't know what to do with their only sister, Nalia, who was just seventeen. There was nothing for her here without a mother to arrange a marriage or a father to take care of her, something the rough and tumble boys also knew nothing about. After much deliberation with the maesters and their connections to the surrounding houses, it was decided that Nalia would be sent to the faraway kingdom of Winterfell, to become a ward of Lord Eddard Stark and his wife, Lady Catelyn. Lord Eddard has been one of her father's closest friends and allies, and each had promised the other to take care of their children if anything were to happen.

Nalia didn't see why she was the only one who had to go. Yes, she was a girl, but her brothers were hardly men, at least in her eyes. Besides, what was there in the North that could serve her better than here? Ardagh was small, but they had septons, a library, the sea...

"Are you alright sister?" Her brother Darion's soft voice cut into her thoughts.

Nalia shook out her long brown hair, wiping at the tears on her face that had already dried. "Of course, brother. If you disregard the fact that both of our parents are dead and you're shipping me off to freeze in a pile of snow!"

"Sister," he said calmly, "you know that we have thought about this. Your brothers cannot take care of you. We don't know what will become of House Curran or even who is to be father's successor. We must discuss all of this with a council. For you, this is best. Lord Eddard is an honourable man and his wife is a kind woman. She has daughters around your age as well, so you will not be alone."

Nalia shrugged. "Daughters! What do I care? I've managed just fine these seventeen years without a sister. I'm seventeen, Darion, and I don't need a septa or a playmate! I can help you. Why not let me stay?"

Darion shook his head. His dark brown hair favoured their father's side, while Nalia more closely resembled their mother. "Nalia, it is final. Septa Sorund will accompany you to Winterfell, along with our finest soldiers. Once there you will join the Stark children with their septa and you'll be provided your own handmaiden."

"Oh, great," Nalia said while rolling her eyes. "I can't wait to listen to that old sod Sorund tell me the histories of the houses once more, for a month-long journey."

Even Darion had to laugh, for he too had had to listen to the aging septa's stories. "Now sister, it's not quite a month's journey. It will be two weeks at the most, which is not far off for you to visit home and for us to visit you. I promise, you'll be safer and happier in Winterfell."

"I doubt it," Nalia said with a sigh. She threw her head back and walked with disdain towards her family's home. Her brother did not try to follow her. He'd dealt with his sister long enough to know when to leave her be.

Inside her room, her old handmaiden Reena was already there, packing the last of Nalia's things into a large trunk. Nalia ignored her and walked straight to her wide window. She pushed the shutters open and looked out. The sun was setting on Ardagh, and she knew it would be the last seaside sunset she would see for a while. She watched, chin in hand. Oh mother, oh father, why did you have to die? She knew her parents had been caught in rough waters while sailing back from a visit to her mother's family's town. Even with his seafaring experience, Lord Curran could not fight the waves, and both of them drowned. Nobody had even known until their ship failed to return on time, and Dorion ordered an army ship to look for them. Ever since that day, Nalia's life was in chaos.

"My lady," Reena said timidly, "would you like to take a bath? It will be quite some time before you can have another, and the road could be very dirty."

Nalia turned and opened her mouth to say something sarcastic to Reena, but she held her tongue. The handmaiden was just trying to be helpful after all. She pursed her lips and then smiled. "That sounds like a lovely idea, Reena. Thank you."

After the bath was drawn, Nalia sunk into it and collected her thoughts together. Everything was happening so fast. She felt like she'd barely had time to mourn for her parents, although she knew she'd have plenty while on the long journey north. What would become of her in Winterfell? She hoped the Starks were as nice as her brothers had promised. She vaguely recalled meeting Lord Eddard when she was younger, but she couldn't remember what he'd looked like or why he'd been in Ardagh. He'll never replace Father, but if he's anything like him, I'm sure he's a great man.

Nalia hardly slept that night, but she tried to think of it as an adventure. Her father had always called her his little explorer from the first day she could walk. Though she enjoyed sewing and braiding her hair, she also loved to walk through the forest and collect snakes and frogs. I wonder, are there snakes and frogs in Winterfell, or will it be too cold?

Her last thought before she fell asleep was of her parents, smiling down at her from the sky above Ardagh. Her life by the sea was about to end, but she couldn't help but be slightly excited about what was to come.

A/N: Hope you all enjoyed the beginning, sorry it was only about my OC so far but I wanted to get her back story there so you could understand a bit more about her. Please review if you can and I hope you'll enjoy this journey as I take Nalia to Winterfell :) thx! -Lilly