"Do you think the rumors are true?" Lyanna asked her handmaiden, Fryda.
"The girls in the kitchen say it's true but only the gods know." Fryda giggled. Lyanna Stark was a curious girl. Lyanna rarely left Winterfell and had never been to King's Landing. Lyanna had heard stories of the jousting competitions and the Valyrian steel and gallant dragons that rode on the backs of silver horses. Lyanna, a girl of fourteen, was a dreamer and King's Landing seemed to be the place of dreams.
Fryda finished braiding Lyanna's hair. Fryda took Lyanna's navy colored dress from her wardrobe. The dress was simple but made Lyanna's beauty stand out even more. Lyanna was about to step into the dress when there was a knock on the door of her chambers. Fryda answered it.
"Lord Stark would like his daughter to meet him in his chambers once she is dressed." One of her father's servants told Fryda.
"Lady Lyanna will be there in a moment." Fryda said softly then shut the door.
"We are going south; I just know it." Lyanna said as she stepped into her dress. "While we're there I'm going to buy a Valyrian Steel dagger; I'm sure Ned would get it for me from the blacksmith."
"Your lord father does not approve of you fighting." Fryda said sternly while lacing up the back of Lyanna's dress. "We must be sneaky." Fryda giggled as she finished lacing up her dress.
Lyanna quickly put on her boots and ran out the door without even saying goodbye to Fryda. Lyanna ran through the halls towards her father's study. Lyanna flew passed a servant and when she turned her head back to see if she had startled the girl she ran right into her brother, Brandon.
"Lyanna, you're going to end up killing yourself one of these days." Brandon joked as he helped her off the ground. "Father has some news I think you will be pleased with." Brandon smiled then walked down the hall. Lyanna walked the rest of the way to her father's study.
"Father, you wished to see me?" Lyanna knocked lightly on the open door.
"Yes, Lyanna. Sit, we need to talk." His tone was serious, but with father it was always serious.
"What is it father?" Lyanna didn't know where this was going but she had a feeling it wasn't about going south.
"I have found you an adequate husband." Father spoke with a stern face. "I wish for the two of you to meet, I feel that your marriage to this man will benefit both our houses greatly."
"Who is the man you speak of?" Lyanna was dreading what he would respond with.
"Lord Robert of House Baratheon." Father said. Lyanna wanted to scream. She didn't even want to get married yet, let alone to a man who spends his leisure with wine and whores. Robert Baratheon was obnoxious and rude and the one time she has met him his eyes were glued to her bodice and never her eyes.
"Of course, father. Our union will benefit both houses greatly. May I be excused to breakfast?" Lyanna was unsuccessful in hiding her displeasure and she could feel herself chocking on the lies coming from her mouth.
"Go, child." Her father waved her away. During Lyanna's walk to breakfast she couldn't help but feel sick. Lyanna wanted nothing to do with Robert or any Baratheon and she certainly did not want to be married so soon.
Lyanna took her place at the table for breakfast. She sat across from Brandon who she, so badly, wanted to hit. "News I'd be pleased with?" Lyanna said to Brandon with a glare.
"I thought you wanted to be married." Brandon said with food still in his mouth. He washed it down with ale then continued to speak. "What is it? Baratheon isn't the gallant knight you thought you'd sing about?" He mocked her.
"Robert Baratheon is a pig who is more at home on top of a whore than he is at Storm's End." Lyanna wanted to punch her nuisance of a brother.
"Lyanna, watch your tongue. How dare you speak of you betrothed in such a filthy way." Lord Stark boomed from the head of the table.
"Father, I would rather die a spinster than let that vile man near me. I am a wolf and wolves hunt stags not marry them." Lyanna yelled back at her father in disgust.
"I am growing tired of this behavior, child. Unless this little wolf wants to end up without a pack I suggest she warms up to the stag." Lord Stark spoke down to her.
"I will put an arrow through the gut of every stag I see for the rest of my life if it means I don't have to marry that dreadful man." Lyanna yelled and then stomped out of the dining hall. How could her father be so ignorant? Lord Stark was quite aware for the kind of man Lord Robert was; Lyanna was his only daughter, why would he choose to marry her off to such a horrid man?
Lyanna ran out of the palace towards the Godswood. Lyanna sat on the snow covered ground and rested her back on the trunk of the tree. She so badly wanted to run away, she had grown to despise Winterfell. She knew her father would make her marry Robert Baratheon. She had come to the rash decision that if she was no longer under her father's authority he could no longer force her to marry anyone she didn't want to.
Lyanna could hear her brothers and some other boys sparring. Lyanna wanted to run away to King's Landing or Dorne, just somewhere warm, but she needed to prepare for her journey south. Lyanna walked away from the Godswood and towards the squabbling bunch of boys.
"Ned," Lyanna called to her brother. He walked over to her frowning.
"Lyanna, father is furious." Ned said. Lyanna adored Ned; her big brother Eddard always seemed so serious and honest. Ned was quiet and humble and Lyanna thought of Ned as the most admirable one of them. Lyanna had a bad temper and rarely acted like a lady, Brandon an arrogant hothead who thrived off the approval of their father, and Benjen was the youngest of them all and always had his head in the clouds.
"Brother, you must know by now that I have not a care in the world for what father thinks." Lyanna looked at her brother with a mischievous smile.
"I think you live to upset him, or at least disappoint him." Ned shook his head.
"Should I have thanked him for promising me to that pig? What would you do if father said that you were to marry someone that repulsive." Lyanna rolled her eyes at her brother.
"Whoever father feels that I am to marry I suppose I will. I will do my duty as his son and you should do your duty as his daughter and marry Robert. I don't understand how you can hate a man you barely know." Ned was always level headed and wise, far beyond his years.
"You don't understand how I can hate a man I barely know but you can understand me marrying and bearing the children of a man I barely know." Lyanna was starting to get annoyed by her brother's neutrality. "Ned, you are good; you always do what is expected and I admire you for that. I am not like you, I am wild and I seem to make trouble wherever I go. Can I confide in you?"
"Of course." Ned said quickly.
"You cannot tell a single soul." Lyanna whispered.
Ned swallowed "I won't, tell me."
"I am going to run away. I'm going south, I want to go somewhere warm." Lyanna wanted to feel the hot sun of Dorne or the warm sea breeze of King's Landing.
"You are a Stark, you'll melt down there." Ned chuckled but then his face grew serious. "What will you do once you're there? You know no one in the south, you have no family there."
"Ned, if I wanted a lecture I would have just gone to father. I am telling you this because I trust you. You are not only my brother but my friend and I will miss you very much along my journey. I will be sure to write you once I've gotten to wear I want to be. You are a good man, Ned, father doesn't realize how fortunate he is to have a loyal son like you." Lyanna knew how deep down Ned wanted some type of recognition for the good things he did but he would never dare ask for it. All their lives Ned was never paid as much attention to by their father because he was quiet and well behaved.
Ned gave Lyanna a nod and small smile. Lyanna brought her brother into an embrace then walked to the stables. "Hodor, prepare Stark for me. I'm taking him for a ride tonight." Lyanna told the boy, he was kicked in the head by a horse a few years ago and had never fully recovered. He was a sweet boy and did what he was told.
"Hodor." He said curtly and went to saddle her horse. Stark was a beautiful horse, Lyanna had received him as a name day present. He was a darkish grey color with some white speckles on his face and backside. She had called him Stark because of his coloring which resembled the House Stark sigil.
Lyanna went into the castle and retrieved her bow and her dagger. She told Fryda that she was going on a short ride and would do a bit of hunting to clear her mind. She knew if she told Fryda where she was actually going Fryda would worry and insist on coming with. Lyanna grabbed her furs and packed a few pairs of riding breeches and some tunics and a few dresses. She also brought a water canteen and a small sack of gold and silver she had stashed away.
Lyanna walked back to the stables and mounted her horse. She nodded to her brother, Ned, as she rode out of Winterfell. Lyanna had rode south of Winterfell for about an hour before stopping to get her and Stark a drink. She had decided to do a little hunting before continuing her ride. Lyanna took her bow and started tracking a squirrel. Lyanna had the squirrel in sight and went to aim but the squirrel was scared off. Lyanna went to see what scared it off.
Lyanna peaked around a tree and saw someone wearing a dark cloak standing next to a very gallant white horse. Lyanna stayed still and waited for the person to reveal their face but when they moved all she saw was their back and their horse. The horse's saddle was beautifully made of black leather and looked far too expensive to belong to a vagrant roaming the woods outside of Winterfell.
Lyanna assumed the person was a thief who would try to steal and harm her. She moved towards the person and prepared to shoot the person but they turned around and saw her. Lyanna looked at the man and was awestricken. She locked her eyes upon his, his eyes were a haunting dark violet with flecks of lavender in them.
The man moved towards her. He removed his hood to reveal tresses of log silver hair that the wind blew to the side. His eyes were set on her and he looked at her in a way no one ever had. Lyanna could feel her heart racing faster the closer he got. Lyanna gathered from the eyes and hair that he was the Targaryen prince but she didn't think about that all she thought about was wanting to look into his eyes forever.
A/N: Hi, this is my take on the beginning of the end of Lyanna Stark's life. This will lead up to Robert's Rebellion and I have big plans for this fic. Hope you enjoy! Thanks for reading!
xx Lonewolf