A/N- OK so this is my first story on this account but I have written others on another but wanted a fresh start. I feel really inspired to write this (after my exams!) but wanted to post the first chapter as a teaser to get a feel for the sort of response it's going to get. This chapter doesn't give too much away but I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Future chapters will be longer but exam revision is sort in the way at the moment.
Being a bastard was never easy, especially when you were a bastard daughter of the Lord of Winterfell. However, being a bastard was slightly easier when you had a bastard sibling. That's why I was so close to Jon, and desperately sad to be splitting from him. He had long made it clear that he wanted to take the black, like our Uncle Benjen, but surely he was too young.
He wasn't the only one leaving Winterfell either. I was leaving too, going south with father and my sisters to King's Landing. Though to be truthful, father probably didn't want me to go along with him. What use was a bastard? But Catelyn despised me; I was just a reminder of her husband's unfaithfulness. It was better for me to be under his watch and he knew there was nothing left for me at Winterfell. The only ones I'd been close to were Jon and Arya and they were both leaving.
xxx
So that's how I came to be on the long road to King's landing, having kissed goodbye to the closest thing I had to a real brother and watched him ride North to the Wall. Our party was huge, including the King and his family and hundreds of Gold Cloaks protecting our rulers. Truth be told I cared little for the King, but he was my father's friend and I respected that. That did not mean I had to care for his bitch of a wife or his son. If only Sansa could hear what I was thinking! She was bloody besotted by the Prince Joffrey, in fact, I'd heard rumours that she was betrothed to him. Personally I couldn't think of anything worse, but she was over the moon. She even rode with him and the Queen Regent at the head of the column.
Arya was more like me. Neither of us were ladies, we didn't care for sewing or the like, though unlike Arya I cared little for fighting either. I was a bookworm. Arya had needle but knowledge was my weapon. After Jon, she'd been the first to accept me when my mother had sent me to live at Winterfell. Money was low, and she had to make a choice. In order to be able to feed herself she had to send me away. She sent me off with a merchant man who was travelling North and paid him to deliver me to Lord Stark. I had a note, that much I remember. Of course Lady Catelyn loathed me from the beginning and does even to this day. Even my father took a while to warm to me; it was like he tried to pretend I didn't exist. But eventually he came to treat me like all his other children. I think he actually liked me better than he did Jon. That's why Jon got the runt direwolf when we found the litter in the wood. I still can't believe there was the perfect number for us.
Astrid, Nymeria and Lady ran beside us. Though Sansa rode up front, the Royal Party made it clear that had no liking for the Wolf so Lady stayed near the back with us. There was a clear split in the party as we rode, the Baratheons and Lannisters rode together at the front while the Northerners rode along at the back. There were guards the whole length of the column, some Knights and some just sell-swords.
xxx
King's Landing looked just as I had imagined it from what books had said. What the books hadn't prepared me for was the heat. In the shade the heat was just bearable, but the sun on my skin felt like fire. Thankfully my room in the Red Keep was cooler with the stone walls doing their best to keep the heat out. The room was of a similar size to my bedroom back home in Winterfell, though there were decorations here in the red and gold Lannister and Baratheon colours.
xxx
It was dark by the time I left Lord Tyrion's chambers. He knew of my penchant for reading and offered to share his vast collection of books with me, an offer I gladly accepted. Most of the people would be at the feast by now, in preparation for the tourney tomorrow. I doubted that anyone but Arya would notice my absence, and that was assuming that she had turned up herself. Still, I wanted to at least show my face, after all it was likely to be the biggest feast I'd ever experienced. I picked up the pace in order to hurry to my chamber, though the heavy books in my hands hindered my more than I'd reckoned. Suddenly a great figure stepped out of the shadows in front of me and all my books fell to the floor.
"I scare you, girl?" I'd seen this man before, he rode with the King as one of the Kingsguard. Most of those swordsmen all looked the same in those gold cloaks but this man was identifiable by his burns. At least half of his face was covered with the disfiguration.
"Of course not, I just didn't expect to bump into anyone this late is all, I thought everyone would be at the King's feast. Apologies Ser."
"I am no fucking Knight, just a dog, and they don't let dogs into Feasts in these parts. More to the point why are you not there, or do they not accept bastards either?"
Well, that stung. Most people here had been polite to me, calling me Lady, though I'm pretty sure they knew my true status.
"I was just on my way from Lord Tyrion's library, he has quite the collection."
"Ah yes, the bastard bookworm. You'll soon learn, girl, that the world has little use for words."
He's drunk. I should have noticed the stench of wine on his breath sooner, though he had slowly been inching closer to me.
"I…I… I really should be going, my father will be wondering why I'm not at the feast. I am sure I'll see you at the tourney tomorrow, will you be taking part?"
"A day of swords, blood and death, it's all I'm good for."
xxx
I was the only one to not be excited about the tourney the next morning. It was the first thing Arya had been enthusiastic about since arriving at Kings Landing because she got to see real life fighting. And Sansa was the stereotypical Lady, waiting to see all the handsome Knights, conveniently forgetting her betrothal to the Prince Joffrey. I, on the other hand, was not so enthused. Fighting in the name of entertainment seemed barbaric, but my father was the King's hand now and I had to play a part in that. So I put up with my handmaids squeezing me into the light grey dress and sat in the blaring heat with the biggest fake smile on my face.
Before the tourney began all the riders paraded for the spectators. The largest cheer came for Ser Gregor Clegane, a beastly man known round these parts as the Mountain. There was also a cheer for Ser Loras Tyrell, though mainly from the ladies. Though apparently he only had eyes for one lady as he approached us and offered a rose to Sansa. She blushed as she gracefully accepted, but i turned to look at Joffrey and his face told a different story.
When the Tourney began it was as bad as I had thought, Ser Gregor Clegane killed a man in his first match, a feat that was met by cheers by the rest of the crowd. Sansa's friend Jeyne Poole cried so much she had to be removed from the stands. Cheering the poor man's death seemed ridiculous but I had father's reputation to uphold so I politely applauded as a young boy shovelled dirt over the blood on the ground and the body was removed.
The rest of the day went without tragedy, though there were 4 clear riders at the top of the competition; Ser Gregor Clegane, Ser Jaimie Lannister of the Kingsguard, Ser Loras Tyrell and the Hound. The tourney finished for the day and riders and spectators alike adjourned to the feast. 3 of the riders were being crowded by admirers but the Hound stood alone, with just his wine flask for company. I figured that he couldn't be as drunk as last night, having been riding all day, so I went over to do the lady-like thing and congratulate him.
"Well rode today."
I don't know why I expected to get a conversation out of this man but all he did was grunt, take another swig of wine and stalk off towards the stables.
"Good luck for tomorrow anyway," I said sarcastically.
This time I got a response. "Fuck luck."
A/N- that's all for now folks, what do you think?