WINTERFELL: NIGHT

Lyarra Stark

"You will be hosting your feast tonight? In winter? When we need the food most?" I scowled. My dearest husband and buffoon of a man, Rickard Stark, had decided to hold a feast in honor of my daughter, Lyanna Stark, and her betrothal, to Robert Baratheon.

"Aye," he responded. We had just gotten ready for bed and he was sat at his desk doing something or rather as I waited for him to get into bed.

"What are you writing?"

"Lord Bolton is unable to come to our feast and sends his son, Roose Bolton, in his name. Lord Umber and his son Jon Umber will be coming, Lord Reed and his son Howland Reed will be coming. Lord Mormont, Karstark, Forrester, Glover, Manderly, Hornwood and Whitehill will all be of attendance. Of course, the Baratheon's will not make it in time to go from here to Harrenhal so they send their regards and thank you us for hosting this feast."

"You could've just told me some people said yes and some people said no," I smiled.

"As Lady of Winterfell and my wife, I thought you'd want to listen," Rickard smiled rolling up the parchments, taking off his gown and getting into bed.

I snuggled up closer to him. "Of course I'd want to listen. Anything you say I want to listen and I have wanted to listen for twenty-one. But when it comes to bedtime, I enjoy it being bedtime." A gentle silence overtook our room, the only sound breaking it was the crackling of the fire. "Twenty-one years," I whispered, more to myself than to Rickard.

"Aye. How fast these years have gone," Rickard smiled.

"How fast the kids have grown," I added.

"Oh aye. Lyanna and Brandon betrothed. Neddy at the Vale. Benjen almost betrothed."

"Almost," I laughed remembering the endless times we'd tried to betroth Benjen to many young beautiful ladies of the North, some of the South, that he rejected before even meeting. We had to tell them he'd taken ill every time they would come to Winterfell to meet him. "And Taena," I sighed.

"Taena," Rickard sighed as well. "I told you to let us legitimize her as our own child. Be done with it. Give her our name."

"Her name is Taena Sand, she came to us Taena Sand and she will leave us Taena Sand, Rickard. I will not take her past from her to better our image."

"Bettering our image would've been to put her in the Wintertown orphanage. Or to give her to one of the families here in our own walls. The blacksmiths or one of the cooks-," before he could continue though I cut him off.

"Let her freeze or have another servant you mean? For all anyone will know, she is our niece, she is my sister's bastard daughter and she was given to us to foster for by her father from Dorne," I glared moving away from him slightly. I loved my husband, but he was truly a stupid man at times. When I first told him to lie I had wondered if he had ever lied in his life. He had been mumbling and stumbling when first telling our Maester about her. When he first found her on the steps of Winterfell, he'd brought her straight to me, it was just a year after Lyanna had been born, and I had thought he had had a bastard with another woman, a whore, and almost split his head in two. Until the baby he had put on the dining table began to cry and we noticed a note.

Taena Sand.
Take good care of her, she has her mother's gentle heart and her father's Dornish skin and eyes.

And we knew that we had no choice but to make up a lie. Unfortunately, my sister died almost two days later of high fever, a weak little thing she was. The gods blessed us with a life and took a life, so I thought the best way to hide her true identity that no one knew, would be to place her as my sisters bastard daughter. Our niece by blood. Although the strange little girl had taken it upon herself to become Lyanna's handmaiden when she was just twelve and refused to allow anyone else to serve her.

"Your thoughts have consumed you again?" Rickard nudged.

"Sorry, I was just thinking about whether we should feed our guests rabbit or chicken," I smiled, his reaction was to roll his eyes, plant a gentle kiss on my cheek and blow out his candle.

WINTERFELL: MORNING

A week has passed.

"Good morning Lady Lyanna," Taena smiled nudging the girl awake.

"Please no, I was just about to kill a wilding," Lyanna groaned as the thick furs were pulled off her body.

"And I was just about to marry Prince Rhaegar," Taena gushed rolling her eyes. "Uncle wants us in the main hall for breakfast."

"Why?" Lyanna frowned as Taena ushered her to a chair and began brushing her hair.

"Apparently, there is a great Tourney to be held at Harrenhal, in honor of Lady Merida Whent, there are great prizes for victors it is said. And Prince Rhaegar himself will be there, with many other fine Lords and Ladies of course," Taena smiled as she braided Lyanna's hair.

"Ned?"

"I didn't stay long enough to hear about him. Sorry Ly," Taena grimaced.

"That's alright; we must get down to breakfast quickly then, I'm going to wear my pants today, we are going riding. I'm tired of being held up in that cage learning about the Great Houses of Westeros and plucking away at my poor finger," Lyanna said as she took off her nightgown and with Taena's help got into her riding wear.

"Your father will allow this?" Taena frowned.

"What my father doesn't know, doesn't hurt him now does it?"

"Sorry Lyanna, I've got to make our dresses for the feast next week."

"You are so damn proper, you stay here then and make yourself a lovely dress to be pretty in. I am going to explore the woods," Lyanna huffed grabbing Taena's hand and leading her to the hall. "How early did you wake today? The sun is barely up."

"Well considering that I am your handmaiden, I had to clean your room before waking you, and that takes some time. It's a surprise you didn't wake from the noise."

"I told you already dear friend of mine; I was killing wildlings."

"Oh aye, you did too."

"I wish you wouldn't talk about being my handmaiden as well. Especially now that we are almost grown," Lyanna added.

"But that's what I am?" Taena frowned letting go of her friend's hand.

"You refer to mother and father as aunt and uncle. You are family. Stop forcing these roles upon yourself."

"If this is about Bethany, I can't say I'm sorry. She had it coming," Taena huffed crossing her arms over her chest.

"The girl was merely lazy and loved to eat lemon cakes. We cannot be angry with her for having a passion," Lyanna smiled remembering how Taena had made her old handmaiden leave Winterfell for her incompetence, though Lyanna did not mind, and took the role herself.

"Oh please, the snow would've melted in the North before she did anything. Besides, I made sure she was very well taken after."

This is my first ever fanfiction so please be kind with your comments. I hope you guys enjoyed this first chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.