Days of Summer
The sun shone through the closed curtains in Kenna's room. Months had past since her arrival to Winterfell, and she was beginning to tolerate the cold country. The people weren't as horrible as she originally thought. In fact, the northerners were rather kind.
She rubbed her eyes and sat up in her bed. Reading until sunrise probably wasn't a good idea when one had lessons the next day. Maester Luwin was her teacher, and Kenna found that he was a much better teacher than Grand Maester Pycelle had been. Unlike Pycelle, he didn't waffle on about all the kings he served or about all the great deeds he had done.
Miya entered her room quietly, a package in her hands. She jumped slightly when she saw that Kenna was awake. "You're up, milady." Miya smiled a kind smile. Of all the people she had met in Winterfell, Miya was the person she was the closest with. "I'm lucky today, I suppose. You were quite violent the last time I tried to wake you."
The last time Miya tried to wake her, Kenna, in her sleepy haze, threw a punch her way. The shaking had startled Kenna, and it didn't help that her sleep was plagued with nightmares about dragons. The dragon-themed dreams were caused by the book she was reading, and the book before that, and the book before that...
"Your nose looks better," Kenna commented, smiling sheepishly at her handmaiden. Miya's nose was swollen the night before, but the swelling had gone down. Though her nose hadn't went back to normal. "I'm sorry. Truly. I'm usually not so violent."
"You don't need to worry, milady," Miya said as she pulled open the curtains and let in the morning sun. Kenna heard the clashing of swords in the training yard, and Theon Greyjoy's loud laughter. "At least I know now that waking you up is like waking a sleeping dragon."
Kenna groaned, holding her head in her hands and glaring down at her book. "Please don't mention dragons. I swear, if I read another book about dragons I'll turn into one."
"To be able to read is a great gift that few have," Miya told her. Due to her background as a farmer's daughter and being illegitimate, Miya couldn't read. It was almost impossible in Kenna's eyes for one to be unable to read. She knew how to read since she was four, but apparently only the better off learned how to read. Miya handed her a small package with Kenna's mother delicate script on it. "A raven came for you, milady. From King's Landing."
Her previous drowsiness was forgotten as she ripped open the package, a huge smile on her face. Inside, there was two letters and a small present. The first letter was from her father. It was disappointingly short, with only five lines excluding the greeting and his sign off. The writing was messy, and Kenna guessed that he was drunk when he wrote the letter. He said that he hoped she enjoyed Winterfell, and that he missed her, as well as a few other sentences that Kenna could hardly understand.
Her mother's letter was longer and more detailed. She wrote of how things were in King's Landing, of Tommen and Myrcella and how they missed her. She complained about her husband, his weight and his drunkenness. The Starks were also complained about, her mother having called them 'the barbarians who took her daughter from her.' Although, the queen did recognise that they had honour.
The only other letters Kenna received were from her uncle Tyrion, although the last letter had arrived days ago, and was already responded to. His letter was light-hearted and humorous, with little to no serious topics within the letter, if one would consider the possibility of the Ice Dragon's existence to be a 'serious topic.'
Kenna opened the present next, a large smile spreading across her features. It was wrapped in dark green paper, with a gold ribbon tied around it. Miya looked over to Kenna from the corner of her eye as she smoothed Kenna's dress, obviously curious.
It wasn't the present that made Kenna happy. Not really. Since she arrived in Winterfell, Kenna feared that her family had forgotten about her. The letters and the present only proved that they hadn't forgotten, and that gave Kenna the happiness she so direly needed.
Inside the box was a beautiful necklace, identical to the one her mother wore. Only this necklace was brand new, and shone brightly as the morning sun hit it. On the chain – which was made of fine silver that only Lannister gold could buy – was a gold and red lion. His jaws were wide, ready to bite, and his tongue stretched from his mouth threateningly.
"It's beautiful," Kenna said as she stared at the necklace. She took it out of the package and held it in front of her, fully admiring its beauty. "But I can't wear it. The Lannisters aren't very well liked here. I don't want to make everyone hate me."
Miya smiled pitifully at Kenna. "I don't think anyone could hate you, princess," she said. "You're too sweet. And you shouldn't let the northerners or anyone else dictate what you wear. If you desire to display your mother's sigil, then display it with pride."
She managed a small smile, but didn't take her eyes away from the necklace. If she was in King's Landing, nobody would judge her for wearing a lion. But here, in the North, Kenna doubted that there was one person who wouldn't judge her. Not even Jon Snow.
"I don't want to make things difficult for myself," Kenna told her handmaiden. Just as she about to put the necklace away, a thought popped into her head and made her smile a rather mischievous smile. "But that doesn't mean that I don't have to wear it. They just won't see it."
It took Miya a second to understand what Kenna was talking about, but when she did the handmaiden laughed. "Would you like a high neck today, milady?"
Kenna smiled, something bubbling in her stomach. Excitement? Exhilaration? Rebelliousness?
She was in secret rebellion against the Starks, and it felt strangely good.
"I'm right."
"No, you're not."
"Yes. I am!"
Kenna glared at Robb. He was unbelievably frustrating. In every lesson, he would insist that her answers were wrong, based on the reasoning that all girls were stupid. To which she would retort that all boys were pompous idiots. Maester Luwin stopped them both before it could go too far. It was a pity, really, because Kenna believed that she was stronger than him.
It was the only time when Theon Greyjoy kept quiet. Occasionally, he would snigger behind his hand as Robb was made a mockery of, but he never spoke. (Kenna was never made a mockery of. She put it down to her being too well-read and intelligent.) Jon's mouth stayed closed as well, only opening it to answer questions.
"Tell her, Maester Luwin," Robb demanded. He showed the maester Kenna's paper, which had her sum written on it. She didn't worry, as she knew that her sum was right. "The order she did the sum is all wrong."
Maester Luwin narrowed his eyes as he checked the sum. Once he was finished, he sighed and handed the paper back to Kenna. "Multiplication before division, princess. Or else the sum is wrong."
She scrutinised her work. Her addition was right, her subtraction was right, her division was right and her multiplication was right. The only flaw was her order, as Robb had said. Damn Grand Maester Pycelle. He was the one who taught her that division came before multiplication.
Robb was smirking triumphantly, as though he had won some great victory. It didn't change anything. Kenna knew that she was smarter than him. Before now, every other time when Robb questioned her answers Kenna made a fool out of him by being right.
The old maester held his hand out for Robb's work. "Robb, if I may." Kenna placed her work on the table as Robb gave the maester his work. She watched the maester closely as he corrected it. "Though your order of operation is without error, your sum is riddled with mistakes."
"What?" Robb blurted, snatching the paper from Luwin's outstretched arm. The smirk was gone from his face, vanishing like the previous air of over-confidence that had surrounded him. Kenna hid a smile behind her hand, while Theon Greyjoy sniggered from beside Robb, who elbowed him in the stomach and grumbled, 'oh, shut up' as Greyjoy yelped in pain.
"There's no need to be competitive," Maester Luwin told them with a small smile. "Or violent." As Robb looked sheepishly at him, the maester gave Robb a stern look that still held a trace of humour. "You're free to leave. Today's lessons are finished."
The boys ran out to the courtyard before the maester even finished his sentence. Like a lady, Kenna walked – dignified – to the library. She spent most of her time there reading, or sometimes she read in her room. As well as her lessons with Luwin, she had sewing lessons with Septa Mordane, the Stark's septa. The woman was strict, and had a stern face that never seemed to disappear or change. Even for the quickest moment.
She sat down by the fire and opened her book, which she was nearly finished. Kenna made herself swear that this book would be last about dragons. There were so many other types of books that she should read. Although few other things interested her. War was interesting enough, as were books about Essos or other foreign, less known continents, but none interested her as much as dragons did.
"Princess." Kenna looked up from her book. Sansa Stark, the eldest of Lord Stark's daughters and the second eldest child, stood in front of her. Even though she was only six or seven, Sansa was a true lady in every aspect. Just like her lady mother. Kenna smiled at her and closed her book. "I was wondering if you would like to take a walk with me in the courtyard. If you're not busy."
Sansa seemed very fascinated by everything to do with fairy tales and royals. Most girls in King's Landing were the same. Kenna enjoyed fairy tales immensely, but she knew not to put too much faith in gallant knights or handsome princes. She saw enough in King's Landing to know that few knights were truly gallant, and few princes were truly selfless and brave.
"I would love to," Kenna said, standing up. Sansa's whole expression brightened as a huge smile spread across her face. "I just need to bring my book to my room first."
Once she had left the book in her room, she set off with Sansa to the courtyard. The conversation wasn't exactly riveting. The main topics were fairy tales and gallant men, until Sansa asked about her life in King's Landing.
"There were many tourneys and banquets," Kenna told her, which sparked Sansa's interest immediately. The boys – Robb, Jon and Theon – were practising with wooden sticks in the middle of the courtyard, making loud noises when they won. Well, Robb and Theon were. Jon always hid his victory smile modestly. "And there are a lot of people at court. Lords, ladies and knights."
"Are the knights handsome?" Sansa asked eagerly. "And your brother? Joffrey, isn't it?" Kenna nodded. His name had a tendency to suck all the happiness out of her. "Is he handsome?"
"In an odd sort of way, yes," she replied shortly. Kenna felt horrible when she saw Sansa's wounded look. She didn't know Joffrey, it wasn't her fault. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped."
"Do you not like your brother?" Kenna was shocked at the six year old's perceptiveness. She didn't think that she was as perceptive at Sansa's age. "Is he mean and not princely?"
Kenna bit her lip. She didn't want to shatter Sansa's illusions of princes and knights. That would be cruel. "No. He's..." It was difficult for her to speak of Joffrey in a positive light when she had only ever used negative words to describe him. "...very good. And gallant."
Sansa smiled. Kenna only hoped that she never met Joffrey, because if she did then she would surely be disappointed. Maybe he'd grow in Kenna's absence into the prince Sansa wanted him to be, into someone who didn't smile at the death of his sister's cat.
The sight of Lady Fuzz drowning in her own blood flashed in Kenna's mind. She shook her head, not wanting to dwell on things in the past. But she knew that the image would never leave her. Lady Fuzz's dead body had scarred Kenna, and alerted her of how horrible Joffrey truly was.
There was no hope for him.
"Princess!" Robb shouted, trying to get her attention. Kenna rolled her eyes and continued walking without sparing him a glance, but he kept calling her name. "Princess, want a match?"
"Is he honestly challenging you to a duel? That's not very gallant," Sansa said, scoffing and giving her brother a warning look. Kenna kept her eyes away from him and directed in front of her. "Don't mind him, princess. He's being foolish."
"Come on," Robb said. Theon chuckled from behind him while Jon looked at his brother disapprovingly. "Don't tell me you're scared, princess? And here I thought that you'd never walk away from a challenge."
When Sansa noticed that Kenna had stopped walking, she turned around and saw her glaring at Robb. "You don't have..." Before she could even finish her sentence, Kenna was already marching over to the boys. "It's not proper!"
Kenna ignored her. She grabbed a wooden sword and pointed it towards Robb. It was her first time holding a sword, and she was holding it wrong. Theon Greyjoy never stopped chuckling while Robb's eyes were as wide as saucers.
"Just remember that I'm in a dress," she told him sternly. The last thing she needed was to fall over and for the Winterfell staff to see her undergarments. Robb gulped, though not out of fear. He was probably afraid of getting in trouble. "What? I never thought that you'd be one to walk away from a challenge. The person who looses hold of their sword looses the match. Agreed?"
He nodded silently. Kenna smirked and hit his wooden stick with hers. The knights in the tourneys made it look so effortless and simple. Like dancing. But Kenna didn't feel elegant, and her moves didn't feel light and effortless. In that moment Kenna sincerely wished that she could have learned sword fighting, even though she never had a wish for it before.
Robb was better, obviously since he had training whereas she did not. He wasn't nearly as good as the knights in King's Landing, but they were twice his age. When it was clear that she wasn't going to win by fair means, she looked around to make sure that no one was watching other than Theon, Jon and Sansa before kicking Robb in his left shin.
She kicked him with more power than she originally intended. Robb groaned, dropped his wooden sword and hopped around the courtyard while holding his leg. Theon was clutching his stomach from laughing so hard, and Jon smiled a small, rare smile. Sansa shook her head in disapproval when Kenna glanced towards her, but she was smiling as well.
"Looks like the princess won," Theon Greyjoy commented once he had recovered from his laughter.
Jon patted Robb on the back comfortingly. "Are you alright, Robb? Does your leg hurt?"
Theon snorted. "Not as much as his pride," he said and then added, "Or his masculinity."
It was the first time Theon had successfully made Kenna laugh. Jon sniggered too, though quietly so that Robb wouldn't hear. But he did, and that only wounded his pride more. "Oh, shut up, Theon," he said shortly, straightening himself up. He pointed a finger at Kenna. "That wasn't fair. You kicked me!"
"We never established the rules, did we?" she replied, wearing a triumphant smirk that only served to infuriate Robb more.
"You only won because I let you," Robb insisted. Kenna's smirk fell and was replaced with another one of her glares. "Because you're a girl and I couldn't hit you."
"You can't accept the fact that I beat you," Kenna said angrily. She was tired of his incessant need to prove that he was better than her in every way. "You can't accept the fact that I – a girl – am smarter than you, and you go out of your way to prove that I'm not. You even challenged me to a duel when you know that I've never lifted a sword once in my entire life! Just so you can prove that you're better than me."
"You do it too, Kenna," Robb told her. She was about to scold him on using her name when he continued, leaving her no time to speak. "You're just as competitive as I am."
"The only difference is that I don't challenge you to things you've never learned how to do," Kenna shot back. She knew that she was competitive, but Robb was worse. "Or how about we partake in a sewing competition? We can get Septa Mordane to judge." He made a face that clearly voiced his opinion. To be honest, Kenna didn't want to partake in a sewing competition either. Despite years of practicing, her work wouldn't be much better than Robb's. "Exactly."
She returned to Sansa, and walked with her to the solar where they had sewing lessons.
Needlework was much more fun when one imagined that the cloth was a person.
There was no specific time for when lessons with Septa Mordane ended. Once her sewing was finished – and perfectly done, although Kenna suspected that the septa gave her a bit of leeway since she was a princess – Kenna was allowed to leave. Sansa was finished before her, but stayed to keep Kenna company and discretely help her with her needlework.
The more time she spent with Sansa, the more she liked her. When Kenna first spoke with her, Sansa Stark seemed like little more than a girl obsessed with princes and knights. But as Kenna got to know her, she turned out to be much more than that. She was kind, and helpful, and had a good heart. Though she still annoyed Kenna from time to time, the good far out-weighed the negative.
Kenna held her needlework in her hand as she walked towards her bedchamber. Sansa's help came too late, as even the most skilled hand couldn't have salvaged the mess Kenna made of her cloth. She wouldn't burn it, though. Kenna was too sentimental to burn things.
She was about to open the door of her room when Robb came marching down the hall. "Princess!" he called, and repeated himself when Kenna didn't respond.
"What?" Kenna snapped, whipping around. Her temper wasn't easily kept in check, especially not with people of her own age group. Though there was something about Robb that infuriated her more than anyone else ever had. "Are you going to challenge me to a joust now?"
Robb snorted. "We don't have jousts in the North."
"Are you mocking me again?" she accused, and placed her hands on her hips in an attempt to seem more threatening. Her mother told her that when she was angry, her blue eyes looked like frightening storms, so perhaps she didn't need to try to look threatening. She only needed to enlarge her eyes.
"No, I'm not mocking you," Robb said, shaking his head. "I was just saying..." He let out a heavy, exasperated sigh as he pondered his words, careful not to anger her. Was she really that terrifying? Kenna almost smirked at the thought. "I shouldn't have challenged you to that duel. You're a girl and-"
"It has nothing to do with the fact I'm a girl," Kenna interrupted. Robb looked ready to slap his forehead with his palm. Well, he ought to learn how to phrase his apologies. "I beat you, didn't I? And to be honest I'm not even that angry about the duel. I'm tired, I suppose. Of being so competitive with each other. The last three months have been a continuous debate of whose better. I don't want to fight anyone. It's making life difficult for the both of us."
"I agree," he said as he nodded. They both searched for things to say. Robb rubbed his neck awkwardly as Kenna wrung her fingers. "So... truce, then?" He then added, 'princess' as an afterthought, and offered Kenna his hand to shake.
"Truce," she replied, smiling. She clasped his hand and shook it. "We can be friends too. I mean, if you want..."
Robb smiled. "Alright, princess. So friends it is."
He began to walk away from her and to his bedchamber. Before he went too far, she shouted out to him, "And you can call me Kenna. Friends call each other by their names, right?"
Author's Note: Hello my lovelies! I have to say that I am amazed with the reception this story has received. You guys are awesome! I haven't written a character from childhood before, and I have to say that I'm enjoying it immensely. But she can't stay a child forever, can she?
I'm wondering if you'd prefer a time skip (to the start of the series) or if you'd prefer another chapter detailing the events before GoT? The biggest problem with the time skip is that Kenna's character will have changed over time – as people do – and I'm worried that the time skip will make it seem like Kenna is a completely different person. What do you guys think?
Also, do you prefer short chapters and more frequent updates or long chapters and less frequent updates? This summer I'm planning on updating more often if life doesn't get in the way (as it often does), and hopefully I'll get pretty far with this fanfic. I'm afraid I don't have a scheduled day for updating, but hopefully I'll be able to update twice a month. And for the reader who was asking if this story is following the TV show: it will for a while, but it'll slowly branch away from the TV show.
If you guys have any questions or suggestions, I'd love to hear them!
