Year 276 AC.
Lannisport.
The city was brimming with excitement as the foreign lords and ladies arrived to celebrate the tourney in honor of the new prince. Alessandra observed the horses and carriages from the window of her room in the small, compared to the Rock, castle of Lannisport. Dorna, Kevan's wife, was brushing her hair and braiding flowers into it, while her mother wrangled Cersei into a dress as her sister was to meet her betrothed Robert Baratheon, that was going to be in attendance along with Ned Stark and Lord and Lady Baratheon.
The excitement was tinted by sadness as Alessandra knew that by the end of the tourney her friend Brandon, now fourteen would return back to Winterfell, the young lad had been knighted by Tygett when he had saved the Lannister knight from several mountain men that had been terrorizing the River Road, according to Tygett, Brandon had leaped into action grabbing his sword and slashed a man that had tried to kill him, Tygett owed him his life so he knighted the young northman. So after the Tourney of Lannisport, Brandon, now Ser Brandon Stark was to return North along with his brother Eddard.
Alessandra was going to miss her friend deeply as she was now going to be alone with only Cersei for company until Jaime returned after his wedding to Elia, they were to marry when Jaime turned fifteen. Alessandra had once again dissuaded her father from proposing the marriage to Aerys, citing that the man was too enraptured in his newest son to mind, she and Tywin had observed Aerys as the man boasted about the newest prince causing her father to agree with her logic.
Meeting Robert Baratheon had been a disgusting affair and something she would remember for the rest of her life, the young cocky heir of the Storm Lands had tried to grope her as he thought that she was the Lannister that he was to marry, he had promptly been threatened by Brandon, who held him at sword point until he pleaded for forgiveness. Everything forbidden later, Alessandra mentioned that he was to be marrying her sister Cersei, not her, she then greeted Ned warmly and left with Brandon to greet other nobles. Tygett, who had watched the whole affair, walked back to his brothers with a proud smirk on his face; knighting the Stark heir had been his best decision as of yet.
The two friends watched the jousts from the stands, Alessandra keeping her distance from the Baratheon heir. Brandon promised her that one day he would win a crown for her, which caused her to slap his head.
"It would be a proclamation of our friendship my lady" he said between laughs, she rolled her eyes at him.
"I'm sure the realm will see it that way" she said sarcastically, he grinned.
"And since when you started caring for what they say, Alessandra? Let them speak and then marry your prince, from what I know father wants me to marry a Tully, can you imagine that? A fish marrying a wolf?" He was actually pouting.
"You're right, what is your lord father thinking putting that poor lady in your path, I pity her" Alessandra said with a smirk.
"I don't wish to marry a Tully, maybe I'll escape to Essos, let good ol' Ned marry the fish" he said with a pensive expression.
"Yes, let poor Ned carry your burdens Ser Brandon, what a honorable knight you are" she said and he deflated slightly.
They continued watching the jousts in silence, Prince Rhaegar managed to unhorse Alessandra's uncles and many of her father's finest guards before being unhorsed by Ser Arthur Dayne, who handed thee crown of red and yellow roses to his sister Lady Ashara, who had attended the Tourney with him. After the tourney they all retired to the halls of the castle of Lannisport where the prince played his harp. Many ladies cried at the performance, while Alessandra kept her face clear of emotion while he played, Brandon then teased that she was probably just dead inside, that caused the little lady of the Rock to smile. By the end of the feast Tywin announced the betrothals of his twins, Cersei to Robert Baratheon and Jaime to Elia Martell of Dorne.
The following morning many lords started departing. Alessandra could be found with her uncles near to the northern host saying goodbye to Brandon and Ned. The Stark heir promised to send her a letter every week detailing his life at Winterfell, while the little lioness of Casterly Rock gave him a bag of lemon seeds so he could plant them in Winterfell's glass garden along with a golden coin that on one side had a wolf and on the other a lion in a thin golden chain.
Another thing that the little lioness of Casterly Rock gave the soon to be known as the Wild Wolf of Winterfell was her first kiss, before they had departed the castle in the morning. Brandon had been surprised by her actions, but she told him that she'd rather make the choice for herself and give her first willing kiss to someone who actually meant something to her than a political match, Brandon of course answered by kissing her back, as she was also his first kiss. Nothing more of it was ever said for a long time.
The days after Brandon's departure she spent them with her uncle Gerion in the yards, he had gifted her a small sword that matched her dagger that he had given her several years prior. Her mother was also enlisted in keeping the little lady distracted from missing her friend, a was her uncle Kevan.
As the months passed Alessandra got used to receiving the letters instead of actually having Brandon around. According to the Wild Wolf he had convinced his father to not marry him to Catelyn Tully, instead Ned was going to be marrying the fish, while he would remain wifeless until he decided to marry someone. Alessandra had smirked at the thought, now she only needed not to marry Rhaegar.
Late Year 278. AC.
King's Landing.
It had been two years since Alessandra had last seen Brandon Stark, four moons since Steffon and Cassana Baratheon had died in a shipwreck, three moons since Robert Baratheon had tried to end his betrothal to Cersei in favor of Lyanna (which had been denied by Lord Stark as the relationship between the Westerlands and the North had never been better) and two weeks since her father had decided to introduce her to court. Alessandra had been sad to leave her mother behind in the Rock with only Cersei to accompany her, although her mother had aunt Genna, Dorna and Kevan so it wouldn't be that bad.
Gerion had traveled with Tywin to the capital to act as Alessandra's sworn sword, as even thought the Lannister brothers didn't see eye to eye, they all agreed that their lioness had to be protected at all costs.
Life at court was strange, and even though Queen Rhaella seemed to like her, she hated when the King placed his crazed gaze on her. Which is why she hated being in the courtroom. She often preferred the Queen's gardens or remained in her father's tower. While being in the capital she struck an easy friendship with Lady Ashara Dayne, who was there because of her brother Ser Arthur, soon enough Ashara became her confidant and first female friend. Through Ashara she met Ser Arthur, who she thought was kind and had a wicked sense of humor.
At fourteen, Alessandra stood at a respectable five foot six (approximately), not too tall or to short, her long golden hair went a little bit past her waist in soft golden waves, she thought that her breast were fairly normal, a possible b-cup, if Westeros had used that sort of from her hair, her favorite quality were her green eyes, they were still big and that allowed her to maintain a sweet façade easily. It was hard to deny that she was beautiful, although people rarely had the gall to tell her since she was always being followed by her uncle Gerion and people tended to fear him, also she was the daughter of the Hand and Tywin would have killed anyone who disrespected his daughter.
It had been amusing seeing the King try to marry Rhaegar to someone other than her, unfortunately the only available ladies of high enough birth that were of age to marry Rhaegar that were nor already betrothed were Alessandra, Lysa Tully and Lyanna Stark, the former two being too young. While the year dawned into an end King Aerys had no other choice than to betroth prince Rhaegar to Alessandra Lannister, the funniest thing that Tywin didn't even had to propose the idea, the king had marched up to him and had declared that Alessandra was to marry his son and give him healthy heirs.
The betrothal had been announced in a small feast in the Red Keep. Weeks after the announcement Alessandra spent time with Rhaegar as to get to know him, they were often accompanied by Gerion and Arthur, also Alessandra decided soon enough that the prince was boring and disillusioned as he kept mentioning a prophecy. She had written a letter to Brandon in the secret language that they always used in their letters (french) and told him about her betrothal and possible doom, Brandon had written back his congratulations mockingly and offered to kidnapp her and move to Essos, she had waved him off out of love for her parents, but told him that he was welcome to visit at anytime.