Chapter seven

Lyanna

She gasped for air as she sat up straight in her bed. Theon yawned next to her, a little irritated because she woke him up.

"What is it?" He said.

"Nothing, nothing. Just go back to sleep." She answered, as she tried to sound convincing.

But there had been something. Lyanna looked around her chambers to see if Winter was there. She looked if Theon was sleeping again when she could not locate the wolf.

"Theon?" She whispered.

Theon did not answer. Lyanna waited for a moment to make sure that he was indeed sleeping, as she got out of bed and put on a big fur cloak.

She had a dream again. She was not entirely sure, but she had the strange feeling that her mind and Winter's were connected. It was just like she saw everything through Winter's eyes. That would also be the explanation that she knew everything that happened in her family while she was asleep: Winter heard everything Theon said to her.

But she couldn't tell Theon, or Robb. They would only laugh at her. When Old Nan told them about wargs, or some other ancient myth, they told her those were only stories to scare the children. They would never take her seriously if she told them what her suspicions were.

Luckily, she could walk slowly by herself now. She tried to open her door as quiet as possible, for she did not want to wake Robb and Theon. Robb could not know that Theon now sometimes slept by her side. When Robb and Theon had entertained themselves with too much ale, Theon made sure Robb was fast asleep so that he could sneak into her bedroom. Lyanna did not allow it in the beginning, but Theon would always find a way to convince her that Robb wouldn't notice. They did not go much further than some drunk kisses from Theon's side, as Lyanna only wanted to give herself to him after Robb and her parents gave them their blessings. Besides: she would not give herself to him while he was drunk.

Theon would never allow her to go outside this late at night. She could hear the owls hooting in the Godswood and she saw that Winter was hunting down another fox. And there were Wildlings there, oh she knew by now.

She left anyway though, she had to make sure that it was true what she was thinking: that she had been inside Winter's mind while she was sleeping. She could almost taste the warm blood from her prey….

Lyanna shivered when she felt the cold air fill her lungs as she put the warm cloak closely around her. The snow made it difficult to not make any noise, no matter how hard she tried. Luckily, she didn't need a candle to see where she was going: she snuck out of her bed to meet Theon outside so many times by now, that she could find the way with her eyes closed if she had to.

The men that guarded the city walls were sleeping, as she saw one guard loosely holding his cup with most of the ale on the ground.

'Shame, I need to tell Robb about this.' She thought to herself, but then she remembered that Robb could not know that she was outside this late.

She quietly passed the guards as she looked around her to see if she could spot Winter. Lyanna did not notice that the torches were lit and that anyone could see her if they cared to look.

"Lyanna Stark." A vaguely recognizable voice spoke from the dark.

She moved abruptly back into the darkness, hoping that whomever the voice came from couldn't see her anymore.

"Lady Stark, my apologies," Tyrion Lannister said as he walked from the dark into the light, "I did not mean to frighten you."

Lyanna sighed relieved. "You did, my Lord. But I must say that I am quite relieved to see that it is you, Lord Lannister."

Tyrion chuckled and Lyanna could hear that he already had too much wine. "A Stark that is relieved to see a Lannister. In which world do we live in nowadays?" he said as he handed her some of his wine. "What are you doing out of bed at this time, my Lady?"

"I was…" she started, but she couldn't think of what to say. She felt how her cheeks were starting to flush.

"Oh never mind. Like a Stark would ever tell me what's on their mind. Now tell me, Lady Stark, how's Lord Greyjoy?"

If she wasn't blushing before, she was definitely doing it now. How could Lord Lannister ever know about her and Theon?

"Oh please Lady Stark, don't make me." Tyrion said as he held out his hand for hers. "Please, let me accompany you to some place warmer."

"And where is that, my Lord?" She asked him as she looked at his hand.

"The brothel, of course! You've heard your brother! He would never let me sleep well enough inside Winterfell's walls!" He answered.

Lyanna turned her head around. "I am NOT going to Winterfell's brothel."

Tyrion started to chuckle. "Aren't you just a little curious about where your boy is going when he is not with you? Aren't you curious of what Ros is like?"

Lyanna had heard enough. Just a day ago, she thought that Tyrion Lannister was the only one of the Lannisters that could actually be nice without wanting something from you. Clearly, she was mistaken.

She turned as she wanted to leave, only for Lord Tyrion to interrupt her.

"Oh come on, Lady Stark! I was only making some silly joke. Blame it on the wine, for all I care. Please, stay a little longer. You're the only one around here with brains that is willing to talk to me. I swear, I won't make any jokes."

Lyanna sighed. "Okay, Lord Tyrion. Under one condition: we're not going to the brothel." She said as she reached out her hand.

Tyrion shook her hand and said: "Lesson one, Lyanna Stark: know what you're dealing with. Know your enemies, my dear."

Theon

'That little bitch,' Theon thought as he went through her chambers.

She lied to him. Theon Greyjoy did not like being lied to.

Didn't she know how much he already gave up for her? How much he had risked? He had risked his best friendship to Robb to be with her. He tried to maintain himself, no matter how hard it was. And now there she was: wandering around in the dark with Winter, and leaving him in her bed. How would it look like if someone spotted him now? Almost naked like a babe, in the Lady of Winterfell's bed?

He quietly cursed to himself as he heard some rumbling down the hall. The rumbling quickly made place for giggles he knew so well: Lyanna's drunk giggles.

He opened her door as he saw the girl lying on the ground, still giggling to herself. She looked up to him when he walked towards her.

"Theon!" She said as she started to smile.

He was too angry to see how cute she looked when she was happy to see him. He picked her up from the floor and pulled her by the arm back into her chambers.

"Ouch! Theon, you're hurting me!" She said as she made small noises.

"Shhht! Robb might wake if you open your big mouth once more!" He quiet her as he put her on her bed.

He wandered around in her chambers as he thought of what to say. He looked up to her to see a look to tell him that she was sorry: big, blue eyes looked up at him.

He turned his head as she knew he couldn't resist those blue eyes, but now was not the time.

"Where have you been?" He demanded.

"I was first looking for Winter." She said as she looked to the ground again.

Theon could hear that she was telling the truth, partly.

"And you fell in a barrel of wine?!"

Lyanna played with the edge of her sleeping gown, a thing she always did when she started to get nervous. "And I ran into Tyrion. We had some wine together."

Theon swore loudly.

"Theon, hush! Like you said, Robb might wake up!" Lyanna begged.

"I don't care!" He shouted. "So you sneak out of your bed, while I'm lying next to you, to get yourself smashed with that fool of an Imp?"

"Don't call him that, Theon," Lyanna said quietly, "I wasn't planning on drinking with him."

Theon grinned. "Yet you did, though. Where were you anyway? He said that he would stay in the brothel."

"Well, we were in the brothel, actually." She said with a small voice.

If the situation wasn't so serious, Theon would have laughed of the picture of the sweet Lady Lyanna Stark visiting her hometown brothel. Now, however, it made him only more angry.

This was the Imp's work: he already made Theon mad when he rode out of the castle and now he was trying to get him through Lyanna. The Imp would probably enjoy the confrontation of Ros and Lyanna.

"I don't want you to go there." He spat.

Lyanna snorted. "I didn't want you to go there either, yet you did."

Theon looked up in surprise. Lyanna could be stubborn, but she was never rude like this to him. The remark angered him: he did not like the way she was speaking to him.

He walked over to her and took her head firmly with one hand. He made her look at him.

"You will not talk to me like that, understand?" He whispered to her.

She looked him in the eyes and she nodded. Theon sighed as he loosened the grip of her face.

He hated himself for hurting her this way, but she needed to learn to obey him. Sooner or later, they would be married and Lyanna was already lucky enough that they didn't have Salt wives up North.

Theon's face softened, as did Lyanna's. He looked into her big, Tully-blue eyes.

"You are a silly little girl, aren't you?" He whispered as he let his face grew closer to hers.

She smirked as she let him lay her down on the bed. Lyanna Stark was his weakness: he could never stay mad long with her.

He lay down on top of her as he kissed her lips. He felt how she hesitated at first, but quick enough kissed him back. He could feel that her body was not relaxed yet, so he went for her weak spots: her cheeks and collarbones. He could feel how she relaxed underneath him, as he went with his hands through her hair and touched her arms and shoulders. He could feel himself harden as he touched Lyanna where ever he liked.

She was his. Only his.

He opened her mouth with his tongue as he could taste the wine she just had with the Imp. Lyanna answered as her tongue searched for his. He could feel how her hands hesitated to touch him, so he helped her a little.

Theon took off his shirt to show her the bare skin underneath it. He smirked when he saw how Lyanna looked up with big eyes as he reached for her hands and held them at his torso.

Her hands were warm, probably because of the alcohol, as he let her hands explore his body. He reached for her breasts, which looked so beautiful last time.

He kissed her once more as he tried to get her smallclothes off. Lyanna was touching his member as it drove him mad with lust.

He would take her. Here and now.

The door of Lyanna's chambers opened with a loud BANG as it both shook Theon and Lyanna.

He was afraid that Robb would enter, but it was only Winter who came in with a small fox in her mouth.

Winter didn't pay any attention to both of them as Lyanna quickly covered herself. The wolf walked over to the fireplace and decided to eat the fox there.

"Yuck, Winter not here!" Lyanna whispered as she walked towards Winter.

Theon sighed. If there was any chance he would have Lyanna tonight, the moment was gone now.

….

Brandon

"Go on, Brandon, you need to study!" His sister Lyanna said as she pointed to the map in front of them, "What House is this?"

"That one is easy." He snorted.

"Well, go on then?" Lyanna said as she raised an eyebrow at him.

Bran rolled his eyes at her, but answered. "King's Landing. House Baratheon, Ours is the Fury."

He was extremely bored. He thought of the dream he had last night: he could walk again. And there was this raven, who had three eyes….

"Brandon Stark!" His sister said as she brought him back to this earth.

He looked at the map, where his sister pointed at Dorne.

"House…" he thought, but he really could not remember. "I'm sorry Lyanna, I do not remember."

Lyanna did not answer. Brandon looked up at her as he could see her staring towards Theon. Theon was shooting in the range. Once in a while he would look back at Lyanna, almost like he was checking if she saw his skills. By the looks of it, she definitely did.

"Lyanna!" Rickon yelled from the other side of her.

"Oh, yes, sorry." Lyanna said as she pointed her attention to them once more. "Brandon: this is Dorne of House Martell. Words: Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken. You should remember them."

"Why? I will never go there in my entire life." He said, a little bitter.

He didn't want to show his frustrations towards his sister. He could see what a hard time she was having. She looked after him and Rickon while their mother was away. She did the best she could, but she was a young woman herself and Rickon was growing wilder and wilder since their mother had left.

Lyanna sighed. "Brandon, I know how frustrated it is to not move around freely, but you have to stay positive: Lord Tyrion was very kind by giving us the drawings of your saddle. You can ride now, I haven't ridden a horse since my attack."

"Yeah, well. Maybe Theon can take you out for a ride." He said as he saw how she stared at him again.

Lyanna turned her head to him once more. "That is not nice, Brandon. Speaking of Theon: what is his House?"

Brandon rolled his eyes again. "House Greyjoy. Seat: Pyke. Words: What is dead may never die."

"It's 'We do not sow', lad," Theon grinned as he walked over towards them. "House Greyjoy: known for their ships, archery and love making." He said as he winked at Lyanna.

"And failed rebellions." Lyanna spat as she gave Theon a cold stare.

Brandon and Rickon laughed and Brandon could see Theon did not like Lyanna's comment. Theon Greyjoy was a proud man, but easy to break.

"Shouldn't you be learning?" Theon mocked her. "Or maybe do some fancy needlework?"

"I already made a napkin for you this morning. You might need it in your next defeat." Lyanna answered sweetly.

Brandon and Rickon laughed again, only harder now. Rickon had tears rolling from his eyes.

"No, seriously Theon. I am studying Valyrian Steel right now. It is written in High Valyrian. Don't you remember that my father told the Maester Luwin that I needed to learn it?"

Bran looked up at Lyanna. He knew she hated the old language. Especially when you thought of it that there was no one around to practice it with.

Theon smiled his famous grin. "Yes, and I also know that you've hated it and never did what the Maester asked you to when it came to Valyrian. Since when did you start again?"

Bran saw how his sister's cheeks flushed red as she whispered something. He could not understand all of it, but the words 'Tyrion' and 'advice' he did hear.

He looked up at Theon and saw how he got angry. Theon tried to hid it in front of them, though.

"So, your dear little new friend told you to learn it and you simply just do it?" He spat.

Lyanna payed attention to her books now. "Not in front of the boys, Theon. We'll talk."

Bran could not help but noticing that they talked to each other like they were a couple. Of course he knew that his sister liked Theon, he was not stupid, but they've never been like this in the open.

"All right," Theon answered, "we'll talk later." He pressed, as he focused on his archery again.

Lyanna gave him a small smile as she continued to read in her book. She wasn't reading it, though: Bran noticed that she held the book upside down.

He heard rushed footsteps from behind him as he looked up to see who they belonged to. He saw how Master Luwin hurried towards them.

"My Lady," The Maester spoke to his sister.

"Maester Luwin!" Lyanna answered surprised, "I was just reading about the Valyrian steel. All the big Houses have it, right? So how come the Lannisters don't?"

Bran chuckled. She was simply doing this to impress the Maester.

"Because King of the Rock Tommen Lannister was foolish enough to sail to Valyria, plunder it and to never return. Same counts for the Valyrian sword Brightroar." The old man sighed. "I did not come to see you doing your Valyrian lessons, my Lady. Your Lord brother has asked for you."

"Did he, now?" She said even more surprised.

Bran noticed how everyone stopped with what they were doing and payed attention to his sister and the Maester.

"Yes. We've just received a raven. Your Lady mother took Lord Tyrion Lannister as his prisoner." The Maester sighed once more.

"Does that mean mother STILL won't come to us, Ly?" Rickon said with a small voice.

"Looks like your mother isn't fond of your new little friend." Theon grinned.

"No. But she's not very fond of you either." Lyanna said as she stood up and followed Maester Luwin to go to Robb.

….

Robb

He was standing near a window in the Great Hall, thinking about what his mother had wrote. He was still holding the letter, as his fingers kept running over the parchment and the Stark seal he had just broke.

He was no man of bickering and squabbling. Of course the Maester had tried to taught him well in these matters, but his sister was the wise one in these scenario's.

He looked at how an owl flew out of one of the trees in the Godswood. How long would things remain peacefully? It seemed like everything went wrong the moment his father and Jon had left.

'When the snow falls, and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies, but the pack survives.' He could still remember how his father had spoken those words to him. But the pack was not with each other right now. This was not right.

He looked up as he saw his sister hurrying towards him with Maester Luwin following her.

"Robb," she said as she reached him, "what in Seven Hells happened?"

Robb smiled faintly as he looked at her. Lyanna worshipped the Old Gods, like their father, but used the words about the Seven like their mother.

"Mother has captured the Imp," He said as he showed her the letter their mother sent, "She's sure that he's behind Bran's attack."

He observed her as she read the letter. Robb had already spoken to Theon about her nightly adventure with Tyrion Lannister. Robb was not pleased, for he did not like the Lannister-man, but he could not get angry at Lyanna about it. His sister had a good heart. She did not mean to do harm.

Lyanna walked over to a wooden table as she seated herself on a wooden chair. She looked at a flask of mulled wine as she poured some for Robb and her. Lyanna looked up at him as she waved to the chair opposite of her.

He walked over to his sister as he seated himself in the chair. He heard his sister sighing as she took small sips of her wine and looked thoughtful at the flask in front of her.

"He did not act like a killer, especially not a boy-killer." She thought out loud.

Robb sighed as well. "I know you have enjoyed the night you've spent with him, but the Lannisters are bad news, sister."

"Yes, you're right," Lyanna said as she nodded her head to what he was saying, "and they have our father and sisters."

"Do we need to be aware? Shall I inform our bannermen to be ready whenever the time comes?" he asked her.

Lyanna was quiet for a moment. Robb could almost hear her think.

"No," she decided after a while, "We cannot do anything just yet. Mother will probably bring her to Aunt Lysa at the Eyrie and father, Sansa and Arya will be safe as long as the King lives. We just have to wait out the storm I'm afraid.."

Robb sighed. He knew she was right, but he didn't like the thought of not doing anything.

"I miss them, you know," Lyanna said as she looked at him, "Mother, father, Jon, Sansa, Arya.. It's not the same without them."

"I know, you're right. It's not the same. And that's why we need to stick together." He answered.

Lyanna smiled and Robb knew she thought the same: they shared a womb. They were unbreakable together.

The twins sat and drank together as the moments passed by. Robb thought of how he could solve everything of this, as he thought that Lyanna thought of moments in their past.

"Robb?" She asked him after a few minutes.

"Hmm?" He said as he looked up.

"It might be a right time now to think of new allegiances." She whispered.

"Don't be silly, Lyanna, we've got the whole North at our backs. That's more than half the Kingdom." Robb told her.

"Yes, but the Lannister can buy enough men to fight us. Plus they can buy a fleet." She pointed out, as she whispered the last part of what she said.

She had Robb's attention now: was she actually going to where he thought she was going?

"You are saying?" He said while he raised an eyebrow.

"Well," she said as she looked at her dress and played with lace edges of her dress, like always when she was nervous, "you could think of marrying me to Theon…"

"No." He responded firmly and immediately.

She looked up at him, seriously. "Robb, listen. If we have the Greyjoys at our backs, we will outnumber them on land AND water. The Greyjoys have already shown that they can smash a Lannister fleet…"

"Yes, in the Greyjoy rebellion. The rebellion that got Theon here in the first place. Father had to stop them, remember? As to that: Theon's uncle Euron Greyjoy led the attack and people haven't heard of him since." Robb said, a little irritated.

"You are stubborn." She said as she folded her arms to her chest.

"And you are naïve. Besides, father has to promise you to someone, not me." He spat.

Robb sighed as he saw he hurt Lyanna a little with his words.

"Look, Ly," he tried to sound understanding, "I know you love him, but let me get used to the fact that you do. You might be used to it, but I'm not. I'm very protective of you, you know." He said as he held her by the shoulder.

"I know you are, you always have been," Lyanna said as she spoke truly, "but we need allies, Robb. Winter is coming."

"Winter is coming, but I don't think Balon Greyjoy will want to be our ally since we fought against him, murdered his eldest sons and took his youngest. The Ironborn do not forgive so easily I'm afraid."

Lyanna sighed as the words of House Greyjoy sounded through her head: 'We do not sow'. Robb was right: even if he agreed to it, Balon Greyjoy probably never would. Theon was an Ironborn and Ironborn men mostly married Ironborn ladies.

But deep in her heart Lyanna knew that Theon was more of a Stark than a Greyjoy now. Of course: Theon was extremely cocky and Theon talked about women like Ironborn would, but she could also see that he had a gentle heart somewhere.

She smiled faintly at her brother as they both finished their wine, hoping that all of this would be over soon enough.

Time passed slowly in Winterfell, like the progress of Lyanna's healing. Maester Luwin insisted that she needed to rest more than she did now, and Rodrik, Theon and Robb did whatever they could to let Lyanna stay in bed.

Lyanna and Robb hadn't heard from their mother since her last letter and Lyanna could see how her younger brothers missed her. Lyanna did too: she hoped her mother would soon work things out with Lord Tyrion and come home soon. Her children needed her: they already missed their father.

The day had come that Rodrik Forrester would return home. Six weeks he had visited the Starks, and it had felt like the good old days when they were younger and things did not seem complicated at all.

For the occasion, Robb and Theon allowed Lyanna to get out of bed and say goodbye to her dear friend. She held Theon for support, but most of the people in Winterfell knew that Lyanna Stark and Theon Greyjoy were becoming more than just friends.

She had put a big, warm cloak on, but Lyanna could also feel the warmth of the man she was standing next to. Theon rested a hand on her back and when he looked around to see if someone watched, he lowered his hand to her bottom and squeezed it firmly.

Lyanna made a squeaking noise, as Theon tried to hold his laugh. She gave him an angry look, but he just returned a naughty one.

"Let me come to your chambers tonight." He whispered.

"Only if you can behave yourself in public." Lyanna whispered back.

Theon returned her remark with a wink as they walked over to where Rodrik and his men were making themselves ready for their journey.

"There she is! I was already wondering if you would come to see me off." Rodrik smiled.

"How couldn't I?" She smiled as she hugged one of her oldest friends, "Please, send my love to your family when you see them. Tell them that they are always welcome in Winterfell."

"I will. Thank you for having me. It was good to see you all again. You too, Theon." He said as he looked to Theon as well. "I want a rematch for our last hunt."

"Noted." Theon said as the men slapped each other on the shoulder.

Lyanna watched as Rodrik said his goodbyes to Robb as well. "Farewell, Robb. And if you ever need help of the Forresters: you know you can count on us."

Finally, Rodrik got on his horse and waved at them as they saw him leave through the gates of the castle.

"Iron from ice!" Little Rickon shouted as he raised his fist in the air.

Lyanna could hear Rodrik laughing. "Winter is coming!" he shouted back.

Lyanna had the strange feeling that Rodrik's last words were truly spoken…

….

Another chapter! I'm wondering how you guys like the story so far? I'm thinking of making bigger time laps in the next chapters. The first few were for character building, etc…

Please let me know what you guys think! And welcome to all my new followers and favorites!

Love, radicallion.