She likes being in the camps. There are children to play with, people to talk to, and things to learn about all the different people helping her mama and papa take back their throne.
But sometimes she misses the North, the true North as Uncle Tormund calls it.
She misses their cabin, spending time with Ghost and Drogon, playing with Mama and Papa without someone coming to get them.
She liked Mama's pyramid where they still played together but Daario annoyed them too much and it was too hot for Ghost.
Now people are always taking her parents away and she spends most of her time with Jae and the Dothraki.
They try their best but she misses them when they're not with her.
Two boys arrived a few days ago, one of them saying he was named after her papa but she doesn't believe him. They've become friends but they keep saying they miss their father who is being kept in a guarded tent.
She remembers her own papa going in that tent with Rhae, coming out angry, and leaving with Mama on Drogon for a long time and since then she hasn't talked with the boys.
Today something feels different. The camp is quiet, people are serious and Drogon is resting very close to camp.
She saw a glimpse of her friends and they were crying, their mama holding them.
She wasn't allowed outside the tent for too long and she's playing alone as her little brothers both take naps.
"Lyanna, can you come here for a moment?" she hears her mama call out.
She looks over and sees her mama and papa sitting at their table, with very serious and sad looks on their faces. She walks towards them a bit slowly, afraid she might be in trouble, but Papa gives her a soft smile letting her know its alright. He lifts her up placing her on his lap before giving her a tight hug and kiss.
She giggles as his beard tickles her face and she can see mama smile too.
"Your beard tickles, Papa," she giggles pushing his face away.
"Does it now?" he asks with a smile. "Maybe I should cut it all off again."
She giggles, remembering how funny her papa looked in Meereen when he had cut his beard and hair. Jae didn't like it so much and cried whenever Papa would hold him. Mama didn't like it that much either.
"No. Jae and Rhae might cry," she tells him and both he and mama laugh.
"She's right, love. It is best not to forget what happened last time," Mama says her eyebrows raised as she takes a drink. For some reason, her papa turns red. But she doesn't ask why.
Both of her parents turn serious again and she's not sure what is happening.
"Lya we need to have a serious talk with you," her papa says behind her.
"I didn't do anything wrong, Papa," she says and both of her parents are quick to reassure her.
"No…no sweetie, it has nothing to do with what you did," her mama explains, taking her little hand in her larger one.
"What is it then?" she needs to ask and she can tell how hard it is for her mama to say anything.
"There are things that you need to know, Lya. You're still too young to know them all but there are some of them your papa and I think you should. About our life before you were born and why we're going to do what we have to today," Mama answers her voice shaking a little.
"But before we can we need you to remember who we are now, who I am, who your mama is. We don't want for what we tell you to change who you see us as too much," Papa adds, seeming just as nervous.
"I promise," she vows and her papa chuckles.
"Remember what I said about promises and giving your word," he reminds her.
"To only say it when I mean it and I do."
With another sad smile, her mama begins to tell her a story. She tells her about when she first arrived in Westeros, how she came to get the throne that belonged to the Targaryens. Papa tells her about meeting her mama how they didn't get along at first but soon fell in love and that makes her happy.
But then they tell her how not everyone was happy with them being together and treated mama and her people badly. How someone had made sure mama lost almost everything and separated them. That, someone, had made mama do very bad things and then made papa hurt mama.
She remembers Mama's scar and wonders if that's when she got hurt. But her feelings make her believe its better not to ask, especially when she sees how sad both her parents look when they talk about it.
Finally, they tell her how they found each other again and lived in the North with her and Jae until the same person tried to hurt them again. They explain that the person who did all that had friends who helped him do a lot of bad things and that one of them is in the tent papa went to visit.
"We wanted to tell you this because today we have to carry out his sentence," her papa explains and she turns around to look at him.
"Sentence?"
"A trial was given and all the generals and lords found him guilty of his crimes," her mama says.
"What's his punishment?" she asks, understanding that whenever someone does something wrong there's always a punishment.
"Death," her papa says.
She understands now, why her friends were crying today, why the camp is so quiet. She remembers people talking about her Papa killing some people in Winterfell but never asked about it.
"People will talk and say things about me, about us after today and we need you to be ready for it," her mama explains.
"And as a princess, it's time for you to join us," her papa adds.
She hops off her papa's lap and looks at both her parents. They both don't seem to like it but she remembers something her Uncle Tormund said to her.
"There are two reasons your parents are down here fighting this war. One is to protect you and your brother the other is because of duty," the Redhead said.
"Duty?" she had asked.
"Their responsibility, what they feel they need to do to make things right. They might have tried to live away from it but they worry too much about others that they always try to do right by everyone even if they're not happy," he turned to look at her then. "Soon you'll be like these kneelers and be asked to do your own duty."
Maybe this is what Uncle Tormund was talking about.
So she nods agreeing to be with her parents.
"Don't look away, your mother and I will know if you do. As a princess you need to see these things," her papa whispers into her ear.
"Yes Papa," she answers, her voice shakes.
He squeezes her shoulders as she watches her Mama walk towards Drogon and the man called Sam.
Everyone is here. She sees the Westerosi, the Second Sons, the Unsullied, the Dothraki and the Freefolk. All of them were silent as they watch the sentence of Samwell. Aunt Arya stood to the left of them as did Ser Davos. They try giving her an assuring smile but she doesn't smile back. Ghost is standing next to her too and she runs her hand through his fur, holding on to it tightly.
"Samwell Tarly, you have been found guilty on all charges presented against you. Any of these crimes merit death and that has been determined to be your sentence. So I Daenerys Targaryen, rightful Queen of the Seven Kingdom sentence you to die in both my name and that of my husband King Aegon Targaryen," her mama announces as she takes a few steps back.
"Any last words?"
The man turns his head and looks towards her then up towards her Papa.
"I'm sorry," he whimpers.
Her mama nods and looks directly into Sam's eyes.
"Dracarys."
Drogon then raises his head up and releases a large flame at Samwell Tarly.
She doesn't look away, just like her papa told her. She feels him hold on tighter and soon nothing but ashes are left where the man once stood.
Mama has her Queen face on as she makes Drogon fly away and when she finally turns to walk towards her and Papa. But her eyes are sad and she feels her own tear up. Her mama leans down and whispers in her ear.
"No tears. Not yet. Don't let them see you cry."
She nods and takes her hand as they walk back to their tent.
No one talks. Everyone they pass bows and mutter 'your Grace' to them. But overall the camp stays quiet.
When in the tent both her mama and papa stop her and kneel in front of her as Ghost walks towards the beds and lays beside Jae's.
"Do you understand why that happened?" her mama asks.
She nods.
"He… he broke the law, did bad things," she answers.
"Aye, but do you understand why your mother had to do it?" her papa asks.
She shakes her head.
"Because up North, we have the belief that the man who passes the sentence must swing the sword. Samwell wronged your mother, tried to get her hurt and your mama needed to be the one to serve justice," her papa explains.
"But mama didn't swing a sword," she points out and they both give her a sad smile.
"My sword is Drogon. We're Targaryens and sometimes we need to use our dragons to serve justice in the realm," her mama says, caressing her cheek. "But sometimes serving justice, doing what I just did is hard. And it's okay to feel sad afterward because that makes us human, it reminds us to only do it when it's necessary."
She feels herself tear up again and she buries herself in her mother's embrace. She feels her papa wrap his arms around her too.
She understands now. Duty is hard but it needs to be done. Her parents have done this since before she was born. Now it's her turn to begin helping them. To be the princess she needs to be. She'll still play, she'll still get to be a little girl for a while longer but not forever.
They spend the rest of the day together just the three of them and her siblings. The sadness never leaves her parents' eyes completely but they do cheer up while they are with them. So maybe that's her duty to help make her mama and papa happy and forget the sadness every day when they're with her and her brothers.
Yes, that's what it is.
She vows from that day on to do her duty as best she can.
