"The fewer people know of this the better. My father is already paranoid about your appearance. A fair warning: if you continue to compete in the joust tomorrow, you will be arrested," Rhaegar was saying.

Lyanna's head hurt, but she knew instantly that he was right. "I'm not planning to. My work is done."

"Good." All the time, Rhaegar's gaze never left her face. What scared Lyanna was that she couldn't read his expression. His eyes were as calm and as cold as two frozen ponds in the dead of winter. But Lyanna couldn't exactly tell him that, nor could she tell him to leave her alone when he had just promised to keep this a secret.

Instead, she asked, "I'm just a mystery knight, why would the King want to arrest me anyway?" Lyanna felt that his words were true beyond doubt, but she still wanted to know why would the King order the murder of a mere mystery knight.

"He had been wary of everyone since a long while ago," he explained, "Any little inconsistency set him off. You could be a dangerous assassin planning to kill him in his mind."

"Hmm, I didn't know that." Aerys did look more like a mad beggar than a King, but telling this to his son's face would be the height of rudeness.

"You must maintain a distance from him. You're important... I don't want you to die."

"...Me?"

"It's you, Lyanna Stark." He didn't elaborate further.

An uncomfortable silence settled between them. Lyanna couldn't quite look away from him, as he didn't. He didn't move, apart from his hand still tracing the tree on her shield. Leaves continued to fall between them. Meanwhile, Lyanna felt that she was losing her breath. Maintaining this stance against Rhaegar was more terrifying than facing her father. Her heart was pounding heavily, she needed to talk and break the silence.

"What's so important about me?" Lyanna tentatively asked.

"I don't know yet." Rhaegar's expression didn't change. "Perhaps, in time, we'll find out."

Lyanna couldn't stand this. She asked, more accusingly, "Why are you always staring at me?"

"I... my apologies." Rhaegar looked away and Lyanna instantly relaxed, "Your presence here captivated me."

A fear rose through Lyanna and she demanded, "Are you flirting with me?"

"You've misunderstood. I'm merely... amazed by how fate works." Rhaegar stood up, "I should go now. I'm sure we'll meet again later."

"Wait..." Lyanna should have called out, she should have him explain himself. But no words had escaped her mouth. He disappeared into the woods, and soon later, Howland found her.

"Lady Lyanna, we have to go. Lord Stark is wondering where you are," he was saying, before noticing her pale face, "Lady Lyanna? Are you alright?"

"He... Rhaegar. What does he want?" she blurted out.

"Prince Rhaegar?" Howland questioned initially, then shook his head, "You can tell me all about him later. We must go now."

Lyanna nodded and they left, leaving the shield there on the ground.

—

"You're important, he said," Benjen repeated.

Lyanna buried her face in her hands. "I don't understand a word he said and it's bothering me."

Back in Benjen's tent, Lyanna recounted her encounter with Rhaegar to Benjen and Howland. She didn't tell them everything, for how could she possibly explain what she felt? But the gist of their conversation was enough for the two men to ponder.

"He promised to keep this a secret. He seemed like a good man at least," Howland said.

"Yes, but he's confusing. He said we'll meet again? What's he planning?"

"Targaryens are known to have prophetic dreams. Maybe he saw something about you," Benjen guessed.

"Should I feel happy about being important? Sounds like bad news to me." To Lyanna, this was just infuriating. Benjen looked like he still wanted to ask more, but then someone came in.

"Lya!" Robert jumped in, "Congratulations!"

Behind him, Eddard quickly followed, "Robert, Lya might not be available now!"

"Lucky, I'm available." Lyanna remained seated and unmoved, arm crossed. "And yes, I know I did great. Your lance is there, you can take it back now."

"You aren't competing tomorrow?" Robert asked, not appearing eager to take back his lance.

"No, I'm done after today. I have accomplished my goal."

"What goal?"

"It doesn't matter." Lyanna didn't really want to explain it to him; Eddard could tell him if he's curious. "Why don't you take your lance and give me some peace and quiet?"

Robert pulled down his face, "I was about to ask you out for a treat, to celebrate your victory."

"Tempting, but I want to rest right now." Lyanna wanted some time alone so she could clear her mind about this Rhaegar issue.

"Actually..." Eddard started to say, "Father said that he wanted us to dine together. He would be looking for us right around now. How about you join us too, Robert?"

"Great! Oh, but Stannis... doesn't matter, he'll deal with it," Robert happily said, "Let's go, Lya."

"Did anyone want to ask for my opinion on this?" Lyanna sighed but still stood up. "Robert, if you're worried about your brother, why don't you invite him too? I'm sure Father won't mind."

Robert's smile instantly lessened. "It's nice for you to think of him, but he isn't the kind of person who likes to socialize... he'll only bore you all if he's around."

"Ned also doesn't like to socialize," Lyanna pointed out, "But you two are best friends."

"It's different..." he said but failed to give an actual explanation.

Lyanna glanced at him coldly. "You know I'm being nice and doing you a favor, right? I don't have to bring this up at all."

"For me...? Fine, I'll ask Stannis. He'll be grateful." Robert turned to find his brother, expression bitter as if Lyanna was forcing him to do something unpleasant.

—

"How long does he plan to make us wait?" Lyanna stomped on the ground and turned to glare at Eddard, "It has been half an hour!"

"Lyanna Stark, where are your manners?" Rickard immediately warned.

Eddard sighed. "I can go find him..." He paused, "They're here." Indeed, Robert was waving at the Starks, one hand tightly clutching the front arm of a scowling Stannis Baratheon.

"Ned! Lya!" Robert called, before coming forward to address all of them, sweating, "Sorry for making you wait... I have brought Stannis with me."

"You should damn well be sorry." Lyanna glared at him, "Half an hour. You didn't even bring any gifts! If you have something nice for me, I can consider forgiving you."

"That could be easily arranged. What gifts do you want, Lya?" Robert happily asked, eager to make up for his mistake.

"Well," Lyanna paused and started counting finger-by-fingers, "The fastest horse you can find, a matching set of armor, weapons... flowers, many flowers of different colors, storybooks... oh! I also have a separate list for desserts—"

Robert didn't appear to be bothered by Lyanna's growing list of demands. He excitedly rubbed his hands and turned to his brother, "Stannis, help me scribe them down."

The scowl on Stannis' face deepened. "I don't have any paper on me."

"Help me memorize it, then. Horse, armor, flowers..."

"You missed my weapons." Lyanna smiled. There were some upsides to having an admirer. "I have a full list of weapons I want too—"

"Lyanna Stark, if you don't stop being greedy, you're not eating anything tonight!" Rickard barked across the table, breaking Lyanna out of her daydream.

Lyanna quickly retreated and returned all the fingers she held out... except for one. "At least bring me some flowers."

"Lyanna!"

She sat down, smiling brightly at Rickard. "Nothing, I said nothing."

Rickard glared but didn't continue to reprimand her. Everyone sat down, and they finally started eating.

One of them was still scowling, however, so Lyanna leaned forward and told him, "Hey, don't worry, you don't have to remember what I want from Robert. It's just a joke."

Stannis looked up with an unconcealed disgusted look. "I know."

"Oh." she didn't know what to say for a second. Then Lyanna blurted out, "Do you not want to be here?"

"Of course he's happy to be here. Stannis, isn't it?" Robert interrupted.

Two pairs of eyes glared at him, Stannis and Lyanna. "Robert, let him answer," she said.

"Hey, why didn't you let me answer every time you tried to speak for me?" Benjen hissed towards his elder sister.

"Shh, Ben. Adults are talking here," Lyanna said, waving Benjen away, still waiting for Stannis to answer.

"I thank you for your invitation, Lady Lyanna, because it's proper," he eventually said flatly, "But I find it hard to enjoy your company."

"What are you saying, Stannis?" Robert grabbed his brother's collar, his face was red with rage and embarrassment.

"Wait." Lyanna was angry too— who likes being told that to their face?— but she didn't want to turn this into a Baratheon bawling match. Eddard also came forward, motioning Robert to calm down.

"If you don't enjoy my company, perhaps you'll enjoy my brother's," once Robert had released Stannis, Lyanna told him, a hand on Benjen's shoulders, "Since you're both poor younger brothers being bullied by their elders."

"Is this really something you want to say about yourself..." Benjen muttered, but still turned to Stannis and said, "Indeed, Lord Stannis, I understand your pain. Lya is an irresponsible, mean spirit, horrible sister with no redeeming qualities. One time, she—"

"You went too far, Benjen Stark." Lyanna threateningly smiled, her eyes locked on Benjen's face. He shut his mouth immediately, but his hands motioned towards her, protesting silently.

"Ben, don't worry, from now on big brother Bran will protect you," Brandon spoke up.

"Bran, go away." Lyanna glared at Brandon, but he met her gaze fearlessly. He chuckled, not caring for a bit if she threatened to stab him with her fork.

"...Why are you children always like this," Rickard mumbled, his face buried in his hands, seemingly on the edge of an outburst. Lyanna immediately closed her mouth and sat back straight, while Brandon and Benjen did the same.

The rest of the night was tight, but luckily for Lyanna, Rickard didn't get mad. As for Stannis, he didn't mind that half of the table was cowering in terror and ate his meal in silence. No wonder Robert didn't get along well with him.

—

Lyanna didn't appear on the next day, which had left Aerys to issue an order to search for the Knight of the Laughing Tree. Robert glanced at Lyanna with an amused smile as knights and lords went off to have a fruitless search.

Rhaegar had followed his father's order too, but he did nothing but returned with the shield Lyanna had left in the forest yesterday. Aerys had raged at his son, his kingsguard, and Lord Whent, claiming his life was being threatened. But with no more clues, eventually, the tourney resumed.

At noon, Lyanna saw Eddrad sulking in a corner and approached him. "Ned, why are you so unhappy? We're safe now, nobody will suspect us."

"Suspect you, you mean," Benjen interrupted, "If Father finds out, this has nothing to do with either of us."

"Shh, Ben. What is going on, Ned? Don't tell me it's a girl."

A smile appeared on Eddard's lips, "You're really Robert's best match. You even said the same thing."

"Don't talk about him and me," she snapped. They might have spent some time together, but Lyanna still wasn't happy about this arrangement.

"Is it really a girl? Lady Ashara?" Benjen asked.

"Ohh, the one that you tried to dance with?" Lyanna remembered now. Ashara Dayne, The Sword of the Morning's sister.

"The one with violet eyes, that's correct." Benjen glanced at Eddard carefully to watch his reaction.

However, Eddard didn't blink an eye at their glances. "Lady Ashara has no relation to me," he said blankly.

Eddard could have tricked Lyanna if he wasn't her brother. "So she rejected you?" she asked.

"Lya, don't say that, you're hurting Ned's heart," Benjen said, but Lyanna could hear the tone of laughter hidden behind his words.

"You two are worse than Robert," Eddard mumbled, "Alright, yes, it's Ashara. She keeps avoiding me after that night, and I don't know why..."

"Did you two..." Lyanna held out one finger from each hand and pulled them together slowly, giggling.

"No! We just danced," Eddard said as he blushed deeply, "We danced and chatted that night and did nothing else."

"Hmm," Lyanna mused, "girls are hard to predict. She must be madly in love with you and too shy to see you again."

"I doubt she's that kind of girl," Eddard said, "She's outgoing and friendly to everyone."

"Everyone has a hidden side. You never know." Lyanna grinned, "I'll go and ask her what she feels about you."

"Lya! Wait!" Eddard called behind her, but all Lyanna did was turn and wink at him before running at full speed. An Eddard in love was an Eddard that needed her help… even though he didn't want it.