Disclaimer: I do not own anything from A Song of Ice and Fire or Game of Thrones. Everything belongs to George R.R Martin

Chapter II - Stags and Lions visits Winterfell

Winterfell

Alyssa Stark stood with her siblings as she watched in the Royal Procession enter the courtyard of Winterfell. Alyssa stood in between her twin brother elder brother Robb and younger sister Sansa. The eldest daughter/second child of Ned Stark and Catelyn Tully watched in awe seeing the people enter in. Never before has she seen bright colors from the South of the Neck. There were horses coming through, Alyssa chuckled lightly seeing their father remove the helmet on Arya's head and Arya stood between Sansa and Bran. More horses and people came in, along with a ridiculously huge carriage. Alyssa smiled seeing Prince Joffrey Baratheon riding on his horse who gave Alyssa a small smile. Her smile faltered seeing King Robert Baratheon dismounted from his horse as the rest of them knelt respectfully.

King Robert was a fat man, not like what Alyssa imagined. When she was five, her father told her the story of how King Robert killed Prince Rhaegar during the Rebellion. Alyssa had expected a man who was tall and strong, who perhaps had a battle scar. Instead, Robert looked like a man who spent his times eating and drinking. Alyssa turned her gaze at the other people. There was the Kingslayer, Ser Jaime Lannister. Their father believed that Ser Jaime should be sent to the Wall for killing King Aerys II, the Mad King. Alyssa had to agree with her father, no matter how evil the Mad King was, Ser Jaime Lannister broke one of the most sacred oaths in the Realm. The Kingsguard are supposed to protect their King, no matter how good or bad they are.

Alyssa watched as the King approached her father and said seriously, "You've gotten fat."

"Huh?" That was what Alyssa would've said if Robb haven't gave her a light nudge. Robb was trying to keep his smile down at the King's ridiculous statement. Suddenly, Ned and Robert broke into laughter and hugged each other like brothers, making everyone sigh in relief.

"Winterfell is yours, Your Grace." Ned said with a bow. Robert smiled and patted her father's shoulder. Alyssa watched as Robert hugged her mother, then shook Robb's hand. Then, Robert stopped at Alyssa and said, "Blimey Ned, she looks just like her."

Alyssa gave a light curtsey and said, "Thank you, Your Grace."

She knew who King Robert meant, it was her aunt Lyanna Stark. Her father often told her that she looked like her aunt Lyanna, but it was only the dark hair and the dainty features. The rest of Alyssa was her mother, with the Tully blue eyes and the Whent cheekbones. Out of all of her father's children, only Jon, Arya and Alyssa look like true Starks. Robb, Sansa, Bran and Rickon resemble more like Tullys then Starks.

King Robert continued to greet the rest of their family, while Queen Cersei Lannister came out of her carriage with her daughter Princess Myrcella and son Prince Tommen. Her father kissed the Queen's ring. Then, Prince Joffrey came down and greeted them, though he seemed like he didn't enjoyed it.

"Take me to the crypts Ned, I want to pay my respect." Robert said out loud. Alyssa knew the crypts, she visited them everyday. It has been tradition for the King of Winters and the Lord of Winterfell along with their family to be buried in Winterfell for a long time.

"We have been travelling for months, my love." Cersei said. "Surely the dead can wait."

Robert shook his head and her father shot Cersei an apologetic look.

"Where's the imp?" Arya piped up. Alyssa had to resist the urge to smile at her little sister's cheekiness.

oOoOo

The Crypts of Winterfell

Lord Eddard Stark and King Robert Baratheon walked down the crypts of Winterfell together. Ned was shocked to see how Robert currently looks now. He grabbed a lantern and Robert started to complain, "I was starting to think we would never reach to Winterfell."

"I trust you enjoyed your journey, Your Grace?" Ned asked politely, knowing this wasn't the same boy he fostered with in the Eyrie. He listened as Robert told Ned that he should be at the South more often. Robert talked about the bogs at the Neck and the summer and that Ned shouldn't be staying in the North.

"Your Grace," Ned said respectfully. He swept the lantern in a wide semicircle. Flickering light touched the stones underfoot and brushed against a long procession of granite pillars that marched ahead, two by two, into the dark. Between the pillars, the dead sat on their stone thrones against the walls, backs against the sepulchres that contained their mortal remains. "She is down at the end, with Father and Brandon."

Robert knelt and bowed his head towards the three statues. Ned remembered grimly of the early days in Rebellion. How Lyanna was kidnapped by Prince Rhaegar, no, not kidnapped, they ran away together. They ran away together, causing the realm to fall in chaos. How his father and brother were killed brutally by the Mad King.

"She was more beautiful than that." Robert said quietly, moving his hand towards the statue of Lyanna's face. "Ah, damn it, Ned, did you have to bury her in a place like this?" His voice was hoarse with remembered grief. "She deserved more than darkness…"

"She was a Stark of Winterfell," Ned said quietly. "This is her place."

"She should be on a hill somewhere, under a fruit tree, with the sun and clouds above her and the rain to wash her clean."

"I was with her when she died," Ned reminded the king. "She wanted to come home, to rest beside Brandon and Father." Ned added, remembering the words, Promise Me Ned. Ned and Robert later argued about how little Robert Arryn was denied the title of Warden of the East.

Robert names Ned, Hand to the King, along with saying, "Come south with me, and I'll teach you how to laugh again," the king promised. "You helped me win this damnable throne, now help me hold it. We were meant to rule together. If Lyanna had lived, we should have been brothers, bound by blood as well as affection. Well, it is not too late. I have a son. You have a daughter. My Joffrey and your Alyssa shall join our houses, as Lyanna and I might once have done."

"Alyssa is only two and ten, she is a year older than Prince Joffrey." Ned said solmenly.

"That's only a year difference." Robert said impatiently. "Wasn't Catelyn older than you when you both marry?"

"We married because of the Rebellion." Ned replied.

"I know Ned, but the marriage doesn't have to happen until many years, let them know each other first." Robert said and Ned nodded.