Sorry! I had issues uploading this! This is the proper chapter.

*NOTE: Everything in [this] is scratched out, as in Lyanna scribbled it out.*


Chapter 17: Interlude

Dearest Ned,

I've waited to send you this letter, knowing you will worry as soon as you read it is from me. If I have timed it right, you should have received Anya's gift by now. She spent much time on it and I know you will treasure it fiercely.

[I miss you.]

[I want you to come home.]

[I'm terrified]

I'm 10 years now and Father has taken to teaching Anya [the joys of][politics] and giving her lessons.

Yesterday….. I [saw] [found] overheard father discussing a matter with [Lord] a visiting northern lord. They talked about marriage.

[I don't]

[Father wants]

[I'm scared]

Come home Ned, Please.

Lyanna.

~*~*~Winter Storm Queen~*~*~

"Lya! What are you doing?" Benjen prompted as he burst into his oldest sister's room.

Lyanna jolted in her seat and quickly crushed the parchment in her fist.

"Nothing!"

Benjen thought she was acting strange but ignored it to pester her to hurry up already.

"If you take any longer Anya's break will finish and we won't get to play knights again!"

"I'll be right there Benjen," Lyanna huffed.

Before chasing after her brother, she hesitated and marched towards her fireplace. She chucked the letter she'd drafted and watched as it caught aflame. Only then did she chase after her brother, urging her mind to forget the burning letter she never sent.

~*~*~Winter Storm Queen~*~*~

He sits in his solar alone and contemplates the board his mind has built. He picks up the parchment that had arrived a few days earlier and taps his fingers in thought.

A white drake will marry. A Lion lurks. Snakes bathe under the sun.

Rickard was tired, but there was no time to rest.

He shuffles the parchment aside to consider another, and he reads the words with deep consideration.

To Lord Rickard Stark of House Stark,

How fares Winter so far deep in the North?

The time since our last meet has been much too long. I write to you seeking further word of my son, curious to know if your quiet pup has spoken praising words of him. I do not mean to imply insult towards your son or your own fatherly nature. Only full of concern for my eldest son's buck wild nature. The heat of the South can occasionally mess with the mind, you see and I find it harder to impart sense on my son with such distance between us.

They say your wild wolf is similar to my own, and I seek advice on how to temper such nature. I'm sure you know as well as I do, that the time of games must come to an end, to allow room for growth.

Regards,

Lord Steffon Baratheon of House Baratheon.

An unexpected offer, but one too important to ignore. He can read the cleverly hidden message with ease and scoffs out a mocking laugh. If the Stag has reached out to the Wolf then matters in the South are worse than he thought.

Still…. Why not entertain a furious Stag and let it find shelter with his pack.

Rickard begins to pen his reply while his mind finishes setting up the new board and pieces soon to play.


*Ned and Robert return next chapter ! A lot of time skipping too.*