Read. Enjoy. Review. (The reading and enjoying is for you ... the reviews are for me!)
I own Lenora Baratheon, no one more.
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If I still have any readers out here I'm sorry! I'm back, life got a bit hectic over the last many months, but if you're still here ... so am I!
Jaime
Jaime had seen many a dance in his days. But he had never seen one like that. He had wondered what Lenora would think of Robb Stark on their ride to Winterfell. He had been sure that his niece would like the way the boy looked, what he had not expected was for his niece to like the boy so quickly though. He followed his niece out of the hall, stopping to clap Robb Stark on the shoulder as he passed. "You did nothing wrong, Boy," he told the young man.
He left the boy standing in the middle of the floor before walking through the doors. He found her sitting on the stairs, just outside the main entrance to the castle. She didn't turn around, but she knew it was him. They were so close that she was familiar with the sound of his footsteps. "I forgot my place," she told him without looking up.
"What do you mean, Len?" Jaime asked her, moving forward to sit beside his niece on the stairs. "If you think that you embarrassed your family in some way you are wrong." She shook her head, silently arguing with him. "No," Jaime told her, his voice stern, leaving no room for argument. "You were beautiful out there. Stunning even." He reached out and brushed her hair out of her eyes, "You reminded me so much of your mother tonight."
Lenora smirked, finally turning to look at her uncle, "How?" she asked him, her eyes lighting up playfully. "I was happy. When have you last seen my mother happy?"
Jaime threw his head back and laughed, "It has been a long time," he told his niece. "You are right about that." He paused for a moment, "But she was once. When she first married your father. She was happy then."
Lenora raised her eyebrows at him. "But she hates him," the girl told him, Jaime could hear the pain in her voice at that statement. She did not like that her parents hated each other.
"She didn't always," Jaime told her with a sigh. "She loved him once. Every young woman in the Seven Kingdoms wanted him once. She loved him, but he loved another."
"Lyanna Stark," Lenora acknowledged, glancing back toward the door of the castle. "He should not have brought her up tonight. He should not have embarrassed Mother like that."
"No," Jaime acknowledged, shaking his head. "He shouldn't have. He embarrassed your family tonight, but you did not. You could not. You were perfection."
"Mother will disagree," Lenora told him, shaking her head. "With the way I behaved half of Winterfell will believe me in love with him by the morning. The other half will be taking bets on how long it will take me to fall head over heels for him. Mother has spent my entire life telling me about the dangers of falling in love. The danger of letting a man hold power over your heart." She turned to look at her uncle and nodded at him. "You just said that once she was happy with him, once she loved him. And look what happened to her. She was once happy, but now she's a bitter woman who rarely smiles. A woman who trusts no one, save Grandfather and you."
"And her children," Jaime told her.
"You don't trust your children," she told her uncle. "You love them. Look at us: Tommen, Myrcella, myself. None of us will ever have any power, she has no need to trust us. And Joff, well, he's always been under her thumb. You don't need to trust a puppet, you only need to move its strings."
Jaime looked down at his niece for a moment before he leaned closer and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "You are a clever one," he told her. And she was: She had spent too much time with Tyrion, seen too much. He turned away from her for a moment, trying to decide what to tell her, trying to figure out what he could say that would ease some of her unhappiness and discomfort.
But before he could say anything she was speaking again. "He is handsome, isn't he?" she asked her uncle, turning to look at him with raised eyebrows. Her uncle nodded. She bit her lip and nodded with him. "I can see how a girl would fall in love with him," she continued. "but not me. Not me. Mother always told me that love was a dangerous game for a woman to play. She always said that a woman's greatest downfall was the moment she fell in love with a man. Love kills women, she said."
Jaime shook his head, Cersei had been speaking of their mother when she had said that. And love had killed their mother. "It does sometimes," he agreed, quietly. "But not you, Len, it won't get you. I promise."
"Of course not," she told him. "Because I won't fall in love. I don't care how handsome or how perfect Robb Stark is. I shall never fall in love with him."
Jaime smiled at her. "Be careful what you say, love," he told her. "You often get the opposite."
"Well then," Lenora told him, flashing him a wicked grin, "then I shall never be queen of the Seven Kingdoms."
Jaime threw his head back and laughed at that one. It was a shame that she would never rule the Seven Kingdoms, he realized. If there was ever a woman who would be able to rule Westeros, who would be able to do so without the great lords revolting he was sure it would be his niece. "And what a shame that is," he told her, truthfully.
...
Cersei was in his bedchamber. He was sure that she had hoped that they would lay together, as they used to. But he had made an agreement with himself long ago, he would never be with his sister in that way again. He poured her a glass of wine and walked over to her, he handed her the wine and moved past her, putting as much space between them as he could.
"Your daughter is terrified that you will be disappointed in her if she were to fall in love with Robb Stark," he told her, turning to glance at his sister. "She is so scared of disappointing you that she won't let herself be happy, even though she so wants to make the best of this situation."
"The best of this situation?" Cersei asked, her green eyes tightening into a glare. "The best of this situation? And what is that, Jaime? I'll tell you what I think it is. The best case would be that Jon Arryn never found out about us. That he never found out about Joffrey, or Myrcella, or Tommen. That he did not have to die. The best thing would have been if we had stayed in Kings Landing, that we had not traveled to this god forsaken land, that in less than a fortnight I would not have to leave my daughter here with a family that she does not know. The best thing would be that if I could keep my daughter close to me, where she belongs. Safe."
Jaime raised his eyebrows at her, "A touching sentiment, my sweet sister, especially considering that there was a time when your daughter's safety was the least of your concerns."
"Not you too," Cersei told him. "Robert has used that against me too when I told him that we should keep Lenora with us." She looked around the room. "You know that I love my daughter. She's a southern girl, a summer child. She's used to sunshine and warmth. She will be miserable here, in this cold, dark wasteland with a family of strangers."
"She'll do well here," Jaime argued, looking out the window. "Lady Stark and the older children seem to like her very much." He smirked, "I'd say that the oldest, Robb, likes her a bit more than very much."
Cersei shook her head, "She will be miserable here," she told her brother again. "My daughters are meant to marry great southern lords, to be close to me. Once we leave her here I am sure it will be many months before we see each other again."
"Years, I suspect," Jaime told her with a gentle, teasing smile.
"We'll be strangers to each other," Cersei told him, shaking her head. She moved closer to him and reached out for his hand. He moved his hand out of her reach, so she settled for putting her hand on his arm. "You could speak to Robert," she told her brother. "He hates you, but even he has to admit that you know our daughter better than anyone else. If you were to tell him that she would be miserable here. If you were to tell him that she should come home with us. He would listen to you. I know he would."
Jaime shook his head and laughed, he wouldn't admit it to his sister but he had considered it. He would miss his niece terribly, Cersei wasn't the only one who wouldn't see Lenora when they left. But with the death of Jon Arryn and all the unease in King's Landing part of him was convinced that it would be safer for Lenora to stay at Winterfell than to travel back to the capital city. And there was certain level of safety that the girl would have once she was far away from her mother. "Would, that I could," he told her. "But Len wants to stay," he told his sister. "She hasn't told me, but I can tell. You said that I know your girl better than anyone. And you are right. I do know her, and I know how she feels. If you knew your daughter half as well as you'd like to pretend you do then you would know as well."
Cersei looked at him and he was surprised to see tears in her eyes. He wasn't sure if she was crying because she felt betrayed or if it was because she saw the truth in his words. Either way she could see that she had been defeated. But if he knew one thing about his sister he knew that she would not stay down for long. He waited, quietly, and he was rewarded a few moments later when his sister wiped the tears from her cheeks and lifted her chin to look at him. He could tell by the look in her green eyes and the set of her jaw that she had decided to make the best out of a bad situation. "It would be good to have someone here, someone who could watch the Starks and let me know what is going on. Robert has always trusted these northerners too much. But she could be my eyes."
"You would ask her to spy on them?" Jaime asked. "On her family?"
"I am her family!" Cersei hissed at him. "You. Me. Joffrey. Myrcella. Tommen. We're her family."
"And Robert?" Jaime asked "He is her family, is he not? Her father. And as her father he sees fit to marry her off to a great family. That's the way of daughters, as you well know, Sister. There is nothing that you can do about it."
"We'll see about that," Cersei told him before calling for one of her maids, a young girl, the command was simple, to ask Lenora to come to her mother's rooms as soon as she woke up the next morning. Cersei was going to spin a web and she was going to start with her eldest daughter.
-.-.-.-.-
Lenora
She was nervous as she made her way to her mother's chambers. It was rare that her mother ever summoned her so early in the day. She would not keep her mother waiting though, she knew far better than that. She had awoken early that morning and had been told by a waiting maid that her mother wanted to see her as soon as possible.
She could have had breakfast first, she supposed, her mother would not have held it against her, but Lenora assumed that she was in trouble, that she had done something wrong. And if that was the case it was best to get it out of the way as soon as possible. Having a full stomach would not make things any better for her. So instead of delaying she had dressed and then headed straight for Cersei's rooms. Her mother was awake and the door was opened before she had even finished her first knock.
"Come in, my Sweetling," her mother commanded as she walked into the chamber.
Lenora moved further into the room and curtsied low to her mother before she walked closer, kneeling at her mother's chair so that she could press a kiss onto the back of her mother's hand. "Good morning, Mother," she said softly before she stood up and moved away from her mother's chair, waiting for the queen to tell her why she had been summoned there.
Cersei glanced over her daughter's attire. The young girl didn't even know the part her mother wanted to play and she was already dressed for it. Her dress was southern, and royal. It was black dress with golden thread designs on top. The sleeves were tight down to her elbows before they started to flare out. It would have been a very modest dress save for her bare shoulders and plunging neckline. Her brown hair shone, done up in braids in a the Southern style. Cersei nodded approvingly, "You'll do well here," she told her daughter, "with the boy."
"Mother?" Lenora asked, raising her eyebrows at her mother. She had thought she was in trouble for something, but now it would seem that her mother hadn't called her to her chambers to punish her at all. "I'm sorry, but I thought that you did not want me here. Now you say that I will do well here?"
Her mother nodded before she climbed out of her chair. She reached a hand out for Lenora's and pulled her daughter toward a small couch near one of the windows. "Look out the window," she whispered to her daughter. "Look out, what do you see?"
Lenora sighed and turned to look out the window, "Winterfell?" she asked, her tone sounding almost bored.
"Are you not impressed?" Cersei asked the young brunette. "And you are to be the Lady of Winterfell."
Lenora smirked at her mother, "I must say that I expected more snow."
Her mother laughed, "Don't worry, my sweet, you will have your snow."
"I know," Lenora told her with a nod, "the most recent raven from the citadel says that the days are growing shorter with each passing one. One way or another the Starks are always right. Winter will come. And when it does it will fall on Winterfell first." She paused for a moment, her grey eyes darting over the land in front of them. "What do you see when you look out, Mother?" she asked.
"I see the North," Cersei told the young girl. "The large, unconquerable North. I see a large number of great houses that are only loyal to your father because they are loyal to House Stark and Ned Stark is loyal to the King. I see a land that has seen too little ruling and too much trust. I see a danger."
"And you want me to help you?" Lenora asked, her quick mind jumping to the conclusion before her mother could think of a way to bring it up. "You want me to spy on the Starks, to keep you informed. To be like one of Varys' little birds loyal to you and you alone."
Her mother nodded and sat back. Despite what Jaime had said she knew her children. If she had been talking to Joffrey she would have kept talking. But with Lenora, her daughter needed to process things on her own. Cersei could lead her in one direction or another, but ultimately Lenora would need to think things through on her own.
"Father trusts the Starks," she told Cersei, turning to look at her mother. "And I am their ward. They will protect me and clothe me. I will learn from their maester, and eat from their table, and sleep in their beds. They will be as close to family as you are now. And you want me to spy on them? Why?"
"Because when it comes to the end of the day they will not be your family," Cersei told her daughter, reaching out a hand to gently brush some of her hair behind one of her ears. "Do you know what you are, my love?"
"A Baratheon," Lenora answered without a moment's pause.
Cersei shook her head, "No, my sweet daughter. You are not a stag. You are a lion." Cersei reached for Lenora's arm and flipped it over so that she could run one finger over the longest vein on the underside of the girl's arm. "Lannister blood runs through these veins," she told the dark haired girl next to her. "You might not look like me, but you are mine. There is a fierceness in you, a quiet strength. The strength of a lion."
Lenora glanced at her mother, "I am yours," she told her mother with a nod. "But I am also his. I may have Lannister blood in my veins, but my lioness of a mother married a stag. I am a Baratheon. And if my father trusts the Starks then I do not see why I cannot trust them too. If he loves Ned Stark, why can't I love his son?"
Cersei shook her head. "The more people you love the weaker you are. You must love no one but your children." Lenora glanced at her mother, suddenly feeling sorry for the woman in front of her. She had known for years that her mother was not happy with her father, but she had never realized that her mother did not love the man. How hard it must be to be trapped in a marriage with a man that you do not love. If Cersei felt her daughter's sympathy she was not in the mood to accept it, she continued. "You will be a ward to the Starks," she told Lenora. "I've tried everything I can think of, but your father will not budge on that. You will be a ward in Winterfell and no doubt they will treat you well. But I want you to remember this. Lady Stark loves her children. The Stark boy might be kind to you or he might hit you, both are equally likely in a marriage. But your best interest will never be his main concern. He will look after the interest of himself and his family only."
Lenora nodded, her mother was talking circles around her. Cersei was trying to confuse her, to convince her that distrust of others was a natural, and right, thing. She bit her lip for a moment before she turned to look at Cersei, "Lions look after lions. Stags take care of stags. Wolves protect wolves. I understand that. But I am a lion and a stag. Soon I will marry Rob Stark and, Gods willing, I will give him children. My children will be wolves. You say to trust no one but my family and to love no one but my children. Well, my children will be Starks, so should I not look out for the Stark's best interests for my children?"
She was giving her mother a chance, an opening. She was trying to give her mother the chance to say that the only reason she had started this conversation was she cared about Lenora and she was worried about her being up in the cold North all by herself. "Why are you so nervous, Mother?" she prompted.
Cersei looked out the window and out over the grey North the surrounded Winterfell. "The North is large," she told her daughter, "almost as large as the other six kingdoms combined. The Starks rule from the Wall to the Reach and everything in between. While it is not as densely populated or wealthy as the South, the Northern Lords are a proud sort, they still wish for the time when the North was ruled by the Starks as the Kings in the North instead of the Wardens of the North. They are a fiercely loyal people -"
"Loyal to Father," Lenora interrupted.
Cersei shook her head, a tight smile resting on her lips, "Loyal to Ned Stark," she corrected. "The reason I asked you to watch your new family is this. Your father has given the North too much freedom. He governs them too little and loves them too much, because of Ned Stark. And because of her." Lenora did not need to ask who her was, her mother meant Lyanna Stark. "They are loyal to your father because Ned Stark is loyal to your father. But what would happen if your Robb chose not to be loyal to Joffrey once both your fathers are dead?"
Lenora glanced up at her mother and shook her head. "You're worried that Robb would lead the North to rise up against Joff?" she asked before she shook her head. "Why? What would be the point? Robb would be brother to the King by law, why would he want more? He would be my husband, he would not rise up against my brother." She paused for a moment and shook her head again, "He wouldn't."
"How do you know?" her mother asked, "you met this boy yesterday."
"I met the man yesterday," Lenora corrected, bristling at the way her mother called Robb a boy. "But I've known him since I was eleven. We've sent each other countless ravens. I know him. And I know that he does not want to be a king. He does not want to rule the Seven Kingdoms. He does not want to rise up against my brother. All he wants, all he's ever wanted, is to become Lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North after his father. All he wants is to be just as strong, just as loyal, and just, and merciful, and honorable as his father." She shook her head, "Mark me, Mother," she told the older woman as she stood up from the couch, "Robb Stark will not be marching to battle against our family. Not now, not ever."
-.-.-.-.-
Robb
He had asked her to meet him after breakfast. He had told her that he wanted to show her around the castle. That was the truth, but he really wanted to introduce her to Grey Wind. He couldn't stop the laugh that bubbled up out of his throat when the princess walked out of the guest house. The fabric was thin, a southern dress. Her shoulders were bare. The dress was beautiful and she looked wonderful in it. But she would be freezing within the hour, maybe less.
"What?" Lenora asked, tugging self-consciously at the dress. "What is so funny, Stark?"
He shook his head, "Nothing, Baratheon," he told her. She may have been a princess, but if she was going to call him by his surname, he would use hers. "But you are going to freeze to death in that."
Lenora wrapped her arms around herself, hugging her shoulders, "I hadn't realized," she told him. "I was so warm in the courtyard yesterday afternoon. I had assumed that it was because everyone was so wrong about the North. That it wasn't as cold as they said it was." She nodded toward Robb's heavy fur cloak, "Now I'm beginning to think that the warmth was from the ride, not the weather." She turned her head back toward the double doors of the guest house where the royal family was staying, Robb could see the light pink of her blush rising to her cheeks, "If you would wait I can go change into something a little warmer."
Robb shook his head and moved closer to her, he took off his own fur cloak and draped it over the young woman's shoulders. He felt a slight blush rising to his own cheeks as his hand brushed softly against the curve of her breast as he pulled away from her. He cleared his throat, "There," he told her. "Now you will be plenty warm."
"But you will be cold," Lenora told him, already starting to shrug out of the cloak so that she could return it to him.
Robb placed his hands on her shoulders, silently forcing her to be still. "I will be warm enough," he told her. "After all, I am a child of Winterfell. If I cannot handle a bit of summer chill how in the Seven Hells will I be able to expect my southern wife to do it?" He winked down at her and smiled wider as her blush darkened. He held out his arm to her, "What would you like to see, Lenora?" he asked her.
"Everything," Lenora told him, smiling up at him, her grey eyes light and happy. "Winterfell is to be my home so I want to see it all. I want you to show me every corner, tell me ever story. I want to know this castle as well as you do. I want to know every secret."
Robb laughed, she was a curious one. "That may take more than one morning, but I will see what I can do. Let's start with the parts I think you will like best, shall we?"
Lenora nodded at him, "Lead on, My Lord," she told him, her tone sarcastic and playful as she gestured toward the open courtyard in front of them. "I am entirely at your disposal."
Robb laughed and shook his head, "No, My Lady" he told her, his tone mock serious. "I am but a humble son of a Northern Lord, you are a royal princess. It is I who am at your disposal. Your happiness is all I wish."
Lenora chuckled at him as he began to lead her out of the courtyard, heading toward the right. "You might change your mind once you get to know me," she told him, grinning up at him. "I am notoriously hard to please."
"Then I fear, I am to spend my entire life trying," he told her before he led her through the door of the tower and into the courtyard that separated the Great Keep and the Great Hall. He was unsure of how religious Lenora was, but he had decided to start the tour with the small sept so that she would know where it was if she was inclined to use it.
It was a small little room and Robb was convinced that it still smelled new. It had not been built that long ago. There was one stained glass window depicting the seven pointed star opposite the door to let in some natural light, other than that the only light came from the fire that was always kept burning at the center of the sept. Around the outside were seven statues, one for each of the seven new gods. "My father had it built for my mother when they were married," Robb told her, his voice quiet. He may not have placed as much stock in the new gods as his mother did, but his voice always softened in the sept, regardless, out of respect. He chuckled, "My father took a Southern wife and so will I, it seems as if the Stark men enjoy kidnapping Southern girls and forcing them to live out the rest of their days in the cold, unforgiving North."
Lenora smiled at him, no doubt to make him feel better about his poor attempt at humor as she finished her circle around the sept, having stopped in front of each of the statues to take in their likeness. "It's beautiful," she told him softly, "but so small." She bit her lip and shook her head, quickly realizing how rude her statement had been. She tried to apologize, but Robb waved her off.
"You'll be used to the Great Sept in King's Landing, of course," he told her with a smile. "After that, anything and everything must seem small."
"But how does your whole family pray in here at once?" Lenora asked. She shook her head before Robb could answer. "Of course," she murmured. She turned to glance at him, "You may call me a fool if you would like. This isn't where your whole family prays, just your mother. The Starks of Winterfell still keep the Old Gods don't you. You will have a Godswood."
"That'll be on the tour too," Robb told her, a smirk resting on his lips when he thought of what was waiting for them in the Godswood. He hoped that she wouldn't be too afraid when she met the direwolves.
Lenora smiled at him, pleased that he hadn't taken the opportunity to make fun of her for her moment of stupidity. "Let's go then," she told him, gesturing toward the door. "You still have a lot to show me if you plan on showing me all of Winterfell this morning."
Robb laughed, "You were the one who planned on seeing all of Winterfell," he told the brunette beside him. "I was only planning on the spots that I knew you would love."
Lenora looked around at the small courtyard that separated the Great Hall and the sept from the Great Keep, "And I am convinced that I will love it all," she told him.
Robb snorted and shook his head, "So much for being hard to please," he mocked her.
After that he showed her where the smithy worked, they stood side by side, close enough to touch while they watched him work for a few minutes before they stopped by the stables. She had already seen the stables the day before, but she had wanted to stop by and check on her horse. Robb hadn't gotten a good look at the black charger the day before, but he did today. The horse was beautiful. She moved closer to it and stroked the hair on its cheek, "Hello Cas," she whispered softly, leaning in to press the kiss against its hair. "How are you doing, boy?"
"What's his name?" Robb asked, reaching out to place his hand on the horse's back.
"Casterly," the girl told him turning to look at him. "My father gave him to me for my seventeenth nameday," she shrugged. "One of the maids told me that I shouldn't have named him Casterly, since I'm Baratheon, not a Lannister, but I grew up in Casterly Rock, it's as much home to me as King's Landing. And Casterly kind of fits him," she smiled at the horse, her grey eyes lighting up with happiness, "Doesn't it, love?"
"He looks fast," Robert told her.
"He is," she agreed. "He didn't really get a chance to stretch his legs yesterday," she told him. "I had to stay close to the party. Could we go riding?"
Robb chuckled and nodded, "Of course we can. How about tomorrow?"
"Perfect," she agreed before pressing on more kiss on the horse's cheek and allowing Robb to lead her away from the stables.
He showed her the library tower next. She spent an hour in there, told him that she had fallen in love with Winterfell just from seeing the library. She didn't want to leave, but Robb had plans for her.
He brought her to the glass gardens next. The gardens sat above three hot spring pools so that it was always warm and humid. Lenora gasped as he pulled her into the gardens, she had not expected this. "I wondered how you grew food in the winter," she whispered as she walked further into the glass building. "With long winters even your grain stores would disappear, but you can grow things in here."
Robb nodded, "We grow fruits and vegetables in it," Robb told her as he took her hand and steered her toward a bench that sat in the middle of the glass building. She shrugged out of his fur cloak and settled into the bench a little more. Robb smiled down at her for a moment before he stood from the bench and moved deeper into green house, coming back a moment later with a dark red rose. With very little ceremony he handed her the flower and sat back down on the bench. "Father also has them grow flowers here," he told her, somewhat unnecessarily.
Lenora smiled down at the flower in her hand, "I had always heard that you northern men were all about doing the practical, necessary thing. That your type was good at separating the needs from the wants."
"Aye," Robb told her with a nod. "We are good at that."
She smiled at him, "Flowers seem more of a want than a need."
Robb shook his head, "I don't know how closely you watch your parents. But I watch mine, and trust me. Flowers for your wife are often a need."
Lenora threw her head back and laughed at him, "You do have me there," she told him.
Robb smiled at her, he liked the sound of her laugh. He stood up from the bench, "Put your cloak back on," he told her, holding out his hand to the young princess. "I have one more thing to show you."
Lenora quickly did as he asked and within a minute they had left the glass garden and entered the Godswood. Lenora politely made some comment about the trees. Robb could tell that they were a disappointment compared to the glass gardens, but luckily for him he hadn't brought her here to show her the trees. They rounded a corner and he waited, smiling at the girl's gasp of delight when her eyes landed on his last surprise. He waited, holding his breath to see the girl's response.
He wasn't sure what he was more nervous about, Lenora's response or the direwolf's. Grey Wind had already tripled in size since the day the Starks had brought their pups home. He was terrifying to behold.
Lenora had told Theon that she wanted to see a direwolf, but wanting to see one and actually seeing one were two different things. Lenora moved cautiously closer to the wolf, "Is that?" she asked, her tone soft and quiet so not to scare the animal away from her.
Robb nodded, "A direwolf," he told her with a smile. "He's mine. His name is Grey Wind."
Lenora moved closer to the direwolf, "Grey Wind," she called out softly, smiling when the wolf moved closer to her and allowed her to gently pet the top of his head. She turned to look at Robb, her grey eyes shimmering with delight and excitement, "When you told me that I didn't have to go North of the Wall to see a direwolf I didn't think that you meant there was one living at the castle."
"Oh there's more than one," Robb told her, moving closer to her and the wolf so that he could pet the animal as well. "There's six."
"Six?" Lenora breathed, her eyes lightening even more. "There are six of them here?"
"Grey Wind," Robb told her, nodding to his own direwolf. "Jon's is named Ghost, Sansa has Lady, Arya has Nymeria, Bran named his Summer, and Rickon calls his Shaggydog"
Lenora laughed at the name of the last one. "This is amazing," she whispered to the wolf before turning to look at Robb. "Thank you."
He chuckled and pulled her up from the ground. She made a noise of protest, but he quieted her down with the promise that they could always come back to see the wolf whenever she wanted. "I promised your mother that I would have you back before lunch so that you could spend the afternoon with your sister and mine," he told her as he pulled her out of the Godswood.
Lenora rolled her eyes, "And what will you be doing while I'm sewing and dancing and whatever else in the Seven Hells your Septa has planned for us?"
"I'll be showing your brother what it means to actually know how to sword fight," Robb told her with a wink.
Lenora shook her head and giggled, "That's assuming that I haven't already showed him," she told him, her voice bubbling with a self-confidence that Robb found contagious.
Author's Note:
Once again, I'm sorry loves for abandoning you! I did not mean to, but now I'm back and ready to keep going. So if you've stayed with me and Lenora for this long, thank you! We are back!
I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! If so, please review to let me know!
Special thanks to those of you that reviewed the last chapters:
Arianna Le Fay: I'm glad you have enjoyed the story so far and I hope that you enjoyed this chapter too! Gotta admit, it's not the easiest thing to create a character who is the perfect mix of Lannister and Baratheon so I'm glad that you think I'm doing well!
As for the Red Wedding, probably not going to follow cannon for that one, at least not according to my current outline, but I'm known to change my outlines all the time, so there's no telling. Yet. (Dun, dun, dun!)
Lauren220820: Thank you for your review! Here is the (long-awaited) next chapter! I hope you're still here and I hope you enjoyed it!
WhatsGoingOn: She's running because she has spent seventeen years with Cersei telling her that love is dangerous. Can't shake that lesson over night.
RoyalsWeeknd: Two reviews! I love it! Thank you for reading, enjoying, and reviewing! I hope that you liked this chapter as well. I'm glad you like Lenora's interactions with Jaime, they're my favorite to write. The one in the throne room will probably go down as one of my favorite scenes in this whole story so I'm especially glad that you enjoyed that one.
Unfortunately, this won't be a Jon Snow story, though I'm sure Jon will come back in future chapters (at least according to my outline). But maybe in the future a Jon Snow/OC story might come down the pipeline.
Don't worry, this will not be one of those stories. I've read a couple of them and I absolutely hate them. Lenora is a princess, the only true-born child of Robert. She comes from two of the most powerful houses in the Seven Kingdoms, she is not going to forget that. No matter how much she may, or may not, love Jon Stark.
And don't worry about the long review(s)! I loved them! Keep them coming please!
Darth Hades: Thank you for the review! I hope that you like this chapter as well!
shika93: You're awesome!
ZabuzasGirl: I'm glad you've enjoyed the story so far. This wasn't an immediate update, but I hope it was a good one!
That's all for now, thank you guys!
Hugs and kisses,
Chloe Jane.