Lyra was beginning to wonder if her Uncle Renly had spoken to her Uncle Eddard as it had been almost four days and neither of them had said anything to her about evacuating her from the city. She had barely even seen her Uncle Renly since their conversation, she had ate dinner with him and her Uncle Robert at the Kings demand which turned out to be a very tense and awkward affair giving that she still had no desire to be in the same room as the King let alone speak with him leaving Renly to try and make conversation wit both of them glaring at eachother.
She was sitting between Arya and Sansa eating supper, but the heat mixed with her exhaustion due to a vigorous training session with Jory had left her tired and nauseous which had made her appetite well and truly disappear. The tapping sound of the knife that Arya was repeatedly stabbing into the table was beginning to grate on her nerves as she felt a head ache building at the base of her skull.
"Arya eat you food" Sept sighed.
"I'm practising" Arya snapped in reply causing Lyra to frown in confusion.
"Practising for what?" Sansa asked.
"The Prince" Arya replied still stabbing her knife into table.
"Arya Stark!" Septa Modane said as she and Lyra shared a worried look.
"He's a liar and a coward, he killed my friend!" Arya hissed her stabs upon the table becoming more violent and louder than before making Lyra clench her teeth in annoyance.
"The hound killed your friend" Sansa spoke up.
"The hound does whatever the prince tells him to do" Arya argued back.
"You're an idiot" Sansa sneered.
"You're a liar and if you told the truth Mikah would still be alive!" Arya snapped before she stabbed the knife down inches from Sansa's dinner plate.
"Arya enough!" Lyra snapped causing Arya to jump slightly as Lyra never raised her voice towards her as she reached over and yanked the knife out of Arya's grasp. "We're already in enough trouble with the King because of your hatred towards the Prince. Behave and stop acting like an animal!"
"Cutlery is for eating, not for weapons" The Septa as stood from her chair and forced Arya from her seat as the heavy boots of Ned Stark walked into the room.
"What's happening here?" Ned asked seeing Lyra place the knife down beside her own as Septa Mordane cleared away Arya's plate.
"Arya would rather act like a beast than a lady" Septa replied Arya looked sheepishly up towards her father before she glanced as Lyra for back up but her older cousin only shook her head telling her she was in the wrong.
"Go to your room, we'll speak later" Ned said.
Arya turned and made her way towards where her new chambers were. Lyra took over clearing away Arya's plate as Ned placed something down upon the table in front of Sansa.
"That's for you love" Lyra smiled towards her cousin as she poured the rest of Arya's cup of water into her own before she placed the plate upon the side. "The same doll maker makes all of Princess Myrcella's toy" Ned smiled. Lyra glanced over to see a doll with long golden hair, wearing a Northern dress "Don't you like it?" Ned asked
"I haven't played with dolls since I was eight!" Sansa snapped back glaring at her father.
"Sansa Stark!" Lyra hissed.
"It's alright Lyra" Ned replied.
"May I be excused?" Sansa asked turning to Septa Mordane.
"But you've barely eaten a thing?" the septa replied.
"It's alright, go on" Ned sighed pinching the bridge of his nose between his fingers.
Lyra made sure to put the doll back into Sansa's hands when she passed her before the young teenager could abandon it upon the table. "A lady always shows her gratitude, even if the offering does come from a foe. You cannot blame your father for your own stupidity. Lady died because you were blinded by fairy tales" she hissed into Sansa's ear before the red-haired Stark took off for her chambers, Septa Mordane following along behind her.
Lyra turned back to see her Uncle Ned now had his elbows upon the table with his head balanced in his hands. A small smile fell across her face as she grabbed the pitcher of wine from the side and brought it round to pour into Arya's now empty cup before she extended it out to her Uncle who looked up and took it in hand with a grateful smile.
"War was easier than daughters" Ned sighed before he gulped the wine as Lyra set the pitcher back down onto the table with a low chuckle.
"Don't worry about it Uncle Ned, that's why you have me here" Lyra smiled putting a hand upon her uncles shoulder before she leaned down and kissed his cheek.
"Thank you" Ned smiled up at Lyra before his smile dropped and his eyes hardened. It was a look she had seen upon his face many times when the weight of being the Lord of Winterfell began to burden him, unfortunately her aunt was not here to share his burden, nor her younger cousins to take his mind from it and make him smile again.
"What is it?" Lyra frowned seeing the dramatic change in her Uncles behaviour.
"I want you to ride back to Winterfell tomorrow night" She frowned in surprise at her Uncle's honesty.
"Why?" She asked. "Have I done something wrong?"
"No of course not" Ned said moving forward to take her hands within his. "It is just that you are a girl of the North, you do not belong in the South. I need someone to help Robb take care of Winterfell"
"But Aunt Catelyn..."
"Has Rickon and Bran to look after, do you honestly expect her to care for Winterfell and disregard her own children" Ned with a gentle smile
"Of course I don't" she almost snapped at her uncle before she let out a long sigh. "I just dreamed of seeing the South, now I've only just got here and I have to leave again."
"I understand your disappointment but trust me, it will be much easier if you were back at Winterfell, much safer" Eddard relied.
That was when Lyra's brain clicked onto what her uncle was trying to do. "You have spoken to my Uncle Renly" Lyra replied.
"I never could hide anything from you could I" Ned smirked then nodded with sigh. "We both agree that it's too dangerous for you down here"
"You're worried about what the queen is going to do to me?" She said looking up at her Uncle with small smile.
"Yes, the way you spoke to her, the king and the prince was out of order" Ned said before he saw anger flashing in Lyra's eyes.
"They were out of order" Lyra snapped back.
"See there you go again" Ned sighed but his face still held a smile. "Your Northern temper will give you much trouble here"
"Aunt Catelyn told me that before we came here" Lyra smirked.
"If there's one thing you've inherited from your father, it's his wolf blood. That and your mothers fury is a dangerous combination" Ned smiled gently. "Whatever you do, do not let your uncle Robert know that you are leaving, he will want to stop you. I'll explain your absence when he asks, say you were asked to go and help your aunt with Rickon"
"What about Arya and Sansa? I promise Aunt Cat I'd take care of them" Lyra asked.
"I'll take care of them. It's you that I'm worried about. The queen already saw you as a threat before you attacked Prince Joffrey" Ned admitted
"I didn't att..." Lyra hissed through gritted teeth.
"I know that, but the king and queen still believe that you did" Ned replied. "Now go and get some sleep, you'll have a long ride a head of you"
"Poor Frost, he'll probably collapse before I get back up to Winterfell" Lyra sighed. "Are you sure I can't wait a week or a few more days"
"Then there more opportunity for the queen to get to you, we need to have you out of here as quick as possible. The only reason why we didn't make you leave the second day we were here was because we needed a plan to distract your Uncle Robert and the Lannisters, now we have that plan" Eddard explained.
"But I just..."
"Lyra you're going tomorrow" Her Uncle used a tone that told her that there would be no more discussion between them, he had given her an order and now she must follow it.
"Yes Uncle Ned" Lyra replied before she made her way up the small set of stairs to her room.
Ned Stark's heart clenched in worry and fear. On one hand he was beyond proud of the strong, tactical woman he'd helped raise, but on the other hand he was terrified that her fearlessness and her Northern temper would one day be her downfall.
16 years ago
Ned stare down at the tiny babe in the cradle he'd had built for her, after he realised she and Jon were getting a bit too big to be sharing the same one.
He could see barely any Stark in her features, but the moment she opened her eyes, it was all he saw. His heart hurt in his chest as he thought of his little nephews, would they have looked more Stark than Baratheon? The last time he saw Landor was when the boy was born, he'd never even had the chance to meet Stefon.
He thought of how his older brother Brandon had looked when he was younger. He was always to strong and confident, it seemed like he could take on an actual Dragon and win. Brandon always made sure he had time to spend with his younger siblings, whether it be sparring with himself and Benjen, or riding through the gods wood with Lyanna.
He remembered his reaction finding out that his brother and Jocelyn Baratheon were to be betrothed and momentarily hating him because he had broken the alliance between their house and the Tullys. Then he discovered that he would be betrothed to Catelyn and from the moment he met her, he thanked Brandon with everything he had.
"Ned?" Catelyns voice came from the doorway. Ned turned his head towards her then when he saw her slightly shocked expression he quickly wiped the tears from his eyes and face. "Oh no Ned" she said rushing forward to pull her husband into an embrace. "I'm your wife now. Never be ashamed of showing your pain in front of me, you've been so strong"
"I was just thinking about Landon and Stefon, they were so little Cat. They didn't deserve that" Ned sniffed before he turned back to the cradle. "She doesn't deserve to not know her parents, or her brothers"
"The best way we can help them be remembered is by raising her to be the best person she can be" Catelyn smiled.
"I know you didn't want her coming here, but there's no one else Cat. I'm the only family she has left. I have to keep her here, I have to protect her. She's all I have left of Brandon" Ned sniffed, his eyes filling with tears once more.
"It's alright Ned, I understand. Forget what I said in the past, I was driven mad with grief and exhaustion" Catelyn smiled. "This is Lyra's home, this is where she belongs"