Winterfell

Lysara Stark

"Hello, milady."

Her eyes landed on the Ironborn situated at her brother Brandon's chambers, her downcast eyes glanced up and she took in his armour before noticing his leering face as he stared at her, his hand firmly on his sword. Lysara eyed the sword at his waist and looked at him with lidded eyes. In order to get passed him and to get to her brothers, he must die. She stalked forward slowly, her eyes trained on him and the knife well hidden beneath her crimson clothing.

"Ser," She nodded. "I was taking a stroll."

"A stroll?" The Ironborn asked, lifting a brow in disbelief at her.

"Aye. I couldn't sleep. I had thought to go to Prince Theon...but he was with another," Lysara said hoarsely, in an attempt to sound disheartened.

The dark haired man merely released his hold on the sword at his side and leant back against the wall, folding his arms across his chest with a tilted head. He seemed to be inspecting her with curiosity and the lust was evident in his eyes, the mere look he gave her made her suppress a shiver of disgust. The disdain she held towards the likes of the vile, overgrown fish lusting after her made her skin crawl.

"I cannot believe the likes of him refused you," The man smirked. "I'd make you my salt wife."

"You would?" Lysara asked breathlessly, taking a step closer.

She regained her composure, taking a small and steady step closer towards him. The man kept his eyes trained on the most intimate parts of her body, making him unable to see the sinister look she held in her eyes for him. Lysara knew she was close to him but she was not close enough to shove the knife into his eye and out the back of his skull. Though she also knew while he was looking at her with lust, he was also looking at her to see if she was telling him the truth. It took years of practice but she became a skilled liar with a serpent tongue. Lysara has lied all her life. To her mother. To her father. To her siblings. To her home. Her family may be noble, honourable and loyal...but she was not. Lysara capable of killing mercilessly. She needed to be ruthless in order for her younger brothers to live.

No matter how many lives she takes. She would keep them safe like she promised.

Promise me, Lysara.

Robb's voice echoed like a mantra in her eyes, like a never ending drum pounding the words into her mind, heart and soul. Her very being. Lysara moved forward towards the Ironborn, carefully and slowly stopping near him at the wall and took in his horrible and disgusting features, their eyes never going astray from one another. His eyes were not like Jory's, his eyes held nothing but affection, adoration and awe for her. His eyes weren't purple like the man she dreams of. This man's, this man's eyes made her skin crawl but nevertheless she would do what she was taught to do. Endure. And with that, her red lips curled into a suggestive smirk.

Lysara was taken briefly by surprise when he reached out and grasped her, harshly throwing her against the stone wall. His lips moved against her neck and she looked ahead, her lips twisting into a sneer at the disgusting creature that lay his hands on her. This was vile. Lysara let her grey eyes flutter close and pretended she was far off somewhere else, she liked imagining herself in the God's Wood with her siblings but when he dug his teeth into her neck it brought her back to the hell she was truly living in. She slowly drew out the knife but he turned her around so that her stomach was pressed against the wall and she cursed, her eyes opening and she looked on at the bricks with a fierceness.

"Those whelps you call brothers...they will die soon. I'll see to it. I already slit the throat of that Maester," The man leered, biting and then tugging at her ear.

She stilled at his admission. Maester Luwin, Lysara thinks to herself in horror as the words slowly dawned on her. He killed him. Her eyes grew dark, tears of bitterness and sadness welled up in her eyes but she refused to let them fall. Lysara felt a fire roar within her as he continued to speak ill of Maester Luwin. The final grope of her breast was when she pressed her hands against the wall and spun around so that she was facing him once more. He gave her an irritated look, placing his hand around her neck and dug his blunt and dirtied nails into her flesh causing her to wheeze out a hiss.

"I want you from behind," He growled.

"No. I want you to look at my face-" Lysara said softly as she slipped the knife from underneath her dress and gripped it tightly as she placed a hand on his shoulder and leaned forward, so that her lips were at his left ear and her voice turned colder than the Northern winds as she spoke up once more, gripping the knife tighter than she ever has which caused the tips of her fingers to tingle. "As my face will be the last thing you will ever see."

He stiffened but before he could fully comprehend what she said, she pounced on him, straddling him and then in one quick movement, thrust the knife into his shoulder. He cried out, his eyes wide with the fear of death and of her. The blood poured from both his wound and his mouth as he let out a gargled cry, no doubt trying to alert nearby Ironborn soldiers. Lysara held the dagger up high above her before bringing it back down on him for the second time. Then a third. Then a forth. Then a fifth. Then a sixth. Then a seventh...

"Y-You...Y-You are a demon..." He rasped, bloody spit trailing down his chin as he looked up at her with glassy and vacant eyes.

"A man has said," Lysara spoke impassively before bringing the knife down for an eighth and final time.

The Ironborn soldier slumped to the floor, his chest no longer rising nor falling and his eyes void and dull. Lysara slipped the bloody knife from his throat while she stood up. And with that, she turned and opened the door wide to Brandon's chambers before entering. Lysara knew that they must leave now for if they did not, they would find them and kill them. Osha was at the door with a sharpened stick, poised for the attack but stilled on taking a swing when she saw her, her eyes widened significantly when she saw the blood that covered her. Her small brother ran and lunged at her, she bent down and hoisted him up into her arms and buried her face into his locks, closing her eyes in relief that they hadn't been harmed.

"We have to go," Lysara said firmly, pulling away from Rickon and looked over to Bran, who was held by Hodor. Her younger brother cocked his head to the side and nodded, unable to speak as his eyes were trained on the body of the dead soldier that lay next to her feet. "We have to go. We can't stay here, Brandon. We have to leave Winterfell. For now. I killed Theon and an Ironborn soldier...They will come after us. They will want to gorge on our blood."

"Where will we go?" Bran questioned.

"North." To Jon.

Summer and Shaggydog prowled out of the door; their eyes feral, their teeth bared and sharpened as they let out low snarls, preparing to attack anyone that would come close to them. Hodor thundered out of the chambers, holding Bran and Osha followed shortly after them. Lysara set Rickon down, taking his wrist firmly in her hold and together they quickly ran down the hall. In her other hand, she kept the knife at her side, her knuckles had grown white from the tight grip she held on to the handle of the blade with and she was ready to kill anyone that would dare advance on them.

As they made their way into the courtyard, she put her faith in both R'hllor and the direwolves, to lead them into the woods. Lysara stilled, hearing the roars and the commands of the Ironborn. Her eyes widened and she hoisted up Rickon, picking up her pace but stilled in both horror and shock when she heard a voice that was all too familiar. How can this be? Lysara asks herself and turns around to face them, a look of utter surprise and fright on her face.

"Lysara!"

Theon. He pushed passed several Ironborn harshly and there he stood, living and breathing, shouting orders at his men as he looked upon her lividly. Theon's face was paler than usual, his face was covered in blood and she watched as blood continued to seep from both his nose, eyes and mouth. His eyes were wild and ablaze. Lysara cursed herself for her stupidity, knowing that she should have gutted him with the knife to finish him off.

"Come on!" Osha screeched, snapping her out of her trance.

She nodded and hoisted Rickon up further, holding him tightly to her chest and fled into the woods just as they began to fire arrows upon them. Her chest rose and fell harshly, her heart thundering painfully against her chest. Her skin was sticky with both sweat and blood as she ran further into the woods, never once looking back and only kept looking ahead at the sprinting Osha, who kept looking back at her every know and then with a frantic and manic look.

They had been running through the woods for what felt like hours, daylight would soon come soon and that is what she dreaded the most, they would be able to find them easier in the light than within the shadows. R'hllor, Lysara prayed fiercely as they took a break in a nearby clearing in the woods next to a river that had long since frozen over. Guide us. Protect our light from the darkness, for the night, is dark and full of terrors and those terrors will come into our light. The noise of the woods had brought about paranoia, as every snap of a twig or hoot of an owl, she thought it was the Ironborn soldiers.

"We have to keep running," Osha pants as she sharpens her stick. "We can't stop."

"I k-know..." Lysara gasps, struggling to regain her breath.

Lysara stills when Shaggydog and Summer let out unearthly grows, staring at a particular part of the woods as their ears flatten and they snarl threateningly. Rickon whimpers and launches himself at her, wrapping his arms around her neck and buries his head into her neck. At hearing Rickon's whimpers, Shaggydog's threatening noises turn vicious as the direwolf gnashes his teeth together. Osha had set to work, skinning an animal for them to eat with the knife Lysara had given her and Brandon was talking to her in hushed whispers, while Hodor stomped around ungracefully. The three of them did not pay any mind to the direwolves. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end when Rickon pushes away from her and scrambles back with wide and fearful eyes, causing her own to widen.

"Rickon, what's wrong?" Lysara asks.

"Behind you!" He cries.

Osha's head snaps up and she turns around to see two Ironborn archers, firing arrows towards them. Lysara is harshly shoved against a nearby tree by a pair of small hands and she watches on with wide eyes as Osha drops the hare and dives at the man with the knife. Lysara looks on in anticipation as Osha brings up the knife and guts the first man before she attacks the second man but before Osha brought down the knife to the second man having already brought him to his knees, she stills and looks behind her with wide eyes. At first, she thinks that it is more Ironborn but as she turns...she could only look on with a small and painful moan.

Rickon.

He had shoved her out of the way and instead, the arrow had buried itself into his belly. She watches on in horror as Rickon whimpers softly, shakily clutching the arrow sticking out of him with two small, chubby hands and yanks it from his belly. Bran lets out a yell as Lysara launches herself at Rickon, catching him before he could fall to the cold and harsh ground. She repeats the mantra of 'no' under her breath, holding him close to her as he cries softly. Rickon let out another whimper and she finds herself unable to contain her own whimper, feeling tears fall from her eyes.

"Why?" Lysara croaks harshly with a small and shaky hand he reaches up and grasps her dark locks softly.

"I-I'm y-your brother," Rickon breathes shallowly, tears falling down his cheeks. "I...I'm m-meant to protect you..."

"Hush. Save your breath, my wild wolf," Lysara says softly and presses her hand firmly against the wound, to try and stop the heavy flow of blood in desperation to save him, having his head in her lap. Their eyes never avert away from each other. And their eyes were mirrored then, despite his being blue and her own being grey but they both mirrored the same emotion. Fear. "You will be fine, Rickon. I promise. I will fix it...I promise..."

"I-I'm afraid!" He squeaks, more tears fall from his eyes but she swiftly wipes them away with her knuckle. "I-I...I don't want to die!"

Lysara could not help but let a sob escape her lips as she held him closer to her and looked up in sorrow towards Bran, who had silent tears falling from his face and he looked at her pleadingly. Save him, Bran begged her silently. She shook her head and cursed herself, squeezing her eyes shut as tears fell from her eyes and dripped onto her youngest brother's face as she held him gently. Lysara had never felt so pathetic, so...helpless than she did with her brother dying in her very arms.

"I-I love you," Lysara tells him fiercely, cradling his dying body, clinging onto him. "I love you so, so much. Don't cry, my sweet wolf. Don't cry. You must be brave."

"L-Lysara," He rasps, his grip on her slackening but she grips on tighter, in turn, wanting him to hold on. "I don't want to die."

"I will roam these lands...until we meet again-" Lysara begins, her voice wavering but nevertheless she continues as tears fall from her eyes, no matter how difficult it was for her. She did not care about herself nor anyone else, only her little brother. "I will wait until we meet again. I will wait forever if that is how long it takes, I will wait. I will love you until the end of time..."

Rickon's grip went slack and his vacant eyes stare back at her, filled with tears and his breathing slows before finally stilling. Lysara stares for a few moments before her face crumples up, tears sliding down her face as bends over him and wails. She screams and screams, unable to do anything but claw at her face and neck. And scream. Lysara slowly picked him up in her embrace, wrapping him in her crimson clothing and held him, staring blankly at the ground and rocked him back and forth until body grew cold. His light was gone, death having claimed him. The only sound that filled her ears was her own wails and the mournful howling of direwolves, howling into the still night.

Lysara glanced impassively down at her younger brother his body lay still against her arms and she let out a shuddering breath before releasing him, setting him gently against the cold ground of the woods. Her fingers shakily reached out and shut his eyes. The whispers were gone, she no longer could hear the whispers of what was to come and with that, she rose to her feet. Shaggydog was beside her, whimpering and howling lowly underneath his breath as he stared on at both her and Rickon. He nipped at her ankles as if to tell her not to leave but...she couldn't.

Lysara turns and faces the man who had killed her brother, tied to a tree by Osha. Her cold eyes were level with his own and she noticed a small amount of fear in his eyes, she walked slowly towards them before turning and bending down, picking up a small torch from the fire that was made. As if sensing his fate, he began to struggle harshly against his bindings. Lysara approached him with the torch burning brightly in her hand and ignoring his pleas, threw the torch next to the man's feet and watched as the tree caught fire. Lysara stood in silence watching the fire grow higher and harsher. The flames dancing against the man pulled her into a trance, she ignored his screams as she watched him burn.

"Do you want to know how I feel?" Lysara asked softly, looking on at the man as the flames creep up his body and he writhes in agony, throwing his head back and screams. "That, that is how I feel."

Lysara turns away from the man, no longer wanting to look upon the face of her brother's killer and picks up her skirts that were brushing against the ground and begins to walk away, ignoring the screams erupting from the Ironborn scums mouth. Her eyes were blank as she stared on at the dark woods and kept walking with Shaggydog biting at her ankles until a voice made her stop in her tracks.

"Bring him back," A voice fiercely spoke.

This caused her to look over her shoulder, finding the source of the voice to be her brother, Brandon, who held a cold gaze, unflinching to the worshipper of the false God's screams. I can't Lysara's grey eyes solemnly said but Brandon merely shook his head both Summer and Shaggydog snapping and snarling at her causing her to stiffen. Her eyes reluctantly look on at the body of her youngest brother, laying still and unmoving on the ground as she shakes her head.

"I...It is not within my power-"

"You can," Brandon insisted, grasping onto Hodor tighter. "I know you can."

"I can't," Lysara whispers pathetically with a shake of her head.

"Why not?" He demands, tears falling from his eyes.

"It hurts," She states hoarsely, tears rising in her pained eyes and claws at her ruby necklace as she shook her head. Lysara was unable to look her brother in the eye, knowing that she had failed them, that she had failed to keep her promise to her mother, to her father and to her brother. She had failed her father. She had failed her mother. She had failed her brothers and sisters. Herself. "It hurts so much...Brandon...I cannot."

"Try!" Her brother spits, his eyes narrowing in anger and pain as he urges Hodor to walk closer to her. "You once told me that your God has greater plans for me, he does for Rickon. You will bring him back. I will let you cry and weep about how much it hurts but you do not give up! You won't give up on our brother!"

The screams had since died down. The man that had killed her brother was consumed by flame. She stilled, slowly turning to face her youngest brother and knelt beside him, stroking his unruly locks and with another hand, cupped his cold and clammy cheek that was grey from death. It hurt. Her brother was her wild wolf, filled with life and laughter and it had been taken from him with a single arrow.

I'll burn them all.

Her eyes darted blankly to the man that had been tied to the burning tree and had long since died, no doubt from the agonising pain but she found herself looking on in a sickening satisfaction at the fact that she had caused him pain...like he caused her...like he caused her brothers. The fire that had eaten him roared with life once more and with that, she looked back towards her brother. Try, Brandon's voice echoed in her mind firmly as she picked up Rickon's head and let it rest on her lap.

Promise me, Lysara.

"I ask of R'hllor, the Lord to shine his light upon us and to lead this soul from the darkness. The night is dark and full of terrors, let his laughter and love vanquish your foes." Lysara murmured, feeling a warmth build up within her and her ruby glowed brighter, brighter than it ever has as she prayed. Her eyes darted up to the sky as the fire spread across to the other trees, creating a ring of fire around them as she looked to see dawn approach colouring the sky in both purple and orange. "I beg the Lord to share my fire, to let me light a fire that has gone out."

Lysara felt the whispers flutter into her ears, she listened to them intently but kept her gaze ever hard on the night sky, watching the stars dance above the flames that had engulfed the woods around them. She chanted the mantra many times before the whispers came to an abrupt stop, allowing her to look back down and face her younger brother, both of her hands cupping his face.

"From darkness, light. From fire, ashes. And from death...life."

Lysara closed her eyes and bent down, pressing a light, gentle and short kiss to his parted lips. She reopened her eyes, visions consuming her which caused her to feel sick. After she pulled away, her chest heaving and panting, she looked over to Bran who held nothing but pure horror on his face as the fire gradually died down and burnt out. And then she looked to Osha, who looked upon her with wariness yet fascination. Lysara let Rickon's head lay on the ground once more before she stood up.

She waited...for something, anything to happen but when nothing did, her hopes were dashed and she gave a solemn nod, turning to walk away. Shaggydog looked to her, his ears flattened and let out high pitched whines as Lysara began to make her way out of the clearing. A small, barely heard gasp sounded causing her to still and she spun sharply on her heel to face the source of the noise, her mouth fell agape and her eyes grew dazed. Rickon.

His eyes were open, wide and afraid. His chest, rising and heaving quickly, to match the gasps of air he sucked in. Her heart clenched painfully, tears consisting of many emotions sliding down her cheeks as she stared on at her youngest brother. Let him live, Lysara encouraged fiercely to R'hllor. Fill him with your ever burning fire. And I will ensure that it shall never burn out. Rickon's eyes were wild, his head snapping towards her in terror as his chest rose and fell harshly.

"L-Lysara..." Rickon began, his voice hoarse as his eyes darted towards her. "I...It was so dark and cold..."

"What did you dream of, Rickon?" Lysara asked lightly, dismissing his last statement and knelt by him, a face filled with utter awe.

"It was warm," He responded, causing her to still at the fear still present in his eyes. "I dreamt of fire. I had this awful dream...I dream that I tried to save you, l-like I promised R-Robb. You w-were kneeling over me...crying. Your ruby was glowing brightly. I dreamt of a light...it was h-horrible..."

"It was a dream, my wild wolf," Lysara says, her voice hushed as she pulls him into a gentle embrace and rests her chin on his head, her eyes never leaving Brandon's. "Hush. It was all a dream, that is all it was."

Author's Note: Hey guys, hopefully you like Chapter Fourteen. If you have any questions about this chapter or any other chapter or on Lysara, feel free to ask! I'd like to thank all of you for reading this story, for following and for making this story one of your favourites. I'd like to thank everyone that has reviewed but a special thanks to Saint River who has reviewed each chapter.

Reviews-

JimmyHall24: Yeah, I totally agree with that, in future chapters to come you will definitely see her practising fire magic.

timijah: Thank you, hopefully you like this chapter!

njk: Thank you! I hope you like this update.

ATP: I agree with you certain deaths can totally be avoided but I suppose it wouldn't be Game of Thrones without those deaths.

ZabuzasGirl: Thank you! I hope you like Chapter 14.

celticank: I hope this chapter surprised you but I couldn't kill him off just yet, she gave him a poison that was equivalent to bleach but unfortunately it didn't kill him like she wanted.

RHatch89: Thank you! I'm glad you like her.

Saint River: Although I've already replied to your messages, I felt I should thank you personally on here as well. Thank you for leaving all those reviews on my chapters!