Guys, I am truly sorry about the long wait but I had real trouble writing this chapter then I went through some tough times but hopefully I'll have the motivation to keep on writing this.

P.S. Hope people like this chapter because I am not as happy with it. Oh well. ;)

PLEASE READ THE A/N'S AT THE END. IT'S IMPORTANT TO THE STORY!

CHAPTER 2

Lysara was in the kitchens, just finishing up her meal when she heard her name being called by the maester.

"Yes Maester Luwin. Is something wrong? Are you in need of some help?" She replied as she turned her attention towards him.

"No Lysara, I am letting you know that your lord father has requested your presence for the Judgement of the newest deserter. He thought you would like to attend as a positive presence for the young lord Brandon."

"Well then, I'll just clean the dishes and will meet them all in the stables. Thank you maester, I appreciate you coming all this way to tell me."

"Do not worry about me dear. I'll be fine right here." The maester then sat himself in the stool previously occupied by Sara whilst she washed the dishes.

"All done. I'll see you soon maester."

"Very well Lysara."

As she came upon the stables Sara was greeted by the awaiting party already set to move so she went directly to her mount; a dark stallion named Nox and got him ready as fast as possible.

Once done getting Nox ready she mounted him and hearing the men yelling about a race she began to follow the familiar path to the chosen holdfast near some hills. As she passed the grove of plants belonging to the North that hid the snowy field she began to lose speed and by the looks of it she was the first. Once there she followed the same routine of the past twenty times they have come before. She dismounted her horse when they arrived without any difficulty and waited for the Lord of Winterfell to appear. Sara was made aware of Brandon following her by his plea for help when she looked back; he had trouble stopping his excited horse.

She immediately went to help her younger half-brother with controlling Hazel, the horse.

"Here's the way to do it, Bran. You need to be firm but gentle with them." And showed him how to make his horse stop.

"Thanks Sara, I don't know what I would do without you here to help me with Hazel once more." Bran spoke.

"No need to give thanks brother, you would do the same if I were in need of help."

Once finished they both had a good look at the hills as if they were looking for something, or it should be said, someone and stopped dead once they found it.

There a few yards before them was the deserter bound hand and foot to the holdfast. This old man looked nothing like a Night Watch's brother—at least to them he was not, he was old and decrepit with not much fat to his body. It also seemed he had lost a few fingers to frostbite.

As Brandon was about to comment on the image the man made, they began to hear the coming of hooves, signaling the entrance of the lord followed by the others.

Without another word Lysara went back to mount her horse and they waited.

As soon as the group arrived they noticed the two of them but made no move to come near, instead the ones who did where the two half siblings Sara coming not too close to Robb and Bran following after her.

Without another word the Lord Eddard—with his long brown hair and grey eyes, asked questions which both siblings payed no mind to, he then dismounted his horse whilst giving word to the guardsmen to bring the bound man to the center of the square where a stump of wood resided.

With a solemn air to his walk, Lord Eddard gave a signal to his ward Theon Greyjoy who was in charge of Ice the Stark ancestral Valyrian sword, to bring it to him and he readily did so.

As Theon came close to where the deserter and the Lord of Winterfell were located, Ned took his gloves off to better hold his sword. He then received Ice from theon and turned to the man stating

"In the name of the House Baratheon, the First of his Name, King of the Andals and the Rhoynar and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm, by the word of Eddard of the House Stark, Lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North, I do sentence you to die." Sword in hand, being lifted above his head is when Lysara chose to give Bran advice,

"Do not look away. Our father will know and won't be happy if you do."

And so the whole group waited and soon enough the lord carried his sword down and with one stroke the head was severed from its body.

It was finally over.

"You did good, little brother." Sara commented. After swallowing more words of comfort she headed of towards the heir and Theon while Bran came upon his father.

"Lysara what do you think about the dead man, eh? Robb here says he died with courage to his stance." Theon broke the silence between the other two after seeing that they would not speak.

"That my friends was not courage. He was scared of something or other but not of dying, not quite at least." Was finally spoken after the siblings broke eye contact.

"Theon, Lysara why don't we see who was right with a race."

"The winner wins the argument, then?"

"Why not. The one who first appears on the bridge is the victor."

Lysara was already galloping away before Robb even finished the sentence.

After having a talk with his father, Bran trotted towards the bridge when he heard words being spoken.

"How…"

"Robb found them…"

And as he came closer with his father they both heard them.

"…Look its…"

"…Direwolves…"

Then they both decided to hurry and by the time they arrived they found the guardsmen whispering while Sara was beside Robb on the frozen river that's under the bridge. They were both holding direwolf pups, the rest were suckling milk from their dead mother's body.

"By the Gods!" murmured the Lord.

"Robb, Sara get away from there. 'tis not safe." Jory Cassel, the captain of Winterfell's guard exclaimed with his sword already out.

The rest of the party quickly dismounted their horses to have a look.

"The mother is dead and by the looks of it she died fighting a stag since its antlers are stuck in her throat." Sara explained after pointedly ignoring the shouts of warning some gave out.

Bran wanting to take a closer look, slowly walked towards them.

'She felt like the Gods were somehow speaking through this occasion, trying to tell them something, but what.' Sara thought to herself whilst giving Bran the pup she was holding before taking another one and hugging it close.

As she counted the pups she realized something.

"There's five direwolf pups."

"Tis of no matter, they be dead soon enough." Hullen, the master of horse.

"Give 'em to me, Bran" Theon spoke as he brought his knife out of the sheath.

"Theon, no! They belong with the Starks." Lysara.

Before the conversation could turn into an argument Eddard interrupted.

"T'would be a mercy to them. Better than a slow death out here in the cold."

Robb with determination in his voice thought out loud.

"We could keep them as companions. There is a bitch who just gave birth, we could use her as the mother."

When it seemed that the lord was about to say no, Lysara stepped up and pleaded with her lord father,

"Lord stark there are three male pups and two female, each for your trueborn children. This was meant to happen." She was aware of what she was saying. She was acknowledging a fact she detested but it was all for the good of the pups and the happiness of her half-siblings.

Yet it still hurt.

The only consolation was that she knew her lord father would give in now that she had spoken. After all, the few times she had really pushed for something she wanted he would easily acquiesce to her pleading.

"Very well. You will nurse them, train them by yourselves and if they die you will bury them yourselves. Understood?"

"We will!" "Yes father." Was heard from the Stark boys even when Robb kept giving Sara furtive glances asking for forgiveness even if he felt gratitude for what she did. He knew that admission would have cost her a lot to say out loud.

"Well then, hurry and get the pups. Jory and Desmond will carry them."

"Aye, m'lord."

Once everyone were on their horses started to trot, Sara suddenly stopped and went back to the dead mother.

"Sara, wait!"

"I just want to make sure of something. I think I heard some whimpering." She yelled as she got closer to the site.

Once there, she crept closer to the whimpering and found a pup half buried by the snow. As she held the pup to her face and locked gazes with the other, she found herself entranced by the albino wolf. It was tiny compared to his siblings but just as she knew her siblings' happiness would hurt a part of her, she also knew that with him by her side everything would be alright.

So she carried the pup back to where the rest were waiting, feelings of peace surrounding her.

"Look who I found a ways away from the rest."

"The runt of the litter that is who you found, Snow." Theon snorted.

"Quiet Greyjoy!" Robb interrupted. "I am truly glad you found him Sara."

She gave Robb her pup to keep for a bit while she mounted her horse. He gave him back once she was situated next to him.

As she nestled the pup in an extra coat to keep him warm she thought up names she could give him.

And as she saw the image of Winterfell coming up, she felt she knew.

'Ghost. Your name is Ghost.' And as if Ghost could read her mind he yipped what felt like an affirmative.

A/N: Thank you all for the favorites, follows and reviews to this story. I appreciate the support.

A/N 2: I needed to ask this of you guys. There are three ways the story can go. Option 1 is where Sara goes to Pentos with the Targaryens before the Starks leave for the Capital and the war. In Option 2 Sara goes to kings landing but she still ends up in Pentos with the Targaryens. In both this options Lysara finds out her parentage earlier than in Option 3. Now this is where she stays with Robb instead of going to King's Landing or leaving for Essos but for those who vote for 3, know that it will take a bit more time to write the chapters since I don't have the outline, just ideas for it. So please review or pm your vote. Anyway, is anyone interested in working with me on my stories. It would be of great help! Thanks!