LYANNA II

The arrow struck true.

A small whine followed by a pained growl caused Lyanna to lower her bow and get a good eye at her target.

It was a wolf.

Bigger and more mangy than any she had ever seen. Yet, despite the fear that ran through every fiber of her being at the mere sight of it, she was overcome with a strange sense of calm. There was something in its eyes. They were the color of the setting sun and radiated with a wild power that thrummed, it seemed, to the deepest depths of her soul. There was a pain there too and it was in that instant that Lyanna regretted what she had done. Dropping her weapon she ran to the wolf, but it was already to late. The animal had breathed it last breath before she had even fallen to the ground by its side. Fresh tears spilling down its face she yanked the arrow from its torso. A fresh river of warm blood coursed through, covering the pallid floor of the wood like a crimson blanket.

The tears overwhelmed Lyanna as she sat crying over the body of the wolf. She had never taken a life before, and while it was true that the beast had stalked her and charged at her, no doubt in an effort to eat her, it pained her to have had killed the animal. She had come to the Wolfswood to get away from her sorrows only to have been met with an unimaginable grief. She closed her eyes and said a small prayer to the gods before getting up and walking back to her horse. It was a long ride back to Winterfell and if she had any chance of making it back before dusk, she had better make her leave.

As she turned to head back a small rustle caught her attention. Immediately she reached for her bow when she heard a soft, muffled cry. With a trepidation she crept towards the large brush from whence the wolf had come at her. Pulling aside the branches, she peered behind them, her heart aching at what she found. There, secured amid the branches and leaves was a tiny grey wolf. Lyanna did not believe it possible to have felt any worse than she already did. The wolf that attacked her had done so not out of some predatory urge but the need to care for its young.

Lyanna did not know what had come over her in that moment, why she had been overcome to do what she did, but she scooped down and picked the tiny creature up into her arms. Hugging it to her chest and close to the warms furs she saw that it had the same golden eyes as its mother. Just as wild and almost curious the animal buried its head closer to Lyanna's furs and gave a soft whimper that left Lyanna wondering when was the last time it had been fed. Staring at the pup and then back at its mother, she made a move that she knew was unnatural but with which she felt compelled to initiate.

She walked over to the corpse and bent down beside it. Careful to keep the pup away from the stain of blood, she encouraged it to suckle whatever nourishment it's mother had left to give. Lyanna shivered as the pup took to it greedily, as if it had gone a long time without being fed. When it seemed as if the pup had had it's fill, Lyanna picked it up and once again buried it amid her furs.

"I'm sorry about your mother," she whispered softly as she walked back to her horse. "It's my fault she's dead. Without someone to care for you, there is no chance for you to survive out here. That means I have to take care of you, at least until you can care for yourself. You have to be my little secret though, little wolf. I doubt if Father knew, he would let me keep you."

As she prepared to mount her horse, it bucked slightly, sensing the wolf.

"It's alright Snow," Lyanna hushed as she brushed the side of the horses mane to comfort it. "It's just a baby. It will bring you no harm."

The horse seemed to relax to Lyanna's words as she placed the pup momentarily on the ground as she loaded the supplies. The pup immediately snuggled up against her feet.

"It's only for a minute, little thing," she smiled as she finished quickly before picking the pup back up. Hesitating momentarily, she lifted the pup up above her head. "I mean, little girl."

With the pup in hand, Lyanna mounted the horse and took off into the direction of Winterfell. Lyanna could feel the little pup snuggle closer to her as they rode, the cold winds causing her to slow gait of the horse. The snows were falling harder and that meant only one thing - a storm was coming. Lyanna grimaced, knowing that with the strength and speed of the snowfall and the sting of the ice that fell upon her cheeks, the odds of making it back to Winterfell before the worst of it hit was next to impossible.

Looking down a the pup, she knew there was only one choice to make. She pulled up on the reins and pulled Snow back into the direction from which they had just came. There was only once place that Lyanna knew of that could offer shelter to all of them. One place that Lyanna had not been to since her brother Eddard had left for the Eyrie. A place that had existed since the time of Aegon the Conqueror and one that up until fairly recently had been the home of Maesters and their ravens. What it was officially called, no one knew. She knew it by the name that Nan had told her. The name that the smallfolk whispered each time Maester Walys had passed by in the training yard.

The Blood Tower.