Author's note: Here is the next chapter! I hope you all enjoy it. So the slight AU will continue on from her pretty much, on and off. Some canon with remain. Thanks for the reviews they mean a lot, and the favorites and follows.
Disclaimer: I do not own Game of Thrones, or the characters from it. I own Lyrina and my plot. The quote is from "Battlefield" by Lea Michele
Chapter 11: Betrayal.
"What seemed like a good idea turned into a battlefield."
Lyrina's p.o.v
Lyrina found herself scrubbing her skin raw the next morning while she bathed. She needed to get the feel of Joffrey off her skin, get the feel of his lips off her neck. He had stayed the whole night only slipping out before her handmaiden showed up. Lyrina felt disgusted, and she felt dirty. There was no amount of scrubbing that could get the feel of his body off of her. Val, her handmaiden, just stared at her while she picked out a dress, confused on why she was scrubbing herself raw. Lyrina did not care what she thought, she needed to feel clean.
"I need the princess to come with me, now." Lyrina let out a scream when she heard Sandor's voice come from behind her. He should not be in her room.
"Excuse me, but she is in her bath you need to leave." Val stood up and glared at the man.
"Get her out of the bath, she is to meet me in three minutes or I carry her to them as she is." Sandor seemed more on edge than usual and that frightened Lyrina.
"I will be out in a moment, please leave." Lyrina waited until she heard her door slam before getting up and out of the bath.
Lyrina dried herself off with the help of Val before she slipped into a dress. She did not know what had Sandor so on edge but she felt that it could only be trouble. Lyrina stood there for a moment after getting dressed, she did not want to leave her room. She was safe in her chambers, and she knew the second she stepped out she was no longer safe. But she needed to go see her father, so she would have to leave. When she did leave her room Sandor grabbed her arm and began pulling her toward the throne room.
"Let go, I can walk." Lyrina was in no mood to be pulled around. Her father was dying,and her brother forced her to spend the night with him. Everything was out of balance.
"Girl you will listen to me, and you will listen well. I do not know what is about to happen in that room, but if it comes down to it, you run." Sandor had stopped and was gripping Lyrina tightly by her arms. He was so serious,and his voice made Lyrina shake with trepidation. She just nodded her head and they were on their way again.
When they entered the throne room Lyrina saw Joffrey sitting upon the throne and their mother sitting beside him. He had no place on the there unless her father had passed on. The realization hit Lyrina like a ton of bricks and she felt her knees go weak under her. Sandor pulled her down the hall and made her stand beside her brother while he put on his helmet. Lyrina looked at Joffrey, her body still not rid of him, and he just smiled at her.
"Did father.." She could not bring herself to ask and her brother just nodded. She could tell it had effected him, but he would keep it hidden. She stood beside him as the soldiers began to fill the room, the kings guard stood before them on the steps, the city guard lined the walls. Lyrina felt that in the pit of her stomach that nothing good was to come of this.
"Call in the small council, I will take their fealty now." Lyrina knew Lord Stark would not bend his knee to her brother. He did not see her brother as any heir to the throne,and that was why the guards were there. Lyrina had to leave, she had to warn Lord Stark.
It was too late though just as the thought came to her mind the small council made their way in. As they approached Lyrina noticed her uncle Renly had been missing. Lyrina could only imagine where he had run off to. As Joffrey was demanding things of the council Lord Stark spoke up handing Ser Selmy the letter she had seen Lord Stark write while in her father's chambers.
"Lord Stark is herein named the Lord Regent until the heir comes of age."
"Let me see that." Her mother did not believe it, did not believe her father had said that.
"It is true mother, I was in the room when it was written." Lyrina needed her mother to go along with this, she needed her mother to not fight Lord Stark.
"Bend your knee to the new king and you can go back to your waste of a home."
"Your son has no claim to that throne." That was when it all went bad. Lyrina stood beside her brother as her mother ordered Lord Stark to be arrested. It seemed at first he had men on his side, but in moments they turned on him. Lyrina screamed.
"Stop this, Joffrey this is slaughter stop it." Lord Stark's men, the ones he had left were turned on and murdered. She was screaming begging her brother to make the madness stop, but he did nothing. Lyrina made a move to protect Lord Stark, she knew if she was in the middle of the fighting it would have to stop. Joffrey stood up and grabbed her before she could move.
"Calm sister, the traitors will be dealt with." Sansa. Lyrina looked at the scene in front of her, and began to shake. Ned Stark was being betrayed by the people he had come to trust and Lyrina could do nothing to stop it. She felt her own pang of betrayal when she saw the Hound join in the slaughter. Lyrina had to get to Sansa, if she could not protect Lord Stark she would protect his child. Without thinking Lyrina elbowed her brother, forcing him to let go and she took off out of the throne room. She had to find Sansa.
Lyrina ran as hard as she could, trying to escape the sounds she left behind her. The useless slaughter of innocent men, it was sickening and the images burned into Lyrina's head. She had to reach Sansa, had to get her away before the man got to her first. She passed the men loading up for the trip home and she did not have time to warn them, she had to keep going. She ran into Sansa and Septa on their way down to the carts.
"No, you can not go out there. Sansa, Septa come with me please." Lyrina didn't stop running she grabbed Sansa and tried pulling her back up to her room. She would find another way out, there was a back way out. Septa stopped Lyrina first.
"What is going on?"
"There is no time to explain, Lord Stark questioned my brother we have to go." She could heard the her mother's men butchering the men outside. She could hear them coming closer.
"Both of you go up to Lady Sansa's room, now." The Septa stood there waiting for the guard but Lyrina tried to convince her to come but she wouldn't.
"Sansa we must go, we can not stay here." Lyrina pulled the girl along, she had to help her. She knew the men would not kill her but she worried of what they would do to the Stark child.
"What is going on?" Sansa whined but Lyrina just kept pulling her along. They had no time. They kept running until they ran into the hound.
"Let us go, we need to go." She hoped her guard would still be on her side, he had been the one to tell her to run.
"I have to bring her to your mother, and you as well." Lyrina felt crushed, she had hopes the man she had come to know would help her.
"Please." Lyrina was begging.
"If it is not me that takes you to her but the other men, they will not hesitate to kill either one of you." Sansa held on to Lyrina tightly and Lyrina comforted the girl.
"Sansa I will not let you go, I helped Arya and I will help you too." Lyrina kept her voice low so the hound could not hear her. She had no more respect for the man. She had watched him senselessly murder innocent men all because her mother's sins. She wished she had her knife, not that she could have killed the man,but she would have felt stronger.
Robb's P.o.v
Robb had received raven after raven since the attack on Bran by the wildlings. First Lyrina had replied to his own raven informing him that no matter what happened she would protect his sisters. She made no mention of the rider and he began to wonder how she would react when the man reached her. The next raven he received was from Arya, well from someone who claimed to be with Arya. A boy named Gendry wrote to him informing him that he was headed for Winterfell with his youngest sister. He told Robb they had found a ship headed to white harbor that was willing to take them home. In the raven the boy mentioned Lyrina helping them get out of Kings Landing and he did not understand the importance until he received the raven from Sansa. His father had been arrested, his men slaughtered and Lyrina's father was dead. His father would never commit treason Robb knew that, so whatever he had said to make the young prick Joffrey angry would have been true.
"My lord you will have to go to Kings Landing, I fear what will happen if you don't." Maester Luwin was right, he would have to march to Kings Landing. He was no foolish man, he would not go to pledge loyalty to Joffrey.
"Call the banners, anyone who is loyal to my father. We shall see how loyal they are." The Maester smiled at Robb before going off. "I will get them back, Theon, every single person I have in Kings Landing will be returned to me."
"You are scared, and angry aren't you?" Robb looked down at his hands and he was indeed shaking. He was frightened, if he started a war he did not know what would become of his family still inside Kings Landing. "It's good, means you aren't being stupid."
But Robb did not know if he was being stupid, he felt like he was making a rash decision. He was starting a war with the richest family in Westeros, he was going against the crown. What else was he to do though, they held his father in jail, and Gods help what they were doing to his sister. They were going to marry her off to the evil monster that was Joffrey. He had no idea what was going on inside those walls, he only had one person who could help him. Lyrina had saved his one sister already, he would have to trust that. He would have to trust he could get Lyrina, Sansa and his father out of Kings Landing safely.
"I will not march there and bow before him Theon. Not after all the Lannisters have done." Theon sat beside him smiling. Of course Theon wanted war, he craved war. But Robb did not feel the same way, he was not going into this for war, glory or anything like that. He was going into this for the honor and saving his family.
"We will save them Robb, we will bring them home."
Robb excused himself from Theon, he would have to send a raven to Lyrina. She needed to know that he had no plans to march down there and pledge to her brother. His uncle had ridden to Kings Landing to save his sister once and never came home, Robb would not make the same mistake. He wanted Lyrina to know that no matter what happened he needed her on his side, he needed her to be on this inside looking out for his family. He would make sure of course not to mark it as his, he would leave the seal blank, he would also make sure he did not put anything to get her in trouble.
It took only days for most of the bannermen to arrive at Winterfell, only days for the hoards of men to fill the land. Robb made sure order was kept, he made sure everything was as his father would do it. He sent word to his mother about him calling the banners, he did not want her to be surprised. He had not heard back from Lyrina, but he knew it would have been dangerous for her to send word back to him. He prayed to the old Gods that Lyrina and his sister were safe, and if not he would kill anyone who harmed them.
He knew that his men did not seem him as a strong leader, and it bothered Robb. He was Lord of Winterfell, he should have been treated with respect but it never worked that way. They saw him as a child, but he was not a child anymore. Robb went from being a young boy falling for a girl, to the Lord of Winterfell, and now a commander of an army. He was not like normal boys his age, and he had to assert that on the men who planned on following him. He was going to be their leader and they would need to respect him.
The feast he hosted for the Lords under his commander turned from a festive affair to almost a brawl in a matter of minutes. The talk of war and who would lead which part was a matter of great distension about them. But Robb's word was law, what he said would go. It took some time but once more everyone was calmed down, it only took a man losing two fingers to Ghost. Robb sat at the head of his table eating, and drinking while thinking about the last time the hall had been filled with some many people. He had danced with Lyrina, given her a necklace showing his view of their union. He wanted to tell her than about the marriage, he did. If had told her she would have been sitting at his side, and they would be leading this force together. He knew it would have been hard for her, leading an army against her family but he knew she could have been his shoulder and now he was doing it alone.
Later that night he found himself in her chambers once more. He had stayed in them from time to time searching for her in the bed. He laid there most nights wondering if she laid awake thinking of him, they never spoke too much in their letters. They had said they loved one another but beyond that there was not mentions of the past, or a future between them. He had taken to writing to Jon, just to talk about Lyrina. Jon would tell him of the ravens he received, but he never mentioned if she thought of him. Robb could only hope that when marched on Kings Landing that the would find her there waiting for him with open arms.
Robb made sure Rickon was in bed, and he made sure to tell him goodbye. One of his men said it would be a smart idea to march south in the middle of the night, it would be harder for the Lannisters to know they were coming. Jaime had made a move on the Riverlands and Robb needed to ensure that they were freed from the bastard Lannister threat. He would make sure that Bran knew of his departure as well, though no doubt he would want to come as well.
"I won't get in the way, I swear." Robb just brushed his brothers hair out of his face.
"You will need to take my place while I am gone Bran, and soon Arya will be home and I need you here. No doubt of what she has been through so please be here." Bran got excited at the thought of their sister coming home, Robb could see it on his face.
"You will come home too, with father and mother?"
"I will bring everyone home to you Bran. I will make sure mother, father and Sansa are here for you." Bran hugged him and Robb hugged him back. He did not want to leave his brother, he worried of what leaving him alone would mean.
"What about Lyrina, will she come with you too?" Robb hoped she would, he hoped she would not side with her family. He knew blood was important but he also knew that Lyrina saw his family as her own.
"I hope so, I hope to bring her home and marry her. I want her to be your sister, would you like that Bran?" He saw his little brother smile and made Robb feel better.
"I would." He mused his brother's hair before getting up and walking out. He was headed to war, he was marching from his home with no idea of if he would come home.
They had set up a camp not to far from the river crossing, Robb and all 18,ooo of his men. He knew the war was going to be hard but it seemed more intense with each passing moment. Jaime Lannister was attacking his Grandfather's men at Riverrun, and he did not know what Tywin Lannister had planned yet but he was sure it was not good. He was discussing battle plans with his men when they were interrupted, with his back to the tent Robb did now who was there at first.
"I would like a word alone with my son, if you please." When Robb heard his mother's voice it took all he had not to hug her. But he could not, that would show weakness to his men. Once they were all cleared out he embraced her.
"I did not know you would come here mother."
"I did not know I would see you leading a host south, Robb." He had to there was no one else to do it.
"I had to mother, they have Sansa and father." His mother knew that already he could tell, she just sat down. He knew it hard for her, having her family in the hands of Lannister men.
"Has no one heard of Arya? I got a letter at your aunts with no mention of her." Robb only imagined that Arya had reached out to her as well.
"I received word she has reached white harbor, she is on her way back to Winterfell as we speak mother." Robb saw the relief flood over her face. "Lyrina got her out of Kings Landing before father was arrested, she tried to get Sansa as well but could not."
"Is she with Arya, are they together?"
"No, Lyrina stayed to be with Sansa. She told Arya she had to protect Sansa, she sent Arya with a boy named Gendry." Robb could see his mother tense up. Robb knew his mother cared for Lyrina, but he did not know how the war would effect her view.
"We need to get them back Robb. Your father, your sister and Lyrina. I do not care that she is Cersei Lannister's daughter, I had more of a hand in her life than that woman did. She is your betrothal by right, she belongs with you." Robb knew that. He knew that Lyrina belonged beside him in the war that was to come and he would have her there soon enough.
"We will mother, I know I do not have as many men as them but I know we can win. I know if I go to bend a knee to the king I will never return home." His mother stood up and hugged him. She told him they would win, they would fight the battles and they would win the war for their family.
Lyrina's P.o.v
Lyrina felt like a prisoner in her own chamber, her mother would not allow her out unless accompanied by the hound. She never left her room, unless she wanted to check on Sansa. Even seeing Sansa was hard, her mother made it nearly impossible. Lyrina could not go see Lord Stark in the dungeons, she really could do nothing. Her family treated her like she was an outsider, well her mother did anyway. She would not address lyrina, and only looked at her with disgust. Lyrina wanted to run away, leave for the north and be done with it but Joffrey had the power. He knew she did not want to be there and he knew exactly how to keep her. When he would come into her room at night Joffrey would tell Lyrina if she ever ran away, he would cut off Sansa's head and send it to her family. So Lyrina stayed and behaved as she should.
"Princess, your mother is requesting you get up today." Val came in day after day but Lyrina would never really get up.
"I do not wish to leave my chambers today." Her voice was soft, it was always soft. She had learned from the nights Joffrey would spend in her room that speaking softly was best.
"Princess, please. Your mother told me if I do not get you up she is sending in the hound to get you up and dressed." Her mother had become so truly vile. She did it all under the guise of loving her, and to to Lyrina made it worse. Cersei would say things, and do things because she thought it was best for her daughter.
"So be it." Lyrina slid out of bed and looked at her handmaiden. "What does she want me for anyway?"
"She did not tell me, just that you were to be up and in chambers shortly." Lyrina knew it was never good to be summoned to her mother's chambers.
Lyrina did not speak on the matter again, she just stripped and entered the bath. Val was nice enough to her, and in the weeks since the arrest of Lord Stark she was all Lyrina really had. She had Sansa but again seeing her was trouble enough. As Val helped Lyrina wash she began to speak of how much the castle had changed since her father's death. Lyrina did not like to think about, his funeral had been hard enough on her.
"I have somethings for you." Lyrina looked to Val as she dried off. The young woman handed her two sealed letters.
"My mother is allowing me my ravens, unopened?" Lyrina was truly surprised her mother was not reading her ravens.
"She told me that she shall afford you that, she does trust you." Lyrina knew her mother did not trust her, but if she was allowing Lyrina to get ravens it meant she needed something. Cersei knew how to get what she wanted, she would give a little to get a lot in return.
"Thank you for bringing them to me." Lyrina looked them over and recognized one from Jon almost immediately, but the other was blank. She knew it was either from Arya or Robb, they were the only ones who would write and not risk it being taken.
Once Lyrina was dressed and ready for her day, she kindly asked Val to leave so she could read over her letters. Her letter from Jon was simple, he checked in on her after the death of her father, he asked of Sansa, Arya and his own father. She could tell he was itching to come down and free them but he could not. He was a man of the nights watch and his place was at the wall. Lyrina responded to him telling him that Arya was headed home, she would no doubt be in Winterfell shortly. She told him she would do her best to keep the rest of his family safe, she needed to keep them safe. Robb's letter was different, she could tell he was trying hard not say what he meant. She could gather he was indeed marching south for Kings Landing, but he was not coming alone. He was going to war, he was going to start a war for his family.
Lyrina hide her letters in the usual spot, once again spotting the letter Robb had sent her through the rider. She had yet to read it, she did not wish to know what was so important he would send it through a rider. She missed him, she thought of him often but she was angry with him. She was angry he lied, but she knew it would fade eventually. She knew she could not be angry at Robb forever, and now that he was marching to Kings Landing to fight her family she would have to pick sides.
"You wanted to see me mother." Lyrina was followed to her mother's chambers by the hound they no longer spoke. Lyrina would never see the man the same again, he was just a butcher to her now.
"My fawn." The name stung her like a cut, she did not wish for her mother to call her that. She ruined the sacred bond she had with her father. " I need a very important favor to ask of you."
"Of course mother, you know I would do anything fro you." Lyrina but on her fake smile, her fake voice, the fake everything she learned from Cersei. Lyrina watched how she was, and how she always got what she wanted. Her mother was never herself, she was who people wanted her to be, and Lyrina had learned how to do the same.
"Sit down,love. There is much to discuss." Lyrina took a seat at her mother's table, slowly pouring herself a glass of wine. She had taken to drinking to sleep most nights, it kept the feel of Joffrey from her mind.
"What can I do for you today, mother?"
"Lyrina I need you to do something for me, and I know it is going to be rough for you. Ned Stark's eldest son is marching south with a host of men. It is clear he does not intend to kneel to your brother, which is a problem, traitors always are." Her mother's voice was calm, but Lyrina felt like she was about to explode. Starks were not traitors, and she refused to see them as such. "I need you to go and convince the boy to kneel to Joffrey, pledge his fealty and go home."
"What leads you to believe he will listen to me? I am Joffrey's sister after all." Lyrina's tone was bordering on comedic, she knew Robb would listen to her words but she knew he would not heed them.
"I believe the boy still trusts you, and I think you can convince the young man to see things our way. If he returns home and pledges fealty to your brother his father will be pardoned for his crimes."
"I will go, but what makes you think he won't keep me as a hostage?" Robb would be stupid not to keep her as leverage against the crown. Though Lyrina did not believe her family would care all to much about losing her.
"You will inform him, that if he does not allow your return his poor sister will thrown in the dungeons as well." Lyrina knew he would not risk Sansa, and neither would she. She would have to go in there with the mindset of not getting attached to seeing him again.
"I will leave as soon as you wish mother." Lyrina had always scared herself when she could shut her emotions off to talk to her family. She was slowly realizing she was a lot like her mother in the sense of being able to keep her emotions in private. It did not always work that way, but she could master it soon enough.
Silence fell between the two women as Cersei began writing up the terms for the Stark boy. Lyrina would be riding to meet him and his host of men, she could only imagine what it would bring. Her mother had a scout following the boys army feeding her the information of his movements, which to Lyrina's surprise she had not shared with anyone else. Lyrina thought for sure her mother would give it away to Tywin, and thus having Robb killed. She prayed for Robb, prayed he would be safe and prayed that their reunion would be civil. She knew he still loved her, he had said so in his last raven but she worried what would happen when she showed up carrying letters from the king.
"It is ready, I have a horse ready for you as well. Ride swiftly, I fear time is of the essence." Lyrina nodded to her mother as she went to leave. But Lyrina had to know something before she went into the wolves den, she needed her mother to tell her something.
"Is what Lord Stark said true mother?" They had not spoken of it, and Lyrina needed to know if it was true. She needed to know if she was right for believing not even her mother could be that corrupt.
"I would never sleep with my brother,sweet child. Your uncle and I are just very close, just like you and Joffrey have become." Lyrina shuddered at the thought of how close Joffrey had become with her.
"I thought as much, I just wanted to make sure my trust was not misplaced." Lyrina smiled and bid her mother farewell. Soon she would be riding toward the man that she loved.
Reaching Robb's camp took almost a week and Lyrina was unsure of what she was even going to say to him. He was the leader of an army mounted against her mother's family, and her brother. She knew they had more past between them, but she did not know how that would effect her carrying terms to him. She wasn't coming to fall back into his arms, she was there was peace treaty broker, she was there as an asset of her mothers. She was an extension of the crown, not just some girl he had fallen for.
Lyrina made took refugee in trees just outside Robb's camp. Night had fallen and she needed to rest before going down to see him in the morning. She had no idea how she was going to respond to seeing him,she had worked herself up the whole trip north. She would remind herself he lied to her, that he broke a promise, and she just kept telling herself that. She knew if she was angry at him, upset with him, she would not be inclined to stay. She could not want to stay, if she wanted to stay it would mean certain death for Sansa.
Lyrina looked through the trees and to the camp. It was lively for nighttime, men milling all over the place. It was intimidating to Lyrina, so many men and so many tents speared around. She could only imagine how many men he had, how many soldiers he had willing to die for him. Lyrina knew Robb could inspire people, he could talk people into doing what he wanted. He was good at convincing people of what they wanted to hear, he had done it for her the night before she left. He made her believe every word that he said, and even though she knew now that he lied she still wanted to believe him. She wanted to believe he wanted her to stay, but there was a reason he couldn't. She would never know because she dared not ask.
Lyrina was still focused on the camp when she heard a noise behind her, and before she could turn around a hand covered her mouth while another arm was snaked around her waist.
"Gotcha."