Wife of the Wolf, Husband of the Sun

Chapter Sixty

A soft rain was falling on the Riverlands and the air was fresh, there had been a thunderstorm the night before that could have put any storm that the gods had sent against Storm's End to shame. The gods had stopped their warring at least but the rain seemed content to keep coming down on to them as they made their way across the damp land to Harrenhal.

It was not the first violent outburst of weather they had seen on their journey so far, on the day that they had reached Moat Cailin a sudden spring snow had come on to them and for three nights they had been forced to take shelter in the ruins. One of the older guardsmen that his Father had sent with them had proclaimed that it was one of the last gasps of winter now that spring was finally here.

It had been a miserable three nights, the tower they had sheltered was not exposed to the elements but the Moat had not been built to deal with all the harshness of Winter. Thankfully, Elia had not grown sick as Ned had been concerned that she would and on the fourth day, the snows had melted as though they had never been there to start with.

From then, it was another fifteen long and slow days crossing through the seemingly endless marsh that was the Neck. Ned had hoped that they might feast and rest at Greywater Watch for a night or two but they could not find the castle at alll. Only Crannogmen truly seemed to know the Neck, such as it was said that only a Northman could know the North and only a Dornishman could know Dorne. It did not help matters that the seat of House Reed, like all buildings of the Neck, floated and moved at the will of the streams.

They had enough food to make it through, though Ned had to admit that even he had been growing wearly of salted black sasuage to fill his stomach, and they had been able to resupply themselves and have a proper meal at the Inn on the other side of the Neck. He had remembered it well, it was the place that both he and his wife finally discovered that they had a child coming.

He remembered that he thought that he was so blessed to have one child, he never thought for a moment that he would have two. Nor did he ever think for a moment that they would already have another one already on the way. But then Old Nan had once said that those who acted as they knew all that life had instore for them were fools and that they deserved the rude awakening that was coming to them, like most things Old Nan turned out to be right.

He had been more concerned about Elia this time they ventured south, a part of him deep inside at the bottom of his chest whispered that perhaps he should have been firmer with her while suggesting that she remain at Winterfell. Foul memories of what happened the last time they had seen King Aerys while Elia was carrying their child coated the back of his throat with bitterness.

Alas, he had not pressed on that matter as Elia had insisted that she come with him, that there was to be no doubt on that score. She had suggested that they leave both of their sons behind in the safety of Winterfell and on that he and his Father had agreed most heartily. Thankfully, Elia did not look that pregnant yet. If the gods decided to smile on them, then the tourney might indeed be over before any obvious signs became visable.

His wife was in the small wheelhouse, alone aside from her thoughts. Lyanna had been spending some of the days of the jourrney with her but he knew that if his sister was forced to spend all of the journey in the wheelhouse then she would never forgive him so at the moment she was riding next to him, dressed in her old riding leathers and teasing Benjen who was riding next to her.

Harrenhal was slowly growing on the horizon and an array of brightly coloured tents spread all around it like a massive field of different coloured flowers. As they got closer to the castle the speed of their small train slowed to a trickle as the road into the castle was congested with serving men, camp followers, little children, sellswords and knights and carts being pulled along by oxen.

It was a sea of flesh and Ned did not think he had ever seen so many people together in one place before in his life, even when he had returned to Winterfell from King's Landing and found the castle surrounded by his Father's bannermen was nothing compared to this. An hour passed slowly before they managed to get through the gate of the castle.

Ned hopped off of the back of his horse when a stable boy ran up to take the reins, Ned let out a sigh when he felt the familar and almost comforting sensation of blood rushing to the areas of his body that had grown numb due to the long ride. Lyanna climbed down from her horse when two more stable boys ran over to tend to her and their brother's horse.

Benjen jumped down and Ned was quick to steady him with a hand on his shoulder when it looked as though his little brother had misjudged how far it actually was to the ground from the back of his horse. Benjen looked up at him with a smile and then walked away from him as Ned turned and walked over to the wheelhouse which had rolled in slowly to the courtyard behind them.

Ned reached over to open the door and helped Elia out of the Wheelhouse, his wife was dressed in a dress of orange silk and sleeves of cloth of gold, a string of black diamonds around her neck and a hairnet studded with fire opals bound her black curls. She would be just as beautiful if she was dressed in an onion sack and barefoot with a shaved head, but she was a goddess in the flesh when she was dressed like this.

"How nice it is to finally stretch my legs." Elia said with a hum and smiled at him and then leaned up to kiss him and Ned leaned down to deepen the kiss. Once the kiss had ended, Ned and Elia entwined their hands together and walked into the courtyard as the serving men started to carry their luggage into the castle. Lyanna and Benjen followed them inside as they made their way through the castle and up the tower that the castellan of Harrenhal informed them had been reserved for them at the highest levels.

Their suite of apartments was large with rooms for all of them, one contained a large enough bed for him and Elia as well as dozen other people, two smaller rooms contained smaller beds for Lyanna and Benjen, though each was still large enough to hold more than three people. The floors were covered in sweet rushes and tapestries were hanging off of the walls and the serving men that had come with them from Winterfell with the aid of the serving men from Harrenhal began to unpack their luggage.

Once all the luggage had been unpacked, the Starks were alone with a fire burning in their heath. Ned would like nothing more than to simply stay sat on the large chair with Elia in his lap, his hand resting on her slightly swollen belly where their next child lay growing and perhaps even having a nap as well, sadly just as always it seemed as though younger siblings never seemed to forget their sacred duty to annoy their older siblings.

"Come on Neddard." Lyanna said as she threw a pillow stuffed with goose feathers at him at his face, Elia laughed at that and Ned let out a groan of disapproval both at his wife's lack of loyalty and his sister's sheer treason. "Benjen and I aren't as old as you are, and we can't just stay in this chamber for the rest of the day till the feast tonight. I want to do something."

"All right, all right." He said with another groan as he stood up from the chair and turned his full attention on to his siblings. "We could go for a walk around the castle? There might even be a hunt going."

Benjen seemed excited enough and so did Lyanna and it made Ned feel meloncholy, his little sister had seemed ever more reserved ever since that fateful night when he had his heart attack. It seemed to have made her muture and Ned couldn't deny that he had been happy about that, he loved Lyanna but he had always worried about her, but she also hadn't seemed to have much for her to enjoy as of late.

If this was what she needed, if a walk and a ride would give her some happines, then Ned would give that to her without a second thought. It wouldn't be long now till she was sent off to Storm's End to marry Robert after all and while Ned was certain enough that his best friend would be able to make Lya happy, he knew that it would be a while before she realised that.

"Would you like to come with us, Elia?" Benjen asked and Elia smiled at him for a moment before standing up from a chair, Ned keeping an eye on her as she got. He hadn't been around to help Elia through the majority of her first pregnancy but he fully intended for it to be different this time and if he remebered what the maester had told him correctly, then a pregnancy could often cause rapid shifts in balance.

Thankfully, it seemed as though this time it was not going to happen. Elia got to her feet and glanced at him. "I would love too, but I do not think I shall go on a hunt. But I don't think I would enjoy anything more than a walk."

Ned was about to go and find a fur for Elia, winter might be over but it still wasn't quite that warm and the idea of the baby being affected made him even more aware of that. But before anyone could take a step, the door to the apartments opened and a guard dressed in Stark colours walked in and bowed to them. "My lords, my ladies, I beg your pardon. Lord Robert of the House Baratheon is here and would beg leave to enter."

Ned tried not to notice when Lyanna's face fell, her eyes slid shut and she let out a small sigh. It was more than likely just the feelings that all young women went through before they were wed. He knew for a fact that Elia wasn't thrilled to marry him at first, how could she have been? She was going to marry a prince and be Queen and she had ended up with him.

He choose not to dwell on those thoughts anymore, they always soured his mood. So, Ned cleared his throat before he spoke. "Please, send him in." The guard nodded and left the room and only a few moments later, the door burst open and Robert strode in to the room as though it belonged to him and he had simply come back to reclaim his rightful place.

His best friend came over to Ned first and threw his arms around him with a roar and Ned tried his hardest to breath through his nose as the mountain of muscle that was Robert threatened to crush him with the embrace. Thanking the old gods, perhaps being close to the God's Eye meant that they could see them here, the hug was over soon enough.

He had been about to tell Robert not to embrace Elia in such a way, his wife had always had a delicate frame but now it was even more fragile. Thankfully, Robert seemed to have a sense of that as well and so instead of embracing her, he simply pressed a kiss to her check and the back of her hand. Benjen walked away with mussed up hair, but his baby brother looked afterwards like a windstorm had hit him.

"My lady." Robert said softly to Lyanna, taking her hand and bringing it up to his lips, kissing it. Lyanna stared up at her bethrothed, her grey eyes set in an unblinking stare. "You look more lovely than ever and it always gladdens my heart to see you. I hope that ride from the North was agreeable to you, I remember riding there being a hard ride for me."

"My lord's concern warms my heart." Lyanna spoke quietly, the words perfectly recited. "The ride was long indeeed, but Northern horses are bread for the cold of the North. We can ride them in the depths of Winter, in the middle of a snowstorm and they would still see us safely to where we need to go. And I am a more than able horse woman, my Lord Father himself once said that I seemed half a horse myself."

"I cannot speak to the horses of the North's breeding, but I am sure that they are as fine as you say that they are my Lady. But Storm's End has many fine horses as well. Once you are it's lady, the run of the stables is yours. I never asked, does my Lady like to hunt?" Robert asked and for a moment, it warmed Ned's heart to see, it seemed as though that had caught Lyanna's interest.

"I do, Father doesn't always allow me to come on them though. And I must always ride side saddle and only as company for the men. I imagine that I am better than any of them with a bow and arrow." Ned had seen first hand his sister's skills with the bow, she was better with a sword if he was going to be honest and even that needed some work, but she could make the targets more often than not.

Lya had been nine, the first time she had asked their father if she could actually hunt for some of the meat with the men. Instead of only witnessing it and keeping the men company. He hadn't been there at the time, he was being fostered in the Eyrie but from what Brandon had related to him in his letters, he wasn't sure that he had wanted to be there.

The stones of Winterfell had apprently shaken at the sounds of their screaming and by the time it was done, Lyanna had been sent to her room without supper and in tears. Yes, in many ways he had been glad that he had not been there. Ned had always been obident, dutiful to his Father. When he had been told that he was going to the Eyrie, he had not sobbed or begged to stay as he imagined most boys his age had done when they were told it was their time to be sent away from home, he accept it sliently and only wept at night when no one had seen.

But for all of that, Lyanna was his baby sister. If he had been there when his Father had sent her away crying he wasn't sure what he would do but he was sure that he would never forgive his Father for making her cry. If Robert would allow her to actually partake in the hunting, to be armed and allow her to enjoy it the way she wanted, then it might turn out they were better suited for one another than Ned could have ever hoped for.

Robert, thankfully and rarely for once did not wind up letting Ned down, he smiled at Lyanna as he spoke. "My lady, if you would like to ride and hunt with me with a bow in hand then I would not complain at all. I'd always love some company and mine own Lady Mother went hunting with my Lord Father often, she always enjoyed it and brought back the largest deer I had ever seen."

That seemed to have cheered Lya up and for perhaps the first time Ned saw her look at Robert in a way that could be described as warm and Robert's chest seemed to swell in pride. His friend turned to face him. "Ned, would you mind coming with me for a walk? There's something I need to talk to you about, actually to be honest they are a couple of things."

Ned frowned and was about to decline, not because he didn't want to talk to Robert but because he had already promised his own family that he would go for a walk with them, when Elia came forward and rested her small hand against his larger arm. "You go Ned, it's been too long since you've both seen one another. We can go for a walk on our own, our guards shall be more than enough to keep us safe. And of course, we shall Benjen with us as well."

His baby brother's face flushed red at the faith his brother's wife showed in him and Lyanna scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Yes, thank the gods old and new that we shall have Benjen with us. If we are threatened by a drunken dwarf pox then we need feel no fear, but anything worse and we shall be glad for the guards."

"Oh, you think that's like to happen?" Benjen asked as he narrowed his eyes at Lya. "I mean, that we might meet such a dwarf here at Harrenhal? I mean, obviously, he would be upset that Father changed his mind about the betrothal but do you honestly think all the way here to get you back? If so, don't worry. I won't stand in your way, how could I stand against such an act of passion?"

"All right, both of you stop it now." Ned spoke, trying his best to not sound too amused. He got the sense that he had failed in that somewhat as both of them turned to look at him with grins on their faces. "Both of you make sure that you stay with Elia and don't try and run away from the guards or slip away or crawl away or what ever way you would try and get away from them. Both of you rememeber that you are still members of House Stark and what you do and how you both behave reflects on the rest of us, alright?"

Benjen nodded and Lyanna sighed but all things considered Ned know that was the best that he could truely hoped for. Elia set out to gather furs for all of them to wear and Ned turned to follow Robert out of the room, making their way down the tower until they reached the ground level. They walked through the courtyard and back out into the grounds, dodging out of the way of serving men rushing back and forth into the castle.

"Ah Ned." Robert said with a sigh as they walked through the city of tents that had sprung up outside the walls of Harrenhal, a massive grin on his face that Ned had seen thousands of time since they were boys. "Your sister gets more and more beautiful every time I see her, I still don't know how someone as ugly as you can be releated to someone who looks like Lyanna, and you somehow managed to get Elia Martell as well, the gods do like their jests."

"You're not funny." Ned said, though Robert's sense of humour was something that he had long ago grown used too. If you didn't get used to it, then you were as like to slip into his room in the middle of the night and throttle him. "Forgeting how ugly I am for the moment, what is it you actually wanted to talk about? I'm surprised your not trying to spend every single possible moment with her."

"There will be time for that later, what I wanted to talk to you about was...well, I wanted you to have a talk with Lyanna about something for me." Robert suddenly looked completely unsure, it was a rare look for his friend to have say the least. "You know how you did a toe into your bathtub, to make sure that it is not burning hot or icy cold? Well, I want you to see how Lyanna is, when I suggest bringing Mya to Storm's End."

Ned's first thought was that he was surprised his friend would even consider brining his baseborn daughter to live at his castle with his new lady wife, he knew that Robert was fond of the baby girl he had sired on a common woman who had been in service to Lord Royce at the Gates of the Moon. Ned remembered the sweet little thing, with her thick black hair and the dark blue eyes that could only mark her of Baratheon blood, even her nose looked something like Robert's.

Little Mya Stone was sweet, and if Robert wished to take more responsiblity for the girl than Ned couldn't be prouder. But Lyanna...Ned was never the best with lies, with falsehoods, with twisting the truth. So many different words and sayings and ways putting it when it was all the same thing in the end, not speaking the truth. And Ned had never held with that, the best he had ever been able to do with that was simply not speak at all when commanded too.

But for Robert, and for Lya, he could not and would not hold his tongue and he would not tell no lies. "Robert I...Lyanna is more than ready to marry you, she knows that it is her duty." That itself was not a lie, after their Father had suffered his attack, Lyanna had thrown away almost all her childish notions and had readied herself for the marriage, even if she did not await it with baited breath. "But having said that, one of the things that concerned her the most was the fact that you did have a bastard in the Vale. She's afraid that you would not keep to one bed."

Robert looked like Ned had turned to face him and hit him in the jaw, shock blossming on his face and flushing it red. "That's stupid Ned, she's beautiful. Why would I want any other bed, any other woman, when I have Lyanna waiting for me? What does Mya have to do with anyway? Lyanna doesn't have to have anything to do with her if she doesn't want too."

"I know that." Ned began slowly, but if he knew his sister at all then it would be unlike her to simply ignore the girl. Lyanna might even try and take a more active hand when it came to raising the girl, it would certainly not be unheard off for noble ladies to oversee the education of female bastards, they were even less likely to inherit than male bastards after all.

But even for all of that, Ned got the sense that his friend did not quite understand the problem. Father had always said that they all had a drop of the wolf's blood in all of them, and Lya and Brandon each had far more than a drop. And with the wolf blood came a certain pride as well. "I fear that Mya being there, in the halls would be a constant reminder to her. That you did take another woman's bed."

"We weren't even betrothed back then." Robert said with a sound that was a mix between a growl and groan, he picked up speed as he walked so it seemed that he was almost marching away from Ned. Thankfully, he had always been quicker than Robert and was used to running after him so it did not take much effort at all for him to be able to keep up with him. "Why I am to blame for that? What proof of that is it for her to judge me?"

"She is not judging you, she's just concerned that's all. She wishes to be happy in her marriage, as we all do." Ned had been lucky in that, more than he had ever truly expected. In Elia, he found his happiness. Someone he could speak too and someone he could say nothing with, a mother to his children and a gentle touch to help guide him. Ned loved her more than any words could say, if he was a singer or a prince then mayhaps he would be able to find the ones that could put how he felt for her out into the world.

For now, all he could hope for was that she knew.

"I'll make her happy Ned, I promise you that I will." Ned didn't doubt for a moment that Robert believe every word that he said, that he would do his best to make Lyanna happy. But it was never so simply, Robert continued on. "But Mya is my daughter and I want her with me at Storm's End, I will have her brought to Storm's End. Lya will understand."

Ned could only hope that Robert was right, though he wouldn't be the first time he sounded sure of something and had turned out to be completely wrong. But this wasn't Robert being sure that they would be able to get to the kitchens, lift some blueberry tarts and get back to their rooms without being caught and instead being caught blue handed by Lord Arryn, no, this was his sister's happiness that his friend was taking into his hands. Ned didn't know what to do with that.

He considered punching him in the jaw but that had always been Brandon's way of solving a problem and all it would result in was Robert hitting him back, and while a brawl might be the only way to actually get through to Robert and make him actually listen to him, it was also just as likely to end with Ned having all of his teeth knocked out of his mouth and his eyes swollen shut.

So, Ned simply frowned and continued to follow Robert as they continued to make their way through the long rows of tents. Men of every kingdom diced and drunk and quarrled among themselves. Men from the Stormlands caught sight of their lord as they sat around a fire, roasting a haunch of a goat on a spit, and invited them to take part in it. It was burnt and bloody but Robert laughed and devoured his portion.

Robert glanced as two camp followers passed them by and Ned sighed, squires were washing the clothes of their knights in a small stream near the edge of the camp and a party of riding men rode out, dressed in light armour and armed with bows and boar spears to hunt. The whole area thrummed with life, laughter and curses filled the air with abandon.

After wandering around the tent city for a while longer, and after Robert had lost far more coin than any man should have against a Dornishman at dice, they decide to make their way back into the castle itself. The day was drawing on to the end at any rate, the sky turning a mix of pink and orange and the more subtle chill that had pervaded through out the morning was becoming more and more noticeable.

When Ned and Robert finally arrived back at the apartments that had been gifted to the Starks for the duration of their stay, there were two new guests in the chamber alongside Elia, Lyanna and Benjen. One was the tall, slim and elegent figure of Oberyn Martell. His good brother was dressed in robes of orange and gold silk with a belt encircliing them at the middle, he bent his head in greeting and smirked at them.

Oberyn's presence was in truth not much of a surprise to him, they had all seen the speared sun of House Martell flying high above the castle as they approched it. It would have to Oberyn who would come to represent the ruling house of Dorne as he had learned from his wife, Doran rarely left Dorne for anything. He was glad of that, Ned was not a violent man by any means, nor was he someone who gave into his anger readily when he did feel it. And if he did feel it and he did give into it, more often than not he showed it by being cold and distant to those he was angry with.

But if he saw Doran Martell right now, Ned was fairly sure that there was nothing and no one in the world that would stop him from marching over to him and knocking all of his teeth out. The memory of how he, his wife, his siblings, Lady Ashara and that little girl had all been used as pieces on a game board in the game between his Lord Father and the Prince of Dorne still filled him with a rage the likes of which he hadn't known, only the rage he felt when he had been seperated from his wife could compare.

Oberyn had been just as furious as he had been, only he had been the one to show it. They were very different in that. One that raged as bright as the sun, burning all those who stood against him. The other as much a cold and unforgiving obstacle as the Wall.

Hm, perhaps it turned out that he did have the soul of a poet after all. Who would have guessed?

At any rate, his good brother was not the suprising one in the room. That title belonged to Howland Reed. Like most of the Crannogmen, the heir to Greywater Watch was short. The only one in the room he stood taller than was Benjen while Lyanna could tuck the man under her chin.

There was something delicate about the man, something that reminded Ned of those porcelain dolls that some of the younger daughters of the lords of the Vale carried with them whenever their Lord Fathers or Lady Mothers brought them to court at The Eyrie or the Gates.

Howland's skin was pale, his head was topped with a nest of dark brown curls and his eyes were the colour of moss that was growing on the rotted tree trunk sticking out of a bog. A splattering of freckles ran over the bridge of his nose. An ugly purple bruise that was already turning a mix of a sickly yellow and green covered half of his face, blossoming out from his eye.

Elia was tending to that, a bowl of some herbal mixture in her hand and a damp cloth in her over, dipping it into the bowl and gently dabbing at the bruise, a look of both deep concern and deep concentration on her face as she tended to the other lord's wounds. Lyanna was sitting on the other side of him, smirking and for a moment Ned wondered if Benjen would have to be betrothed to a girl from the Neck in order to stop an incident.

"Lord Eddard." Howland spoke, his voice subtle, like a breeze of wind blowing through the branches of the trees. "I beg your forgiveness for coming into your apartments without your leave, sadly Lady Lyanna and Princess Elia were both most insistent that I return with them, my wounds apparently needed the most immediate tending too."

"Stop squirming." Elia commanded, sounding for a moment so much like Old Nan that Ned had to bite his lip to stop himself from chuckling. After a moment, he cleared his throat roughly and spoke.

"If you have my Lady Wife's permission to be here Lord Howland, than you have my permission to be here. Though I hope you know that you always have that." Ned focused his attention on the bruise, it did look painful. "Might I ask my Lord exactly what happened to his face that required you to be taken under my wife's most tender care?"

"I gained the attention of some squires, rough boys. All taller than me, all broader in the shoulder and all to old to be squires as well." Howland explained as Elia finished dabbing at the bruise and then placed the bowl down on the ground. "So, they see someone smaller than them and they try and make themselves feel bigger. And how better that it could be a "bog devil." Nothing that any crannogman is unused to, whenever they venture south of the Neck."

"At any rate. I owe the fact that my wounds are not worse to Lady Lyanna." Howland spoke as he turned his head to Ned's sister, any other lady might blush and try to dissuade such a notion. Lyanna merely looked up around at all of them. smirked and nodded proudly. "Fools the lot of them, they should have known better to tangle with a she wolf."

Robert gazed at Lyanna like she had just suddenly grown a second head. "My Lady, did they hurt you? Give me their names and I'll make sure that they aren't able to even look at you again."

"There's no need my Lord, thank you." Lyanna spoke as she rolled her eyes slightly while picking at a loose thread on the sleeve of her dress. "They were so shocked when I ran up at them, screaming at them that they were kicking my Father's man. And they weren't armed, so when I grabbed the tourney sword and started swinging at them, they ran for the hills."

Ned stared at his sister before he glanced at Elia, his wife nodded. He turned his attention to Howland, who nodded as well. Oberyn started laughing first, then Lyanna, then Robert and Benjen and then Ned and then his wife and then Howland. It took all of them quite a few moments before they were able to calm themselves, but while the laughter lasted Ned enjoyed it. Laughter had been a rare thing, as of late.

Once the room had fallen back into silence, broken only by the odd chuckle here or there, Oberyn was the first to speak again. "Sadly, I can not say the reason I am here is so amusing or interesting, I simply saw the direwolf of Stark flying so proudly, and thus came to see my sweet sister once again. And it seems I am in need to offer congratulations. Only one behind me now Elia, well, near enough."

It was only then that Ned noticed that Elia had discarded her furs and replaced her orange silk dress with a lighter white one that did not cover the slight swelling of her stomach. "Thank you Prince Oberyn, I shall make sure to write to you when the child is born."

"So long as you name it after me." Oberyn spoke and Elia rolled her eyes, muttering something under her breath that Ned could not quite make out but was fairly sure was not complimentary.

"I must offer my congratulations as well my Lord, Princess." Howland spoke again, glancing down at the swelling of Elia's belly. He looked up at and into Elia's eyes, smiling softly. "Princess, might I?"

"Please, feel free Lord Howland." Elia said with a smile and placed her own hands on her lap and Howland smiled again, lifting his own hand and resting it on the swell of Elia's belly. Howland hummed and started to sing something in a language that Ned did not understand, he knew that those of the Neck had been closest of all with the children of the forest, interbreeding with them, perhaps something of their old tongue survived as well.

After a few more moments Howland stopped singing and brought his hand back and placed them on his knees, smiling all of the while. "She'll be strong, a Queen even if she wears no crowns."

Elia blinked slowly and Ned felt as confused as she looked. "I beg your pardon, Lord Howland?"

The Crannogman simply shocked his head, a small laugh escape from him then. "Begging your pardon, Princess. I did not mean to confuse you, simply got lost in my thoughts for a moment." Howland reached down to the floor and picked up a bag made of weaved together reeds and retrieved a conch shell, a light pink all the way through. "A gift for you, my Princess. For the child, in truth. Give it to her-to them, when they are old enough."

Elia reached out and took the shell, running her fingers over the surface of it before she placed it down on a small side table with a smile. "Thank you, Lord Howland. I will, you have my word."

"Well, this is all very, very interesting but it's late and I am starving. The feast should be starting soon." Robert spoke and Ned realised he was right, his own belly was also starting to grumble from the lack of food and demanded to be filled. Robert, Oberyn and Howland all left them right there and then to return to their quarters, or in Howland's case his tent, to go and get changed while the Starks changed in their apartments.

The Great Hall of Harrenhal was massive, Ned had never seen anything like it in his life before. It looked like all of the people of Winterfell could find a place in the hall and still have room to spare for twice that number once again. There were already a great number of people in the halls, dogs were wandering in between the tables looking for any scraps of food that would fall on the floor.

Their table was close to the dais, enough to show respect but also Ned noticed far enough away that they were unlikely to draw the attention of the King. Speaking of the monarch, he was sitting at the top of the dais and looked as wretched as he ever did, The Queen sat at his right, staring off into the distance but seeing nothing.

Lord Whent sat at the King's left, an expression on his face that Ned could not read but he did not look so happy as such an honour, to have the king dine at his table, would suggest. Not that Ned didn't understand, few wanted the king in attendance any more at their feasts. Even the prayers said to them were done whispered under breath.

Oddly enough, Princess Cersei was at the table but Prince Rhaegar was not. There didn't seem to be any sign of the crown prince at all and for a moment Ned wondered if he had been left behind in the capital. But he could not see why the king would have done that.

His wonderings as to where the Prince was ended soon enough as food began to be brought into them, a feast worthy of a king there could be no doubt about that. They began with a crab stew that had been freshly seasoned with pepper, an onion and leek broth came next and then a carrot soup season with the seeds of a ghost pepper from Dorne, so very hot that it burned his tongue and forced him to down all of his ale to quench the fire it had started. With all of them came bread and butter, the bread was fresh from the ovens and the butter melted and turned the bread golden as soon as it was spread.

Then came suet puddings seasoned with mustard and filled with beef and parsnips with an ale gravy, then came a pie filled with seven different fish with each of their heads poking through the crust. Another fish stew came, creamy and seasoned with saffron from the east which turned the creamy stock it was all served in into a light yellow.

Dressed water fowl was the next course, ducks that had been honeyed and swans that had been stuffed full of mushrooms and pine nuts, geese serving onions and peas and bread that had been fried in the goose's fat.

And once they were all stuffed with the great feast that had been, the sweet came next. Golden pastries filled with stewed apple and stewed pears and stewed raisins, the filling soft and the pastry crisp. A cake that was a deep brown, made from a drink that the Summer Islanders liked to make called rum, tarts and jellies and cream cakes and lemon cakes and lavender biscuits and honey cakes.

Ned had more than enough when the sweet had come, but he had managed a single slice of the rum cake before he gave up. Elia had done better than him, eating one of the pastries, a slice of the rum cake, a small honey cake and a lavender biscuit before giving up and joining him in lethargy. Her head resting on his shoulder, her eyes sliding shut as she hummed in delight.

And through it all, wines and ales were serve. He had tried some of the rum from the summer isles, figuring that if he had liked a cake made from the drink then surely he would like the drink itself. And he did, though the single sip he had of it had burned the back of his throat and sent his head spinning, making him wonder how the Summer Islands were able to walk if they drank this often.

A mushroom dripping fat when flying past his nose and struck against Lya's face, Benjen smirked and Lya looked as though she was about to throw her entire plate in retaliation when suddenly a silence fell on to the hall, all the pipers and fiddlers stopped their playing and the singers bent their heads. A man in a dark cloak strode forward from the corner of the room and took his place on a raised platform in the middle of the hall, a large ornate harp in his hands.

As soon as the prince took his place, and Ned knew that it was the prince for who else would have such a harp and take the pains to hide their identity?, he began to plucked at the strings of his harp, filling the hall with the sweetest of music. Ned had no ear for these things, he had no idea what was meant to sound good but this surely did. At least to him.

The music faded away, leaving a lingering note and there were many eyes that were wet. Many ladies were openly weeping, among them the Queen and Princess Cersei themselves. Elia brought up her hand to brush away a few stray tears, but the most shocking to him was that Lyanna was weeping as well. Holding nothing back.

The prince pulled back his hood, revealing his silver hair and many delighted gasps ran through the halls but Ned wasn't watching the Prince. He kept his attention solely on Lyanna. "Lya, are you alright?"

"I'm fine Ned, worry not. It was just a sad song, naught more."

Benjen of course took that moment to say something teasing, Lyanna replied by throwing her wine into his face. At that point Ned, considering the snoring that was coming from his shoulder, decided that it was for the best if they slipped away from the feast now and told both of his siblings just the same. Benjen nodded and stood first, Lyanna following but not before throwing a glance over to the dais.

And that night, and Ned dressed Elia in her shift and held her close to his chest, he could not shake the feeling of dread at the pit of his stomach. He wanted to tell himself it was just paranoia, that it was simply memories of what had happened last time. But even so, he wanted to be back in Winterfell as soon as possible. As soon as the tourney was done.

This was not their place.

This was not his place.

And yet Father was going to send Lyanna south and Ned could only pray that in this one thing, his sister was not like him.

End of Chapter Sixty

Welp, another one done.

First of all, I would like to address a tiny change to canon. According to Meera Reed, Lyanna brought her Father back to their tent. Not apartments within Harrenhal, this was changed because I thought it was odd that members of the greatest house in the North, the Lord Paramount's family, apparently did not have rooms for them ready in Harrenhal itself.

Anywho, that's another one done and dusted and the next chapter should be out before too long. All I'll say for now, is that it's a Cersei chapter but will feature a lot of other characters quite heavily.

I hope you all enjoyed, please leave a follow, a favourite and a review if so. Constructive criticism is always welcome and appreciated.

With a lot of love and many thanks,

DiscordantSymphony