Joanna was found as an infant in the North and brought to Lord Eddard Stark. At his behest, she grew up there with his children and was trained. When the king comes to Winterfell, her whole life changes, because there is more to her than she thought...
The weather and visibility were getting worse, just as it was getting colder. The young woman in the carriage pulled her coat tighter around her shoulders and wrapped it around her infant as best she could. Her little newborn, not even three months old and already travelling. The little girl with the shock of blonde hair and the light blue eyes would truly become a beauty.
The young woman looked out of the window. Nothing to be seen but forest far and wide. This was definitely not how she had imagined the journey. Her husband had already ridden ahead to eliminate any dangers. Alynna knew he didn't want to spend too much time with her, for he was still hurt that his first wife had met such an untimely death.
Yet he had married Alynna and fathered a child with her. The child was the only thing that gave her courage at this time. She reached for the fine gold chain the child wore around its neck and gently ran her thumb over it. It is a small round gold plate which has been embellished with ornaments. The little girl's name is engraved and it dangles around her fine neck.
Suddenly the carriage stopped abruptly. Alynna wondered what was going on. She looked out of the window but could see nothing. It had become dark by now and her husband was still not back. Suddenly she heard shouting. It came closer and closer and she got scared. She hugged her daughter closer and hesitantly opened the door. "My lady! Hide yourself! There are raiders!" one of her guards warned her. Shock was written all over Alynna's face. "Go on! They'll kill you and your child if you don't!" he shouted at her and Alynna ran into the forest without thinking much about it. She didn't know where she was running, but she felt the panic creeping further into her bones with each step.
She heard the raiders reach her guards and turned around briefly. What she saw, however, only shocked her more. There were so many of them. A lot of them. And they had just brutally decapitated one of her guards. A scream escaped Alynna, which drew the attention of some of the raiders. She ran for her life, but the attackers were close on her heels. She was not only afraid for her life, she was more worried about her daughter. This could not be the end of her. Then an idea came to mind. She knew she couldn't escape the raiders, but maybe she could save her little girl's life.
She packed the little bundle in everything she could find on her body, cloths, her cloak and her petticoat, so that the little girl would be warm enough and not freeze to death right away. Alynna knew that this would be the end of her, so it didn't matter if she froze or not. She hid the bundle under a thick fir tree. Fortunately, the little girl was asleep. Alynna looked at her fine little face one last time and then ran in the other direction. The pursuers had come very close in the meantime and had surrounded her. The one who seemed to be their leader came closer to her. He took her chin in his hands and looked her in the eyes. "Well, look at that. What have we here? A lady all alone in the forest?" Alynna's tears were already coming and she was sobbing. This was the end of her. The leader grabbed her roughly by the arm and pushed her head-on to the ground.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
" Farewell..." Alynna cried, looking in her baby's direction one last time and whispering her name.
"Joanna!"
*****
A/N: Hello everyone... This is my first English-language publication of my story. I hope you like it.
I also published the story in German on Wattpad, so don't be surprised ;) By the way, I'm not a native English speaker, so excuse any spelling as well as word mistakes.
I welcome any comments or remarks on my story and am also open to constructive (!) criticism. So then, I hope you enjoy the story!
