A Dragon In Wolf's Clothing ~A Game of Thrones fan fiction~

Chapter Nine: The King's Road

"Lyanna, you haven't smiled once since we left Winterfell," Sansa commented over breakfast, one week into travelling along the King's Road.

Lyanna looked down to her empty plate, grabbing a bread roll from the middle of the table. She tore it to pieces and, looking up to Sansa and Arya, fed it to Winter, which made her sister's faces fall. Lyanna hadn't eaten much since they had left. In fact, Sansa was right, Lyanna's face had been sullen the entire ride so far.

Lyanna had had a miserable time so far. The septa had taken Lyanna back under her wing, which meant that she was forced into riding in the carriage with Sansa and Arya instead of riding alongside her father on Snow. She was made to do needlework instead of fighting, which was just a cause of utter misery after experiencing the joys of fighting. Everything Lyanna did was chastised by the septa. The septa was constantly commenting on how her two months of fighting and training had turned her into a beast  and that she had to be re-trained in the art of being a lady.

Sansa and Arya knew better than to force Lyanna into telling them what was wrong. They both already knew that she was missing Winterfell. They both already knew that Lyanna missed her brother's, especially Jon, who was probably at the wall at that point. They both knew, even though Sansa did not understand, that Lyanna didn't want to marry Jeoffrey. They both knew that she wanted to go back to fighting, which the septa and the queen had not allowed.

The first day on the road, Lyanna had snuck out of the carriage with Arya and their wolves and rode out to a nearby forest with a practice bow and arrows she had taken from one of the guards, trying to teach Arya how to shoot. Lyanna didn't want to use the bow and arrows Jon had gotten her whilst they were on the road in case it got damaged or the arrows got lost. Lyanna shot the trees, practicing her aim until she felt confident enough and began hunting.

At first all she could catch were squirrels and birds, which they cooked on a fire they built and ate them whilst they were out. That was until they saw a hog. It was quite large, but it was young and magnificent. Arya nearly squealed with excitement but kept herself quiet, knowing she would scare it off. They didn't have a shortage of food at camp, but Lyanna imagined how glorious it would look if they came back with that night's meal.

Lyanna strung her bow up, aiming her arrow at its head. She took a deep breath, feeling the feathers of the flights tickle her cheeks. She remembered the day she had shot with Bran, Robb and Jon, all those months ago and she smiled at the memory. When she let her arrow fly and it punctured the hog's head, killing it, Lyanna was still smiling.

Arya rode back to camp with the wolves whilst Lyanna dragged the hog back, grinning the whole time. When she got back, Lyanna heard cheering. She looked up to see Arya grinning at her alongside her father. Lyanna saw all her father's men stood behind them, cheering. As she got closer, she saw people move out of the way as the king came forward towards her.

"Look at this beauty!" he cheered at her, coming towars where Lyanna was dragging the hog. He grabbed Lyanna's shoulder in victory and, just as Lyanna was laughing along with the king, Cersei came forward, looking angry at both of them.

"You call this a celebration, our son's betrothed acting like a beast?" she spat at her husband, glaring at Lyanna.

"Oh, shut up, woman, the girl just caught tonight's dinner!" He said, dismissing the queen, still smiling at Lyanna.

"You are a woman, and a future queen at that, start acting like it," Cersei snapped at her.  "Start acting like a lady, you aren't with your brothers anymore to play at fighting. Legitimised or not, you're still a wild, bastard from Winterfell and you always will be, even if you become queen. The least you can do is act like you are a lady,"