Alysanne Lannister was, by all accounts, a lion.
When Melissa Blackwood bore six children, each entered the realm with the various dark shades of hair familiar to the Blackwoods, descendants of First Men. The Lannister line was no match. Until Alys...
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Little Alysanne Lannister hiccuped and sobbed as the carriage continued to the North. Her small hands were fisted into her golden yellow skirts as she looked out to the looming, foreign castle they approached. She turned to her mother in panic, pleading one last time. "Please, mother. I'll be good! I'll be good! Please do not leave me here." Alysanne did not know what she did to be sent to Winterfell, but she would never do it again if it meant she could go back home, if she would not be left alone—abandoned—here.
Melissa Blackwood held back the tears in her eyes at hearing her youngest daughter's begging. Clearing her throat of the lump trapped in it, the black haired woman left her seat across from the girl to beside her, softly gathering her eight year old into her arms. "Hush, my sweet girl. You are not being punished, you have done no wrongs." She gently smoothed her golden blonde hair that had been freed from the tight braids and loops of Southron fashion weeks ago. They were no longer in Kingslanding and wouldn't be for quite awhile, she would not allow her daughter to be constrained any further.
Alys looked up at her mother, "Then why are you leaving me here? Why must I leave home?" Melissa wiped away the tears coating her soft, chubby cheeks as she spoke, hiding a wince when Alys referred to the Red Keep as home.
"One day, my girl. One day you will understand why I brought you here. For now, I hope you can find some freedom here—freedom that you could not have there." Melissa knew her words would not satiate her daughter. Alysanne was a force of a girl. Already capable of reading and writing, she had an unquenchable thirst for knowledge and to understand. She desired to read every book, learn every language, know every house and kingdom, master archery and herbology and everything possible.
It was exactly why she'd had to remove her from the Red Keep.
At only eight years, there were already plans and whispers of exploiting her. They spoke of her like a weapon, a pawn in a game of thrones Alys had no idea of existing yet, instead of achild. Alysanne Lannister, born with golden blonde locks and the potential Tywin Lannister had always prayed for but never received in his own children. He would not wait for a child to grow into a woman before he sunk his claws into her and molded her to his every desire.
Melissa prayed and hoped and begged for Winterfell to be far enough, though she knew it never would be. Nothing ever would. But maybe Alysanne would have some freedom or comfort to simply be a girl at this distance. She knew Ned Stark, of his honor and his love for family, just as she knew he'd protect and care for Alys as he did his own. Just as the Blackwoods had a rich history at Kingslanding, so did they at Winterfell. The Starks would not forget that.
The carriage came to a halt and the tears coating Alysanne's face and eyes disappeared with a swipe. Melissa tried not to frown. A child so small and young already trained to protect appearances and prioritize propriety over herself. The woman tucked a stray strand of hair from Alysanne's loose braid behind her ear as a Lannister guard opened the carriage door.
