The White Wolf of Winterfell

Chapter 13: Tourney I

The Tourney being held at King's Landing was to soon become the most outlandish and exuberant in all of history. Every single Lord was there, and all of those who thought of themselves as important managed to attend—no doubt because of King Aerys' arrogance in making it a large party for himself. A sort of announcement that he was king and all the rest were below him. A childish announcement, no doubt, but the people didn't care or mind. They were there for the big games, for the jousts and melees. And for their schemes, they were all planning. One of them, where all the great noble houses were trying to outdo each other without luck, was to bring Prince Rhaegar to their side. A failure from the beginning, since it seemed that the prince had eyes only for the White Wolf of Winterfell.

Even her enemies had to admit that she was undeniably stunning, as her beauty was unrivalled across the seven kingdoms. Nevertheless, Galadriel had other plans in mind as she prepared herself for quite a long day ahead of her. But before that, she stared down at her sister, Lyanna, who was trying her hardest to look innocent.

"Lyanna..." Galadriel called as Lyanna whined, just like her direwolf.

"Gali! Please! Let me compete!" Lyanna pleaded with her older sister, who only chuckled at her plan. "No one would ever know! I even had a name for it!"

"The Knight of the Laughing Tree?" Galadriel answered, staring at her in silence and amusement. "Well, that's actually a good name, now that I think about it." Galadriel nodded.

"See! You even like it!"

"Lyanna..."

"Please, Gali! Please, just a few rounds! Just a few, that's all I want! I want to ride! I want to swing the sword! I could do that back in the North, but here... I feel trapped!" Lyanna once again pleaded with her older sister, who could understand why her little sister was so on edge. Back in the North, Galadriel has worked hard to remove some of the stigmas that come with female fighters or competitors. She created small tournaments where girls of all ages could compete in archery, jousting, melee, and more. It wasn't necessarily because she was a fervent and progressive woman. It was mainly so Lyanna and many others like her could finally have some freedom.

Ah, so that makes me a bit of a feminist? Galadriel pondered. It was still too soon to try and change the world on that matter. But step by step, it was changing. However, for the time being, some Northerners are keeping quiet about it.

"It's not that I don't want you to do it or that I don't trust your abilities, but we are in the South right now. People would grow suspicious of an unknown knight suddenly appearing. And the Mad King is, well, mad. I don't want you to be in danger from his madness."

Lyanna just gave her best puppy eyes she could muster. She held Galadriel's hand and sniffed loudly like she used to do when she was a child. Galadriel's resolve crumbled at the sight of her little sister pleading. Galadriel could be quite a pushover.

"Lyanna..."

"Please," Lyanna's sobs were fake and Galadriel knew it, but it seemed it didn't matter in the end.

Indeed, Galadriel was concerned for her sister. The venture was risky, but entertaining all the same. So, in a very uncharacteristic way, Galadriel just grumbled. "Alright, Lyanna. You can compete, just in the joust."

"Yes!" Lyanna exclaimed happily, hugging her sister tightly. "I love you! You're the best sister I have!"

"I am your only sister, you dummy," Galadriel chuckled. "However, the moment someone suspects something or if things begin to spiral out of control—"

"I'll stop immediately!" Lyanna replied with a big goofy smile. "Don't worry! I just want to slam someone into the ground in the joust. Just one! Then I'll be fulfilled!"