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

Chapter Thirty Six: Freedom

"You set fire to the House of the Undying?" Lyanna exclaimed after hearing Dany's tale of the warlock's house.

"The dragons did," Dany shook her head, seeming more amazed at Lyanna's tale. "You killed three of them!"

"They were slow, and I trained with northmen, Ser Jorah can tell you at how they fight," She smiled, shrugging slightly, leaving the part about her parents and Brandon out.

"We must get back to the main city, Khaleesi," Ser Jorah said, almost breaking the moment between the two girls as they celebrated their victories. Dany turned serious again, and Lyanna noticed how well she wore her title of Queen.

***
Alize was waiting at the gates of Xaro's palace, waiting for them, Rey sat on her shoulder. At the sight of Lyanna and the others, the little dragon flapped her wings excitedly, screeching as she tried to fly. The little dragon still hadn't mastered the art of flying long distance, so she remained on Alize's shoulder, except for when she saw the other dragons. Much to Lyanna's surprise, the little dragon did take off, and with difficulty, managed to fly her way over to Dany's dragons, before landing on Winter's back.

"Lyanna!" Alize cheered, running over to her, hugging her tight.

"Did you think I was going to die?" Lyanna asked, taken aback slightly by this gesture.

"No way, no warlock is a match for you. Did they show you anything - you know, to torture you?"

"My parents, and Brandon, but I'm fine, in fact, this is the best I've felt since Baelor," Lyanna grinned slightly. "Where's Xaro? Dany needs to see him,"

At the mention of Xaro, Alize's eyes went wide, and she swallowed, like she didn't like to think about it.

"He... there's something I need to tell her, he... he's with her handmaiden, the one who disappeared when the dragons and Winter did. I caught the two of them together, and he tried to have me killed, sent a slave after me to kill me,"

Lyanna took Alize's hands, squeezing them protectively, before resting a hand on her back, pulling her into a tight hug. How would she have lived if that slave succeeded, she couldn't help be think. Alize was practically her sister, and she couldn't imagine losing any more family.

"What did you do?"

"I couldn't kill him. He broke down when I disarmed him, begging me not to, telling me he never wanted to hurt me in the first place. I locked him in the cupboard," she explained.

Looking over to Dany, who was retelling the story of burning down the warlock's house, Lyanna sighed. She should have stuck with her, the Queen she'd pledged herself to, but Alize was more important right now.

"Come, show me, I'll deal with him," Lyanna said, walking into the palace, beckoning Alize to follow her as Winter trotted next to her. Glancing down to her wolf, Lyanna thought about getting Winter a collar and a lead. She hated thinking about having the wolf on a chain, but it would keep her safe and keep her close.

Reaching the room, Alize opened the door, revealing obvious signs of a struggle. Tables had been turned over onto their sides, mirrors had been shattered, curtains had been ripped. It looked like a full blown battle sight, especially with the knifes on the floor. Lyanna didn't know if they'd belonged to the assassin or to Alize as she'd tried to kill him, but she didn't really want to ask. Alize moved towards the closet, opening the door and pulled out a man who couldn't have been over seventeen, tied up with shreds of what she guessed was the curtains.

Lyanna recognised him immediately. Dark hair to his shoulders, tanned skin, skinny structure, slave robes. This was no assassin, just a slave, though he was a lot more to Lyanna. She owed her life to this man; he was the one who had taken her to shore when she was drowning from the ship wreck. In the better lighting, she chould see his skin was far lighter than she originally thought, seeming like just a sun tan. His eyes were a piercing blue, a shade reminding her of Lady Catelyn's. Lyanna could see him shaking in fear, especially when a wave of recognition flew over him.

"M-My Lady, I-I meant no harm... I was under str-strict orders from my master Xaro, I would never hurt a lady, especially one from the West. Mercy, please, mercy!" he stammered out, struggling to make eye contact.

"I'm not a lady, but why should I show mercy to someone who tried to kill my handmaiden?" Lyanna frowned. The look on his face showed he didn't truly know, which meant Lyanna couldn't help but sympathise with him.

"I want to live," he said eventually. "I've never lived, only served. I was taken from my home when I was six, and sold off. I've been property my whole life, forced to do things like hurt people because if I didn't they'd hurt me. The best thing that's ever happened to me was saving you from that ship wreck, becasue finally someone spoke my language, and someone thanked me for something I'd done. For the first time in eleven years someone looked at me like I was a human being, and that was you."

"What's your name?" Lyanna asked him. At age six, she was sewing wonky stiches and forced to wear dresses and glared at by Lady Catelyn, but none of that seemed as bad compared to being taken from family to be sold like cattle.

"Eryk," He said, for once looking her in the eye. "I was from a village outside Riverrun,"

"So you were born under a Tully rule?" She couldn't help but grin slightly. "The Tully's are almost a step family of mine, though they'd rather die out comletely than admit that,"

He relaxed a little at her attempt of a joke, breathing out what sounded like a sigh of relief. The way he spoke reminded her of Robb, as well as his eyes. What he didn't have though was Robb's confidence, which had stemmed mostly from having a loving, supportive family around him. Eryk had obviously not had that. He was almost like a puppet, controlled by his masters, never under free will.

"Alize? Untie him," Lyanna asked finally, turning around to see the horrified look on her face.

"You aren't serious? He ould have killed me!" She yelled, gesturing down to him like he wasn't even there.

"Yes, but he didn't. He also saved my life at the ship wreck, meaning I owe him a life debt,"  Lyanna pointed out, untying him herself since she knew Alize wouldn't. "You're free to go,"

He didn't get up, instead he moved to kneel by her. This gesture took Lyanna back slightly, confused as to why he was kneeling. No one had ever kneeled to her before.

"Thank you, my lady," he practically gasped, sounding close to tears.

"I'm not a Lady," she repeated.

"No, but you are to me,"

Just then Daenerys appeared at the door. No dothraki were behind her, or even Ser Jorah, making Lyanna think something was wrong.

"We're leaving," she said simply. "Anything of any worth take it with you, we're sacking the palace," As she spoke, she saw Eryk on his knees, a look of compassion to the slave on her face. "Free all the slaves too, I don't want anyone here left in chains,"

"Of course, Aunty," Lyanna smirked slightly, before turning back to Eryk. "How would you like to come with us? In a few years, I'll be heading back to Westeros, and if you want, I'll take you back to Riverrun then?"

He grinned, getting to his feet. "I'm not a slave anymore?"

"You're a free man," Alize said from behind Lyanna, still wearing a slight glare. "Just don't go taking any killing orders any more and we'll get along fine,"

***

Word count: 1332

***

Hey guys!

Sorry for not updating for a long time but I'm struggling to find time to write. I've started writing on the bus on my way to school and on my way home, and I'm working out a scehdule to update.

I hope you liked this chapter. I really like Eryk (who I imagine as Ewan McGregor because he's a beautiful human). I'm looking forward to writing more of him, especially with Alize, since they're both my OCs.

Please vote and comment and remember to vote for this story in GOTAWARDS Game of Thrones awards. Right now it's entered in Best Original Character, Best Original Female and Best Plot, so make sure you go vote for this and I'll love you forever!

~Olivia