There was trouble brewing in Westeros, Reyna could feel it in her blood, and this wolf was determined to survive the dangerous games being played around her, and try to protect her family in the process.
Reyna sat quietly in the Winterfell library reveling in the silince, the crackling fire giving off some heat.
Reyna was intrigued by the book in her hand, 'Westeros: A history of Houses', she had, of course, borrowed it from her Maester.
Reyna had read this book a thousand times, yet she always found some new information on the Great Houses that she stored for a later time when it became useful to her.
Although her family wasn't involved in the power struggle between the Houses, Reyna would rather have any information she could use within her grasp.
Reyna knew the real power that information held and it was proving more useful now that her father was shipping his children off to be betrothed.
She was startled out of her thoughts by tapping on the window in front of her. She looked up and smirked.
A raven.
She hurriedly opened the window to let the feathered messenger in and untied the piece of parchment from its ankle.
She read through it with care, absorbing every bit of information that the letter gave her, and then, after looking around the stone library she threw it in the fireplace.
She was not going to let information like that lay around to be found by a gossiping maid or worse yet, her Father.
She gave the raven her hand and it hopped cautiously onto it and then her shoulder, where it stayed perched as she walked hurriedly to her room where she could write back to the sender without worrying about prying eyes.
As Reyna sat diligently replying, her light and feminine cursive halfway down the page already before she signed off with an unidentifiable alias. The raven had already finished pecking at the piece of bread that Reyna had snuck from the kitchen for it. She quickly tied the letter carefully to the bird's leg before letting it out the window.
The timing could not have been any more favourable as a heavy knock made the brunette rush to her door.
Opening the door, it was Brandon and Eddard that stood in front of her.
"How can I help you, my dear brothers?" Brandon was the first to reply as Eddard silently waited.
"Well, Eddard and I thought you might enjoy a quick patrol in the woods since we are leaving tomorrow." Reyna smiled at the thought of patrol.
"Right, I'll get my armour on, why don't you two wait for me at the stables." Reyna closed the door, not waiting for a reply.
Chainmail, boots, pants, and shirt on, Reyna was at the stables in no time. Brandon and Eddard smiled at her enthusiasm. Eddard lead Roshyn towards his younger sister, his black mare's lead in his other hand.
"Thanks, Ned!" Reyna said before all three siblings mounted their horses and galloped out of the Winterfell gates.
"So, Ned leaves for the Vale tomorrow and you go Barrowtown, are you excited to see Barbery again?" The sly look on Reyna's face caused Brandon to sigh.
"It doesn't matter, Father is already sending ravens out like mad to Hoster, by next year this time I'll be married to Catelyn and Barbery will probably go to King's Landing to look for a suitor." There was a hint of disappointment.
"What makes it worse is that you haven't even met the Tully girl..." Reyna mused as her eldest brother spurred his horse forward.
"What did father mention about you and I, Rey?" Eddard asked, as his horse came up next to hers.
"Well, he mentioned marrying you to a Dayne and me to a Tyrell or Lannister..." The brunette had a tinge of concern in her voice as she continued to look in front of her.
"Hopefully the Tyrells accept before the Lannisters... Do you know why he is doing all of this?" Eddard glanced at her, her face clouded in thought.
"There is unfortunately only one reason, he wants to make our house powerful enough to go against the Targaryens. Whether it is for protection against them or to wage a war I have yet to learn..." The two stopped for a moment as a growl and the shout of their older brother echoed through the godswood.
Without hesitation, the two spurred their horses on, Reyna and Roshyn ahead of Eddard and Gale.
As Reyna entered a clearing a growl once again broke the silence.
There laid her brother on the ground, his stallion nowhere in sight and a direwolf haunched over growling.
Brandon lifted an arrow and his bow, but with wide eyes and adrenaline coursing in her veins, Reyna sprinted on front of him.
"Don't! Don't! It's bad luck to shoot your own Sigil!" She shouted and Brandon slowly lowered his bow and Reyna turned to face the snarling Dire.
"Hey there, you look hurt." She slowly approached the animal, the Dire still growled but allowed her to approach and to the relief of her brothers, the Direwolf accepted her petting it's head.
"It's been a few years since a dire has been seen, this one is above average," Eddard stated while cautiously watching the wolf.
"Here you go." Reyna held out a piece of dried meat that she had packed.
The Dire sniffed and tentatively grabbed it from her.
The Stark siblings backed away, however, the Dire kept its eyes on Reyna and slowly took a step towards her and then followed as Reyna mounted Roshyn, Brandon sighing as he followed his sister's lead.
"I can't believe I got thrown off!" Brandon said with a huff, causing his younger siblings to chuckle.
"We won't tell Barbery, save you some face." Reyna laughed.
"The Dire is following us!" Eddard shouted. Reyna turned her head and true to Eddard's words there the Direwolf was, panting and sprinting after Reyna.
The siblings made it to the iron gates that protected Winterfell, Direwolf trotting after them.
"Reyna I think you have a new companion." Reyna dismounted and calmly walked to the Direwolf, who once again let her pet it's head.
"You are a good boy." She mused, scratching the wolf behind its ear.
"A wolf that made me lose my horse." Brandon Huffed.
"Well, I'll keep him. Isn't that right Shyam?" Reyna sweetly said. Her brothers sighed.
"Oh no, she named it." Reyna simply chuckled and continued to fuss over Shyam.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
