THE LITTLE PUP (EDITING AND REWRITING)

4.

In the blink of an eye, Winterfell had been overrun by Southerners – Lannisters and Baratheons alike. The Queen stood with the Lady of Winterfell doing... only the Gods knew what they were doing – or perhaps Lilia was just not very interested in knowing that – while the King and the Lord of Winterfell were currently paying their respects on Lady Lyanna Stark. Bran's whereabouts seemed to be a mystery as well, Lilia supposed he was most likely climbing walls or roofs or whatever he felt like as he always would, ignoring the warning of their mother not to attempt it again. Rickon and Arya were playing with the Queen's children, Tommen and Myrcella, and Sansa was talking to some Southerner girls while learning new hairstyles.

Robb, as the heir to Winterfell and the North, had gotten the worst of all the tasks, which was to entertain Prince Joffrey Baratheon.

"What are you doing in here, Lia? Shouldn't you be with the Queen or the Princess or Sansa?" Jon asked her as she approached the stables where he too seemed to be hiding, caring for the horses as though he had no one to do that for him.

"The same that you are, running from the crowds!" her half-brother giggled at her reply. She smiled at him and shrugged, leaning back on one of the many pillars that held the stable together. "Besides, where would I be? I'm too old to play with Princess Myrcella and Prince Tommen. I don't care to know how to braid my hair the Southern way and I don't wish to be around the Prince" she replied in all honesty, taking an apple out of the baskets. They were supposed to be for the horses and she wasn't supposed to eat in between meals but with the royals there, her mother would be too busy to tell her that and an apple wouldn't really make a difference anyway.

"Be careful, Lia. They are everywhere and it seems that the Prince would very much like to enjoy the pleasure of your company" Jon whispered pretending to be worried. They both laughed after a few seconds in silence as his comment sunk in, even if his last remark had not been humorous to her in any way. "Still don't understand why you don't want to be somewhere else with someone else"

"The person she wanted to be with is not in here, don't you see?" she turned to find her older brother. Both her brother laughed in amusement. She narrowed her eyes in contempt and bit her tongue. "You can stop hiding in here, the Queen sent Jaime Lannister to find the little Lord"

"Little Lord?" Lilia quirked her brows. She understood which Lannister he was talking about but still she glared awkwardly at her auburn-haired brother. He scratched the back of his head with a smirk.

"Heard the Hound call him like that" she ignored that and rolled her eyes. "But seriously, I'm sure that everybody noticed you staring at him, Lia"

"Well, I committed no crime and let's say that everybody wanted to see who the famous Kingslayer was. I wasn't alone on that one, Arya looked at him too" she defended herself, taking another bite of the apple and feeding the rest to the horse as she stroke him gently. "I hate it when we have visitors. I can't ride my horse or anything of the sort" she complained boringly.

"You have to be a proper Lady and make our mother proud, isn't it?" Robb asked mockingly. She didn't enjoy the jape and was sure to make a point of that. Jon didn't laugh and Robb soon blushed when he noticed he had overstepped the limits. In an attempt to redeem herself, he went towards her and caressed her hair. "Don't worry, she wouldn't notice anyway. She's too busy talking with the Queen about the changes she felt once she married into the North"

Hearing that didn't come as a surprise to Lilia whatsoever. It seemed that her experience was the only thing her mother could speak about when people from the South headed North. Lilia knew the tales by heart at that point and was tired of listening to the same thing again and again.

"But the King would and since he is already overwhelmed by my presence it wouldn't be too smart to challenge the health of the old man..." she commented. Her brothers were as uncomfortable as she was, not even daring to say a thing, which was quite remarkable for them as they would never hold back from teasing her about things.