The Little Wolf

Chapter 12 | The fate of the Princess

"I shall do as I'm told," Lilia says facing her feet. Joffrey grabs her face and disgust fills her body. He had a proud smile on his face as if was proud to see the damage he had done in that girl.

"Lady Stark," she heard someone calling her and before she had the time to bow, the woman prevented her from doing so. Instead, she hugged her and whispered something in her ear. "Protect my child"

"I will, Your Grace," she said as she looked at the woman. She had never seen the Queen so unhappy. The woman was trying to be strong – clearly – but also failing. Cersei loved her children more than anything in the world, Lilia wondered if that was what to be a mother meant. She looked over at Tyrion and smiled dutifully. "Farewell, Lord Hand. I shall accompany the Princess in the adventures to come"

"I'm sure you will, Lady Stark," he said. Myrcella was already on the boat waiting for her. Lilia got inside and her direwolf was already there. As she looked at Tyrion she noticed his smile that she returned as well, yet very discreetly.

Myrcella was crying as the boat sailed to the ship that would take them to Dorne. Lilia looked at her sister, as unhappy as one could be next to Joffrey, and the Queen ragefully looking at the boat as her daughter was taken away from her.

Lilia was sad for Myrcella, who was being shipped off somewhere else, saying goodbye to her family. They were mainly awful, at least in Lilia's eyes, but they were still her family, and it was very hard for her to see a mother and her daughter being separated from one another. Even if Tyrion had given her the way out and the Queen had been helping her, they were still meaning to kill her family and she couldn't know how long that wave of kindness would last for.

As the boat reached the ship, they were welcomed on board by the captain. Myrcella was still in tears and once they were alone, Lilia hugged her tight. She didn't deserve to be in such pain, no little girl deserved something like that, let alone a sweet one.

"Myrcella, look at me" the blonde beauty looked at Lilia who smiled sadly. "I know that you're scared and it's alright, you're going to a whole different place with strange people after all"

"I miss my mother and my brothers," she said and Lilia gave her a comprehensive look. She wondered how someone could miss Joffrey, but given that he was her mother, she would have to take that. "I don't even know who this Trystane Martell boy is, how am I supposed to marry him?"

"When I first came to King's Landing, my father promised me to Willas Tyrell," Lilia told her, who cleaned her tears as she listened to the story. "I didn't know him and I refused to marry him. Gods be good, to say that I didn't know the boy was an understatement, I had never seen him in my entire life! All I knew about him was that he was cripple with a bad leg! Then, I realized something very important. He was doing that for my own good"

"How is marrying you off to someone you don't even know and have never seen good for you?" she asked out of confusion. Lilia knew she had to put all the resentment she felt towards her family aside and give her good advice. She knew that even if the advice was genuine, she was in debt with the Lannisters and that was a way of paying her debts with them.

"He knew that it was the best thing to do. He wanted me to marry an honourable man, with principles and who would be a good husband to me" she explained to her. Lilia wished she had married Willas straight away. A lot of pain and suffering would have been prevented and even spared. She would have never gone through the terrors that she had to face. "You might not know Trystane, but you must give him a chance. Your uncle could have given your hand to other boys but yet, he chose Trystane and he must have had his reasons"

"The war" she stated. Lilia knew that marrying Myrcella to Dorne was a strategic move, but she also didn't believe that Tyrion would send her away blindfolded. She knew he had his reason, otherwise, he could have sent her away to the Eyrie or to Theon or to anyone else really.

"Maybe" Lilia agreed, making Myrcella cry even more. "But I don't think your uncle would risk your happiness and security just for strategic means. If it were like that, then he would have sent you to the Eyrie, in order to marry Robin Arryn. After all, his father served your father as Hand of the King for many years! His mother is my aunt, the chances of joining my family would be bigger than the ones of Dorne joining them"

"Robin is a little... odd" she confessed. Lilia had never met her cousin, so she couldn't agree or disagree. Myrcella wasn't as envious or mean as her mother, so she didn't believe that she was hating on the boy just for fun. She knew that Myrcella had her mother's beauty, but none of her nature. It came to her as a relief, knowing that she was serving someone who wouldn't hurt her for convenience. "I don't know if I would like to marry him"

"Well, I guess your uncle took that into consideration" she washed away her tears and smiled a bit. "See? Give Trystane a chance, and then you shall have an opinion on the matter. I've heard that sometimes arranged marriages work better than those out of love"

"My father and my mother were arranged" Myrcella pointed out. Lilia understood what the little girl was trying to tell her. She knew that the King mistreated and humiliated the Queen, Myrcella grew up watching that happening in the sidelines. It must have been hard and it must have given her a different perspective of marriage. "So are my brother and your sister"

"Your father was a King and your brother is a King. Kings are different than men. They were men once but the weight of power and duty give them other resposabilities that we are not intituled to question" Lilia pointed out as Myrcella looked down at her feet. "My mother was to marry my uncle but he died and she had to marry my father instead. They had only seen each other once and they had barely spoken. Yet, they built their love through the years. It didn't just happen, they built it stone by stone. They loved each other very much and they were very happy"

"Thank you, Lilia," the girl said sincerely as they both hugged each other. "I'm glad that uncle Tyrion decided to make you come with me"

Lilia smiled as she heard that. Tyrion had sent her away so she could have her chance of going away from Joffrey, just as she had wanted. For a moment or two, she wondered if she could forge an alliance with some Dornish Lord and never go back to King's Landing. But then, she was reminded of Sansa, and things took a turn. She couldn't leave her sister alone.

On the other hand, if she talked to the right people, perhaps she would be able to take Sansa out of King's Landing and to safety. She had promised she would get her sister out of there, she had to keep that promise!