LYANNA STOOD BEHIND ONE OF THE CHAIRS IN THE DINING HALL. AS MELISANDRE APPROACHED, LYANNA REMEMBERED ALL THE TIMES HER FAMILY WOULD HAVE FEASTS.
"When we had feasts -" Lyanna spoke, not losing her eye contact on the chair Ned used to sit in. "-Our family would sit up here, my father in the middle chair. Warden of the North. The leader."
"And now, Lyanna Snow, you sit in the middle chair." Melisandre walked closer to the table. "Leader of the North."
Before Lyanna could say anything back to her, Davos angrily strided in, holding onto something. He tossed whatever he had to Melisandre. As she looked at it, tensions began to rise between them. "What is that?" Lyanna asked, looking at Davos, who seemed devastated.
"Tell her." He demanded Melisandre. She didn't open her mouth. "Tell her who it belonged to."
"The Princess Shireen." Melisandre finally looked up at Lyanna and Davos.
"Tell her what you did to her." Davos raised his voice. "Tell her!"
"We burned her at the stake." As Melisandre spoke, her voice began to break. Lyanna took a deep breath, glaring at the red witch as she held onto Shireen's toy stag.
"Why?" Davos broke the silence.
"The army was trapped." She admitted. "The horses were dying. It was the only way."
"You burned a little girl alive!" Davos shouted at her.
"I only do what my Lord commands." Lyanna laughed to herself as Melisandre answered.
"If he commands you to burn children, your lord is evil." Lyanna watched as Davos' eyes filled up with tears.
"We are standing here because of him." She reminded him. Lyanna called bullshit on that. "Jon Snow is alive because the Lord willed it. Lyanna Snow is alive because the Lord willed it."
"I loved that girl like she was my own." As Lyanna listened to Davos, her heart broke. Shireen couldn't have been much older than Rickon. And now the two of them are gone. "She was good. She was kind. And you killed her!"
"So did her father." Melisandre's voice had no emotion in it. "So did her mother. Her own blood knew it was the only way."
"The only way for what?" Davos argued. "They all died anyway! You told everyone Stannis was the one. You had him believe it, and then Lyanna killed him. And he didn't come back. You lied."
"I didn't lie!" Melisandre defended herself. "I was wrong."
"Aye, you were wrong." Davos agreed with her. He then turned to Lyanna. "I ask your leave to execute this woman for murder. She admits to the crime." Lyanna turned to Melisandre, who was shaking her head.
"You killed Shireen Baratheon. You killed Renly Baratheon." Lyanna's heart broke, mentioning his name. "Do you have anything to say for yourself?"
"I've been ready to die for many years." She scoffed. "If the Lord was done with me, so be it, but he's not. You know about the Night King, Lyanna Snow. You know the Great War is still to come. You know the army of the dead will be upon us soon. And you know I can help you win that war."
Lyanna walked as close as possible to Melisandre. "Ride South today." She ordered her. "If you return to the North, I'll have you hanged as a murderer." Lyanna looked over at Davos. "And Ser Davos will be the one to pull the rope."
Melisandre nodded her head, placing the toy stag on the table. She turned and silently walked out of the dining hall.
After a few moments of silence, Lyanna grabbed her cloak and walked outside to the wall of the castle. It was snowing much more heavily now. She turned to see both Jon and Sansa walking towards her.
"I'm having the lord's chambers prepared for you." Sansa said, as the three of them watched Melisandre ride off.
"Father and Lady Catelyn's room?" She asked her sister, confused. "I'm okay in my normal chamber."
"You're the Lady of Winterfell." Sansa faced Lyanna and smiled. "The Wardness of the North. You deserve it."
Lyanna rolled her eyes. "Look, I don't care about some chambers, just as long as we are together. That's all that matters."
"We need to protect each other." Jon reminded his two sisters. "We can't fight a war if we don't have each other. We have so many enemies now." He stood in the middle of the two girls, putting his arms around them. "Lyanna, a raven came from the Citadel. A white raven," He let out a sigh. "Winter is here."
Lyanna smiled, looking up at the snow falling. "Well, father always promised, didn't he?"
~~~
Later on, all the lords and ladies gathered in the Great Hall. Lyanna sat in the middle chair, the one Ned and Robb once used to sit. Jon was on her left, Sansa on her right, and Pod standing behind her. She looked around to see Davos, Brienne, Tormund, and Littlefinger among the crowd.
"You can't expect the Knights of the Vale to side with wildling invaders!" Lord Yohn Royce shouted, looking between Lyanna and Tormund.
"We didn't invade." Tormund told him, smirking. "We were invited."
"Not by me." Royce folded his arms, sitting back down.
"The Free Folk, the Northerns and the Knights of the Vale fought bravely -." Lyanna began speaking as she stood up. "- fought together, and we won." She took a quick glance to Littlefinger, who was smirking. "My father used to say we find our true friends on the battlefield."
"The Boltons are defeated." Cley Cerywn stood up and boasted. "The war is over. Winter has come. If the maesters are right, it'll be the coldest one in a thousand years. We should ride home and wait out the coming storms."
"The war is not over." Lyanna exclaimed. "And I promise you, friend, the true enemy won't wait out the storm. He brings the storm." She looked down at Jon, who nodded. Murmurs began to fill the room as Cerwyn sat back down.
Lyanna Mormont stood up and looked around the room. "Your son was butchered at the Red Wedding, Lord Manderly, but you refused the call." As she spoke, the whole room fell silent. "You swore allegiance to House Stark, Lord Glover, but in their hour of great need, you refused the call. And you, Lord Cerwyn, your father was skinned alive by Ramsay Bolton. Still, you refused the call." She looked around the room once again. "But House Mormont remembers. The North remembers." She looked over at the older Lyanna. "We know no queen, but the Queen in the North, whose name is Stark." Little Lyanna gave older Lyanna a small smile. "I don't care that she's a bastard, Stark blood runs through her veins. She'd do anything for the North and the people living in it. She's my queen from this day until her last day." Older Lyanna looked around the room as people began talking. Little Lyanna sat back down.
"Lady Mormont speaks harshly and truly." Lord Manderly spoke as he stood. "My son died for Robb Stark, the Young Wolf. I didn't think we'd ever have a queen in my lifetime. I didn't commit my men to your cause because I didn't want Manderlys dying for nothing. But I was wrong!" He drew his sword. "Lyanna Snow avenged the Red Wedding! She is the Little Wolf! The Queen in the North!" He knelt down, holding his sword. Lyanna's mind went back to the time she proclaimed Robb the King in the North.
"I did not fight beside you on the field, and I will regret that until my dying day." Lord Glover stood up. "A man can only admit when he was wrong and ask for forgiveness."
"There's nothing to forgive, my lord." Lyanna shook her head.
"There will be more fights to come!" He looked around the room. "House Glover will stand behind House Stark as we have for a thousand years! And I will stand behind Lyanna Snow." He bared his sword. "The Queen in the North!" He knelt down beside Lord Manderly, with his sword in his hand.
"The Queen in the North!" was proclaimed as nearly all of the other lords stood up, cheering, raising their swords. "The Queen in the North! The Queen in the North! The Queen in the North!"