Lyon had unpacked her belongings when she reached her chambers. Slowly, trying to keep her fears from churning her stomach. Robert Baratheon was likely on his deathbed. There would be no leaving Kingslanding for a long while yet. Seeing Bran would have to wait. She supposed that was alright. Lyon still had quite a bit of unfinished business.
She left her rooms to wander the halls idly. A guard followed her mindlessly and she did little to pay him any mind. He was the same that accompanied her before- the one who shared the sight of Robert Baratheon's bloodied body. Soon to be a corpse, she thought.
"I wish to see my father." She said to nobody in particular, but the guard suddenly took the lead and she followed. Through the halls, he led her, until they stood before her father's chambers. "Remain outside." She ordered, and the guard relented as she slipped inside without even a knock.
The room was empty. No hair in sight of Ned Stark- he was probably seeing to the King. She decided to sit and wait, even as the door slipped open and a hand found her shoulder. Lyon turned her head slightly and sighed.
"My assignment has been dealt with."
"So it has." Raphael mused. He sauntered to the desk, catching eye of haphazardly strewn paperwork. He sat before her, upon Ned's desk. "You did well, but there's only so much praise I can give you. The body was found almost immediately after. It speaks of sloppiness."
"You never said I had to do anything but kill him."
"In our line of work, there is a reputation to uphold. If his body had been disposed of then no one would know it was a murder. We don't want to guard coming and investigating. If we left everybody we dealt with out in the open we wouldn't be operational, would we?"
"I... I suppose not." She replied.
Raphael beamed. He reached a hand, taking hold of her chin. "Such a good girl. And as assured, your little sister Arya will be kept safe and sound. You have my word. Now, I assume you wish to continue with your work."
Lyon bit back the bile that was rising. "Of course."
"Good, good. There is a woman, Alaya. She's a... competition of sorts. But messy. Very, very messy. She'll likely be tailing noblemen and women who venture into the market. You see, stealing their belongings isn't enough for her. The thrill of the kill sates her for a time, but it's been a while since we've last heard tell of her. Do as you do. Patrol the market place, it won't be strange. Everyone knows Lyon Stark is fond of shopping by now."
Raphael rose as footsteps began to advance down the hall. He lifted his eyes, then they darted to the window. "I'll be seeing you shortly."
His apparel was a blur as he swept out of the window and disappeared, and at the same time, Ned Stark entered his rooms.
"Lyon-" he uttered, brows high in surprise. "What are you doing here?"
It didn't take long for her recollect her senses. "The King lays on his death bed, doesn't he?"
Her forwardness was beginning to deter him, what with the day's occurrences. "Yes."
"And Joffrey will be king?"
Ned came forward at sat at his desk adjacent to Lyon. He eyed the parchment in his hand, shaking his head. "Joffrey will not be king until he comes of age. Until then, Robert has named me protector of the realm in his passing."
"How lucky for us then. Here I was, packing my things when... King Robert Baratheon is marched into the Red Keep, bleeding like a-"
"Lyon."
She nodded solemnly. "Alas, he is my King. May the Old Gods and the New preserve him."
"Yes. Now, is there anything else you wish to speak of?"
Lyon shook her head and rose, eye downcast with her thoughts. "No. I just wanted to be sure. I'll... I'll pray for the King tonight at the Sept of Baelor. I... I think I'll head there tonight."
"As you wish. Be safe, bring an escort."
"Of course, father. Farewell."
She took her leave of his presence, knowing that an escort would be following her whether she liked it or not, and it was typically the ladder. It was as if as soon as her foot was out of the door, she was being followed by her royal escort. An unfortunate damper to her already grim day.
Unfortunately, it was about to get worse.
As requested, Lyon's personal guard left her to her privacy within the Sept, standing outside, and out of sight. Holding to her word, she knelt and prayed for the King's life. Although she didn't consider herself a woman of religion or faith, praying had been a habit she'd acquired when she was younger and it had steadily decayed the more she grew toward Theon Greyjoy. Of course, he hadn't been the best influence. He taught her how to fuck. And then she wanted to learn more, her hunger for the knowledge unsatisfied. Eventually, she knew better than the one that taught her. It shaped her into who she was.
Strange that she was thinking about that now while in a place of holiness.
Strange that she was about to defile the vacant holy ground in many other ways.
The doors to the sept were not small, and so it was rather obvious that the Sept welcomed a newcomer with the telltale creak as it moved open, followed by footsteps. From her peripheral, knelt before one of the towering statues, Lyon could see the auburn-haired woman in tunic and trousers make her way to the outskirt of the room, then her eyes landed on Lyon.
"I hear you've been asking about me. You're that Stark girl, yeah?"
"The one and only." She responded, and came to stand. "And you're Alaya. I'd heard you were pretty but... Well, this is surprising."
"You like what you see then?"
"Quite... You know, I've never made love in a Sept before." She turned her eyes to the marble slab in the middle of the room, then her hooded eyes found Alaya.
The assassin snorted. "So that's what I'm here for? To be some Lady's forbidden entertainment?"
"Who says I wouldn't be the one entertaining you? After all, I've heard some things about you. How you prefer the company of a woman... You aren't the only one. Apparently, you are good at what you do."
"It depends on what you've heard about what I do." Alaya was stepping forward, coming closer as Lyon laid a hand on the marble slab in contemplation.
"I've heard you know how to fuck like no other, and I am a woman who desires forbidden fruits. As are you." Lyon hopped upon the slap, spreading her legs, lifting her dress above her knees and bunching the fabric just between her legs at the base of her hips. Alaya's firm calloused hands came to grip Lyon's thighs. "We connoisseurs, we have to stick together."
"I concur." With a hard pull, Lyon was pulled into Alaya and wrapped her legs around the woman's waist. Their lips met, wild and carefree as Alaya's neediness met with the natural fervor in which Lyon met their rendezvous with.
The only problem now was that Lyon had to kill her.
She let Alaya have her way with her, pulling away the fabric of her skirts, going down and setting her warm mouth against the junction of Lyon's legs and hungrily licking and sucking. It lasted longer than Lyon had expected, but before long, Alaya was suddenly upon the floor, eyes bulging in astonishment.
Lyon fixed her skirts and dismounted the marble slab, wiping herself with a handkerchief, removing residue of Alaya's hunger, and that which was killing her.
"It's only painful for a little while. You'll be dead soon, Alaya. Raphael sends his regards."
Alaya's eyes widened and she struggled to rise, but the life drained from her body before long, and she collapsed, eyes gaping toward the mosaic of the Gods on the ceiling above. Lyon took the woman's arms and dragged her toward one the cleaning closets and pushed the body inside, closing the doors. She wiped her hands upon her skirts and took her leave.
Outside, her escort was waiting.
"I've prayed as much as I can for the King. May her persevere through this trying time."
"Aye." One of the guards agreed, and they began their march back to the Keep.
The bitterness of shame hung around Lyon like a cloak, but she held her head high. All in a night's work. All for her family. She would see this done, and see them safe until the very end.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Hey, this one is a little shorter because I'm writing exams, and my first term of university has been pretty taxing. However, my last exam is on Friday so I'll hopefully be updating more regularly in the next three weeks :)