LION LEGACY
5. Lyanna Lannister
At King's Landing, a vicious storm had rolled in, one that brought loud thundering and lightning to that looked as though it lit up the entire night sky.
The Lannister-Stark siblings, who were left alone in the capital without their parents, laid asleep during the storm. They never endured such a storm before and the fact that they were left alone made it even worse.
Olyvar, Lyanna, Torrhen, and Rickard were able to endure the loud thundering storm and sleep through it while Joanna felt frightened by the loud crack of thunder and the lightning visible through her chamber window.
After each crack of thunder followed with bolts of lightning igniting the night sky, little Joanna flinched as she laid in bed, whimpering in fear. She never liked storms, she despised them. Her mother and father had laid with her every night there had been a storm since she was younger, knowing how fearful she was of them.
However, now they weren't there and she was left to endure it alone.
Eddard, however, had been roaming the halls that night, unable to sleep well what with his family gone. He felt as though he was the "man" of the castle, now that his father wasn't there.
Each of his siblings had their rooms located in the same large hallway and Eddard found himself walking up and down that hallway for hours during the storm, Grey Wind standing at his side.
He suddenly stopped, however, hearing his youngest sister whimpering in his room.
Without hesitation, he opened the door a crack, peeking in to see his sister crying as she laid in bed.
Eddard sighed in defeat, entering the room before closing the door behind them. Grey Wind, of course, followed him in, however, just as he had been doing since Robb left. The direwolf seemed to refuse to leave Eddard and Lyanna's side ever since Annalys and Robb left the castle.
Joanna soon turned her head, shocked to see her brother entering her room. She continued to stare at him until she heard thunder once more. She flinched, clutching the sheet covering her shivering body.
Eddard let out a sigh, just before he walked closer to his younger sister. He crawled onto her small bed, taking a seat next to where she laid, "Hush now, Joanna," he told her quietly, his voice just a whisper, "It's just a storm," He paused, lightly squeezing Joanna's arm in comfort, "There's no need to be afraid. It can't hurt you. I won't let it."
Joanna smiled sadly, staring up at her eldest brother, "I miss Father," She confessed, tears threatening to spill from her green eyes, "And Mother. They always stayed with me during storms, but they're not here. They're both gone. What if we never see them again?"
"You will see them again, little sister," Eddard promised, a comforting smile on his face, "Until then, I will comfort and protect you. I promise."
"Will you stay with me until the storm ends, Ned?" She suddenly asked him, her voice sounding fragile as she called him by his nickname.
No one else called Eddard "Ned", it brought many people too many sad memories of Robb's father. Joanna was the only one to call him that, clearly oblivious to the origin of his eldest brother's name.
Eddard grabbed Joanna's hand, holding it in his own as he looked down at her. "I'll always stay with you, Jo," He told his youngest sister in a soft tone, "No matter what. I promise."
Joanna smiled softly, continued to hold onto her brother's hand as they both ended up drifting off into sleep.
_____
That same night, Torra stood in her chambers, looking out her window and up at the sky. She smiled softly, turning to look at Aden, who also happened to be in the room. He sat at the foot of her bed, anxiously tapping his foot.
"How can you not like storms?" She found herself asking the boy, turning to face him with a smile on her face.
"I don't know, I've just never been a fan of them," Aden responded, a playful smile on his face, "Clearly, you are, though. This thunder and lightning has you smiling more than I do."
Torra quietly laughed. She playfully rolled her face, beginning to walk toward Aden before sitting down next to him on her bed.
"Perhaps it was because I was born in a horrific snow storm," Torra commented, only to laugh at the expression on her face, "I still can't believe you've never seen snow before."
"What did you expect?" He questioned, raising a brow at her, "I was born in the Stormlands. I've never been North of the Riverlands. The bastard name Storm should tell you that I haven't been many places."
Torra sighed. She tensed up at his mention of the fact that he was a Storm, for reasons unbeknownst to everyone. She shook her head, giving him a warning look.
"I know," was all Aden said, knowing why she looked so worried.
After Torra sighed in defeat, a silence grew between them. She stared at Aden intently, her lips parted slightly, as if she was waiting to something.
Aden turned his head, beginning to smile as he seen Torra's eyes on him. "What's that look for?" He questioned her, chuckling slightly.
"What look?" Torra responded, playing stupid even though she knew exactly what he was talking about.
"That look on your face that tells me you're yearning to tell me something but fear the answer," Aden explained and Torra wanted nothing more than to curse under her breath due to how well he knew her.
"It's nothing," Torra argued, trying her best to avoid eye contact with him.
Aden grabbed Torra's hand, causing her to turn to look at him. "Well, it's clearly something, or you wouldn't be so hesitant to tell me," He pointed out, earning an eye roll from Torra as he began to speak in a mocking tone, "Perhaps you're afraid."
"I am not afraid," Torra complained, a pouty look forming on her face, "I'm not afraid of anything."
"Then, tell me, since there's nothing to be afraid of," He responded and Torra groaned in frustration, realizing what he had done.
He began to smirk in satisfaction, knowing for a fact that his plan had worked. "Whatever it is, you can tell me." He reminded her and Torra slowly nodded.
She took a deep breath, just before turning to face Aden fully. She scooted closer to him, looking directly into his blue eyes. "Why don't I just show you?" She suddenly asked and before Aden could react, Torra cupped his face in her hands and pressed her lips against his.
Aden was shocked for a brief moment due to them never kissing before, but within no time, he began to kiss her back. They continued to kiss until Torra finally pulled away from him.
She stared at him intently, beginning to feel uneasy when she noticed his unreadable expression.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that," Torra complained, turning away from Aden as she began to stand up from sitting next to him on the bed.
"You're right," Aden suddenly replied, grabbing Torra by the hand before pulling her toward him, which caused the girl to fall into his lap, "I should have."
Without hesitation, Aden cupped Torra's face with his hands, kissing her passionately. Torra began to smile, wrapping her arms around his neck as she deepened their kiss.
Soon enough, finally needing air, they pulled away from each other. They both smiled, pressing their foreheads together as they stared into each other's eyes. "You have no idea how long I've been waiting for that to happen." He told them, causing them both to quietly laugh.
"How do you think I feel? It's been taking everything in me not to do it sooner," She confessed, earning a large smile from Aden.
"What made you finally do it, then?" Aden found himself asking Torra, a curious look on his face.
Hearing Aden's question, Torra's smile immediately began to fade. She sighed, pulling away from Aden slightly while still sitting in his lap. "I'm leaving the capital for a bit."
"What?" Aden asked in shock, his eyes wide at the revelation, "Why?"
"I'm going to do something, something that will get me in trouble with my family, but I must. Tomorrow is the last opportunity I have to do it before it's too late," She confessed, an uneasy look on her face, "I'll be gone for quite a while. It's why I invited you to my room tonight, so I could see you one last time before I leave."
"What if I go with you?" Aden suddenly asked, causing Torra to frown at him in confusion, "I could come with you, to wherever you're going. I was only to supposed to be in this city temporarily, but you kept me here. If you go, I go, too."
"When you find out where I'm going, you won't be saying that," Torra complained, smiling softly as she intertwined hands with Aden.
"I will," Aden argued in a calm tone, "No matter where the place is, I'll be fine with it, as long as you're there with me."
Aden began to gradually smile at Torra, just as she did. Torra wrapped her arms around the young boy once more, just before kissing him.
As Aden fell back on the bed, Torra straddled him, kissing him once more. The kiss deepened as Aden placed his hands on her clothed thighs, but made no attempt to dress her.
It confused Torra, who was quick to pull away from the kiss after noticing. She untied her breeches before tugging at the ends of her shirt. She was about to remove her shirt when Aden lightly grabbed ahold of her wrists. "No. Not yet," He suddenly argued, much to Torra's confusion.
"What?" She asked, as if she didn't know what he meant.
"We don't have to do that yet, not any time soon," Aden continued to explain and he became concerned when he noticed the way Torra looked at him as if she had no idea what he was doing, "We've known each other for a year, but we've only just kissed. I don't want to rush this, I don't want to ruin it."
Torra frowned, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion. "But isn't that what most men want to do with the girl they're attracted to like that?" She found herself asking, a deeply puzzled look on her face, "Sex?"
Aden sighed in defeat, trying his hardest not to look saddened by Torra's view of the world and men. "Not all men want sex," Aden argued in a calm tone, forcing a soft smile to form on his face, "Yes, sooner or later, most men want it, but not always right away."
Torra sighed, an embarrassed look on her face as she quickly climbed off of Aden. "I'm sorry. That was stupid of me to assume you already wanted to have sex," She found herself apologizing, which was something she only learned to do recently.
It took her four entire years to finally begin owning up to her mistakes and learning to apologize without being forced to. She grew a lot from the girl she was once was, that was for sure.
"It's not your fault," Aden replied, smiling at Torra as he tried to make her feel better, "I don't want you to have sex with me because you think that's what I want. I want you to want to have sex with me because you want to."
"Good," Torra immediately confessed, sighing in defeat, "Because I don't think I'm ready," She paused, giving Aden an almost saddened look, "I don't want to be like my mother. I don't want to be a mother at fourteen. It's the last thing I want."
Aden remained silent, nodding his head in understanding. He wrapped an arm around her, the two of them laying on the bed together. Soon enough, they drifted into sleep, laying in each other's arms.
____
The following morning in King's Landing, Lyanna sat on the Iron Throne, Kevan Lannister standing on one side of her and Qyburn on the other. Eddard and Olyvar stood nearby while Grey Wind laid at Lyanna's feet.
Lyanna was the first person in the Red Keep to learn of Torra's sudden disappearance. Many people began to believe it somehow involved Daenerys, just as Annalys' disappearance did, but of course, that wasn't the truth.
Lord and Ladies from all over Westeros stood in the throne room, speaking to the ten-year-old princess and soon-to-be queen if her mother didn't arrive soon.
Greatjon Umber was the first to step forward, one of the few people from the North who were able to come. He bowed to the young girl, forcing himself to smile, "Princess Lyanna," He greeted her brightly, the girl looking almost bored as she stared at him, "I remember the day you and your brother were born. You were named after your grandfather's sister, the Lady Lyanna. She was a great beauty. I'm sure you will be too."
Olyvar and Eddard turned to each other, smiling slightly in amusement when they saw how annoyed their sister looked. The young girl could tell Greatjon was trying to kiss up to her, which would never work. She was like her mother in that aspect, she wasn't easily fooled.
"Perhaps," Lyanna responded in a calm, yet stern tone, "But there's no need for small talk, is there, Lord Umber?"
"No, My Princess," Greatjon responded, shaking his head as he tried his hardest not to look taken aback by her response.
She was her mother's daughter, he could see that already.
"We're here because my mother is missing after the battle on the Goldroad where Daenerys Targaryen killed thousands of Lannister men, my mother's men. My father, your king, is being held at Dragonstone, unable to leave. My sister Torra has been revealed to be missing as well and that can't be a coincidence. With my father away from the capital and my mother still missing, it leaves me in charge. I don't know about you, but I don't believe we should just sit back and watch as this Targaryen woman burns Westeros to the ground after my mother rebuilt it from near-ruin only five years ago."
"What, then?" Yohn Royce suddenly spoke up, taking a step toward Lyanna, "Do you expect to fight in the war yourself?"
Lyanna wasted no time nodding her head in confirmation. "I do, My Lord," She replied in a confident tone, much to everyone's shock.
Kevan's eyes widened and he turned to speak to her privately. Before he could, however, Lyanna lifted her hand, which was her way of telling him to shut up.
A small smile on her face, she turned to address the crowd once more. "You're but a child, Princess Lyanna," A lord from the Riverlands suddenly spoke up, "You cannot do this."
"My mother is the greatest warrior the Seven Kingdoms has seen in a very long time and my father is nearly just as good, and I am their eldest daughter. They've trained me my entire life to fight, to defend myself and the people around me. Now, I may be small and I may be only ten, but I refuse to be the type of leader that sits back and lets other people fight for me when I'm perfectly capable of doing it on my own."
Hearing her speech, the men in the room remained silent, knowing that in a way, she was right.
"Now, we have matters to discuss about my mother and this war," She spoke up, breaking the sudden moment of silence, "Shall we begin?"
____
Robb was standing alone on the cliffs of Dragonstone, looking out onto the ocean where Rhaegal and Viserion were flying around. Drogon was nowhere in sight, which concerned Robb a bit, knowing what that meant. Daenerys had rode the dragon to fight in battle against Annalys.
Daenerys approached Robb, but he did not notice until she suddenly spoke up.
"Your wife wounded my dragon," She suddenly said, causing Robb's eyes to widen as he turned to look at her, "Shot him right through both of his wings. He won't be able to fly properly for weeks because of her."
"Tyrion warned you, everyone warned you, and you didn't listen. It's no one's fault but your own," Robb replied without hesitation, earning a glare from Daenerys, "You think you know Annalys, but you don't. You only know what Tyrion told you, but in truth, Tyrion has no idea who Annalys really is anymore. She's a completely different person than she was the last time he was in Westeros."
"Her men refused to bend the knee to me. I burned Randyll Tarly and his son for refusing, yet the men still refused," Daenerys began to explain, ignoring Robb's comment, "I was told they feared her, but their choices weren't made out of fear, they were made out of love."
"That's because they love her more than anything," Robb informed Daenerys, who frowned in confusion, "She rebuilt Westeros from near ruin. She saved the small folk from Stannis. She saved thousands from being burned by Wildfire when Stannis set fire to the Sept of Baelor. She was stabbed seven times for saving the Wildlings from the Army of the Dead. She saved the North from Ramsay Bolton. She died twice and was resurrected twice," He explained and Daenerys' eyes widened at the revelation, "No matter how much they fear you, they'll always love Annalys more."
"As do you. If you didn't, you wouldn't be speaking to me the way you have since we met," Daenerys retorted, no longer deciding to be nice to Robb since it wasn't like he was returning the favor, "I've had men executed for less."
"They were lesser men," Robb sarcastically commented and in a way, it reminded him of Annalys.
It felt odd coming out of his mouth. He felt as though it was something Annalys would say, not him.
"Your wife could be dead," Daenerys suddenly told Robb, whose smiled faded as he began to look concerned. Clearly, she had said it on purpose, just for that reaction.
"What?" He asked Daenerys, his eyes wide in alarm.
"It's been a week and she hasn't returned to King's Landing since the battle. Jaime Lannister rode at me on horseback with a spear in hand. My dragon nearly burned him alive before Annalys pulled them both into the river. They were both wearing armor. For all we know, they both sank to the bottom and drowned," Daenerys explained, clearly thinking Robb would be affected by her words.
The Stark man, however, began to smile, shaking his head in response to what she had said. "Annalys isn't a fool. She would have removed her armor before letting herself drown." He argued, not dumb enough to believe that Annalys was actually dead, "Out of all the ways Annalys could die, drowning is the last way she'd leave this world."
"You have so much faith in her. Why?" Daenerys found herself asking Robb, who couldn't help but look at her as though she was stupid, "Are you blindly loyal to her due to your love for her?"
"My love for Annalys has nothing to do with my loyalty. My wife is my queen and my queen is my wife. The only queen I'll ever follow and not because I love her, but because she's the only person in Westeros who belongs on the Iron Throne and is capable of keeping the kingdoms at peace. How many times must I tell you that before you understand?" Robb snapped at Daenerys, causing the Targaryen woman to glare at him.
"Why do you and the rest of Westeros hate me so much?" Daenerys asked Robb, venom laced in her tone of voice, "I've done nothing."
"You're a foreigner. You've come here, planning to our country and rip our queen off the Iron Throne. Thousands died in order to get Annalys on the throne. She's been in power for five years and has already repaid our debts to the Iron Bank, she rebuilt our armada, she made sure the lower classes were well taken care and fed. She executed those responsible for starting the War of the Queen and Five Kings. She killed the man who nearly destroyed Westeros in his three year reign. And she made sure everyone was living peacefully," He explained, taking a step toward Daenerys, "Now, you come here and within a month of being here, you've already burnt thousands of Westerosi men alive with your dragons. You want us to love you, but the only loyalty you'll ever get from us is out of fear."
Daenerys remained silent, trying her hardest not to look affected by his words, when in truth, she actually was.
"When I heard you were deciding to fly your dragons to the Red Keep, that's what truly made me hate you," Robb confessed, taking a step toward Daenerys with a furious look on his face, "There are children, innocent children living in the Red Keep. My children! Torra who's only fourteen, Eddard and Lyanna who are ten, Olyvar who's nine, Joanna and Torrhen who are only five, and Rickard, who is but three years old," He explained in a threatening tone as he glared at her hatefully, "You want to rip my wife off the throne, but do you plan on killing innocent children as well to keep that throne? Because that is the only way your rule will be secure, if all of my children are dead. And if you're willing to kill children, you don't deserve to be Queen of anything."
After his rant, Robb finally paused, calming down a bit. "Now, do you understand why I hate you?" He found himself asking Daenerys, who was trying her best to maintain composure.
"Stannis had a daughter. You're telling me you'd judge me for eliminating threats when your own wife killed the Princess in order to take the Iron Throne?" She questioned Robb, who couldn't help but laugh, causing the woman to give him a puzzled look.
"So you wish to rule over kingdoms that you, in truth, know nothing about? Annalys didn't kill Princess Shireen. She was actually going to take the girl as her ward," Robb explained to Daenerys in a low tone, continuing to hatefully glare at her, "She was advised to kill her, but she refused. The girl was killed by her own father. You call Annalys a monster, but at least she's not willing to kill children as you are."
"I never said I was willing to kill children!" Daenerys exclaimed, giving Robb a look of disbelief.
"Really? Then, who sent the assassin after my eldest daughter Lyanna six years ago?" Robb shouted at Daenerys angrily, "It was either you or Stannis, but Stannis confessed to it not being him."
Daenerys frowned, confused by the revelation. "I never sent an assassin after your daughter. I sent an assassin after the greatest threat to my throne, which was Annalys, after she sent one to kill me." She explained, continuing to look puzzled by what Robb had said.
"Really?" Robb questioned Daenerys with an attitude, "Because Annalys was presumed dead at the time and that assassin came after Lyanna, my daughter. She was four at the time. Four! You sent an assassin that went after a little girl in the middle of the night when she was asleep in bed."
Daenerys looked absolutely shocked by what Robb had said, immediately feeling guilty. She knew her decision to send an assassin ended up making her a hypocrite after Robert Baratheon sent an assassin after her when she was just a few years younger than Lyanna while she was asleep in her crib as an infant.
"It wasn't supposed to be like that," Daenerys admitted, a genuinely saddened look on her face.
"But it did," Robb retorted in a venomous tone, "You will never be my queen and kill me if you must, but I will die before I sit back and watch as you murder my wife and children."
Robb turned on his heel and walked away, leaving Daenerys absolutely shocked.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Robb really told Daenerys off like that😂
About the whole assassin thing, the reason the man went after Lyanna was because Daenerys told him to eliminate the "greatest threat" to her throne.
However, Annalys had been dead at the time and the person who was next in line on the list of greatest threats would have Lyanna due to her now being Queen of the Westerlands and Princess of the North.
If Annalys had actually stayed dead, Lyanna would've been able to rally everyone to her side to defeat Stannis by the age of 16 AT EASE due to her being Annalys' daughter and heir.
Little does everyone now, this chapter proves just that. Lyanna was and still is the second biggest threat to Daenerys' reign. That will be shown. I mean, the girl just summoned many lords of Westeros to the capital and they listened 😂 even tho she ain't even queen yet.
LEMME JUST SAY, LYANNA WILL BE A LOT LIKE LYANNA MORMONT. In that way, I mean that she'll be young and small (ten years old) yet be a whole badass and a great leader.