𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄 | The prince

{ Lyra }

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𝕴t was the sound of swords clashing together that brought Lyra out onto the wooden walkways. She had spent most of the day in her room, reading a variety of books that were needed for her lessons, but when the boys started training, she went out to watch.

Pulling her cloak tighter around her, she leant against the wooden railing as she looked down into the centre. Jon was sitting on top of one of the fences, Theon by his side, as the pair watched the fight that was going on in the centre. Elia appeared beside her, lying down across the girl's feet as she turned her attention to the central fight.

Joffrey was facing off against Robb. The prince's face was still blank as he swung the sword at Robb's legs, before slicing upwards as if going for the man's throat. Robb jumped back, before bringing his own practice sword down near the prince's head. The blond man jumped out of the way in the nick of time, as Lyra felt another presence approach her.

Turning her head, Lyra watched her father come to a stop to the left of her. They both went back to watching the fight below, as Joffrey managed to get a hit on Robb's back.

"He fights well," Lyra hummed at her father's words, before turning her head as she continued to watch.

"Yes, he's better than Robb," Father nodded, before looking down at the mousy haired teen. "I'm to be betrothed to him, aren't I?"

Eddard sighed, running a weary hand down his face at his daughter's words.

"Yes," Lyra huffed, as her father hurried on. "If I had any other way around this for you to have more free choice, then I would use it. But the king has demanded that my eldest daughter and his eldest son should marry."

"You can't go against the king,"

"Aye, I can't," Her father rested a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it lightly. "You'll be queen?"

"I don't want that," He sighed, as the fight beneath them seemed to draw to a close. "But it's not like I will have much of a choice. I'll be alone in the South, won't I?"

"No," Her father chuckled. "I will be taking over as Robert's hand, which means that I shall be there with you, as will your sisters."

"Will I have to mediate between them?" Lyra looked up at her father, as he shook his head with a laugh. 

"You can ride with me on the way down," Lyra tilted her head back as she thanked the gods above for allowing her that luxury. "Maybe you and he should have a talk? If you do, I won't tell your mother about Elia being in the castle."

Lyra looked up at her father, before glancing back down at the fight beneath, seeing that Joffrey was holding a sword to Robb's neck. Robb looked fuming, which caused Lyra to grin in amusement. 

Her father patted her shoulder once more, before walking off and back into the castle. Lyra sighed as he left, before calling Elia back to her side and walking down the stairs to the courtyard.

"Come to wish me good luck?" Theon called as he caught sight of her. Lyra scowled.

"Jon, knock him into the ground for me," Jon chuckled as he passed her.

"As you wish, sister," This caused the girl to grin, before she continued on, coming to a stop in front of a sodden Robb.

"Mud's a good look on you, brother. How does it feel to have lost?" He raised his eyes to glare at her vehemently. She quickly carried on before he could throw mud at her, as she reached where the prince was standing and drying off his hair. He turned around, looking at her with narrowed eyes. She dropped into a curtsy, before starting to speak. "I was wondering, Your Grace, whether you and I might take a stroll around the castle."

He paused to think on it for a moment, as Lyra looked at Joffrey's personal guard with a raised eyebrow. She knew who he was. The burn marks on the side of his face gave it away, though they did little to scare her. It made her sad, if she was perfectly honest. The Hound snarled at her, but she simply smiled and waited for the prince's answer.

"Of course, My Lady," It sounded like it pained the prince to even say something like that, but Lyra tried not to take it to heart. He just did not know her that well yet.

"Brilliant," Lyra smiled, as she waited for the prince to offer her his arm. The teenager finished drying his hair before Lyra threaded their arms together, whistling for Elia and winking at her shell shocked brothers. "We could head to the Wolfs Wood. It will prevent my mother from shouting at me for having Elia in the castle."

The prince nodded, before he turned and waved his guard off. Lyra raised an eyebrow, as Joffrey turned to look down at her.

"I assume that you're not leading me out here to kill me," Lyra nodded. It had not crossed her mind to do that. "Then I don't need him here to protect me."

"Of course, Your Grace," He nodded, before they continued further out into the woods. Elia had shot off almost immediately upon entering, and if Lyra listened carefully, she was just able to make out the sound of her romping around in the undergrowth. "I believe that we will be travelling down to King's Landing together."

The prince hummed, as Lyra raised an eyebrow and tried to continue the conversation.

"Where will you be riding, Your Grace?" Joffrey looked down at her unamused expression, before speaking.

"With my father," Lyra nodded. "I assume you will be joining my mother in the carriage? Or, your sisters, with your Septa?"

"Neither, I shall be with my father and, as luck would have it, you, Your Grace," That seemed to stop the prince in his tracks. He turned to look down at her with furrowed eyebrows, like she had said something that was considered scandalous.

"I'm sorry?" Lyra raised an eyebrow at the prince's question.

"I'll be riding with my father, Your Grace," It seemed to take the prince a minute to process that, before he turned around and continued on. "You seem surprised."

"Most Southern ladies travel via carriage," It was Lyra's turn to look up at him in surprise, her eyebrows furrowed at the thought. In the North, it was tradition for the women to ride with their husband, or father. She had always assumed that it was the same in the South. "Now you seem surprised."

He held his hand out to help her over a log in their way, as Elia sprinted past them after a squirrel in the trees.

"Well, I just assumed..." She trailed off, thinking of what to say before speaking again. "In the North, it's custom for the girls to learn to ride just as the boys do. Then as a family you ride and hunt together."

"You hunt?" Joffrey's eyebrows raised even higher at the girl's words and it reminded Lyra of how truly different the pair were in terms of how they were raised.

"Yes," Lyra smiled at the thought. "The girls in the family always go hawking with their mother, whilst the boys hunt with their father. It's custom. Mother takes us hawking once a week."

"Then we should hunt together when we get back," Joffrey's lips quirked into a half-smile, and Lyra took that as a win. "I'm excited to see you in action."

"As am I, Your Grace," Lyra smiled up at him again, though he still did not fully return it. "So, what's King's Landing like? I feel like I should know a little about the city before we travel there."

"Hot," They turned the corner in the woods, that lead to the older part of the castle. Elia went sprinting past again, her tongue hanging out of her mouth. "They say that you can smell it from five miles away."

"Well, that's good and all," Lyra said, before she turned to look at him. "But what about your favorite places? Or, the best place to buy bread and treats in the city?"

Joffrey's eyebrows furrowed again, before he tilted his head and thought. Lyra waited. If you asked any of her siblings those questions, they would be able to tell you in a heart beat where each one was. They had been into the towns and villages, around Winterfell, so often, in fact, that most of the villagers knew them by name.

"We don't go into the city that much," Lyra nodded, holding in a sigh, as Elia came trotting back over with a squirrel in her mouth.

"Good girl," Lyra grinned, before pulling a piece of dried meat out of her pocket and throwing it towards the wolf. The wolf gobbled it, before sitting back down and tilting her head. Lyra smiled, before her eyes narrowed as the wolf began to sniff the air and turn in the direction of the older area of the castle. "What is it?"

Lyra listened closely, before her eyes widened at the faint sound of yapping.

"Elia, find!" The wolf looked back at her, before starting off in the direction of the old towers. Lyra unhooked her arm from Joffrey's, following along after the wolf.

"My Lady?" Lyra didn't bother to look back, before she heard the sound of footsteps following her. Elia took a sharp left, as Lyra followed behind. The towers came into view, the yapping getting louder as Lyra's heart dropped at the sight of a figure on the floor, a wolf standing over them.

"Bran!" Lyra started to run towards her younger brother, as an arm hooked around her waist and pulled her back. "That's my brother. I have to help! Get off me."

To Joffrey's credit, the prince barely moved as Lyra struggled, pulling them further back into the undergrowth.

"We don't know if there's anyone else around," He pointed out, drawing his sword as Lyra turned back towards her wolf. 

"Go see if there's anyone else here," That was a new command that Lyra had taught the wolf, so she wasn't confident in Elia's ability to recognize it, but the wolf ran off all the same. There was no sound for a few minutes, apart from Summer's consistent yapping. Elia finally appeared by them again, but made no sound or looked anywhere else. "It's safe."

Joffrey relinquished his hold on Lyra's waist, reluctantly, as she ran over to her brother's side, brushing the hair from his face. His legs were both bent at odd angles, and Lyra could hear him letting out wheezy breaths. Summer growled at the Stark girl, who continued to ignore the wolf..

"Bran? Bran, can you hear me?" The boy made no sound, as blood continued to pool around his head.

"We shouldn't move him," Joffrey had finished looking around and was kneeling on the other side of the boy, his tone distant. "Head injuries often bleed a lot. We need to get the maester here quickly."

Lyra continued to stroke her brother's hair, her hands shaking as she tried not to cry. He was so pale and so cold and the boy looked so small as he lay there. A hand covered hers, forcing her to look up at the prince. 

"My lady, we need a maester," Lyra took a deep breath and nodded, whistling for Elia. The wolf ran over, walking around the blood until she stood by Lyra's side, her golden eyes wide.

"Elia, find mother. Now!" The wolf ran back off towards the castle without a second glance, as Lyra turned back to Bran.

"He's still breathing," Joffrey had placed his sword down, and was feeling along Bran's rib cage, a concentrated look on his face. "I think he might have broken his ribs."

"He never falls," Lyra murmured, feeling the water in the soil seep through her dress. She stroked her brother's pale cheek again. "He's been climbing before he could walk and he's never fallen."

Joffrey wasn't acknowledging her statement, still checking the boy's body for broken bones. He looked up at the sound of hurried footsteps, as Lady Stark and the Winterfell maester appeared. The older woman placed both hands over her mouth, her eyes filling with tears, as the maester approached them.

"I think her has four, maybe five, broken ribs. His left leg is broken at the calf and his right leg is broken at the thigh," Joffrey began to explain, as the maester nodded, taking Joffrey's place at the boys side.

"Mother, we found him like this," Lyra looked up at the auburn haired woman, her eyes wide. "I think he was pushed. You know that Bran never falls."

"You need to go back inside, Lyra," Catelyn helped the taller girl to her feet, and gently pushed her back towards the castle.

"But..." She trailed off at the sight of her mother's stare, before spinning back around to make her way back to the castle, Elia at her side. The prince was waiting at the top of the embankment, his hand outstretched to pull her up. 

"We should return to the castle now," His voice was still distant, his eyes and face blank as he turned away from the scene in front of him.

Hiya,

So, Bran's fallen and we've got some Lyra and Joffrey interaction and it turns out that Joffrey has no life.

Thanks for reading,

Love Li xx