𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘-𝐓𝐖𝐎 | Strategy

{ Lyra }

✧✦✧

𝖂interfell was the same as Lyra remembered. Each corridor and room was familiar and she knew the routes like the back of her hand despite the changes that had occurred. Robb and Eliza had moved into their parents room soon after they'd returned from war, whilst Sansa had taken up occupancy in Lyra's old room. So, instead, Lyra found herself in the room that had once belonged to Robb.

Leaving the room, Lyra called for Elia, leading the large wolf through the castle until she reached the old nursery, knowing that's where the others could most likely be found. Sure enough, as Lyra pushed open the door, she saw Eliza sitting in one of the arm chairs watching over her children.

"Eliza." The woman turned, smiling before patting the seat next to her as Lyra joined her side. Two little boys messed around with soldiers on the floor ahead of her, whilst Eliza held a baby in her arms, who already shared her dark hair. "So these are my nephews?"

"Aye, Eddie and Matthas are playing and this is Cal," Eliza smiled down at her son, before lifting him closer to her chest as Lyra smiled, missing her own children were there. "So, three just like you."

"But I've got a little girl instead of three boys."

"I wanted to have a girl." Eliza rolled her eyes, still smiling at her boys. "I got three boys instead but maybe we'll have a fourth and that will finally be a girl. I can't be outnumbered in my own home."

"You can have mine if you want." Aoife's voice sounded, as she walked into the room holding a giggling girl upside down in her arms. The girl shared Aoife's lighter hair, but with Jon's eyes and nose instead. "I've just found her throwing rocks at soldiers which is not helpful."

Eliza and Lyra bit back their smiles, holding back laughter as Aoife turned her daughter the right way up and set her down by Eliza's sons.

"Never thought I'd have kids," Aoife muttered, slumping down next to them as Elia settled by Lyra's feet. "Thought I'd be dead a long time ago."

"After how many assassination plots I've gone through, so did I." Lyra nodded along to Eliza's statement, all of them sighing. "There was the Red Wedding, then a few times whilst we were at war and then Ramsay tried to have me and the boys killed so that he could come into power."

"Well, at least you didn't have to worry about scheming, back stabbing mother-in-laws," Lyra chuckled, shaking her head. "Cersei tried to kill me by blowing up the Great Sept, the High Sparrow tried to poison Mikael, Cersei tried to have me arrested, she's tried to have me killed multiple times and it's been a weird and very tense few years because of it."

"I tried to kill Jon, multiple times." Aoife finished, before looking at them. "I think I've stabbed him twice as well."

"I wanted to stab Robb in the first few years of our marriage." Eliza chuckled, as Lyra shook her head. "What? You haven't wanted to stab your husband at one point."

"No, Joff's been nothing but loving." Lyra smiled, thinking of her husband. "There's still a lot of time though." 

The girls laughed, before the nursery door opened once more and Sansa appeared, smiling as found the elder women.

"I've been looking for you." Sansa took a seat by Lyra's feet, playing with Elia as she looked between the trio. "What are you talking about?"

"How Lyra does not want to kill her husband." Eliza teased, as the women laughed once more.

"Joffrey is too good for me want to kill him." Lyra shook her head, before running her hand through her sister's hair as Eliza pulled her legs up beneath her and pulled her son closer.

"Tell us all about King's Landing then." Eliza said, leaning back into her chair, as Lyra thought of what to say, humming softly as she did.

"As to be expected, it's a lot warmer there and far more people are around. Thus, it's always loud, even in the middle of the night." Lyra nodded, smiling softly as she thought of her home. "The Red Keep is huge and at night, when you can see all the candles burning in the windows, it's magical. The gardens are spectacular, with all sorts of plants, and the food is incredible."

"I couldn't imagine living somewhere so large." Aoife shook her head. "The most I knew was a war camp and then Castle Black and here."

"It is large, but after a while you get used to it but I guess I can say that because I live there." Lyra laughed it off. "It is home now, to me, more so than Winterfell because my children and husband are there."

Sansa looked betrayed, before turning as she saw Eliza nodding.

"I understand. Faymont will always be my childhood home, but Winterfell is my true home because my children and husband are here." Eliza smiled towards Lyra, before looking at Sansa. "We love our siblings, I'm sure, but there's something different about being able to make your own home with your own husband and children. If you get married, if you wish to or if you fall in love, then you will understand more."

"You Southerners are all so weird with your castles and homes." Aoife rolled her eyes, before shrugging. "The idea is sweet, but I don't think it's something that I could ever get behind. I've spent far too much time travelling in the far North."

There was a light knock at the door, causing the girls to pause and look up. Daenerys stood in the doorway, her pale hair pulled back as she watched on. Lyra thought, for a moment, that she looked envious but the expression passed swiftly.

"Daenerys, how are you?" Aoife smiled warmly, having known the other woman slightly longer than Eliza and Lyra. The Queen beyond the Wall didn't have the same problems that Lyra and Eliza did, as her kingdom and crown weren't being threatened by the Dragon Queen.

"I'm good, thank you. I came to tell you that the meeting is starting soon." 

"Thank you," Eliza nodded, a polite smile falling on her face as she stood once more. "Eddie, Matthas, come."

The boys abandoned their soldiers, clutching onto their mother's skirts as they followed after her. 

"Come on you two," Lyra patted Sansa's head, before standing up and calling her wolf to her side once more. As she drew closer to Daenerys, she smiled at the nervous older woman. "It's good to see you, Daenerys. I didn't get a chance to say hello when I arrived last week, it's all been a bit hectic."

"You've been with your family, I understand." Daenerys shot her a quick smile, falling in on Lyra's other side as Aoife picked her own child up and followed after with Sansa.

✧✦✧

The library was so quiet that you were able to hear a pin drop, with everyone crowded around the table looking tense. Lyra stood with Sansa, and Arya (who had materialised from the shadows), overlooking the plan as Eliza stepped forward to explain it all. 

"We send all those who can't fight south to the south. There are unoccupied castles down there such as the Twins or Greywater Watch. They'll take all of the horses that aren't needed for the fighting to get their quicker than the Army of the dead," Eliza explained, looking around the room. "This means all the elderly and the children. Anyone who can fight, stays."

"We can't beat them in a straight fight." Jon said, as Jaime re-joined Lyra's side with Tylar following soon after.

"So, what are our options?" Jaime cocked an eyebrow, as Tylar leant back to observe the board.

"We need to kill the Night King, break the chain of command." Robb replied, motioning to the Night King's piece on the board. "They all follow him so killing him will make it a whole lot easier on us."

"If that's the case, he'd be a fool to ever bring himself out into the open." Coren spoke up from beside Daenerys, his arms crossed over his chest. "He'll send his forces and we'll struggle to hold them back, especially if what you said is true and he can reanimate them."

"He will." Bran wheeled himself forward so that he was closer to the table. "He'll come for me. I have the powers of the Three-Eyed Raven and he needs to erase that so he will come."

"How will he find you?" Tyrion asked, swallowing as Bran rolled up his sleeve, showing off his arm and the mark on it.

"We'll send you south, with the others." Jon nodded. "It'll keep you safe."

"But put everyone else at risk." Aoife provided, before shrugging as everyone else turned to look at her. "I'm being practical here. If that mark is a beacon as Bran said then sending him south with the children and the elderly will change the trajectory of the army of the dead, sending them straight past Winterfell and to wherever Bran is, putting all of our loved ones at risk."

"She's not wrong." Lyra spoke softly. 

"Where's the Night King's army now?" Tylar asked. "That should be our first thing to note. It'll determine how much time we have to prepare."

"To the North of us, a day's ride at least, maybe more." One of Aoife's close friends, Tormund, spoke up quickly.

"Wights can't swim," Jon turned back to the group. "So, we'll send the elderly and the children down to Greywater Watch as soon as possible. A message will be sent to Meera and Howland Reed."

"Meera knows that at some point they will arrive." Bran nodded, as Robb turned to call a soldier to him so that the order could be sent out. "They're ready to help us."

"As Jon said, we won't beat them in a straight fight and our cavalry's not as effective as the Dothraki so we don't need our horses with us for the time being." Aoife nodded at her husband, causing Eliza to turn back to the table.

"The Bare cavalry forces are here. We've got horses to spare, so they can be used for that. Cayden, send the order out." Eliza turned to a younger teenager, who looked like her. The boy nodded, before rushing out.

"The keep is our last line of defence." Robb turned back to the table. "The unmanned barricades are all dug out, but poles still need to be added and the trebuchets need to be moved closer to the castle walls and behind the armies."

"I'll get the Baratheon soldiers on that now." Jaime said, bowing his head to Lyra, before storming out of the room with the Unsullied commander so that they could begin to give orders. 

"Now I think about it, maybe we should keep the Dothraki back, use them as a flanking force, instead of a frontal force." Coren muttered, glancing over at Daenerys, who had begun to nod. "We should use the dragons instead, thin out their ranks and light up the area, especially if this battle occurs at night."

"I agree. We can have oil added to the poles, maybe have some barricades that we set on fire to channel the undead towards the front of the keep." Daenerys nodded, before turning to speak to her Dothraki commander as Lyra glanced at Robb.

"Where are we going to be mainly fighting?" Robb looked over at her, before answering quickly.

"Castle, we'll leave some archers out to man the barricades and thin out their ranks before falling back to the keep, to hold our ground." Tylar pitched in, his eyebrows furrowed.

"So has the keep been...?"

"All the vulnerable areas have been bricked up, earths been piled behind the walls to make sure they stay up," Eliza said, listing things off on her fingers. "And the foundations have been strengthened, it'll take a lot to bring the walls down. I need to go and make sure that we have enough projectiles."

Eliza placed a brief kiss on Robb's cheek, before sweeping away, further into the castle as hurried instructions left her mouth.

"These need to be relayed to your commanders." Robb called over the chatter in the room, causing most to turn and look at him. "Say your goodbyes now, because we will be sending those who can't fight off at the earliest opportunity. You most likely have an hour, maybe less."

Robb nodded at his sisters, before hurrying off with Jon and Aoife as the others began to leave the room. Sansa pressed a swift kiss to Lyra's cheek, Arya doing the same, before they left and Lyra remained with Daenerys, Coren and some of their entourage.

"Do you have to say your goodbyes to someone?" Lyra asked, as Coren and Daenerys turned back to her.

"Aye," Coren nodded, smiling. "Daughter. She's only five and doesn't truly understand what's going on."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Coren shook his head. "We're fighting for her to live in a better world. When she's older, she'll understand why she had to go."

"You have children as well, don't you?" Daenerys asked. 

"Yes. Two boys and a girl but they're in King's Landing, far away from this battle and I thank the gods for that every day." Lyra shook her head. "Mikael will be asking for me though. I suppose Joffrey will be having to explain to him where I've gone."

"He's recovered, your son?" Lyra paused at Varys' words, her eyebrows drawing together before she stopped walking completely.

"Mikael..." She shared a glance with Tylar, both of them turning to look at Varys. "How do you know about Mikael?"

"Excuse me?" Varys looked genuinely confused, as Coren stopped in his tracks, looking back at them.

"We never told anyone outside of our closest advisors and the Grand Maester that Mikael was almost poisoned so how did you know about this when you were in Essos?"

"My little birds are good at listening in."

Everything started to fall into place in Lyra's mind as she took a step away from Coren and Daenerys, horror growing on her face and fear curling around her heart like a noose. Suddenly, it felt like there was no air in the room.

"You tried to kill my son?" She managed to get out.

"What?" Coren and Daenerys shared a confused look.

"We thought it was the High Sparrow because he hated me, but we never got an answer because the Sept was blown up and he was killed." Tylar placed a hand onto his sword, anger growing on his face. "We put it to the back of our mind but this makes sense. You want Joff and me off the throne, but we have heirs and as long as Joff has an heir, he has a claim."

"It makes sense with the bear now..." Tylar muttered as Elia stood from her place by the fire, growling and snarling. "The bear is the sigil for the Mormont house. Lyanna is your brother's ally and Jeor Mormont is dead so the last one left is..."

"Jorah." Lyra cut him off, both of them turning to face the man, who looked bewildered.

"That's not true." Coren could quite easily see how this would all make sense for the other queen, as the pieces fell easily into place. "We're parents ourselves, we would never try and harm a child, believe me."

"Don't take another step towards me." Lyra's face was dark, a harsh glare plastered across her face as she grabbed onto the scruff of Elia's neck. The wolf's fur stood on end, her lips pulled back into a snarl. 

"Please, I'm telling you that I would never poison a child. Never," Daenerys protested, eyes wide in horror at the thought. "Believe me, please."

"I thought you were not like the ones who came before you. I see now I was wrong." Lyra turned towards the door as Tylar hovered beside her. "I will fight with you, because I want to make sure that the world is safe, but after that we are enemies. We will hold no more peace talks with you, nor send you any peace treaties and you are no longer welcome on Westerosi soil."

"Lyra, please." Coren's voice stopped her, as she turned to look at the man. Anger was plastered over his face. "If any one of our men did this, we will find out and we will punish them severely. Do not cut this peace off just yet, I beg you."

"Why should I listen?" Lyra shook her head, trembling with barely withheld rage. "You tried to kill my son. My little boy."

"I understand your anger and I know you have no reason to trust us but let us prove that we did not do this." Coren stepped closer, despite the snarling wolf by Lyra's side. "Please let us keep the peace."

Hiya,

So, what are we thinking? Lyra's pretty sure that Dany ordered the death of her son and is, rightly, furious but did she do it? Also, I adore Coren with all my heart, Lyra had sibling time and the battle plan has been changed a lot. So, be prepared for different people to live and die cause we changing it up.

Let me know what you think, and who do we think poisoned Mikael?

Love Li xx