Lionheart / 2023

gold rush, Taylor Swift

A soft heart is no curse.

               Taryn Baratheon is nothing like her parents. Her mother's first-born, most deeply adored. Born in the ashes of a victorious rebellion, Taryn is the brightest spring child in King's Landing. Free as the breeze whistling through the trees, love burns in her veins like sun rays. (You're too good for this world, Cersei Lannister whispers as she holds her daughter close. No one will hurt you. You're safe here with me.)

The Pearl of King's Landing, they called her. Sun-bright and untouchable. To be beloved by the Smallfolk is a rare gift, and Taryn bears it proudly. A little doe besides her father, a Great Stag, and her mother-lion.

A soft heart is no curse. Taryn believes it until she spends a month travelling North with her family, a trip that spins her world on its axis and won't let her come home. When she is left alone in a vast castle with no true company, her pretty heart can only be a curse. No one trusts a naïve girl raised in the lion's den — not even when steel cuts across her palms, blood soaking her fingers as she tries to protect a boy she barely knows. Taryn's mother was the only one who allowed her to be herself. (The North does not find courage in the kindness of princesses.)

Taryn Baratheon's soft heart is a curse until the day Robb Stark takes it in his hands and promises to keep it safe.

Against a thousand odds, in a moment of peace within a storm of chaos, he finally accepts her. And Taryn feels like she belongs for the first time since she left the safety of the Red Keep. (No one will hurt you here with me. I'll protect you.)

A soft heart is a beauty on a battleground. A light in the dark, an anchor. Undying, and calling for her love to come home safe. Alive. But a soft heart is only pretty until it bleeds. Until it rains. Until it screams. Until Taryn wants to claw it from her chest and throw it to the lions who claim to love her.

(Her soft heart, devoured by the Young Wolf, rots beside him.)

Lily James               ✶          Taryn Baratheon

Richard Madden          ✶              Robb Stark

Part of the ❛ THE GREAT WAR ❜ series

001. skyfall
Rhaenyra Targaryen x Celaena Ainar

002. born to die
Jacaerys Velaryon x Arya Stark

003. lionheart
Robb Stark x Taryn Baratheon

004. last woman on earth
Jon Snow x Elia Dayne

005. queen of peace
Daenerys Targaryen x Alys Stark

SOUNDTRACK & SCORE

disclaimer: i do not own game of thrones or a song of ice and fire. all existing characters and plot belong to george r.r. martin. all i own are my ocs, their stories, and any other canon divergence. please do not steal my work.

warnings: canon-typical violence, multiple major character deaths, misogyny, descriptions of blood and gore, depictions of war, alcohol consumption, references to incest, violence against women, smut, grief, and other canon-typical themes.

ao3 tags: major character death, arranged marriage, friends to enemies to lovers, slow burn, hurt/comfort, smut, begrudgingly canon compliant, there was only one bed, tragedy, female rage

✿          welcome to lionheart! is robb & a baratheon/lannister oc overdone? maybe. i don't care! this fic has been up for ages but i'm finally actually writing it. (i'm so sorry it's taken so long.)

✿          taryn is inspired by cinderella (2015), mary queen of scots, padmé amidala and elia valarys (yes my own oc). taryn is such a sweetheart but she's also been very sheltered her whole life so she's vv naive. taryn is  most definitely a girl's girl. her arc will hopefully be very fun!! taryn & robb are very tolerate it/a house in nebraska/guity as sin?/you're losing me vibes. and taryn & cersei are dear wormwood/hoax core 😁

✿          this fic is going to be based on a mix of the show and the books!

✿          lastly, to my friends — archivereid, houseofamidala, -undomiels. this fic would not exist without you. i love you all so so much 🤍

✿

© hope / saturnsokas, 2023