<span style="font-family: 'Didact Gothic', 'sans-serif'">When the raven arrived that carried the message about Lord Jon Arryn's death, they knew that he would arrive in Winterfell sooner than later. He, Robert Baratheon, the Lord of the Seven Kingdoms. Neither of them were looking forward to it, but the both of them were aware of the fact that they would have to face him eventually. While Eddard Stark had always considered Robert Baratheon to be his friend, he had been keeping a secret from him for years. A secret he could never share with him, for it would put the dark-haired woman in front of him at risk. He had been watching her quietly after he had read the letter to her, which announced that the King was coming to visit Winterfell soon. Ned had tried to catch a glimpse of emotion on his sister's face. However, her ever so stormy grey eyes were merely clouded with emptiness. She looked cold. Cold as ice.<br/>
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As the days passed by, the spiritless look on Lyanna Stark's face did not disappear. Ned had only seen a hint of a fragile smile when his youngest daughter, Arya, had begged her aunt to go to the wolfswood together with their horses. Much to his surprise, she had refused the girl's request. She hardly refused Arya's requests. Even when his wife, Catelyn, had forbidden Arya to leave the castle, Lyanna would sneak outside with her. They would ride their horses or chase after one another in the snow. The both of them had even been caught with wooden swords before. If no one knew better, they would believe that Arya Stark was a child of Lyanna's instead of Catelyn's. They resembled each other, both in appearance and character.<br/>
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"We both know why he is coming to the North. He wants to take you with him." The She Wolf had not spoken much the last couple of days, but she did address her brother while they were waiting for the arrival of King Robert Baratheon and his Queen: Cersei Lannister. They were waiting outside - and Lyanna was standing behind the Lord and Lady of Winterfell. She was wearing a dark blue gown and gloves, and she tried to keep herself warm with a grey cloak and matching fur. She was wearing her hair down and wore no jewellery. Lyanna looked plain, almost as if she wanted to remain invisible. However – she was not hiding away from anyone on purpose. It was not as if she did not want to be seen. She simply did not care anymore - especially not about her appearance. She had not cared about anything ever since she had been found by Ned at the Tower of Joy.<br/>
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Once her brother had found her inside of the Tower, everything had fallen apart. Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, who had so-called abducted her, had been slain during the Battle of the Trident. The child that she had given birth to, had been taken away from her. She could not even recall seeing the newborn - and they refused to tell her if the child lived or not. The pain of the difficult childbirth and the shock of her baby being taken away from her, had caused her memories to be clouded. The only thing she could remember was how Ned had tried to calm her down. He had told her that everything would be over soon - and that she would be able to go home. Eventually they had indeed returned to the North, but she had never seen her child or Rhaegar ever again.<br/>
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Now she had to witness how her former betrothed dismounted his horse and approached her brother. Robert Baratheon had not aged well. His wife, however, was a beautiful woman. There was no one who would deny that. Yet the Queen's beautiful face could not conceal the look of disdain as she stepped out of her carriage. In the past, it would have caused Lyanna to smile. Cersei Lannister was certainly not the first lady to dislike the North - and surely not the last. Now she only sighed, before she bowed before the King and his Queen. <br/>
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<i>At least she was not his Queen. </i><br/>
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[Thank you for reading! As you can see, I left the starter fairly open, simply because I want to give you the opportunity to continue without being pushed in a specific direction. I wrote this plot with the intention to pair Lyanna with Jaime, since the both of them have suffered in their own way during Robert's Rebellion and they are both considered honourless for different reasons. However - a different pairing is also possible. Please continue below or send me a PM if you prefer not to write in threads - or if you would like to discuss the plot first. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact me!]</span>