The Little Wolf

Fearsome

Crossroads Inn, Along the Kingsroad

The journey from Winterfell to King's Landing was about a month, and all were getting rambunctious, but none more so than Lyra and Lev. Each time they stopped, Eddard would hurry Lyra along, to ensure she was out of the way of all who could see her, and allow Maester Leland to take her, Lev, and his own Helai, Sella, somewhere to be free for a while. Therefore, Lyra could not wait to actually arrive at King's Landing, where she would actually have a room to stay, and a place more permanent to keep Lev. 

Nonetheless, there was yet another place to stay before arriving in the South. It was an Inn along the Kingsroad, commonly called the Crossroads Inn. Despite Sansa's complaint's, Lyra quite liked it there. There was a forest nearby, that reminded her of the one at Winterfell, albeit much smaller. Arya and Lyra had taken off with their friend, Mycah, with the intention of finding a quite place to play. Lyra, however, took Wolf with her, and practised her knife throwing, leaving Chief, her Direwolf, to have a much needed break from Lev's pesky, youth behaviours, such as turning into a bird and pecking at his tail.

Finally, as Lyra had wished for, there was a sense of freedom, and seclusion.

That was until the Prince came.

Arya and Mycah had been sword fighting with sticks, and Lyra was practising, yet again, her skill in knife-throwing. The Prince ponced up to the Butcher's boy and directly spoke to him. Mycah was a sweet boy, much taller than both Arya and Lyra, but was very soft and kind. He also knew he must respect the Prince, and agree with his every word, even if it was unfair and disagreeable. First, the Prince wrongly claimed that Mycah had been beating a lady, a noble, which Arya argued against. Then, Joffrey complained when the boy called him "my Lord" instead of "Your Grace", and when Mycah apologised profusely and bowed in respect, all the rotten Prince did was smirk and put on a show for Sansa, who had been walking with him earlier. Lyra, immediately dreading being anywhere with Lev, grabbed Lev and told him to leave. Lev very rarely listened to her instructions, only her mind. Lyra's fear was that if she found herself angry at Joffrey, Lev would mimic her and reveal himself as a wolf, effectively concluding any hope of surviving in the South as an Outsider. Thankfully, Lev seemed to obey.

The cruel Prince snarled, "You are nothing but a Butcher's boy, a peasant. Your kind are my servants, I don't have to show any respect you, toad."

"Wrong!" Lyra argued, trying not to show Joffrey that she was terrified. Her father had always taught her that though she was a noble, though she had power, didn't mean she could exploit those who didn't. If she were lucky enough to have money, her wealth would be used to help others who needed help. That, her father told her, was the only reason why a man should have power and money.

Joffrey turned to face Lyra, taking a step toward her, towering over her petite, trembling frame, cocking his head perilously. "What did you say? You are talking to a Prince."

Lyra considered keeping her mouth shut, she was so scared. Yet, a voice in her mind propelled her to stand up for the boy who couldn't. "I said you are wrong, Your Grace" she said with a sarcastic bow, emphasising the words "Your Grace". 

Before the Prince got a chance to reply, Lyra added, "Without the people, there would be no Kings Landing. YOU are as much their servant as they are yours."

Lyra held her breath, waiting for Joffrey to draw his sword and attack her, but he didn't. Instead, he turned toward Mycah, and walked in his direction, drawing his sword. As he reached Mycah, he turned to Lyra and Arya and said, "This is what I do to peasants", and with that he slashed a line on the boy's cheek, drawing blood and tears.

Arya picked up her stick, in a fit of rage, and hit the Prince over the back. The Prince swung his sword at her and screamed, "I'll gut you...", and continuing to swear obscenities at her sister. Arya swerved and ducked the blade, but eventually tripped over, causing her to be an open target to Joffrey's rage and sword blade. Sansa screamed for both to stop it, but he continued for she had dared to attack a Prince, a punishable crime. He raised the sword above his head, seconds away from swinging it down and killing Arya, before Lyra jumped up from behind and grabbed the blade with her bare heads. The pain was mind-numbing, and she felt blood immediately begin to trickle from her palms, down her wrists and slipping under the sleeves of her dress. She screamed and cried, but refused to let go, until Joffrey eventually loosened his grip on the handle. Then, with perfect timing, Arya's Direwolf, Nymeria, leapt out of the shadows and latched onto his wrist, causing his to scream in pain and drop the sword. Arya ran to it, and held it at the Prince, threatening to gut him in return. Excusing the pain she felt, Lyra pulled Wolf from her sheath and held it at Joffrey, too, standing defiantly beside her sister. 

Despite having his own sword pointed at him by Arya, he still scoffed at Lyra's small blade, and referred to it as "petty", claiming she would never do anything with a blade so puny. Lyra was no longer timid, she took a step over the Prince, who was lying on the ground defencelessly, so she was now standing over him intimidatingly. She then said, "Though a knife of such a small size is not the most common weapon of defence, anyone with a clue would know that in the hands of, say, a little girl's revolt, it is fearsome." The Prince fell silent, with a look of dread on his face, and Lyra contemplated throwing her knife toward the ground near his body as a final warning. Interrupting her contemplation, Arya walked toward the river and threw the sword away, before calling for both her little sister and Direwolf, and escaping into the forest.

Nymeria was going to be in so much trouble. Though she had defended the girls, she had no way of defending herself from inevitable execution. So, to avoid such heartbreak, Arya told Nymeria to run before anyone found her. While Arya threw rocks to scare her beloved Direwolf away, Lyra began to succumb to the pain in her hands, sliding down the face of a tree and heaving her little chest so heart, she thought maybe her lungs would burst. She had never known such pain, and never seen so much blood. Arya spun around, after being successful in helping Nymeria escape, and grabbed Lyra's knife to cut off the bottom of her dress to make bandages for her hands to stop the bleeding. After she'd tied up her wounds, Arya sat beside her, and Lyra leaned her head against her sister's shoulder, starting to feel ill.

"They'll find us", Arya said, "They'll bring us in front of the King".

Facing the King was a worry for everyone, but being an Outsider made it even worse. Lyra just prayed the rotten Prince hadn't seen Lev. 

After a while of huddling in the forest together, in each other's arms, Arya brought up the possibility of them escaping, offering to carry Lyra until she felt better. She, too, feared what would happen if the King found out about Lyra being an Outsider. Sadly, time was lacking.

It was then that the guards approached, returning them to the Inn, where they were dragged in front of the King.