Book 1: Prints in the Snow

Chapter XVII • Words Shared With Shadows

Hey everyone! I hope you enjoy this chapter. So sorry for the late upload but university started three weeks ago and I've been pretty busy! I have a few pre-written chapters so hopefully those will keep you all entertained while I work on new chapters. Enjoy!

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Lyon was sitting in her father's office, cross-legged and pondering over the book in her lap.

"I think you should stop spending so much time with the queen, Lyon." Her father said. She muttered a noncommittal response and flipped a page. "Lyon, look at me."

She did as she asked, folding her book over on her lap and meeting his eyes. "Does this have anything to do with how much you don't like her?"

Ned rolled his eyes. "This has everything to do with you getting too close to her. The queen is not to be trusted, Lyon. No one in Kingslanding is. That's the way the south is. Besides, your sisters and I both miss your company." A sudden sorrow found his eyes, and she sighed.

"I am to meet with her tonight. I'll... I'll discuss your concerns with you. And I'll make them sound like it's my idea, for all the good it'll do you." She reopened her book, and Ned leaned back in his seat, content for now. He missed quiet afternoons such as this one, where he and Lyon would simply sit. He found she enjoyed the silence, but also the company. They had started reading together when she was just a child, and it had since stuck. "Speaking of my sisters, where's Arya?"

"No idea," he sighed. "I have my guard out looking for her. I think she takes after you."

"I think she takes after her father." Lyon grinned slyly, meeting her father's eyes from her periphery.

A knock upon the door drew their attention away.

"Come in," Ned ordered. The door eased open, and in came a disheveled Arya, covered in grime and mud. She looked a real sight, Lyon thought.

"Speak of the devil." The eldest grinned. "You've seen better days, Arya. Which gutter did you crawl through this time?"

"All of them." The littler replied, a mischievous smirk aimed at her sister, but she became solemn when she turned to her father.

"You know I had half my guard out searching for you. You said this would stop, Arya."

"They said they were going to kill you." She said. Lyon perked up, depositing her book on her father's desk.

"Who did?" Her father asked.

"I didn't see them, but I think one was fat."

"Oh, Arya."

"I'm not lying! They said you found the bastard and the wolves are fighting the lions and the savage... Something about the savage. And... and they mentioned you, Lyon."

Lyon rose from her seat and came to stand before her sister. "What did they say, Arya?"

"They said... they said you had lion's blood. They... think you're a Lannister."

Lyon exchanged a look with Ned, who asked: "Where did you hear this?"

"In the dungeons. Near the dragon skulls."

"What were you doing in the dungeons?"

"Chasing a cat," Arya said.

Lyon nearly rolled her eyes at her sister but fought the urge. She turned her back on the two and folded her arms over the chest. So, someone had come to suspect she wasn't a Stark. She should've expected this. It was so obvious. Such a Lannister like countenance could hardly be blamed on the Tully blade she could claim she had.