The Pup Of The North [currently being rewritten]

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The King was travelling to Winterfell from Kings Landing. The excessive time period of the journey meant there was a reason for the visit. The reason was that Lord Jon Arryn, the Hand of the King to Robert Baratheon, was dead. It was common knowledge that Robert wished for his childhood companion, Ned Stark to take the title.

Lyanna had decided on the name Eclipse for her wolf. The inspiration had come from the darkest black of her fur. The dire wolf had nearly tripled in size in the time the royals travelled. Eclipse was actually nearing the same size as Grey wind and Ghost. They were the names Jon and Robb had chosen for their dire wolves.

Eclipse definitely lived up to her name. She could often be found prowling Winterfell in the middle of the night and the guards would have to take her back to Lyanna's quarters. The sweet young wolf had grown accustomed to having the large wolf curled up around her. She loved to be dwarfed by Eclipse's vast size and cuddle into her fur to sleep. It made her feel safe and like all of the houses she secretly read about could never harm her.

Eclipse also had a habit of disappearing into the shadows. It was like she found comfort in being hidden, she did give the maids a fright when they eventually noticed her lurking. Eclipse had grew fiercely protective of her little mistress and would snap at anyone she didn't know that come around Lyanna. Lyanna had helped the wolf realise that she could rest easy around her family and Vivian.

The sweet little wolf had struggled in getting this across to Eclipse. The wolf would snap at her when she grew annoyed, but alas Eclipse would never actually harm little Lyanna Stark. She'd run back to her with her tail between her legs and something that she'd found outside as a gift.

Lyanna had once spent half the day crying in Jon's chambers and Jon had struggled to calm her down. Eclipse had brought in a dead bird that she'd killed as a gift and sweet little Lyanna had begged Jon to revive it. She longed to watch it soar into the sky again and cry out to its species.

The wolf didn't understand what she'd done wrong and still tried to bring dead animals to her. Jon just had to take away the dead animals with much struggle and say that Eclipse had brought her things like leaves or flowers instead.

It was the day of the royal visit and Catelyn had instructed Lyanna that she must keep tidy. Vivian had bathed her and dressed her in the new dress from Lady Catelyn as late as she could. Vivian knew the girl could have been messy before she even made it to the courtyard.

"Vivian, why is the king visiting? The king doesn't usually come." The smart four year old swung her legs from the bed. Vivian was putting the last touches to Lyanna's southern style braid.
"His grace just wishes to see Lord Stark. He holds the north for him after all." Vivian smiled politely. She knew exactly why his grace was visiting. It was common news that buzzed around the staff that Lord Stark was to be the next Hand of the King.

"What do you think the king is like? And will the princess and the princes come?" The curious six year old pressed her handmaiden.
"I'm not sure what his grace is like. I'm sure he's a very lovely man." Vivian chose her words carefully. She'd heard tales of King Robert and how he would rather lay with whores then his wife. The low born sighed softly. She wasn't about to taint the innocent child that probably thought everybody was a good person. She hoped that Lyanna would learn in time.