The Lions Wolf

Chapter 1 ~ Winter is Coming

I stood with my brothers as we watched Bran try and fail to hit the target with his arrows, he's been trying and failing for the last few hours and it was getting sad, I watched as he aimed at the target again and let the string go, the arrow sailed too high over the target and slammed into the wall behind it. My brothers Robb, Jon and little Rickon chuckled quietly to themselves, I decided it was time to take Bran under my wing, I'd been shooting since 10 and by now could be considered an excellent shot.

Stepping through the muck and mud that was on the ground, not bothering to pull up my skirts because they were already caked at the hemline and they'd be a lost cause. I put my hands on either shoulder of my brother and leant down to talk to him, his shoulders were hunched in sadness and he was disappointed that he couldn't make the shot, the other boys were still snickering when our father spoke up from the walkway above us, Ned Stark stood proudly next to my mother Catelyn, "and which one of you was a marksman at 10" he said, the boys quickly quieted down.

"You can do this Bran," I said, putting my fingers under his chin to tilt his head up so he could look me in the eyes, "just imagine the target as Robb's fat head and you will never miss," I said with a smirk, I spoke loud enough for my brothers and parents to hear, Jon laughed loudly as Robb fake glowered in my direction, I patted Bran on the shoulders and went to stand next to Robb with a large grin on my face.

"Fathead?" He said with a raised eyebrow, my grin got bigger when I looked at him and nodded, I heard an arrow fly through the air and hit the targets bullseye, the arrow wasn't Brans though, it was Arya's she mock bowed at him and ran as he took off after her.

"Faster Bran!" I shouted as they disappeared from view, I looked to my father who was now discussing something with Rodrik Cassel, mother looked at Jon and flared in disgust before turning her back on us, her hatred for Jon was something I could understand but at the same time I hated it, my father had been unfaithful during the War and when he came home to us he had a small baby, as a child, all I could see was another sibling not quite understanding the situation, it wasn't until my 10th name-day that I finally realised what was going on and why mother treated Jon the way she did, it didn't change the way I felt about him though, Jon was my brother, bastard or not I cared for him.

Rickon handed me some arrows that Bran had shot and ran off to collect some more when mother came up to me "Ris, I need you to do something" she said quietly, mother and I were always close, I was there for every birth of my siblings, holding her hand, telling her she was doing good, so when she asked me to do something it usually meant she wanted it to be done right.

"Anything mother, you know that," I said, I put the arrow in their quiver and turned to hold her hands, her face was contorted with worry which made me stomach clench.

"Your father is taking Bran to watch an execution, go and make sure your brother will be okay" she met my eyes and I nodded, she didn't like that I did unladylike things, but we'd agreed on one of my name-days that if I could balance my studies I could learn to fight, ride and the like, I was there for Robb and Jon when they had gotten old enough to see the King's justice served and I would be there for Bran and Rickon as well.

"Of course mother, you don't have to ask" I kissed her cheek before leaving to ready my horse and help Bran with his.

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I stood with my hands placed on Bran's shoulders, as a sign of comfort, as we watched a deserter from the Night's Watch get dragged to the chopping block that had been the place of executions for thousands of years, old blood had marked the fallen tree for what it was, a sign that told people exactly what would happen if you did something that warranted a brutal punishment.