The Bastards of Winterfell

Cripples, Bastards and Broken Things

"Arya." Alyanna huffed trying to catch her breath. She had been chasing Arya through the halls of the keep one moment, the next thing she knew the little wolf had disappeared into thin air.

Syrio had instructed her to study the cats around the keep, and so the little wolf had taken to chasing the poor things everywhere.

Today was the first day of the Hands Tourney, millions of people had flocked to the city to catch a glimpse of the knights participating in the games.

Septa Mordane had instructed Alyanna to find and dress Arya for the event, which was proving very difficult.

Alyanna was thankful she had already made herself presentable for the occasion before hand, as she slowly realised she had once again gotten lost in the keep.

She roamed the hallways now, giving up on running. Every now and then when she heard movement she would call out for Arya, with no such luck.

The heat of the sun shining on the walls of the keep where making her irritable, and realising she had circled the same hall multiple times now had not helped with that.

With a huff, Alyanna made a right turn which took her up some steps. Once at the top she felt a light breeze wash over her, a comfort she welcomed.

Taking in her surroundings, she found that she was at the highest point of the hands tower. In place of windows, there was empty space surrounding the room. Giving a glorious view of the city, whilst allowing some fresh air into the room.

Alyanna instantly forgot of her task to find the little wolf, making her way over to admire the view. From the moment she arrived in kings landing, she had wanted nothing more than to see this.

The city span far and wide, surrounded by tall walls with ocean around each. It was hard to believe that over a million people lived within her view.

On one street below she could see that it was lined with traders, all selling a variety of fruits and vegetables.

Alyanna wanted nothing more than to wonder the streets of kings landing, now that she had seen this view for herself. She very much doubted that her father would allow her to venture out.

The day previous she had spoken with her father, he had told her to keep a close eye on her sisters and that he believed they had come to a dangerous place.

This news did not shock Alyanna, ever since the moment they had arrived something had felt strange about this place. Although beautiful, whilst staying in kings landing so far Alyanna had a feeling as if she was being watched, wherever she moved.

The feeling was unsettling to say the least, especially with her recent encounter with Sandor, more commonly referred too as the princes guard dog. She worried for his safety if they had been seen together, especially with the now fading marks he had left on her skin.

Since that night, Alyanna had worn high necked dresses and made sure to wear her hair down freely. So far no one had suspected a thing.

She also had not seen Sandor since that night and as the time went on, she couldn't help but wonder if he was going out of his way to avoid running into her.

"Quite the view you have stumbled upon Alyanna." She heard, causing her to spin on her heels in the direction of the voice.

"Father. You startled me." She breathed, relaxing a little and turning back towards the city. Ned smiled looking to his eldest daughter, making his way over to stand next to her and take in the view for himself.

"Septa Mordane tells me you where to find and dress Arya for the tourney." Ned said calmly, looking to his daughter with raised brows.