ILyanna Stark is the complete image of her deceased aunt and namesake, Lyanna Stark. When the King comes to Winterfell and catches sight of ILyanna the first thing he thinks about is a betrothal between her and his legitimized bastard son, Gendry Ba...
ILyanna was sitting on the bed watching her mother fix Sansa's hair for the feast that night. She had already finished getting prepared for it and was now waiting on the rest of her family to finish.
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"Do you think Joffrey will like me? What if he thinks I'm ugly and wants Anna instead?" Sansa asked their mother, sneering at ILyanna angrily. She was still mad that ILyanna had gotten all the attention earlier that day.
Their mother took a deep breath and rolled her eyes at ILyanna behind Sansa's head, "If he does not like you then he is the stupidest prince that ever lived."
Sansa smiled conceitedly at her own reflection, as she looked into the hand-held mirror, "He's so handsome is he not? When will we be married? Soon? Or do we have to wait?" Sansa asked their mother impatiently.
They had found out earlier about the king's offer, and while Sansa was quite excited at the prospect of marrying a prince, ILyanna had reservations about the marriage. She had not yet been able to speak to Prince Gendry, but he was very handsome and seemed to be very polite and kind, she just did not know him at all yet. There was also the matter that she would have to leave Winterfell and her family, and would not be able to see them for a long time. The fact that she would also be queen when the king died was weighing heavily on her as well.
Luckily her father had not yet decided to agree to the offer.
Lady Caitlyn took a deep breath in aggravation, "Hush now, your father hasn't even said yes to the king."
"Why would he say no? He'd be the second most powerful man in the kingdoms." ILyanna sighed at her younger sister's ignorance on the situation they were placed in. She interrupted their mother and answered Sansa herself, "Because Sansa, father would have to leave home, he'd have to leave Robb and Jon, Arya and Bran, and he'd have to leave Rickon and mother. And so would you and I."
But Sansa still didn't understand, "But mother left her home to come here, and Anna, you'd be queen someday, and I'd be Princess Sansa Baratheon." Turning quickly in her chair she began begging, "Please make father say yes." "Sansa..." "Please, please, it's the only thing I've ever wanted." She pleaded with her big blue eyes.
Caitlyn Stark sighed heavily, ILyanna could see the exhaustion in her mother's eyes, standing up she walked over to her mother and took her hands telling her, "Go get yourself ready mother, I'll finish Sansa's hair. I'm already dressed anyway."
Caitlyn gave her eldest a tired smile and reached up to cup her cheek while giving the other cheek a kiss, "You look beautiful, my love." Leaning closer she whispered in her daughter's ear, "And you will make a wonderful queen," she said before leaving the girls alone to get herself ready, and ILyanna began finishing Sansa's hair.
"Do you think Joffrey is handsome, Anna?" Sansa asked her sister, half of her hoping her sister would agree with her, the other half hoping that her sister wouldn't like the prince; because if she did Sansa had not doubt ILyanna could have Prince Joffrey if she truly wanted him.
ILyanna sighed and gave her sister a smile, "I think... that he is a handsome young boy, for you. But lucky for me, I find Prince Gendry immensely more handsome." Her answer was rewarded with a large grin from Sansa.
They were interrupted by Sansa's door swinging open and their three youngest siblings running into the room. Young Rickon came running toward ILyanna and attached himself to her leg, "Tell them ILy! Tell them it's not true. You're not leaving!" He was practically screaming.
ILyanna removed his arms from around her and knelt down in front of the three children standing before her, two of them looked positively feral while little Rickon looked quite near tears, "Where did you hear that? Who told you I was leaving?"
Arya answered for her siblings, "We heard mother and father talking on our way here. Father said something about agreeing to the King's command and that you and Sansa would go with him to King's Landing..."
She was interrupted by Rickon's tearful voice, "It's not true, you'd never leave us, would you ILy? You just can't leave me, please don't go sissy." He cried wrapping his arms around her neck.
ILyanna sighed sorrowfully; wrapping her own arms around Rickon's little body, so her father had decided to agree.
Bran finally spoke up and asked his two older sisters, "What was father talking about? What did the king command?"
Before ILyanna could explain it to the children, Sansa butted in and exclaimed, "The king wants Prince Joffrey and me to marry!" She told them excitedly with a large grin.
Arya gave her a smirk, "Good, you can go and we can finally be rid of you. But that doesn't explain why Anna has to go too. Why can't you stay here with us, Anna?"
Rickon lifted his tear streaked face and yelled at Arya, "She is staying with us, she can't leave us!" Turning to face ILyanna, "You're not really going to leave me are you, ILy? You'll tell father to let you stay, won't you?"
Once again ILyanna was interrupted by Sansa's patronizing tone, "Oh Rickon, Anna can't disobey father and father can't disobey the king. And the king wants Anna to marry Prince Gendry and be the future queen. Isn't it exciting? You're sisters will be princesses, Rickon."
Her answer only made Rickon cry more, "No! I don't want you to be princesses if you have to leave home. Why can't you stay with us?"
ILyanna gave her youngest siblings a watery smile, "Listen to me, no matter where I go, I will always be your big sister. And when I become queen I can command you all to come see me anytime I want you to. And Prince Gendry looks like a very nice young man, I'm sure he wouldn't mind letting me come visit you. No matter how much I want to stay here with you forever, I was never going to be able to; I would have had to marry at some point and leave to live with my husband. But I will always love you all. I will always be a Stark of Winterfell."
The three children returned her sad smile with their own and nodded their head in understanding.
ILyanna dried Rickon's tears before setting him down and clapping her hands together, "Now, if everyone is ready, then it is time for us to join the festivities. Come on." And the Stark children left the room following behind their eldest sister.
