Little Dragon - Game of Thrones

3

"Theon! Theon!" Lyla jumped up from the crate she was sitting on, running over to her friend. A few weeks had passed. Bran had fallen out of a tower window while climbing, but her mother wouldn't let her see Bran.

Almost all her life, Lyla had been separated from her siblings. She never understood why, but she didn't exactly know what to do about it.

"Lyla, Lyla." Theon ruffled her hair with a grin.

"I'm doing really good at shooting a bow, watch." She ran to the rack behind the shooting range, taking a small, thin bow and an arrow. The metal tip aligned with target, and Lyla drew a breath.

It flew through the air swiftly, landing a couple inches from the center.

"See? I hit it!" The little girl cheered. Theon laughed, grabbing a bow as well.

He cocked the arrow, pulling back and releasing in a second. His arrow somehow seemed quicker than hers, and split her arrow in two.

"That was incredible Theon! I wanna be just like you someday." Lyla took another arrow, cheering as she managed to land it on the border of the center this time.

The two shot for nearly an hour, before the young prince walked over the range followed by five or so guards. He smirked at them.

"Playing with bows like children?" Joffrey sneered, walking over to Lyla. "How old are you? Two?"

"I'm six." She looked up at him angrily.

"And what about you, Greyjoy? Still hiding from home?" Joffrey ignored Theon's hard glare. "I suppose you'd hardly have a home to get back to, anyways. Pile of rocks in the middle of the ocean."

"Leave him alone!" Lyla warned, stepping in front of Theon despite being half his size.

"You can't talk to me that way!" He screeched.

"You're a cunt!" Lyla yelled. Theon's jaw dropped, and he had to cover his mouth to keep in his laughter. Even the gruff Hound looked to be fighting back a smile.

Joffrey raised a hand, smacking Lyla across the face with much force. Theon placed a hand on his sheathed sword in warning. Lyla retaliated quickly, spinning around and swinging her foot up into Joffrey's crotch.

The prince cried out, doubling over in pain. Theon ran up to Lyla, picking her up before she could get herself in even more trouble. He carried her away from the range, and to the straw dummies where Robb and Jon were practicing.

"Theon. Lyla." Robb greeted as Jon was busy with killing the inanimate target. Now far from the prince, Theon burst out laughing and put Lyla down.

"She... She..." He couldn't get out the words as he kept laughing, and Robb rolled his eyes.

"What did she do this time?"

"The prince got a hit in the balls!" Theon managed to say through his laughter. Jon dropped his sword.

"What?!" He looked over with wide eyes.

"It's true, Jon! He cried like a baby!" Lyla said proudly.

"Lyla Stark!" Her mother's voice yelled. Lyla turned to run, but the back of her blouse was caught by Robb before she could get very far. Catelyn stormed up to the little girl, who had an anxious smile on her face.

"He was making fun of Theon!"

"That does not mean you kick the prince of the seven kingdoms!"

"Yes it does! No one can be mean to Theon!"

"I am your mother, you-"

"Theon is my mother now, then." Lyla ran over to Theon, hugging his waist. He laughed, patting her head.

"I'd make a good mother, don't you think, Robb?" Theon jested.

"This is serious, Theon!" Catelyn scolded. "Come on, Lyla, we need to talk about your punishment."

Reluctantly, Lyla hung her head and followed after her mother.