I love Lyanna as a character and want to do her love story with Rhaegar justice (as I do think it is a love story, seeing as Robert is the only one to think she was abducted). So I really got into this, and want to continue. Let me know if you think it's any good. Disclaimer blah blah all characters to their respective owner (George RR Martin, amen). Etc. etc. You know it all.

"There it is," Ned called back to her. "Harrenhal."

And so it was. As Lyanna rode, she gazed up at the enormous castle, the largest in the Seven Kingdoms, and her eyes widened. Old Nan had told her there was human blood in the black walls that had been melted away by dragonfire so long ago. It was a frightening place indeed.

"It's bigger than I imagined," she said, kicking her horse to catch up to her older brother.

"It covers three times as much ground as Winterfell," Ned told her. "Better built for giants than for men. I don't care for it."

Lyanna didn't either, but she said nothing. A place with such a dark history could bear no good will.

"Robert will be there already," he added.

Lyanna turned her face away and grimaced. She cared little for her brother's best friend, who thought himself so in love with her. Betrothed or not, she did not love the dark, handsome lord and doubted she ever would. Rumours had already reached her of bastards he had fathered, and Ned had dismissed her concerns when she had voiced them to him.

Benjen laughed behind them and Lyanna was tempted to knock him from his horse. It wasn't fair. Though at least their father was being as equally horrid to Brandon, talking of betrothing him to the older Tully girl.

Lyanna kicked her mare and galloped ahead of their party, and heard her father and Ned call after her, the former demanding she arrive at Harrenhal in the carriage as a proper lady.

She reached the gates. "Lyanna Stark of Winterfell," she announced herself.

They stared at her curiously but the gates were opened nonetheless. She rubbed the horse's white neck as she leapt off, landing gracefully on her feet. She took her by the reins and lead her forward into the square.

Harrenhal was alive with music and dancing, and Lyanna regretted judging it so harshly. The ugly backdrop of the castle remained but the atmosphere was a happy one. She received a bow from a singer with a harp who immediately began to sing of her Northern beauty, comparing her to a winter rose. She laughed.

And then there were women with babes at the breast, looking fat and lively as they talked among themselves. Dogs fought over meat and men courted lovely women, whispering promises of love and beauty into their ears.

Lyanna imagined her face wondering. Winterfell was beautiful and it was home, but it was never like this.

And then there was Ned beside her again. He dismounted and gave her a stern look. "It is not right for a lady to ride in on her own. You should have been in the carriage with the ladies."

Lyanna only laughed. "You shouldn't be so serious, Ned," she scolded him. She smiled now. "I think I quite like Harrenhal, after all."

He sighed. "I thought you might."

"Ned!" somebody boomed, and they both glanced to where Robert Baratheon strode towards them. His hair was dark and he was black-bearded, and tall, broad and muscular, his eyes like gems.

They embraced like brothers as Lyanna watched, slapping each other on the back. Robert took Ned by the shoulders and laughed genially.

Suddenly he had turned to Lyanna and bowed his head respectfully. "My lovely lady," he said, taking her hand and kissing it gently. Lyanna smiled to hide her distaste.

"Every hour I am not with you seems as long as a year," he told her. His eyes never left her face, whether it was love or lust in them, Lyanna couldn't tell. She looked away.

"Then you have aged very well, my Lord," she quipped.

Robert roared with laughter and Lyanna was relieved, though she noticed Ned looking warningly at her.

"She's a witty one," Robert conceded. "Beautiful and graceful and clever."

Lyanna curtsied. "You flatter me," she said quietly.

"No more than you deserve," said Robert, before turning his attention back to Ned.

Benjen had come upon them and poked her in the ribs, his face full of mocking laughter. He ducked away and Lyanna chased after him, leaving Robert, her brothers and her father staring in her wake.

"There you are," the Septa told her, pulling her wild hair away from her face and fastening it down her back. "Was that so terrible?"

Lyanna peered at herself in the mirror and frowned.

"I look exactly the same as I did before," she complained. "Honestly, you women and all of your tricks, all lies." She laughed then.

"You look beautiful, my Lady," the Septa insisted.

Lyanna ignored the compliment. These Septas were a strange breed. They had none in the North. Women served the Old Gods there, not the Strange Seven, as she was so fond of calling them.

"You must remember to thank your father for your gown," she reminded Lyanna patiently.

Lyanna glanced down at the pale blue silk gown, more in the style of King's Landing than Winterfell. It was a pretty thing that shimmered by candlelight and swept gently from her neck to her waist where it was nipped in with silver, and gathered to fall down to the floor.

She only laughed. Her father had given her the gown only for the benefit of Robert Baratheon. None of her dresses in Winterfell were as fine as this one, and that was how she preferred it. She wore men's breeches when she was allowed and carried a sword when her father was absent. If only she had been born a man. Then they could have been the four Stark brothers, not the three and their silly sister.

"Off with you now, my Lady," the Septa told her. "I must see Lady Ashara before the feast begins."

Lyanna held her skirts as she made her way down the great black corridors towards the Great Hall where the feast was to be held. As she reached the doors the squire bowed to her and turned to the attendees to announce her.

"Lyanna of House Stark, Lady of Winterfell, daughter of Rickard Stark, Lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North."

There was a moment of silence as nearly everybody turned to her. She noted that her father looked relieved to see her dressed in a gown instead of her brothers' clothes, and Brandon's face was full of pride at the sight of her.

"My Lady."

She glanced down to see that Robert had made his way over to her and offered her his hand. She took it and stepped down to join him.

"You look beautiful," he told her and she smiled and thanked him.

He led her over to where her family sat with Howland Reed, the man she had rescued from the three squires attacking him only hours before. She was glad to see that her brothers had found him clothes and a place to sit with them. He smiled widely at her and she returned it wholeheartedly.

"Strange to see you looking like a girl for once," laughed Benjen, but it was Ned who elbowed their brother in the ribs before Lyanna could, though she understood that it was only for the benefit of Robert.

"Aerys of the House Targaryen, the Second of His Name, King of the Andals and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and the Protector of the Realm," it was announced. "His son Prince Rhaegar of the House Targaryen and his wife, Princess Elia."

There was an outbreak of polite cheering and applause as they entered. Lyanna took a sip of her wine and then glanced up to see the Royal family for the first time in her life.

Her first reaction was fear. She had never seen a man like Aerys in her life. She remembered her brother had told her the King had only just celebrated his thirty-eighth nameday, yet he looked closer to eighty. His fingernails were long and uncut and his hair was a wild tangle. But his eyes were cold and cruelly unfeeling as he surveyed the Hall.

The family was led to the raised dais where the Whent family usually sat. Lyanna's eyes followed the King as he walked and finally she looked away and saw Ned watching her closely. She managed a half-hearted smile in his direction.

And so with the arrival of the Targaryens, the feast began. Lyanna ate and drank wine with her brothers, laughing at Benjen's jokes and Ned's seriousness. Her father scolded her more than once for being unladylike. Brandon told stories of his travels, and other tourneys he'd competed in and what the coming ten days would be like. It all sounded very exciting to Lyanna, no matter what Ned said.

After an hour or two, Lyanna stole another glance at the Royal family. She glanced at Aerys, looking as frightening as ever as he ignored the food and drink before him suspiciously and said little to anyone. Her attention turned to Rhaegar, his son, who she found, to her surprise, to be staring at her.

She was so shocked she dropped her goblet onto the floor where it resounded with a clang. But she could not tear her eyes away from the Prince. He was handsome to be sure, with messy silver-blonde Targaryen hair, but it was his eyes that had caught her. There was sadness in them that she saw in her own eyes, that she knew was from being trapped. He couldn't have been any older than two-and-twenty, broad-shouldered and strong but she could see gentleness in him, too.

She looked away hurriedly, but could feel his eyes on her as she began to talk to Brandon.

Suddenly the Hall fell silent, and they all turned to see Rhaegar Targaryen with his harp, moving to the centre of the dais.

Lyanna could have heard a pin drop as they all waited expectantly.

He began to play, softly at first, and then sang. Lyanna did not notice as she turned her whole person towards him, caught at attention. He sang, his voice deep and lovely, of a love that he had lost.

The harp he played was haunting and resounded about the hall. His voice broke with sorrow along the greatest lines of the song. He sung of the lady's beauty and her marriage to another man, and finally of her throwing herself into the ocean.

Lyanna found she had tears in her eyes as his song came to an end. The hall remained silent long after he had finished and returned to his seat.

Lyanna turned to face her family, wiping the tears from her cheeks.

"Look, Lyanna is crying!" Benjen laughed. "You look like a newborn babe!"

Lyanna glanced at him coldly before she seized his goblet of red wine and poured it over his head.

Brandon and Robert roared with laughter as Benjen sat in shock and then finally got up to go and clean himself up.

"That wasn't necessary, my dear," her father told her with a frown.

Lyanna held the goblet out as one of the servants refilled it. Rhaegar's song played on in her ears as she sipped. She looked up, hoping to steal a glance at him, only to find him watching her still. She smiled at him, hoping to convey that she understood him, his sadness and his song. He smiled back momentarily, but long enough for Lyanna to be sure she'd remember it forever.

Robert Baratheon claimed the first dance of the evening from her, Brandon the next, and Ned after him. Their father forced even Benjen, though he did complain, to take her hand for a dance.

As she danced with Ben, she noticed that Brandon had somehow made Ned ask Lady Ashara Dayne for a dance. Lyanna mused as she watched him, if their father allowed it, that Ashara would prove an excellent goodsister. Ned had spoken of her wit and beauty before, but now Lyanna had her own proof.

Ben appeared relieved when he was finally able to release her and scramble back to their table. She'd have to give him a whack across the backs of his legs for that next time they sparred.

"My Lady, may I have this dance?"

Lyanna turned to see that Rhaegar Targaryen stood before her, offering one hand to her. Her heart beat hard against her ribs as she tried to remember the courtesies she had learned.

"Of course, ser," she bowed her head to him and accepted his hand.

He drew her onto the dancefloor as he might a cut of silk, and as they danced, she felt as though she were only an accessory to him. He moved with so much grace and beauty she felt as though she were only there to complement him.

"You must be Lady Lyanna Stark," he said as they danced.

"The very same," she told him solemnly. "You are a very gifted musician, ser. I have not heard your match before."

He smiled at that, at her. "What am I to make of you, my Lady? I have heard one man say you are as gifted a fighter as any man here and another say that you were half horse by the way you ride. Yet another told me you can turn into a wolf at will."

Lyanna smiled in a comely manner.

"And yet here you are, and I heard nothing of your beauty," Rhaegar continued. "It seems to me that either every man I've met who has spoken of you has been blind or each keeps you a jealously guarded secret."

She laughed at that. She had never been further south than the Twins before. How was Rhaegar to know anything of her, or she of him?

"I'm afraid I don't know," she answered finally. "I have nobody to compare my swordplay and riding to but my brothers."

Rhaegar smiled. "Perhaps we will spar during this tourney."

"I do not think my father would allow it," said Lyanna sourly. "He's always so concerned of what I say and do when we are in company. At Winterfell, he hardly cares."

He laughed. "I should like to see you when he is not orchestrating your every move," he said. "Perhaps the Lady of Winterfell wears a wolfskin and fights the Others at home?"

She couldn't help the smile that spread across her face. "Perhaps she does."

"I understand you are to be the Lady of Storm's End before too long," Rhaegar continued.

Lyanna's face must have embittered noticeably because Rhaegar laughed again. "I apologise, my Lady, I mean no offence."

"It is not you that offends me," she spat. "It is the notion of marrying."

"Marriage or your fiancé?"

Lyanna looked up to him suddenly. "You grow too familiar, ser. You must excuse me."

She released him and thought for a moment that he might come after her, but he didn't. She returned to her father and Benjen and sat down and watched Rhaegar return to his table and sit beside his wife.

So there we go! First chapter done and dusted. Hopefully you liked it and wanted more! I hope I've done Rhaegar and Lyanna justice, or whatever. Reviews are always appreciated and might convince me to keep writing as I'm not sold on this at the moment! Lots of love. x