"Men need to objectify and conquer. They see what they want to see. Women, however, can see into the soul of a person."

— Rickard Stark to Seraphina Stark

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Chapter One

Prologue

"I am going to rip his throat out." Lyanna hissed, her grey eyes hard as the icicles that hung from the trees outside.

A small smirk appeared on the female's face as she watched Robert Baratheon drink his weight, and making a complete fool out of himself and Lyanna Stark - his betroth and her older sister.

"He may be a brute." She muttered softly, for Lyanna's ears only. "But he isn't bad on the eyes, sister."

Lyanna hissed and shook her head. "You are incorrigible." She grumbled before plopping down besides her, stealing her cup of ale.

The dark-haired beauty laughed before nudging her sister. "Lya, you don't even like him in the first place, why are you so upset?" She asked curiously. Lyanna was usually never phased by much, it took a lot to make her mad, and making her mad was just not smart. She may be short but she had the temperament of the dire-wolf that graced their family banners.

"Sera, he's insulting me." She growled, her eyes taking in Robert's actions with distate clear in her eyes.

Seraphina's eyes flickered over to where Robert Baratheon stood, he was an extremely handsome man. He was tall and well muscled, his hair was a nice dark brown that complimented his bright blue eyes that were currently covered in mirth as he laughed joyfully at whatever Clarysse Bolton mumbled off about. Her eyes narrowed slightly, and her head tilted to the side like a curious pup, a look she got a lot when she was deep in thought.

Robert's eyes flickered around, looking around for someone - no doubt, when his eyes landed on her. His eyes widened slightly, and a smile tugged on his lips before his eyes flickered besides her where Lyanna stood, his smile wavered slightly until he looked back in Clarysse Bolton's way.

"You are not paying him much attention, so he's taking matters into his own hands and trying to catch your attention, Lyanna." Seraphina explained. "Just not in a very smart way." She added on sheepishly.

The eldest she-wolf sighed before shrugging. "I don't want to marry, father knew this, but the first thing he did was marry me off. You would be a better wife." She mumbled softly.

Sera shrugged before taking her cup back from Lyanna. "You are his first born, and his blood. It makes sense to marry you off to a good family." She explained before finishing off her ale.

Lyanna frowned. "You are his blood too, you are as much as his daughter as I am." She argued.

Filling up her cup once more, she took another long sip. "Correct but I will forever be seen as a bastard, and the fact that my mother was a high born lady does not change anything. Your father and my mother never married and by default I am still a bastard. Most houses wouldn't want a bastard marrying in the family. No matter how high up in the ladder I may be compared to some."

"Still, you are beautiful, healthy, and a way for other families to not only have access to House Stark but House Velaryon as well. You may be a bastard but that doesn't change the fact that father still receives marriage proposals over you."

Sera shrugged again before drinking even more. Her eyes drifted around, boredom clear on her face. "I suppose." She said dissmissing the topic, which frustrated Lyanna to no end. Sera didn't like talking about her problems, she has always kept them to herself. Before Lyanna could complain, her brother made his way over to them.

"Sisters! Lya and Sera! How are you this beautiful night?!" Brandon exclaimed joyfully, a wide drunk smirk on his pale face.

Brandon Stark, age twenty and the heir of Winterfell. He was the biggest ladies man to grace Winterfell and he loved the attention he received. Sera smiled up at her brother and stood up, hugging him. He laughed joyfully and hugged his youngest sister tighter, lifting her off the floor effortlessly.

"Sera, Sera, oh how I've missed you." He sung out in her ear, and rather loudly as well because Lyanna heard him from her seat and she rolled her eyes. Brandon and Sera have always been close, and despite the age gap of five, the two were glued at the hip , but she wasn't offended, its always been Brandon and Sera, just like its always been Ned and Lyanna.

Separating, Sera shoved him playfully, but the man was built like a tree and didn't move an inch despite how drunk he was. "You saw me in the morning, Bran." She said, rolled her indigo colored eyes. Sera was born with eyes that changed colors, in the cold they would be Stark grey, but in warm weather her eyes would turn a shade of dark purple, a color exclusive to those with the blood of the dragons. Valyrians.

Brandon grabbed her hands before she put them down and pulled her closer, and allowed himself to rest a bit of his weight on her delicate frame. "It's still been too long." He mumbled, his sharp eyes glaring at any man that he caught staring at his sister inappropriately.

"What am I chopped liver?" Lyanna huffed, standing up from her seat and glaring playfully at her eldest brother.

He laughed loudly, catching the attention of mostly everyone in the room before they went back to what they were doing. "Oh shut it. I won't even touch you, wouldn't want your soon to be husband to get jealous." He teased, a chortle left him when he saw the glare on her face appear.

"I'm going off with Ned, you can choke." She hissed lowly before stomping off in the direction of Eddard Stark - most commonly known as Ned, in the Stark household.

Giggling softly, she pushed Brandon, and on his will, he took a seat, not before bringing his sister down besides him. He rested his head on her shoulder, and took a deep breath in, taking in her smell. She smelt like the cold wind, and the roses that she liked attending too. During the winter, the only flowers that seemed to grow were the blue roses that she loved, but her favorite were the red roses, but they grew in the south mostly.

She nudged him, catching his attention. Looking up, he cocked a curious eyebrow. She motioned over to Lyanna, who sat besides Ned, the two of them paired up together, just like they were, as they gossip like older woman. "Don't tease, Lyanna so much. She's not very happy with the rumors she's hearing about her betroth."

Brandon played with her long pale fingers as he met her gaze head on. "What rumors? The one about him having a bastard in the Vale?" He asked carelessly, flinching slightly when he saw her glare at him hard.

"Yes." She snapped. "She doesn't feel comfortable having a future husband who might not have just her warming his bed." She pulled away from him.

He stared at her hard, and she kept her glare on her face, soon he sighed before pulling her closer. "I'm sorry." He whispered, her glared subsided. "I'll lay off the jokes." He said after.

"Good." She said simply.

Brandon sighed, he was quickly sobering up with the way Sera was acting. The girl was just like Lyanna and him, hot-tempered, maybe even more. She was sensitive about a lot of topics, and despite her being close to Brandon, she hasn't completely opened up to him. She didn't talk about the things that troubled her. She'd rather pry others and ask them how they felt instead of talking about the things that bothered her, she didn't have to push much, she knew she was beautiful and used her beauty as an advantage.

Trying to get Seraphina to talk about her feelings was hard, and it required a lot of patience, paitence that he really didn't have but this was his sister. He would move mountains for her if he could. "Are you excited about traveling to Harrenhal?" Brandon asked curiously, trying to change the subject.

She shrugged. "I suppose I am, I haven't seen my uncle in a while and I told he's going. This is the first time in fifteen years that he has willingly left Driftmark, and for a tourney at that." She explained, reaching over and grabbing a chicken drumstick, and taking a small bite out of it before handing it over to Brandon, who ate it in three bites. "Its rather odd, I'm assuming Jacaerys convinced him."

"Really? So its safe to assume that Jace will be coming along as well?" Brandon asked, still chewing his food causing her to scrunch up her nose in disgust.

"I'm not sure, my uncle hasn't explained fully, he only wanted to know if I was going for certain." She explained, biting back a smile when Brandon stuck his tongue out, food still in mouth. As disgusting as it was, it was funny seeing Brandon be playful, he rarely was. "He would have to leave Vaelena in Driftmark though."

"I do hope so, Jacaerys is a wonderful lad." He explained, swallowing the rest of his food.

"He is" She murmured, a small grin on her face as she thought of the rest of her family, the family of her mother.

Leaning against her brother, her eyes flickered around, her gaze immediately being drawn to Ned, who was laughing loudly with Robert Baratheon. Lyanna Stark watched her brother and his best friend interact with narrowed eyes, she still remained seated besides Ned. Hearing the laughter of her other brother, she found Benjen Stark, who sat besides a blushing Laerra Mormont. Benjen had a mischievous smirk on his face as he reached over and played with a strand of her brown hair. Sera chuckled as she watched the the youngest Stark male, he no doubt has been hanging around Brandon too much.

Benjen may be older than her by a year but he was still had an air of innocence that Brandon definitely didn't have.

Brandon followed his sisters gaze and grinned wolfishly as he saw his youngest brother flirt his way into Laerra Mormont's skirts. "Atta' boy." He praised lowly, his grin widened when he saw Sera smile slightly before rolling her eyes.

"You Stark men are just incorrigible." She said, a playful glint in her eyes, her anger gone - for now.

The eldest wolf laughed and wrapped his arms around his sister, his chin resting on top of her shoulder, his shoulder length hair brushing over her face lightly causing her to scrunch her nose up slightly. "That we are." He murmured against her ear.

Her breath hitched slightly, and unnoticeably, she kicked him under the table which did nothing but make him smirk. "You're an arse." She grumbled and all he did was chuckle lowly.

"Seraphina."

Both Brandon and herself looked up quickly, meeting the eyes of their father, Rickard Stark. His sharp grey eyes stared at her intently before motioning her over. Untangling herself from her brother, she walked over to her father and followed him as they left the great hall, where all of their Bannerman feasted before they all headed off to Harrenhal the next day.

She said nothing as she followed her father upstairs and into his study. Closing the door behind her, she met the intimidating gaze that belong to the head wolf of House Stark. Letting a soft sigh out, she walked over and took a seat in front of him, she kept her sharp eyes connecting with his. They stared at each other intently before he sighed softly and his gaze softened considerably.

"Did you know that I wasn't going to allow you to go to the Tourney with your siblings?" He asked softly.

Swallowing, she cocked a curious eyebrow. "Why was that?"

He shrugged before letting his posture go, and now sat almost lazily in his chair. "Selfishness? I don't know. You are my last born, my child, my blood. Brandon is about to marry the Tully girl soon, and Lyanna will soon marry Robert Baratheon. Benjen has been talking to me about potentially joining the nights watch, and you know how stubborn that boy can be." The two shared a soft small regarding Benjen. "And I'm currently in talks of having Eddard marry Lord Ryswell daughter."

At that, she bit back a smart remark, Lord Ryswell's daughter, Barbrey is the same woman who's maidenhead, Brandon took. It was rather ironic, but it worked.

"Being in the south, you would catch a lot of attention, and I simply don't want to lose my youngest pup." He said lastly, his grey eyes turned a sad shade of blue.

"You won't lose you." She explained, her eyes saddened. "I'm a bastard, I will never marry, nobody will want to marry a bastard."

He sighed. "You would be surprised how many proposal I've received." He murmured thoughtfully, but she heard him. "You are more than a bastard, Sera. You are the daughter of Vaella Velaryon, a powerful house that holds strong connections with the Royal family. You may not have my name, but you have my blood, Seraphina Fireborn."

She loved her father with all her heart, but they have never had a heart to heart like they were having. Her father had to keep a stern exterior, and rarely showed his children true affection. Rickard Stark never treated his children terribly, but he let them do things that most parents wouldn't as a way to show that he loved and supported each and every one of them. The boys never really got punished because all of them except for Benjen have been fostered in other homes.

Brandon in Barrowtown with Lord Dustin, and Ned in the Eyrie with Lord Arryn.

Lyanna and Sera were given the chance to practice how to wield a sword, something the two girls have always wanted to do. At age ten, she was given the chance to leave Winterfell and head over to Driftmark to meet her mothers family, where there she learned how to use an arrow while riding a horse. Rickard Stark didn't show emotions but he gave his children opportunities that most parents wouldnt.

Looking away, she blinked away tears that accumulated in her eyes, her hatred for showing emotion quickly taking a hold of her before something in the fire caught her attention. Blinking away her tears, she stood up and slowly walked over to the big fire place. The fire roared as it devoured the logs beneath it, but it was the glimmering eggs that caught her attentions.

"I know what this is." She whispered to herself.

Rickard stood up and walked over to his youngest, he placed a hand on her shoulder as the two stared into the flames, their eyes remained glued onto the three dragon eggs in the fire.

"You know why you were given the name Fireborn, instead of Snow?" Rickard asked, but before she could respond, he continued. "I met your mother in Kings landing for Prince Rhaegar's tenth name day. She came in for House Velaryon instead of your uncle because he refused to leave Driftmark unattended. As soon as I met her she was all I wanted and all I could think about." He sighed softly, he reached over and grabbed a couple of strands that frame her face and rubbed it between his fingers.

Letting go of her dark hair, beautiful pale blonde hair reappeared where he was just rubbing. Sera may look almost full Stark but she wasn't exactly, she was a perfect mixture of a Stark and a Velaryon. She had dark hair but she had two pieces of white blonde hair that framed her face, the same blonde that only Valyrian's have. Instead of embracing it, every single day she would have her hand maidens cover the pale strands that frame her face black, matching the rest of her hair. As a child she was bullied for it, to a point where she became self-conscious about it. So from the age of five she hid her hair, she hated being called 'half-breed', or dragon scum.

The Northerners weren't the biggest fans of the Targaryen's and for generation, Velaryon's have married into the Targaryen line multiple times in the past. Velaryon's had Targaryen blood in them just like Targaryen's had Velaryon blood in them. The name didn't change much, the Northerners views Sera as a Targaryen, overlooking the fact that she was a Stark as well. She didn't want to bring shame upon the Stark name, so she decided to hide her hair, something that her family hated. Princess Elaena Targaryen also had the same issue with her hair, she had the typical white blonde hair but in the middle of her hair she had a bright golden streak but for her they viewed it as her crowning beauty, but for Seraphina is was viewed as a stain.

Rickard looked at his dark colored fingers, Sera following his gaze with a frown on her face.

"Of course your mother and I could never be for I was already married, but we remained in contact. Fifteen years ago, I finally gained the courage to take her up on her offer and I traveled to Driftmark, and you were conceived soon after." He looked back into the flames and she followed. "I couldn't just leave her, so I stayed, I had to see what you would look like. I knew I couldn't bare it if I couldn't see you once." He paused. "You were born a month before you were suppose to, the pregnancy drove her crazy and she did the unthinkable."

A scream escaped the white haired woman as she held her stomach in pain. Her lilac colored eyes flickered around wildly as she saw images fly through her head at a rapid pace, things only she could see.

"Burn them, burn them." She murmured quietly to herself, she ignored the screams of her handmaidens as they tried to enter the only room that wasn't destroyed completely durning the civil war known as the Dance of Dragons. High Tide still stood tall and proud, but most of it was destroy by the dragonfire that came from Vhagar - Aemond Targaryen's dragon.

Another screamed ripped through her throat. "Leave! Leave! You will burn here!" She screamed, tears flowing down her cheeks.

"Vaella!" Roared out Lucerys, the current Lord of The Tides and Master of Driftmark, and her oldest and only brother.

She sobbed before shaking her head fiercely. "No! No! I can't do this." She cried as she waddled over to the wooden box that she had her handmaidens carry in. Falling down to the ground on her knees, with shaky hands she pried open the box, she stared with wide eyes at the three dragon eyes that have been given to House Velaryon years ago as a token for forgiveness after the fire of Summerhall claimed the lives of Lucerys and Vaella's parents.

"A...dragon must have three heads." She whispered.

And with trembling hands she grabbed each egg and placed them on the floor, surrounding her. And with a last sob, she grabbed her torch and dropped it on the ground and the floor soon went up in flames. A tortured scream left her system as fire consumed her, but the pain of childbirth hurt more.

"Vaella, no!" Rickard screamed, the sounds of slamming could be heard over the roaring of flames.

Her gown disintegrated and she was left nude, her body bent back almost unnaturally as she let screams of childbirth out. With the energy she didn't know she possessed, one last push, her baby slid out successfully but the sounds of her cries didn't follow. Sitting up quickly, she grabbed her blood covered baby and stared at her frantically, she ignored the amount of blood that was leaving her system, she ignored how tired and ill she felt.

Her purple eyes remained on her child who wouldn't cry. With baited breath she waited and suddenly her childs eyes flickered open and a pair of bright purple eyes connected with her dull ones. A small serene grin covered the newborns face before her eyes shut once again, and she fell into a sleep.

A relieved sob escaped Vaella and she fell back to the ground, her grip tight on her child despite how quickly she was fading.

"I did my job." She mumbled softly as her eyes focused on nothing specifically. "I did. I hear it." She laughed softly. "Daenys." She whispered before her eyes fluttered shut and her soul left her body.

Daenys rolled from her mothers arms, making a soft impact on the ground, as soon as she hit the ground, her eyes flickered open and wail tore through the childs mouth as her mother began to truly burn from the flames.

The only thing that survived that day was the child and the dragon eggs.

"The same thing that took her parents, took her." He sighed. "Lucerys thinks that Vaella was trying to bring the dragons back to life and decided to do it when you were coming. Your mother believed in prophecies and spoke very highly of you, of how you would be the reason why Dragons returned back into the skies. Sadly she died in vain, and the only thing that survived that day was you and those bloody eggs." He growled lowly, his eyes glaring at the eggs.

With wide eyes, Seraphina stepped forward and stared at the eggs. The first one that called out to her was a black egg with red and gold colored scales, next was a white colored egg with a blue reflection, the last one was a dark green colored one with a couple of bronze stripes on it.

"I could never get rid of them, and for a while as a babe - as the Targaryen's did, I placed all three in your crib. It was the only way you slept through the night." He explained.

"And what happened after?" She asked quickly.

"I took them away from you and hid them, I was scared they would make you go crazy. It made the former king, Aegon V Targaryen go crazy and it made your mother go crazy. I didn't want that to happen to you."

A shuddered sigh left Sera. "Why are you telling me this?" She whispered, her eyes glazed over with unshed tears.

"Because, this is you, these are things that made you. You are a wolf, but you are also a dragon, and I understand that I must give you space to spread your wings and fly. You have lived with us, but you haven't really been you. You cannot continue hiding. I'm afraid that keeping you here will stop your growth. You are meant for more than just Winterfell. Your personality, your presence, and your beauty is too big to remain just here. I cannot give you my name, nor a full place in my court but I can give you this. I can give you the privilege to marry whoever the hell you want. You are a dragon and a wolf, no man can ever tell you how to live or what to do, so I won't do the same.

Slapping a hand over her mouth to muffle a cry, she turned around and stared at her father with wide eyes that were turning a soft lilac. It took him back to when she was a child and she would run in his study, biting back tears because the kids would tease her endlessly. He sighed softly and brought her in for a warm hug, and she returned it even harder.

"You are my father, I will never forget the first I have ever loved." Sera said, pushing back and meeting her father's gaze. "And why are you talking as though I'm leaving forever? I'm just going a Tourney, who says I'll find a potential husband in the matter of ten days? I'm not easily enamored, father."

Rickard smiled sadly. "You never know what the gods have in store for you." He said simply, ending that topic before he nodding over to the eggs. "The eggs are yours, they always have been. You may do with them as you like. You have grown up to be a very smart woman, and I know you will not do something that others have done before, unsuccessfully. Thread carefully with whom finds out you carry them. People would kill to have one dragon egg in their hands, imagine three." He said sternly.

"Of course." Sera said simply, before looking over to the eggs after.

Exhaling, she walked over to the fire place, her heart beating hard and fast in her chest as she got closer to them. She wasn't sure if it was just her imagination but she felt compelled to grab the, hold them, be with them. It saddened her immensely that they would never hatch, the ages have turned them to stone but they remain beautiful, and that was the reality of that. Holding her breath, she reached down, her hands shaking as she neared closer to the fire that she was born in, behind her, her father watched with worry. Exhaling fast, she went for it and reached down, grabbing the first egg that grabbed her attention, she lifted it up from the flames.

A laugh of disbelief escaped her as she stared at her hands, they were fine, she was fine. She wasn't in pain. Suddenly she was filled with wonder, and she placed the egg that was in her hands back in the fire, slowly this time. The fire licked at her but never injured her, it just felt like a very warm hug. She giggled almost childishly and for once she looked the age of one and five.

With a look of melancholy present, he watched his youngest play with the fire, a thought in mind.

"Fire cannot kill a dragon."