lann was not intended for the lannisters : a small , tiny little thing , a lioness cub born across the ocean in the dothraki sea . her father was a hrakkar , a great white lion , her mother a tawny lioness . she was smuggled across the sea by pirates until the ship made harbor in king’s landing , intent for elsewhere . it was through a routine search and seizure of the pirate’s ship the lion cub was found by the city watch , and from there word spread of the exotic ( thought to be extinct in westeros ) creature reached king robbert and queen cersei . why would robbert care ? kill the beast ! or let him hunt it in one of his great games oh but cersei ? cersei who spent her childhood reaching her hand into gilded cages , fingers lapped at by the great lions of her grandfather’s reign ? she took it as a gift . for her and her children , damn what robbert had to say .