The Dragon's Cloak
Chapter 1
Snow and the deep winter quiet blanketed the wolfswood. Lyanna’s breath fogged her vision, as she gripped her bow. She focused on the sounds of the forest. In the quiet of the winter wood, sound was the best tool for a hunter. A twig snapped, and she turned quickly to her right, spotting the red of the fox tail and letting her arrow fly. The fox let out a cry that was eerily human and fell to the ground. The red fur gleamed bright against the white snow. A deeper red seeped out of his coat, soaking the ground with blood. Still the fox cried.
Lyanna liked the idea of the hunt—the chase, the quickness, the use of all of her senses. She liked keeping up with her brothers in the woods. She liked feeling strength in her arms when she used her bow the only weapon that her father had reluctantly let her learn. She hated the killing itself–especially of a creature that sounded so human. Best put it out of its misery, she thought. She pulled a second arrow from its quiver, and it landed easily at her target, the fox’s throat. The noise stopped. The woods were blissfully quiet again. For a moment.
“Benjen!” She yelled at the top of her lungs. “I got one!”
“Others take you, Lya!”
Her brother’s footsteps were as loud as a horse’s hooves. No wonder he was a lousy hunter.
“I was about to kill a stag!” Benjen peaked over the crest of the hill. His nose was bright red and his brown hair was in disarray. He was holding a dead rabbit.
“Right, Benjen!” Lyanna laughed at him, calling his bluff. Her fourteen-year-old brother was prone to exaggeration. “The biggest stag the wolfswood’s has ever seen? Was he a magic stag? Sent from the Old Gods?”
“There was one!” Benjen climbed down the hill, frowning at his sister. “You don’t have to believe me. I know I had him in my sights. Would have gotten him too, if you hadn’t been so loud.”
“No one’s seen a stag in the woods in months,” Lyanna said. “We must have eaten them all. Even Winterfell will be limited to rabbit stew soon enough.”
Lyanna picked up the fox, holding it away from her fur cloak, as they walked back to the grove where their horses waited. Foxes were skinny creatures. They never made for good meals. But the fox coat could make a nice hat or glove lining.
“The maesters think spring is near,” Benjen said. “They say it’s warming in the south.”
“So I’ve heard.” The good news didn’t bring a smile to Lyanna’s face. Spring meant movement through the Kingdoms once again. It meant the north would come out of its seasonal hibernation. For the sixteen-year-old girl, newly arrived at womanhood, spring meant inevitable change. As they walked through the wood, Lyanna memorized the sights and smells that she would be sent away from soon enough.
“Don’t be sad, Lya,” Benjen pleaded with her. “You never used to be sad. And now you’re sad all the time.”
“Old age makes you mopey,” Lyanna said, trying to brighten her mood.
“You’re not old!” Benjen said.
“Older than you,” Lyanna spoke with feigned world0weariness. “When you’ve lived two whole more years, you might be somber too.”
“The betrothal’s not even official yet,” Benjen said.
“That’s only because father is trying to squeeze Storm’s End for all it’s worth. It will be official soon enough.”
Read the rest on Ao3.
