The Queens Who Never Were 〚18 / 17〛
╰┈➤ ❝ Robert will never keep to one bed. I hear he has gotten a child on some girl in the Vale. Love is sweet, dearest Ned, but it cannot change a man's nature. ❞
The only daughter of Lord Rickard Stark, Lyanna was described as iron-willed, wild and free-spirited. She loved horse riding, the scent of winter roses, and may have even practised tilting; with her brother, Ned, telling his own daughter that Lyanna would have picked up a sword if she could. She is remembered not just fondly but also vividly by many of the Northmen for these things, and those memories seem to be the truest indicator of her nature separate from the romanticised descriptions of the South.
As she grew up, she began to develop what is described by most who knew her as beauty, so much so that it remained fabled and honoured decades after her death. Robert Baratheon became infatuated with her, and after bringing his suit to Lord Rickard, secured their betrothal. Despite this, she remained mischievous and tomboyish, attacking the squires who bullied Howland Reed with a tourney sword and even being rumoured to have ridden in his honour as the Masked Knight of the Laughing Tree - beating the knights those squires served.
During that same Tourney, Prince Rhaegar, a man of 22 years, passed over his own wife and named Lyanna his Queen of Love and Beauty at 14 years of age. The following year, he abducted her with the help of two knights of the Kingsguard, spurring Robert's Rebellion as the Starks, Baratheons, Arryns and Tullys all raised their banners in her name. It is unknown what Rhaegar did with Lyanna; some, such as Robert, claim he r***d her, while others claim they were in love. All that is known, is that when Eddard found her at the Tower of Joy, she died "in a bed of blood", weakened by fever. Her last words were "promise me Ned".
Perhaps the ultimate Queen Who Never Was, both of Lyanna's hypothetical paths to becoming Queen are mutually exclusive. Had she married Robert and lived with him peacefully, he would never have rebelled and become King; were it true that Rhaegar took her with the intention of marrying her, and himself become King and thus her Queen, Robert would never have rebelled, or may have failed. A near-mythological figure in the current ASOIAF timeline, it is widely theorised that Jon Snow is her son by Rhaegar, as is shown in the Game of Thrones TV Show.














