Disclaimer: I do not own Game of Thrones or the A Song of Ice and Fire series. I only own Eleanora Baratheon. Any similarities to other works of television or movies are purely coincidental, unless otherwise stated.

I apologise in advance for the random flashback in the opening moments. I considered taking it out, but it is very sweet so I left it in. It isn't over yet and the second half of the flashback will be told in the next chapter. All in explained in the authors note at the end why that happening.

"Everywhere, we learn only from those whom we love." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

As Nora woke on the morning of her fourteenth name day, she lay there in the comfort of her bed sheets for a few more minutes than she normally would. The sun was already high in the sky and filtering through the windows of her chamber like a new brides veil. Under the frigid morning sun, she could her the bustling of the city beneath the windows of her chamber. The chatter of the household was an inaudible muffle from outside the door.

The relative peace and tranquillity of those moments relaxed Nora immensely. The past few days had been stressful, so Nora enjoyed the little minutes of quietude that fell upon her. That was until her handmaidens scurried into her room and forced her not only from her thoughts; but from her bed.

"Would you like to bathe, princess?"

"Yes please, Mariya," Nora answered. Nora bathed in silence, letting the jasmine bath oils soak into her skin. Jasmine had been Noras favourite scent. Boxes of the oil was shipped over regularly from the Free Cities of Essos for the young princess.

It would be long day; Nora knew it. Today a tourney was being held in honour of her name day. Secretly, Nora wished such an expense was not spent on her, but her mother had insisted on the best. After drying, dressing and having Asha style her hair, Nora made her way down to the Queen's private dining hall to break fast. Her mother and younger siblings were already there; well all bar Joffrey. The heir to the Iron Throne often slept later than his family and wouldn't normally be present to break fast with his mother, brother and sisters.

"Morning," Nora greeted them as she sat down.

"Happy name day, Nora," sweet Myrcella wished her elder sister. As did Tommon and Nora gave them her thanks.

"How was the feast, sweet girl?" Cersei asked, as Nora picked at the fruits in front of her attentively. "Did you enjoy it?"

"Tremendously," Nora smiled. She had been thankful her father hadn't made an appearance last night. Too busy with his whores. "I ate, talked and danced the whole night."

"Did you dance with any of the lords sons?" Myrcella asked.

"A fair few. Although many had too much wine in order to dance properly. I'm pretty sure Cletus Yronwood was sick on one of the kitchen maids."

"I'm sure they liked the change in person," the stern voice of Tywin Lannister boomed through the hard stone walls. Nora knew to whom her grandfather had referred; her father. Nora had only ever met her grandfather once in her life. She had been no older than nine and visiting Casterly Rock with her mother and siblings. The memory she had of the Warden of the West had no changed. He was still held stoic and unfettering demeanor that had intimidated her as a child. Nora grew up listening to the stories her mother and uncle told of him; most notably the Rains of Castamere. Cersei had insisted the first song Nora learned to play on the high harp was the Rains of Castamere.

"Grandfather," the younger children beamed at his entrance. Nora held her cautious gape on her mothers father.

"I didn't see you at the feast last night," Cersei commented as the lord didn't take a seat at the table.

"I had rather grant my wishes in person," Tywin nodded at his eldest grandchild, who was still tentatively gnawing at her food. "If could speak to the princess for a few moments?"

"Not at all," Nora answered, standing up and guiding him out of the room. Nora wrung her hands nervously as she waited for him to speak. "It is lovely seeing you in the capital, grandfather. You must visit more often?"

"Enough with the clever flattery, Eleanora," he spoke firmly as they walked through the halls, two Lannister guards following suit not far behind them. "I don't care for it and I won't stand from it, especially from a Lannister."

"Then you have me mistaken, Lord Tywin, for I am a Baratheon of Kings Landing," Nora corrected him, although she wished she hadn't from the downward glare she received. Half the time she wished she hadn't been born a Baratheon; and a blatant Baratheon at that. When she was a child, she had wished deeply that she bore the same golden heads as her siblings. That she bore the same Lannister traits as her mother and inherited her family name, but only as she grew older the latter was emphasised. She had felt like an odd child because of her difference to them; that her mother loved her less than her younger siblings. It was after her youngest brothers birth that Nora truely felt like an exile in her family.

Nora didn't know how long she had been hiding, but she did notice the dark creep in around her. She didn't move though. Surely nobody would miss the little raven haired princess now that another golden headed prince had been born. Tommen's birth had been an unsettling affair for the young girl of no more than eight name days. When her mother finally birthed the little prince, Nora thought surely she'd now be forgotten.

Nora had favoured her father in colouring. Her black hair fell to below her shoulders and still grew with each passing year. It was the trait people noticed about her. Princess Eleanora recieved countless compliments on her veil of dark hair while cemented her place as a Baratheon child. Her younger siblings had a different fate. Both Joffrey and Myrcella had been born with hair like golden fire with burned brightly in the sun of capital while her hair, like the night sky, danced in the breezes of the Blackwater. With the birth of year another child with hair kissed by the sun, Nora felt insecure in her home.

She hid in the bowels of the godswood, surrounded by trees of alder and elm. Nobody would find her here, she thought. She would stay here until nightfall when the castle was silent and even the guards asleep at their posts. She would steal away in the night with a few gowns and enough food to last her for her journey. As she hid there, her doll on her lap, she tried to figure where she would go. Would she trek north to the Starks? She was betrothed to their eldest, perhaps they would house her. Would she sneak onto a ship bound for Braavos? or Myr? or one of the cities in Slavers Bay? Would she perish in the Smoking Sea? That what they say happened to her great uncle Gerion.

"Nora!" She turned sharply. She had not expected her name to be called. She heard an entity moving towards her, calling her name every few seconds. Nora had frozen in fear, her plan foiled and now she faced a harsh punishment from her father. He had threaten to redden her hind for knocking over a glass of his wine before, what is stopping him now? It wasn't until the voice drew nearer that she realised it was her uncle Jaime. He wasn't dressed in his Kingsguard armour, but still carried his sword at the hip. "Nora," he breathed, in a sigh of relief. He bent down and rested his hands on his nieces shoulders. "Where by all the gods have you been? Your mother was worried sick."

"I'm sorry," she cried, burying her head in his shoulder. "I'm sorry. Please don't be angry with me. I'll never do it again. I promise, uncle Jaime."

"It's alright, child," her lifted her up into his arms. She seemed a lot younger than her eight years then. "Let's take you inside, you're filthy."

"You won't let Father get angry, will you?" Nora asked as they were finally back in the confinement of her bedroom. He had set in down on her bed before calling for the child's nursemaid.

"I won't let him lay a hand on you, Princess," Jaime promised the sweet-natured girl.

"I am no princess," she looked up at him with green eyes that replicated those of his and his twins. "I have no blonde hair like Joffrey and Myrcella. Tommen's a baby and they call him 'the little golden headed prince'."

"Is that what this was?" he questioned and she avoided his looks. It was then the nursemaid Karyn entered the room to run the bath for the young princess. "I'll leave you to bathe, Nora."

"Will you come back, uncle Jaime?" she looked up again with sad eyes. He couldn't say 'no' to her.

"I'll be right outside the door."

"You know what our family stands for, Eleanora," he spoke with a harsh ring in his voice, bringing her back from her thoughts.

"Of course."

"And in years to come when I, your mother, your uncles and everyone else has passed," he began. "House Lannister will still be looked upon with respect and fear for generations. It's the legacy that lives on, child. Not that people, but the house name and Lannister blood that flows through many of the great houses of Westeros."

"You wish me for me to school my children on their heritage from House Lannister?" Nora asked with a confused tone to her voice. She didn't know where her grandfather was leading her with this conversation.

"You're a smart girl, I've been told, Eleanora," her grandfather said. "And I'm sure your mother has explained the duties of a woman to you."

"Yes," Nora ran her hands over the creases of her skirts. "I am expected to marry Robb Stark and birth him many sons and daughters." A broodmare, Cersei's voice chirped in her head.

"Marriage can be a powerful thing, you understand that," he told her. "If wed to the right person, their status and wealth would increase significantly. Marriage also lead to powerful allies and in times of war, marriages like that of your mother and father, or even the Lord and Lady Stark proved significant. How many men so the Starks command in their army?"

"I don't know, grandfather," Nora furrowed her brow. "We are no longer in times war so, I have not needed to know."

"Roughly 20,000 men at short notice," he answered. "25,000 at a stretch and when the weather agrees."

"Is that not a significant gain for any army, my lord?"

"House Tyrell commands a loyal army of 80,000 highly trained swords men," Tywin looked down at the young girl, not a woman grown yet in his opinion. It was only her fourth and tenth name day; still too young to marry and birth children. "The Tyrells would make stronger allies than those in the North. They also hold a vast amount of wealth - being the second wealthiest family in Westeros. With your fathers ways, a Tyrell bank would suit him better than a Stark one."

"I'm not marrying Robb Stark for his wealth," Nora replied.

"Are you marrying him because your father - the king - told you to?" her grandfather inquired.

"Mother told me that it would be useless arguing," she answered him. "That his decision was made and I would have never had a say when the time ever came."

"Then your mother is as much a fool as your father," Tywin spat. "Lord Mace Tyrell rode to Kings Landing with his three sons, not to forget his daughter and his mother too. All three are of good marrying age."

"They say his eldest will never sire children however," Nora had heard the rumours of Willas Tyrell. Whether they were true or not, she needed not know.

"A narrower choice it may be."

"You are giving me a choice?" Nora asked, a little shocked. She had never considered a choice. She had always been told that she would marry Robb Stark and that was the end of it. After meeting with the northern lad and beginning to know him, she is suddenly offered this; an escape. Could she take it?

"I believe a girl should have a choice in who she marries," Tywin lied; he only offered her two sons from the same house. Not much a choice in his opinion. "The Tyrell's would make great allies if war ever returns, Eleanora. Their army would not only help win the war, but their gold would sustain them."

"And what of the king?" she questioned, stopping and facing her grandfather for the first time. Although he didn't smile, his face seemed to soften slightly and then to Nora he didn't look as intimidating as he had before.

"A princess needs not fret over the affairs of the king," Tywin told her.

Cersei slammed the door behind her and turn to face Jaime. She had asked him to met her in her chambers after breaking fast. After Nora had left with Tywin, Cersei had grown worried. She knew what her father wanted with her; her precious Eleanora, her eldest child and daughter.

"What is it?" he queried, seeing the perturbed expression etched onto her features.

"Has Robert spoke his plans to marry Nora?" she asked, her eyes full of force.

"No, not that I know of," Jaime replied. "Why?"

"Father," Cersei spat. "He speaks of whispers that she is to be married in the year. He has come here to have her betrothal to the Stark boy annulled and arrange one to one of the Tyrells."

"Is that not what you want?"

"They're going to tear her apart," she told him. "Father, Robert, the Starks, the Tyrells, even the Westerling. The whole bloody lot of them." They were all digging their claws into Nora, her little lioness too sweet to fight them off. "They'll leave nothing left of her. None of them will be happy until Nora is where they want her to be. She's my daughter. They'll destroy my daughter."

Jaime has never seen his twin express so much concern for her eldest. There was the incident with the women when she was ten and one, but that was quickly forgotten when Nora proved she'd rather stay in the Red Keep from them on. Cersei has always spent time with all her children, but her main attention was clearly focused on Joffrey. He was her priority. He was her golden lion; her prince; her future king. Cersei was the first to break the silence that had descended over them.

"I would have rathered she died in the crib with her brother than let anything like this happen to her."

"Nora is a smart girl, Cersei," Jaime tried to reassure her.

"But, she doesn't know the game," Cersei said, looking straight into his matching emerald eyes. "Nora was too pre-occupied with dress, her lessons and reading in Cersei's opinion. Cersei never took notice of how much Nora actually knew of the game everyone played in King's Landing; the game of thrones. "Everyone is playing it and she's nothing by a pawn; their pawn. Jaime, you have to help her."

"How?" Jaime questioned. It's not liked he didn't want to help her. Jaime loved Nora, he was his own flesh and blood; his niece. He loved her the same, if not more, than his own children with Cersei. Joffrey was a sick child and Tommen and Myrcella, no matter how sweet natured they were, were still young children.

Nora had already grown and proved herself to be a young women, with enough grace and charisma to make even Stannis Baratheon break a smile in her presence. Yet, she was not just the good natured princess she made herself out to be; Nora Baratheon had a cunning mind and a quick wit when provoked. Jaime knew it for himself that there was more to his niece that her mother knew; or let herself knew.

"Keep Robert and Father from sinking their claws in any further," Cersei told him, moving closer. She rested her hands on his shoulders and held her face not far from his. "The older she growns, the less she truly listens to me. I have to protect her, she is my daughter. And she is as much a Lannister as she is a Baratheon. I need you to help me, Jaime. The Gods know nobody else intends to."

Everything had been prepared in advance for the tourney; due to take place at late morning. People swarmed from place to place, looking for a good position to watch the joust which would be held first. Strutting along the competitors tents was Tywin Lannister and keeping his stride was Mace Tyrell. The Lord of Highgarden was significantly shorter and plumper than his walking companion.

"I spoke with the princess this morning," Tywin informed him.

"And?"

"She seemed interested at the prospect," Tywin recalled earlier events. "She did note your heirs condition however."

"Yes, Willas' accident was unfortunate," Mace commented. "But, I'm sure Garlan would still make a suitable husband for the young Princess."

"Or even young Loras, are they both competing today?" Tywin questioned, noticing the Tyrell rose flying over a nearby tent.

"Yes," the Warden of the South replied. Across the way, they both noticed the princess presence. She walked with her head held high and her shoulders back. Her hips swayed slightly under her gown of gold fabrics. She hadn't even bothered to lift it from the ground as she walked; the ends were slightly coated in moist earth as a result. "She is a beauty, I have to say. Eleanora looks much like your daughter, but there is much Baratheon in her." The black fibers of her hair danced freely in the breeze as she walked. "She and Garlan's eldest son would heir to Highgarden - with the physical strength the Baratheons bare and look of both Eleanora and my son. Well, we can only dream of such a child of yet."

"And of yet, she is still intended for the Stark boy," Tywin reminded him, keeping a close eye on his granddaughter as she interacted with Ser Barristan Selmy. Her face was solemn and apologetic, yet she still held herself high. Cersei had taught her daughter well; if she even taught her at all.

"Which won't be for much longer, I assume," Mace smiled at the prospect of a princess being his good daughter.

"I'll speak to Robert soon," the Lord of Casterly Rock added. "Cersei shouldn't take as much convincing."

"I would be good to first take the princess under our wing at Highgarden," the stout man said. "Fostering her there was a wise idea, my lord. A beautiful summer flower that she would only bloom a lot bigger and brighter once in the south." Tywin hadn't told his granddaughter that part as she moved across the yard to Robb Stark. They both smiled as they greeted each other. When the betrothal between them was broken and a new one formed with the Tyrell's, Nora would be sent to foster under Lady Alerie and the Queen of Thorns.

"My daughter may not like it however," Tywin said. "But, it shall be done."

"And only soon I hope."

Nora held her head high and she walked confidently through the competitors yard at the tourney. Knights were preparing themselves left and right for the jousts, while she could hear the distant release of arrows in the archers plain. Her father often held tourneys for the least necessary of reasons. She ended up hating them. But, her father did insist on having a tourney to commemorate her name day and so it was decreed. A smell of horse shit hung in the air, but that didn't affect the princess's demeanour. She stood as tall and as proud as her Septa had told her when she was a little girl. At that age, all she ever wanted to be like was her mother. Nora eventually asked if she would be Queen and Cersei answered her firmly with a ''No. Joffrey will be King and choose his own bride and Queen. You will marry Robb Stark like your father had planned and be the Lady of Winterfell in due time." She never questioned it after that day.

"Ser Barristan," Nora called after him. She approached him with a gentle smile, no matter how unladylike her bellowing was.

"Princess," her bowed his head to the young girl. "I give all my wishes for you on your name day, your grace."

"Thank you, Ser," her smile began to falter. "But, I haven't come over to exchange pleasantries. I've come to apologise for my behaviour yesterday."

"There is no need..."

"Yes, there is." Nora held her shoulders back. "It was very unladylike behaviour." Her mothers words rang in her head. "Princesses don't cry like fools." Just over his shoulder, Nora noticed the head of auburn curls pass by. Robb Stark was talking with one of the guards from Winterfell. Nora couldn't help but note how out of sorts he looked in his leathers. He was a northman, he didn't belong in the south. "If I may be excused, Ser?"

"Not at all, your grace," Barristan didn't argue with the princess. Although she never showed it, the princess was a Baratheon at heart. Ours is the fury, he remembered her father bellow in the halls of Winterfell; the princess was no more than six when she first lost her temper.

"Princess," Robb greeted her as she approached him, bowing his head slightly. "I didn't expect to see you out here so early."

"My mother says I am to meet with some knights before the jousting commences," Nora answered. "And please, enough with formalities or else I'll return to calling you 'my lord'." Since their conversation yesterday, Robb Stark had earned some trust in the young princess. He showed her his kindness in spite of her opinions. He seemed true and genuine so far. Perhaps her mother was wrong? Perhaps not all men were as crude and obnoxious as her father was? She didn't know yet, but she would like to.

"I'm sorry," he said, walking ahead with her - leaving the guard behind. "Nora."

"Should I expect to see you jousting today?" she asked, her feet falling in step with his.

"No," he breathed with a sigh. "We have little to no knights in the North, so we don't often joust."

"No knights?" Robb shook his head. "Well, I suppose it is delightful not to bear witness to the arrogance of some knights. Have you seen the any knights of the Vale?" Nora thought it best to to mention her grandfathers proposition of abandoning her betrothal and marrying into House Tyrell. He had given her a choice; she had told him she would consider them. She was sure he wouldn't hold her in contempt if she still chose to marry the heir to Winterfell.

"I have heard stories," Robb spoke with a chuckle. "Did you expect to me out there on a horse with a lance?"

"Yes, actually," Nora smirked devilishly. "But, I did expect you to be dismounted in the offset."

"You wound me, Princess," he continued to laugh, holding his hand defensively to his chest. The pair didn't notice the two southern lords watching them intently.

"Will I be seeing you at the masked ball tonight, Robb?" Nora questioned, looking up at him. His face was crusted with a pubescent beard, no doubt groomed before his journey south. "My uncle Renly is throwing it in the Red Ballroom."

"I'd be honoured to, Nora."

I apologise. I did intend for this chapter to be longer and have more content, but when I wrote out the whole thing it ended up like 8000-9000 words. So, I have split it up into two. The second half isn't as long, but it is at least 3500 words. I'm sorry if you were hoping for more Robb/Nora getting to know each other scenes, but they will come in the next chapter during the ball. Also, I hope you enjoyed her familial interactions and snippets of all the other plotting that is going on around her. Tywin is being a bold boy.

I left out the scene with Loras presenting her with the rose. I had changed it to Garlan, but my computer froze and by the time I got it up again, it has deleted the end section of the document. So, I just excluded it because I had spent so long writing it and I couldn't write it out again. It annoyed me so much. I'm re-writing part of the next chapter, so the major development that was supposed to happen will take place then.

Anyway, thanks again and I hope you enjoyed it x

- Tara