Chapter Forty Two: Name Day

                                    

                                          
It was Lyanna's eighteenth name day. 
                          
Unlike her seventeenth name day, which had been in King's Landing, a week before she found out she was pregnant, Lyanna was actually enjoying herself. As a bastard, she had never had huge celebrations for her, although she and Jon always had great days with their brothers, sisters and father. Now though, even though she was still so young, Lyanna was an adult, not necessarily by age but by circumstances, and yet she couldn't remember feeling like a child. Sure, she had memories with her family in the north, but she was always so serious, and after so much hardship, it seemed difficult to remember a time where she laughed without care. It was like she'd never truly been young.
                          
It was rare that - as a group a part of the party attempting to take the throne - Lyanna, Alize and Eryk had time to themselves. However, Dany was still discovering the advantage of an army as they marched towards Yunkai, which included free time as they planned their next move. They had set up camp a few miles out of the city, and Dany had insisted that Lyanna took some time to herself with Alize and Eryk, not even knowing that it was Lyanna's nameday. In fact, no one knew; she didn't want a fuss made out of her.
                          
So instead, the three were sat in Lyanna's tent, on the floor, surrounded by cushions and rugs as they laid out on the floor, a wine goblet in each of their hands. Rey and Winter were curled up on the bed, whilst their mistress was sat amongst her two friends, watching in amusement as they played a game Eryk said some of the older slaves taught him, watching keenly as the two of them held burning candles under the palms of their hands, glaring at each other intently, willing the other one to start to burn. Lyanna couldn't remember laughing so much as eventually, the flame tickled too close to Alize's skin and she darted her hand away, hissing. 
                          
As Lyanna laughed, she remembered the last time she'd laughed like that was with Jon, at the feast in Winterfell to welcome Robert Baratheon and the Royals to the North. If only she knew then what would happen after that. Part of Lyanna wanted to remember that moment, remember Jon, but she knew if she thought for too long, she would grow sad. For once, Lyanna didn't want to think of her past. She wanted to think of the now, what was happening in that moment, make new memories instead of focus on all her old ones. Lyanna took another sip of the sweet eastern wine, realising how happy the alcohol made her. She decided she would drink more often. 
                          
"Lyanna, your turn," Eryk laughed, holding the candle out. Lyanna rolled her eyes, sitting up straighter, taking hold of the candle, holding her hand in the air, letting the flame tickle the palm of her hand, watching as Eryk did the same. 
                          
"You're an idiot," Alize laughed at Eryk, almost hysterically, rolling onto her back due to her laughter, who was by far, the most drunk out of the three of them. 
                          
"And you're a beautiful lady," Eryk smirked, daring to place the flame closer to his hand, all whilst Lyanna remained still, holding the candle close to her skin. 
                          
"No, oh Gods, how are you so thick?" She gasped, sitting up, moving closer to him. 
                          
"Oh Gods, how are you so beautiful?" He smirked again, and she hit him in the shoulder, almost making his hand jolt into the burning candle. 
                          
"There's no way you're going to win against Lyanna," Alize rolled her eyes at him. 
                          
"I beat you, didn't I?" He joked, still not grasping what she was implying. 
                          
And so it continued. The two bantered on, all whilst Lyanna remained still, trying not to laugh at them both. Finally, after what seemed like an age, the flame of the candle flicked up, catching Eryk's flesh. He cursed, dropping the candle, jumping up onto his feet. Alize, despite being drunk, was still sensible, and picked up the fallen candle, blowing it out, Lyanna doing the same with hers. 
                          
"We must have been playing for ten minutes, how in all seven hells were you not burnt?" He exclaimed. Eryk was a sore loser. 
                          
"Like I said; idiot!" Alize laughed again, looking over at Lyanna who was grinning as well. "Shall I tell him?" 
                          
"Eryk, I'm a Targaryen!" Lyanna pointed out, beginning to chuckle at him as he stood staring down at her, a look of shock and embarrassment washing over his face. 
                          
"Oh... Well... That's cheating!" He shouted, pointing at her. 
                          
"How is it cheating that I have a tolerance to fire?" Lyanna rolled her eyes again, taking a swig of her wine. 
                          
"It just is!" He huffed, flopping back down onto the floor, crossing his legs. 
                          
"You're just a sore loser," Alize rolled her eyes too, taking another sip of her wine. 
                          
"And you're just beautiful, though you're also drunk," he said, reaching out and taking her goblet from her mid-sip, spelling some wine on her. An angry expression on her face, she hit him again, though harder. 
                          
"I'd be careful, back in King's Landing, Alize cut my door down with an axe," Lyanna remembered, sipping her own wine. 
                          
"Why does she get to keep her wine and I don't?" Alize huffed, folding her arms like a child. 
                          
"Because she's not drunk," 
                          
"Why aren't you drunk Lya? We should all get drunk!" She exclaimed thrusting the tankard of wine closer to Lyanna. 
                          
"Higher alcohol tolerance, and plus I don't want to drink away my name day," she didn't mean to say the last part, it had just come out, but now she'd said it, she regretted it. 
                          
"Why didn't you tell us?" Eryk asked, frowning slightly. 
                          
"Because I didn't want a fuss made out of me, let's just have some fun and forget it, please?" Lyanna asked, going for the discarded candle, but Alize grabbed her hand. 
                          
"How old?" The drunk girl asked. 
                          
"Eighteen," Lyanna sighed. "Now can we just play another game, please?"
                          
"What game?" Eryk asked, immediately dropping the conversation. 
                          
By the end of the night, Lyanna had never remembered laughing so much, and had never felt her spirits so high.
                          
***
Word count: 1060
***
                          
Hey guys! 
I'm stuck at the minute. I recently hit 30K (thank you guys so so much!) but am also over 40 chapters, with the end point not even close. Do you guys want me to keep writing in this book, or split it into two? I'm willing to write the other half as a sequel but I know from past experiences that second books don't get as much attention and I don't want my readers to miss out on the other half of the story! Please tell me what you think I should do, and I'm planning to update again next week! 
~Olivia