Hey guys this is my first venture in fan fiction, any criticism is welcomed as it will help me improve and grow as a writer,I will be making weekly updates so Chapter 2 is currently ongoing, and in the category section of characters I have decided not to include any but do not worry our favorite characters will be in the story but in support of my Self Insert Characters.

P.S. The story is in alignment with the first season therefore the year is 298 AC.

Please review, comment and do enjoy the story.

CHAPTER 1

Garth POV

"The fat King arrives in a moon's time" the Snake Lord said to his son as he places the parchment on the table. Eddard Stark had sent a raven notifying them of the King's arrival. Garth Dragen was a stoic man, never laughing nor smiling, he looked at his first born son Lucius, "Eddard Stark wants us to join him in welcoming Robert Baratheon to Winterfell, the Kingdom is in chaos and disarray yet he finds the time to feast and drink, a shame of what the man has become Lucius, a once great warrior has been reduced to a laughing joke of the realm".

It is not that he hated the King, Garth loved the man as a brother, yet Robert had become complacent in his duty as a King, he forgot the single most important rule in leadership, which was to never get comfortable, the realm was in debt yet he continued spending money, money the realm doesn't have. Robert's rebellion had brought chaos and madness all for the love of a woman. He took up arms and joined him in this madness.

Robert had killed Rhaegar at the trident effectively ending the rebellion. He had then left his army in charge of his younger brother Jaran, accompanying Eddard in search of Lyanna, whom they had found at the Tower of Joy in the Red Mountains along the border of Dorne. Lord Commander Gerold Hightower and Ser Arthur Dayne along with seven other Kingsguard were entrusted with the guardship.

The battle was fierce and in the end Howland stabbed Arthur at the back, Eddard had rushed to the tower and what we saw there broke our hearts, beautiful Lyanna lying on the bed drenched in blood and sweat, a babe's cry was heard and a dornish woman brought forward the child placing it in Lyanna's hands.

"It's a boy" she said, Eddard was grief stricken, "Promise me" she said "His name is Aegon, if Robert finds out he'll kill him. You know he will. You have to protect him, Promise me, Ned. Promise me". And in that moment we all knew what had happened, there should not have been a war, Brandon's brashness and eagerness got the best of him, this could all been have been solved with a little communication and lives could have been saved, instead the Kingdom was in chaos.

Eddard, Howland and I kept that secret, the boy would be raised as Eddard's bastard, people would find it hard to believe that a man as honest and as truthful as Eddard would do such act of dishonesty and betrayal. I took care of the dornish women so that there were no witnesses. Robert became King while Eddard was named Warden of the North and me the Lord Defender. Fancy titles, the North does not do titles we live it to our Southron counterparts.

Alyse was there when he had arrived from the war and she was distraught "When you left, Ser Cerran Harlaw left with Lucius, the master at arms had claimed that Lucius needed to be a man therefore taking him into the Wolfswood to go hunting, the boy went missing for five months only to be found at Winterfell. I am worried Garth, he rarely speaks and stays in his chambers" she had said. Garth had left a joyful boy and what he saw was a different person. Days became months and eventually into years, gone was the cheerful young boy and in his place was a cold man just like himself.

Lucius took his studies well as he was a Lord in waiting and once Lucius had turned eighteen, he had arranged a marriage between Lucius and Larrina Harrigon of Smithestone, the marriage was a blessing and Lucius started to show signs of his former self after the birth of the twins Warron and Melina. House Dragen and House Harrigon alliance became even more compact and loyal to each other as this was the second marriage between the two houses the first one being him and Alise.

The North had slowly recovered from the war yet it was privy to the intrigue and politics of their southern neighbors. "Kings Landing is a pit of vipers to the uninitiated" he had told Eddard, his brother Jaran had returned to Kings Landing to act as his eyes and ears. "Knowledge is power, if you know the enemy and know yourself you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle." He had told his sons.

As Lord Defender, his duty was that of military leader in the region tasked with the command of the military and defense of the region while Eddard would serve as the Warden, due to the vastness of the North region raising the military to its full potential was a hard task, his first task as Lord Defender was to assess the Northern military strength which had amounted to eighty thousand soldiers from sixteen houses which had a thousand or more soldiers, he had excluded both the Northern mountain clans and the Skagosi, he then proceeded in setting up military bases, ten of them to be precise.

After that he started to set up a Northern Guardswatch post from the remaining houses which had less than a thousand men, the Northern Guardswatch which composed of two thousand men would serve as a formal policing and protection unit in the North, dealing in scenarios such as thefts, bandit attacks, wilding attacks, arrest of murderers, rapists as well as deliverance of rations to the various military bases and much more.

War was coming he knew, but the north was prepared, alliances were made and the North was as strong as it could be, his only worry were the Boltons, dishonest to the core and untrustworthy and if it were up to him he would kill every single one of them and be done. But he had opted not to, for they had men and men were needed for the war that was coming.

Five years ago he had travelled to the Night's Watch with his son Lucius after Lord Commander Mormont had sent a missive requesting him to come and as Lord Defender it was his duty to attend to the matter. "Lord Dragen, you have my gratitude for attending to this matter and you as well young Lord Lucius, come to the chancery and we will break bread and salt before discussing the issue at hand" Mormont had said. "Ryon have the chambers prepared and make them as comfortable as they can be" Mormont said to his personal steward. Upon entry of the chancery we then proceeded with the tradition of breaking bread and salt.

"Lord Commander, how many castles are currently manned" Lucius had asked the Lord Commander. Mormont sighed before rubbing the creases on his forehead, "Young Lord, out of the nineteen castles only three are manned, Castle Black, Eastwatch-by-the-sea and the Shadow Tower, the strength of the Night's Watch has been dwindling through the ages, currently we have a thousand men in all the three manned castles and not all of them are proper fighters, though they are trained in combat, we have raw recruits, stewards and builders apart from the rangers who can be considered proper warriors and recruitment in general has been below par, less volunteers and more prisoners." Mormont finished. The situation was dire he had thought, a thousand men against hundreds of thousands of wildlings, if the wildings managed to breach the walls, what would stop them from pillaging and burning every part of the North.

"Not everyone wants to join the Night's Watch Lord Commander" Lucius continued. "The days of honorable men volunteering to join the Night's Watch are long gone. To them taking the black is a hindrance to their carnal behavior. Our ancestor Juran the Brave aided Bran the Builder in the building of the wall, it is only us and the Starks that understand the value of keeping the wall standing" Lucius had said.

"You need men to guard the wall, instead of quality Lord Commander I advise in having quantity, the wildlings have grown bold for they have seen that the sixteen castles are unmanned and they know that you don't have the numbers to go on an all-out attack, the dungeons of Westeros are filled with petty criminals let's say about thousands of them add that to the men you have and each of the nineteen castles will have at least three hundred men guarding it and the wildings will now think twice before attacking, for every tower assign maybe two rangers to lead the men and finally light the torches in every castle, let the wildings know that you are watching them, do you have enough weapons Lord Commander?" Lucius asked.

"No, young Lord, we don't have much" Mormont had replied. Lucius looked at him before continuing, "I'll have the castellan deliver you swords, arrows, and pitch Ser. Father and I will handle the issue as soon as we can, rest your mind at ease Lord Commander soon you'll have men and enough weapons for now do what you've been doing good Ser and hold the fucking wall" Lucius had told Mormont, the Lord Commander had a smile on his face, "Aye Ser, and may the gods be with you young Lord".

Upon arrival to Snake Mount he had sent a raven to his brother Jaran who was in the King's small council as Master of Laws to relay and discuss the issue with the King. It had taken a while but his younger brother was resourceful and cunning and was able to pull through, Mormont had asked for men so I gave him cutthroats, thieves and murderers in thousands as well as a few hundreds of dishonored knights, the castellan with the command of Lucius had delivered the weapons needed. Mormont had sent a raven thanking him.

As he sat in the great hall, Garth looked at his son Lucius, he had just turned thirty, a vision of his own, Lucius was a calm, calculated, smart and an excellent leader, a silent man and only talked when needed be, he was now ready to take over the mantle, just as his father had relinquished and stepped down to allow him to lead, Garth would do the same and he was ready, as soon the matter of Robert was to be completed he would hand over the Lordship to Lucius, he would not rest but the burden would be relieved. "Have the castellan make preparations for the journey to Winterfell Lucius let's see what the King has to say".

Lucius POV

"Duncan, the King arrives in a moon's time, father and mother will be heading to Winterfell to welcome the King, make the necessary preparations" he said to the castellan. The twins came running, "Father! Father! Is it true, is the King coming, Warron overheard grandmother talking to grandfather as he was sneaking around as usual" Melina said.

"Is it true what your sister says Warron? Were you snooping around, I told you before son it's not a good behavior" he told his son as he picked him. He then proceeded to the courtyard, the news of the King's arrival had spread quickly, the courtyard was loud, he then saw his wife talking to one of the servants, he placed Warron down "Go on, and remember no sneaking around".

The twins had been a blessing to him when they were born, the first two years of marriage between him and Larrina had been quiet and uneventful, he rarely talked to his wife but Larrina on the other hand was gentle, loving and caring while also patient and then he had started opening up to her, she had broken down the walls brick by brick and he had laid his heart bare to her, twelve years later Larrina was his anchor and confidant, he loved her. "Hmm… what is it love, you've been staring" his wife broke his trance. He wrapped his hands around her waist and nuzzled her neck taking in the sweet scent of his beloved.

"Nothing much love, it's just that the twins are growing fast they were nothing but babes a while ago and now Warron is here sneaking and spying on people while Melina is being all lady-like and the next thing you know we will be receiving marriage pacts." Larrina laughed heartily, she looked up to him with her beautiful blue eyes and smiled "Well… you can't keep them young forever love, we have to cherish these moments we have with them" he sighed and kissed her on the lips.

"You are right, let's cherish these moments however little it is, father and mother will be heading to Winterfell to welcome the King, you should go and take the kids, it will be good for them, the only place they've known the entirety of their lives is here in Snake Mount". He told her. He saw a small hesitation in her eyes before she nodded and agreed with him, "I'll have Duncan add you to the retinue" he said to his wife before she left.

He had a lot of work to do as he went to his chancery where there were reports on his table, one by one he started reading the reports, and most of them were from the mines. You see Snake Mount was a huge land that had lots and lots of mountains and hills. Iron Ore was discovered at year 188 AC it was used in the mining of steel and production of swords that was as strong as Valyrian steel.

This had led to them monopolizing the business, all noble houses in Westeros had requested a yearly supply of fifty thousand swords to be delivered at an agreed payment of ten gold dragons per sword and the business had been a success which had yielded a total of twenty five million gold dragons from years 188 AC to 238 AC. They had stopped the sword making business in year 240 AC due to lack of interest in purchase and therefore stockpiled the remaining amount of a hundred thousand swords.

However five years ago an opportunity had arisen and a new market had opened in Essos, steel was in demand and in large quantities, the venture has been a success and was yielding a yearly gold return of a million coins, his second born brother Cedric has been staying in Essos for the past five years and was the liaison between them and the East. In 245 AC silver had been found in the mountains and mining had started, where the Lannisters had their golds in millions they had silver tenfold of that amount, the mountains were filled with them.

In 265 AC luck was on them when gold was found in the mountains and mining had commenced and by 280 AC the gold mountains had gone dry and the total amount of gold they had mined in those fifteen years had amounted to ten million dragons, their current vault of gold held forty million coins that was arranged in four hundred chests and each chest holding a hundred thousand coins, the gold was subject to increase in regards to the Essos export market.

Silver on the other hand, they had lots and lots of it and in term of richness they were the richest house in the North and only the Manderlys came in second, while the Lannisters and Tyrells were fancy with their wealth, they had never showed theirs. "All this richness is a blessing from the old gods therefore handle it with care and humility for a man's worth is not measured in his wealth but in his character" Father had told us.

There were five levels of vaults in the castle, the lowest level just above the crypts was where the gold coins was stored, due to huge amounts of silver coins the remaining four were occupied with chests of them, the vaults keeper was old Ortengryn, at the of sixty eight he has been the vault keeper for fifty years, his father before him had served for sixty years and only a writ authorized by either me or father would he release funds.

Father had told us that we were never a rich house, we were old and noble but never rich, and the sudden influx in wealth over the past one hundred and ten years was a blessing that the gods had bestowed upon us. His third born brother Domeric entered the chancery, "Brother, I bring news from the granary the rations are enough but with winter coming we need more, the merchants have increased the prices of grain five times the normal price, the smallfolk are holding theirs as well saying that silver doesn't feel bellies but food does, most northern houses have started piling up their reserves".

"Give me the rations of each granary" he asked his brother. "Fifty are full, twenty five are half and the remaining twenty five is at a quarter, as I said it is enough but enough is not good, we need all hundred granaries to be full, brother". Lucius sighed and rubbed his forehead, winter was coming and in the harsh snow getting food would be a problem, stock was needed and in full amounts.

A well maintained granary could take them at most two years while a fully stored hundred granaries could last for a very long time. "How much are the merchants selling for a whole stocked granary" he asked his brother. "Too much if you ask me, five thousand gold dragons for a whole granary to the major houses, three thousand gold dragons to the minor houses and a thousand gold dragons to the smallfolk, they are taking advantage of the panic and have hiked the prices, the smallfolk are suffering brother, most of them are turning towards King's Landing."

He smiled at his brother, Domeric was a good man, trusting and naïve but a good man nonetheless, he cared and that was a good thing. "That's how business is done, one man's suffering is another man's gain, we live in a world of cutthroats it may be seen as lacking of honor but what is honor when it comes to a man's stature, bring me Roderick he's worse but not the worst".

Domeric nodded and left leaving him to his thoughts, his eyes caught a parchment with the sigil of House Tully, his dear aunt Melina was married to Edmure Tully for thirteen years now in which they had three boys, Asher, Gareth and Malcolm. Aunt Melina had not been happy at first with life in the Riverlands.

Castle Helgen was a huge and bigger than Winterfell but slightly smaller than Harrenhall and the living conditions were top notch, the interior décor was filled with exotic items all from Essos, most Northern Lords used to tell father that we are a Northern house with a Southern lifestyle, Aunt Melina had everything here, trips to the Reach and Dorne to visit her brothers, finest jewelries and clothes as well as the finest wines from the arbor.

All that was gone when father had arranged a marriage between her and Edmure, she cursed and wept saying that father was condemning her to a life of misery yet she had grown accustomed to life in the Riverlands, so what was the letter about, upon opening of the letter he had realized that it was not from his aunt but rather from Edmure himself.

"Dear Lucius all is well with me and your aunt as well as your cousins, and I do hope that the same is at Snake Mount, I am writing to ask for a favor of you nephew, I would like you to loan me an amount of ten million silver stags as an investment to the Riverlands, I'll be happy to discuss the conditions of payment and return as well as favorable percentage of interest and nephew let this matter be between us. I wish you well nephew and do pass my greetings to the family". He was stunned, ten million silver stags, converted into gold dragons would amount to fifty thousand, a single man could live well on three gold dragons a year, and fifty thousand gold dragons could as well feed a small army.

The Riverlands was a fertile and rich land while the Tullys were by no means poor but the region is in disarray and disorganized, we have the Freys who are nothing but weasels and then we have the Blackwoods and the Brackens constantly at each other throats and to top it all the region has been a site of battles and conflicts all throughout the history of Westeros.

Let me give a scenario, if the folks in North manage to tick off the Southern folks, the Riverlands are raided and if the Southern folks tick off the Northern folks they also get raided, if the folks from the Vale tick off the Westerlands they get raided and if the Westerlands tick off the Crownlands they get fucking raided and every possible permutations I can think of.

And none of that even comes close to the regular floods, the infestations of plague carrying vermin, the routine raids by plundering Iron Born, rumors of ghosts haunting Harrenhall, the trade blockade that can be easily imposed by the Freys at nearly any time, living in the Riverlands means getting used to lying face down in the muck and only coming up for air only to be mugged before being set upon by disease ridden vermin. Ten million silver stags was not much so he'd give him. I need not know the purpose or the use. All I know is that Edmure will be indebted to me and he would call upon the favor when the need arose.

"Ethan!" I called my scribe an orphan raised by us, at age ten and four he was a quick and sharp lad who also served as his squire. "Draft a letter to Edmure Tully and write exactly what I say, "Dear Edmure, I have received your letter and as a husband to my dear aunt Melina, you are family and family never forsake each other, I will grant you the loan without the need of demanding interest, however the duration of payment will be discussed, the King visits Winterfell in a moon's time I hope I'll be seeing you there to discuss the matter, I will bring the money with me in a secret carriage in which I will entrust it to my scribe and squire Ethan, I wish you well Uncle" I finished.

"Have Duncan include me in the retinue heading for Winterfell", he told Ethan. He didn't want to go to Winterfell, it reminded him of what happened seventeen years ago, a past he had forgotten and locked in a deep, dark place in his mind, sooner or later it was bound to happen. "Before you go Ethan, write a bill of draft of ten million silver stags let me sign it then deliver it to Ortengryn, have him allocate the intended amount and tell him to load it a day before we leave in ten carriages.

And also tell Duncan to include carriages in the retinue but do not give him reason and when asked say I had commanded it". After Ethan left I had finished up on the final reports before retiring to my chambers hoping that the night would not be filled with terror long forgotten.

Winterfell

Eddard POV

Robert Baratheon was coming, Ned thought to himself he remembered the promise he made to his sister seventeen years ago, when he arrived in Winterfell with Jon in his hands the look Cate had given him broke his heart, she was cold and dismissive to him, his will and reserve had broken when he caught her crying while looking at Jon playing with young Robb.

"Why Ned, was it hard for you to curb your pleasures knowing that you had a pregnant wife at home, did Robert put you up, did he tell you to forget, that we are at war and a man can't be faulted for his indiscretions when he could die anytime, who's his mother Ned?, Is it Ashara Dayne?. Brandon told me you had fancied her or was it some whore you fucked", she looked at him, eyes red as the blood, her beautiful face was contorted in anger, "Tell me why Ned" before she started crying again, that was when his will broke.

"Forgive me Lyanna" he had whispered before placing his hand on her shoulder, she flinched from the touch, "What I am about to tell you must never be shared with anyone, promise me Cate" she looked at him before nodding her head, he had told her everything without leaving out any details, after he had finished telling her, she was silent for a while before standing up and leaving him alone in their chambers. She hadn't talked to him in a while, then one morning as he was going to the crypts to bring Lyanna fresh red orchids he saw her there staring at her statue.

"You should have told me Ned, do you not trust me Ned. When you brought that baby home from the war, I couldn't bear to look at him, didn't want to see those brown stranger's eyes staring at me, so I prayed to the gods to take him away and make him die, so when Jon was inflicted with the pox two years ago I knew I was the worst woman who ever lived, a murderer who had condemned a poor, innocent child to a horrible death all because I was jealous of his mother, a woman he didn't even know, so I prayed to all seven gods to let the boy live and I'll love him, I would be a mother to him, I would have begged you to give him a true name, name him a Stark, yet after he recovered and he looked me with those eyes, the hatred came back and I knew I couldn't keep a promise, I was a sinner and a blasphemer in the eyes of the seven gods, yet here I stand after everything you've told me, I ask you know in front of his mother Ned, let me love him and raise him as a mother, let Jon know the love of a mother and I also ask you to get rid of the name Snow, he has the blood of a wolf running inside of him, name him a Stark, Forgive me Ned for I had wronged the boy and you", she finished with tears in her eyes.

Ned had tears in his eyes also he closed the distance between them and embraced her tightly, both of them now crying "The gods know how long I have waited for you to hear those words from you Cate", he looked at her before kissing her, they both laughed. It had been twelve years and Jon was now a Stark by name, Catelyn loved the boy and Jon was jovial, happy and always smiling, Winterfell was a happy place. Robert was coming and he had sent a raven to Garth alerting him of the King's arrival.

Garth appointment as Lord Defender had lifted a weight of responsibilities off his shoulders, he was fostered at the Vale and it was Brandon who was taught Lordship, but with Garth it had been easier, Garth had been groomed to take over so he knew the responsibilities of being a Lord and he was his elder by ten years.

The North couldn't have been more united, with the riches of the Dragens and the Manderlys, trade was good and the armies were well fed and clothed, the military bases was an absolute peach of an idea from Garth, mobilization of banners and troops was made easier as well as the introduction of the northern guardswatch who would act as bailiffs, every house bar the Boltons were unified and under the leadership of both him and Garth.

The unification of the North was of utmost importance and they had alliances in the South, Garth married Alyse Harrigon of the Smithelands who were Lord Paramount of the Stormlands his siblings were also married to the South, his second born sister Elissa was married to Baelor Hightower, his third born brother Jaran also the Master of Laws had married Janna Tyrell, his fourth born brother Gerhard had married Allyria Dayne younger sister to both Arthur and Ashara and finally his youngest sister Melina married to his goodbrother Edmure, his son Lucius married to Larrina Harrigon niece to Alyse, his second born daughter Elena was married to Ander Royce. Alliances and pacts were made through marriages and so far they had ties to five regions, the Stormlands, Reach, Dorne, Vale and the Riverlands. The North was now a force to be reckoned with.

Two years ago when he visited Castle Helgen, Garth had told him that honor and trust in King's Landing were foreign words, "You are an honorable man Eddard, honorable men do not live long in King's Landing, I spent fifteen years of my adulthood in King's Landing, people apologize and once you turn they stab you in the back, people need to be told what they need to hear, King's Landing is like a cyvasse board, the different colors on the board reflect the different personalities you'll encounter there and people with different motives, while the pieces represent the people and the dragon being ultimate price which is the Iron throne.

"Do you remember when I told you that King's Landing is a pit of vipers to the uninitiated, well the cyvasse game is similar, it is best to study the game before you attempt to play it, how well do you know the game Eddard" Garth had asked him in which he replied "Well enough to play" Garth smiled at him before saying "But not to win, you are good enough to play but not yet good enough to win it, the game of cyvasse is similar to the game of thrones Eddard with enough practice you'll be able to understand it fully and conquer it.

"There are three main pieces in play when you want to win the game of thrones, the first being the smallfolk and the lowborn, most people especially in King's Landing ignore them, they are seen to be at the bottom of the ladder and no one notices them, they can be a powerful piece in the bigger play and with a little nudge and care they can prove to be dependable allies, the walls of King's Landing are thin and with the advantage of going unnoticed they learn much and knowledge after all is power Eddard. The second being wealth, war is expensive Eddard, and if you don't have much of it then the possibility of a success is at a minimal and the final piece is the army, military strength are forged through pacts and alliances, and if you have the three of those, other pieces will start to fall in place, having the support of the smallfolk, the wealth to sustain a war and the army to win a war then you are closer to winning the game of thrones" Garth had told him.

He was silent for a while after what he had told him, surely he was not planning for war, Garth had the money to finance a war, he had made alliances with the South, had his brother appointed to the small council and now here he was talking to him about the playing and winning the game of thrones, "Why are you telling me all of these Garth?, what are you planning, we have peace, we have finally recovered from Robert's war and the North is finally united" he had asked him.

"War is coming Eddard, the wheels are already in motion, there was never peace, what we had in the past fifteen years with the exception of the North was tolerance, peace is a lie Eddard, there is a lingering enmity lurking within the realm, the absence of war has lulled the people into a false sense of security. I am not planning anything nor do I want to start a war. War like winter, is coming and it is upon us forge our own path or be consumed by it" Garth had said. It had been two years now and still those words are fresh in his thoughts he didn't want a war he had already lost a brother, sister and father he didn't want to lose anymore as he laid in his chambers that night he went to sleep with a troubled mind.

INDEX

HOUSE DRAGEN:

Sigil: A black serpent on a yellow background

Words: "Peace is a Lie"

Titles: Lords of Snake Mount, Lord Defenders of the North

Seat: Snake Mount

Castle: Helgen

Region: The North

Current Lord: Garth Dragen

Lord-in-waiting: Lucius Dragen

Vassals: Houses: Falker, Catell, Brewlan, Berrow, Mollen, Degore, Tuttle, Roylan, Sarsfield, Ashwood

Religion: Old gods of the forest

Military: 25,000 (Spread evenly between the ten vassal houses that serve as a military base)

Cadet Branches: House Dragen of Maegor's Keep, House Dragen of Holthall and House Black

Founding: Age of Heroes

Age: 9000 years

Founder: Cedrik the Tall