Jon Snow goes to King's Landing instead of the Wall. While there, the storyline follows what happens normally, but Jon will do anything to protect his sisters from harm. He is not Lyanna's son, but actually the son of Ned Stark and an unknown woman. The Stark kids are a little older here.


Jon's father is quiet when Jon tells him he wants to join the Watch.

"No," Ned Stark finally says. "You're coming to King's Landing with me."

Jon knows that this is impossible. "I'm a bastard," he says. "It would be an insult to King Robert."

Ned interrupts, "I have already spoken to Robert. He will take no insult from it. I have told him I am bringing my household down to King's Landing, and you are a part of that household, are you not? You will be trained under Jory. He has accepted you as his steward."

Jon protests, "But father-"

"No more of this, Jon. I need you with me. There are few men I can trust in the capital, and I need someone who can watch over your sisters."


The queen does not dislike him as much as he thought she would. She is cold, yes, but not as cold as she is to Arya. When Arya's direwolf bites Joffrey and Cersei demands the death of a direwolf, it is Lady she has killed, not Ghost. Still, Jon feels hate and disgust bite up for this woman, as well as gratitude, because when he sees Sansa's tears, he thinks That could have been me, as he strokes Ghost's head. He goes out to find Arya, who has taken to stabbing Needle into the earth of her tent when no one is around.

"You're holding it wrong," Jon tells her, and starts to teach Arya how to properly hold a sword.

Sansa must hate him now. She's never been fond of Jon, and now that he's the only one with a direwolf, she must hate him more. So Jon retreats into his duties-he cares for Arya and Ghost, works with Jory and learns.

One day he is practicing with his sword during a break in the procession, and hears the Kingslayer laughing.

"Want a duel, bastard?" Jaime asks, and Jon is afraid for a moment, but nods because he is no green boy to this, not at all. Jaime is surprised when Jon holds his own for a few minutes, and then beats him.

"Not bad," the Kingslayer says. "But, you leave opening when you lunge. Find me tomorrow and try again."

Jon pants in the dirt for a minute and sees the queen has been watching the fight, staring at him quizzically.


He hates King's Landing. It is hot, and Ghost hates the smells of the place.

When Lady Catelyn arrives in the night, he sees her first, following his father's steps quickly as Baelish takes them to a brothel. Ned pins Baelish against the wall and asks how he dares to jape like this, and in front of his son?-When Jon sees Lady Catelyn. She eyes him with disgust and silently curses him, he knows, but she warns against the Lannisters, and his father is quiet with worry.

He's become something of a friend to Jaime Lannister, and sees that while Jaime is fast and smart, he is no manipulator. He did not try to kill Bran, and of that Jon is sure-almost. Still, he is wary of Jaime, so much so that in his distraction, Jaime knocks him straight off his feet at their next lesson.


Sansa thrives, and Jon sees little of her. She is enamored by her prince, and now that she has turned thirteen, she seems to love him more than her own family. More so than Jon and Arya, certainly. Arya hates it almost as much as Jon does, perhaps more, because she does not have sparring lessons with the Kingslayer, or Ghost, or even the duties Jory allows Jon to take. But Arya has Needle, and Syrio Forel and Jon is glad she enjoys at least one thing here.

Everything changes when Jaime attacks his father.

Jon is not there, but his thoughts of Jaime turn murderous. Damn him. Damn Lady Stark, for provoking him. Damn Tyrion Lannister for getting caught.

And Damn Jory to hell for dying.

In his rage, he stalks to his sisters rooms with Ghost at his tail, to comfort them or seek comfort, he does not know. However, as he walks up their corridor, the queen steps out of Sansa's rooms and stops him with a hand on his arm.

Her eyes seem almost warm to him as she says, "I am so sorry for this ordeal. Jaime acted rashly. I am sure that your father will recover soon."

Didn't she realize, Jon wondered, that he was a bastard? The queen, who scoffed at anything that displeased her, was stroking his arm in sympathy, and he was a bastard. She must be trying something, Jon thought.

He shakily thanks her, bows, and goes to find Sansa and Arya.

Sansa is crying softly, her red hair down for once, and Arya is angry, crossing her arms on the other side of the room and staring out the windows. Jon goes to Sansa and tentatively touches her shoulder.

She stiffens, and then sobs loudly, turning to him and burying her face in his shoulder, crying and hiccupping. "Oh, he hurt father! Jon, what do we do?"

It takes Jon a moment to catch his breath, because this is two times in one day that someone who most probably hates him is touching him. He wraps his arms around her and catches Arya's eye. She comes to sit near them.

Jon lowers his voice once Sansa is calm. "Girls, we need to stay calm. I'm sure that the king's men will find Ser Jaime. Until then, be careful. Don't trust anyone."

Sansa pushes him away and turns to Ghost for comfort.


His father is arrested for treason almost as soon as King Robert dies.

Jon requests to speak to the only person he knows can help-the queen. Joffrey's a prick and hates him, so he asks for an audience.

Surprisingly, Cersei allows it.

Her solar is large, and she sends her attendants away. She is calculating him, he knows, and when he finishes speaking, she asks him, "How old are you, Jon?"

She's used his name, not "bastard" as she has before. "Fifteen, your Grace. Almost sixteen."

She pats her couch cushion, and says, "Sit with me, Jon."

When he has, she continues, "Your father did treason, Jon. He denounced my son as king in front of the entire court. If it had been in private-but no, he made a spectacle of himself and me and Joffrey-"

"He didn't mean to!" Jon blurts out. "He was deluded, in pain! Please your Grace, I would do anything just let my father live!"

She studies him, a smile almost curling on her lips, and lifts a hand. He almost flinches, but forces himself to keep still as she strokes his hair gently. "If only my son showed such devotion," She whispers, and Jon is so uncomfortable he wants to squirm.

She dismisses him with empty promises.


They have taken his sword and locked up Ghost, and that is the reason, he tells himself, that he does not fight for his father. The real reason is that he sees Arya, who has been missing, and holds her to his chest, forcing her to look away from their father's body as his head is chopped off.

Sansa is hysterical when Jon and Arya are taken to her rooms. They are locked in and watched at all times, and although Arya tries to run again, Jon holds her arm.

"Listen to me!" He hisses angrily, at both of them, "Listen! Arya, shush, Sansa, look at me!"

They are quiet and he realizes that he sounded like their father taking command.

"We need to be smart! We need to stick together. Arya, no running off, all right? Remember what father always said, that the pack survives? Sansa, look at me. We are the pack. We need to stick together."

Sansa cries, "I won't marry him! I can't! He k-killed f-father!"

Jon almost slaps her, "Stop it!" he whispers, "What did I just say? We need to be smart. Do you want to die too? If Joffrey hears that, he will kill you. You must obey him, Sansa. Pretend you still love him. It's the only way we will survive. And Arya, behave like a lady. Joffrey hates you already. Don't give him reason to chop your head off. This Keep's walls have ears. Don't trust anyone but me and each other."

Sansa and Arya clutch to him, and he cries too, quietly so they don't see.


The queen calls him to her chambers and he already knows what she wants. It eats at him inside, but he knows, this is what she wants and he will do anything, anything, to keep his sisters safe. And now, that means doing what the queens says.

She desires him, and it repulses Jon, because she is fifteen or twenty years his senior, but she still wants him so he comes.

Cersei is amused with his lack of experience, and he hates himself while she teaches him, thinking, This is Joffrey's mother. I'm where he was when he came out of her.

She seems to know how he hates himself now, and heaps on more self loathing every time he responds to her. No one knows about this but Varys, he's sure, and he hopes it stays that way. When he's forced to do this, he thinks of his sisters, and how this will save them and how he's doing the right thing, until he can't think any more.

Robb's mobilized his army, Jon knows. And as he makes his way to Cersei's chambers, disguised, every night she calls for him, he hopes that Robb slaughters the Lannisters.

It's not enough to make him love himself any more.


When Margery Tyrell comes to King's Landing, there is talk of making her Joffrey's queen, but she is instead passed to Tyrion Lannister, and Jon clenches his fists in agony as Sansa's face falls when she hears she is still to marry Joffrey.

Joffrey has had Sansa beaten in front of the court before, but never when Jon is there. Jon, for the most part, spreads his time sparring in the yard, visiting Ghost in his cell, and with his sisters, locked up in Sansa's rooms.

They have grown impossibly close, Jon and Sansa and Arya, and Sansa spends much time looking at him quizzically. Jon fears that she knows what he does for her, that she knows how he's been shames in the eyes of the gods, in his own eyes.

But she never says anything.

Arya hid Needle away when her things were searched, and Jon helps her practice, when no one is around. Sansa watches, and Jon teaches her a bit too, but she has no flair for swordplay, not like Arya. This frustrates Sansa to no end, and she pleads with Jon to keep teaching her. He refuses gently, knowing that she wants to kill Joffrey. but wishes he could protect her more.

One night, with the queen, Jon asks, "What will happen to my sisters?"

Cersei looks up at him lazily. She likes his warmth, and stretches over him in the bed, "They will stay here. Your brother Robb has taken my brother as hostage. You and your sisters are now my hostages."

Jon freezes, as close to revulsion as he can ever show her, and she continues, stroking his chest, then lower, and Jon squeezes his eyes shut with the knowledge of what she wants now. She continues, "You should pray that your brother does not win. Because if he does, the first ones to die will be your sisters."

She is rough that night, and Jon refrains from asking questions again.


Jon is put aside as soon as Jaime comes back. He is glad, and even the queen's threat of death if he should ever tell Jaime doesn't down his spirits. However, Sansa's upcoming wedding does.

She is fourteen now, and beautiful, and has confessed to Jon late at night while Arya slept that she fears that marriage to Joffrey will truly kill her. He wraps his arms around her and whispers that he knows she's in pain and will be there to protect her.

She cries herself to sleep in his arms, but not before saying, "But I'll have his children, Jon, and I'll hate them more than him."


Sansa is married to Joffrey, but not before they hear of another wedding, an even worse one. Jon sobs in his room when he hears that Robb is dead, he even cries for Lady Catelyn. Sansa surprises him by coming up behind him, and saying, "Jon, please don't-Jon don't cry, you never cry-"

She hugs him tight, and they fall to the floor. Arya joins them soon, and they howl in their misery.

At Sansa's wedding, she is so scared that Jon has to slap her, lightly, as she starts to shake. It's not painful, more of a tap, really, but Sansa's eyes snap to his as he prepares to walk her down the aisle. He is to walk her down, as her bastard half brother, and he says, quietly, "Look at me if you're scared."

As she says her vows and everyone cheers, her eyes meet his in terror.

He is seated at the high table, surprisingly, next to Arya, and several times he sees her hand flex around the knife next to her plate, her eyes calculating distance between her and Joffrey. Arya has taken this all quietly, too quiet for a girl of tweleve, and he touches her hand softly.

She looks up at him and smiles, almost the picture of a lady now, "What a beautiful wedding," she says quietly.


The bedding scares Sansa the most, and Jon pushes down many men to get to her first. He is gentle where they are rough, and her eyes stay blank as the men strip her of her gown. Jon holds her hand as they drag her and he doesn't think she knows he's there, not until she squeezes back.

And then it's over.

Joffrey has been warned, by his mother, that he can no longer hurt Sansa any more. She is his queen, so he must be gentle. Jon is pleased to say that he suggested this to Cersei. He's been learning to play the game.


When Sansa is sixteen, a year and a half after her wedding, she seeks him out. He's spent more time with Sansa than her ladies do, and she has made it clear at court that she favors no one more than her brother and sister.

Half-brother, he thinks.

This time, Jon sees her look, sees her pain, and escorts her personally to her solar. He's become captain of her personal guard, and Ghost now strides next to him, out of captivity. Once inside, she dismisses everyone, and calls for Arya.

She is quiet for a moment, and says, "I'm with child."

Jon panics, until he remembers that she's married, that Joffrey hasn't gotten a bastard on her. He prepares to congradulate her when she starts to shake.

"I won't!" she whispers furiously. "I won't have his baby. Jon, I need you to get me moon tea."

Her eyes meet his and he sees the flash of a wolf, and he is scared for a moment. Arya nods, as if she approves, and Jon argues a little until Sansa coldly shuts him down.

"You know this is only the beginning, right?" He demands. "Joffrey will put more babes in you. You cannot hope to drink moon tea every time!"

Sansa's eyes are sad. "I don't want his child," she repeats.

"Good," Arya says for the first time, "because if you do have his babe, I'll kill it."

They are both shocked, but Arya is calm as she says, "I am serious Sansa. If you have his child, I will murder it. You can't bring more monsters into this world!"

"Do you think I wish to?" Sansa almost screams at Arya. "Jon is right. I need to produce a royal heir sooner or later."

"Fine. Make sure it isn't Joffrey's, then."

Sansa laughs sarcastically, "And who would be willing to commit high treason with the queen to ensure that the babe is not his? Damn you, Arya, if the babe looks like a man who is not Lannister-"

"-or Stark," Arya interrupts. "You are a Stark, remember?"

And then Arya turns to Jon.

It takes him a moment, too long, really, to see what she is saying. Then he backs away, shaking his head no as Sansa looks shocked. Then she looks at Jon.

"No," he says, "I won't. Sansa, don't give me that look. I am your brother!"

She is soft when she reaches out to him and says, "So was Jaime to Cersei."

"That is a rumor," he starts, though he knows the truth of it, "Stop, Sansa. Stop."

She won't, he knows.


He is more disgusted the first time he is with her, than he ever was with Cersei. But, as before, he soon forgets that what he's doing is wrong.

Sansa makes it good, rolling her hips, kissing him softly, and she moans his name when she feels him. That is what gets his blood pumping.

And so begins their affair.

She is pregnant quickly, and has a boy that they name Robert but call Robb in secret. He looks like the Starks, maybe a little lighter with Tully eyes, but court is not surprised. She is a Stark after all.

Jon is summoned again after three moons. Sansa mirrors his guilty expression as she welcomes him. "I can't stop it," she whispered to Jon, "I have to be with you. Only you, Jon."

This time, it is a girl that looks like Sansa that they name Joanna, after Joffrey's grandmother, but Sansa whispers, "I names her after you, Jon."

Arya, thankfully, doesn't kill his children.

She is married Willem Tyrell, who comes to court. She seems wary of him, Jon knows, but likes him well enough, he supposes. He hears her laugh when Willem kisses her and even if there is no trust between them, she is starting to love him.

Everything seems to be better now.

Until it is not.


Jon is legitimized as Lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North when Lord Bolton and his son are killed by Stannis Baratheon.

He is to return North, immediately, and Sansa is so passionate on their last night together than Jon wants to crawl inside of her and never leave. She whispers that she loves him before he goes, when they embrace in the courtyard, and he whispers that he will come back for her, and Arya too.

Jon takes more time than Robb did, and earns his bannermen's trust slowly, as Jon Stark. He talks to them of mobilizing against King's Landing, and they are ready, so ready to fight with him, to avenge Robb's death, that Jon is relieved.

He gathers men, food, money and time as he prepares, something Robb never had the patience to do. They are almost ready when Deanerys Stormborn attacks King's Landing. Still, Jon stays waiting, until she has conquered. Then, as her dragons are weak, he demands Sansa.

When the Queen meets him on the battlefield, his army standing behind him in the hundred thousands, he is under a white flag. "I want my sister," he says, and his direwolf growls as her soundlessly.

"She was Joffrey's queen. She needs to be killed."

"If you do, my army attacks. You may have dragons, your Grace, but I have loyalty. Can you say the same?" She cannot, and still says, "As long as Sansa Baratheon and Joffrey's children live they are threats-"

"Sansa Stark. My children, not his."

And then Deanerys understands.


Sansa is brought to him, more beautiful than ever, and Arya and Willem are behind her. Jon hugs her tight, Joanna and Robb as well, and whispers, "I love you" to her.

Because he would do anything to keep his sisters safe.