Prologue
King in the North
Jon sat in his solar looking out of the window at the Broken Tower now remade.
He was glad for it. The last vestige of the Dark Times were now finally behind him and he hoped that he too would be able to move forward by laying to rest his past demons.
Sighing, he closed his eyes with the hope to finally be at peace with himself but as soon as he closed them the horrors of his past began to flood his mind forcing him open his eyes. No, he'd never be at peace.
He had seen too much. He knew too much and most of all he had taken so many lives that he had stopped counting long ago but yet he remembered every face contorting in pain as he took the person's life.
Twenty years had passed of which winter had lasted for Seven Long years. The summer before that had lasted for Ten years and although Jon had been a child of autumn himself nothing could have prepared him for the winter that had changed his life forever.
He remembered all too clearly that day twenty years ago when it all began. It was the day when he had found Ghost, his companion for life. Jon couldn't have been happier that day for it had been a sign from the Gods; by gifting him a direwolf they had proven that he was indeed a Stark. It was also the day when his life began to take the turn for the worst.
It was the King's visit that separated their family forever.
He'd never forget the day he left Winterfell to join the Night's Watch. He had never imagined that the farewells that he had said to his brother and father would be for life.
It had pained him to hear of his father's death and the stigma of him being labelled as a traitor to the Throne. For many moons he had kept hope that his brother would avenge their father's death and bring peace to his memory but when he heard the way Robb had been betrayed and killed, it had torn him apart and killed something within him.
If Robb's death killed something within him, then killing Ygritte left him completely torn apart.
These deaths had left a void in his heart which remains till this day.
Maybe that was the reason that the betrayal of his own men didn't sting him much. Jon sometimes felt that no pain was greater than the loss of a loved one. He had been wrong.
When he first heard of what Ramsay had done to Sansa, the torture that she had been subjected too at the hands of the Lannisters in King's Landing had made his blood boil with anger. The way Petyr Baelish had manipulated her and all the other atrocities that she had had to suffer had made him see red.
However, even then it never crossed his mind once to go to war against the Boltons, Freys and Lannisters. It was Sansa who had motivated him to do so. She was the one who had compelled him to fight for what was rightfully theirs. She was the one who had ignited within him the fire to avenge the wrongs that had been done to their family.
Had it not been for Sansa's conviction, her thirst for vengeance and her ability to play the Game of Thrones, He'd would have never become King in the North and survived to see this day.
He still remembered how with the aid of Ser Davos now Lord Davos Seaworth, Hand to the King in the North and the Lord of Dreadfort, he and Sansa had secured the allegiance of Houses Mormont, the Free Folk, the Mountain Clans and other minor houses.
The Day they fought against the Boltons and the other traitors for Winterfell and The North was etched in his mind. The Pain and Anger he had felt when Ramsay Bolton killed Rickon, his youngest brother. The brush of death that he experienced when his army had been surrounded by the Bolton Infantry. The ray of hope he had seen when the Knights of the Vale led by Sansa and Baelish had broken through the Bolton lines to give them a chance at Victory. The satisfaction he had felt when he had beaten Ramsay bloody.
There was one other thing that had happened that day which made him feel in a way that words couldn't even begin to describe. A sense of horror, upon learning of the demise of Ramsay Bolton at Sansa's hands in the most brutal way. Till this day the thought of it sent Chills down his back.
At that time he'd not thought too much about it since his mind was preoccupied with things that were of greater concern.
With the North secure, he and Sansa had called to the remaining Houses to swear fealty to them and bring with them as many men they could muster.
And thus five years after he first set out from Winterfell to Join the Night's Watch, Jon Snow now Jon Stark, King in the North was now back in Winterfell sitting on the Weirwood throne that his father had once sat on with Sansa by his side. The Ice Princess had not once questioned his authority but Jon knew that Sansa was integral to his rule.
As Jon looked out the window at the Winterfell which now was, he hardly recognized the castle he had grown in.
Twenty years had passed and Winterfell had been built anew with the Great Keep and the Grand Hall much larger than it once was. The Hall of Winter, essentially the newly built Throne Room was built much later and replaced the Grand Hall which then began to be used for smaller gatherings, feasts and celebrations.
The early months of his reign hadn't been easy. Soon after being proclaimed the King in the North, he had sat down with his Council of Lords and Ladies to address the Issue of the Night King and his army and the threat that came with it, the Long Night.
While they discussed on how to fight the war against the White Walkers and the army of the undead, news soon reached them that the Targaryen Queen of Slaver's bay had conquered King's Landing and had executed Cersei Lannister. The Dragon Queen had successfully united the Southern Kingdoms of Dorne, The Reach, The Westerlands and The Stormlands. Soon she'd be coronated as the Queen of the Seven Kingdoms and would turn her gaze North.
After much contemplation, He and Sansa on the advice of the other Northern Lords had agreed to send a Northern Contingent comprising of himself and Lord Davos to King's Landing to treat with and seek aid from the Dragon Queen against the Night's King and the impending threat of the Long Night.
It had taken weeks to complete their journey and when He had stood before the Queen asking for aid, unyielding his status as King in the North never would he have imagined that she'd agree to help him and his people.
He'd later find out after the war from the Queen herself that Tyrion and Varys had counseled her to do so. "A Good Ruler listens to their advisors Jon Stark", she had said with a wry smile across her face.
And so, the armies of Westeros had marched against the army of the undead and miraculously won to see a new dawn after month of darkness and bloodshed.
A lot happened during the war. Thousands of good men and women lost their lives, families were torn apart, entire castles were destroyed and He, He had lost his identity.
A few weeks into the war, Bran had told him that in his visions of the past he had seen proof that his sire was Rhaegar Targaryen and his mother was Lyanna Stark, a woman he had always thought of as his aunt. The revelation had hit him hard and led to an identity crisis but once again his sisters Sansa and Arya, who had returned to Winterfell while he had travelled to King's Landing to treat with Daenerys, had brought him to his senses. They had told him that the truth changed nothing and he would always be their brother and a Stark foremost irrespective of his birth.
It had taken some time and some strong words from his sisters, but he was soon back on his feet and ready to fight the battle from the helm of his army with a renewed vigor to defeat the Darkness that accompanied Night and bring in a New Dawn. His was the prophecy of Ice and Fire as he'd later find out from Bran.
With the break of a new era, the remnants of his family reunited; it was time for rebuilding what had been lost. During that period he married the Wildling Warrior Princess Val and together they had their first son, Eddard and daughter Neila. The twins seemed to take after their father and for once Jon felt that peace could be his.
He was a good King, or so Sansa had him believe. She was the driving force behind him and Val. She had seen to many Cruel and Inept Kings for him to fail and thus she along with their Father's lessons and her own had helped him walk on the path to greatness.
Sansa had helped Jon keep the North secure and to strengthen his kingdom against the Southerners. Although she never admitted it to him but Sansa had managed to put in place her own network of spies. How she had been able to do so was beyond his comprehension, nor did she ever say but she didn't deny it either.
What was even more surprising was the camaraderie between Arya and Sansa. Never would he have ever thought that two sisters who never saw eye to eye when they were young would one day together become the pillars of his Family.
Arya never spoke about the years that had gone by, Jon never asked but he suspected Sansa knew all about it. He was just content to have his youngest sister back.
He was happy, his pack was swelling again. Val had blessed him with another child, a son who they named Robb.
A few years after Robb's birth, The Queen proposed a marriage alliance between House Stark and House Baratheon. It so happened that the new Lord Baratheon wished to marry the younger Stark Princess.
Jon still remembered the day when he broke the news to Arya that Lord Baratheon was coming to Winterfell to ask her hand in marriage. If looks could, Arya's would have burnt the person alive.
But yet again, the Gods had something else planned. On a warm spring morning, Lord Baratheon arrived with his Lords, Councillors and Knights and was given a warm reception to honor the bonds of friendship that were first laid by Bran the Builder and the first Storm King.
Arya had outright refused to meet him and wasn't even there to Welcome the Storm Lord in the Winter Hall. It was on Sansa's insistence that she decided to meet the young Lord in the Godswood. Jon didn't know what the Old Gods had whispered in Arya's ear like they seldom did in his that she agreed to marry the young Baratheon Lord.
A month from then, the couple was wedded under the sight of the Old Gods and Weirwood bearing witness to the marriage. A feast followed the ceremony which ended with the Lord Baratheon picking up the Princess and taking her to the bedding chambers.
For the first time in years, he had seen Arya's smile reach her eyes.
As the Winter King sat in his solar and looked out of the window, winter was gone and it'd be a long time before it came again. As the summer sun shone brightly outside, someone knocked on the door of his Solar.
"Maester Sam is here to see you Your Grace", said the guard at the door.
"Send him in." Jon replied, getting up from his chair to meet his old friend.
The double doors to his solar were opened wide to allow the hulking figure of Master Samwell Tarly through.
"It's been a long time Jon." said Sam opening his arms wide to invite his friend to hug him.
Jon found it hard to wrap his arms around his friend and made him aware of it, "You have gotten fat." He said to the Maester, "And you look older beyond your age." retorted Sam.
Jon offered the Maester a seat on his table and poured for him some arbor gold.
"I received your raven yesterday morning and I was surprised by the fact that you didn't send one before you left. What's the matter Sam?" Jon asked his friend as he took the chair opposite him.
After taking a long draught of wine from his goblet and several minutes of Silence, Sam looked up to Jon and said, "A seer from the citadel has made a prophecy…"
"What prophecy?" Jon asked, seriousness returning to his voice.
Bloodied skies, War torn plains
Dragons dancing on embers
In the North, end will the Wolf's reign
The ice will melt on cinders
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