Eddard II

The King had finally reached Winterfell. Robert had brought with his royal family and a few bannermen, a trail of hedge Knights, sellswords and camp followers, a giant wheelhouse and a huge baggage train.

There was the Kingslayer, with his hair like beaten gold, the man with the terrible burn must be Sandor Clegane, and the little man was surely the Imp. There was a tall lad with hair like his uncle's, the Crown Prince certainly, Princess Lyanna, named after Ned's sister, Robert's first love, with her pitch black hair and deep blue eyes. But the man who led them was almost a stranger to Ned...until he climbed off his warhorse with a familiar roar and fiercely hugged Ned.

The last time they had met was nine years ago, when the stag and direwolf had fought alongside to crush the revolt of the false King of the Iron Islands. The Robert he remembered had been as comely as ha had been fierce, clean shaven, bright eyed with a mane of black hair. He had towered over lesser men with muscles the way women like them. Now the King had a girth to match his height. He had also grown a coarse beard that hid his sagging double chin, but nothing could hid his Royal belly or the purple bags under his eyes.

'Look at you Ned! You haven't changed at all,' his friend cried out.

I scheme to bring you down, Robert, I have sided with your worst enemies, and yet you say I haven't changed.

The queen and the younger children stepped out of the wheelhouse. The queen was beautiful, with emerald green eyes and golden hair, but Cersei Lannister was known for her black heart, for her arrogance, a common Lannister trait. Ned politely kissed the ring on her hand, while Robert hugged Catelyn like a long lost sister.

When the formalities were done, Robert told him in that booming voice of his, 'Take me to crypts, Ned, I must pay my respects.'

After five and ten years, Robert still missed her. He had never known her, never loved her for who she truly was. He had fallen in love with her pretty face and wanted to make her his own, and almost had, before the White prince came along. After four children and a wife, he still pined for a dead girl. She who had loved someone else. Ned knew that Lyanna never really cared for Robert. She had cried the day Lord Rickard had announced the betrothal. But this was his King now and all he could say was, 'Of course, Your Grace.'

Down in the crypts, they stood in front of her grave in silence. Traditionally, only the King's and Lords of Winterfell were built sculptures, but Ned had long broken that tradition.

Lyanna's statue was pretty, but it did her no justice. Her beauty had been more than looks, it had lied in her unruly nature, in the wildness which she embraced as her own. The way she rode her horse, as if she was a centaur and the way she played with a sword.

'She shouldn't be here, Ned. She should be buried on a hill somewhere, beneath a tree. Not in this cold damp place threatening to collapse,' Robert sighed, as he placed a bouquet of golden roused on her grave.

They are the wrong colour, Ned noticed, Rhaegar had known the right colour. It was blue winter roses she had liked, not the golden ones that never even grew here.

'I killed Rhaegar at the Trident, so why does it feel like it was he won? I swear to you, I would burn the realm down and put every man, woman and child to sword if it brings her back from the grave.'

'The Targaryens are long gone, Robert. There is nothing left to do,' Ned told him, 'Lyanna is dead and so is Rhaegar. The Mad King murdered by Lannister. All we can hope for is a lifetime of peace.'

You liar Ned, you crave war.

'I kill him every night in my sleep. I would slay his little babes again, and gladly. Not every Targaryen is gone, Viserys and Daenerys Stormborn are still alive. Vengeance, Ned, is what I crave. Vengeance.' Robert's eyes shone with malice. Those eyes which had once twinkled with humor.

It is more than your appearance that has changed, my friend. You really are a stranger to me now.

Silently they left the crypts, where his sweet sister lay, at peace and now united with the man she loved.

'You have a daughter, Ned, and I a son. We could once have been brothers by marriage but now finally, we can join our houses. Come to King's Landing with me. I am surrounded by fools and cravers. I need good men by my side, to help me rule.'

'I...I will have to talk to my lady wife wife, if it please you. This means a lot to me, Your Grace.'

Ned was trapped in his own game. If he refused, it would surely anger the King, but if he said yes, then all his careful planning would be nought.

Robert made his way to his bedchambers, leaving Ned alone in his thought.

Varys had met with him two moons ago, telling him of Robert's misrule and Lord Tywin's rising power.

'There is one thing we can do, place the 'dead' princess on the Iron Throne. There are loyalists in many great houses, Lord Stark. The Velaryons are the blood of Old Valyria, and they had grown strong under Targaryen rule. Dorne broods over the death of Princess Elia. Doran has already spoken for his neice. The time is ripe, Prince Viserys means to sell her to the Dothraki. Rhaegar trusted you and so did Lady Lyanna. Can I?'

'And what if I refuse?' he had asked the eunuch.

'Well, my lord, I will take the girl straight to King's Landing and present her in front of our sweet King Robert. You will be charged with treason for hiding a Targaryen, and Rhaenys? Let us just hope that Robert grants her the mercy of a quick death.'

Author's note: I hope you all liked that chapter. Please review and favourite if you did(and even if you didn't). Next up is Arya and then maybe Lyanna or Robb.