Ned woke up, the sun was shining through the curtains. For a brief moment, there was a sense of uncertainty in him as he struggled to remember what had caused him to cry last night, then he remembered. It was his nameday today, he was ten summers old, and he was not in Winterfell. Ned knew it was silly, but that was quite upsetting, he missed his father, and Lya and Benjen, and even Brandon. He knew what would've happened had he been at Winterfell, there would have been a feast for breakfast, then Father would have taken him out for a ride of the fields and lands around Winterfell, and they would have shared stories and jokes until it was time for lessons. From there Ned would get to choose whatever he wanted to learn about. Then there would be lunch and Lya would sing to them, and then they'd get the rest of the day off.

There was an ache in his chest as he thought about that. Ned knew it was silly to expect the same thing here at the Rock. There were thousands of things that Lady Joanna needed to do, and she probably didn't even know it was his nameday. It wasn't like he'd told her or anyone for that matter. Still, the ache in his chest didn't go away. Deciding he didn't want to think about this for too long, Ned got up and walked over to the bathroom. The servants were filling the tub with water when he opened the door. He nodded to them and took off his clothes. Ned put one hand on the side of the tub and helped himself into it. He stood for a moment feeling the warm water lap at his feet, and then he slowly lowered himself into the tub properly.

As the warmth from the water enveloped him, Ned let out a sigh. The past few moons had been very good. Since coming back from King's Landing he'd learned a lot. Ned now knew more about Essos than he thought he might otherwise have learned. He also knew his way around some of the smaller passageways of the Rock thanks to Jaime and Cersei. Cersei no longer seemed too awkward around him as she had been before. He felt at home at Rock. And whilst he had written to his father and to Lya, he did not usually miss them as much as he used to. Today was an exception. The thought of what his father and Lya would be doing today, to celebrate a nameday for someone who was not there, forced him to sigh again. The ache was back with a vengeance. He rubbed some soap over himself, took some water and poured it over himself, before deciding to get out of the tub.

Ned stood up, took a towel from one of the servants and began towelling the water off his body. He took another breath and then wrapped the towel around himself and stepped out of the tub. He nodded his thanks to the servants and walked toward the door that would lead him back to his and Jaime's room. He stood in front of it for a moment, his hand on the door knob, he could hear Jaime moving around in the room, and he wondered briefly if his foster brother knew that today was Ned's nameday. Ned doubted it, his foster brother would only have remembered if Ned had told him, and as Ned had not told him, to expect him to know was foolish. And Ned was not foolish. He shook his head again, and turned the door knob, as the door moved he walked through the doorway and into the room.

Jaime was dressed in a green doublet and plain breeches. He smiled as he saw Ned and said. "I think we might miss breakfast, Ned!"

Ned took the hint, he knew how much his foster brother liked breakfast, and so he moved to the cupboard where his clothes were and chose a grey double with trimmings of red on the edges, as well as an undershirt that was red in nature. He wore plain breeches as well. Once he was dressed, he nodded to Jaime and they walked out of their room to the great hall where breakfast was served. As they walked, Jaime was oddly silent and Ned was somewhat unnerved by it, but decided to ignore it for now. They got the great hall, to find it slightly empty, there were a few guardsmen who were there eating breakfast, but it seemed most everyone had already been, or had not yet woken. Ned sighed, took his place to Jaime's right and ate quietly. A simple fair of beans and bread. He ate and then had some juice, before putting his plate away from himself. He waited for Jaime to finish eating then he got up and walked back to their room, where he brushed his teeth and then stopped and stood looking at himself in the mirror.

The ache was still there, he missed his father and his brother and sister. He missed them terribly so, and he was not sure how to fix that. He didn't want to go back to Winterfell, he liked it here, the people were nice and kind, and he liked Jaime and Cersei. Still he missed his family in the north. He took a breath, ran his hand through his hair and turned and walked out of his and Jaime's room-Jaime had already gone for reading with Lady Joanna- and made his way to Maester Creylen's rooms. When he got there, he knocked and entered when bid to do so. Maester Creylen was a young man, perhaps as old as Lord Tywin himself, he smiled at Ned and bid him sit down, and so Ned did so. There was a moment of silence and then the maester spoke. "Today, we will explore a topic you had mentioned once before as being of interest to you, Master Eddard. We will look at the reign of Daeron the Good, or more specifically his early reign."

That surprised Eddard. "I thought you said we would be continuing with the lessons on advanced herbal medicines?" Not that he was complaining herbal medicine lessons were sleep worthy.

Maester Creylen smiled at him. "Those lessons may continue another day. For today, we shall be looking at the early reign of Daeron the Good and how he managed to balance everything that came with being a son of Aegon the Unworthy. Tell me Eddard, what do you know about Daeron the Good?"

Eddard smiled then. He had read a lot about Daeron the Good when he was in Winterfell, and therefore found it easy enough to say. "He was born in the one hundred and fifty-third year after Aegon's Conquest, the only son of Prince Aegon and Princess Naerys. He was named after Daeron the Young Dragon. As a child, he showed more of an interest in books and learning than in war. Something that greatly worried his warrior father, Prince Aegon. For Prince Aegon according to Munkun thought that for a Prince of the Blood, to be truly respected, they need to be good with arms. Prince Daeron was not good with arms, he could not really defend himself, but he was smart and quick witted, able to hold a conversation with the noted scholars of the time from the time he was ten."

Creylen nodded. "And what about as he got older?"

Eddard felt his smile widen. "As a young boy he was betrothed to Princess Mariah of Dorne, this was arranged by his cousin King Baelor the Beloved, to ensure that there was peace with Dorne after the Conquest had led to many men dying." He paused for a moment and then said. "Princess Mariah came to King's Landing when she was sixteen and she married Prince Daeron in the one hundred and sixty-ninth year after the conquest of Westeros. During that time Prince Daeron grew into a more learned and cultured man compared to his father, Prince Aegon. Where Prince Aegon drank, and wasted time on the jousting field, Prince Daeron devoted himself to learning and studying."

"And why do you think he spent so much time learning and studying? After all, it is not as if he was ever to become King, surely? His cousin King Baelor was young and married." Maester Creylen said.

Ned smirked slightly, this was an obvious answer. "King Baelor was married, this is true, but he had not consummated his marriage, and he had locked his wife and her sisters in the Maidenvault of the Red Keep, to prevent them from tempting him into sleeping with them. He feared for his soul, and despite the pleas of his court, he resisted the urge to consummate the marriage." Ned had read that in a book in Winterfell, and had blushed when he had asked Brandon what consummating meant. Thinking about Brandon meat him ache with loneliness though, so he quickly stopped. And returned to the matter at hand. "Prince Daeron was expected to inherit the throne by everyone. Prince Viserys, his grandfather was Hand of the King to King Baelor and a healthy man who got along with his grandson. Therefore, it was expected that if the line of King Baelor failed then the line of Prince Viserys had to continue."

Maester Creylen nodded. "And when Baelor died, Viserys ascended the throne and reign but a short while before the long and troubled reign of King Aegon the Fourth began. This King was one who gave into his every urge and lust. Doing nothing to stop the constant carnage that his whims affected onto the people, he was meant to protect. Prince Daeron became the symbol of opposition to his father and many who could not stand the King and his whims rallied to the Prince. King Aegon died a fat and broken man, wanting war, and getting nothing. Now, when Prince Daeron became King Daeron what did he do?"

Ned thought about this for a moment and then said. "He was crowned King in King's Landing and immediately summoned the small council as any smart person would do. Then he ordered his father's ministers dismissed, because he did not wish for their corruption to taint his reign. He also purged the court of many of the hangers on that drifted to his father's court as well."

"Why do you think he did that?" Maester Creylen asked.

Ned stopped and thought for a long moment, he remembered being quite surprised when he had read that bit in Winterfell, and not getting a decent explanation from Father. He hesitated. "I think he did it because he did not want to be associated with his father." After reading about King Aegon the Fourth, Ned could not blame him for that.

"Do you think he was wise to do so? The councillors who had served King Aegon had kept the realm afloat and making money throughout the King's binges and lusts. They did nothing wrong. Was it right that the Prince take his anger and frustration with his father out on them?" Maester Creylen asked.

Ned thought about the question for a moment, he was not sure. The councillors were tainted by their association with an unworthy King, but at the same time they did not encourage the King's lusts and ways, as far as Ned could tell, but they did not stop him either. "I think that perhaps he did not need to remove all of the councillors and court members. Perhaps he could have kept some of them."

"But then would that not have made things worse, as his father's advisors might have started muttering against him?" Creylen asked.

"They could have muttered against him, but they would not have been able to do anything about it. Prince Daeron became King the moment his father died, his word became law. To go against it, would have been treason." Ned said firmly.

Creylen was smiling and Ned was not sure why. "And there you have the problem of King Daeron's early reign."

Ned raised an eyebrow, not sure he understood. "What do you mean?"

Maester Creylen chuckled. "King Daeron was so determined to differentiate himself from his father, to ensure that nobody would ever mistake him for his father, that he did the thing that he was taught never to do. He threw out the old, and never thought if the new would be better placed to change it. He did it all at once, and shook the core of the Kingdoms. Those who were willing to give the new King a change, despite his preference for Dorne and Dornish ways, were angered by that, and so they plotted and planned. They were determined to right an imbalance they felt had been created."

Creylen stopped speaking then and looked at Ned intently. Ned thought over what the maester had said and then said. "So, in his haste to be different and new, he made the hole that would consume him and every other King that succeeded him until the reign of King Jaehaerys?"

Creylen nodded. "Exactly."

There was a knock on the door then, and when it opened, Martyn Cassel was standing there. "I have come to take Master Eddard to lunch in the great hall, per Lady Joanna's request."

Eddard was surprised, he did not think lunch had come so quickly, he looked over to Maester Creylen and saw that the man was smiling. "Very well, you may go, Eddard. I shall see you shortly."

Surprised, Ned stood up, nodded to the maester, turned and then walked out of the room, Martyn trailing behind him. They walked in silence, Martyn was not one for talking too much, that was more Jory's duty, and Jory was with Jaime, learning to read and write properly. They walked through another set of doors and then another before coming to the Great Hall, when he entered the hall went silent, and then somewhere, a lady started singing. "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Eddard, happy birthday to you." The hall was full, he realised that now, everyone was there, Lady Joanna was standing before him with a giant cake, with a direwolf on it and his name written on it, there were ten candles on the take as well. Jaime and Cersei were stood behind their mother beaming, Ned felt something in his throat well up. Lady Joanna smiled at him. "You didn't think we'd forgotten, did you?"

Ned didn't know what to say, he did not think he could speak, there were tears forming in the corners of his eyes. He took a breath, a shuddering one and smiled. Then he looked at the cake, and took another breath before blowing the candles out. A huge cheer followed that, and Lady Joanna turned and walked to the great dining table, where the cake was placed. A knife was produced, and Ned who had followed her not quite believing what was happening was given the knife and slowly cut out a piece of cake, which he ate. It tasted nice, of sweetness and lemon as well. He smiled and then cut a piece of cake for Jaime and a piece for Cersei. "We got you presents as well!" Jaime said, beaming. Ned realised then that they had all known, and he wondered how they had known.

Ned was left speechless when Jaime pressed a book into his hands. He looked at it and found that it was a book he had been wanting ever since his mother had died. The Tales of Rodrik Stark, the Wandering Wolf and His Family. Ned felt a lump form in his throat, his Mother had told him about this book, and had said she would give it to him when he turned ten, but she had not lived long enough for that. He looked at Jaime and smiled in thanks. Cersei gave him an brush, with lion and direwolf entwined and smiled. "For your hair." She giggled and Ned laughed, she often joked that his hair was wild.

He was given a small sword by Martyn Cassel, a book by Jory, a cloak of gold and silver by Ser Kevan, a cup of gold by Ser Gerion, and a book about the Rock by Ser Tygett as well. The cake was slowly disappearing as well, as more and more people came to take a slice and to eat and be merry. Ned felt that if he spoke he might cry, he had not expected this. He had thought he might need to mention it later, at the end of the day, but now, in the here and present, he did not much mind.

Finally, Lady Joanna gave him her gift, it was a letter, and as he read it he felt tears truly from in his eyes.

Dear Eddard,

Happy nameday, thank you for being such a kind and caring young man. Thank you for being a big brother to Jaime and Cersei. Thank you for being you.

We love you very, very much.

Love

Lord Tywin and Lady Joanna.

Ned read the letter again, and then put it down. He looked at Lady Joanna and smiled, tears blurring his vision slightly. "Thank you, Lady Joanna, thank you so much."

Lady Joanna held out her arms and he buried himself in her hug, crying softly. "It's quite alright, Eddard. You are family, you will always be family. I love you like a son."

Ned sniffled slightly, embarrassed by his crying, but also, relieved that he was not being chastised for it. He nodded and whispered. "Thank you. I love you too, Mother."

They pulled apart then and Ned teased Jaime for having cake in his hair, and promised to read the books he had been given and share the knowledge he had learned, but this time he did so with a smile on his face, his heart full to bursting. He was happy, so very happy, this was the best nameday ever.