3rd Month of 287 A.C. Braavos
Benjen Stark
Things had become stifling at Winterfell for Benjen, it wasn't that he didn't love Ned, or adore Catelyn, or his nephew and niece, it was just that, he didn't feel as if he fit in there anymore. He had constantly felt as if he was intruding on something, and as such it didn't sit right with him. So he had asked Ned for permission to go travelling, which Ned had granted- of course he would, Ned was too easy- and so he had left from White Harbour and arrived in Braavos, merely here to find himself or to find something to do. That was when he had heard a rumour, about a dragon, and so he had gone looking, he remembered the words his father had always said, and Benjen had never approved of the removal of the dragons to begin with. That was how he had been found, and that was how he had ended up here, before the King, the rightful King.
King Viserys was a boy of ten namedays, the same age Benjen had been when he had learned the truth. The boy was sat on a chair, flanked by two of the Kingsguard, something made evident by their dark silver armour with the three headed dragon of the royal house on it. Ser Jonothor Darry and Ser Oswell Whent-someone he had thought had died- were standing before him. "Why are you here?" the King asks, his voice high pitched, but still somehow commanding.
"I have come to swear my fealty to the rightful King Your Grace." Benjen responds, and he sees a strange look cross over the King's face before it disappears.
"You are related to Eddard Stark are you not?" the King asks.
"I am." Benjen responds cautiously.
The King's face scrunches then, his voice questioning when he replies. "How are you related to him?"
Benjen hesitates for the briefest of moments before replying. "I am his brother Your Grace."
The next question the King asks him is not surprising. "How do I know I can trust you?"
Benjen takes a deep breath and then says. "My brother might have supported Robert Baratheon during his usurpation, but my family has always been fervent in our dedication to the Targaryen family. I believe that you are the rightful King Your Grace, there is nothing that can sway me from that view. I will do whatever it takes to prove my loyalty to you." The words are heartfelt and truly meant.
The King looks at him intrigued, before turning to whisper something to Jonothor Darry, a legendary knight and man. It is the knight who responds. "Words are wind Stark. How do we know that you are not merely here to report to your brother or even the usurper?"
Benjen thinks over this, trying to decide how best to respond, eventually he says. "Ask me anything, and if it is within my power to, I will give you the answer."
Benjen can see something akin to surprise flit over the Kingsguard's face, whilst the King seems very intrigued. He sees Ser Jonothor lean back to talk with the King, and then the King asks him. "What is your name?"
"Benjen Stark." Benjen responds, he sees something akin to recognition flit across Ser Jonothor's face then.
"You were at Harrenhal?" the King asks.
"I was Your Grace." Benjen responds, wondering where this line of questioning is going.
"Did you watch my brother joust?" the King asks.
"I did Your Grace." Benjen responds, his mind flitting back to that moment, where all the smiles died.
The King looks at him intently, and then asks. "What armour was my brother wearing on that day?"
Benjen thinks for a moment and then says. "Armour that was black as night with a ruby glowing in the breast."
The King nods looking thoughtful. "What did my brother say to your sister?"
That question surprises Benjen, and he wonders why the King is asking him that, how the King could know that. He hesitates for a moment and then says. "He told her that she was ice incarnate."
The King, who looks more like a dragon than a child now, nods, a smile on his face. The King looks at Ser Oswell-Benjen is still surprised that the man is alive- and says "Bring her in." the knight nods and moves toward the door, opening it, and returning a few moments with someone that Benjen had thought long dead. She knocks the breath out of him when she hugs him.
"Lyanna." He breathes, not quite believing his eyes.
"Benjen." His sister responds, looking at him with tears in her eyes.
Before Benjen can ask her anything, the King is speaking once more. "Benjen Stark, if you are true as you say you are, you will answer me this." Benjen looks at the King then, marvelling at the boy before him. "What was said between Torrhen Stark and Aegon the Dragon when they met that day long ago?"
The question completely catches him off guard, it is a tale his father told him once long ago, a tale that Ned never heard for he grew up in the Vale, and eventually, the meaning of this comes to him. He gets down on bended knee before the King, looks him square in the eye and responds. "Forever and always, we are the men who shall defend the north from the foes of this world. We shall be yours forevermore, in this world and the next. We are ice, and we shall always guard your front, when the winds of winter come calling. We are yours."
The King stands then, a crown atop his head, the boy walks and stands before him and says. "Do you hold true?"
Benjen nods. "I do, I always will."
"Then rise Benjen Stark, and be welcomed into the home of the dragons. From this day till your last, you are my man. You will do as I command, from this day forward. Your pain is my pain; your joy is my joy. Now let us move forward into the light." The King responds, the words sounding strange coming from his mouth, but also right at the same time.