1st Month of 297 A.C. Winterfell

Jon Snow?

Jon looks at his brother then and says. "I am sure he will. Otherwise he is not worth the title that he has. He is not worth the mere air that he breathes. If he does not support his own kin he is not a man. I will take my throne, I truly will."

"What are you two plotting?" another voice says.

They both turn around and Jon sees his uncle Benjen standing there in the doorway his eyes narrowed. "Nothing uncle. We were not plotting anything." Robb says hurriedly.

"No, tell him the truth. I know the truth about who my mother and father are. I know what I am." Jon says looking his uncle straight in the eye.

His uncle looks at him for a very long time before sighing and saying. "I always knew that this day would come. But tell me Jon what do you intend to do about it?"

"I intend to claim what is rightfully mine." Jon says anger filling his voice.

His uncle sighs once more and replies softly. "There is more to the story than you know Jon. There are other dragons out there who want to know you."

Jon looks at his uncle in confusion then and asks. "What do you mean? What more could there be to this lie that Lord Eddard has told me and the rest of us?"

His uncle looks pained then, and Jon knows he should feel some guilt but all he feels is mere contempt. "You are not the only dragon left in the world Jon. There are others left."

"What you mean the beggar king and his sister? They are not truly in line for the throne. A son comes before a brother, I am Aerys Targaryen's heir. And as much as that disgusts me, perhaps it is time I embraced the disgust and made it my own." Jon rants, not entirely sure what he is saying or why he is saying it.

His uncle's expression hardens then. "You are not the only child of Rhaegar Targaryen's still alive Jon. Your brother and sister, Aegon and Rhaenys are alive as well."

The news hits him like a hammer. "What do you mean? My brother and sister are dead. They were killed during the sack of King's Landing. Tywin Lannister made sure of that. And Lord Eddard allowed his child killing friend to sit on my throne because of it. How can you say that they are alive? What sort of mockery is this?" Jon snarls.

"Jon speaks truly uncle. Everyone knows that Aegon and Rhaenys were killed on Tywin Lannister's orders. Their bodies as well as the body of their mother were presented before the court. Everyone knows what King Robert said when he saw their bodies as well. Why would you joke about something like that?" his brother says.

Uncle Benjen's face tightens in anger then. "I am not joking, nor would I joke about something such as this boys. I speak the truth. I am sure you did not allow your father to tell you the whole story behind what happened at the tower of joy?"

"What does the supposed survival of my siblings have to do with the tower of joy? Were they there with me? Is that what you are trying to say? Did Lord Stark separate me from my siblings to punish me for what my birth had cost him?" Jon snarls.

His uncle sighs impatiently. "The Tower of Joy is relevant to this story because, there were only two knights of the Kingsguard there guarding your mother. If you were the true king, there should have been three. The three finest knights were at the tower before Rhaegar left for King's Landing but one knight came back with him. The sword of the morning, Ser Arthur Dayne. He came back with Prince Rhaegar, but he did not fight at the Trident, nor did he flee to Essos with Prince Viserys and Queen Rhaella, most assumed he died in the fire of the red keep, that Aerys had him burned alive, but when Ned got to the tower, the Kingsguard knights there were not acting as if their brother was dead. To them he was very much alive, very much so. They would not have acted as such if the opposite were true. And there was always something suspicious about the way the bodies of the supposed Aegon and Rhaenys were presented. They were too scarred to be recognisable as if someone knew they were not the actual children and were trying to cover their own tracks and so presented the children as if they were who they were supposed to be."

Jon looks at his uncle then comprehension forming in him and his heart beating erratically. "What are you suggesting uncle? That my brother and sister somehow escaped King's Landing and have been alive all this time? That Tywin Lannister knew about it and covered it up?"

"It does sound unlikely uncle. Why would Tywin Lannister lie about something like this? If Rhaenys and Aegon are still alive, why does he not go and spend every resource he can finding them and killing them. Why has King Robert not done the same?" Robb asks.

"Because it suited Tywin Lannister to have the realm believe Rhaegar's children were dead. It showed his loyalty to Robert, it showed that the Targaryens were done for, for no one would support the son of the Mad King over the son of Prince Rhaegar. And it also meant that peace could return and Tywin could get what he always wanted. His daughter as queen. That is of course if he did believe them to be alive, he might well have believed them to be dead. I do not know. What I do know is that before the sack, Princess Elia smuggled her two children away from King's Landing to the one place where they would be safe. She took on two fake children and pretended that they were own, and when the sack occurred she died. And the children died. But those whose identities they had assumed remained. This is what your father and I were able to deduce." Uncle Benjen replies.

Jon looks at his brother a moment then and then looks back at his uncle and says. "So you are telling me that my siblings are still alive, and they are out there somewhere?"

His uncle nods. "Yes Jon. They are, and I do know exactly where they are."

"Where?" Jon asks.

At the same time his brother says. "Why did father not mention this beforehand?"

Uncle Benjen is silent a moment and then says. "Ned did not mention this because it is not relevant. They are somewhere far from here growing up safely, same as you are Jon. And that is how it should be. You are safe and away from the wrath of the King and those who would use you as a pawn in their own games."

"We are being kept from our rights." Jon fumes. "Because Lord Stark is afraid of what might come from standing up to the Lannisters and to his fat oaf of a friend."

He is not expecting the blow that hits him then. His cheek stings from where his uncle has hit him. His eyes water slightly, and he looks at his uncle. "I know you are upset and are trying to come to terms with all that you have learnt Jon. But this attitude of yours must stop. Ned did what he had to do to ensure that you were protected from the wrath of Tywin Lannister and Robert. You have grown up safe and sound, with food in your belly and a family who care for you. This talk of treason has to stop."

Jon looks at his uncle for a long time, anger boiling inside of him. "Treason? Treason? This is treason is it? That bastard child killer sitting my brother's throne is treason. That my uncles are keeping me away from my family is treason. That my uncle could not even tell me the whole truth is treason. My whole life has been a god's damned lie. Lord Stark has never seen me as a son, and I have never felt truly at home here. This place has been like a constant reminder that I do not fit in. And now I know why, because I don't I am supposed to be somewhere else. I have always been a burden on this family, because Lord Stark was too much of a fool to realise what sort of friction his decision would cause. He was willing to allow me to suffer in ignominy for the rest of my days. What sort of a life is that uncle? What sort of a life is that?"

His uncle's face softens then. "It is no life. I admit that Jon, truly I do. Ned cast a dye on your fate the day he named you his bastard and brought you back here. And yet you have lived to learn the truth because of that decision. That is something you need to understand Jon, without that decision, you would have died a long time ago."

Jon says nothing in response, but hears Robb ask. "How do you know where Jon's siblings are uncle? How do you even know what you think to be true is indeed true?"

Jon looks intently at his uncle then and sees a whole range of emotions flicker briefly across his uncle's usually expressionless face. His voice is soft when he says. "I have travelled far and wide across the Seven Kingdoms lads, I know many people and have many allies. I am told many things, and I have seen King Aegon and Princess Rhaenys for myself."

Jon and Robb look at one another, and Jon asks. "King Aegon? Is that title not heresy uncle?"

"It is heresy depending on whom you ask and what you believe. It is right what you said Jon, Robert Baratheon is not a good king. And perhaps your brother would be a better king than him, but for now there is nothing that can be done. You must stop this ranting and plotting. It will only end in death for you, as it did for Lya." His uncle replies.

"What do you mean?" Jon asks.

"What plotting?" Robb asks at the same time.

Their uncle is completely silent a moment before replying. "There were things they did and said that should not have been done, and that is why they ended up where they ended up. All I am saying is that you should think before you act. Do not do something that you will later regret."

"Regret? You mean doing something similar to what Lord Eddard did? Does he regret bringing me here? Does he regret bringing me to Winterfell and raising me as his own? Am I a mere burden to him? Is that why he would never tell me who my mother is? And even when I confronted him about it he tried to deny it?" Jon says.

Uncle Benjen looks at him a long moment and then sighs. "You know that is not true Jon. You know that Lord Eddard cares for you, and sees you as a son. For all intents and purposes you are his son."

"But I am not his son!" Jon all but shouts. "I never was his son, my blood is not his blood. He is not my father and no lie that he says or that you say can change that. My whole life was a lie, and now I find out that my brother and sister are alive. Maybe I should leave here and go to them. Maybe everything would be better if I did."

Before either his brother or uncle can say anything he storms out of the room, anger and sadness overwhelming him. He walks and then he runs and when he gets to the Godswood, he keeps going on and on. He does not know what he wants, all he knows is that the pain has to stop. It truly has to stop.