Jon

"Forgive me My Lord, but I do not remember our meeting." Jon said as he shook the man's hand.

"Aye, there's nothing to forgive, you were but a babe, barely the size of my forearm." He smiled.

Jon gestured to Daenarys "May I introduce you to my wife, the Queen, Daenarys Stormborne, or house Targaryen."

"It is an honour your grace. I trust you have met my daughter Meera."

"Yes" Sansa interjected "I met her at Winterfell."

"Lady Stark, it is a pleasure to meet you, I am sorry about your father's death, he was a very close friend, house reed will never forget."

"I thank you my lord, as you may be aware, House Stark has now pledged its allegiance with House Targaryen" Sansa continued "We came here to ask you to do the same, it is my brother and his wife's birth right, and they have declared war against Cersei Lannister."

"House Reed has not ridden for battle since the rebellion" Howland muttered looking back down at the map.

Daenarys stepped forward. "I realise that swearing to house Targaryen may be conflicting for you, Lord Reed but in Robert's rebellion you fought to save the lives of hundreds and thousands of people, who would have been murdered by my own father." She paused. "My father was an evil man, and I know that asking you to blindly follow a woman you have never met and do not know, is not a viable move to protect your house."
"I am glad you understand that your grace." Howland stated.

"But asking you to follow the nephew of your close friend whom you have trusted since you were young, and who's secrets you have kept for twenty years. That is not a difficult request. My husband is the rightful heir to the throne, if you can't pledge your allegiance to me, I understand, but please pledge it to Jon, pledge it to Lord Eddard Stark, pledge your loyalty to Lady Lyanna. For she wanted to make a better world, she was taken from this world but her Son, he son lives and he is the greatest King I shall ever know."

Jon wanted to worship the ground that his wife stood upon.

Howland Reed stepped forward, unsheathing his sword, he knelt before him, head bowed.

"To Aegon of house Targaryen and house Stark I pledge the faith of Greywater. Hearth and harvest and we yield up to you, my King. Our swords and spears and arrows are yours to command. Grant mercy to our weak, help to our helpless, and justice to all, and we shall never fail you. I swear it by earth and water, I swear it by bronze and iron, I swear it by ice and fire."

"Thank you my Lord." Jon said stepping forward. "I have never heard that oath before?".

"It is an oath, that I swore upon your Uncle after the war when I vowed to keep his great secret, I also vowed my house to the North. When you were born we knew that an occurrence like this may appear in, the all be it unlikely future, if Robert provided no heir to the throne. We knew that if that ever happened then you would need to sit the throne. We swore to protect you, Eddard and I, swore it to your mother before she died. Earth and Water signifies the south, bronze and iron the north, ice and fire, the bond between your father and mother. Now that time has come Jon, and I will help you get there."

"I appreciate that" Jon whispered the uncomfortable feeling reappearing in his stomach. This man had seen his mother die, he had probably seen Rhaegar die. Howland addressed the room at large.

"We have had rooms prepared for you all, I must apologise, it takes some time to get used to the marshes, we hope that you are comfortable enough. There shall be supper in an hour, please take your time to rest and change, it is a long ride and you must be tired."

"Thankyou" Tyrion said stepping forward. "After supper we would like to convene to discuss our battle plans with you."

"Of course, let my men show you to your rooms."

As they began to file out of the room Reed gestured to him.

"I have something for you" He said pulling an envelope from his cloak. "It was sent to me a few days before Ned was executed, he wanted me to pass it to you."

He took it, his name was written upon the yellowing envelope in Ned's writing. "Thankyou"

Meera led them to their room, it was comfortable enough, with a large bed a fire place, there were no furs on the bed, it was warmer here, and they could not see out of the window because of the mist which blanketed across the marsh. Daenarys had begun to peel her armour off of her, laying it on the chest which had been brought up before them containing some of their clothes.

"He seems like a good person" She said as she pulled off her leather jerkin and pulled out a fur lined jacket. She commenced the laborious task of un-braiding her hair brushing out the brambles which had caught their as they had climbed through the dense forest. "I think he will make a good ally, I hear that he helped your father defeat Arthur Dayne, we could name him Master of War, or strategy or, Jon?"
He wasn't paying attention, he had sat down on the bed, the letter trembling in his hands.

"Are you listening Jon?" She asked, but Jon shook his head. He had opened the letter and had begun to read.

"What is that?" She asked sitting beside him.

"A letter from Ned" He muttered. "Dear Jon" He began clearing his throat, even though it was his voice that said the words, Jon could hear his father's voice in his head.

"If you are reading this, then I am gone and you are no longer at the wall, whether that be to aid Robb in his war or for other reasons. I promised you that when we saw each other again, we would talk about your mother, and I am sorry I cannot keep that promise and saddened that it will not be me to give you this news, as I feel like you deserved at least the truth from me. I need you know that despite my front around the others I have always seen you and loved you as my own son and I could not be prouder of you. But alas, I am not the man who sired you, although I have raised you as if you were my own your entire life. I did not lie when I told you that you shared my blood. Jon, I am sorry, both your parents are dead. I cannot tell you much about your father, I did not know him well, but your mother, she was a truly incredible woman. Your mother was my sister, Lyanna and she died after giving birth to you. She lived long enough to name you and make me promise to protect you. She was the strongest woman I have ever known, she was passionate and ferocious and would have loved you with every ounce of her being. She was taken from this world too soon and many men will tell you the stories of her death, how she was kidnapped and raped by the prince. This was not the case, your mother left by her own will, no man could kidnap the she wolf. Your father Jon, was Rhaegar Targaryen, the crowned prince of Dragonstone. I know that he was noble and brave and kind, and I know he showed your mother every kindness while they were in Dorne. You are no bastard Jon, your parents married shortly after Lyanna's disappearance. You are their legitimate son, and the heir to the iron throne. I know the burden that comes with these words, I have seen it crush a man who I thought to be a friend. Whilst in King's landing I have discovered that Robert has left no true heirs and if his brothers do not survive the wars to come, then the throne belongs to you. There will come a day when it is not easy Jon, not easy at all and you will have to choose between what is right for the country and what your heart desires. I hope you make the right decision and I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me for lying all these years to you. You are a strong man, and a good leader, and I know that you will make a good King.

We will never see each other again, for I am sure that they will kill me before I get to see you, so I must tell you this. You have family across the narrow sea. The daughter of the mad King is married to a Dothraki war lord and there will come a day when she will cross the narrow sea. You must make allegiance with her, no one knows of your parentage but she may be able to help you win the throne. You will need to fight, as well as I know you can.

I am sorry Jon that I could not tell you this face to face, and I hope you find happiness in your rule.

I have loved you since the day you were born, and I hope that after all of this you can still call me your father.

Remember, Winter is coming

Ned

The tears streamed down Jon's face uncontrollably. His hands shook, Ned had always been his father and even though he knew who he was, it was still a heavy blow to see it written in his own hand. A small hand clenched around his own and he looked up to see Daenarys' fiery stare boring into his soul.

"We are going to avenge him, we are going to avenge all of your family and mine and then we shall rule."

Jon gulped down the tears, regaining his composure. "And then we shall rule".