Prince Duncan the Small

The ice was beginning to thaw on the Blackwater, four years after it had settled, that was the news Duncan had heard amongst the court and the traders he dealt with for his father. If the ice thawed that would be good for trade, as it would mean that they would no longer need to send ships brining valuable goods to Maidenpool, and instead could host them in King's Landing, and revive the city's shifting economy. On the other hand it was bad, for it meant that father could finally wage his war. Since he'd been old enough to attend council meetings, Duncan had seen how his father's desire to reconquer the north had become more than just a desire, it had become a near obsession, and though Duncan himself agreed that the north needed to be shown what was what, and that they were responsible for the countless deaths and destruction that had ravaged Westeros, he did not think the way his father was going about it was correct.

His father had attempted to build alliances in order to strengthen their family's position and hold on the Iron Throne, Rhaelle had been betrothed and had later married Lord Edric Baratheon and had since borne him three children, two sons Steffon and Orys and a daughter Argella. The Baratheons were once more firm allies of the throne, Duncan's brothers had had betrothal options discussed for them, and Duncan knew that Jaehaerys had been betrothed to a girl from Casterly Rock, but that had fallen through when Jaehaerys had instead asked for the hand of Alysanne Osgrey, father had not been happy about that, but had not been able to refuse after all he had wed for love as well. Duncan's youngest brother Aelix had wed a girl from House Charlton, and as such his marriage had not caused as much a controversy, but there was still some resentment amongst those nobles at court who had thought to perhaps wed into the royal family.

That had left Duncan, who had had various offers given to him, he could have wed a Tyrell, an Arryn any of them could have been his bride, his father had given him the chance to meet with each other suggested women, and though he had found them all nice girls, there had been something lacking from his interactions with them. There had been no spark, no connection, no like the ones he had seen between his siblings and their spouses and between his parents. He had brought this up with his father, and his father had merely laughed and said that such a thing took time to work on, and that he need not base his decision simply on that, and yet Duncan could not get past that. In the end the Tyrell girl had died from a fever, the Arryn girl was betrothed to someone called Denys Arryn and the other girl whose name he could never remember was wed of to someone else.

His father had not been best pleased, those marriages could have provided him with useful allies and yet Duncan did not truly care, he wanted love and happiness from his marriage not just duty. And so he had remained a bachelor, exploring the kingdoms he would one day rule and helping his father in council, the lords he stayed with were more than happy to host him, no doubt hoping that he would take a fancy to one of their daughters or sisters, Lord Lannister had in particular seemed rather keen on the idea, as had that old weasel Walder Frey. But Duncan had not found what he was looking for in any of the highborn establishments he went, none of the lords' daughters appealed to him and instead he found what he was searching for in the arms and the eyes of a common born girl Jenny of Oldstones she was called, and from the moment he had set eyes on her he had been captivated and in love with her.

Jenny was a tall girl, with long brown hair and dark green eyes, she had no mother and only a brother to look after her, and yet she was strong and brave. She was smart as well, and Duncan had spent a many day speaking with her about Westeros and the things that the smallfolk had to go through whilst the highborn played their game of thrones. She had refused all his natural advances, the things that had worked on all the other girls he had been with, and instead it had taken time but eventually she had been worn down by him and so his courtship with her had properly began and soon enough he had asked for hand in marriage. Despite his father's disappointment, King Aegon consented and so Duncan had wed Jenny a year ago, and though there had been murmuring amongst the lords of court and the kingdoms none had said anything, and though Duncan had thought of giving up his crown and his claim to the throne, his father had refused to allow such a thing, and Jaehaerys himself had also not wanted the burden of being heir frail as his health was, and so Duncan remained the heir, for now.

Duncan knew that his wife had been over awed when she had come to court, how could she not be, a simple girl from the villages in the Riverlands and suddenly there she was princess of Dragonstone and with all the glitz and glammer of the court, it was no surprise that she had been overwhelmed by it all. Duncan had taken her away from court for a while and had gone travelling around the crownlands and Stormlands, exploring the kingdoms and places of his youth especially Summerhall, where Aelix lived now. The people loved her, Jenny was a gracious lady using her charm to win the people over where her lack of courtly manners showed, and as such none had said a bad word about her, though Duncan knew there were still murmurings about it all.

This was why he suspected his father had asked for him to come and see him in his solar, King Aegon very rarely asked his children to come and see him here unless they had done something bad or he had a very important thing to tell them. As such Duncan could fell his heart hammering in his chest, he took a deep breath and then knocked once his father called for him to enter, he opened the door, and found his father sat in a chair by the fireplace, his hands steepled together and Ser Duncan the Tall, sitting in a chair next to him. "Ah Duncan, come sit down." Duncan sat down in the chair opposite his father. The king's hair was turning grey, his face was lined and his expression was solemn. Still his voice was commanding when he spoke. "You must be wondering why I have asked you here." Duncan nodded, his father spoke once more. "Ser Edrick has reported that there are murmurings of a plot afoot within the Riverlands to have your wife and her wood's witch killed, when the venture to Oldstones soon."

Duncan felt a jolt of fear run through him. "How and why would they do this father? None seemed to mind Jenny when they met her? Lords Tully, Bracken, Goodbrook and Mooton all were very receptive of her and they were the ones most angered by our marriage."

His father sighed then. "Aye lords Tully and Bracken did not mind you visiting them with Jenny, but of course they would not mind, the girl is from the Riverlands and they feel she will be easily manipulated once you come to the throne. Goodbrook and Mooton are always loyal to us and shall always be. No the matter persists with Walder Frey and his brood of weasel haired bastards. The man has always been a close friend of Daeron Stark, and as such wishes to have your wife kidnapped and taken north to use as leverage against us, and to force the throne to call its men together and attack the north."

"But why father? I do not understand, what does Frey have to gain from doing that?" Duncan asked confused.

His father sighed once more and said simply. "He gains leverage over us, and he gains respect from the Blackfyre supporters south of the neck. They all believe that Frey was a coward for not siding with the Blackfyres and the traitor stark during earlier wars, and since Stark seems to scared and cowardly to finish what he has started now, Frey means to help him finish it. Ser Edrick reports that this was a plan that received Lucerys Blackfyre's seal of approval as well."

"Should I tell Jenny not go then father? I know she might be disappointed but I'm sure if I explained why she could not go she would understand." Duncan asked.

His father nodded. "Aye, tell her that she cannot go but do not tell her why. I know your wife tells her brother everything but I do not think that this is one thing that needs to be said to him. He may leave for Oldstones if he wishes, but your wife shall remain here."

"Why should Jenny's brother not be told father? You can't think he's a spy surely not? He's never been anywhere apart from Oldstones and King's Landing." Duncan said amazed.

"If that's what your wife has told you about your goodbrother, then she was lying to you. Godfrey has been to the Twins, in fact whilst your wife and he were growing up he spent some time serving as stable hand, and even managed to serve as a squire for one of the old weasel's bastard sons." His father replied.

"And you think he might be spying on us for lord Walder? But if he is why would he put his sister's life in danger? He loves her dearly, why not simply try and get me to come with them and then have me captured?" Duncan asked.

"Because he was instructed to take only his sister with him. You would be too much baggage to have them sneak away to the north. Besides doing something like that would break the peace agreement whilst taking Jenny would not. After all, most of the court now knows you are hovering between being excluded from the succession and remaining in place." His father replied.

Duncan felt the familiar pang of shame at his father's words, he pushed that aside though and asked. "Well now that you have told me that, may I be excused or is there something more you wish to tell me father?"

"There is actually." His father said. "We have had word from our spies in the north, tension between the two Starks is reaching boiling point and Lucerys Blackfyre appears to be the cause of it all. I have a plan in operation further cause divide between the two of them that will weaken the north when we finally invade and take it back."

"And what does this plan include father?" Duncan asked.

His father shook his head then. "You do not need to know that, not yet atleast. But your role in what is to come is an important one. I had originally thought of having you lead our forces to attack the Moat, and break the neck, but instead Lord Mallister shall be given that task. You shall lead the crownlands host that leads the defence of Massey's Hook and Crackclaw Point. We have reason to believe that the golden company will invade from there, and as such we need to cut off Haegon Blackfyre from the north's forces."

"Will the north march south though father? I thought Daeron Stark was trying to improve his ways surely invading the south will not do that?" Duncan asked.

His father merely looked at him and said ominously. "Some habits die hard where family are concerned Duncan the sooner you learn that the better it will be for you."


Queen Dacey Stark

It was nice to be back in Winterfell, even if things were not completely how they used to be. There was a hole in her heart where Aegor and Brandon once had been, she would walk the halls during the day and hear laughter and expect to see her sons laughing and joking about something or the other, only to round the corner and find that there was no one there or that it was Daemon and Gyles. Winterfell was filled with ghosts for Dacey, and as such there was only one person she could truly blame for that, the man who had made it a ghost town in the first place Daeron Stark, her husband.

After Elaena Targaryen had died, something had changed within her husband; it was as if some sense of clarity had hit him as if he had finally stopped being a mad obsessive idiot that he had been when she had left Winterfell all those years ago. Something had broken within him and he had seen the error of his ways. At first Dacey had been very wary of her husband, painful as it was to admit it, he had not been himself in the years before Aegor's death, constantly plotting and brooding and never bothering to interact with their children or anyone for that matter who was not a Blackfyre. That had sickened her, and as such when her husband had started trying to make up for the wrongs he had done to her and their children she had ignored him, and she had not spoken to him.

Daeron had remained in White Harbour for about a week after Elaena Targaryen's death seeing to her burial, and the fact that he was paying more attention to her burial than he had done for their sons had angered beyond belief, so much so that when he had tried to speak to her during the funeral she had merely walked on and ignored him childish as it had been. Her husband had returned to Winterfell shortly after that and she had not heard from him again for another two years, when suddenly a raven arrived asking that Daemon and Gyles come to Winterfell. Dacey had been fearful of that, she had not known whether her husband was sane or not, she would not risk her grandchildren being exposed to such madness, and so instead she had written back saying that if her husband wanted to see his grandchildren he would have to come to the Wolf's Den. And surprisingly enough he had.

Her husband had been awkward around Daemon and Gyles to say the least, he did not seem to know how to speak with them, nor they him and so their first meeting was awkward and as such Dacey was not convinced that they should go to Winterfell. What had changed her mind was the time she herself had spent with her husband during his visit to the wolf's den, where he laughed and joked with her and her brother Donnel, and it seemed like the Daeron of her youth was back, the man she loved and married had returned. He no longer solely spoke about the Blackfyres and warring in the south, instead he spoke of the north and how he hoped to improve various things within it, and how he was so deeply sorry fr all the wrong he had done. There had been much crying during that conversation and after that Dacey was convinced her husband was sane and that her grandchildren would be safe with him and so they returned to Winterfell.

The first year there had been hard for Daemon she knew, whereas Gyles had always been confident and outgoing, Daemon had always been quite shy and withdrawn, preferring to spend time with his brother and cousins in the Wolf's Den or his direwolf, the black danger that was Mars. Daemon had never truly been good with people who were not family or close friends, and as such had struggled with the additional expectation placed on him as heir to the Winter Throne, and all the new people he was expected to meet and speak to. That had improved with time and her grandson was now a confident young man with a wife and child of his own. Gyles, the rogue that he was continued to break hearts across Winterfell with his dark hair and tanned skin he was every maiden's fantasy and he played that to his advantage, though he was unwaveringly loyal to his older brother, always there for Daemon when he needed something, some piece of information, the two made a formidable team.

There was just one problem though, the people of the north might love their King's grandchildren and might think them the gift of the gods, but Daeron himself actually had very little interaction with Daemon and Gyles, preferring instead to spend his time with his daughter Elaena and that brat Lucerys Blackfyre. And though Dacey could not fault him for spending time with Elaena, she could not understand why he would want to spend time with Lucerys Blackfyre, the man was a brat and needed to brought down several pegs, he was boastful of skills he did not have, and as such had that been one of their children Dacey knew her husband would have set him on the straight and narrow, and yet Lucerys go away with much. She had confronted him about it and he had said he knew not how to speak to their grandchildren and that it was easier to speak to Lucerys than with Daemon and Gyles. Dacey had laughed at that and told him that if he truly wanted to set things right he would need to speak with them, so far he had not done so.

That in itself had caused problems, Daeron might be more involved in ruling the north and might attend more council sessions than he had when Daemon had first started attending the council sessions and yet he still spoke not two words to his grandsons, and Dacey knew that it was starting to bother them, Daemon more so than Gyles. She would not have another Aegor in Winterfell, not after the grief and pain that had caused and so she had summoned both her husband and her grandson to her rooms this morning, and at present they were both staring at anywhere but each other. They looked so alike it was startling and both were so very stubborn. Eventually she sighed and said. "Well since neither of you will speak, I will. You are both here because this has gone on for long enough. Daemon I know you want to know why your grandfather seemingly ignores you, and Daeron you might say what you want but frankly this is pathetic. We have already seen the damage silence can do to our family, and I will not standby and have it happen again. The two of you will not leave this room until you have spoken."

"I have a kingdom to run Dacey; I cannot waste my time talking about something that does not need to be talked about." Her husband grumbled.

"Oh, because you truly have been ruling the north for the past sixteen years and it hasn't actually been Maester Aemon doing all the hard work whilst you build war machines for another bloody war to seat dragon scum on the southern throne." Daemon spat.

Her husband looked like he had been hit; Dacey spoke then before something else could be said. "Go on Daemon; explain what you mean by that."

Her grandson looked at her then, with a look that was so similar to Aegor that she nearly thought her adopted son was back from the dead. His voice was heavy when he spoke. "Well it's obvious isn't it? Grandfather claims to be a changed man, he attends council sessions aye, but the hard work has always fallen to myself and Maester Aemon to do. And he says he does not want to harm the north or the family anymore, or atleast that is what you tell me grandmother, and yet he spends more time with Lucerys Blackfyre the cunt that he is, rather than with either me and Gyles. He claims he wants to make up for the sins he committed against my father and yet he doesn't bother to get to know myself or my brother, and spends all of his time doting on that twat Lucerys. How am I supposed to feel knowing that I am unworthy of the Winter Dragon's approval or time when a man not even of the north gets all of his attention and love?"

Daemon's hands were shaking, and Daeron looked stricken, "Do you have anything to say to that Daeron?" she asked.

Her husband swallowed and then said. "I...I... I don't know what to say."

Daemon snorted. "Of course he doesn't. You don't even know who I am do you grandfather? Oh sure you asked me here because I am your heir, but that's only because you sent my father to die in some shithole in the south, and then you didn't even mourn him. Or is it because I might actually have the balls to stand up to you, and the southerners that have been causing us hell for the pasty sixty years. The north has never done well in the south Grandfather, surely you must know that by now? And yet you continue to bleed our men in the south, if it wasn't for Maester Aemon we wouldn't even be alive right now. You spend time with Lucerys Blackfyre and treat him like he was your own grandson, your own family. He's not you know, I am, Gyles is. Not that man who thinks with his prick, and is a shame to everything the north stands for, and who insults the north with every breath he takes."

Dacey sees that Daemon is crying now, tears dropping down his cheeks, she has not seen her grandson cry since he was a boy. She takes his hand and squeezes, and then asks. "Is there anything you have to say to that Daeron?" she deeply hopes there is, otherwise she fears that there might be another split in the Stark family, and this time the north won't recover from it.

Thankfully after a long silence, her husband swallows and then says. "I...I... never meant to cause so much hurt, and I am sorry that I have done so Daemon. Truly I am, I never meant to make you think that I didn't care for you, or that I didn't love you. It's just that, I was not myself for so long that I don't know how to connect with you and Gyles, I'm not sure what to do to make myself more aware of what it is that you and your brother do and aspire to. I've never been very good with interacting with people who were not either family or close friends and after everything that happened to our family and my friends because of what I've done, I'm not sure exactly how to connect to someone without hurting them. I never gave your father or mother the respect they deserved and treated them as pawns in the larger game I was playing, and it was stupid and it meant that my son, your father died and that there was a hole in my heart, and after all that, I never thought I was worthy of knowing you or interacting with you or your brother, after the disregard I showed your parents. I didn't think I deserved a place in your lives after the way I callously discarded your father's. I am sorry if you thought that my spending time with Lucerys was because I didn't care for you, I never meant for that. And I am so very sorry that it has hurt you and made you think I don't love you, I do Daemon, and truly I do. And if I can make it up to you in anyway, I would be more than happy to do so."

Her husband is crying as well now, and soon enough Daemon and Daeron are hugging and sobbing, muttering words that Dacey can't hear but hoping that they will heal the rift that was there. They break apart at the sound of a door knocking, Dacey calls for whoever it is to come in and is surprise to see Asphell Wull standing in the doorway looking ashen faced and sorrowful. "Your Graces, forgive me, but you must come quickly, something has happened to the Princess and her daughter."