Disclaimer: I don't own ASoIaF/GoT.

AN: Bad news guys. I have some writer's block with this story. I know how I want it to end, but I've hit a wall in figuring out how to get it there, and I've started this new tv show that is further distracting me. I AM NOT abandoning this story, but I may take a break, or at least update less frequently, while I try and write it properly.

Sorry.

Enjoy, read, and review!

Chapter Twenty-Five

Eddard II

Winterfell: 2nd October, 298 AC

It was ridiculous to be nervous. He was Eddard Stark, the Magnar of the Winterlands, the Warden of the North (the Usurper had wanted to take the title from the Starks and give it to one of his sycophants, as he had taken away the Wardenship of the South from the Tyrells and given it to the Martells in their place, but his Falcon Hand had convinced him that doing so would be one insult too many for the loyalists-which was the complete truth, especially as Ned had yet to learn of the twins' survival at the time), and the Lord of Winterfell, head of the most ancient dynasty in the world. Even the Old Valyrian Freehold had been younger than his family line.

Regardless of whether or not he was in favour of the so-called 'King', Eddard Stark was one of the most powerful men in Westeros, given the treaty that had united the North and South of the Seven Kingdoms and gave considerable rights to the North. He always would be, no matter what happened. Even if all of the power at his fingertips, including the best army in the realm and an intelligence network better than Varys', had not been enough to protect his sisters and brothers during the War of the Usurper. He ought not to be nervous about the thought of meeting two children of four-and-ten, barely older than his own eldest son. Yes, they were his kin and this would be their first meeting, but he had not been nervous at the prospect of meeting Aly's children when they'd arrived, frightened and upset, about a fortnight prior.

It was different with Aly's children, though. Aly herself was alive and well, her children had been raised as sheltered summer children and he had communicated to them through letters, not to mention she had told them many stories of Ned and their other lost siblings. None of Aly's sons was the future King.

The twins had been raised by their paternal grandmother and her second husband whilst they were all on the run from the Usurper's assassins, and Aegon was not only his late sister's son, but also the King. They had never been able to risk any letters being exchanged directly, all of them going to contacts and allies in the Free Contacts. Was Ned to greet him as king or as kin? What of Dany? They were due to meet within the next turn of the moon, and Ned was anxious to make a good impression. Not only was Aegon his liege lord, but, more importantly perhaps, he was Ned's nephew and Dany his niece.

They were the only pieces left in the world of his sweet, lost sister who rode like the wind and had always gone to him for advice. He couldn't bear the thought of Aegon's eyes, inherited from Lyanna, looking at him with dislike or indifference.

"My love," Ashara slipped into the room with a letter in hand, interrupting his brooding thoughts. "A letter has come from your sister. 'tis marked with a paw in the left corner. Then there is another one from Cregard."

Ned frowned in worry as he rose to his feet, concerned as to what the letters might contain. Cregard had undoubtably sent a report on his mission, and it was important to read it soon. But Ned was more eager to read Aly's message first.

Hopefully, she had sent him an explanation as to what had happened to have her household all leaving King's Landing in such mysterious haste, as soon as the tide had turned favourable. His spies had told him of an argument between the Usurper and Martell, one that had apparently pushed the Viper over the edge of his tolerance for his former foster brother's antics, but none of them knew any of the details of the disagreement. All they knew was there had been one after the Lord of Dorne had gone to alert the Usurper as to what the escape of the Lioness Whore and her family, and that very afternoon the Martell household had all left the city, not even waiting for their things to be fully packed.

The news of the rift between the Usurper and his most-loyal supporter now that he had set Cersei aside and lost the West gave Ned hope that Dorne might keep out of the coming war. If Dorne stayed neutral, then the Butcher King only had the support of the Stormlands, and Stannis and his wife (who was very good at antagonizing people, being rather similar to a milder version of Cersei with, if possible, even less comprehension of the fact that actions have consequences) had managed to aggravate many of his vassals when he refused (on Lady Baratheon's insistence-she wanted, like her despicable, traitor of a father, to have her children all wed into the Great Houses) to betroth his children to any of their own. Several of the Stormlander Houses that had fought for the loyalists in the Usurper's War had been reached out to and either agreed to 'delay' their levies coming to their Lord Paramount's aid, or else to, in the case of the Penroses, who had intermarried with the Targaryens on several occasions, outright turn against the stags, preferably during a battle, catching the Baratheons off-guard.

Those thoughts running through his mind, Ned opened his sister's letter first, putting his spy's to the side to be opened afterwards.

The Starks had long used particular encryptions and symbols to keep their communications secret from outsiders and enemies. A wolf's pawprint in the top left corner signalled that the letter was urgent and had to be read immediately on being received. As he trusted his wife more than anybody else, and kept no secrets from her, Ned did not bother to send Ashara from the solar as he took the letter from her and slit it open with his heavy silver letter opener and pulled out a page from the envelope to read his sister's message. She had clearly written it in a hurry, from the hint of untidiness to her elegant calligraphy and the shortness of the letter. It was less than three paragraphs long, and frustratingly lacking in details to assuage his worry for her.

The Red Keep

King's Landing,

The Crownlands

17th September, 298 AC

To my dearest brother, Magnar Eddard of the Winterlands, Lord of Winterfell and Head of House Stark,

I fear that this message will be short, for we will be leaving the Keep within the next hour, thank the Gods for their mercy. I received a messenger this afternoon. I am now aware of what you have been keeping from me, and more besides. I cannot say that I am not upset, Neddy. I wish that I had known. But I know that you made the correct decision by not doing so. The risk to them was too great, and more important than soothing my grief.

My husband has resigned from his post as Hand of the King, and has ordered our household to prepare to go. Our servants are packing as I write, and we shall bring only what is needed. Everything else can be replaced. Oberyn and I have had a disagreement, the details of which I shall confer to you in person. I gave him an ultimatum, and he has made his decision.

We shall see each other soon, Brother.

All my love. Take care of the children. Remember our father's warning: when the cold winds blow and winter comes, the lone wolf dies but the pack survives.

Your loving and loyal sister,

Alysanne Martell of House Stark, Lady Paramount of Dorne and Magnara of the Winterlands.

Ned sighed and looked at Ashara. "What do you think, my beloved?" he asked her. "What is the guidance of my shining star?"

She pursed her lips in thought, one elegant brow furrowed slightly. Even almost two whole decades later, she was still as beautiful as the day they had first met, her figure unruined in spite of her childbirths and no strands of grey lacing her dark hair as it did his.

"I know not, my love," she admitted with a sigh. "We do not yet know what caused the argument between the Usurper and our goodbrother, nor do we know what Aly means by discovering 'more besides' the truth of Aegon and Dany's survival. We can do nothing but await her arrival."

Ned sighed and grimaced. He was a patient man, patient enough to spend nigh on sixteen years waiting for a chance to gain revenge for his murdered siblings, yet he had to admit the truth, even if it was only to himself and to his wife.

"I am tired of waiting. I am tired of waiting for the twins to be old enough for Aegon to claim the Iron Throne and tired of waiting for our family's chance for vengeance. Tired of waiting to ensure that our strength is the same as it was before the Usurper's War so that the kingdom will be safe, and that our House is secured through our children so that our line will not die with me or be submerged by the Martells through one of my sister's children.

I want to act Ashara. My siblings' spirits, those of Barbrey and my niece, they cannot rest until they are avenged. Until my blood-oath to destroy the Lannisters as they destroyed Lyanna and Benjen is fulfilled and Tywin Lannister's head, along with his brute enforcers, are all dead. Until Cersei pays for taking the crown that should have been my sister's."

Unlike many men, Ned was not foolish enough to dismiss Cersei as a threat or think she was a pawn of Tywin's solely because of her gender. In some ways, she was almost worse than Tywin, because he at least understood that actions had consequences, and there was only so far you could push the line before people snapped. Cersei did not seem to realize that her father was no god, and she was nothing without her surname. But she failed to understand that, and it would be her downfall one day. It had already cost her the title of Queen Consort to the Usurper.

It was lovely to think that she would go done in history as the incestuous whore of a traitor, and nothing more. Soon enough, she would be rotting, forgotten, at the bottom of the worst of the seven hells that the burners were all so fond of.

"I know, my love," Ashara murmured, moving closer to him and cupping his cheek with her delicate hand. "Fear not, Husband. Our nephew and niece and their family will reclaim their rightful place soon enough. What has Cregard written?"

Sighing, still frustrated with the lack of details written by his sister and the slowness of his family's vengeance, Ned turned his attention to the report sent by Cregard Greystark, a third cousin to the current head of the House and one of the leading members of the Winterlands' spy ring. The letter was in encrypted Old Tongue of course, and Ned was forced (as per usual) to take several minutes working to crack the code with Ashara's help.

20th September, 298 AC

To A Shoilse (Your Grace in Irish-using it as the address for the Starks in this to show they're above lords and ladies), Eddard Stark, Magnar of the Winterlands, Warden of the North, Lord of Winterfell and Head of the Most Ancient and Most Honourable House Stark, greetings.

As requested, I have successfully arranged for the Lannisters to escape, inserting several new Eyes within their group to monitor their activities. The lions are unaware of our involvement in the matter. They believe, in their arrogance, that it was their own skills (little though they have of it, for Tywin's mind, while still strong, is not as good as it used to be. His age is beginning to catch up with him, along with certain mixtures that he has been taking. The maester was very agreeable towards slipping him some of the potion once I had given him the gold. It seems that fear does not equal loyalty when coin is involved.)

Returning to the topic of the Butcher's actions, even before the trial by combat, the Bloody Lion had sent men after his grandsons, and they managed to successfully gain custody of the two of them, killing their guards and the other members of their escorts. As per usual, the Westermen were brutes, and the Crownlanders were useless.

The Butcher has also sent a letter to each of his bannermen, with instructions that clearly show his intentions. He has ordered the entrances to the Westerlands be sealed off. The navy is being prepared and his vassals have been ordered to gather their levies, all of them. Those are all of the openly known and official orders he has sent out to his people. I do not have to inform you that it is clear that he is preparing for war against the Usurper. Just as you had wished for, my liege.

Ned pursed his lips in thought as he considered the paragraph. Ashara sat in his lap, anchoring herself in place with her arm. It was a very inappropriate position, but a comfortable and intimate one. The news was pleasing so far. Ned deeply regretted that the lion was living longer instead of being executed by his own goodson, but the poison would kill him slowly, and painfully instead.

In the meantime, the Usurper and the Lion, the two biggest obstacles to Aegon ascending to his rightful position, would be too occupied with one another to notice the return of the true king until too late. And this particular potion caused not only the body, but the mind, to decay. The mind that the Lannisters were so proud of would crumble into insanity, no doubt a fate worse than death for Tywin.

And then he would die as well. The mental image of Tywin's corpse caused Ned's lips to turn upward slightly at the corners.

Unofficially, he is making preparations to have Joffrey declared as the new king. Preparations for a coronation at Casterly Rock are being made. In addition, he has sent envoys to both the Reach and the Vale, seeking aid and support.

In regards to the state of the Vale: Lord Hoster Tully has a damaged relationship with Lady Arryn (who has just announced that she is soon to be Lady Baelish). Her betrothed, Petyr Baelish, also (and possibly more commonly) known as Littlefinger is in the employ of whomever will pay him the most. For a long time, that was the Lannister family, but now it is not so cut and dry. As such, I cannot say which path they will decide to go down. Especially with so many Lords of the Vale backing Artys Arryn for Lord Protector, making Lady Arryn's situation more and more precarious with every erratic decision. She has an only slightly better relationship between herself and her sister, the Lady Catelyn Baratheon, which further decreases the chance of her agreeing to send the Knights of the Vale to help the stags.

However, in the event that Ser Artys takes over as Lord of the Vale, then it will be likely that they will side with the stag, for the relationship between the Usurper and the Arryns. After all, the Usurper was raised by the late Lord Jon, and grew up a close friend to Lords Elbert and Denys.

In a related side note that may be of help, one of our Vale informants has informed us that they have finished gathering the necessary evidence to prove that Lysa Arryn committed adultery with Lord Baelish, and that, upon her husband coming across her in the midst of her infidelity, Baelish pushed him out of the Moon Doors. We can release said information to the right people the instant you give the order. With the chaos of the revelation, hints that cause doubt on Lord Robert's paternity, etcetera any ability to send aid to the stags (or whomever they decide to side with) will be difficult, to say the least.

The stag, meanwhile, is having a fit about Lord Martell's supposed abandonment of him in his so-called time of need. He (with great reluctance) has named Lord Stannis as the Acting Hand of the King, though he continues insisting that Lord Martell will return. Lord Stannis has reached out to the Reach also. Lord Stannis seeks the hand of Lady Margaery in marriage for the Usurper, whilst Lord Tywin desires she wed his grandson. (That the Old Lion believes there to be the slightest chance of such a proposal succeeding proves that the potion is working.)

Olenna is playing the game, but her loyalty and that of the Reach remains with King Aegon.

I will send another update when I can.

Your faithful servant,

Cregard of House Greystark