(Many years earlier, 277AC, year of the Defiance of Duskendale.)
The Small Council meeting had concluded, yet Barristan Selmy remained perfectly still as others left the room. Tywin remained at the head of the table, appearing to read over paperwork. Grand Maester Pycelle and Varys the Spider were the last to leave, the Grand Maester seemed hesitant to leave, yet Varys urged him forward.
"Come along, my friend, it seems they wish to speak in private." Varys' voice was soft as silk, but his eyes clearly showed that he wanted to be anywhere but in the Small Council Chambers right now.
"You are not my friend."Pycelle snapped back at Varys, yet he permitted the younger man to urge him from the room, the door clanging loudly behind them.
Once they were gone Tywin slowly put down the page he was reading and turned his attention to the lingering Kingsguard. "You are not a member of this council, Ser Barristan, and I respect that you have kept your lips sealed during this meeting. However, the fact that you have lingered instead of leaving with Ser Gerold, whom does have a voice here, indicates that you have something to say to me." Tywin gestured towards an empty chair. "Sit."
"I would rather stand." Barristan replied.
Tywin shrugged. "Stand then, say your piece, but choose your words shrewdly."
Barristan nodded. "Has word been sent to Lord Steffon Baratheon?" He asked, keeping his voice as neutral as possible.
Tywin put down the page he was reading and carefully arranged the stack of papers in front of him. He took a slow sip of his wine and gestured to the chair beside him again. "Sit." It was an order this time, and Barristan saw no choice but to comply. Tywin held his gaze for a long while before speaking again. "Steffon is in Essos, trying, and failing, to find a bride for young Rhaegar. He is too far away and we have no friends there." His expression darkened. "Aerys made his bed, I warned him not to go, warned him it was a trap, but would he listen? No."
Barristen forced himself to his feet quickly, sending the chair crashing to the floor as a result, and slammed a fist down onto the table in anger. "He is our King!"
Tywin didn't even flinch. "I am well aware of whom his is." He replied coldly, the Hand of the King emblem shone brightly on his shirt as if just polished. "I have a far better idea of who his is than you do, let me assure you of that. I am also well aware of my responsibilities. Why do you think I have spent the last moon negotiating for his release?"
Barristan snarled at him. "They are never going to release him!"
"I am well aware of that also." The Hand answered with the same coldness. "That is why we are going to siege Duskendale and make an example of them… nobody will dare repeat their actions once I am finished."
Barristan looked at Tywin in horror. "They'll kill him!"
Tywin nodded. "That is very likely, but they will gain nothing but their destruction from it. Young Rhaegar is safe at Dragonstone, and will soon be of an age to rule."
"Prince Rhaegar is a boy! And you are all but holding him hostage at Dragonstone!" Barristan roared, boldly taking a step towards Tywin.
"It is for his own protection, Rhaegar accepts this and trusts my judgement in this matter."
Barristan was enraged, his King, whom he had sworn to protect, rotted in a cell whilst Tywin sat at fine tables, enjoying fine food and fine wine, he could no longer tolerate it. "Gods, you want Aerys to die! You want him to die so you can rule in Prince Rhaegar's name, then marry him to your daughter-"
Twyin's face reddened in rage, the golden lion pushing himself to his feet, mere inches were between their faces now. "Be careful what you accuse me of, Ser Barristan, of the very minor House Selmy. I am not surprised that your education was lacking in such matters, too busy playing a mystery knight at tournaments, I'm sure. I am not accustomed to being expected to explain my actions… yet, I will indulge your ignorance on this matter. In the course of my negotiations I have discovered many of House Duskendale's weaknesses, also, they have been as if under siege, without us doing any actual sieging, do you know how much money, and how many lives, that has saved?! I did not get where I am by wasting resources."
Barristan could not help but take a couple of steps backwards, in one on one combat he could have bested Tywin easily, but at what cost? He needed to calm down, Tywin wasn't the enemy. But he didn't appear to be helping, either. "I can get him out. Just me, give me a week…"
"I will give you one day." Tywin replied.
Barristan nodded, a day, that would be hard, but he could do it. "Three would be better." He said quietly.
"One day." Tywin replied. "And Ser Barristan, never accuse me of treason again, or they will be the last words you speak."
~~/~~
(Present day.)
"Tywin's not going to like being told that two of his children, and the grandchild he planned to put on the throne, have been executed as traitors." Barristan muttered as they made their way to Lord Stark's solar.
King Robert scowled. "I really don't give a shit."
"It will be war." Ser Jonothor noted quietly.
King Robert gave a slow smile. "I'm good at war," He replied. "And with Ned Stark at my side I can't lose."
Barristan turned to his head in shocked surprise. "You can't ask him to come now, what with his son on the edge of death."
Robert stopped walking and turned to face him, the King towering over him. "I am the King, and I am no longer asking." He said slowly. "The realm needs him, what good can he do sitting at his son's bedside like an old woman? Besides, he has other sons. If Tywin tries to rise up we will smash him down, just like we did Balon, just like we did Rhaegar."
Barristan flinched at that, but the action only made King Robert smile. "Didn't like that comment, did you? I never asked, why weren't you at the Trident? I had looked forward to meeting you on the field."
Barristan shared a look with Jonothor. "We were coming," he replied quietly, "With a host of over ten thousand men, but our orders were changed, we were sent to scour the Riverlands for the remains of Jon Connington's scattered men instead."
"A fool's mission." The King declared with surprise.
"Yes, but those were our orders… I still carry the missive to this day." Ser Barristan said quietly, patting a small velvet pouch on his side.
~~/~~
Ser Barristan looked at the two notes on the table, one was almost two decades old, the other received today… but the handwriting matched, the wording even matched. If you changed the names Sansa to Lyanna and Viserys to Rhaegar the first half of the notes were near identical… and the hand writing was familiar, very familiar. His hand brushed the pouch at his side.
"So, we are being manipulated, but by whom, and to what purpose?" Ned Stark said with a calm that belied the angry tension of his shoulders.
Barristan cleared his throat. "I may not have the answer to that, but I may have another piece to the puzzle." He carefully pulled the velvet pouch off of his belt and pulled out the warn parchment, handing it to Ned. "This is why we didn't meet at the Trident… either we have an enemy, that had access to King Aery's seal, or House Stark has a powerful friend at court that it is not aware of."
"Doesn't change anything." King Robert declared. "Sansa was still taken by force, just like Lyanna was."
"Was she?" The young Stark, the one that was the King's namesake, asked as he met the Kings gaze. "We don't know she was taken by force. A silver-haired prince promising her a crown could be very enticing…"
Robert laughed abruptly. "Right? You really think your aunt wanted to go with him?!"
"Why not?" Robb asked quietly, but there was something dangerous in his eyes, like a direwolf getting ready to pounce. "Aunt Lyanna wasn't taken by force."
"Robb!" Ned yelled. "What the hells!"
"He deserves to know the truth." Robb replied, his words were calm, but there was anger in his shoulders, he turned his attention back to the King. "Aunt Lyanna was dying, not dead, when father found her. She told him the truth… She loved Rhaegar, she ran away with him, and he loved her enough to annul his marriage with Elia and disinherit his children. They were married in secret."
The entire room went silent, all eyes on the young Stark, slowly King Robert turned to Ned. "Ned… is this true?"
Ned looked down, sorrow and pain loud on his face. "I… what good would it have done to tell you?" Ned asked. "The information came too late… everything that we had done, all the people we had killed… why bring you more pain?" A tear rolled down his cheek, then another. "Why sully her memory? She was in a fever, dying… who can say the truth of her words? Maybe that's how it happened? Or maybe that was what she needed to tell herself? I don't know. All I know is I waged a war to save my sister… and I failed."
Robert found the closest chair and sat down heavily on it, putting his head in his hands. "Gods…" He muttered. The room was too quiet, Barristan was nervous as to how Robert would react to this news, but his head was also spinning, he had hoped for so long… he had wanted to believe that Rhaegar hadn't taken Lyanna by force, but to have it confirmed… and by a Stark no less…
Slowly Robert rose from his chair and walked towards Ned. "So, that's why you've been hiding yourself up here all these years? Still trying to protect me, little brother?" He pulled Ned into an embrace. "They say sometimes when somebody is held prisoner long enough they develop an affection for their captor as a way of surviving… Lyanna was a survivor."
As Robert pulled back from the embrace Ned nodded, yet Barristan had seen the man's face when Robert had said the words, Ned Stark believed that his sister had gone willingly with Rhaegar, and for Barristan that was enough. They started to make plans, Robert still wanted to send a host to get Sansa back by force, but the two Dothraki women explained why that would not work. They explained the vastness of the Dothraki Sea, and the sheer number of Khal's and Khalasars that would oppose them simply for being there, the Red Waste to the South, the Shivering Sea to the North and the Bone Mountains to the East.
"Our only hope of finding Lady Sansa is to join with a caravan of traders and get to Vaes Dothrak, your best bet is to go to Braavos and try and join a trade caravan there, if you are lucky you might be able to join a group sailing to New Ibbish then join a caravan going by river to the womb of the world to trade whale bone, oil, and exotic pelts, if you get good weather this could save you a few moons." Jeshi Cassel advised. "Khal Drogo is well known, if they are not at Vaes Dothrak Zhowi will be able to find word of where they have gone… but from there it will get more difficult. I would go as well… but I am known to the Dosh Khaleen, it would be my death for me to ever enter the shadow of Mother Mountain again."
"Why?" Robert asked.
Jeshi gave him a sad smile. "Because I was a princess once, and then I was a slave, Dothraki value only strength, and I have been defeated."
After more discussion it was agreed that a small party would go. Ned wanted Howland Reed to be part of the group, believing that the Crannogman's skills, both as a fighter, and as a scout, would be greatly useful. Howland was also greatly skilled at finding water, something which had saved Ned's life more than once. Jory Cassel, who had some knowledge of Essos, insisted on going, the Dothraki woman, Zhowi, had already volunteered… that made three. Young Robb wanted to go, as did Theon, but Lord Stark denied both requests… They broke for supper, a less formal affair given the day's events. Lady Yaya and her children were already seated when they arrived, there was no sign of Jon Snow or Lady Arya, yet Arya's hand maidens were sitting with Lady Yaya and her children.
Some time during the meal King Robert stood up. "I have an announcement to make." He said loudly, the Hall feel silent. "Ned, stand up." The King muttered, and Ned obeyed. "Now, you all know that I have asked Ned to come to King's Landing and be my Hand, and you all know that Ned, being a modest man, has been hesitant. Given what has happened today it is clear to me that I have made a mistake in asking. Ned, I need you, I am ordering you to come to King's Landing and serve as my Hand."
Ned looked at the King in open mouthed shock. "Your Grace… I… I am honoured… but…"
"Oh, cut the shit, Ned. Sitting beside Bran's bed like an old woman isn't going to change anything. Either the boy will wake up, or he won't. You have two weeks to get your House in order, then we are leaving, and Arya and her hand maidens are coming too."
Ned swallowed thickly. "Yes, your grace." He replied, his grey eyes having grown suddenly cold.
They stayed in the Great Hall for maybe another twenty minutes, then returned to Ned's Solar, Ned wasn't happy about being forced into the role of Hand and they were still debating the matter when Jon Snow knocked at the door. Jon looked determined and he didn't mince words with pleasantries. Ned denied his request at first, but Jon did not back down. Something moved Barristan to back the lad… it was the same something that had been niggling at him since their arrival at Winterfell. There was just something so familiar about Jon, but Barristan couldn't place what.
An hour later they were riding south, four men, a Dothraki woman, and a white direwolf, Zhowi believed that the direwolf would help get them onto a trading caravan. They rode hard and made good speed, within three days they caught up with Ser Beric, Ned Dayne, Myrcella and Tommen. Both of Cersei's remaining children were nervous of Jon, and why wouldn't they be, yet he was kind to them and demanded to know the knight's plans for them.
"The King simply ordered me to get them out of his sight." Ser Beric said carefully. "I told him that I would take them further south and leave them at some orphanage."
Jon looked horrified. "You can't do that to them." He declared. "Their parentage, and their parent's actions, are not their fault, they are innocents!"
"Yes." Beric agreed, he paused and seemed to study Jon for a minute, as if evaluating him. "I have no intention of dumping them anywhere, I will find good homes for them."
Jon nodded. "The less people that know where they are the safer they are, travel with us to Moat Cailin, I'll convince the Crannogmen to travel you along the wetroads, but you will have to lose the horses, they will bring you out in a quiet part of the Riverlands… where you go from there is up to you."
Beric bowed deeply to Jon. "Lord Snow," he said with a smile. "We will travel with you to Moat Cailin, and consider our options there."
"Thank you, Ser Dondarrion." Jon replied.
Beric's smile grew. "You may not be a Stark in name, but you are a Stark, Jon Snow."
Jon shook his head. "No, Stark blood flows in my veins, but I am not a Stark… no matter how much I wish it." He replied with a sadness that could have rivalled Prince Rhaegar on one of his darker days. "Yet I appreciate the intent of your words."
Jonothor cleared his throat. "Lord Snow, I know that King Robert has promised me to travel to Essos and help retrieve Lady Sansa… but perhaps the gods have put us here for a reason. I ask permission to help Ser Beric protect these two innocent children."
Jon frowned. "You have sworn no oaths to me, do as your honour demands."
Barristan shook his head. "Ser Jonothor? The King has ordered-"
Jonothor gave Jon a strange look then returned his attention to Barristan. "Might I speak with you in private?"
Jon looked from one man to the other. "We will ride ahead." He said quietly. "I force none to ride with me, when you have finished speaking either catch up, or go where your honour demands."
Barristan watched as they rode off then turned his attention to his life-long friend. "Jonothor, what nonsense is this?" He asked.
"Lord Jon Snow." Jonothor said slowly. "Fells like a lie, doesn't it? He is not a Stark, but I believe he is not a Snow either… doesn't he remind you of someone?"
"I… yes… but I cannot place it." Barristan replied.
Jonothor placed a hand on Barristan's shoulder. "Protect Jon… let me serve our oath by protecting these innocents in Jon's name… Ned Stark is not his Father… nor is he a bastard… he is the true King, Rhaegar's son… help him save his cousin… help him save his Uncle and Aunt… if the day comes that he chooses to contest Robert's rule we must be in positions to aid him, Myrcella and Tommen's safety may be his keys to the Westerly Lands."
Barristan looked along the road, yet Jon had ridden too far ahead to be seen. Gods! It all made sense, the conversation with Howland Reed, the way Jon was treated as an equal, Ned's reluctance to go south… "Do you think the Northern lords know?" He asked.
"Howland Reed does, and perhaps House Manderly, at the very least Lord Stark is doing everything possible to make them respect Jon and consider him one of their own."
"And what of you, Jonothor, if we return from Essos and you are not with us…"
"Then I did not return." Jonothor replied quietly.
Barristan nodded, they mounted their horses and began to gallop to catch up with the rest of the group, each lost in their own thoughts… gods have mercy, he had served the wrong man for so long! Gerold Hightower would have been so disappointed in him for not asking the right questions.
~~/~~