Chapter 4: Aftermath
Within two days of sending the raven, Lord Ulrick Dayne reached Blackmont. The Lord of the North met him in the solar of the aging Lord Blackmont. As soon as he walked in, Howland Reed placed a plate of bread and salt in front of him. The message was clear, whatever was going to be said would not be pleasant. Lord Dayne took a piece of bread, rubbed it in salt and ate it. Most houses would have offered wine or ale to wash it down. The lack of any such courtesy made the Lord of Starfall question what offense House Dayne had committed to deserve such animosity
"Lord Dayne.", Ned nodded respectfully.
"Where is Arthur?", Lord Dayne asked.
"Dead. Along with Ser Oswell Whent and Ser Gerold Hightower.", Ned replied.
"Have you called me here to collect his bones and Dawn, Lord Stark?" asked the now grieving Lord Dayne.
"No. His bones lie where he fell and shall be claimed by the sands. If you wish to collect his bones, I shall not stop you. As for Dawn, I slew the Sword of the Morning in single combat and hereby claim Dawn as property of House Stark. I asked you here so may have his armor to honor him in death.", the Lord of Winterfell stated dispassionately.
"Dawn has been the property of House Dayne since the Age of Heroes! It must return to Starfall until another Sword of the Morning may be chosen", Lord Dayne yelled in outrage.
"The legacy of the Sword of the Morning died when he stood by as the Dragon Prince raped my sister. Not only that but he kept my sister from me in her dying moments in order to keep his oaths to a dead rapist Prince! You dare talk about the Age of Heroes and expect this be allowed to go unpunished!?", Ned roared back at Ulrick Dayne.
Lord Dayne deflated at that and pleaded, "Please Ned. I-"
"No. You cannot say anything that will make me change my mind. And I am Lord Stark to you Lord Dayne. Should you feel Dawn still belongs at Starfall, you are free to plead your case to the King Robert Baratheon." Ned said with a tone of finality.
"What about Ashara and your daughter?" Ulrick asked desperately. The question caught Ned off guard.
"My daughter?", he asked confused before angrily asking, "Why did you not bring them here?"
Lord Dayne faltered at that, "Well because, -"
"Spit it out man! Do not test my patience!", Ned said angrily slamming his hand on the table.
"Your daughter was stillborn. Ashara barely survived.", Ulrick spat out in a hurry.
Ned froze at that. The shocks had kept on coming one after the other. He felt all his anger drain out of him. "Have my daughter's body sent to Winterfell. She will be put to rest with her ancestors." he said firmly.
"What about-", Lord Dayne began but Ned interrupted him saying, "I'm already married Lord Dayne. Duty is the death of love and I have more duties than most."
Lord Dayne continued to fight and argue for the return of Dawn but Ned would not relent. Finally, after a full day of negotiations, Lord Dayne accepted defeat. His brother's actions were indefensible and his ploy at using his sister to plead his case had also failed. Dawn would go to Winterfell with Ned Stark, but he vowed to do everything in his power to make sure Dawn returned to Starfall where it belonged. The very next day however, that resolve was broken as Ashara Dayne chose to embrace the Stranger than live in a world without her daughter or the man she loved. Lord Ulrick Dayne would grow to hate Ser Arthur Dayne in the coming days as he blamed him for the suffering Ulrick now had to endure alone as he raised their baby sister.
The Northmen rode to Oldtown so they could board a ship to Kings Landing. Mark Ryswell and Theo Wull were still recovering from their injuries at Oldtown under the care of numerous Maesters available there. One night, when most of the Northmen had drunk their fill and passed out, Ned sat in a Tavern nursing his last drink before bed. He overheard a few acolytes drowning their sorrows and called them over.
"What ails you learned men?", Ned slurred.
"Well, our blood for once", said the first Acolyte.
"Name's Ned. What do you mean?", Ned said as he pulled his chair to them.
"I'm Jamie, he's Mark. We're acolytes of Maester Ryam. We're bastards born here of whores. It was most likely a Maester who fucked us into our mothers. The grey rats are not as chaste as they would have the Realm believe Ned. Oldtown Maesters are perhaps the worst of all. And yet, they would deny our minds of merit because we're bastards.", Jamie said.
"What have your 'minds of merit' come up with good Sers?", Ned asked with good humor.
"We proved that if one was to plant certain plants in rows next to each other, it could increase a farm's output threefold." , Mark said.
Ned's mind immediately sobered up at that. A threefold increase of output on every farm would mean every mouth in the north could be fed in winter. "What would it take for you to go to the North and teach people there?", he asked seriously.
Both men looked at each other and came to an agreement. "Room and board for both of us and 20 stags a month each.", Mark said.
"A dragon each and you will have a permanent room in Wintertown for you and your mothers should they be willing. Come find me tomorrow morning", Ned said with a tone of finality.
The next morning, Ned asked Jamie and Mark to take care of Mark Ryswell till his health recovered. Ned also instructed Mark Ryswell to be on the lookout for more people like Jamie and Mark Flowers who may be of use to the North. The other Northern Lords were astounded at the discovery of the two bastards and offered invites to their holdfasts as well.
The Northern Lords returned to Kings Landing and found Robert drinking and whoring as usual. Jon Arryn had been named Hand of the King and been left to put the realm together again. As soon as Robert found out Lyanna had died, he raged against all objects that bore a Targaryen sigil in the Red Keep. By the end of his rage storm, he sat on the Iron Throne and wept as he hunched over his Warhammer. That day, two friends spent the day wallowing in their grief together as they drank their sorrows away.
"So now you'll marry Cersei Lannister. Jon Arryn as Hand of the King. Your brother as Master of Ships. Hoster Tully gains two Lords Paramount as his good sons. But the North? It gets fucked after losing its Lord Paramount and eldest two children." Ned said morosely as he was drunk, "Westerlands, a Queen, The Vale, a Hand, Stormlands a King and Riverlands two grooms, but fuck the North"
"I'm the fucking King Ned! What do you want? It's yours", Robert slurred.
"Return the New Gift to the North", Ned murmured before passing out.
The next morning both friends broke their fasts together as they nursed their hangovers. Ned bit into a greasy boar while Robert drank more Arbor Gold. Ned told Robert he needed to get back to Winterfell. Robert asked him if Benjen could become the Warden of the North. Ned hoped he was joking but a part of him feared he wasn't. The next afternoon, Ned received a royal order returning the Gift and the lands around Queenscrown to the North. It also included the permission to build a fortress at Queenscrown so a Lord may be assigned to it in the future.
A few days later, Stannis returned with Viserys and Daenerys from Dragonstone. The Valyron fleet may have allowed them to escape to Essos with Jonathon Darry but due to all the ships being captured by the Manderly fleet, they were trapped at Dragonstone. Ned was woken up that morning by the sound of Robert's roar of rage that echoed throughout the Red Keep. He grabbed Ice and ran to the throne room where Ser Willem Darry and 2 other men fought Robert wielding his Warhammer.
There were two more men whose chests had already been caved in by his Warhammer. They were protecting a young boy of eight name days who was bleeding and an infant being carried by a wetnurse. Stannis and Jon Arryn were trying to stop Robert's rampage but were unable to do so. Ned decided to step in and stop Robert from killing any more children. The other two men quickly fell and Ser William Darry was in no condition to keep fighting. He was an old man far past his prime. Ned blocked Roberts swing that would have killed Darry and fell into a familiar pattern of deflecting Roberts swings at him. Unlike their fights in the Vale, this fight was far deadlier and the sparring they did as boys had faded to Robert trying to kill everyone in his way to Rhaegar's siblings.
The fight went on for almost an hour until Ned swung his sword at the shaft of Robert's warhammer? It passed through the wood and left Robert standing holding a glorified stick. The sudden change in weight disoriented Robert enough that he could smash the pommel of the greatsword into Robert's face with enough force to knock him out.
He looked towards Jon Arryn and Stannis and said, "House Targaryen owes House Stark a bride according to the Pact of Ice and Fire. I'll be taking the girl with me. It is up to you both to make sure Viserys lives to the age of five and ten. I am done letting innocent children die on my watch. His life is your responsibility."
Ned walked out of the Red Keep and decided it was high time that he returned home. He told the crew of the Manderly ship to prepare to leave at the earliest tide possible.
The day he was to leave Kings Landing, Ned met Oberyn Martell in an empty inn near the docks where a Manderly ship was set to depart for the North. The younger Martell brother had come to Kings Landing on Ned's request.
Oberyn Martell was apoplectic with rage before a single word had escaped Ned's mouth. He was pacing the room like a caged predator with a spear in his hand. He was about to attack when Ned held up his hand. A large crate was carried by 4 men who followed behind Ned. They opened the box to show Oberyn the face of a bound and gagged Amory Lorch. Oberyn's mouth dropped open in shock as his rage flooded out of him.
The only thing Ned said was, "I understand the need for revenge for a dead sister better than most. I was too late to save the Princess and her children and I shall regret that for the rest of my days. The North had no hand in the Sack of Kings Landing and the atrocities that followed. Amory Lorch is all I can offer you as justice as the Mountain is protected by Tywin. I was never here."
"House Martell acknowledges that the North had no role in the death of Princess Elia and her children, and shall hold no ill will for the same", Oberyn said in a daze. Oberyn boarded a ship that very hour and left for Sunspear with his precious cargo while Ned Stark sailed North.
Robert woke up to a blinding headache and a parched throat. He saw a pitcher of wine and drained half of it out of habit. Stannis sat in the chair looking out of the window.
"You attacked Lord Stark and he left Kings Landing with Daenerys Targaryen", he said bluntly.
"Huh? Wha. . ", the disoriented King replied.
"I returned with the Targaryen children. You attacked their protectors and killed all but one. Ned Stark stopped you from killing the children and Ser William Darry. He claimed Daenerys Targaryen as restitution from House Targaryen for the Pact of Ice and Fire and left with her. I will not let you kill Viserys", Stannis continued in a monotone.
It took some time for the words to sink in through his haze, but Robert fell back to his bed and stared at the ceiling silently. He had attacked his brother in all but blood. He felt rage flood him when he thought about how it was the fault of the Targaryens that he attacked his own brother.
"He's locked up in the Maidenvault until his five and tenth nameday. Neither Jon Arryn nor I will let you harm him. We swore an oath to protect him from you to Lord Stark.", Stannis said but the words fell on deaf ears.
Rage flooded Robert as the infamous Demon of the Trident now took over the King and he stormed past Stannis. Jon Arryn was on his way to visit the King when he saw the Baratheon rush towards him. The aged Lord of the Eyrie tried stalling Robert but was unceremoniously shoved to a side. Many men tried stopping Robert but none could attack the unarmed King and were shoved to the side or had their heads bashed into the walls of the Red Keep and were knocked out. Doors that stood in his way were broken in half until he was staring into the eyes of a scared eight-year-old Viserys.
"You made me attack my friend", Robert yelled as he rushed towards the scared boy. The giant seven-foot man then choked the poor boy till his face went purple.