Chapter 15

This chapter has now been beta by maceillo.

Ok I am going to say that took far longer then I had thought but finally here we are the next chapter in the story I should call a pain in my ass. Lol

So as you all know by now I had a little problem with my laptop and because my dumb ass forgot to back up my story the original chapter 15 was lost . So ya had to redo it, was a pain. I did cut It short fyi but that was because it looked like I was going well over the month I said I would update it.

Now on to answering your questions.

SlyMonster thanks for reading. I know I make stupid tiny mistakes but I was far worse at the start of the story.

Prayag Raj Rai I understand you point and agree. Have to say however I am not really good at adding things like that. I have found that I am more of the building and background type of writer. Working on getting better at doing lemons and stuff but for now I will not add any more till later.

MightyFiredemon there will be no Kallen. Now that I think about it I really should have.

Command Unit I feel you and agree the lemon part could have been better. I do have some plans for the religions of the kingdom.

Austin Robert's death has been planned but after this story is over, I will do another. One were Robert lives for a good long time. I have some thoughts on that and would like to do one.

Question, why do I have to keep pointing out that Jon and Robb, hell even Theon are not the same as in the show or books. These are people who grow up with Lelouch and have been heavily influenced by him. No way a brother of Lelouch would be so stupid as they are in the show. FYI I do still love their characters in the show.

Blackholelord I have some ideas for the battles but will need help or a lot of time to put them together with any real detail. So far the battles that I have shown have been short of only mentioned in past tense. Would like to do better so any help from you or anyone else is welcomed.

DahakStaz I have no idea how long it will be till they have kids. I was thinking it would be after the full harem came together but with Shirley being the way I made her I don't think I can justify that lol.

Now on with the story. Im sorry for any questions I missed but always feel free to pm me and of course review after you done reading. Thank you.

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-2 weeks later Winterfell 298AC-

Standing under a waterfall of hot water Ellaria Sand thought about the recent wedding of her daughter in all but name Lady Shirley Martell Stark. Ellaria couldn't help but giggle a bit when she thought of the looks on the faces of the wedding guests when they had found out she was keeping the Martell name. Something like that was simply unheard of and many of the guest thought it was scandalous. Her husband Lord Lelouch Stark however didn't seem to care and Lord Stark himself said nothing about it. Ellaria could have even sworn she saw a ghost of a smile on the Black Wolf's face when Shirley made that announcement.

Ellaria unlike her lover could honestly say she would never like Lelouch Stark no matter what he did for Shirley or House Martell, but she couldn't deny that those two were perfect for each other in an odd way. The way they talked to each other, the way they looked at each other, and even the way they just stood next to each other without saying a word showed how much they loved each other. It was also clear Shirley had Lelouch wrapped around her little finger by what she had got him to do for her in these last two weeks.

The first thing Shirley did was get him to gift her his direwolf Fenrir which scared the living hell out of her when she first saw it. No direwolf had been seen past the wall in a long time and when Ellaria saw the ones the Starks had she was shocked at first. That was till she caught sight of Fenrir what was shock turned to fear. The fucking thing was huge and from what Maester Luwin said it was already the size of a fully grown direwolf even though it wasn't even a yearling yet. It made Ellaria wonder how big Fenrir would get down the line.

Shirley of course in her crazy mind saw them as the cutest things ever and immediately gave a loud high-pitched squeal and ran over to greet the wolf pups once she saw them. And of course, like so many other beings they took a liking to her immediately. She loved them so much she had begged Lelouch to give Fenrir to her. Lelouch told her that he couldn't do that seeing as he agreed with his father that the only way, he and his siblings could keep them was if they took care of them themselves. Of course, seeing as she was now his wife it was only fitting he made Fenrir her guard dog and have him protect her day and night. Ellaria didn't believe anyone other than Shirley herself believed that Lelouch wasn't happy to give up taking care of the wolf to Shirley.

That moment may not have been a good example of how Shirley had him wrapped around her finger but the 2nd thing she did was. It was also the thing Ellaria enjoyed the most and one of her biggest concerns she had sense coming here. The shower as Lord Lelouch had called it was a creation that had never been seen before and indeed was something Ellaria was sure of had never been thought of before as well. Sure, she had fucked her lover under a waterfall before which was more or less the same thing as a shower, but that water was cold, and it was something she would never think of doing in the North. This shower however made doing that possible seeing as it let out a waterfall of hot water from a type of pipe that had holes in it that was above her head. She didn't know how they did it and from what the servants could tell them they didn't either but what she did know is that once the lords and ladies of the realm experienced it, they wanted it in their own castles as well.

There were only a few small problems with giving them one, the main one being that they were extremely expensive to build and run. Ellaria had checked with the servants once more to see if they knew how expensive it truly was to build one and from what they told her it cost so much that only a few places in the North had them. In Winter Town there were only a handful of places where one could take a shower and those were the most expensive bathhouses and of course the Roses of Winter brothel which was of course the most expensive brothel in town. Shirley however had asked Lelouch to send people to Dorne to put them in for all the lords and Lelouch had agreed to do it easily. In fact, the only thing the lords of Dorne had to do was pay a small fee to have them put in. House Martell on the other hand didn't have to pay a thing and would get theirs for free. Oberyn was happy to hear that and so was Arianne and the sand snakes but Ellaria was the only one who saw the shower for what it was.

It was a show of how far ahead the North was when compared to the rest of the kingdom. For a place that many thought was inferior to the other kingdoms because of their simple life style and honest mind set, they had surpassed everyone when it came to innovation. They had even done away with the chamber pot and replaced it with something called a toilet. She could imagine what Doran would be thinking once he read the letter, she had sent him about all that she had seen so far. As for what the other lords of the land would be thinking, well she could only imagine.

Well she had better hurry up and get done before Oberyn came in here. Lelouch had one last gift to give Shirley and had invited all the lords to come and see it before they went home. It would not do for her and Oberyn to be late for it on account of him wanting to fuck her in the shower once more. That could wait until later.

-A few hours later-

Walking down the streets of Winter Town with her husband Shirley could barely contain the joy that she felt in her heart. Right now, she wanted nothing more than to be in her and Lelouch's bedroom having him ravish her like the beast he had shown to be, but simply walking with him was good too. Now if only she could convince him to invite one of her sisters or her cousin to bed with them. "Oh, what fun that would be." She thinks with a depraved look on her face.

Shaking her head to get that thought out of it she moves her mind to other matters. Being married to Lelouch had allowed her to find out things she had been wondering about for some time now. True they had only been married for 2 weeks but that was still enough time to find out somethings about what was going on in the North. Chief among them was how far the North and by default Lelouch's reach went. She was not too surprised that they had holdings in every kingdom in Westeros, but she was surprised to find out that the North had holdings that went as far as the Free Cities and even Slavers Bay. How many holdings they had she didn't know but if she knew Lelouch it wouldn't be a small amount.

She had also learned how close Lelouch's spies really were to her family. Some of the servants and guards at Sunspear she had known for years and yet they were in truth spies for Lelouch. She had felt like she knew these people well and yet it would seem she knew less about them then she had thought. It was sad in away because she really liked many of them and for that reason and only that reason, she had asked Lelouch to pull them out of Sunspear before she informed her uncle of them. He had agreed but Shirley had a feeling that Lelouch would only pull out those that were close to her family. She guessed she should be happy he did that much, seeing as she knew he didn't trust her uncle. It was a feeling she knew was shared by her uncle and thus didn't complain about keeping some spies there.

Not like a little thing like trust mattered at this point. With Lelouch now married to her, any thoughts they had about betraying each other went out the window. Uncle Doran would never go back on this alliance due to the benefits it brought, and that was before Lelouch and her were even married in the first place. There was also the fact that it was Lelouch's man Jeremiah who finally got vengeance for her aunt and cousins by crippling the ex-Mountain Who Rides, Gregor Clegane for the rest of his short life. Oh, what a wonderful late wedding gift it was for her whole family to hear the news that the man had died shortly after her wedding day. Her father was so happy that he shouted out that he would sing Jeremiah's praise from the highest points in every kingdom in the land. She had only hoped that disgusting excuse for a man died in fear and agony.

"Are you ready to see your last wedding gift my love." Lelouch asks his wife who is clinging to his arm like a vice.

"Yes, I have been waiting all day for it." She says with a bright smile but then adds with a lewd smile, "Though if you really want to give me a gift you can agree to take Arianne and me to bed."

Lelouch just rolls his eyes at his wife's antics. He really does not care if other people hear her or not but really, she needed to settle down. It was not like the idea was all together unappealing mind you but he really didn't like the idea of having sex with a girl he did not care for. "Now Shirley I told you already I won't sleep with anyone I don't have feelings for."

Giving a cute pout Shirley lets it go for now. She had guessed as much when it came to something like that but still it wouldn't kill Lelouch to be a bit more open minded when it came to bed mates. "Fine but my gift better be good to make up for not giving me what I really want."

"Trust me my love this is something I know you will deeply enjoy." Lelouch says giving her a small smirk that makes her knees go weak.

As they keep walking Shirley wonders what could it be. It had to be something big seeing as Lelouch had invited all the lords and the representatives of the lords who could not make it to see her final gift. That meant Lelouch was using her gift as away to once again show off the North's power to create new and wonderful things. She really didn't mind him doing this seeing as every lord did the same thing in one way or the other, but still she thought he was taking the showing off a bit too far. What with the shower, toilet and of course scented soaps already doing more then enough to show how far ahead the North was in comparison to the other provincies. It worried her that her new home would make more enemies then friends after this wedding was done. Unless that was what Lelouch had been aiming for all along.

As these thoughts finished Shirley notices that they were coming up to a large building that from what she could tell reached over 40 feet high and well over 200 feet long. She couldn't tell how wide the building was but if she went by how long it was then that meant it had to be quite wide as well. Other than its size however there was nothing impressive about the building, with its gray walls and plane wooden double doors. There stood two guards from the Northern Army in front of the doors which made her think that whatever was behind that door had to do with the military but dismissed that thought seeing as her husband had already told her that many of the castle guards in the North had been replaced by men from the army. It is only when she gets closer and the two guards open the door that she finds out what is behind them and she could hardly believe what she saw was real.

Letting out a high pitch squeal after she got over her initial shock Shirley ran in to the building with a big smile plastered on her face. Ever since she was a little girl Shirley had dreamed of herself diving off a platform into a pool of water below and also competing with other girls in a race to see who was faster at swimming from one end of a pool to the other. Of all her dreams that didn't have Lelouch in them, those were her favorites and often felt sad that said dreams would never come true. And yet here it was her dream made reality, for inside this boring and plane building was a swimming pool that she was sure was over 160 feet long and 82feet wide. There was also a pool that had three platforms of different heights above it that were clearly made for jumping off of. Seven hells there was even a smaller pool in the corner of the building that was most likely meant to teach other people how to swim.

Smiling at his wife Lelouch asks. "Do you like it?"

Turning towards her husband Shirley's face is radiating with happiness. "I love it." She says then jumps in his arms and kisses him.

As she kisses him the other lords and ladies look at the pools in stunned wonder, but it was not do to the size of the pools. No, it was due to the steam that was clearly coming off the water that showed that the pools were heated. How was it even possible to heat pools of this size and was there anything the Black Wolf couldn't make? Were the questions on everyone's minds.

-Several months later, Shivering Sea-

Looking out over the side of the trade ship he was on Samwell Tarly couldn't believe where he was headed to. Just a couple of short months ago he was going to be forced to take the black by his father Lord Randyll Tarly. Now however he was headed to a place that was even further up north then the Wall. The place he was going to was Hardhome the once wildling settlement turned Northern outpost. He was scared.

Far more scared then he was when he thought he was going to the Wall. At the Wall he would be surrounded by cutthroats, thieves and rapists but still men from the Seven Kingdoms who he was sure would fight with him against wildlings. At Hardhome however he would be in hostile territory surrounded by men and women who he imagined would love nothing more than to kill him. The only good news was that the Northern Army would be there in force and that he was not expected to fight anyone. No, he was going there on behalf of the Academy of Knowledge and Discovery to both learn and teach the wildings who had taken up the offer of bending the knee to House Stark.

So, no matter how scared he was Sam knew this to be a wonderful opportunity this was for him. To work with the Academy of Knowledge and Discovery was like a dream to him. Sure, it had only been around for the better part of 2 years but in that time, they had already proven that they lived up to their name. Already they had disproven many of the long-held beliefs of the Citadel and made numerous inventions in a very short amount of time. One of the most amazing things about the Academy and the thing that stood out the most was their ability to copy and sell books at an unbelievable rate. No one knew how they did it, but it had become a well-known fact that you could send a book to be copied and have it done in only a few short weeks. By comparison it took the Citadel several months to do the same.

The things he had learned about in his short time with the Academy was wonderful and he had to thank his childhood friend Lady Euphemia Tyrell for that. Smiling happily at the thought of his one true friend Sam got lost in thoughts of the past. He could still clearly remember the day he met Euphie. It was when his lord father had taken him to a tourney at Highgarden in a useless attempt to get him to want to be more like the knights that were there. Of course, he was not interested and had wandered off to explore the castle. It was then that he met the girls that would one day be known as the Twin Roses of the Reach. At the time Euphie was already thought of as a beauty who few could equal and as for her sister Margaery she was not far behind.

The first time he saw them Margaery was sitting on a bench as Euphie drew a picture of her. For Sam, Euphie was the cutest thing he had ever seen in his short life and because of his shy personality he was too afraid to make his presence known to them. Luckily for him he didn't need to, seeing as Margaery saw him staring at her sister and called out to him in a very unpleasant way. At the time Margaery who knew everyone thought her to be lesser then her sister was easily offended by those whose eyes lingered on Euphie for long. She had scolded him badly that day and him being too scared to stand up for himself was on the verge of running away till Euphie had spoken up, saving him from her sister's wrath. She had kindly scolded her sister for scaring him and afterwards had properly introduced themselves and then asked for his name. When he gave it, she welcomed him to their home and asked him if he would like to sit and chat with them for a bit

He was more than happy to accept her invitation and quickly found out that he had a lot in common with the Twins, though Margaery made it very clear that she didn't like him very much at first. It was a dislike that had cooled a bit over time but even to this day he felt she still didn't liked him all that much. As they talked that day Sam found that his love of music, song and books was a welcomed change to Euphie who had only ever dealt with boys who were only into fighting which she found to be extremely boring. They spent hours talking about random books and songs till his lord father had come looking for him. To this day Sam didn't know what was more shocking to his lord father, that his son was spending time with the twins or that Euphie had seemed to take a liking to him.

That of course had got his father thinking that he could get a marriage agreement between House Tarly and House Tyrell. It was a line of thinking1 that was only encouraged by Euphie who had spent the whole feast that night talking and dancing with him. They made quite the showing that night, what with the Rose of the Reach dancing with a fat fool who had two left feet. Most would have thought that Euphie would have stop dancing with him after he kept missing his step and tripped over her feet but no she just kept dancing with him throughout the night. It was truly the best day of Sam's life.

After the tourney for a time his father seemed proud of him for getting along so will with the Tyrell girls but that was not to last long. When Sam found out his father was trying to set up an arranged marriage between Euphie and him, he knew it was doomed to fail. Sam knew what type of man Euphie wanted to marry from all the talks they had during the tourney and he knew he was not her type. She wanted a man that would change the world for the better and he was just not that kind of person and would never be one. It only took a couple of years for his lord father to realize that Euphie had no thoughts of romance when it came to his son but had held out hope that she would change her mind. To help with that he was even harder on Sam then he was in the past. His lord father had yelled at him many a time to be more confident, bolder and walk like he had a pare, but it was all for not. Finally, his father had enough and told Sam that he would take the Black or suffer a hunting accident.

That was also when Euphie had proven herself to be a true friend to him by helping him out. It just so happened to be that Sam would be passing through Winterfell at the same time that the wedding of Princess Shirley Martell and Lord Lelouch Stark was happening. Because of this Euphie had asked him to deliver a wedding gift to her friend on her behalf seeing as her father Lord Tyrell refused to go to the wedding even though he was invited to it. Sam suspected his liege lord wasn't going because of the apology ever one knew he had to give to the Martell's after he insulted their dead princess and her children.

At the time Sam had no idea that his friend had planned to help him and was more worried that he would not be able to deliver the gift as asked seeing as he was no one of any real importance. Lucky for him that as soon as he said that he was there to deliver a gift on behalf of Lady Euphemia Tyrell did he find himself in front of the line. It was also a moment in time that to this day he would wish to never have to relive, even though it turned out to be his salvation.

Princess Shirley had been pleasant enough if not a bit odd when compared to other noble ladies. She had also been over joyed when he gave her the gift from Euphie and had even hug him as a thank you. Her husband however was not as pleasant as she was. He was not rude or anything and in truth said not a word to him but when he looked at him with those cold eyes Sam knew he never wanted to be in Lord Lelouch's company for longer than needed. All his life Sam had been scared of his lord father but when he compared his father to the black wolf, well it was like comparing a kitten to a full-grown wolf. There was no comparison. The whole time Lady Shirley was opening her gift Lord Lelouch had paid him no mind but even then, there was a suffocating presents about him. It was only when Lady Shirley had open her give to reveal a wonderfully crafted bracelet with the sigil of both House Martell and House Stark on top of a letter that his attention was turn to him. When Lady Shirley had opened the letter and read it, she handed it to her lord husband. It was after Lord Lelouch had read it that the unbelievable pressure he felt before was turn fully on him. Those cold eyes taking him in and judging his worth like some god on high.

It was a feeling he didn't wish to feel again and yet would when Lord Lelouch invited him to play a game of Cyvasse with him the next day, which he knew he couldn't refuse. The game didn't last long, maybe 7 or 8 minutes but after it was done Lord Lelouch said something to him that he would never forget. "One fools loss is another man's gain. Welcome to the North Samwell Tarly." They were the only words Lord Lelouch had said to him, but they were ones that meant a lot to him for he knew once those words were spoken, he wouldn't be going to the Wall anymore.

"Sam! Quit staring at nothing like a fool. Did you make sure the instruments and the books were properly secure in the hold." A woman's voice shouts out at him.

His back going straight Sam turns around quickly and stutters out. "Y….yes Doctor Blackwell I took care of it last night."

"If that is so then shouldn't you be getting ready to disembark. We are to land at Hardhome before noon." The now name Doctor Blackwell says to him.

"Yes Doctor, sorry Doctor I will go get ready right now." Sam says as he rushes into the ship to do as he is told.

The sight of Sam running to do as he was told by the much smaller and older woman had many of the men on the ship laughing to themselves. They dared not laugh out loud however for the woman before them was not one they wished to cross. Not much was known about Dr. Alba Blackwell before she came to the North other than that she was the only child of a courtesan and some famous bravo who had in turn inherited a fortune after they died some 30 years ago. After her parents had passed, she lived in obscurity till she showed up in Winterfell one day and quickly became one of the doctors of the Academy of Knowledge and Discovery. Now she was known as the woman who had single handily changed the way the world looks at medicine.

"Do you really have to be so hard on Sam ?" A voice asks from behind her.

Looking over at who is talking to her she answers, "If the boy is to learn how to be his own man then yes Lord Stark I do."

"His father was much the same way towards him and did not fair will because of it, and please I have told you many a times call me Jon Dr. Blackwell." Jon says with a kind smile on his face.

"That fool Lord Tarly didn't understand the brilliant mind that resided in Sam's otherwise empty head. I believe if Lord Tarly had pushed Sam towards knowledge with the same amount of vigor as he did when he tried to make the boy a knight then he would have seen how great the boy could become." said to Jon.

Jon takes on a thoughtful look. "My brother said much the same to me before I set out and after talking with Sam for a bit, I can see a bit of what he means but I have my doubts. The Academy has already proven to be a battle ground for learned men and women. What with each trying to outdo the other and from what I hear even backstabbing each other as well."

"And that is why your brother sent him out here with us. If he had just sent Sam to the Academy those old fools and young shits would just steal all his ideas or use him for his intelligence without acknowledging his contributions. Here with me he will learn to be not only be strong of mind but of spirit as well." Dr. Blackwell says.

"I hope your right because if he does not get stronger then he will not survive long when he returns to the North." Jon says as he over looks Hardhome.

-The Riverland-

Riverrun, the ancestral castle of House Tully and a place Robb had been to numerous times in the past to visit his grandfather, Lord Hoster Tully. Now he was back, not for a visit but as the heir of House Tully after his uncle Ser Edmure Tully had died at the Battle for the Twins. It had been close to three months since he had come here to take up the position of heir and acting lord due to his grandfather's sickness and he still didn't know how to feel about his sudden rise in station. On one hand it was his chance to stand on even ground with his brother Lelouch but on the other he would have to deal with the politics that came with the position, which was something he truly hated. It was why he had joined the Northern army in the first place, so he wouldn't have to deal with things like that. Sure, there were politics even in the army but not on the same scale as what a Lord Paramount had to deal with.

In truth if he could have, he would have declined being named heir to the Riverlands and have suggested Jon being named heir in his stead. Sadly, Jon had no Tully blood in him and was to many still a bastard though no one called him such out of fear of annoying Lelouch or losing trade with the North. That only left Bran to take his place but sadly his younger brother was to young and inexperienced to do so. So, with little choice in the matter Robb had agreed to being named heir and was now happy that Lelouch had taken the time out to teach him as much about politics as he could when they were younger.

Lelouch had also warned him that the river lords could be compared to bickering children and sadly would be very difficult to deal with. Robb didn't want to believe it, but as soon as he arrived at Riverrun then the first of many lords would arrive to complain about one childish thing after another. It was like they were incapable of solving their own problems without him which was really a pain in the ass. There was also the problem of lords trying to take advantage of him thinking that he was an inexperience young man who wouldn't know how to rule over them. Robb had found that to be completely insulting seeing as many of the lords who were trying to take advantage of him were the same ones who hadn't even fought at the Battle for the Twins. If he were a lesser man, he may have called them out about it but having spent years playing his brothers twisted word games he was all but immune to their thinly veiled insults.

So, instead of getting upset at his new vassals Robb set out to prove to them that he was not a man to be taken lightly. In the Northern Army he had been taught to find the objective, come up with a plan to accomplish the objective and how to execute said plan. He already knew what his objective was and had a plan ready, so the only thing left to do was to execute it. To carry out his plan he would need help and was more then a little thankful that his father had let Theon come with him to the Riverlands.

Theon was still just as much of a jokester at heart as he had always been and just as overconfident but that had been somewhat tempered by his time with the Wolf Pack. Now when it came to anything involved military thinking, he was dead serious. And like Robb he quickly realized they were spoiled when it came to there time with the Northern Army. In the Northern Army each man was disciplined and taught both individual skills and how to work inside a squad. Here in the Riverland however individual glory and personal accomplishments were what mattered most to them. Those were the two things that were stomped out of you in the Northern Army, literally in some cases. To fix this mindset Robb had told Theon to retrain all the men at Riverrun, which he was more than happy to do seeing as going into battle with undisciplined and badly trained troops was not part of his idea of a fun time.

As Theon retrained the men Robb set out to mend bridges with what was left of the ex-House Frey's vassals. With the fall of the Freys, houses like the Charlton, Erenford and Haigh were left in an extremely bad position. All the enemies of the Frey's who were to weak to do anything to them now found themselves embolden to strike out and pick at the bones of what was left in the wake of their fall. Already Robb was getting reports from Ros and Alphonse Corbet that distant relatives and bastards of House Frey were being killed off one at a time. It was only a matter of time before House Charlton, Erenford, and Haigh started to see the same thing. It didn't help that almost every house in the Riverlands was calling for their removal for having men on the wrong side of the battle at the Twins. Robb was half tempted to do just that but not because of any hatred or dislike for these three houses. No, it was only because it would be easier to let them die then it would be to save them. However, his brother often told him never destroy an enemy you can use later on and these houses he could use.

There was also another reason why it would be better to help these houses then to not. Robb knew that Tywin Lannister was just looking for an opportunity to get a foot hold in the North or the Riverlands and would be more then happy to help these three houses to accomplish that. With his gold and the pull, he had at the royal court Lord Lannister could easily save them from the fate many in the Riverlands wished for them. An enemy at both his front and back was not something Robb needed right now with the war against the Lannisters being so eminent.

The only real good thing that was happening right now was that Lelouch had been right about the river lords fighting over the rights to the Twins. He should really thank the late Lord Frey and his ancestors for marrying into so many houses. Because of that no house really had a stronger claim to the Twins then another, which didn't really matter seeing as King Robert had made it clear that no Frey or close relative of the Freys would ever hold the Twins again. This in turn made it easier to keep the Twins in the hands of the Northern Army were Robb would prefer it stayed. And he was not the only one who would have liked it to stay that way. Many of the lords that didn't have the power to lay claim to the Twins were calling for it to stay in the hands of the Northern Army as well seeing as they didn't even charge half the toll the Freys did. The longer it took for a decision to be made on the Twins the more lords would change to that way of thinking and Robb knew it. That was why whenever someone pressed him to make a decision on it, he would tell them that only his grandfather had the right to give the Twins to someone.

Giving a sigh Robb rubs the bridge of his nose not unlike his father always does when he feels a headache coming along. "Well I guess I better get back to work." He says out loud to himself as he takes a seat and starts to overlook some of the paperwork he had been sent.

-Bear Island-

The booming of cannons filled the air as Ser Royland Degore looked down from on top a hill overlooking the training that was going on below him. His face was one of displeasure as he watched the men on the brigs below fire their cannons at a decommissioned longship and miss it by a mile. They were missing so badly that it was almost too painful to watch. This was not the first time Royland had to train cannoneers on how to fire from a ship instead of on land, but it never got any easier. A ship moved with the waves of the sea which in turn made aiming the cannons with any accuracy difficult, but once they did learn how to fire a cannon on a ship it was worth the trouble it took to train them.

From the very first day Royland saw a ship with a cannons on it he knew naval warfare would never be the same again. Even the falconet the lightest cannon you could find on a ship belonging to the Northern Navy would blow holes the size of a fist into any longboat. Any captain worth his salt would tell you that a hole that size would slow down their ship and if they took three or four hits you might as well consider the ship lost. And those ships down there were firing a mix of carronaders and long guns whose iron balls were big enough to sink a long boat with just one hit.

When Royland took up the position of naval commander of the Northern Navy he had to confess to having his doubts about these new ships at first. He was also justified to have doubts seeing as the first thing he was told was that these new ships were slower than the more traditional longboats and war galleys that made up the backbone of any navy. However after seeing them in action for the first time he quickly realized how superior they truly were to the old ships. The brigs themselves were nearly perfect in design with a speed that could almost match a longboat and had wonderful steering. With how fast it could turn and bring its cannons to bare, the speed difference between the longboat and the brig almost didn't matter. As for the war galley well, they were just to slow to face a brig in battle. If the two ever faced off in a one on one battle he was sure the brig's cannons would tear through a war galley's hull long before it could get into range to use its ballista or catapults.

If you asked Royland the only ship that could hope to beat a brig was the beast that Lord Lelouch called a frigate. Such a simple name for such a frightening ship. It took more men to sail, was slower and harder to steer then the lighter brig but was clearly made for one thing and one thing only, war. With its 44 cannons that shot iron balls that didn't weigh less then 24 pounds it would take no less than a handful of brigs to take one down and even then Royland was not so sure about that. If Royland could have he would have loved nothing more then to have a fleet of frigates at his command but sadly they cost far too much and took too long to build. Right now, the Northern Navy had a total of 5 frigates with one more set to be done some time next year and then that would be it.

As of right now the North only had a total of 43 brigs to go along with those 5 frigates which was hardly what he would call a naval force. Against any one of the other 7 kingdoms the North would slaughter them but if Lord Stark was right then it wouldn't be just the Lannisters they would go to war with once King Robert died. If the war did indeed happen then it wouldn't be long till a full civil war started and who knew what side the other houses would take. If more then one house took sides against the North, then he would have trouble defending the North's coastlines with just the new type of ships alone.

Because the North was bigger than the rest of the provincies combined that meant they had a bigger coastline then the others as well. This made the North easy to invade by sea if they didn't have a big enough naval force to defend it. Right now, he was splitting what new ships he had between the eastern and western coastlines. Most of which were on the west coast due to the constant pirate attacks on there merchant ships. Pirates were the problem of the time due to the North becoming the trading potency of the world but even though they were cause of many problems they were also a blessing in disguise.

Early in the building of the Northern Navy Lord Stark, his son Lelouch and a handful of other lords quickly realized that unlike the army it would not be easy to build a significant naval force in a short amount of time. No matter how many inventions Lord Lelouch came up with to make the building of a ship faster the fact remained that it still took a long time to build just one of the new types of ships. The fact that they had a total of 48 new ships built was a miracle in of itself. It would however take other 2 or three years to increase that number to the 100 ships he felt he would need to successfully defend the at sea. To fix this problem Lord Stark had issued a policy that only a handful of lords knew about. In order to increase the naval size in an acceptable amount of time all ships were ordered to seek and capture as many pirates and Iron Born ships as possible. In other words, they had been given permission to hunt down and kill the scum of the sea. Which was just fine by him and on the plus side It was the perfect way to supplement the amount of ships the North could bring to battle.

They did have to be careful however on how they went about their attacks on the ships. Because of the need to keep the cannons secret the captains of the ships had to avoid attacking slave ships as much as possible. The pirates and Iron Born they could just kill, but the slaves they could not and would not kill those unfortunate souls. Some of the lords had pointed out that they could just bring the slaves here to the North where they could keep an eye on them after they freed them but Lord Lelouch had in turn pointed out that some of the slaves may not wish to come to the North and instead ask to be taken home. What were they to do then, kill the slaves who wanted to be taken home or force them to settle in the North? Such an act would make them little better then slavers themselves. None of the lords that were there liked the blunt way Lord Lelouch had said that but in the end, everyone had to concede his point and agreed to avoid slave ships a much as possible. To this day Royland cursed himself for agreeing with that but like the other lords he realized that keeping the real might of the North was more important then the lives of a few slave.

Outside of that however they were having great success with the raids. So far they had taken a total of 103 ships, with 67 of them being usable. Most of them were longboats from the Iron Born raiders they had run into but that was fine seeing as they could still hold a couple of falconets on them without losing too much speed. They did get lucky however in taking a hand full of usable cogs and swan ships as well and like the longships they had been refitted to carry a few cannons. Sadly, they didn't take any usable war galleys and had to sink most of them or break them down into the parts that could be used to help build or repair other ships.

Though it was sad that they couldn't take any war galleys Royland felt that they most likely wouldn't be needed anyways. After all the two flag ships of the Northern Navy were nearly complete and he truly felt like nothing short of a handful of dragons could take one down. Lord Lelouch had called them Ships of the Line but as Royland had watch them being built he felt like they were more like ships straight out of the seven hells. With them being able to carry over 100 cannons of different sizes and a crew of over 800 men they would be hard to take down. Just getting close to one would be hard enough to do and even if you did its hull was so thick that the battering ram on a war galley would most likely do nothing to it.

With a smile on his lips Royland couldn't help but think that if the war started when these things were out on the sea then there would be no hope in beating the North at sea. It was a wonderful thought.

-King's Landing-

The bells of the Great Sept of Baelor ring loud in the background as Lord Jon Arryn Hand of the King stood there with his son's hand in his as he looks at the dead body of his wife Lysa Arryn. As his son cried over the loss of his mother Jon felt truly his age for the first time in many years. He knew their marriage was not one of love but the knowledge that he had not out lived just one wife but three took its toll on him. It was because of this he had made a decision that he was not fully sure was the right one but one he had made none the less.

"Jon." A ruff somewhat drunken voice calls out to him.

Looking behind himself Lord Arryn sees his king and ex ward. "My king."

"Ay that is enough of that. Today is not the day for such bull shit, especially when the man who I think of as a father has just lost his wife." Robert says as kindly and softly as someone like him can.

"Thank you, Robert." Jon says as he gives a sigh and looks back towards Lysa's body. "Three times Robert. Three times I have watched on as my wife passed away before me. It reminds one of how short life truly is."

Robert is silent for a bit before he says, "I grieve with you Jon but are you sure there is nothing I can do to convince you to stay. I need you as my Hand."

Jon's face takes on one of both sadness and regret for making up his mind to leave King's Landing with his son. There were many things left undone, including a suspicion he had long sense held but sadly had never been able to investigate due to having too keep the other lords of the kingdom pacified in the wake of the North's rise prominecnce.

"I am sorry Robert, but I don't feel like I have much time left and what little of it I do have I wish to spend with my son. Teaching him all I know like I did with you and Ned." Jon says to his old ward.

"Bah you could just foster him over in the North with his cousins. I am sure that black wolf could teach him a couple of things." Robert says back.

With a sour face Jon thinks on the Black Wolf of the North. Most of his problems had started with the boy and they had only grown as the years have gone by. He had nothing against making ones lands richer and in fact was somewhat happy about the North becoming so powerful, seeing as his lands were in rich as well do to Ned's and his close relationship. Lelouch however he didn't have a close relationship with and was sure he never would and if he was being honest with himself he didn't what one. Jon had seen the Mad King, talked with the mad man and had even had the displeasure of having dined with the man once. Like many before him he had come to fear the Mad King and his mood swings back then and yet the fear, he felt towards Aerys II Targaryen was nothing compared to the fear he felt towards Lelouch Stark. A fear of born out of the uncertainty of not knowing who the young man was truly loyal to or even if he was loyal to anyone at all. Call it what you will but he would never allow his son to spend more time with Lelouch then was absolutely necessary.

"Perhaps he could but as a father it is my duty to teach all I know to my son." Jon says smoothly.

Robert stands there not saying anything. He does not wish to see Jon go but he at least understands why he feels like he does. "Fine go back to the Eyrie you stubborn old goat. I well just get Ned to be my Hand and run my kingdom." Robert says and then huffs like a child.

"I am sure he will not refuse you Robert and I can think of no one better then Ned to help you run the kingdom.' Jon says before he takes his son's hand and walks out of the Sept.

-Winterfell-

Lady Margaret Andre or Peggy to her friends was truly a remarkable woman if you asked Lelouch. A woman far ahead of her time Peggy was both beautiful and intelligent with an in-depth understanding of banking and financing. She had in her short time in Winterfell made everything Lelouch, John and Diana did so far in financing look sad and somewhat pathetic. If was also humbling to see someone come in and take over something, you had worked so hard on and not only do a better job at it than you but also improve on it by leaps and bounds. Hell, in the first 6 months of running the finances of the North she had triple their profits and cut down on spending by at least 20%. Now Lelouch loved his wife and wouldn't trade her for anything in the world but if he had never met Shirley then Peggy would have been the type of woman he would have looked to marry.

"Are you ready to hear the reports I have for you milord." Peggy asks Lelouch.

"Yes, lets start from the top. How do our finances look at the moment?" Lelouch asks her.

Peggy goes through some of the paper work she has brought with her and till she finds what she is looking for. "At the moment we are looking good. Do to the marriage between me and John a lot of doors have been open for us. Right now, John is moving the majority of House Andre's holdings to Braavos and the surrounding Free Cities and selling most of its holdings in Westeros to the Corbet family."

Lelouch nods his head at that. "I would imagine Diana is not very happy about that."

Peggy sighs at the mention of her less then happy good-sister. "Not happy about it would be putting it mildly. When John told her she nearly turned violent, the thought that all her hard work was for nothing had infuriated her. Luckily, she calmed down somewhat when we told her that all our holdings in the Reach would be staying in our hands."

"Well it was necessary for your house to move its holdings. Alphonse has proven himself far smarter than I had originally thought. Already he is moving the main bulk of his family away from there less reputable activities and handing the running of them to distant cousins and men he trusts but are not related to him." Lelouch says in a way that truly shows he was impressed with the head of the Corbet family.

"Yes and giving him control of most of the financial interests of the North in Westeros is his reward. It's a good move and will help keep him loyal. Sadly, Diana doesn't really see it that way." Peggy shakes her head.

Lelouch just shrugs his shoulders and moves on. "How are things going in Essos by the way?"

"About as well as we could have hoped. John was already making inroads in many of the free cities before our marriage and now with my father behind him House Andre is set to become one of the most powerful families in Essos. Sadly, Norvos and Qohor remain closed to us." Peggy answers him.

"Not surprising they are both to far out of the way for us to have any real presence there. What about Slavers Bay?" Lelouch says and asks in response.

"The Auditore family has made a lot of progress there. They have of course stayed away from the slave trade but with the products that we provide them with Giovanni has easily made himself a very important man there." Peggy answers.

"Good, we will need them to become even more influential there so make sure he gets all the support he needs." Lelouch says.

On the surface Lelouch may seem like he couldn't care less about what was happening 1000 miles away but in truth he hated the thought that slavery was still practiced in this world and had promised himself that when the opportunity arise he would do all in his power to rid the world of it once and for all. And as far as he was concerned that meant the complete destruction and eradication of the slave masters of Slavers Bay. There would be no half measures when it came to them.

To accomplish this Lelouch had to have someone in place to take over Slavers Bay when he killed them all off and that is where the Auditore family came in to place. They were an old family from Lys who could date their ancestry all the way to the founding of the city itself and had become one of its most wealthy merchant families who had mostly dealt in slaves. Well that was till Giovanni's father fell in love and married a slave girl. For the woman he loved Giovanni's father had stop trading in slaves and had instead moved to selling wine and tapestries. It was a move that many of his extended family didn't like and had soon removed him from head of their family for it. Shortly after that they had banished him from the family and barely gave him enough money to leave Lys.

From there Giovanni told Lelouch on how they moved from one place to the other looking to make a life for themselves. His father using all his skills as a merchant was able to keep them going but never could gain his family the wealth or power they once held. When his father had died Giovanni was only 18 with two sisters and one younger brother at the time, his mother had sadly died years before. The first thing he did after his father died was move his family from Essos to Westeros were, they settled in White Harbor. It was at White Harbor that his luck would change with his brother and him establishing themselves as honest and fair merchants dealing in ironwood, fish and some silver. Even though they had both been foreign they had been able to earn the trust of those around them and had even earned the recognition of Lord Manderly after both brothers had joined his bannermen in the rebellion.

After fighting with honor during the rebellion both men were welcomed back to the North with high regards. Lord Manderly himself had even help set up marriages between their sisters and two of his landed knights as a way to show his thanks. Sadly, Giovanni's brother died at sea shortly after the marriage of his two sisters. Giovanni himself had married a few years before the rebellion and after his brother's death settled down running his wares till Lelouch himself came along.

Lelouch had to say that if he had met Giovanni before he met Andre then he most likely would have made him his spy master. Not that Andre was not as good or loyal as Giovanni it was just, they were both that good at what they did. With Lelouch's backing Giovanni had gone back to Lys and in a few short years had kicked his distant relatives out of his grandfather's home and reestablished himself as one of the most powerful men in Lys. The best part he did it with out the need to sell slaves. As for his relatives well, they had sadly disappeared shortly after he rose back to power.

"I will send a letter to John as soon as our meeting is done milord." Peggy says knowing what he is thinking. Just after she says this Peggy gives a yip and her eyes widen.

Lelouch smiles at this and looks down at Peggy's enlarged stomach, "The baby is making itself known I see."

Peggy smiles at her lords' words. "Indeed, she is getting restless now a days."

Lelouch raises an eyebrow at this and says, "She? Last I spoke to John he said it was a boy."

Letting out a laugh Peggy says, "He wishes milord but trust me it's a girl. After all a mother knows."

Smiling at that Lelouch says, "Yes I guess that is so. Not that it matters I am sure Andre will be happy no matter what."

Peggy's beaming smile is all Lelouch needs to see to know that. "So, tell me milord when can we expect your own child. Gods know Lady Shirley needs one to keep her away from me."

Now it was Lelouch's turn to laugh a bit, "Yes my wife does have some trouble keeping her hands to herself doesn't she."

"I don't find it very funny milord. That girl, I don't know if she is doing it intentionally or not, but she needs to learn its not ok to touch another lady's assets without permission." Peggy says with no real heat in her voice. The girl was troublesome but fun to be around with her love for life attitude and over all cheerfulness made it all but impossible to stay mad at her.

Lelouch just laughs more at her words and then says, "Well if she keeps it up just knock her on the head like Obara does."

"You know milord I believe you are the only man in the Seven Kingdoms that would give someone permission to hit their wife." Peggy says with a smile.

"Yes, well let's just say that we got lucky that Obara decided to stay in the North. With out her we would have never known how to control my wonderful wife." Lelouch says in a deadpan.

Peggy just nods her head at that. On the surface it may seem like Shirley was obedient towards Lelouch but in truth Peggy knew that Lelouch wouldn't deny his wife anything. "Speaking of controlling your wife milord I have to ask once more if you could do something about her obsessive use of the pools. The constant need to refill them with fresh water is not cheap."

Lelouch just shrugs his shoulders in response to that and says, "What would be the point of me telling her she can't use the pools anymore. It may cost a lot, but they have help her in gaining both the trust and love of the people of Winter Town, which is a small price to pay for. We should just be happy she charges the nobles money to use them."

Peggy has to keep herself from rolling her eyes at that. She knows he just doesn't want to upset his wife and there forward wouldn't tell her to stop using them. The thought of going to Lord Stark about it had crossed her mind but knew Lord Stark wouldn't do anything as well for fear of upsetting her family in Dorne for denying her what was in reality a small expense when you compared it to how much the North was making. So, dropping the matter for now Peggy moves on to another topic.

"Our spies in Kings Landing have reported that King Robert, his family, Jon Arryn and his son have set out towards the North like you predicted. I have to ask milord was the death of your aunt really necessary?" Peggy asks him. It may be just because she was herself pregnant but the thought of depriving a child of their mother didn't sit well with her.

Looking her in the eyes Lelouch says, "You already know the answer to that Peggy. Ever since Littlefinger's death she had started to become more and more unhinged. It was only a matter of time before she did something or said something that put Robert's claim in jeopardy. Plus, Lord Arryn was getting to close to the truth about the Baratheon line for comfort. Between the two of them her death affected the plan the least."

A sigh escapes Peggy's mouth. She had long sense known what type of person Lelouch was and John by affiliation. They were men who wished to change the world and though John had followed Lelouch out of a desire for vengeance he had sense change and truly believed the serving Lelouch would indeed lead to a better world. Peggy herself could understand that and saw the same thing in Lelouch but still after only serving Lelouch for a few years she already questioned whether or not the things they were doing would be justified if Lelouch accomplished what he set out to do.

Right when she is about to say something a knock is heard at the door.

"Come in" Lelouch calls out.

A guard walks into the room and bows to Lelouch, "My lord a letter from Lord Andre." The man then walks forward and hands the letter to Lelouch.

Lelouch thanks the man and reads the letter, his eyes narrowing as he reads it. Seeing this Peggy asks, "What does John say milord."

Taking his eyes from the letter Lelouch looks at Peggy and holds out the letter towards her. Then he says, "Khal Drogo has fallen off his horse and is presumed dead."

Peggy reads the letter as her lord says this, "Do you think this information is accurate?"

"I don't know but John wouldn't have sent me the letter if he didn't have a reason to suspect it to be true." Lelouch thinks a bit on it then continues, "You may go now Peggy I have much to think about regarding this new development."

Standing Peggy bows to Lelouch and leaves without a word knowing that her lord was already in deep thought and wouldn't hear her say her goodbyes anyways.

-Later that night-

Sitting in a chair looking out a window after making love to his wife Lelouch thinks about Daenerys Targaryen. When her brother Viserys Targaryen died Lelouch had thought nothing of it. He was but a mad man just like his father who was just waiting to be killed by someone. However, the supposed death of Khal Drogo felt different for some reason. From the moment Lelouch was reborn in this world he knew the gods of this world played a bigger part in how things worked. Could one of them had a hand in this or was it just chance? He didn't know, and the unknown was the most dangerous thing of all.

Hearing the door to his room open Lelouch turns around and sees Fenrir walk into the room. The wolf slowly makes its way over to its master and sits. Lelouch placing his hand on its head starts to pet it and turns his head towards Shirley. Her naked breasts rise and fall in the moon light that shines through the window. Making her appear like a sleeping goddess in his eyes.

"She means the world to me Fenrir. Stay by her side, protect her from all those that would harm her." Lelouch says to his pet wolf.

The behemoth wolf leaves the side of his master and goes to lay down at the side of his bed where his mate is, as if he understood what Lelouch said.

Lelouch smiles at this then looks back out the window where he sees a red comet streak across the sky. His eyes narrow at the site as clouds cover the moon after it passes leaving him in darkness.

-Elsewhere-

It had been three months sense Jeremiah Gottwald had come to the lands beyond the Wall to investigate the possibility of the return of the White Walkers. His lord though unable to justify sending a full detachment of men to investigate had sent him alone under complete secrecy. So far Jeremiah had found nothing other than a snow covered land as far as the eye could see and ruthless barbarians. Now finding himself sitting in front of a campfire he looks up at the stars in the sky and sees the same red comet cross the sky as his lord does.

A chill runs down his back, but it is not from the cold. Jumping to his feet he draws his blade as he looks in to the night and sees a humanoid figure with ice blue eyes and white skin. As it comes closer the fire light dies out and only the moon above provides light for Jeremiah to see his foe.

Drawing his sword, the last Valyrian steel sword his lord had after handing out the rest to the lords of the North and his two brothers. He grips the hilt tightly but loosely and faces his enemy with a unnerving calm that even the White Walker finds odd. Unbeknownst to it Jeremiah has seen bombs that could wipe out cities, flown in the sky in machines of death in fights that would make any battle of this age seem laughable and biggest of all he had stood in the presence of death itself. A creature from an age long sense passed was hardly of any note.

The White Walker lets out its shriek of bone chilling fury and charges Jeremiah with lightning quickness but much to is surprise Jeremiah moves to meet it with equal quickness. There blades met in a furious crash and then lock into a contest of strength. Their eyes meet, blue eyes look into gold ones as they begin their dance under the moon light.

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Wow so we are almost there. The war starts next chapter instead because I am a idiot who didn't backup his story and his laptop crashed. I am sure there is a joke in there somewhere.

So I wanted to get this out of the way. There were and are a lot of things in the story I didn't like after I went back and look over it. Now I am not going to stop writing it or anything like that like so many other assholes do but I have started a new one.

The story is called Rise of the Immortals and takes place 300 years before Aegon the Conqueror. In it we see Lelouch and CC make there way thought the ages and how they affect the world around them. It is single parring with a lot of OC's in it.

Why am I working on a new story? Well like I said there were a lot of things I did in this story that I didn't like. Mostly with how fast I advanced the North in compared what really should have been possible. The new story gives me time to advanced at a more steady pace and by the way it will me a poll story that well be heavily influenced by you the reader.

See you next chapter.