Chapter 1: King's Guard
283 AC :
The trident
After many hours of parrying, slamming, cutting, pushing and kicking, Robert's hammer found his way to prince Rhaegar's chest. The hammer destroyed que breastplate and his ribcage at the same time and with his last breath he just ask for forgiveness to his beloved Lyanna and his unborn child. "Soon your time will come my little dragonwolf" those were the last words of the last dragon. When life left Rhaegars dark indigo eyes, every man in the trident remained silent, only Robert Baratheon, raising his war hammer, had the boldness to break the silence. "The age of dragons has ended, today begins a new era, so now I ask you men of Westeros. Are you with me or against me?". After that, every man standing in the battlefield kneeled in front of the mighty stag.
The tower of joy, Dorne
Arthur was sitting in a rock cleaning his sword; it was the legendary sword of house Dayne. They called it Dawn, and the man who wield it was known as the sword of the morning. After what appeared to be a couple hours, Ser Oswell and Ser Gerold arrived with horrible news, prince Rhaegar was dead, killed in the shores of the trident. Arthur felt that someone dropped a hammer over his head, his prince, his future king, his friend was dead, and he wasn't by his side to protect him, he failed in the accomplishment of his duty. Before he could keep thinking about his biggest failure the screams of a woman pierced through the air, they were full of pain and desperation. 'Lady Lyanna' he thought, after that he ran upstairs, he failed protecting prince Rhaegar but he was determined to protect his legacy, that baby was the future of House Targaryen.
By the time he reached the top of the tower Arthur heard a baby crying, he got in and saw a picture that will follow him to the grave. His princess was resting over a pool of her own blood rooking a little baby, she saw him enter to the room, "Arthur, my dear friend, come closer… please", her voice was breaking, her life was leaving this world. Arthur leaned close to her and the baby, his hands were shaking it was a nightmare for the mighty sword of the morning, nobody trained him to see a dying mother fighting to stay a little longer in the world of the living. With a breaking voice and tears dropping trough her face, Lyanna Stark said her last words: "He's your king now, Arthur, you need to protect him, take my body and travel to Winterfell, take the letter that is over the table, Ned will understand, but please, protect him, promise me that you will take care of him… Robert is going to kill him", Lyanna placed the little baby in Arthur's arms saying: "His name is Aemon Targaryen and he's the rightful heir to the iron throne", Arthur could only think in the young dragon, this boy was destined to be the best king that the seven kingdoms could ever have.
Lyanna gave her last breath and the light of her eyes left this world, 'now you're with Rhaegar and I will take care of your son, even if it cost my own life', Arthur came downstairs and showed the baby to his brothers, "Seven blessings to our king" Ser Oswell wasn't a religious man, but the boy was a miracle for him and for house Targaryen, "what do we do now?" Ser Oswell asked. "well, we must flee to Essos, it is our best chance to survive and keep our king safe" Ser Gerold replied. "Lord commander, Lady Lyanna asked me to take her body to Winterfell, she also asked me to deliver this letter to his brother Lord Eddard Stark" Arthur's hands were shaking with the scroll sealed with house Stark sigil.
Suddenly the three knights heard the hoofbeats of many horses approaching from the north, maybe the gods were playing with the knights, it seemed to be a coincidence or a real bad irony, the house Stark banner stood among the riders.
"It seems like our princess request will be accomplished after all" Ser Gerold chuckled as he unsheathed his sword, Arthur proceeded to do the same, he counted seven northern riders, but he was calm as always, they were the king's guard, the most skilled knights of the seven kingdoms.
"Nobody touches Lord Stark, he has to hear the whole story, only he can help us to keep our prince safe." Ser Gerold said.
Once the northern men arrived, Lord Stark unsheathed his sword and approached to talk with Ser Arthur and Ser Gerold. "Where's my sister?" he asked, his face showed full determination, everyone could see that the honorable Eddard Stark was disposed to kill every man could dare to interfere between him and saving his sister. He lost too much during the war, his only wish was to see his little sister again and take her home.
"Lord Stark, lady Lyanna is dead, her body is upstairs, we where waiting your arriving, she asked us to deliver her body and this letter to you.". Eddard dropped his sword as Ser Arthur handed him the letter, his hands were shaking just as Arthur's hands before. Many tears started to fall as Lord Stark read his sister letter.
My dearest brother
If you are reading this letter it's because I left this world, I only beg you to forgive me for all the mistakes I made, I never thought that Robert or the king would react like this, but unfortunately we never choose who we love, prince Rhaegar never kidnapped me, we flew away together because we loved each other despite our differences, I couldn't imagine a happy life with your dearest friend Robert, always whoring and drinking.
Rhaegar got a septon to nullify his marriage With Elia Martell, I chose him to be the father of my children and he chose me to be the mother of his children, I know that what we did was selfish, but he saved me from the nightmare that Robert represented in my head.
Finally I ask you to complete the hardest of all the tasks, I need you to promise that you'll take care of my little Aemon, he has no fault for his parents actions and I'm afraid of what will Robert do to him if he discover his existence. Just take him with you back to Winterfell, Ser Gerold, Ser Arthur and Ser Oswell have protected me as their princess, and they have sworn to protect their future king, please Ned protect him from Robert's wrath, it's the only thing that I ask you.
I hope that you could forgive me for make things so complicated and remember dear brother, I'll be waiting for you when the time of our reunion come.
Loving you with all my heart.
Lya.
After reading his sister last will, Ned noticed that everything that he believed was a lie, the rebellion itself was a lie made to protect Robert's pride. He made all his way to Dorne to find his sister, and now he must face the ugly truth, his nephew was innocent, the knights that were standing in front of him sworn to protect him, what kind of man was the honorable Eddard Stark if he delivered his nephew to the new king? knowing how Robert reacted when the Lannisters delivered the corpses of Aegon and Rhaenys it was obvious that the little Aemon would face the same destiny of his siblings. "what can we do now?" he asked. "We must hide him, it's too late to flee to Essos, Starfall could be a good destiny for the prince, at least for now." Ser Arthur spoked, he knew that Lord Stark felt something for his sister Ashara and he could notice that Lord Stark wasn't very pleased with his plan by the gaze that he gave him. 'If it wasn't for the little king, he would kill me right now' Arthur thought, but traveling to Starfall was the best immediate option.
Lord Stark asked his men to keep the secret, after all, he would never put friendship over his own blood, he wasn't a kinslayer, at the divulgation of this secret was a death sentence for the little boy and for his family.
The northern riders waited a couple of hours until late afternoon, after packing everything that they would need and setting the tower in fire, they started their travel to Starfall, the three knights with them left their armors in the tower over three fake tombs placed in front of the now burning tower, they were dead for the rest of the world, at least until the time when Aemon could take back his throne.
….
Starfall, Dorne
The young Ashara Dayne was very known because of her beauty, but she was also known for being the little sister of the mighty sword of the morning, Ser Arthur Dayne, but her life was full of sadness and loneliness, after the Harrenhall's tourney ended she arrived to Starfall with a child in her womb, nobody knew who was the child's father, but many gossips were saying that Ned Stark was responsible of fathering the child.
Nothing of that mattered right now, Ashara gave birth to a lifeless baby girl, 'the seed of Brandon Stark wasn't strong enough after all' she thought. While one of her maids was brushing her long black hair, she saw a column of riders approaching to the castle gates, they carried no banners with them, but Ashara was smart enough to recognize the armor of a northerner, specially the armor of a northern lord. Once the maid finished braiding her hair, she left the Palestone sword Tower of the castle and met the riders at the gate, she was nervous, after all, it wasn't very comfortable to look a man who loved her right in to the eyes and tell him that she gave birth to his brother's child. 'I'm going to crush his heart in very small pieces, but he needs to know the truth.' She told this to herself many times while she was moving through the corridors of the castle to reach the gates and the main courtyard in front of them.
Although when she arrived at the main patio, a pair of lilac eyes and gray eyes received her, after losing her daughter she never wanted anything, she just wanted to stay in the tower, alone and imperturbable, but the man who loved her so much came to the castle with the only being that could take her away from her misery, her brother Arthur.
"It's nice to see you again, little sister" Arthur told her with a big warm smile, Ashara walked toward the two men and slapped them both, after that she hugged Arthur with all the strength that remained in her body after all that she lived, but the wailing of a little baby dragged her back to her misery, the gods were very cruel with her even ruining her reunion with her beloved brother. Tears started to fall trough her cheeks, as if she was possessed by a natural impulse she walked toward the little boy, his eyes were grey as Lord Stark's eyes, 'it seems like the honorable Eddard Stark wasn't so honorable after all' she said to herself as a small smirk formed in her face. She took the boy in her arms when the wet nurse handed the little bulge towards her, suddenly Ashara felt an explosion of emotions inside her. "This little one is hungry and tired, just as I assume you are my lords, please come in, I hope you enjoy our hospitality." Ashara walked into the castle with little Aemon in her arms followed by Arthur and Eddard, the rest of the north men were escorted to their chambers.
"You better start talking dear brother, it's very unusual to see you right here, right now, sitting next to one of the enemies of the crown." She directed an accusing glare to Eddard, he just looked away. 'he's embarrassed', Arthur leaned closer to the table and told her everything that happened in the Tower of Joy, he told her about the secret marriage between Rhaegar and Lyanna, he told her about little Aemon and how Lord Stark was disposed to help them. Ashara felt an avalanche of feelings and emotions over her, but understood every single word that her brother said, she saw an opportunity in this situation. "I'll take care of the boy if that's what you want" anybody could see her determination; she lost her little girl and the gods gave her a little boy in exchange, this was her opportunity to be a mother, she detested the actions of the prince, but the little baby wasn't responsible of his parent's sins.
"I lost my child,Brandon's child … but I can make the people believe that he's my son", Ned glared at her in disbelief; "So it was true after all". He was married to Catelyn Tully, but she was betrothed to Brandon, Ned married her to ensure an alliance with the Riverlands, He only loved one woman out of duty and she was Ashara, but now he understood that she never looked at him in the same way, her heart belonged to his now late brother. "You don't need to sullen your reputation, my lady. I can make the believe that he's my bastard son, Robert will believe me, we're like brothers after all." Ned answered.
Ashara gave him a killer glare, "So, you're disposed to make this little boy live under your roof among your children and your wife, tell me please, would lady Stark support the presence of a bastard among her children?", her words were full of anger, it's already hard for a bastard to live in westeros, it would be ten times harder for the bastard of a lord living among his trueborn siblings. "I'll take care of him, the boy has already lost enough, Arthur will help me." She knew her brother better than anyone, he was one of Rhaegar's friend and he would do anything to protect his legacy, and the boy that she was rocking in her arms represented that legacy.
"If we wish to protect the prince, we must leave Starfall as soon as we can, sister." Arthur knew that after everything were in order in the capital, they would start a hunt against the crown loyalist, and his family was one of the main supporters between the dornish houses. "And where would we go, sweet brother, to Winterfell?" a small chuckle left her mouth. Arthur looked at her like asking for forgiveness, he was asking too much of her, but flee to Winterfell was the best option they had, "Winterfell is the safest place in the seven kingdoms for us right now, there isn't a better place to hide than right under their noses, I will be Lord Stark's new Master at arms, under a new identity, you'll still be my sister and Aemon will be your bastard son, but we will have to find him a new name, at least for now."
"How about Jon?" Ashara asked. "It's your decision little sister, you are going to be his mother after all" Arthur replied after her question, "Then it's decided, he will be Jon Snow, a bastard of the north." Ashara was determined to complete the task without hesitation. "Now, I will have to ask to leave us alone, gentlemen, as you can see, I need to feed my son".
Arthur was relieved after seeing how compromised was his sister with her new son, he failed once protecting the prince, but he would not fail again, not to little Aemon, he was the shield and sword that would protect him day and night, he was a King's guard and that Vow was for life.