Jory

"You don't look too sharp, son. Hangover, aye?" Jory moved his face towards the sound of the voice, flinching as he did so. His father's voice was never comfortable to hear, with his jagged tones, the result of a fatal wound in the throat. He had grown to love the tone, however. It meant his father had come back to him and his mom, after the war that tore Westeros apart.

"You know how those Atlantis' guys are. Emmon challenged me and I couldn't back down."

"Well, you could. You just didn't want to."

"When did you became so wise, Martyn Cassel?" A voice interrupted their banter, and father and son turned to look at the newcomer. "I distinctly remember your brains only applied in battle" Lord Jackson said, a smirk on his face. Jory flinched again at the loud sound of his father's laugh, before shaking his head, cursing Emmon Storm once more in his head.

"Age, aye. Age and the shit life throws you. It is good to see you, Percy. It's been too long, my friend." Jory watched as both men embraced, clapping their backs while doing so. While Percy was about his age, Jory's father considered him a friend, and Jory considered him a mentor himself.

At the final days of the rebellion, when Ned Stark pushed through Dorne, intent on finding his lost sister with only a handful of companions, Martyn Cassel and Perseus Jackson had become close friends, as had all the others on their group. And when Percy had saved Martyn from certain death, he had earned his unflinching loyalty.

"Didn't thought I would see you here at this hour, Jory. I did saw you and Emmon drinking like you were getting paid for it."

"You know my uncle, Lord Jackson. Only death would stop him from dragging me here."

"Aye, only death. And his, most likely. Not yours." Martyn answered, chuckling. Rodrik, Jory's uncle, was as hard as steel, and demanded such from the men under him. "Why are you here, Percy? Not that you are rusty, if the amount of Ironborn you claim to have relieved of their heads this last week is true."

"Cheeky words, care to back them up in the yard? The truth is that I promised Ned's boys to show them a couple of tricks with the sword. And I also brought them their presents." Percy said, gesturing to a couple of swords propped against the wall. Jory immediately identified the Celestial Bronze. It looked like regular bronze, and yet there was a buzzing around it, the same buzzing that a person got around Percy. Not surprising, since Jory was one of the few that knew that in order to make Celestial Bronze, one needed divine blood. Percy's blood.

"Presents?" A young voice asked, cracking at the end. The trio looked at two young boys coming towards them, with the Heir of Winterfell blushing and his bastard brother laughing boisterously. Jory greeted them, before looking around confused.

"Is Theon not going to come down?"

Robb shot a wary glance at Lord Jackson, who was laughing with Martyn, before leaning in and speaking in a low voice.

"He is…undisposed. Angry at the presence of Lord Jackson, you know." And Jory knew. A couple of years, Winterfell had hosted and fed Sir Allister Thorne, who had killed his uncle Edric. He had been barely a teenager, but he had felt the urge to kill him as soon as he saw him. And while Lord Jackson hadn't killed any of Theon's family at the Greyjoy Rebellion, with Rodrik Greyjoy slain by Lord Jason Mallister, and Maron Greyjoy killed by the King himself, Perseus Jackson had been the one to bring the rebellion to their knees. He had killed more Ironborn than any other, Lord or otherwise, and he had been the one who kept the Greyjoy's in check ever since. Theon probably hated him more than Lord Mallister or King Baratheon.

"That boy clings to his heritage, without understanding it fully, I think." Martyn commented thoughtfully, finally rejoining the conversation. Jory glimpsed at the Lord of Atlantis' face, but he gleaned nothing. It was like looking at a carved statue.

"Anyway, we are grateful for your training, Lord Jackson. And I am…sorry, for my behavior last night." Jon said, bowing dutifully. Jory turned to Robb with a questioning look, but Robb's confusion mirrored his own. Percy, however, just patted Jon's shoulder.

"It's okay. Not the first one to say drunken shit. Not gonna be the last one, either. Those swords over there? They are gifts to you and Robb. Decide between you who gets which one, although I have a pretty good idea of the ones you are going to pick."

Jory saw them share a grin between them, before running towards the swords. One was a longsword, while the other was strangely shaped. Narrow at the hilt, and wider at the tip. Jory had only seen one person with that kind of sword, and it was the Warden of Sea Dragon Point himself. He could see that although curious about the strange sword, Robb went immediately for the longsword, while Jon didn't even consider anything before grabbing the strange looking one. Percy nodded beside him when both of them returned and showed him their choices.

"I figured it would be so. After all, Robb, you have been groomed to be a Lord."

"What does that mean?" Jon asked, a little miffed, looking like he had second thoughts about the sword on his hand. But Percy just laughed and waved him off.

"The longsword is useful for battle formations and fighting in groups. Lord has been instructed than in battle, while it is important to be seen and to lead his men, his safety is paramount. So, he was taught to fight more conservatively."

"And this…sword?"

"Ah, a Xyphos." Percy said with glazed eyes, before refocusing them on Jon. "A unique sword in Westeros, Jon. There is only another one like it, and it is mine" Percy said, drawing a sword that looked a lot like Jon's, with the only difference being the hilt. Jon's had a wolf, while Percy's had a horse. "It is useful for my fighting style…which has been described as a whirlwind. Unpredictable. Works for one-on-one battles, but more suited for situations when you face several opponents on your own. An unstoppable force, capable of tearing through anything. After all, every Lord needs his right-hand man to be his sword when he can't, aye?" He asked, with glinting eyes. Jory could see Jon looking at his sword in wonder, while Robb was looking at Jon with pride.

"Aye. Robb's right-hand…I would like that."

"Well then, let's get to it. You won't learn to wield these swords on your own."

Ned

"It's like he wants young Jon to become his second coming" Robert said jokingly, beside him. He chuckled, but his eyes were sharply following his son's training. He wasn't worried, since he knew that Percy was unmatched with a sword, but he was more…nostalgic. Percy, while patient, was a little frantic. Like their time was running over.

"Worried?" Robert said, breaking his focus. He was looking a little pale himself, and clenching and unclenching his hands, a nervous tick he had never fully rid himself of. Ned smiled fondly, remembering several times when it would drive Jon Arryn crazy.

"Aye. Sea-Dragons and Krakens…with more creatures on their way. Just like the Age of Heroes."

"Except that we are not as prepared as they were. Magic has been gone for a long time, and we do not have the secrets they had. Even Percy, with all his might, was unable to kill the Kraken he was hunting." Robert was surprisingly insightful, and Ned nodded. The meeting they held in the morning had been eye-opening, and worrisome. Percy had confessed them of his failure to kill the Kraken he found, and the fact that the Drowned God, all that held back the surge of magical beasts, was close to fading.

"To think that that you are descended from a god, just like Percy. Strange, aye Robert?"

"Aye" Robert said laughing. "I always thought the legends about Elenei were nothing but stories. To think that the Drowned God decided to remain in the realm, to watch over her descendants, knowing that in doing so he would die…According to the legends he tried to kill her and her husband several times."

"Remember what Percy always says. 'Do no trust legends'" Ned said, mimicking Percy. Robert guffawed, more at the fact that Percy was just behind Ned.

"Funny" The Lord of Atlantis said dryly. "You had clown for breakfast I reckon, Lord Stark?"

"Amongst other things" Ned said cheekily. Gesturing with his head towards his sons, he asked about them.

"Robb is a good swordsman, with the potential to be great. However, his greatest asset will be his mind, I think. Jon, on the other hand…he has the potential and drive to become a legend. He just has to be nurtured."

"Difficult, when he has already asked Benjen to be taken to the wall. He wants to join the Nightswatch." Both Robert and Percy immediately protested.

"Ned, Jon is little more than a boy. Surely, you aren't thinking about it?"

"If I go to King's Landing, Catelyn will stay here. Jon would be out of the keep by a moon's time." Robert just peered at him, while Percy shook his head.

"You should have told her at the time, Ned."

"I know" Ned responded, shaking warily. "But I didn't. And now I can't. The guilt will kill her."

"Still, Lyanna's boy can't go to the Nightswatch." Robert said gruffly. "Why don't we send him to his half-siblings, for a bit? He would probably want to meet them if he knew his relation to them."

"Aye? And say what? I'm your bastard brother, sired by your rapist father and brother, but hey, families are messy, aren't they?" Percy replied, sarcastically. Robert recoiled as if slapped.

"Yes?" Robert said uncertain, but both Ned and Percy vehemently refused.

"You haven't heard, had you?" Percy asked Robert, who looked confused. "Viserys has just married Elia Targaryen, but everyone with a brain knows that he took her by force. Aegon and Rhaenys escaped Pentos with only the clothes they were wearing."

"What?!" Robert bellowed. "Why wasn't I informed?"

"There must be a raven from the spider making its way here, Robert." Ned answered, placating him.

When the rebel army had sacked King's Landing, Robert's instructions were clear. No harm would befall Princess Elia Targaryen, nor her children. Just as no harm would befall Rhaella Targaryen and the little prince, Viserys. After being crowned, Robert had made them all sign an abdication of the crown, and exiled them to Pentos, along with some loyalist Lords, where the last dragons had made their living ever since.

"The boy's sanity has been slipping, faster since Rhaella's death. Already rumors of covered burnings reached Sea Dragon Point a couple of moons ago."

"So, he inherited his father's mind. Aegon and Rhaenys escaped him…what about his sister, Daenerys?"

"Nobody knows, but there are sightings of the Dothraki moving towards Pentos. Few reasons for that, I believe, except for a princess' hand offered to the Khal."

"Aye? Oh well, unimportant."

"Aye"

"Are you not worried?" Ned asked nervously. "That particular Khalasar is said to be a hundred thousand warriors strong. With that army, Viserys could come and start another rebellion." But both Robert and Percy looked at him like he was crazy. "What?" Ned bellowed. Percy just shrugged, while Robert laughed.

"Peace, Ned. But I can't really worry about horselords crossing the sea. Not when I have the son of the Sea God, and the creator of horses, beside me. They wouldn't even dock in Westeros. And that's a big if. We know it would be a logistics' nightmare to make the trek here. Less than a thousand horses would remain living by the time they get here. There's a reason why no Khal, as bloodthirsty as they are, have ever tried to invade Westeros. Viserys clearly doesn't has the mind for battle."

"Besides" Percy added helpfully. "We are getting off track. The Targaryen's problems are their own. They were the ones that decided to run off to Essos. They could have kept Dragonstone, but they refused. This isn't about them; this is about Jon."

"I told you, Percy" Ned said warily. "He wants to become a black brother. And as a bastard, he will never be happy here. And if we reveal him as a Targaryen, we will have to send him to Essos, per the agreement we all signed. Not as a vacation but exiled for life."

"Then, I will take him with me." Percy said resolutely. "I will keep training him, and he will become my ward, for a couple of years at least."

"Is it wise?" Robert asked. "The North won't mind, but the Southern Lords will cause unrest. Especially with Tywin bloody Lannister, who has asked you to take basically every member of his house as a ward and yet you have refused every single time."

"Ugh, don't remind me" Percy replied forlornly. "And Tyrell keeps offering me Margaery. I swear, she is like ten years old."

"Fifteen, I think. A little older than Robb at least."

"Yeah, no. I'm like sixty years, all summed up."

"Aye, and besides, your eye has been on Dacey Mormont for quite some time, right?" Ned asked with a sly smile, while Robert just waggled his eyebrows at the Sealord. Percy just groaned.

"I'm never telling you bastards anything like that, for the rest of my life." Percy said, his face blushing.

"Oh, you do want her!"

"Percy and Dacey sitting in a tree…"

"Stop!" Percy whined, while Ned and Robert laughed their arses off. Percy just shook his head at the curious look of Catelyn and the Queen, who were taking a tour of Winterfell. Murmuring curses he left, leaving the Lord of Winterfell and the King of Westeros panting for breath.

"You think he will someday find the balls to ask for her hand, Ned?"

"I wouldn't count on it, Robert. But she is a Mormont. One day she will get tired, and she will ask for his hand."

"Aye, most likely." Robert replied, chuckling. "I do think it would be good for Jon to go with Percy for a while. He clearly feels caged in here."

"Just like you feel at the Red keep?"

"Ah, I never could hide anything from you. There are times…but I can't."

"If you want to retire, Robert, do so. Name a regent until your son's of age. You could go with Percy to bash some Ironheads around, or even go hunting sea monsters."

"That's the thing Ned. Joffrey…he isn't right, in the head. The thought of him in the throne…" Robert shuddered, before shaking his head helplessly. A thick silence enveloped the pair, who returned their attention to Percy, watching him instruct not only Robb and Jon, but also young Arya, much to the chagrin of Catelyn. Ned could see the group of ladies that had passed them not so long ago watching shockingly as the daughter of the Warden of the North tried her best to relieve Percy's head of his body, while the Lord just laughed and gave her tips.

"Aye" Ned said, with a smile on his face. "I think you are right. Jon will do well on Percy's care. And perhaps Arya, too? Something to think about."