Where You Belong
A/N One: I hope people enjoy this short story, I have had the idea in my head for a while now but never quite got round to writing it. Hope you enjoy it.
A/N Two: Warning – this chapter features smut – if you do not wish to read smutty content then feel free to skip over it. (All smut will be appropriately marked)
The Tower of Joy – 283 A.C
"Jon… his name… is Jon" gasped the weak voice of the 16-year-old Lyanna Targaryan nee Stark.
The dark-brown haired teenager laid in a bed with sheets stained by blood and sweat, looking up at the four men and the young black-haired, female Wet Nurse surrounding her bed with tears of fear in her eyes.
The room she was in was small and cramped with a large oak wardrobe and a queen-sized bed taking up most of the space in the room.
Her 24-year-old, 6'0 tall, long silver-haired husband, King Rhaegar Targaryan, First of his name, King of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm, knelt down closer to her grasping her hand in his, with tears in his eyes.
The King of the Seven Kingdoms was dressed in shiny black plate armour, lined with shiny red rubies along with a blood-red cloak and a golden-hilted longsword hanging from his left hip.
The child Lyanna was referring to was the newborn babe wrapped up snugly in a bundle of blankets in the arms of the Wet Nurse, having been born to his mother a few hours ago.
"You must… you must protect him… raise him to be the man he was born to be" gasped Lyanna as she turned even paler and her breathing grew heavy and raspy.
Rhaegar slowly let go of her hand and got to his feet, moving over to the Wet Nurse to see his newborn son, allowing two of the other three men to move over to the bed.
When he laid eyes on his son, Rhaegar felt the pain of losing the wife he loved grow stronger, angry and upset that she died giving birth to a son he did not want rather than the daughter he craved.
The eldest of the two men was the new Lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North Brandon Stark.
The 21-year-old lord stood tall at 6'4 with long dark-brown hair and a matching beard with slightly rugged, battle-hardened facial features and he was dressed in a boiled brown leather tunic with chainmail and dark-grey steel armour plates on his chest. Completing his attire was a long cylindrical dagger strapped to his right hip and the ancestral Valyrian Steel greatsword of House Stark named "Ice" strapped to his left hip.
The younger of the two was the 18-year-old Eddard "Ned" Stark who stood slightly shorter than his older brother at 6'1 with shoulder-length brown hair which was lighter in shade than Brandon's complete with some stubble on his cheeks and chin. The second-born Stark child had a more brooding, weathered face than Brandon and he was dressed in boiled brown leather, chainmail and lighter grey steel armour plates attached to his chest with a greatsword and cylindrical dagger strapped to his hips.
The two Stark sons moved closer to their younger sister, knowing that time was running out for her before she would be taken from them forever.
The entire room fell silent, save for the few cries from the newborn Prince Jon Targaryan and the whispered words between the three Stark siblings for the next few minutes before Lyanna Targaryan breathed her last breath and departed this world at the young age of sixteen.
Brandon and Ned remained by their sister's side for another minute or so before they finally got to their feet, with Brandon looking directly at Rhaegar with hate burning in his steely grey eyes and his hand on the pommel of Ice.
This drew the attention of the Kingsguard Knight Ser Arthur Dayne known throughout Westeros as "The Sword of the Morning" who had his striking purple eyes watching the eldest Stark, ready to retaliate if he made a move to attack the King.
The 28-year-old, 6'4 knight was dressed in steel grey plate armour over a dark blue tunic and breeches with a pure white cloak fastened to his shoulders and a matching helm with House Dayne's ancestral greatsword Dawn slung over his back and a dagger strapped to his hip.
Noticing the look in the Stark Lord's eyes, Rhaegar sighed.
"I… I am sorry Lord Stark" said Rhaegar wearily.
"Are you?" said Brandon bitterly which had Ned looking back and forth between the king and his brother with a wary look on his face.
"She was my wife… I loved her more than you could ever know" said Rhaegar.
"Yet you already had a wife… and two children… and still you seduced our sister, you dishonoured her as well as the wife who awaited your return in Kings Landing… now look at them, two wives dead before their time while you still draw breath" snarled Brandon.
"Brandon" warned Ned.
Rhaegar sighed.
"I loved Lyanna… I do not expect you to understand" said Rhaegar flatly.
Ned placed his hand on Brandon's shoulder, trying to calm his older brother down which had little effect, especially after the next words left Rhaegar's mouth.
"She will be buried in the Great Sept of Baelor… where all Targaryan's lie when they are gone" said Rhaegar in a solemn saddened voice.
Which was exactly the wrong thing to say to the Starks.
"She will be buried in the crypts at Winterfell, with our ancestors… where she belongs" said Ned, finally finding his voice to speak up against the King.
"She was my wife, she deserves to be buried where I choose" said Rhaegar frostily.
"And she was our sister… she was a Stark of Winterfell, she is coming home with us… not with you" said Brandon bitterly.
Rhaegar glanced at Ser Arthur who just nodded his head to him, silently telling him to agree with the Starks.
"Very well… she will be buried at Winterfell with her ancestors" said Rhaegar.
He turned to the Wet Nurse and took Jon from her arms.
"But our son will remain with me at Kings Landing" said Rhaegar.
Brandon and Ned glanced at each other, obviously wanting to protest but deep down they knew that as Jon's father, Rhaegar was well within his rights to take his son wherever he chose.
"He will be fostered with us when he is older… but I do not want to see you north of the Neck ever again" said Brandon icily.
Even Ned could not find it within himself to disagree with those words, finding it easier to blame Rhaegar for everything that had happened in the last few years.
For Lyanna disappearing while on her way to the Eyrie to visit him and her betrothed Robert Baratheon, for the previous King Aerys II Targaryan known as the "Mad King" burning their father Rickard Stark alive when he travelled to Kings Landing to demand the return of his daughter, for the rebellion that followed that led to the death of Ned's close friend Robert Baratheon at the hands of Rhaegar himself, for the death of Rhaegar's wife Princess Elia Targaryan nee Martell at the hands of Aerys Targaryan.
But most of all, Ned blamed Rhaegar for Lyanna's death more than anything in the world.
"You cannot refuse me if I choose to visit Winterfell… nor wishing to visit the place where my wife is buried" said Rhaegar frostily.
Brandon moved towards Rhaegar, causing Ser Arthur to step towards both men, ready to intervene if necessary.
"The North has been loyal to the crown for nearly three-hundred years… loyalty that your father spat on when he burned our father, loyalty that you spat on when you took our sister for yourself… yet after everything your family has put us through, still you demanded our fealty and loyalty to remove your father from power, now that you have your fealty from us you can leave us be for the foreseeable future" said Brandon bitterly.
"You should count yourself lucky that I was forgiving of your reasons for rebelling against the Crown" said Rhaegar bitterly.
Ser Arthur cleared his throat.
"With respect Your Grace… Lord Stark and his brother are grieving… perhaps you should abide by their request… if only to avoid further complications" said Ser Arthur, breaking one of the known vows of the Kingsguard.
To remain silent with the King unless he was addressing you.
Turning to his friend and knight of the Kingsguard with a bitter look on his face, Rhaegar surprised them all by agreeing to his request.
"Fine… I shall abide by your request Lord Stark" said Rhaegar bitterly.
With that, a tense silence fell upon the room as Brandon and Ned said their last goodbyes to their deceased sister before wrapping her up in the sheets to ready her body for the long journey back to Winterfell.
Saying goodbye to their newborn nephew, Brandon and Ned watched as Rhaegar took him away from them along with Ser's Arthur Dayne, Oswell Whent and the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard Ser Gerold Hightower.
"We should ride for Starfall… it is not too far from here and Ashara will provide us with a ship to take us home" said Ned with a sigh.
Brandon turned to his younger brother with a small smile, knowing of Ned's affection for the strikingly beautiful Dayne girl.
Hearing that his brother had bedded the beautiful girl at the grand tournament at Harranhal nearly two years ago had resulted in a lot of teasing from Brandon, who was pleased that his younger brother had finally bedded a girl, especially one as beautiful as Ashara Dayne.
Ned's happiness was almost destroyed by Rickard Stark who refused to betroth Ned to Ashara and sent Ned back to his fostership with Lord Jon Arryn at the Eyrie without another word.
Even after it was discovered that Ashara was pregnant with Ned's child, Rickard Stark still would not budge, wishing to see Ned betrothed to a girl from the Reach or the Eyrie instead to further his own southern ambitions.
Despite it coming at the cost of Rickard Stark's life, Brandon felt really happy for Ned, knowing that he now had the chance to marry the girl he wanted to marry.
Thinking about Ned and Ashara Dayne, made Brandon think about his own wife Catelyn Stark nee Tully who was waiting for his return at Winterfell with his younger brother Benjen Stark.
A wife who had become his a month before Lyanna disappeared, a wife who he had missed dearly since he rode off to war.
Starfall – 283 A.C
Two days later…
Starfall was a large castle built on an island in the middle of the Torrentine River with violent waves and sharp-pointed rocks along the castle walls providing the best possible defence against enemy ships.
The castle in itself was fairly majestic with clear white walls and purple roof tiles making allusion to the colours of House Dayne. The castle was made up of a large Main Keep surrounded by multiple towers and a high reinforced white stone wall manned by archers and crossbowmen. The only way to enter the castle was to ride over the wide but sturdy drawbridge crossing the Torrentine leaving invading armies vulnerable to the archers along the main wall.
There was a small dock on the calmer part of the Torrentine used primarily for the odd trading vessels and House Dayne ships. The dock itself was located a short walk away from the bridge closer to the wider part of the Torrentine leading into The Sunset Sea.
Stood in her chambers, looking out of the large open decorative glass doors out at the beautiful starry night sky was Ashara Dayne.
The 19-year-old, 5'8 tall Ashara had deep purple eyes, milky-white skin and long raven-black hair down past her shoulders and she was dressed in a sky blue nightdress.
"I did not think you would come… after what happened" said Ashara with sadness etched into her words.
Walking towards her dressed in a simple silk under-shirt and breeches, Ned sighed.
"Why would you think that?" said Ned solemnly.
Ashara frowned and turned to face him, looking down at the floor with sadness written all over her face.
"Of course… you came for Leyla, you came for our daughter… you want to take her away from me, well you cannot have her" said Ashara frostily, letting the grief she still felt of being denied the chance to be with the man she loved guide her words.
The raven she had received from Rickard Stark, telling her that he would not permit Ned to marry her even though she was carrying his child which shattered her heart into a million pieces.
So much so that she ignored every raven sent to her by Ned until they finally stopped arriving which broke her heart even more, knowing that she had pushed the young man she loved away from her forever.
Leaving her all alone to raise a daughter who might never get to meet her father.
Ned swallowed nervously and placed his hands on her shoulders.
"Ashara… I…" said Ned nervously.
Ashara wiped the tears from her eyes.
"You are not taking her from me… I will not let you take her from me" said Ashara fiercely.
Ned pulled her closer to him.
"Ashara… I came here for both of you… I came for you and Leyla, I want to be with both of you" said Ned softly.
Ashara turned away from him, with shame at how she had been behaving hitting her all at once.
She loved Ned dearly and she knew that he loved her, now she cursed herself for being so blinded by her anger at Rickard Stark that she failed to notice what he really wanted.
He wanted her as well as their daughter. He wanted them to be a family.
"I want to go home to Winterfell with my daughter… and the only wife I ever wanted" said Ned sincerely.
Ashara wiped even more tears from her eyes before doing the only rational thing she could think of.
She kissed him, pressing her body against him giving in to all of her pent up love and sexual desire for him.
Pushing him back towards the bed until they collapsed onto it with her on top of him, Ashara broke the kiss and looked down at him.
"Come home with me Ashara… make our family whole again" said Ned softly before turning them over so he was on top of her.
Ashara kissed him fiercely before latching her mouth onto his neck as she pulled his shirt open, quickly getting him out of it.
"I wanted to come to you long ago… I wanted to ignore what my father said and be welcomed into your embrace… but Lord Arryn talked me out of it, he said my father's word was final and that I could not change that… I was a fool and I have regretted not fighting for you every day since then" said Ned with regret mixing in with the desire in his voice.
(SMUT WARNING – STARTS)
Ashara scooted up the bed pulling him with her before shrugging her nightdress off of her shoulders, exposing her teats to him.
Feeling his manhood harden in his breeches, Ned took the invitation to cup both of her teats in his hands as he kissed her.
"There has not been a day that went by where I have not thought about you… the thought of loving you kept me going through all of the dark times" groaned Ned between lust filled kisses.
Ashara moaned and hastily untied the knots on his breeches pushing them down his legs along with his smallclothes.
"I do not want to talk Eddard Stark… right now, I want you to take me like you took me at Harranhal" groaned Ashara as Ned got himself out of his breeches and smallclothes.
Ned growled and tore her nightdress in two but Ashara could not care about the state of her clothes, knowing that she was in for a night of rough, passionate fucking.
"It has been a while… I do not know how long I will last" said Ned.
Ashara ignored his words and flipped him over onto his back before sliding off of the bed, kneeling before him as she took his manhood in hand.
"I missed having this in my hands… but I missed having it inside me even more" growled Ashara.
Ned groaned as she gave his manhood a constricting squeeze.
"Do you want to be inside me Ned… do you want to feed your cock to my hot, starving cunt?" said Ashara wickedly.
"Yes" groaned Ned, willing her to stop teasing him.
Ashara smirked, feeling her womanhood growing even wetter by the second.
"Mmm… I almost forgot how good it felt to take a man's cock into my mouth, perhaps I should get reacquainted with the feeling" said Ashara wickedly.
Ned did not have time to answer her before she opened wide and took most of it into her mouth making him groan out loud.
Had their daughter been asleep in these chambers instead of her nursery, Ashara was certain the noises they relished making would have woken Leyla up.
Ned sat up and wrapped his hand in her silky black hair, groaning as she noisily sucked him off.
Had it not been such a long time since he had been with a woman, Ned felt he would have lasted longer instead of groaning as seed exploded out of his manhood into her mouth after barely two minutes.
Sealing her lips tight, Ashara sucked hard, drawing as much seed from him as she could before slowly pulling her mouth up until the softening piece of meat left her mouth with a pop.
Swallowing his seed with a satisfied gulp, Ashara climbed back up onto the bed mounting his hips, ready to give him the ride of his life.
Without warning, Ashara yelped slightly as Ned pulled her off of him until she landed on her back with him hovering over her with lust burning in his eyes, the sight of which had her dripping with arousal.
"Oh, so you want to be on top instead… you want to look down into my eyes as you pound me into the bed?" said Ashara in a sultry voice.
Ned leaned down to her ear, breathing hot air into her ear which made her shiver with excitement.
"After what you just did with your mouth… perhaps I should return the favour?" said Ned wickedly.
Ashara turned red and rubbed her thighs together, trying to create some delicious friction.
"Eat up big boy" said Ashara in a sultry voice.
Ned moved back watching as her legs opened before his eyes, exposing her dripping womanhood.
He knelt on the floor in front of her and licked his lips before slowly lowering his head to her hips, ready to please the woman he loved.
Not wanting to play the slow, patient game with him, Ashara threaded her fingers through his hair and pulled him down to her womanhood.
Obliging her needs, Ned wrapped his hands around her thighs and dove right in, making her squirm and moan under the ministrations of his tongue as he lapped up the juices trickling out to meet him.
Ashara thought back to the first time he had done this to her in her chambers at Harranhal, remembering that it took him a minute or two to figure out what she liked before he eventually made her peak on his tongue with a scream several minutes later.
It seems that he learned fast when it came to his oral skills because Ashara screamed with pleasure a good few minutes later as his mouth and hands worked her to her peak with renewed skill.
He even kept licking and fingering her as she came down from her peak before finally getting back onto the bed, ready to get to the main course.
"That was… that was incredible, much better than the first time you did that to me" said Ashara panting with arousal.
Ned smirked and got on top of her looking down at her with love and lust.
"I forgot how good you tasted… lucky for me I will never forget again" said Ned huskily.
Ashara turned bright red and she shifted her body underneath him, kissing him a good few times.
"Getting fucked by that tongue of yours is a lovely feeling Ned… but it has been far too long since I had you inside me, do not make me wait any longer" said Ashara demandingly.
Ned smirked and gripped his now hard-again manhood before positioning herself at her dripping entrance.
He propped himself up on his elbows on either side of her shoulders, pushing forwards with a groan as the long-forgotten feeling of her hot, tight womanhood enveloped his manhood like the tightest coin purse.
"Oh, how I missed this" moaned Ashara, feeling her inner walls stretching to accommodate him.
Ned only groaned as he fed his manhood to her womanhood, using all of his self-control not to finish inside of her.
More kisses were exchanged and moans were swallowed as they slowly joined together.
"Take me Ned… remind me that I am yours" groaned Ashara as she wrapped her legs around his hips and wrapped her arms around his shoulders and neck, holding herself tight against him.
Latching her mouth onto his neck, she shuddered around him as the feeling of being full threatened to overwhelm her.
"Give it to me Ned… give it to me hard my lovely man" groaned Ashara.
So Ned did exactly that, he gave it to her hard and fast, causing the sounds of slapping skin and loud moans to echo around her chambers as he fucked her.
Holding on for dear life, Ashara relished every single feeling that came from being taken hard by Ned and she knew that he was going to make her peak very soon if he kept going.
"Make me peak My Love… make me spill all of my nasty cream on your cock" groaned Ashara.
Ned groaned and claimed her lips with his, pressing her down into the bed as he thrust in and out of her with vigour.
Seconds turned into minutes before they both felt the big one approaching for each of them.
"I will not last much longer Ashara… I am getting close" groaned Ned.
Ashara tightened the grip her legs had on him.
"Inside me, Ned… pump that hot, sticky seed into me… put another babe IN ME!" shouted Ashara finishing with a scream as her womanhood constricted around his manhood, creaming it with her release.
That tightness proved to be the final straw for Ned who exploded inside of her with a loud groan, pumping bursts of seed deep into her womb.
(SMUT WARNING – ENDS)
After several seconds of cuddling and kissing, Ned finally pulled out of her.
"I love you… I love you Ashara Dayne, with every fibre of my body" said Ned softly pressing kisses to her shoulders, neck and nipples.
"I love you too Eddard Stark… and I will marry you" said Ashara, pressing kisses to his chest.
She pressed herself into him.
"Have me again… but let me be on top this time" said Ashara softly.
Ned kissed her before rolling onto his back, pulling her up onto his lap.
Making love three more times that night to make up for the time they lost, the couple finally drifted off to sleep in each other's arms, with shared excitement for their future on their minds.
Winterfell – 283 A.C
One moon later…
Winterfell was the largest castle in the North and the ancestral home of House Stark. A fifty-foot high dark grey stone wall stretched around the castle with four gates leading inside as the circular roof of the old First Keep of Winterfell, the large New Keep, the roof of the large great hall, the Maester's Tower and the ruined Broken Tower could be seen above the high walls.
The small, bustling town of Wintertown could be seen down the hill from Winterfell.
After riding through the outer gate into the largest courtyard containing a blacksmith, armoury, barracks, a large stable and a few small cottages they passed through the inner gate leading to the smaller main courtyard of Winterfell.
Guards wearing leathers and armour bearing the sigil of House Stark moved around the courtyard along with various members of staff serving the Starks at Winterfell. The courtyard was being used as a training ground for the Starks and their guards with straw dummies, archery targets, neat racks of training swords, axes, bows and quivers of arrows.
The reddish brown-haired, 18-year-old Catelyn Stark nee Tully pulled the dark-grey wolf fur pelt tighter around her shoulders trying to stay warm in the cold northern climate as she watched Brandon and Ned lead a small convoy of mounted Soldiers, a wagon and a wheelhouse into the courtyard where she had gathered to greet them with the 14-year-old short dark-brown haired Benjen Stark and the Household staff of Winterfell.
Stood next to Catelyn, holding her son Harlon Stark who was nearly eight months old now, was Catelyn's personal Handmaiden Bertha who had been like a close friend to Catelyn while her husband and brother-in-law were fighting in the war.
As Catelyn watched her husband lead the convoy into the courtyard, she thought back to the events which started the entire rebellion.
After Lyanna Stark disappeared on her way to the Eyrie, Rickard Stark had ridden to Kings Landing with several Guards and some of his close friends where he was captured and burned alive by Aerys Targaryan in 282 A.C.
Sending for Brandon's head as well as the heads of Ned and Robert Baratheon, the entire North answered the death of its Lord by rising up in rebellion where they were joined by her homeland of the Riverlands as well as the divided Stormlands and the Vale.
Several battles were fought over the course of the next year and a half before the rebellion finally came to an end at the Battle of The Trident three moons ago when Prince Rhaegar Targaryan killed the would-be usurper Robert Baratheon in single combat.
With their forces severely depleted by war, the rebels were left with no choice but to surrender to the Targaryan's, swearing fealty to Prince Rhaegar as he led them to Kings Landing to dispose of his father.
If only his father had not acted on his increasing paranoia which grew worse when his old friend and former Hand of the King Tywin Lannister sacked Kings Landing.
The 18-year-old Ser Jamie Lannister, now known as the Kingslayer, was unwilling to watch as little Princess Rhaenys and Prince Aegon, aged five and two respectively were ordered to be burned alive like their mother Princess Elia Targaryan nee Martell had been moments before.
He drew his sword on the Mad King and stabbed him in the back as he tried to flee the Throne Room before taking the children into his arms, holding them close as they cried.
This is where his father found him half an hour later, on the steps leading up to the Iron Throne comforting the two children of Rhaegar Targaryan.
Once Rhaegar was crowned King of the Seven Kingdoms, he stripped House Baratheon of their titles of Lord Paramount's of the Stormlands and sent the 16-year-old Stannis Baratheon to the Wall when he refused to bend the knee to his brother's killer, leaving Storms End in the hands of the 8-year-old Renly Baratheon, while the title of Lord Paramount of the Stormlands was given to the new Hand of the King, Lord Jon Connington of Griffins Roost.
Catelyn's father Hoster Tully had been forced to send his 10-year-old son Edmure to Kings Landing as a hostage until he turned eighteen while Lord Jon Arryn, who had lost his surviving heirs Elbert and Denys Arryn during the rebellion was given heavier taxes by the Crown as was Brandon.
As Catelyn watched Brandon dismount his horse and make his way over to her, she forced herself to remain calm and composed, knowing that with Lyanna dead, Brandon might not be so willing to be open about how he was truly feeling, with the fact that their nephew Jon was being kept from them in Kings Landing doing little to help matters.
As Brandon reached her, Catelyn wrapped him in a hug and gave him a gentle kiss before welcoming him home and guiding him over to their son.