Part 5: Jon Arryn

In the seven years since Jon had stepped down as Hand of the King Robert seemed to have taken much of Jon's advice. Jon had, as promised, purchased a property in King's Landing and now split his time between King's Landing, the Vale, and Winterfell. Much of what he saw when at King's Landing was promising.

Stannis had taken to the role of Hand of the King well, yes, there was some conflict between the brothers, but the only matter that they truly disagreed on was whores. Stannis wanted to outlaw prostitution, Robert had done the opposite, instead he had created some new laws that increased prostitute's rights and set standards for how they must be treated and provided for by their employers.

Jon was not a lusty man himself, but he actually approved of the new laws:

1) All brothel owners now had to provide a reasonable standard of living for their girls/boys.

2) Minimum ages were set, any brothel owner caught working girls or boys younger than twelve years old risked losing their business to the crown. Girls and boys younger than twelve could do basic domestic duties such as cleaning, cooking and caring for the prostitutes' children, but they could not work as whores.

3) All brothel owners had to provide reasonable care for the children of their whores whilst the whores worked.

4) Any woman, or man, whom had entered into a contract for a paid sexual service could change their mind and say no, even after monies were exchanged, a full refund would be expected however regardless of what acts had happen prior to the whore changing their mind.

5) Any whore who believed that they were being mistreated by their employer could go to a city guard for aid, they would immediately be taken away from their employer, along with any children that they had, and put under Kings protection whilst their allegations were investigated. Regardless of the result of the investigation they would not be sent back to the employer in question.

As to whether these laws were specifically passed to aggravate Stannis, or were the influence of Yaya (whom was now officially King Robert's mistress) Jon Arryn did not know. But they did improve the quality of life for a large portion of the population of King's Landing, and, for that reason alone, Jon approved of them.

King Robert had also lost some weight, he now regularly sparred with Ser Barristan Selmy, and seemed happier for it. His relationship with Cersei was still beyond strained, and the fact that he had sired three children to his mistress, and she was heavily pregnant with the fourth, did not help matters. Cersei had born another two children, neither of whom looked anything like Robert, and Jon was starting to question the paternity of all of Cersei's children, especially when compared with Ned's children. To have all three children take after Cersei so strongly seemed unlikely. But, if Cersei was having an affair, who was she having it with? It would have to be somebody that looked a lot like her based on the children, and who, other than her brother, was ever allowed alone with her for a long enough period of time? Clearly Jon was missing something.

He had found a few more of Robert's bastards, the most interesting was a young boy named Gendry, whom had recently gained an apprenticeship as a blacksmith… Gendry's mother had died when he was little and he had spent much of his life in an orphanage, but Varys had pointed Jon in the lad's direction. Gendry remembered little of his mother, but he did remember that she had yellow hair. Yet Gendry's hair was as black and unruly as his father's had been at his age, he was big for his age, with blue eyes, everything about him screamed 'Baratheon'. If Cersei's children were Robert's then why didn't they look like Gendry? Why didn't they look like Mya?

Even the new Master of Coin, Ser Mercurius Wessington, looked more like a Baratheon than Robert's children did. Ser Mercurius had dark brown hair and laughing blue eyes, and he was tall and broad, although shorter than King Robert. He also had a keen eye for detail; Mercurius had discovered that Petyr Baelish had stolen considerably from the Crown during his time as Master of Coin. Robert had been enraged and had at first wanted to sentence Petyr to death for the crimes, but that wouldn't get the money back. Jon had convinced Robert to instead send Petyr to the Wall and allow Jon to put a regent in place until young Robert Baelish was of age to rule. Monies could then be recovered from the House over time. Lyonel Corbray was given the task, however Lyonel had soon discovered that his younger brother, Ser Lyn Corbray, had been working for Baelish against the Crown. Lyonel had sent his brother to the Wall and stripped him of the family ancestral longsword, Lady Forlorn, offering it to the Crown in lieu of payment.

Robert had accepted the offer, and in return Lyonel had adopted young Robert and named the boy his heir, reclaiming the lands which House Corby had once given to Petyr Baelish's great-grandfather. Jeor Mormont, the Lord Commander of the Wall, had the foresight to separate the two men, sending Petyr to the Shadow Tower and Lyn to Eastwatch.

The blade, although not Valyrian Steel, was a sword of note, the earliest record of the sword was when the First Men King, Robar II Royce, had claimed Lady Forlorn after slaying Qyle Corbray, the Andal King of the Fingers. Robar had wielded Lady Forlorn during the battle of the Seven Stars, using it to kill Torgold Tollett and a decoy dressed as Ser Artys Arryn… but the blade was believed to be older than that. (House Corby claimed that Ser Jaime Corbray slew Robar in the battle, allowing them to reclaim Lady Forlorn.)

The blade was a dark smoky grey, spell-forged in a way that blacksmiths no longer remembered, with a large heart-shaped ruby in the pommel. It somehow reminded Jon of Ned's family blade, Ice. Some said that it was 'dragon-steel', whatever that was meant to mean.

Yohn Royce had offered to settle the debt in exchange for the sword as the blade had once been in the procession of his family. Since Yohn was also the protector of Mya Stone the King had only charged Yohn a quarter of the debt. Yohn had come to court to be officially presented the blade and had brought Mya along with him as one of his servants. Although Mya had not interacted with Robert directly the gesture had made Robert very happy, and he had gotten to see the lovely young woman that his daughter was growing into.

Yes, things seemed to be going well, but Jon still worried… for both of his boys. (Robert and Ned would always be his boys.) Robert seemed not to care that he was alienating his wife and Ned refused to take a new one. Both of them were rubbing their vassals the wrong way by their actions. Another war was coming, Jon could feel it, only the 'where' and the 'when' were in question.

~~/~~

Jon Arryn and Mya watched as Harry trained with the Stark children, they were in a field, just outside of Winterfell, with straw and wooden targets set up. Some hung from tree branches and some were free standing. Ser Rodrick had out done himself, there were straw men mounted on straw horses, posts, obstacles… it was a training field like nothing that Jon Arryn had ever seen, but then he'd never seen anybody shoot an arrow from horseback before today either.

Three dozen men at arms guarded the edges of the training area, keeping back the townsfolk who always crowed in to watch. Jeshi Cassel, Jory's wife, was leading the training. She was a Dothraki woman who had been sold into slavery, Jory had negotiated with Illyrio for her freedom (and that of five other Dothraki women) prior to returning to Winterfell. Two other Dothraki women, Layi and Zhowi, were assisting her. All three were former slaves, and all three had chosen husbands among the guards that had bought them their freedom.

The game was simple, you got to ride the field once, trying to hit as many targets as possible, but you also had to keep changing speed according to the instructions yelled out by Jeshi. Robb, Jon Snow, Theon, and Harry had all ridden the course so far, Harry had been lent a Dragon-bone bow for the exercise and had spent the morning training with the Dothraki women beforehand. Ser Rodrick had yelled the speeds for Harry as he did not know the Dothraki commands. Jon Snow had done the best, only missing three targets, there was just something about the way that lad moved, something familiar, if only Jon Arryn could place it? As Arya moved into position Jon found himself studying the Stark boys once again. Snow didn't have the Stark shoulders or height, Robb did, Jon had the long face, but there was something about his fine cheekbones, something almost… no, it couldn't be? He was short and slim, graceful and agile, with tight, almost Valyrian, curls… but it couldn't be. As Arya took the field Jon Arryn found himself comparing her to Snow.

"Onqothat." Jeshi commanded as Arya entered the field, Arya kept her horse at a slow walk, she got two targets before the next command was given. She was confidant with a horse, graceful and quick. Ned had always said Lyanna loved her horses… he looked at Snow again, the shape of the chin was wrong for a Stark, it was too fine, too delicate.

"Irvosat." Jeshi commanded and Arya started to trot, her eyes surveyed the field choosing her targets. Ned had always said that Lyanna loved the bow, and wanted to fight with a sword like her brothers. Rickard had forbidden it, but Ned had admitted that it hadn't stopped him or his brothers from teaching her what they could. That was why Ned had found it so strange when Lyanna had been taken, he'd expected her to be armed.

"Karilnat." Jeshi commanded and Arya pushed the horse into a gallop, she rose up in her saddle, reins in one hand and placed one foot on the back of it, setting of two shots in quick succession. She held the bow cag-handed and notched the arrow in her right. Her left hand held the bowstring strangely, drawing with her thumb and using two fingers to hold the butt of the arrow in place. Each shot hit their mark and her rear foot found its stirrup just as Jeshi commanded "Onqothat." Arya slowed the horse quicker than Jon Arryn had ever seen anybody manage. There was a wild beauty in the way the girl's eyes lit up, it reminded Jon of Robert's description of Lyanna after the first time he'd met her.

Mya's gasp brought Jon Arryn out of his contemplation, he smiled at her, he had already known that Arya was good with horses… he just hadn't known how good she was with a bow. Jon Arryn had taken Mya into his direct household just over a year ago and had decided to teach her to read and write, he had soon come to learn of her love for horses and had promised to bring her to Winterfell to see their small heard of Dothraki horses, much to her delight. She had been enthralled by the Dothraki horses, as expected, and Robb had invited her to watch the training session, a kindness which had delighted the sweet girl. Jon Arryn had been toying with the idea of asking Ned to take Mya in for a while now, and the way the Stark children treated her was encouraging.

The game continued, with Arya changing speeds according to instruction, she often wasn't hitting the closest targets, but ones further away, and as she came near the end of the circuit Jon Arryn was sure she had missed a few, but as Jeshi yelled "Karlinqoyi!" Arya drove her horse hard, she fired three shots in quick succession before standing up in her stirrups, she dislodged her left foot again and raised it up, resting it on that special ridge on the back housing that was unique to Dothraki saddles. She hooked her reigns and half turned, she shot her last arrow high, it arched in the air and came down on a target on the other side of the field, as it hit the target Jon Arryn realised that it was the only one that Arya had not yet hit, the horse was still going incredibly fast, but as Jeshi yelled "Soroh!" Arya brought the horse to a sudden stop, still standing. "Onqothat." Jeshi commanded and Arya returned to the saddle and slowly walked the horse off of the field, showing that she had complete control of the animal.

Jon let his gaze moved to the stark boys one last time, he knew for sure that there was no Valyrian blood in Arya's veins, yet she was narrow, short and fluid, just like Jon Snow. Maybe there was no grounds to his suspicions, maybe Jon really was just Ned's bastard? But if that was true, why hide who his mother was? Did he confront Ned? What if his suspicions were right, then what?

Jon forced a smile as Arya brought her horse up beside him, a beautiful grey mare with black mane and tail carefully braided. "Well, that was something." He muttered as she dismounted, Arya smiled and bowed to him, causing him to laugh and muss her hair. "What's her name?"

"Dothraki don't often name their horses." Arya answered.

"Oh, really?" Jon replied raising an eyebrow. "But she'd not a Dothraki's horse, she's yours."

Arya frowned. "No, I ride her, and a couple of others, Bran rides her too, she's not my horse. Zirqi says I'll know when I find my horse, I'll name that one."

Jon Arryn nodded sagely, Arya seemed so serious on the matter, and it showed that the horses, and the Dothraki women, were being treated with respect. "Well, when you do find your horse I'm sure it will be a stunning mare."

Arya shook her head. "No, I want a stallion," She replied. "You can't ride a mare when they're pregnant, a stallion would be better."

Jon Arryn laughed and dropped a kiss on Arya's forehead. "You make a good point." He wrapped an arm around her and turned to watch the men resetting the field.

Alys Karstark came over and took the reins of Arya's horse, leading it away. (Alys was not a fighter, which made her the complete opposite to Arya's other handmaiden, Jorelle Mormont.) The field was reset, and then it was Jorelle's turn. Bran went last. Ned had not come to watch, stating that if he left Winterfell one of the boys would have to stay back. The Stark's really did take this 'There must always be a Stark at Winterfell' thing a little too seriously. Arya chatted with Jon Arryn and Mya as the others ran the course, Jon noticing that she treated Mya kindly.

~~/~~

It was late in the evening when he got the chance to speak to Ned alone, Ned was in his solar, poring over papers. The fire was low, and he only had two candles lit, despite the dimness of the room. Arryn glanced around the room, it was neat and ordered, everything had a place.

"What are you reading?" Jon asked softly.

"Harvest reports." Ned replied, not looking up. "We need to be storing more grain for Winter."

Jon Arryn nodded and took a seat. "Yes, indeed, but you're not just storing for winter, are you? You expect another war."

Ned frowned and put his paperwork down. "Why do you think I'm expecting another war?" He asked carefully.

"Because you're not a fool." Jon replied carefully. "There is always another war, but I have never seen Winterfell so full of soldiers, what are you afraid of, Ned?" It was hard to read Ned's expression in the dim light and the quiet wolf offered no answer. Jon nodded. "Fine, let me ask another question, why won't you re-marry." Ned again met him with silence. "Ned, I'm not your enemy."

"No, you're not my enemy." He agreed. "Some things are just… difficult to talk about."

"Like why Catelyn left?" Jon Arryn asked. "I've noticed the changes since then, what secret did she take with her that puts you in danger?" Ned again replied with silence. Jon reached a hand across the desk, resting it on Ned's arm. "Ned, let me help you."

"You can't." Ned replied. He pulled away from Jon's hand and stood up, walking towards the fire. Jon watched him as he put another log on the fire. Ned didn't need to add the log, not for himself at least, his blood burnt hot, he'd never much minded the cold. No, the log was for Jon's sake, and an escape.

Jon Arryn sighed. "Then let me confide in you," He replied. "I don't believe Cersei's children are Robert's."

"Jon?! What you're saying, if you're wrong it's treason!" Ned took a step towards him

"And if I'm right I have to work out how to approach the matter without Joffrey, Myrcella, and Tommen ending up like Elia's children." Jon answered, he paused, letting Ned get stuck in that memory. "I'd never let that happen, just as I'd never let that happen to any of your blood, not even Jon. He's Lyanna's, isn't he?" Ned again responded with silence. Jon shook his head and sighed. "Wrong tactic, Ned, anybody ever speaks those words again you respond with rage. You deny it, you yell, and scream and rage until the walls shake, least it reach Robert's ears. I… I understand, I do, I wish you'd trusted me with this."

"So what happens now?" Ned asked softly, was that fear in his voice? Did Ned truly fear what Jon might do?

Jon stood and closed the gap between them. "You are like a son to me, Ned, do you understand that? I love your children like grandchildren, even Jon, how could I not love Jon when you named him after me? Does he know?"

"No." Ned whispered.

Jon nodded. "Good, but you may have to tell him one day, if the Lannister's come north. Rebuild Moat Cailin, nobody needs any greater reason but that you plan to give it to him, it's weak on the north side though, ensure you make it defendable from all sides. Jon of Moat Cailin is a good name, Robert will let his sons take the name of Cailin. I need you to take Harry as a ward for a while, I'm going to try and prove what Cersei has done, I need to be sure that Harry is safe. Mya too, I know she's a lot older than Arya, but I need you to take her as one of Arya's ladies in waiting. Right now Mya is the only proof we have of what Robert's actual children look like, I need you to protect her, and I need to find others."

"Not all my children look like me." Ned whispered softly.

"I'd argue that." Jon replied. "Robb has your build and height, his face is rounder yes, and he has the Tully colourings, but there is no doubt that he's your boy, Bran too. Jon has the Stark colourings, if he didn't he would be in far more danger, but he looks enough like Arya to be safe for now, enough like Lyanna. I won't keep you informed of what I'm doing, or how I plan to do it, but you will know when it's done. Lannister will be your biggest concern, don't ride south to face them, make them come to you." He pulled Ned into a huge. "I'll leave in the morning, stay safe." Ned hugged him tightly.

"Be careful." Ned whispered. "Don't make this the last time you come and visit me."

"I'll do my best." Jon replied. "I'll do my best, and so will you."

~~/~~