"What are my family words?" Catelyn had questioned her oldest daughter, the fury plain in her eyes.
"Winter is coming," Sansa said meekly, not being able to meet her mother's eyes.
"My family words" Catelyn snapped and the girl flinched. "What are the words of House Tully?"
"Family, Duty, Honor" Sansa mumbled, lowering her head.
"Family, Duty, Honor" Catelyn repeated the words. "You have the blood of Tully's in you. You have the blood of The Starks who think of their pack before anyone else in you. Yet you do this to your own family?!"
"But mother-"
"SILENCE!" the mother's harsh words cut the daughter off. "I will talk and you will listen because your actions have brought nothing but shame to my family, your father's family and the teachings of both houses. Do you understand that? Do you understand what your actions were leading to? Did you think that telling Cersei Lannister everything you wanted to tell her would have you her favourite and she'd happily marry you off to her bastard?!"
"The Prince isn't a bastard!" Sansa argued weakly.
"And Jon Snow is my son" Catelyn spat venomously, the utterance of the boy's name alone making her angrier than she was a moment back. "You do not trust the words of your father? The man who has raised you fed you, put the clothes on your back and given you a home? The man who is ready to sacrifice everything for your safety? The man who sent you back with almost all his remaining guards just so you would be safe, forgetting the threat on his own life?!" the woman screeched.
Every word had hit Sansa where it hurt most. She did not hate her family, on the contrary, she loved them all. Even Arya Horseface as she called her younger sister was not someone she truly hated. She wanted to become Queen, it was a dream of hers.
"You are not a child anymore," Catelyn said coldly. "I will talk to your Septa about what she has been teaching you and Arya all this time that things between you two have been this frayed. Lysa and I were different as children but never in our lives were we as you two are" she stated in the same tone. "You will remain in your chambers until you are given leave by me and no one else. Am I understood?" she asked and Sansa nodded her head meekly. "I pray that in this time you have grown some sense and grow out of your childish nature. Lest I do something drastic."
A week had since passed. Jon had not been there to hear all of the conversations physically, but he'd still been there nonetheless. Sansa hadn't been let out of her room in those three days, and when she had been she had apologized to her father first and then her siblings. Jon was not included for obvious reasons. But Jon did not care about that much himself. Not when his entire attention was taken by the guests that had flocked to Winterfell.
A little over a week went by before all houses of The North had gathered to Winterfell. They all travelled light to make quick time on the journey. The raven was made to sound urgent and they all responded in likeness. The first to arrive was Lord Medger Cerwyn from Castle Cerwyn, the closest to Winterfell. And the last to arrive was Lady Lyessa Flint from Widow's Watch. The Lords and Ladies were welcomed by Lord Stark and Lady Stark, and if they were not available for some reason, it was Robb and Sansa. Sometimes Arya would come to welcome them as well, but usually, it was just the four of them. Jon watched from afar, with Ghost by his side and Brynden a little behind him. The boy's eyes hardened when he saw Roose Bolton and he had to hold himself back from doing anything rash. Ghost snarled as well, feeling his master's rage towards the man.
"His time will come" Jon promised his albino wolf.
The Lord and Ladies sat for a feast that night, one that all of them enjoyed. But the grimness in the raven they received was still fresh in their heads, so when the topic was brought up they all sobered up instantly.
"My Lords, Ladies and Masters" Ned Stark called for attention and they all quieted down. "I am happy to see all your faces on this night. I had been away for so long, it truly makes me happy. But the news I tell you tonight is not happy" the Lord of Winterfell's statement made a few men and women rumble and grumble. "In my time at The Capital, I had investigated the death of Jon Arryn, my predecessor and my foster father. And in doing so I've unearthed a secret that has cost the man his life. If I didn't have proper counsel, I'd have lost mine as well" the declaration made a few of the louder Lords make shouts of indignation and anger. "Joffrey Baratheon, Myrcella Baratheon and Tommen Baratheon are not children of Robert's! They are not Baratheons at all! They are products of incest by Cersei Lannister and her brother Jaime of The Kingsguard. Joffrey has no claim to The Iron Throne!" this declaration was met out shouts of outrage from every single Lord, Lady and Master present. Even the quieter ones put their voice of outrage in.
"And yet you have knelt before him and swore you fealty to him" Roose Bolton spoke in his usual calm tone. "If he was not worthy, why kneel?"
"I knelt, but I swore my allegiance to the True King of The Seven Kingdoms" Ned explained just as calmly.
"And who is this True King? Renly? His brother Stannis?" Ser Wyllis questioned, who was there in the stead of his father Lord Wyman Manderly.
"Both men have declared their kingship against Joffrey" Ser Wendel Manderly spoke, who had accompanied his brother.
"Neither," Ned stated and a murmur fell through the room. Some were curious as to who the man would back, while some were expecting a call for the sovereignty of The North.
"Sixteen years ago I went to Dorne to retrieve my sister alive with some of my trusted and closest friends. I came back with her dead body, my bastard son and the grief of losing most of them. But that was not the whole story" Ned explained and murmurs broke out once more, even between his family. "Sixteen years ago when I went to retrieve my sister I found her in The Tower of Joy, bedridden and bleeding. I had thought she had been killed since The Rebellion was at an end. But when I approached her, I found a different story. She told me that she was not kidnapped, that she had left on her accords. And in her arms was a bundle, a boy she had given birth to," Ned pointed to Jon who was standing at the very back of the room, his wolf at his side. "Jon Snow is not my son, but my nephew. Jon Snow is no Snow at all, nor is he a Waters or a Sand. He is Jon Targaryen, the trueborn son of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen, The True King of The Seven Kingdoms!"
The end of the declaration was met with stunned silence from everyone but Jon, Brynden and Maester Luwin. The latter of the three had been informed just that morning.
Jon strode forward as copies of the document Brynden had procured were distributed amongst the Lords, Ladies and Masters. Those gathered looked over the papers that not only declared Rhaegar and Elia's marriage annulment but also that Rhaegar and Lyanna had married in the presence of a Septon in the ways of The Seven. It also bore proof of Jon being born, or at the very least that Lyanna was with child at the time.
"You've hidden this from us all, even your wife it would seem. Why?" asked Lady Barbrey Dustin. The woman had no love for Ned Stark, not after how he had left the body of her husband in Dorne instead of bringing him back to where he belonged. She would try any means to undermine him, she had decided a long time ago.
True to her words, Catelyn was staring at Ned in shock, unable to believe what she had just heard. She looked at her husband with shock and betrayal in her eyes. Beside her, Robb was staring at Jon as he walked up to the front as if he was looking at something queer. Jon was his brother, he had always been his brother. The revelation had shaken him to the core, that Jon was his cousin and not his brother.
"The knowledge of Robert's hate for Targaryen blood is well known to us all and everyone in The Seven Kingdoms. When I saw what had been done to Rhaenys and Aegon, to Elia who were all innocent, and how Robert reacted to it, I knew that Jon would die if Robert knew. So I hid him, told no one. I had known my wife briefly and I am ashamed to admit that at that time I did not trust her. But as time went on, I have grown to trust her, to love her. She was the ideal wife for me, who shouldered my burdens with me and supported me more than anyone has ever done in all my years alive. But the threat never went away. With the birth of my children, I had realised that should Jon's secret be revealed, Robert would not hesitate to kill us all, to wipe House Stark in a fit of rage. His hate for Targaryens far surpasses his love for me and my blood. I did not want to take the chance that his spider's ears would hear us and whisper back to Robert. Which is why I kept it a secret. A secret I would have told Jon when he would become of age."
"So was it all a lie?" Greatjon Umber shouted, banging his fist on the table as a show of his demand for answers.
"I was not here when Lyanna had left. Benjen was young still and my father and brother did not listen to him when he said that Lyanna was not kidnapped. We all know what happened next. Robert believed that Lyanna was kidnapped. I was furious at the murder of my brother and father. I did not talk to Benjen about what happened that night. The war happened then and by the time Benjen had the opportunity to tell me the truth, it was already done. The Rebellion was at an end and Robert sat on the throne."
"Why should we support his claim?" Lord Rickard asked, miffed at being lied to for so many years. That too by a man he believed to be honourable enough to not lie to him. "Why should we not support one of our own and declare a Northern King?"
"You are doing just that, my Lord" Jon stepped forward this time and Ned took a step back. "It is true that my father is not Ned Stark, that I come from the line of dragons from Rhaegar Targaryen. It is also true that my mother is from The North. That through Lyanna Stark the blood of The Stark Kings flows through me. I have been raised by my uncle as one of his own alongside his children. I have been taught on the same table as Robb, I have been fed at the same table as Lord Stark's children, and I have been trained in the same manner Robb has been trained. I have been raised a Stark of Winterfell and when I stand before you it is as A Stark of Winterfell!" Jon declared, the emotion in his voice making a few of those present sway.
"Words are wind" Jon Umber declared, standing up to glare at Jon. "What's the surety that you will not turn your back to us like those who sat on that blasted throne before you?"
"Unlike those Kings, I was raised in The North" Jon answered evenly, meeting his glare with a cool look of his. "Unlike those Kings, I've lived here my whole life. I know the problems that plague The North and I have always thought about solving them in one way or the other every time I had the opportunity."
"He did send those men to The North to help with work here" Ser Wendel spoke up. He was the second son of House Manderly and never really thought himself in the capacity to do much Lording. But the introduction of those men and the opening of sub-branches of House Manderly to oversee the men that would live and work on their lands has made him somewhat happier than he used to be.
"The problem with The North is that it is vast and there aren't enough men to fully utilize it" Jon continued after Ser Wendel stopped. "By sending more men you have the opportunity to the lands you have not been able to use till now. It helps with the other problem we face, food shortage. Winter is coming and this one will be a long one. We'll need all the food we can muster. More men to work in the fields mean more food. More men mean more woodchoppers. More woodchoppers mean more income from the glorious wood in The North. With those earnings, you can build more glass gardens, and grow more food. And when winter comes none of us we'll be left struggling to meet our demands and those of the people who put their lives in our hands."
A general murmur went around as the people present began to discuss the idea. There were nods of agreement from most of them and Jon felt confident that The Northern Lords would accept his olive branch to them and trust in him.
He felt a tug on his pant leg and looked down to see Rickon standing there. "If you're a King, does that make me a prince?" the question was an innocent one. But the hall had fallen into a hush silence. Jon picked Rickon up and smiled at him.
"Of course, it does" Jon smiled wider. "You are my little brother, of course, it would make you a prince!" he declared cheerfully. "Robb is a prince, Sansa is a princess" the girl in question perked up and looked to Jon with surprise, "it makes Arya a princess and Bran a prince as well. You are my brothers and sisters, of course, you'll be royalty too!"
The words were simple enough when spoken, but the implication was not something that The Northern Lords had missed. And they appreciated it more than they showed it.
"So are you with me, my Lords, Ladies and Masters? Will you support me in my conquest of taking back The Throne that is rightfully mine and strike down anyone who dares stand in my way? To teach a lesson to those who belittle us and think of us as nothing but savages? Do you pledge your loyalty to me so I might ascend my Throne and better the realm and protect it against any kinds of threats?!"
The question was met by a roar of approval from many. The standing Lord of House Umber had been the first to bend the knee. More followed him until every last one of the people had bent their knees to him, even his family beside him.
The moment though was interrupted when the gates of The Hall burst open and Benjen Stark walked in. The Lord Commander was with him as well, and a few other black brothers that Jon recognized immediately. And with them, they had a straw basket that was shuffling and moving around.