JON

Jon followed lord Reed out of the hall. "Let´s talk in your room, more privacy." The older man stated. Jon nodded and lead him to the room that had been assigned to him by lord Manderly.

As they entered, Jon saw Ghost laying on the floor with Oberon snuggled close to him. Soon the pale green dragon would be too big to snuggle against the direwolf. The other three dragons had made themselves comfortable in front of the fireplace.

"I never thought that I would see a dragon in my life." The Lord of Greywater Watch said with his voice filled with wonder. "What are their names?"

"The green one is Oberon, the silver and gold is Umbriel, the red, golden and black one is Charon and the blue one is Sycorax." The dragons were so tired after the day that they didn't even stir from their sleep.

Jon gestured for the man to sit in the chair by the table and sat himself on the other chair that was closer to the fireplace. After coming back from the dead, Jon had grown fond of high temperatures that others would have found unbearable.

Lord Reed pulled a small leather-bound journal from his pocket, along with a few letters that looked like official documents.

"I had thought that Ned would have told you about your mother long before now." The older man´s eyes were filled with sadness and grief as he said that. "But perhaps I should start at the beginning."

Jon sat straighter in his chair in anticipation of finally hearing about his mother.

"It started at Harrenhall, I was being bullied by some squires and lady Lyanna came to my defense. The Starks were very kind to me and gave me clean clothes to wear and let me stay with them for the remainder of the tourney." He stopped for a moment, he seemed so sad taking about those days.

"There were rumors that the crown prince was using the tourney to gather support to overthrow his father, Aerys was getting more and more erratic and mad and a lot of the lords wanted to get rid of him. But when Aerys showed up at the tourney, all those plans must have gone out the window." Jon couldn't help but to wonder what it would have been like for the seven kingdoms if Rhaegar´s scheme had worked the way he had planned.

"Now, as you know, the crown prince went past his wife and crowned Lyanna the queen of love and beauty." Jon nodded at that, in the history books that moment was described as the moment when all smiles died.

"But what you probably don't know is that Rhaegar crowned her because she had participated in the tourney itself, as the mystery knight. She was defending my honor and knocked the squires of their horses to teach them a lesson in humility." This was a shock for Jon. Lyanna Stark, the rose of Winterfell had competed in the tourney of Harrenhall. He was amazed at this revelation, apparently Lyanna had been just like Arya. Jon could see his little sister doing that for a friend.

"Rhaegar apparently found out and helped her escaped from Aerys´s men. The king had declared that they mystery knight was no friend of his, and he was supposed to be caught. After that they started to meet in secret, Rhaegar and Lyanna and they fell in love. Soon after Elia gave birth to prince Aegon, and Elia and Rhaegar found out that she couldn't have more children." Jon knew this, it was common knowledge that the princess couldn't have children after prince Aegon.

"Then the news came that Rhaegar and Lyanna had disappeared and no one knew where they were. Rickard and Brandon Stark seemed convinced that she had been kidnapped. But there were others that weren't so sure. There were rumors flying around that they had run away together. Then Aerys burned Rickard alive and had Brandon strangle himself, trying to reach him as you well know." Yes, Jon was very familiar with this, the act that had really started the rebellion. Most people say that Rhaegar had started the rebellion by taking Lyanna, but a lot of people seem to forget that the kingdoms would never have gone to war for a woman, even as important as Lyanna Stark was, if she had in fact been kidnapped, it wasn't enough to go to war.

However, if the king murdered a lord paramount and his heir, that would cause a war to break out. Jon supposed that it was more poetic that Rhaegar had started a war for his lady Lyanna, rather than Aerys burning and strangling people.

"You most likely know most of what happened in the rebellion, Ned wrote to me several times and told me how you seemed dedicated to read every book in the library before you turned thirteen." Lord Howland grinned at him. Jon knew alright, he knew that Tywin Lannister had waited until he was certain about who would win, when he threw his lot with the rebels. He knew that Tywin had ordered the death of Elia and her children, so that it would be easier for him to maneuver his daughter into the role of the queen. It didn't take a genius to figure out his plans.

Jon also knew about the fight that had happened between Robert and Lord Stark. All the books said that they had only managed to reconcile after the death of Lyanna.

But now the man had turned sad. The grief seemed to take over his whole being. "Then after the fight with Robert, Ned went to break the siege of Strom´s End, there we heard that Lyanna was being kept in the Tower of Joy, a few of us went with him. There we found three of the kingsguard, Ser Gerold Hightower, Ser Oswell Whent and Ser Arthur Dayne. We fought and Ser Arthur would have killed Ned if I hadn't stabbed him from behind." Jon said nothing, he had felt something was amiss with the story of Ned Stark besting Ser Arthur. Ned Stark was a capable swordsman, but he was no sword of the morning. Jon also remembered when Bronze Yohn Royce had come to Winterfell with his son, so that the young man could take the black. The lord of Runestone had defeated the lord of Winterfell in a spar. Jon doubted that if Ned had bested Ser Arthur, Bronze Yohn couldn't have defeated him.

The lord of Runestone was renowned as a military commander, not as a great swordsman.

"We found Lyanna in the tower, she was dying from a birthing fever. She made Ned promise to keep you save from Robert." There it was, the confirmation that he was the son of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar. "She had just enough time to name you and direct us to these documents." Lord Howland pointed at the letters that he had set on the table.

"These documents are a proof that Rhaegar and Lyanna were married, and that the High Septon had given his permission for Rhaegar to have a second wife on the grounds that Elia couldn't have more children. There is also an official document from Elia Martell, that she knew and approved of the arrangement." This baffled Jon, Elia Martell had given her consent of this arrangement?

Jon had thought himself prepared for this, but he could feel that in this moment, he was not. He could feel a wet nose bump into his hand. Jon looked at Ghost, who had risen and walked over to him. The enormous direwolf looked at him with his intelligent red eyes and laid his head in Jon´s lap. The white direwolf always knew how to drag him from his thoughts.

The smaller man pushed a letter to Jon. "This document was supposed to be an announcement of your birth. But as Robert was crowned king, your parentage could obviously not be declared for all to know. Nor could you keep the name your mother wanted you to have, Ned had to give you a new one to hide you from Robert." Jon looked at the document. He could see the name that his mother had wanted to give him.

Aenar Targaryen, the prince of Dragonstone.

Jon just stared at his name. This was the name his mother had wanted him to have? The name of the first Targaryen of Dragonstone. Aenar the exile.

Howland

As he left the room that was inhabited by the rightful king of the seven kingdoms, Howland couldn't help but to wonder, what had Eddard been thinking.

Eddard Stark had been a good friend to Howland, but now Howland couldn't help but to wonder what his plans had been for Jon, or Aenar as his mother had wanted to name him. He didn't want to slander a man long dead and gone, but had he ever planned to tell the young man of his heritage?

Would Eddard ever have raised his banners for Jon to take back what was taken from him? If Howland was honest with himself, he would have to say no. He doubted that Ned would have gone against Robert, but if he had to choose between Jon and Robert who would he have chosen?

The man who was like a brother to him and had condoned the murder of babes and women or the boy he had raised as his own? Howland hoped with all his heart that Ned would have chosen Jon. The young man would make a lot better king than the fat king Robert, as he was called behind his back. The man was famous for his wide girth and his lust for food, wine and women. Howland doubted that Jon would fall to the same vises as the usurper.

Howland had his doubts that Robert had fought in the rebellion just because Lyanna had been taken. He wasn't alone in his suspicions, there were many who thought that the lord of Storm´s End had wanted the throne just as much as he had wanted Lyanna. The way Robert had hunted down all the Targaryens he could, was strong evidence to support this theory, but as the man was dead and couldn't be asked, this was all this would be, a theory.

Jojen had told him that this moment would come before he had left Greywater Watch to find Brandon Stark. That Howland would have to meet the son of his friend, Lyanna and tell him the truth of his parentage.

Howland could still remember the last time he would ever see his son alive. Jojen had looked so determined to do his duty for the world, how could Howland do anything less? Howland had a duty to uphold and he had to see the son of Lyanna Stark crowned the king of the seven kingdoms. It was Jon´s destiny to unite the seven kingdoms, but if he didn't, they had no chance against the Others that were gaining strength from beyond the wall.

The first part was now done, he had told the king of his parentage, and now Howland had to talk the Northern lords into following Jon as the son of Rhaegar and Lyanna. Though Howland doubted that it would be that hard.

The lords of the North were impressed with Jon. Not only had he defended the Wall against thousands of Wildlings, he had managed to make peace with them afterwards and get at least three thousand to fight for him and house Stark to help take back Winterfell. Sure, the lords hated the Wildlings, but the ones that hated them the most were saying that the Others were back and that the King and Lady Sansa had proof of it. And they would rather be fighting beside the Wildlings, than be fighting for the dead.

They also thirsted for vengeance against the Lannisters and the Freys along with the Boltons. The Freys and Lannisters had just as much a part in the demise of King Robb as the Boltons. Without the Lannisters, the other two houses wouldn't have dared to move against the young wolf.

Crowning the person who had the best claim on the iron throne would be a blow to the Lannisters. Robert Baratheon had been crowned because he had a grandmother who had been a Targaryen, which had given him the best claim on the iron throne, as long as no one with the name Targaryen came along. And now Jon had the Targaryen name and he was the son of Rhaegar which gave him a better claim than anybody else living.

There was the small problem of the boy Aegon Targaryen, who had landed in the Stormlands, but his son, Jojen had assured him that the boy was not they son of Elia Martell and he had no proof that he was. Thank the gods.

Jon on the other hand had proof of who he was and his dragons. The Targaryen pretender was also undermining himself by hiring the golden company. The sellsword company was famous for its hatred of Targaryens and for supporting Blackfyres.

The Wull and the Flint had cornered Howland just before the feast. They had wanted to talk to him about the king's mother and who she really was. Howland had told them that they would talk after Howland had informed Jon of the identity of his mother.

That seemed to pacify them for now, but Howland knew that as soon as they saw him now, they would pounce. Howland was on his way back to the great hall now, he had to get this over with.

Now was the time to reveal the secret of the king´s parentage once and for all. Most of the lords suspected that Jon had the blood of the dragon in him, and some like lord Manderly and the Wull and the Flint, most likely suspected that he was the son of Rhaegar and Lyanna.

Lord Manderly was one of the shrewdest man Howland had ever come across in his life and the leaders of the mountain clans were very smart themselves. Howland also knew that Lady Sansa suspected the truth. For someone so young, she was hard to read.

But he had seen that she cared for the king, and that she would stand beside him when it came to it. Howland was sure that Jon would need her before the end.

Howland had left the journal of his dear friend, Lyanna with her son, but he had taken the documents with him after the king had looked them over. They weighted heavy in his pocket, but not as heavy as the object in his other pocket that Howland had not showed King Jon.

Soon Howland would present the king with it, but right now was not the time, first he had to get the lords of the north to declare for king Jon.

SANSA

Jon and lord Reed had been gone for some time and Sansa was getting worried for Jon. Not for the first time this evening she thought to herself that she should have gone with Jon and the lord of Greywater Watch. To be there for Jon, but she knew that she couldn't. This was something that Jon had to do alone, and she was needed here, to converse with the lords.

Sansa also didn't want the lords thinking that Jon needed his hand held for every little thing, and they would have thought that if she had gone with him. The lords needed to see Jon and herself as pillars of strength in these trying times.

The lords at this moment were talking loudly about the next course of action. All gathered in the hall agreed on that the Boltons needed to go.

"I would like to know how Lord Snow got his dragons?" Lord Hornwood had stood up and was shouting over the crowd. "They say that only Targaryens can hatch dragons, so I would be very interested to know how he performed such a feat."

Now Sansa was getting worried, but she didn't let it show. This statement had brought silence to the hall. But then the Liddle stood up.

"Who in the seven hells cares how he did it." His deep voice echoed of the stone walls. "I am just glad that he has dragons so that we can survive the long night when it comes, and hopefully after, we can make the Lannisters and the Freys pay for what they have done." This was met with cheers from the gathered Lords. If Sansa had to guess on who was more hated in the north, the Lannisters and the Freys or the Others, she would have to guess the Lannisters and Freys.

This made the lord of Hornwood scoff. The Liddle turned red with anger at being disregarded and they were soon shouting at one another, which of course drew the others into the shouting match with them.

Ser Davos, who had been sitting beside her quietly for some time, leaned over to her and whispered. "I think this is getting out of hand, milady." She agreed with his there.

Before Sansa could take charge of the gathering, a voice broke through the shouting.

"My lords, my I speak for a moment." Sansa hadn't noticed Lord Reed´s return. He had returned to the hall and somehow entered without anyone noticing. Sansa noticed that Jon wasn't with him and that worried her. Was Jon alright? What had happened?

She didn't have time to worry about Jon, because the Flint started to speak.

"Lord Reed, can you shed light on why Jon Snow has dragons?"

The small man nodded. "Yes, indeed I can, I shall tell you the tale, but I have to insist that you all listen without interrupting me while I do so." Sansa looked around and saw that the lords didn't look happy with that ultimatum, but they non the less complied.

Lord Reed was a good storyteller, that was for sure. He wove the story of the tourney of Harrenhall and the rebellion so that every person in the hall was enraptured with the tale. The tragic tale of Rhaegar and Lyanna had most of the ladies in tears but Sansa only felt sadness for Jon for never having known his parents.

Lord Reed produced letters out of his pocket and handed it first to Lord Manderly to read, who passed it down to the others so they could verify the authenticity of the documents. Sansa didn't need the letters to know the truth. When Sansa heard Lord Reed tell the entire hall that Jon´s parents had married on the isle of faces, she knew that it was the truth.

When lord Reed was done with his tale, the hall was silent. Everyone had believed that Rhaegar had kidnapped Lyanna and raped her. That had been the truth for the last twenty years but now they were being told that it had been a lie.

They had even seen the proof that Elia Martell had known about Rhaegar marrying another woman and she had approved of it.

"My lords." The crannogman continued. "I firmly believe that we are best served by throwing our support behind Jon of house Targaryen. I believe that he is the man to lead us through the long night."

Lord Reed had barely finished speaking when Lord Robett Glover spoke up. "He is a Targaryen, Lord Reed. Don't you remember what his grandfather did to Rickard Stark? I say we crown Rickon as the king in the north. He is the trueborn son of Eddard Stark."

This made Sansa see red. how dare he use her grandfather as argument to dissuade the other lords to support Jon, and how dare he liken Jon to the mad king? Jon was nothing like him.

"My lords." Sansa made sure that her voice was firm as steel. "My father loved Jon like his own son. Jon and my brother Robb may have been cousins, but they were as close as any brothers should be and my brother Rickon is a child and cannot lead us against the Others." She knew that it would be a good idea to mention lord Eddard and their chosen king and how much they loved Jon to endear him to the lords.

"Jon was the first to start gathering men to help me take back Winterfell, I didn't even have to ask. He has always dedicated himself to house Stark and the north, and this is how you repay him lord Robett? By comparing him to the mad king? Jon died for the north. And then he came back to continue to fight for it." The Glover heir had the decency to look ashamed of himself.

"My lords, I would have us support Jon of houses Targaryen and Stark, and not just because he has the best claim on the iron throne, but because I know he will always fight for us and he would do us proud as King."

"Aye, I agree with Lady Sansa, I don't care who his sire was, he was raised by Eddard Stark and I know that Ned made damn sure that Jon Targaryen followed the old ways, the ways of the north." The Wull had stood up and was throwing his fist in the air. This was followed by more cheers.

"I would like to know what the lady of Storm´s End thinks of this." Lord Robett had clearly not given up. What on earth did he have against Jon?

All eyes turned to Shireen Baratheon. The young girl was looking a little nervous at being the center of attention, but she recovered quickly.

"I will support my cousin Jon Targaryen, and as the only living Baratheon and the lady of Storm´s End I recognize no other king but Jon Targaryen." This statement was met with cheers from all sides of the hall. Sansa could see the pride in Ser Davos´s eyes as he looked at the lady of Storm´s End.

Lord Robett looked like he was sucking on a dornish lemon, he had probably expected Shireen to push for herself to be crowned queen instead of Jon. Sansa would have to keep an eye on Robett Glover, she didn't like how he seemed to be pushing for anyone but Jon to be crowned.

This behavior made Sansa wary of the man. Sansa looked at Ser Davos beside her. The knight seemed to be thinking the same thing.

JON

He didn't know how long he had been sitting in front of the fireplace with Umbriel in his lap. He had been thinking about the news that Lord Reed had brought him.

Sansa had been right, of course she had been. She was one of the most, if not the most intelligent person Jon had ever met.

Jon was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that he was a trueborn, when he had lived his life as a bastard. But Jon was very grateful that Sansa had told him, her suspicions about his parentage, so that he had time to assimilate to the change in his life, he didn't want to think about what it would have been like to have no warning and have all this information just dumped on him.

He couldn't help the resentment he felt at his uncle, Lord Eddard. Why could he just not tell him before Jon decided to go to the wall? Had he wanted Jon to take his vows before he found out that he had the best claim on the throne? So, that Jon couldn't try to take it back? He didn't want to believe that it was the case, but it wasn't looking very good for Lord Eddard. But the man was dead, and Jon would never know what he had planned for him.

He was brought out of his thoughts by a knock on his door. Jon called for the person to enter. Jon had to admit that he was a little surprised to see Ser Davos enter the room.

"The lords would like to see you." Jon raised an eyebrow at that. Had lord Reed decided to tell them of his heritage? That thought made his stomach drop.

Jon stood up and started to walk out the door when he noticed that the dragons and Ghost were following him. He stopped for a moment to contemplate if he should bring them, if lord Reed had told them that he was the trueborn son of Rhaegar and Lyanna, the dragons could be a boon. The lords knew that the Others were coming and more than half of them had seen the proof with their very own eyes, and they knew that dragons would help them win against the dead.

And if someone attacked him, they could defend him long enough to reach Sansa and get her out of here and to safety.

So, Jon decided to bring them with him to the hall. The walk felt longer that it should have felt like. He felt that he was walking to his death.

When they arrived at the hall, the door was opened for them. Jon didn't like the silence that had filled the hall, it wasn't usual for a hall to be filled with northern lords and for it to be silent. Jon walked to the middle of the hall and waited.

The only thing that kept Jon calm was the fact that Ghost was feeling at ease and Sansa giving him a small, encouraging smile. Her eyes seemed to shine with happiness as she stood along with the other lords all around him.

Lord Reed approached him, and took a stance beside Jon. He was holding something in his hands that was covered with a black and red cloth.

There was silence for a short moment, but then to his side Jon heard a sword being drawn from its scabbard. Jon looked and saw that it had been the Flint of the mountain clans. The sound was followed by all the other lords drawing their swords. They stood there like statues with their swords drawn and by their sides and waited for something.

Lord Reed cleared his throat before he spoke. "All hail, King Jon of house Targaryen, the first of his name, the king of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the first men, lord of the seven kingdoms, protector of the realm, defender of the faith, the last dragon, the white wolf, the undying and father of dragons." While he had been speaking, he had unveiled what he had been holding in his hands. It was a crown made of valyrian steel with square rubies inlaid in it. The crown of Aegon the conqueror.

Jon was staring at the man beside him in shock, of all the things that Jon had expected to happen, this was not one of them. The smaller man put the crown of Aegon the dragon on Jon´s head. When the crown was on safely on his head the smaller man backed away.

"Long may he reign."

"LONG MAY HE REIGN." All the lords of the north shouted so loudly that Jon was sure that he would go deaf.

Then, as one the lords of the North knelt.