Meant to put this in last time: Rickon has a crush on Ygritte, but that's all it is. Ygritte does not reciprocate.

Robb was not looking forward to this. The northern lords were all gathered before him, as were the riverlords. He had prepared for this for two days, but he and his brothers knew how this would go. The lords would no doubt be furious to learn the truth of who Jon was, or who was currently back in the north.

At the high table of the main hall were his family members, Jon on his right, Talisa on his left. Bran was next to Jon and Rickon sat in their mother's lap, while Catelyn was next to Talisa. Finally, his uncle Edmure was next to Catelyn. Robb noticed he was looking at Roslin Frey. There were quite a few refugees from House Frey's destruction here at Riverrun. Many were being spit on and abused. While Robb couldn't blame his lords for that, the refugees had no part in Walder's planned betrayal. He intended to address that.

Taking a deep breathe, Robb braced himself.

"My lords" he said, drawing the room's attention. "We have much to discuss. First and foremost, it is time you all knew the truth I have only recently been told.

"As I am sure you all know, my brothers were returned to us on the back of a dragon more than a week ago. First, I would like to inform you all that it would seem Theon Greyjoy's betrayal was not absolute. When he sacked Winterfell, he couldn't bring himself to kill Bran and Rickon. Instead, he burned the bodies of two farmboys to hide that he let my brothers escape. It would seem I have something to thank that traitor for." Robb said the final sentence through gritted teeth. Theon may have redeemed himself in the future, but Robb would take quite some time to truly forgive him.

"As you are also aware, Bran and Rickon were returned by my other brother, Jon. The dragon that was flown here is his."

"How is such a thing even possible?" It was the Greatjon who spoke up.

"It is possible... because Jon is not truly who you all think he is. My father lied to the entire world."

All present who hadn't known (which was most of those who were in the room) were stunned.

"My lords, my brother is, in truth, rightfully the king of Westeros. He is the son of my aunt Lyanna and her husband, Rhaegar Targaryen. His real name is Jaeheron."

Uproar followed.

LIES!

RAPE SPAWN!

It took several minutes for calm to return.

"No my lords" Robb said. "All we thought about the rebellion was a lie. My aunt was not kidnapped. She left with Rhaegar willingly. She married him on the Isle of the faces, after Rhaegar and Elia secretly annulled their marriage. While the true cause of the rebellion was the mad king killing my uncle and grandfather, the catalyst for the war was a misunderstanding. My aunt loved Rhaegar. She did not love Robert Baratheon."

Quite a few heads turned to Jaeheron. Of those, many had resentful looks. Robb noticed this.

"Your grief is not to be directed in any direction except Robert Baratheon and the mad king. The usurper spread the lie, and aerys was the one who killed my relatives. As for my father, he took my brother as his bastard to keep him safe. My aunt feared the usurper would do what the mountain Gregor Clegane did to his half siblings Rhaenys and Aegon."

"So what does this mean" a riverlord shouted. "Did Lord Stark plan to seat your 'cousin' on the throne?"

"He is my brother" Robb said. "No matter whose son Jaeheron may be, he is my brother."

"But you still have yet to answer. Are we to bend to the dragons again?"

"Not in the way you are thinking." Jaeheron drew all eyes. "I have no desire to pursue the throne. However, I am an ally of his grace. I will not tolerate any disrespect, and I won't hesitate to punish those who do so towards myself or any of my family."

"So you already demand from us." It was Lord Glover who had spoken up. "Your dragonspawn arrogance is showing."

Jaeheron glared at the northman with a combination of anger and mockery. "Your own is as well. We both know, Robbett Glover, that I merely wounded your pride. Reign it in before you do something you'll come to regret."

Glover looked like Jon just spat on him. "You... how dare you!"

"I dare! You would let the north, the world, crumble around you for the sake of your stubborn pride!"

Glover was now red in the face. "I should expect nothing less from the son of the whore who plunged the kingdoms into war because she didn't know her place! Do you know how many northerners fell in that war, all for her?! Now you tell us they died because she couldn't accept marrying someone she didn't love! That selfish wolf cu..."

The mad rant was cut off by thunderous rage and what felt like an earthquake. The whole keep shook. Suddenly, the light in the room dimmed. Looking up, they saw a reptilian head in the window. Rhaegal the dragon let out another roar and drew his head back, mouth agape and light emitting from his throat. The entire room braced... but it did not attack. Indeed, Rhaegal closed his maw and continued staring.

Suddenly, a cry of agony was heard. Robb turned to the center and saw Jaeheron and Lord Glover. The lord was bent over his table. Jaeheron stood above him with a dagger. It took Robb a moment to realize the dagger was... in Lord Glover's tongue.

Jaeheron held Glover by the hair with a fury that Robb didn't recognize. His eyes widened as Jaeheron started to saw at the lord's tongue with the dagger. The crowd was too stunned or scared to do anything but stare. Finally, another cry of pain. Jaeheron stood back, and Lord Glover held the now two flaps of his tongue in his hand.

"Every snake's tongue is forked, Robbett. Now you are no exception. Next time you insult either of my parents, it will be your genitals that get cut in half!"

The pained look in Lord Glover's eyes said it all: there would be no more insults from him.

"Let this be a lesson to you ALL! Lord Glover got off easy. I will NOT put up with your foolish pride, so swallow it or you will answer to not just me, but Rhaegal!"

Jaeheron returned to his seat at the table. All in the room were staring warily. Even Robb felt some apprehension. Not only had his brother usurped his authority in this, but now he was threatening violence against their people. Robb wanted to confront Jaeheron, but now was not the time.

Robb continued to explain to the northern lords the new reality they had to accept. Jaeheron's letting the wildlings through the wall did not sit well with them, but they didn't object anywhere near as much as Robb expected. Robb would have liked to think it was that they understood the threat these white walkers posed, but he knew better. The lords were scared, but not of the others: they were scared of Jaeheron. More specifically, they were scared of his dragon. Not even traditional enemies at their door step could coax rage from a northman when they thought a dragon was threatening to incinerate them if they so much as made a sound of objection. Also, Robb could tell many didn't believe in the others, not even amongst the northerners. He had a suspicion many would only do so if they saw them for themselves.

With the northern and riverlords cowed, the meeting passed by rather quickly. Robb made it clear they would deal with any transgressions the wildlings committed once the war with the Lannisters was over. For their peace of mind, he would send a small force under the command of Rodrick Forrester to assess the status of the north. Jaeheron had suggested letting Rhaegal and him finishing off Tywin's armies, or at least enough so that there would still be people to aid them in the future. Even the angriest of the northern lords had been supportive of this. Robb agreed to let Jaeheron perform a limited raid on Tywin's closest army. Perhaps unleashing a dragon on his men would cow even the old lion of Casterly Rock. The assembly ended shortly after that.

As the lords left the room, quite a few cast parting glares at Jaeheron. Robb couldn't help but feel uneasy. Was this truly the way to deal with insubordinate underlings? Scare them into submission?

"Robb" Jaeheron said. "I apologize. I should have let you handle Lord Glover. I just couldn't let those insults pass." He sounded genuinely sorry.

"I'll let it slide today. However, that is not the issue I have. Was it truly necessary to threaten them? To imply you would let that dragon..."

"Robb" Jaeheron interrupted. "I've dealt with their stubbornness in my time. I know what they're willing to do if they are given a choice they don't like. They made you their king. That means doing things that will occasionally make them upset. When that happens, you need to firmly put them in their places."

"So why did... never mind. You already apologized."

Jaeheron smiled, bowed, and left.

"What happened" Robb thought. "Why are you like this?" He turned towards Bran.

"Bran, what is going on? This isn't the brother..."

"Robb" Bran said. Unless he was mistaken, there was a hint of emotion in Bran's voice: sadness. "I'm not sure if I'm the right one to discuss that. Our brother has suffered quite a lot. He has also faced too much betrayal from those he trusts. I fear he would feel that again if the truth was told by me, not him."

"Then all that can be done is hope that he will tell me soon. I fear I lost one of my brothers all over again."

Bran

It was two days later and Bran was now almost to the red keep. The sparrow he had warged into had just finished drinking from a puddle in the godswoods. He was headed towards the small council's chamber. If Bran suspected correctly, Tywin's spies would have sent word to him by now about the truth of who Jon was. The news of the attack on the Twins had no doubt already reached him. Now Bran intended to see what their old foe would do.

As he approached, Bran saw through the eyes of the sparrow a head perched on a spike. As he neared it, he saw whose head it was: the spider's. There was not enough of the old Bran in him to be surprised, but he was intrigued. What happened here?

Flying straight from the door to the patio, the bird landed amongst the room's rafters. Inside he saw Tywin, alone. Had he come too late?

The door to the hallway was opened, and through it came the man who served as hand to multiple rulers in his time: Tyrion. Bran hadn't seen him since shortly before he had drank himself to death following the revelation of what he had done to Daenerys.

"Father, would you care to explain why we're missing a spymaster?"

Tywin responded with much anger. "Your nephew saw fit to have him beheaded."

"And why did vicious idiot do so? What had he done?"

"Joffrey was under the impression that the spider had been covering for Lord Stark."

"How could he think that?"

Tywin motioned Tyrion towards one of the chairs. "The council recently received some rather disturbing news. We have all but lost the war."

Tyrion's eyes widened. "HOW?!"

"Robb Stark, it seems, has a new ally. His bastard brother has arrived and is reinforcing the northern forces."

"I know the boy. I traveled with him to the wall. His being there makes him a deserter to the night's watch."

"No one will care about that now."

"Why?"

"Because the boy is not the bastard of the now late Lord Eddard Stark. Stark played us all! This whole time the truth was right before the eyes of all of Westeros and I missed it!"

"Father, what are you talking about?"

"The boy you went to the wall with is not Lord Stark's son, he is his nephew. Apparently Lord Stark found more than his sister at the Tower of Joy in Dorne."

Bran could tell Tyrion figured it out. The look of amazement on the dwarf's face was all he needed to confirm that.

"Lord Stark... By the gods! How did I miss that?! How did Robert miss that?! It was SO OBVIOUS!"

"A trueborn nephew it would seem. Apparently Rhaegar and Lyanna had been married."

"Even better!" Tyrion seemed gleeful. "Oh, to see the look on Robert's face if he were still here. He'd probably keel over. His name will be remembered as a fool who fought a war for a woman who didn't want him."

"I'm so glad you see some humor in this" Tywin said sarcastically. "This means our family are usurpers. If only THAT was all."

"What more could be worse?"

Tywin took a deep breathe. "I had planned to ambush the northern army at the Twins when they were attending Edmure Tully's wedding to Roslin Frey. Lords Frey and Bolton were to wipe them out. But..."

"Hold on!" Tyrion looked appalled. "You intended to have them slaughtered like that?! At a wedding?! I'm all for cheating in war, but that is going too far!"

"SHUT UP! Platitudes and morals were never something I cared for and you know it! If it stopped the war, it would work!"

"So why didn't it? You can't tell me Robb has the power of foresight?"

"No... at least I don't think so. What he does have is a cousin. And his cousin has a fully grown dragon."

For once in his life, the dwarf seemed too stunned to talk for a moment. "A dragon?"

"Yes. Nor just that, but he destroyed the Twins. House Frey is half dead, and the Boltons are extinct. Somehow, the Targaryen knew of my plans. He warned Robb Stark of the traitor."

"How?! How could he know?!"

"I don't know, but Joffrey was convinced the spider betrayed us ages ago. He thought Lord Stark only kept the boy a secret with his help. That is why he ordered the execution."

"Not even he would have done that." Tyrion stopped briefly. "Well, it looks like we're done for. A dragon in the hands of our enemies. Nothing we have can stop that. They also seem to be able to predict a future threat. What, did the gods decide to interfere? Is that how the boy knew? And we have you to blame for this."

Tywin looked at his son with murderous rage. "What does that mean?"

"Well, if the gods truly are on our enemies' side, the only conclusion I can think of is they chose to be so to stop your plan of sacrilege. Congratulations! Not even dear grandpapa Tytos messed up that badly."

Tywin looked ready to throttle the dwarf. But for once, he was unable to speak.

Bran thought he saw enough. He was about to return to his body when he felt... something. Due to sparrows being smaller than people, they had less time to digest what they consumed.

"Why not" he thought. Repositioning the bird, he released.

Tywin let out a roar of rage as piss rained down on him.

Tywin

"Its not fair" he thought.

Tywin was dressed for bed. His robe laid out on the chair in the tower of the hand. But sleep would not come easy tonight. As if a war was the least of the problems he had. Joffrey' instability, new enemies, disrespect from a bird!

Worst of all, he still did not know the way this Targaryen had thwarted his carefully laid trap. It wasn't possible! All the reports of him had said he was at the wall. How could someone on the other end of the continent have learned about his plans?

Not even Tytos messed up that badly.

Tyrion's insult had caused something to snap. His father's blunders had crippled the reputation of the Lannisters. To be compared to that...

His thoughts came to a stop.

Was that... laughter he heard? Where was it coming from?

Getting up from his bed, Tywin looked around the room. After checking, he found not a single person except himself here.

"Maybe I'm just hearing things."

Returning to bed, he rolled and tried to fall asleep.

"Victory was in my grasp."

Longer chapter than usual.

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