JON

Jon stared at the maester and the older man´s words echoed around in his head as he tried his best to grasp their meaning. The candle on the table flickered making the old man in front of him look even older as the light deepened his wrinkles and made his bald head shine.

The maester´s unseeing eyes stared right pasted his head as the man waited for the answer to his unexpected question.

Jon opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out as he tried to find the right words to say.

Jon had been battling with the guilt of not being able to say anything to his paternal uncle, as he didn't have any proof other than his dragons that he was the son of Rhaegar, and he knew that for their safety, he could reveal them yet.

They may have been growing faster than before and Jon had an extreme amount of control over them, as he could warg into them now at will, but as it had been proved in his last life, dragons weren't immortal, and they could be hurt.

He could still remember the Night king shooting down Viserion with a single spear, and he could still feel the hurt in his heart when he had heard the news that Rhaegal had been killed by Eurion Greyjoy.

Jon looked back at the old maester, who was still waiting patiently for an answer. "You know." Jon said in a tired tone, if the maester knew about the army of the dead and the Others, he must know about what happened afterwards, how Jon had killed the man´s niece, turning Jon into a kinslayer.

"Yes," The maester´s frail voice sounded throughout the library and Jon could see the sadness in his milky white eyes. "I have been made aware." Jon knew that the man had heard that Jon had been the one to kill Daenerys, it only took one look at the man in front of him to realize that.

"I won't apologize," Jon said in a firm tone, maybe it was insensitive to say that, but he knew that he had done the right thing. Daenerys had intended to go around the world and impose not only her will and rules on people but to kill all those who stood in her way to do it, and that wasn't something he could allow her to do. "I would kill her again if I had to."

Jon knew that it was a real possibility that the man would hate him for killing Daenerys, she was his niece after all, and it would crush Jon to know that the older man hated him. Maester Aemon had been one of the men that had influenced Jon the most, the older man along with Sam had made him see the error of his ways when Jon had thought that it was beneath him to act as Jeor Mormont´s steward.

But the older man´s hate for him was something that he would have to life with if it came to it, Jon knew that it wasn't ideal to have killed Daenerys himself, but Jon wasn't the sort to have others do his killing for him, and it was his duty to make sure that his aunt wouldn't hurt anyone else.

The maester was silent for a moment, as he pondered on Jon´s words. "It seems that you have taken my words to heart." There was no hate in the older man´s voice, no anger or blame, only curiosity.

Jon stared at the man in front of him. Yes, Jon had taken the man´s words to heart, before he had decided on killing Daenerys, he had quoted the maester´s words to Tyrion in the smaller man´s cell. Love is the death of duty.

But had he really loved Daenerys? He wasn't so sure anymore, perhaps in the long run it didn't really matter if he had loved her or not, he was sure that he didn't love her anymore at least.

He knew in his heart that no matter what happened in the future, he would not be with her ever again, just the very thought of having to be in the same room as her, made him uncomfortable.

"Aye, I took all your words to heart." Jon replied to the older man, if the man decided to hate him for what he had done, it was a price that Jon would have to pay for making the world just a little bit safer. "Do you hate me, uncle?" Jon half whispered, dreading the answer as he stared back at the table, not wanting to look the man in the eyes.

He could faintly hear the other Targaryen adjust in his chair, but Jon looked up when he felt the man´s soft hand brush against his cheek. The maester took his cheek and made Jon look at him and there was a firmness in his unseeing pale eyes that Jon remembered seeing when he had told Jon of how his vows had been tested in the rebellion.

"I do not hate you nephew; I could never hate you." The man said firmly, and Jon could hardly believe his own ears. Jon could feel his own eyes burn with unshed tears that wanted to fall, but he willed them away.

"You don't?"

"No, of course not, it only pains me that you were the one that had to do it." His uncle Aemon sent him a sad but reassuring smile, and Jon could feel a weight lift of his shoulders that he hadn't really notice there before.

The old maester let go of his cheek and he let his hand fall back to the table before he spoke again. "I was shown what happened," He sounded so tired as he spoke and so old and frail. "I was shown what she did to the capitol, and how she finished what her father started."

Sadness lay over the room like a blanket, before the maester spoke again. "Dragons are the great grief and glory of our house, never forget that Jon." His voice was firm as steel and his unseeing eyes pinned him down, making it impossible for Jon to move if he wanted to. "They can be used to do wonderous things, or terrible."

The old maester´s words rang true in Jon´s mind, he was all too aware of the terrible thing's dragons could do, he was reminded of it every night as he was transported back to the burning of King´s Landing. But he was also aware of the wonderous things that dragons were capable off, like helping fight against the dead and helping their riders fly.

Flying on the back of a dragon was the most incredible experience that he had ever had, and he looked forward to being able to do so again. But that brought a question to his mind.

"Uncle," Jon started and looked into the other man´s unseeing eyes. "Do you know how the dragon riders of old knew which dragon they would ride?"

It had been bothering Jon for some time now, as he had no preference to any one of the dragons that he had hatched. It was clear that Daenerys had preferred Drogon to his siblings, and Jon had his suspicions that it was become he was so alike in color to Balerion the black dread, and the fact that she had believed that Drogon was the dread come again.

His uncle looked thoughtful for a moment. "To be truthful I don't know," Those words made his heart sink to his stomach, he had hoped that his uncle had some wisdom about dragon riders to share. "The Targaryen´s who hatched dragons bounded with those dragons that they hatched, but I am not so sure how the riders bounded with those already hatched."

That didn't answer his question at all, the three dragons in question had all been hatched by him, and the only other person that had hatched more than one dragon was Daenerys and it had been clear that she preferred Drogon over the others.

But Jon didn't prefer one over the others, he knew in his heart that if anything happened to anyone of them, he would be heartbroken. No matter how Sansa teased him how the dragons were his children, to Jon it was more like they were all a part of him rather than his children.

It was more like his relationship with Ghost, the albino direwolf had been a part of him as well like the dragons were now. Jon just hoped that he could have his old friend by his side once again.

He was started out of his thoughts by the old maester´s voice. "Are you worried about your dragons?" Jon had kind of figured that the man knew that Jon had dragons when he had said those words about dragons being their grief and glory, so he wasn't that surprised by his words.

When Jon confirmed his words, it made the older man smile happily at him. "When I was told that you had hatched three dragons back into the world, I could hardly believe it."

Jon knew that maester Aemon had thought like many others that Daenerys had been the prince that was promised because she had hatched dragons from stone, but for some reason it rang hollow for Jon to be thought of as some promised prince, even though the Stranger had confirmed it that Jon was indeed that promised prince. He didn't feel like a figure from a prophesy, he felt like a kid who was in way over his head.

"When I was told I had to hatched them, I could barely believe it myself." Jon said with a small smile, he missed Algernon, Illyrion and Earendil. Being on the road meant that he couldn't spend any time with them as they were still hiding in the Wolfswood, and not spending time with them was hard on Jon.

"Yes," The maester said. "I was told that you were always supposed to have the eggs, but they had been stolen from the crypts by someone working for Brynden Rivers."

Jon confirmed his words with a sigh. Now that he had the dragons, he couldn't imagine life without them.

Even now, with them in the Wolfswood close to Winterfell, and him here at Castle Black, he could feel them in his mind, ever present and there for him, giving him strength.

"Why is it that you are asking me how the dragon riders of old chose their dragons?" The old maester asked and Jon could hear the curiosity in his voice.

"With Daenerys, it was clear that she preferred Drogon, the black dragon over the others, and she always rode that dragon." Jon said as he looked back into the small flame of the candle that was still flickering on the table. "But I don't have that preference, I love them all the same and prefer not one over the other."

The fear of him not riding any of the dragons crept into his gut, it was a dreadful feeling, that doubt that he would ever again fly through the air on the back of a dragon.

"Humm, and you are worried that maybe you will not bond with them like the dragon riders of old?" The maester asked him.

"Well, I have already bonded with them as I can warg into them, but I am not sure if I will ride them if I don't have a preference." He tried his best to keep his doubt out of his voice, but he failed miserably as that doubt could be heard plain as day.

The old maester rubbed his chin as he thought on Jon´s words. "That is interesting, warging is where you enter the minds of animals, correct?" The old maester asked.

Jon confirmed his words, and the older man continued. "I have never heard of a dragon rider entering the mind of their dragons, but then again I think you may be the first dragon rider with the ability to warg into their dragons."

Jon make a sound of agreement, as far as he knew there was no one else who could both ride dragons and warg into animals as both skills were very rare, and warging was a gift of the Firstmen as far as he knew.

Jon had a feeling that if any of the Andals had the ability of warging, it would be more talked about than it was now and sure. There were more wargs in the worlds than potential dragon riders, but that was most likely because of the Doom of Valyria that had wiped out most of the dragonlords and the dragons.

"Perhaps you can ride all of them," Aemon piped up cheerfully, making Jon stare at the older man in surprise.

"But there has never been anyone that has ridden more than one dragon." Jon stated. That much he knew for sure, every time a dragon rider lost their dragon, that rider never flew again.

"Just because something has never happened, doesn't mean that it cannot happen." His uncle said pointedly. "For all we know you were meant to have three eggs because you were supposed to have three mounts."

Jon stared at his uncle and he was sure that the disbelief was written plainly on his face. "But that is impossible." He stated firmly to his uncle.

"Why is it impossible?" Aemon Targaryen countered and raised his silvery eyebrows and Jon just continued to stare at the man in front of him in shock. He could offer no other logic than it had never been done before as far as he knew.

But his uncle continued before he could formulate an answer. "But I think we may be getting ahead of ourselves, maybe you can just pick one of the dragons like Maegor Targaryen did."

Jon felt a grimace form on his face at his uncle´s words, it left a bitter taste in his mouth to be anything like Maegor the cruel. "But Maegor picked his father´s dragon because he felt the other dragons were beneath him and unworthy." Jon countered. It was well known throughout the seven kingdoms that Maegor the cruel had coveted his father´s dragon, Balerion the black dread.

"That is true, maybe you have to make a choice between your dragons, or maybe you will just ride them all, who knows." Aemon stated and shrugged his shoulders.

Jon pondered on his statement; would he have to choose between the dragons? The three dragons were different in more ways than just their coloring.

Algernon was the largest and strongest and the quickest to anger but he was a caring soul in his own way, Illyrion was the most slender and swiftest and loved nothing more than a good chin rub and was the kindest and the most playful of the three, and Earendil was the most cunning and the smartest and loved dozing in the rays of the sun and was the calmest.

Before he could spiral further into his thoughts of the dragons he had hatched, the old maester chuckled. "There is no reason for us to worry about this more than we have to, now tell an old man what his long-lost nephew has been up to these last few months."

Jon smiled at the maester that he had come to respect so much and had considered an uncle before he had even known they really were family, and with a laugh he began to tell the maester of his adventures in Winterfell.

TYRION

He was sitting beside his brother, Ser Jaime of the Kingsguard and his nephew Joffrey as he watched his sister rage at their father, telling him of the injustice that the King and the small council had paid to her.

Tyrion had arrived in the capitol with his father to celebrate the crown prince´s name day, and so far, it was proving to be entertaining affair.

His lovely sister had turned red with fury and her emerald eyes reminded Tyrion of wildfire from the history books that he had bought from the citadel.

Tyrion glanced at his nephew as he pouted in his anger at not getting the tourney thrown in his honor that he had wanted. No instead all Joffrey would get was a mountain of gifts and a feast, which Cersei had said was not enough for the crown prince of the seven kingdoms and a Lannister of Casterly Rock.

Tyrion had to restrain himself for pointing out that Joffrey wasn't a Lannister of Casterly Rock, but a Baratheon of Storm´s End. He knew that all he would reap from that was his sweet sister´s scorn.

"Can you believe it father?" Cersei stated with scorn and anger in her voice. "They denied Joff his right of a tourney just because it would anger some northern barbarians." Cersei spoke with a sneer that made her lovely face as ugly as a hag´s as she shook her head.

Tyrion was a little surprised that she could move her head like this, as her long golden hair was piled on top of her head in elaborate crown that seemed very painful.

Tyrion watched his father stare at his oldest child before he spoke. "It was stupid of Robert not helping the northerners." He stated with a frown.

All of his children stared at the lord of the Rock at hearing those words. While Tyrion knew his father to be a smart man and a capable commander, as he had served Aerys Targaryen for years as his hand, before their falling out, he had to admit he was surprised at his words.

"What on earth do you mean father?" Cersei gasped and her eyes were wide as dinner plates. "There is no point in throwing coin away for some dying order at the edge of the world, let the northerners deal with it if they want."

Tyrion had a hard time not rolling his eyes at his sister´s words, she wasn't dumb by any means, but she was petty and short sighted and not as smart as she thought she was, which he was sure would one day be her down fall.

Not helping the northerners was short sighted to say the least, while they didn't have the riches of the Westerlands and the Reach, they could in a short amount of time raise around twenty thousand fighting men and they were trained to fight in the cold and snow, unlike most of the other kingdoms.

Only the Knights of the Vale also trained in such conditions and it was a valuable skill for the warriors to have as they could fight in wintertime and the snow, unlike the armies of the other kingdoms.

No one knew if Robert would soon need their help again, and now Ned Stark and the northerners had a reason to say no. Before this had happened, he would never had thought that Ned Stark would say no to his friend, but this could break their friendship.

Robert hadn't paid the north any honors after the rebellion, and it had been noticed by Tyrion along with many of the other lords.

Tyrion could see the frustration at her words in Tywin´s eyes, it was clear that she didn't understand why it was imperative to keep the northern lord's content, at least not to give them a reason to rebel.

"You do realize that the men of the night´s watch are the only thing that stands between us and thousands of wildlings?" Tyrion piped up as he picked up a golden goblet filled with Arbor gold.

Cersei huffed indignantly. "The wildlings are just some savages; I am sure that the northern lords will handle them if it comes to it."

Tyrion took a swallow of wine before he countered. "And what if they don't want to and just let the wildlings south of the Neck?"

Now it was everyone´s turn to stare at him in surprise. "But brother," Jaime spoke up with a smirk on his handsome face. "We all know that Ned Stark it too honorable to do that."

Tyrion nodded his agreement and looked at his brother over the brim of his golden goblet. "Yes, I agree, Lord Stark is too honorable to do that." Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see his sister send him a satisfied smirk, but before she could say anything, Tyrion spoke up again. "But are his lords?"

Tyrion could see there was a small glint of satisfaction in his father's eyes, but only for a moment before it was gone. Well maybe it wasn't satisfaction but more like not the usual burning hatred that his father had for him.

Cersei huffed again and picked up her own goblet. "You cannot seriously believe that lord Stark would allow that to happen." She drank deeply from the cup and sent Tyrion her foulest look that she could muster.

Their father gave an irritated sigh. "He may not have a choice if you allow your husband to make such stupid decisions, you just handed the lords their excuse to rebel on a silver platter."

Tyrion could see the horror in Cersei´s eyes, and for the first time she was feeling what it was like to be the disappointing child in the family, much to his glee.

"Well no more," Their father continued to glare at his first-born child and the Queen of the seven kingdoms. "You will rein in your husband´s stupidity, the fact that he was allowed to offend the north in such a way was one thing, but ignoring lord Arryn´s suggestion of making lord Manderly the master of coin was a travesty for this family."

Cersei opened her mouth to say something, but her father quieted her down by sending her another even angrier glare. "When Robert denied Lord Stark´s request, he showed weakness that reflects on us, if Robert cannot be counted on to help the man who put him on the throne, how can he be trusted to rule seven kingdoms?"

Tywin Lannister´s voice was as hard as steel when he spoke those words, and he was just glad that the lord of the Rock wasn't directing them at him.

Joffrey was staring at his grandfather as the man scolded his mother. "But what about my tourney?" Asked the soon to be nine-year-old and pouted.

Tywin turned to his grandson. "There will be no tourney for you this year, it would be folly to hold a tourney after denying lord Stark his request."

Tyrion thought it harsh of lord Tywin to say this to his grandson, as he was so young, but some adversity was good for the boy as his mother spoiled him rotten.

"But I want-." Joffrey started to demand, but he was quieted by a firm glare from the lord of the Rock.

"So," Began the Queen´s twin. "Do you want her to try to convince Robert to send Ned Stark the money after all?"

Tywin closed his eyes in frustration before he spoke though gritted teeth. "No, that would show even more weakness, and we cannot afford to be seen as weak."

He fixed them all a stare. "From this day forward, no more mistakes and no more stupidity, we are Lannisters of Casterly Rock, act like it."

Tyrion had a feeling that the next couple of years would be interesting here in the capitol, maybe he should stay awhile when his father left for the Rock to see how things progressed, he thought to himself with a smirk.

EDDARD

Ned walked across the courtyard of Castle Black and he could see his nephew practice his swordplay with the new recruits of the watch. He was glad to see that Jon was healing so fast, and Ned knew that soon he would be back to where he had been in terms of physical abilities.

Robb had opted out of the lesson to explore Castle Black as they would be heading south in the morning, and he wanted to see as much of the castle as he could before they left.

He could feel a swell of pride in his heart as the rightful king gave his opponent some pointers on how to improve his swordsmanship. This was supposed how a leader should behave, helping others to improve to become better than they were before.

There was also guilt lurking in his heart, he had denied the seven kingdoms such a leader when he had not told Jon the truth in their last life and allowed the boy to exile himself to the Wall because he hadn't felt welcome in his own home.

Jon was the sort of King that the people of the seven kingdoms deserved, and to deny them this leadership was a crime that Ned could never really atone for.

Ned had foolishly supported his former friend Robert Baratheon while denying Jon his birthright, making him just as bad as the Lannisters and Robert who would try to kill Jon if the eldest Baratheon brother knew the truth.

Ned sighed as he continued his trek to the iron cage that would soon hull him to the top of the wall. The cage itself was big enough to hold ten men and was operated by a winch that the black brother next to it used to help the lord of Winterfell ascend to the top, after he had closed the gate.

Ned watched as the light of the sun was turning the world pink and purple as it set behind the mountains to the west. The cold wind was slapping at him and it felt like a thousand tiny needles were pricking at his face the higher the cage rose.

The iron cage groaned and creaked all the way up to the top from the cold and the effort to climb so high, and Ned breathed out a sigh of relief when the cage was finally brought to a stop at the top.

He hurriedly opened the cage and walked out of it, he really hated that infernal thing, but he had to go up, his brother had asked him to come up and talk to him so that they could talk in private.

He had a feeling that he knew what Benjen wanted to talk about, and he could feel the dread settle in his stomach at the anticipation of their talk.

Ned walked past a few black brothers that bowed and greeted him with uncharacteristic cheer that one didn't often see in those that had dedicated their life to the watch. It seemed that the lords of the north had brought themselves a lot of good will with the black brothers when they had pledged to help them restore the watch.

Even getting Jeor Mormont to relinquish the Gifts to Jon had been a popular decision as now it looked like that the lands could finally be used once again, it had been such a waste to see those fertile lands not in use for decades now, but Ned was sure that Jon would put them to use as soon as he could.

Ever since he had been made the new lord of the Gifts, Jon had been spending a lot of time coming up with plans for the lands and restoring Queenscrown.

Jon had only been the lord of Queenscrown for three days now and already he had negotiated a favorable deal with the mountain clans for wooly cattle, sheep and goats.

Jon would also be getting wheat, barley and rye to grow from the Stark lands, Jon had tried to get Ned to accept payment for it, but Ned had refused, after all Jon had devoted time and energy to plan for the castles on the Stark lands, and he had to get paid somehow.

Ned walked along the path until he found the cove where his brother had taken up post where they could talk undisturbed.

His brother was standing and looking into the lands beyond the Wall, Ned could see the haunted forest had crept much closer to the Wall then the watch wanted.

Traditionally the men of the watch had cut all the trees that grew a half a mile from the Wall itself, but now with the diminishing numbers of the black brothers, the trees had grown tall too close for comfort, making it easier for wildlings to hide in the woods bellow, and soon so would other scarier things hide there as well.

But hopefully that would change soon, as with the restoration of the castles and Jon taking command of the Gifts, men would once again come north to take the black, making it easier for the watch to cut the trees, and even sell the lumber for some profit.

Ned greeted his brother as he stood beside him and continued looking to the lands in the north. From this height, the tall trees looked like needles sticking out of the snow and Ned felt the tingle in his fingertips looking straight down from this incredible height.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Ned asked his brother, trying to mask his suspicion as he had a feeling what Benjen wanted to talk about.

Benjen didn't disappoint. "I have to admit, I was surprised that you asked the lord commander to give the Gifts to Jon, I expected you to want Jon to take the black."

Ned couldn't lie to himself, hearing his brother say those words hurt, mostly because they had been true.

In their past life, Ned had wanted Jon to want to take the black so that Ned didn't have to make the decision to declare for either Jon or Robert. Ned hadn't wanted to go to another war for the throne, especially when he would be torn between his friend and his blood, but now Ned was fully intent on reclaiming Jon´s birthright and place him on that throne.

"I won't lie to you, Benjen." Ned spoke after a moment of silence. "At first I wanted that, but someone convinced me that it would be better to recover his birthright."

Benjen turned to look at his older brother, and Ned could see surprise on his normally stoic face. "Who convinced you to do that."

Ned smiled a little at his youngest sibling. "Jon." That was true, the Father of the Seven may have come to him claiming that Jon needed to take back his birthright, but it had been Jon himself that had convinced Ned.

Jon was a man that did the right thing, and he was a much better leader than most of the high lords of Westeros, who only cared about riches and power.

Jon didn't really care about those things, he wanted to make the lives of the people better and he listened to advice but kept his own council.

Ned knew that Jon would be a man that he was proud to call his king.

"So, Lya´s boy is going to have the north backing him," Benjen smiled at his own words. "I would never have thought that you would go against him." Ned didn't need to ask who him was.

"I know, but Jon will make a better ruler than Robert ever will."

Benjen snorted at that. "On that we can agree." The Stark that had dedicated his life to the watch looked thoughtful for a moment. "Is that why you have been making all these plans and having Jon help you? To make him more likable in the other lords' eyes?"

Ned snorted at his brother, that was not the reason they were doing that, but it was a happy side effect of their efforts. "No, you think that I could come up with something so cunning?" Ned asked his little brother with a laugh.

Benjen just shook his head. "So, the son of Rhaegar and Lya is going to be king, it will be good to have someone on the iron throne that actually cares about the north and its people."

Ned silently agreed with his brother, it had been too long since that they had a king that cared about all his subjects, the last one had been Aegon the fifth, who had had actually wanted to help his people and had sent food and supplies north in the harsh winter, much to the anger of many of the southern lords, many of which felt that he provided too much aid to the northerners.

Then Ned felt his blood freeze in his veins as he heard a small voice carry over to them. "Father what is going on?"