And here is the longest chapter I have written for this serie of drabbles. Hope you enjoy it!
"Cat…" Ned didn´t know anymore how to handle this with his wife. It was Jon´s nameday again and, as every year, he made the same question. Which in turn made Catelyn ask it too. She even screamed this time that if he loved Ashara Dayne more than her, then he should just say it so she could know. After all, what other explanation could it be for him keeping her bastard around? "Cat, please, let it rest"
"NO! I have lived with the shame for years, now it´s time for you to give me an answer. Who is that boy´s mother? If there is someone threatening my position…"
"There is no one" he answered, practically growling. He didn´t appreciate the reminder that Lyanna was dead, specially so close to the date of her death, but he somehow deserved it. After all, he was giving her son the live of a bastard, something no child should be forced to live.
"Ned, you have to…"
"Somethings are better buried and forgotten, my lady, and this is one of them" he said, tired of her bickering. "And now I suggest you go to sleep, forget this whole thing happened at all and rest. I will see you in the morning"
And he left the room to pray in the crypts, asking his little sister for forgiveness, leaving his wife to seethe in the solar they have been arguing in. She grunted, if he thought she would forget this so soon he was awfully mistaken. The bastard´s mother was something concerning her, yes, it was. If she was forced to bear with the dishonour her husband´s actions have brought over her, then she should at least know the name of the woman he forgot his honour with. If she was alive, if he loved her, if she was out there, waiting to take Catelyn´s place… she just needed to know.
"If you won´t tell me" the redhead stormed out of the view, heading directly to her private rooms. Once she entered, the woman grabbed some paper from her desk and started to write a letter. She hasn´t contacted with this particular friend since before she left Riverrun, but right now… right now it was time to retake their friendship. In secret, of course.
Dear Petyr,
How are you? It´s been years, forgive me for taking so much time to get in touch with you again. Listen, I have found myself in an impairment with my husband, something concerning his bastard and I think you might be of help to solve it. You see, I´m curious about the bastard´s origins myself and he refuses to speak a word about them to me. Not even who his mother is. Can you please investigate the matter for me? I will remain grateful forever if you do.
Cat
The Lady was pleased with her letter, so she went to the rookery and sent it to the capital without her husband knowing. The raven flew, getting it a few days later to the hands of an ambitious Mockingbird, who now had his eyes set for a seat in the Small Council… with higher aims, of course. Anyway, convincing Jon Arryn to get him the seat was going to be easy for him, especially if he got his wife´s ear. Even if he had to do some unpleasant things. So of course, he was delighted to hear of his beloved Cat again and, after breathing the scent on it to make sex with Lysa more appeal to him. Then he started to think.
Ned Stark´s bastard, eh? Well, he didn´t know much right now, but by the end of the month, he would know everything. After all, he had the biggest mouth of the Seven Kingdoms in the man´s drunkhard of a best friend. Who coincidentally was the king he should be getting himself endeared with. And also the man´s less talkative foster father, but if someone could make Jon Arryn´s tongue move, it was he. So he walked towards his superior's room, where he was supping with a very pregnant Lady Lysa.
"Oh, Petyr, you should excuse me if I forgot an appointment with you to discuss the finances, but I was taking dinner and…"
"Don´t worry, my lord, you didn´t forget anything. I was just hoping to discuss some of them, as the expenses of the Crown are now again dragging us into a debt" Jon rolled his eyes, what had Robert done now? "Queen Cersei´s new wardrobe was valued in…"
"Oh, For the Seven´s sake, couldn´t that woman live without ordering ridiculously expensive silks?" the old man shook his head, while his wife only stared at Petyr with a lovesick look that made him shudder discreetly. "Thank you, Petyr, I will talk with her in the morning about cutting some expenses."
"That´s not what I´m worried about, my lord. King Robert asked for funds in the afternoon, despite the last having taken place just three months ago" Jon Arryn looked like he wanted to bang his head on the table, but only took a long gulp of wine. To appear more dignified, apparently. "Has he always been like this?"
"A whoremonger idiot? A spoiled brat that spends everything before thinking? Yes, unfortunately" the man shook his head. "Sometimes I wished the one with a legitimate claim over the Throne was Eddard and not him" he put a longing smile on his face. "Good boy that one" not so good according to Petyr, but he kept his opinion to himself. "Quiet and brooding, but with a good heart. And head. He always tried to dissuade Robert from his wild ways."
"Really? But I heard he had a bastard"
"Yes, well… I guess battle lust got too much some time, even for honourable men" the falcon continued. "But it was strange, now that I think about it, as I was with him most of the Rebellion and he never took a whore or camp follower to his bed. And pay a woman for her services was also not his style."
"Then you don´t know who the mother was?"
"No, it was…" the Lord of the Vale seemed to notice something in that moment. "Why the sudden curiosity?"
"Oh, nothing, it´s just that I recently heard about Lord Stark´s bastard from the king and got a little curious. His fame as a man of honour reaches even here, you know."
"Yes…" the conversation ended at that point, but it mattered not for Baelish. He already got as much information as he could from Arryn, so he waited until the man left to visit Lysa in her rooms and bed her. She would whisper sweet songs about him to her husband after he left her satisfied, he was sure of that.
The next day he got an audience with the King, who looked much too pleased to talk about his beloved Ned, certainly more than revising the finances. From the drunkhard, the mockingbird learned that Lord Stark mentioned a certain whore named Wylla as the mother of his bastard, but Robert had another theory. The man wouldn´t have payed attention, but it had so much sense that he had to give the Baratheon credit. Ashara Dayne, hum?
"I want you to confirm something for me with the Daynes" he asked one of his spies, who immediately parted towards Starfall. Another one was tasked with tracking this Wylla woman in the Riverlands, where Lord Stark should have met her. A few months later, a communication arrived about his first man having found some information about Ashara Dayne and her deceased little girl, the daughter of Brandon Stark, and, surprisingly, Wylla. Apparently the woman was a wetnurse that worked for the Daynes and feed the little bastard boy when his father brought him to Starfall after finding Lyanna Stark dead in her tower.
"Dammit" he muttered to himself, biting a lip. "This is going to take longer than I thought"
-Years later-
"Ned" Baelish heard Catelyn said with so much love as she hugged her husband that he wanted to puke. He couldn´t believe she could love a dunce of a man like that! He was almost as bad as his idiot of a friend! Anyway, he should remain content that he saw her again and that soon they were going to be together. He concentrated on his paperwork, keeping an ear on everything they said until the bastard came again on their conversation. "… and brought home the child of another woman!"
"Cat, I told you to forget that" Stark continued, trying to dodge the theme. There Baelish got interested. Lord Stark was hiding something, he could tell it very clear, and if he weren´t such good player of the game, he wouldn´t have dug deeper, but… "Catelyn, please, forget about it. He is on the Watch now."
"I know! And that´s why I haven´t thought of him again until I found you here! But seeing you in this establishment…"
"I haven´t even entered one of this before…"
"Then you made him in a tent…"
"Cat, please…"
"… fucked her in a skin, like…"
"Cat"
"… she was more pleasing than me!"
"He is not mine" he kept his voice low to a whisper, but Baelish managed to hear it. Not his? The whose? According to Catelyn, the boy looked like a Stark. "Are you happy now? Jon is not mine. And please stop prying answers out of me, it doesn´t benefit any of us."
"Not yours? But then… whose…"
"I already told you, Cat, forget it. Nothing good will come from you knowing" oh, but Baelish knowing was another thing. This was clearly a secret Stark wanted to bury so deep that no one was going to be able to find out, something that could sunk him, even before the king. Oh, thank you, Cat, you were always my lucky charm.
Without losing a moment, Baelish bracket his brain, trying to find the boy´s true parentage. He made a timeline in a paper of the times and the Rebellion, trying to pinpoint the conception. Now, Brandon Stark was most probably the father, that wild savage. Now he only needed to send some ravens to some agents in Dorne to confirm that Brandon Stark has been with this or that dornish lady.
But he didn´t have luck, it ended up being a dead end, like his Ashara Dayne clue. Apparently the Star has been the only dornish woman the savage bedded, something he grumbled as he prepared himself to go to the tourney of the Hand. In the middle of the way, he found some old knights from the Stormlands that were talking about the King and Ned Stark during the Rebellion. He decided to give it a try and talked to them.
"And, when he lifted the Siege of Storm´s End, did he have a baby with him?" he asked after buying them some ale.
"No, he didn´t. But he had his bastard when he came back" one of them informed. "You know, the boy he had with the Dayne woman."
"Yes" he commented, distracted by his first sighting of Sansa Stark.
Then Lord Stark asked for his help tracking Robert´s bastards and he got a bit occupied. At least until the incident with the Kingslayer. Later that night, after he sent help for Lord Stark, Petyr Baelish extended a map. No baby from the Riverlands to the Crownlands. No baby from there to the Stormlands, places neither Brandon nor Eddard Stark have been before, but there was one from Dorne to the Stormlands. The babe must have been born in Dorne, something Petyr couldn´t understand. Brandon only bedded one dornish woman and it was not the bastard´s mother. Eddard was not the father, but he had the babe with him when he returned after picking up Lyanna…
LYANNA!
Baelish was struck by a revelation and could have danced in joy. Which Stark was hiding in Dorne while the others fought in the Rebellion? Lyanna. Which have a liaison that coincide with the time of the conception? Lyanna. And which one Eddard has gone to rescue before returning with a babe that was not his? Lyanna. The history of her death even made more sense if they added a babe to it, as childbirth was the cause of death of many young women. He should have known… specially because he was the one that destroyed the letter Lyanna sent to her brother before eloping with Rhaegar…
Rhaegar… the father of that boy. He wondered for a second if the boy looked something like him, because he definitely didn´t have silver hair and purple eyes, but he needed something else to convince the King his best friend betrayed him. Thinking about it, he put hands to work. He called his man in the Citadel, to see if Rhaegar sent some kind of announcement for his bastard son, as Targaryens were prompt to do. What he found in an old septon´s diary an archmaester kept under seven keys was juicier.
A marriage act between Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark. And an announcement of the birth of a little prince.
"Your Grace" Baelish interrupted Robert before he went out hunting. "If I may have a few seconds of your time."
"I don´t have time for the bloody finances now, Baelish" Robert made a rude sign towards him, getting ready to mount his horse. Poor animal. "Come back when I´m finished or go pester Ned."
"Then I should keep the details about Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark I just found to myself" this caught Robert´s attention, making the oaf suspend the hunt and go with him to see his investigation. Of course, he had to give the man the simplified version of it and, after finishing screaming at him that Ned wouldn´t betray him, the mockingbird showed him the act of marriage and announcement of the birth, making the man irrupt in rage. He demanded to see the damn diary and not a transcription, to see Ned and for him to bring the damn dragonspawn to court. Baelish just watched that overgrown brat throw a tantrum. Personally, he didn´t care if the boy lived or died, but Ned Stark was another history.
"NED!" the angry king irrupted in his Hand´s quarters just as he finished talking to his queen. Eddard was a little bit worried about him already knowing about Cersei´s bastards and that he hasn´t told him, but then he noticed that it was something much worse. "I gave you the title of Hand, I gave you everything! And you lied to me in my face! Even worse! You have been lying to me for years!"
"Robert… Robert, calm down" Eddard tried to start. Just one thing could have put Robert like this. "What are you talking…"
"LIES! EVEN MORE LIES! GUARDS! TAKE LORD STARK INTO CUSTODY AND BRING HIM TO THE THRONE ROOM! NOW!" Robert summoned court really quickly, making all the nobles wonder why they were called so fast. For once, Robert Baratheon sat the Iron Throne, his queen and heir by his side. They all turned around when Lord Eddard Stark was dragged in chains into the room, followed by his scared daughters. "Lord Eddard Stark" announced the stag. "you are accused of harbouring the bastard rapespawn Rhaegar Targaryen put on your sister in Winterfell" a murmur run around the courtiers. "What do you have to say?"
"Robert…"
"Your Grace for you, traitor!"
"Your Grace" Ned continued, looking around the room to locate the one that betrayed him. Baelish hid in the shadows, waiting for the downfall. "I… I promised her to look after him" he finally admitted, knowing there was no way to get out of the grave he dug for himself. "She was dying and pleading for me to look after him…"
"LIES! MY BELOVED LYANNA WOULD HAVE HATED THE SPAWN HE FORCED HER TO HAVE!"
"Robert, hear me out. I didn´t want to tell you, because… because I didn´t want to hurt you more, but… Lyanna was not fond of her betrothal to you" the court was silent, waiting. Robert´s eyes widened. What? "She planned her elopement with Rhaegar for months before… before they ran off together…"
"YOU LIE!"
"I know this will hurt you and that´s why I hid it since the beginning, the Gods forgive me, but she disliked you so much she begged for our father to break the betrothal…"
"LIES!"
"It´s the truth, something I didn´t want to tell you, but there is proof. I buried them with her, but I have the correspondence between them. I found them in the Tower of Joy, the letter in which she clearly states her distaste for you. I can show you, so you finally let her ghost rest and…"
"SHUT UP!" Robert grabbed a sword from a Kingsguard´s hip and stabbed his friend in the chest. Eddard looked shocked, especially when Robert continued to stab him more times until he bled out. In front of his daughters. His last thoughts were for them, for the Gods to keep them safe as he could not. For them not to try anything, despite knowing it was futile. Not with the poison on Arya´s eyes.
The King rose, his hands stained with his friend´s blood and looked at the shocked court.
"VARYS!" he screamed, making the master of whisperers bow. "Send all the men you need, I want Viserys and his whore sister dead" he ordered and the eunuch bowed again to leave. "And get a ship, we are going to the North. I personally will remove the dragonspawn Jon Snow´s head from his shoulders."
"You… your Grace" Sansa started, shaking and trying to make sense of what just happened. "My… my half-brother… cousin" she remembered "joined the Night´s Watch…"
"Silence!" he ordered, making the girl squeal. "Search for the damn ship right now, Varys. And you, Baelish, are coming North with me. I´m finishing with it once and for all."
-Weeks later-
"What?" Robb Stark asked when Robert Baratheon appeared in all his furious glory in Winterfell, demanding for Jon Snow to be brought to him to be executed. After hearing a more complete history, he wanted to kill the man, but contained himself. His father admitted treason, the execution was unorthodox, but legal… and he had to swallow his pain for his siblings, two of whom were hostages now. His fury, his desire for revenge… the Lord of Winterfell should forget them until it was time. Because the time will come and then he will taste stag blood.
For now, he opened his aunt Lyanna´s grave like a good tamed wolf and recovered the letters for the king. Surprisingly, they were still legible. He had the pleasure of seeing the whoremonger´s face turn form red to deep scarlet in rage after he read his aunt´s opinions about him. He enjoyed the empty headed pig and cock brained oaf´s parts in particular, making him give a mental thank you to his aunt.
"LIARS! TRAITORS, LIARS AND WHORES, ALL THIS FAMILY!" Baratheon exploded, grabbing Robb by his tunic. "You are going to tell me now where are you hiding the dragonspawn right now or I´m…"
"You can search the whole North all you want, but won´t find him. Come on, your Grace, search my castle, I give you permission" Robb continued, looking at the other in the eyes. "You won´t find him anywhere but at the Wall."
"Then there will we go. And you with me" the stag grabbed him, dragging the boy from Winterfell. Robb sent Luwin a look that clearly said to take care of things until his return and send Jon a raven discreetly, so he could hide before they arrived. The maester nodded, walking away quickly.
The royal party travelled together until they reached the Wall. There, Robb had the relief of knowing his brother was safe, as he has gone on a great Range with the Lord Commander just a few days before even his raven arrived. But his relief was nothing compared to the surprise Ser Alliser Thorne had when he found out who Jon Snow really was. Anyway, a ranger offered to guide them beyond the Wall when the King screamed that he wanted the dragonspawn and continued their search. They practically dragged themselves in the frozen wasterlands until they located the Lord Commander in the Fist of the First Men.
When Jeor Mormont received them, he was surprised to see the King and even more to know his squire´s true parentage, but couldn´t tell them more than about Qhorin Halfhand taking him with the rangers to watch on the moves of wildlings. Then Robert Baratheon swore to continue the hunting until he had the dragonspawn brought to him in chains or dead. Robb just continued watching, continued waiting for the opportunity to stab that pig of a man in the heart and be done with this.
The royal party searched for this rangers for days, until a wildling ambush caused a chaos in one of their camps. Robb, rather lost and having stabbed several men, ran with Grey Winds towards the woods, where he has seen some knights take cover, only to nearly collide with another skins covered wildling, this one with a sword.
"Robb?" he heard the man asking, as he raised his sword. The Lord of Winterfell then noticed who he just found and lowered it. Jon Snow smiled, approaching to hug him. "What are you doing here? I thought you were at Winterfell!"
"And I that you were in the Night´s Watch" he answered, looking at the clothes his brother was donning.
"Qhorin gave me the mission to infiltrate the wildling forces" Jon whispered back, looking down into the earth. "I… I didn´t exactly want to, but…"
"I understand" Robb said, then his expression turned more urgent and serious. "We need to talk" the other seemed curious, but guided his brother to a trunk where they could sit. Then lend him a water skin, so he could water his throat. "Father is dead. The King executed him."
"I heard it. They didn´t get into details, but I heard the reasons" he said with a sad voice. "Something about treason, but I don´t believe it for a second. Someone must have incriminated him, I´m sure."
"He confessed his crime" Robb answered. "It was harbouring you"
"What?" the other´s eyes widened. "What in the Seven Hells do I have to do with this?"
"You are not going to like it, but… Father was not your father. He was your uncle. In reality, you are the son of Rhaegar Targaryen with aunt Lyanna. A trueborn son" Jon got up, ready to deny the accusation, but Robb grabbed him from his arms. "Listen to me, they have proof. Father hid them to protect you, but they are in the open now. That party" he signalled "Was a hunting party. The King is hunting you."
"Me? But… what can I do…"
"That´s isn´t the point, the King just wants revenge on the man that won the love of his life and the woman that spurned him. Besides, your mother had rather nasty opinions on him and left them on letters, so…" Jon gave him a strange look. "Anyway, you need to run now."
"I can´t leave you alone, this wood is dangerous"
"I have Grey Wind, I will be fine. You, on the other hand, won´t last long against so many knights" the boy was about to reply that he should surrender himself then, but Robb put his hands on his shoulder. "Look, it´s okay, you are free now. From your vows, your bastardy… everything" he hugged the other again. "Don´t let father´s and mine´s sacrifices be for nothing and run. Run and return someday… to take back what you lost."
"Robb…"
"And before I forget" he pulled a paper from his cloak. "I hid this from Robert Baratheon. It´s addressed to you, from your mother. I supposed only you have the right to read it."
"Robb… thank you, brother" they hugged one last time before Jon took off running. Robb stayed there for a few more moments, wishing him good. Jon, for his part, felt free. Freer than any other time. This should be how the free folk truly felt! Free… he stopped running after a moment and took his mother´s letter, opening it. Immediately he felt something akin to love coming from it.
"Hey, Snow!" Ygritte yelled when she saw him approaching, reading a piece of paper. "We believed you were attacking the southerners with the others! What happened?"
"They were defeated, too many knights" he answered, continuing reading. "That was not just a party, but a royal party, it was obviously too well guarded"
"Then…" she eyed the paper with curiosity. "What is that?"
"A letter from my mother, that my brother was kind enough to bring me" Jon answered, putting the thing in his cloak. "Apparently they were hear to hunt me down."
"What?! Why?! For deserting the crows?!"
"No, for my parentage"
"Snow, we have to tell Mance…"
"Call me Joramun, because that´s my true name" he said, looking at her. "Joramun Targaryen"
-Months later-
"I want the dragonspawn dead" Robert said to his new Hand, lord Tywin Lannister, after returning to King´s Landing. "You did such a great job getting rid of his siblings, so I believe you can bring me the fucker. I´m prepared to give you anything, even to release the Kingslayer from the Kingsguard for that."
"As you say, your Grace" personally speaking, Tywin didn´t care if Joramun Targaryen lived or died. He was a man of the Night´s Watch, a deserter, the Kingdoms would never accept a man like him as a King… but to let such an opportunity to recover his heir go to waste was unthinkable, so he left to make the preparations. One more dead dragon on his count won´t matter after all.
You might be guessing why I thought that name could be used for Jon, no? Well, I thought that it wasn´t Rhaegar who really named him, but Lyanna. and they might have bonded over histories about the Long Night, so a northern name related to the Long Night wouldn´t be so far fetched, no. Anyway, it´s my fic, so I used it. Hope you enjoyed it! Review!