I wanted to wait until I had a few chapters ready before posting this, but it's been such a long time I felt like I had to upload this now. I'm back at university now and I'm not sure how much time I'll have to write, but I'll try my best.

A note for this chapter. In canon, Stannis was given Dragonstone as an apparent slight because he failed to capture Viserys and Daenerys. In this story, he captured one of them. For that reason, Robert saw fit to name him as Lord of Storm's End and Lord Paramount of the Stormlands, and Dragonstone remains empty, a sign of Robert's distaste of all things Targaryen.

I own nothing but Durran Baratheon.

299 AC

Normally Durran wasn't one to care for the gardens of the Red Keep, usually preferring to spend his time in the training yard. That day however, everything looked wonderful as he strode beside a beaming Daenerys, who was taking in every single flower.

"It's magnificent isn't it." She grinned, gently smelling a purple flower.

"I suppose." Durran said, not able to take his eyes off of the girl. Dany sighed dreamily, before moving on to the next set of plants growing. Durran looked back briefly to see Jon Arryn, Ser Arys Oakheart of the Kingsguard and a Knight of the Vale that Durran didn't know, sworn to Jon. He wished he and Dany could have shared this time alone, but he knew he needed to win his Father's trust. He turned back around to see Dany skipping off. Laughing, he ran and caught up with her, ignoring the call from Jon.

"Why do they care so much? Do they think I'm going to try and take over the castle in my pretty dress with no weapons?" Dany laughed. They had searched her person before leaving the dungeons.

"They're here for our safety Dany, not everyone else's." Durran said quietly. He looked around and noticed ladies of the court eyeing Dany's silver hair and whispering to each other. "People still remember the time before my Father, they may not take too kindly to…"

"To the reminder of the 'Mad King'" Dany scoffed. "I never met him, how can they think that?"

"People are fools." Durran grinned. His grin was wiped off his face however as ahead of them he saw a lean, blonde boy, closely followed by a man with half a head of long hair. "Oh fuck off." Durran whispered.

"What?" Dany asked, concerned. Durran just nodded his head ahead of them, as Joffrey and his Dog came into speaking range.

"Well, if it isn't my little brother and his little pet." Joffrey sneered.

"You're one to talk about pets Joff." Durran told him, clenching his fist so as not to try and get too angry. "Walking your dog, are we? He needs exercise remember."

"I suppose you've been giving this whore enough exercise in secret." Joffrey scowled.

Durran stepped in front of Dany, closer to his brother. "You ever speak about Daenerys like that again, not even Mother will be able to save you."

"Careful Princeling." The Hound warned. "Threaten the Crown Prince and…"

"You have to act, I get it." Durran waved off angrily. "Although, dog, how would my Father react if you touched me?" Durran was getting ready to launch himself into Joffrey, when he felt a hand slip into his own. Looking over, Dany gave his hand a squeeze and a reassuring smile was on her lips. Durran turned back round to Joffrey with a smile. "We best be moving on brother, enjoy your walk with your intended."

With that, he pulled Dany quickly away, leaving a spluttering Joffrey turning red with rage. The Crown Prince was likely to come after Durran, but the black haired Baratheon knew that Jon Arryn was only a few paces away, and that he could calm his twin down.

"So, that was Joffrey?" Dany asked, her hand remaining where it was.

"That was my esteemed brother, the future King." Durran sighed. "A royal pain in the arse."

"Are you sure he's your brother? I know you have a temper but you've never seemed cruel like that, he has never met me but the things he was saying…" Dany trailed off. Durran squeezed her hand for comfort, and led her further into the gardens to enjoy the rest of their time that day.

They soon came to a pond, and stopped to take in the day. Chatting amicably, they noted amusedly that Jon and the guards had stopped in the entrance, to give them some privacy.

"See, they may not like it but at least Jon is respectful enough to let us actually enjoy our time in the open." Durran grinned.

"It's lovely. All I've seen for my whole life is the same four walls. I never knew that the castle was so huge!" Dany said excitedly.

"It doesn't just go upwards either, it goes down too." Durran grinned. "I've explored it all."

"All of it?" Dany asked, amazed.

Durran shrugged. "Well maybe not all, but a lot." Dany laughed at his apparent boasting and slapped him gently on the shoulder. Durran grinned, and they fell into silence for a moment. Dany was admiring the greenery, but Durran was just admiring her. Her lilac eyes glistened in the sunlight, and her silver hair was unlike anything he had ever seen when exposed in the air. There was a light wind about, and her hair blew softly in it. Gathering courage, Durran raised his hand and tucked part of her hair behind her ear gently. Dany turned and looked at him inquisitively.

"What was that for?" She asked.

"I don't know." Durran shrugged. "You look beautiful."

Dany blushed, and turned away to stop him from seeing too much of her grin. "I'm not." She said shyly.

"Have you ever known me to lie?" Durran grinned. Dany shook her head, chuckling softly before her face contorted in confusion. She grabbed Durran's hand and rolled up his sleeve gently, revealing the favour that she had given him ages ago.

"You kept it?" She whispered softly.

"Of course, it came from you." Durran told her, as if that was obvious. Dany stared into his eyes in amazement, before they both slowly began to lean in to each other, being seconds away from kissing again when a cough came from Jon. Grumpily, Durran pulled away, getting up and looking annoyed at his Father's Hand.

"It's time we should be heading back, My Prince." Jon called.

"We're not doing any harm!" Durran argued loudly.

"Best not anger your Father too much." Jon countered. Durran swore under his breath, only to feel Dany's hands slide back into his.

"It's ok, there's no rush. I should be allowed to walk again, shouldn't I?" Dany asked Jon, who was walking towards them.

"I shall talk to the King, but today went well in my opinion, I can't see why not." Jon admitted. Dany turned to Durran with a beaming smile.

"See? No need to be angry." She said, poking him. Durran couldn't stay mad after that, and loudly laughed as he began to chase her back towards the castle.

The King, however, was watching the pair as they came towards the pond that his balcony overlooked. He was seething at the sight of the Targaryen girl, but he saw his son and the laugh that Durran was giving Daenerys, and a tiny hint of happiness appeared in his gut. He quickly squashed it down with a mouthful of wine though.

He heard the curtains rustle, and knew immediately that it was Cersei. "What are you doing here?" He asked her.

"Looking out for our son, same as you." Cersei replied, sarcastically sweet as always. She joined him on the balcony, and scowled at the sight of the two teenagers. "How can you stand it?"

Robert brought his glass up, showing off the wine and let out a wheezing chuckle at his wife's distaste. "He's like me at that age, tell a man not to do something and he'll go and do it anyway. This way we can give him what he wants until he gets bored of the whore."

"Lyanna Stark has been dead for 16 years and you're still not bored of her." Cersei accused. Robert swung around and his palm connected with her cheek quicker than he'd moved in years.

"Careful woman." He growled. Cersei just rubbed her cheek before returning to watch her son as if nothing had happened.

"She's pretty." Cersei admitted.

Robert growled again. "All of the dragon fuckers were pretty until they died. The rapist was 'pretty' until his chest caved in under my hammer."

Cersei hummed in acknowledgment. They carried on watching, Cersei feeling that Robert was simmering with anger as they saw Durran brush Daenerys' hair behind her ear gently. She was happy to see her son looking so happy and in love, but she loathed the fact it was with a girl who had the name to take Joffrey's birth right away from him. "So when are you betrothing him to some other girl?"

Robert looked down at her questioningly. "What are you talking about?"

Cersei rolled her eyes at the man's stupidity. "Well you can't mean to let this go any further, surely. So who are you going to betroth our son to so this does not happen again."

"Nobody." Robert told her. "I've already had a conversation with Jon. As much as I hate it, the whore being infatuated with Durran could be good for the realm. Jon has urged me to consider marrying them and giving them Dragonstone."

"Dragonstone has been abandoned for 16 years." Cersei scoffed. "There are plenty of other matches. My cousins for example, one of the twins would be suitable."

"More damn Lannisters." Robert groaned. "We will speak no more on this."

"I won't give up." Cersei told him strongly, preparing to leave once she saw Jon come up and talk to Durran. "My son shall not marry a Targaryen whore."

Robert watched as she walked off, silently agreeing with her. He took one look back at the silver hair that haunted his dreams every night and scowled. Downing the rest of his wine, he stormed off looking for some random girl he liked the like of.

300 AC

One of the perks of being Stannis Baratheon's squire was learning from him. Stannis had one of the keenest military minds in the entire Kingdoms, and made sure to test Durran regularly so that the Baratheon boy could be of use to Joffrey in the future. A few months after Daenerys was first allowed out of her cell, Durran was in a room with Stannis looking over a map of the Seven Kingdoms.

"Example. The North has rebelled against the crown, how do you defeat them?" Stannis asked in his usual direct manner. Durran looked over at the map, his eyes eying Moat Cailin precariously.

"Send the Reach forces in to the Riverlands first." Durran suggested, moving the specific piece to Riverrun. "The Tullys are tied by blood to the Starks, so we need to make sure they can't mobilise."

"Good." Stannis nodded. "You wouldn't need all of the Reach either, maybe just a third of their forces to truly counter the Riverlands. What next?"

"I'd send a small force to Moat Cailin, not to assault it but to make sure that no army can come from there." Roland said, moving the Vale figure to the Moat. "Then I'd have the Lannisters attack the Western coast. Deepwood Motte and Barrowton especially."

"What about the King's own forces?" Stannis prodded.

"They'd go to Karhold immediately." Durran said strongly.

"Karhold?" Stannis asked, slightly surprised. "Are you forgetting the large houses further South?"

Durran shook his head. "The four biggest bannermen to House Stark are the Boltons, Manderlys, Umbers and Karstarks." He told his uncle, reciting his lessons. "The Boltons would potentially join us if we offered them the North, and the Umbers and Karstarks are the most Northern Houses. Attack Karhold, and then Last Hearth quickly, and the Starks lose a large chunk of their army. Then after all of those have been taken, both the Lannisters and the crown can march on Winterfell where the Northern army have gathered."

Stannis looked at the map, then at Durran and nodded. "Very good, very good indeed. That's a sound strategy. Now, what about Dorne?"

"Go by sea to Sunspear and take that, the rest of Dorne will fall into place afterwards." Durran suggested. "We can't march into the desert from the Prince's Pass, it will be suicide, so go by sea."

"Interesting." Stannis nodded. "And the Westerlands?"

"There is no need to even discuss the Westerlands, Lord Stannis." A voice came from the doorway. Durran turned to see his Mother standing there with two Lannister guards. "My Father isn't the sort to go against his own kin."

"Your Grace." Stannis forced himself to bow his head with a grimace, unnoticed by Durran. "I'm teaching the Prince…"

"You must be teaching him nonsense if you think the Westerlands will revolt. That will be all for today My Lord, I must have words with my son." Cersei said strongly. Stannis did not look at all happy, but bowed his head to the Queen.

"We shall continue this tomorrow, you're free for the rest of the day." Stannis told Durran.

"Yes, My Lord." Durran nodded his head as Stannis swiftly left the room. Cersei walked over to the map and picked up the lion carving.

"You offer him too much respect. He is your Uncle and you are the Prince." Cersei commented.

"I'm his squire, I must respect him as a Lord." Durran countered, eyebrow raised.

"Hmm." Cersei nodded, not really caring for his answer. "You've not come to breakfast with the family for weeks now. That must change."

Durran sighed. His Mother had drilled into them all that the first meal was to be eaten as a family, but Durran had tried to skip it whenever he could. Often, he got away because of duties to Stannis, but sometimes he could sneak away to the dungeons. "All I get is snide remarks from Joff, why should I go to be ridiculed?"

"Because it is proper." Cersei said strongly, before softening. "I understand Joffrey is making things hard for you…"

"Hard?" Durran laughed bitterly. "Mother, he goes out of his way to try and rile me up and get angry in front of Dany…"

"Dany?"

"That's what I call her." Durran waved off. "He's my brother, and when he is King I shall be forever loyal, but I don't have to like him, and I don't have to eat with him."

Cersei sighed, collapsing into a chair, straightening her pale pink gown. "My boys. I remember when you both came into this world. When your Father arrived back from his hunt with a deer pelt he immediately had eyes for you. You embraced him, Joffrey just cried." Durran began to snigger at the thought, before a sharp look from Cersei stopped him. "You are night and day. So different, yet one cannot be without the other."

"If he'd only…"

"He is to be the King." Cersei interrupted. "One day Joff will be King, and his word will be law. Your role, as frustrating as it will be, is to follow him, advise him. Help him to be the best he can be. But you need to stop getting angry every time he opens his mouth."

Durran didn't know what to say, and Cersei took that as acceptance. Smiling, she rose from her chair and kissed him on the cheek before wrapping her arms around him. Durran melted into the hug, it wasn't often his Mother hugged him, but he cherished them all. They stayed like that for a moment until bells interrupted them.

"What's that for?" Durran asked.

Cersei listened for a moment, when recognition filled her with hope. Careful to quash it, she replied worriedly. "Death."

His Mother's words had worried Durran, thinking that the King had died. He rushed to his Father's chambers, only to find Ser Meryn at the door.

"The King is not to be disturbed." Ser Meryn told him gruffly. Durran was about to barge through when a crash came from the room. Breathing heavily in realisation that his Father still lived, he grew confused.

"The bells, who can they be rung for?" He asked the Kingsguard.

"Now nephew, asking Ser Meryn here would be like asking me what it's like to be a giant." A voice came from behind Durran, and the Prince turned to see his favourite dwarf.

"Uncle Tyrion!" He exclaimed, rushing forward to hug the little man.

"Hello there." Tyrion smiled smugly. "Ser Meryn, when the King has stopped destroying the Red keep, please inform him that I have returned with messages from my Father."

"I'm not a raven, Imp." Ser Meryn growled.

"No, just a doorman at the moment." Tyrion sighed. "Come nephew, let me teach you about the bells of King's Landing."

Durran followed his uncle away from the King's chambers, and they fell into conversation. According to Tyrion, the bells rang for the immediate royal family or the Hand of the King. Not wanting anybody to be dead, he was sad to hear that Jon Arryn had passed away of an illness.

"He was always kind to me." Durran sighed sadly.

"He was a good man." Tyrion nodded. "Now, tell me about this girl I've been hearing about."

Durran laughed, not surprised that Tyrion had heard about Daenerys. He eagerly began to talk about her, causing his uncle to chuckle at the eagerness in his words. They walked down some stairs towards the Throne Room and he was still talking.

"… she makes me these favours for every time I'm training too, I must have about 50 in my chambers." Durran laughed. "I still only wear the first one though."

"Love is a mysterious thing." Tyrion smiled wryly. "It is good to see you happy though nephew."

"I only wish Mother and Father would agree with you." Durran sighed, before shaking his head. "Anyway, when are you getting married?"

"Me? The stunted monster of Casterly Rock? No man would marry their daughter to me." Tyrion grinned sadly. "I'm much too busy for marriage anyway."

Durran chuckled softly. "You're the heir to the Rock though, you need a good match."

"Tell that to my Father." Tyrion said quietly, as they entered the Throne Room. Jon Arryn's body had been laid to rest in the centre, and the Silent Sisters were finishing their work so Tyrion and Durran were limited to the gallery.

"He looks peaceful." Durran noted.

"Most dead do." Tyrion nodded. "At least he's not rotting, you wouldn't think so then."

"Uncle." Durran frowned. Tyrion held his hands up in apology. "He was always kind to me." Durran repeated.

"He was." Tyrion nodded solemnly.

"Who do you think Father will choose next?" Durran asked.

"If he's smart, he'll ask my Father." Tyrion told him.

"So he won't." Durran chuckled softly.

"No, of course not." Tyrion smiled. "No, your Father will choose someone he trusts."

"There's only one man in the world he trusts." Durran said grimly.

"If I were you, I'd find some warm cloaks." Tyrion noted, staring at Jon Arryn's body.

"Hold it at the point where the handle meets the hilt." Ser Barristan was instructing. A few days after the funeral of Jon Arryn, Durran had picked up a greatsword for the first time, and was going through the initial stages of training from the esteemed knight. Gripping the highest point of the handle, he let Barristan move his hands around so he had the most control over the weapon. "Good, now give it a few swings, try and get as comfortable as you can. These offer less control than a one-handed weapon, but you are strong my Prince, you can cause enough damage with one blow."

Durran grinned, and swung it in the air a few times, trying to get the movement to feel natural. Swinging the greatsword around a few times, he looked over to Barristan to see the man nodding.

"Good, good. Now, head over to the dummy and I want you to hit it on the places I call out." Barristan called.

Durran readjusted his helmet, and made his way over to the training dummy. "I've not used these since I was six." He chuckled breathlessly.

"New weapon, new techniques." Barristan instructed. "When instructed by Ser Arron, you can do as he says."

"I know, when you train me I listen to you." Durran nodded, and took his fighting stance, holding the sword in the air. It was lighter than he thought it would be, but still took concentration to keep upright."

"Right neck." Barristan called, and Durran swung, impacting on the dummy halfway between the shoulder and the neck. "No, do it again." Durran swung again, and landed a perfect hit. "Right side. Left hip. Left neck." Durran swung more, feeling more comfortable with the size of the weapon as time went on. His training continued for a few minutes, when a servant came running down to whisper in Ser Barristan's ear. Durran stopped, and took off his helmet to wipe his brow, when Barristan sighed in annoyance.

"What's happened?" Durran asked.

"The King has requested you meet him in the Throne Room." Ser Barristan said.

Durran arrived in the Throne Room to find his siblings already there, with Tyrion and Cersei in the gallery above. Confused, he strode up to the Throne and knelt before it.

"Your Grace." Durran said formally.

"Get up." Robert said kindly. "See? That's how you address your King, you may be Crown Prince, but you should learn respect before you expect it offered to you." Durran looked over to see a scowling Joffrey.

"Why have I been summoned Father? I was barely into my session with Ser Barristan. We were finally doing two-handed swords." Durran asked.

"How was it?" Robert asked excitedly, before a cough from the gallery brought him back. "Tell me later. I want you all to begin packing immediately."

"Where are we going Father?" Myrcella asked sweetly.

"We're going to the North, Myrcella. I'm finally going to take you to see Ned." Robert beamed.

He was all packed, and had a few spare minutes before he was due down in the courtyard so Durran snuck off to the dungeons. Opening the door, he grinned to see Daenerys brushing her hair, just getting ready for the day. He stood admiring her for a moment, when she caught a glance of him in the looking glass.

"It's rude to stare at a woman getting ready." Daenerys jested.

"Stop looking so exquisite then I wouldn't have to stare." Durran grinned. Dany laughed, before she grew sadder.

"You're going then." She sighed.

"I have no choice." Durran said bitterly. "I asked about taking you with me, but my Father…"

"It's ok, I understand." Dany said sadly. "I'll still get my walks."

"You will." Durran nodded. Dany stood, and made her way over to him, taking his hands in hers.

"Don't go meeting some Northern girl now." She smiled weakly. Durran chuckled lightly, before lowering his head and capturing her lips with his own. He felt Dany smile in the kiss, and didn't want it to end. Unfortunately, she pulled away after a long while.

"I'll be back before you know it." Durran smiled. "You'll be with me all the way." He added, holding his wrist up.

"Go on. Don't keep the King waiting." Dany smiled. Durran nodded, kissing her once more before reluctantly leaving.

He soon found himself on his black-haired destrier, a sword strapped to the saddle and looking as regal as possible. Joffrey was beside him on his brown mare, not giving Durran a single glance. King Robert shouted from in front of them, and Durran quickly found himself riding out of his home, heading Northwards.

Chapter 3, and the start of the series, here we are!

I'm overwhelmed at the support this has received already. Over 50 reviews, over 150 favourites and over 200 followers after only 2 chapters is absolutely incredible, and long may this level of support continue!

Not too much to explain about this one, the strategies I thought of after playing CK2, the first two scenes I absolutely love, seeing the perspective of Durran and then his parents on the same scene.

Let me know what you think, every review with a question encourages me to get another chapter out to answer you all!

Reviews:

Dipsyy: I wanted to wait until I saw Gendry wielding the hammer to get a good idea on how to write it before I decided what weapon to use for him.

Patriot- 112: I thought the correlation between Robert/Lyanna and Durran/Dany would be interesting! And in regards to Joffrey, I have some cool ideas about that I just need to turn into working plot points.

aFiZ: Thank you so much!

JaceMaddox: I could have gone into more detail with the three-year friendship but I thought it would be boring. I'll have parts where I explain what happened though.

BLACK-OP1: Too many fics have been ruined by having a 13-year-old own the Mountain or the Hound. I don't mind them being knighted at a young age or being exceptional fighters, but killing monsters is just ridiculous and turns me off of fics easily.

Brandon of House Stark: Not sure if that's a typo or you saying you'd prefer A World of Fire and Blood or No Mercy more, but thank you for the praise!

Guest (Bobby B): I agree, I think he was a passionate man that put all his love towards Lyanna, and the loss of her destroyed him. I think he's probably too far gone to have a complete turnaround, but who knows!

KillerSnake4: Like I said before, I've only ever seen one Arya/Baratheon OC that kept me interested, and that was A Game of Vengeance and Justice which I would highly recommend if you haven't already read it. It's a pairing that's lazy in my eyes because it's just Robert usually saying 'Oh look Ned, it's me and your sister' and Ned just going 'lol yeah let's betroth them even though she's 11' (or 9 in the books). Thank you for the kind words though, I'm glad you managed to stick with Black Wolf, lots of people get turned off because of the Chapter 20 twist that I'll admit is pretty unbelievable, but necessary for the story to be as long as it is.

SimFlyer: This review makes me glad I opted to let people choose 2 in the poll, purely for that dilemma! Thanks for the kind words.

Star1X: Dany hasn't been brought up with Viserys, so she doesn't really have the 15-year brainwashing that he gave her, rather she's learnt of her family's history from Varys and Durran, who are a lot more impartial considering. In regards to Robert, their relationship is important. I'm not sure what you mean about the Father figure, looking at my current fics Ned died early, Jon Arryn I felt I gave a good, well written relationship with Roland and in the other stories I haven't had enough time to flesh out any relationships.

Neonlyphe: I'm honoured that you're giving this a go even though you usually stay away from OC stories, and I hope it lives up to your expectations!

Guest (wedding gift): Wait and see for that!