This chapter occurs five months after the last one, so it is roughly May , 301 AL. Enjoy :)

Castle Black

From where Jon sat in the Lord Commander's Solar in Castle Black, it looked like the Wall – what was left of it- was weeping. Jon thought that that was a rather fitting image, considering the state the Battle for the Dawn as this fight against the Others was now being called , was going. When the Targaryen forces had joined the forces of the North, The Riverlands and the Vale it seemed that the 300,000 men that had finally managed to assemble would be able to beat back and possibly defeat the others. This hope had been strengthened when Jon had seen that each of the Targaryen soldiers was armed with dragonsteel, the only sure way to prevent more wights from rising. However, it seemed any early advantages that the additional men had provided had soon abated, as no matter what was tried be it the use of dragonsteel or the Targaryen dragons- Jon had his own green and bronze dragon, how he still does not know-. No one truly seemed to be able to truly explain the continuous onslaught the Others and their undead soldiers seemed to be pursuing. That was until a ranging sent out with Tormund Giantsbane at its head had come back all pale faced as if he had seen more horror in one ranging than one could imagine, had reported that something had stirred it seemed from the Lands of Always Winter, in the very northern part of Westeros where no one had dared to venture for millennia. It seemed that the source of the Others had stirred and was on the move.

There was nothing they could do about that potential threat, except wait and see. In fact they had been doing a lot of waiting as of late, since welcoming in the new year with a rather subdued celebration, the men of Westeros had not truly seen any proper fighting for a moon's turn. This was truly worrying for Jon as it suggested that the Others would attack soon and when they did the attack may be the one that finally crushed the wall.

The only true source of good news that had reached Castle Black in months had arrived earlier that day. Jon's brother Dareon had received two ravens, one from Winterfell and one from Highgarden. The raven from Winterfell had spoke of how the castle's rebuilding had been complete, and how the citadel had sent one Maester Willem to be the new Maester at Winterfell. The raven also spoke about how Melissa, Dareon's wife had given birth to a healthy boy named Edwyn. The raven from Highgarden simply stated that Sansa had given birth to twins, boys called Leyton and Eddard. News of the newborn children had served to significantly improve the morale and mood of the men fighting for the North and the Reach, and gave them something to fight for, Jon also noted how Dareon seemed to have significantly perked up, upon learning that he was a father, it seemed to Jon that Dareon had a renewed sense of vigour and purposed and was determined to emerge alive from this conflict, whenever it ended. The men's morale had been boosted further when King Aegon had announced at lunch that his wife Margery had given birth to twins a boy called Maegon and a girl called Daenys.

Thinking about his nephews down south of the wall, Jon began pondering whether or not it could be possible now that he was no longer a bastard and no longer technically sworn to the Night's Watch, whether or not it would be sensible to ask Val to marry him. In the months following his death and resurrection, he had grown very, very close to her, she had even gone so far as to say that he, Jon Whitewolf (for that was the name he had chosen to bear, as Dareon had legitimised him), had stolen her all those moons ago, when Stannis had still been alive.

Jon was taken out of his reverie by a knock on the door.

"Come in."

As the door opened, Jon found himself looking at his brother and Lord Howland.

"Please take seat brother, Lord Howland. What can I do for you?"

"Jon, Lord Howland has something he wishes to speak to the both of us about."

"Very well."

As Jon looked at Lord Howland, waiting for him to begin speaking, he noticed that Howland seemed to be looking at Jon as if truly seeing him for the first time.

When he spoke, his voice had a slight sing song quality to it. "My Lords I trust you have heard of the events that occurred at the Tourney of Harrenhal, and how I came to meet your father and uncles and aunt."

Both Jon and Dareon nodded their heads-yes they had, any mention of the tourney though after they had first heard the story, had made lord Eddard's eyes go very mournful, so they had learned to not probe too much.

"Well at the tourney, there was a mystery knight called the Knight of the Laughing Tree, who unhorsed three Lords who were well known for their Tourney feats. Upon seeing this, King Aerys demanded that the mystery knight be brought before him to face trial, as the knight was no 'friend' of his. He sent his son Prince Rhaegar out to find this knight, but instead of finding a boy or a man, the prince found a young girl not much older than four and ten, it was the Lady Lyanna your aunt. Needless to say it seemed that the Prince was charmed by her actions and instead of presenting her to the King as was instructed, he crowned her the Queen of Love and Beauty the next day, creating all sorts of scandal and controversy."

Jon was wondering where this story was going, they had after all heard this story before, but before he could voice his thoughts Lord Howland continued.

"Now you may be wondering why I mentioned this, well as you know shortly after the tourney your aunt and Prince Rhaegar disappeared with each other, starting Robert's Rebellion. Now many believe that the Prince kidnapped Lady Lyanna, but that is not the case, your uncle Benjen was aware of the various letters that your aunt and the Prince had exchanged since Harrenhal, and helped the prince and your aunt leave together."

Now this did shock Jon, and as he turned to look at his brother he could see that it shocked Dareon as well! But Jon was still unsure where this was going, and was about to say as much when Lord Howland resumed speaking.

"Now as you know Robert defeated Prince Rhaegar on the Trident, and the rebel forces were successful in taking King's Landing. However, there was still the matter of rescuing Lady Lyanna from wherever it was the Prince had kept her. Your father, myself and four other men rode to the Tower of Joy in Dorne where we had been told she was being held. We were greeted by the sight of three of the finest knights the realm has ever seen, Ser Gerold Hightower, Ser Arthur Dayne and Ser Oswell Whent. After much fighting your father and I were the only two of the nine men left alive. As we ran up the stairs to the room where your aunt was kept, we heard her anguished cries, and as Lord Eddard reached her he found her bleeding very badly, holding an infant to her breast, a boy to be precise. In her last few breaths she made Lord Eddard promise to protect and raise the boy as his own, as your father made his promise, Lady Lyanna passed on."

Jon looked up to see Lord Howland crying, but felt very shocked, his aunt had had a living breathing child! But then where was this child, what had his father done with the boy?

It was Dareon who voiced these thoughts first. "My Lord, what happened to the boy? Where did our father leave him?"

Lord Howland dried his eyes, and looked straight at Jon as he said "Your father Lord Dareon, brought the boy back with him to Winterfell where he grew up amongst Lord Eddard's children."

Jon was confused there had only ever been eight of them in Winterfell growing up, if what Lord Howland said was true then there should have been nine.

"But my lord surely you must be mistaken, for there were only ever eight of us growing up and I never remember seeing any Targaryen looking children running around Winterfell." Dareon said

Lord Howland had not taken his eyes of off Jon, and had a wry smile playing on his lips, and said "That was because there never was any need for nine, your aunt's son looked so much like your father Lord Dareon that he was able to blend in with Lord Eddard's children."

Something suddenly clicked into place in Jon's head, the strange dreams he'd been having of a Tower and a lady who looked so much like Arya dying, making a man who looked so much like his father, like him promise something. The fact that he was able to ride a dragon, the fact that he had emerged unscathed from his funeral pyre.

"Are you saying that I'm , that I'm,." Jon sputtered unable to fully form the words.

Lord Howland smiled. "Yes my lord, you are Lady Lyanna and Prince Rhaegar's son. Yours is the song of ice and fire."