Of White Trees and Blue Roses

I own nothing. This all belongs to GRRM, and I'm just playing with the story he gave us.

~X~

Chapter Thirty Three –Rebellion

The Eeyrie

Robert Baratheon walked down the winding stairs, barely keeping his feet in his urgency to answer the summons Jon Arryn had sent via a servant.

Was there news? Had someone found Lyanna? Rhaegar? What kind of news? Was she okay, or was there a more sinister reason? Was she with child?

Robert counted the months. It was possible.

It didn't matter. No matter what Rhaegar had done to her, it wasn't Lyanna's fault. She'd been taken against her will.

He paused for a moment. But could he raise a child fathered on her by another, knowing how Rhaegar had defiled her, humiliated her, made a mockery of Robb himself?

Racking his brain, he came to the conclusion that Lyanna might not like the idea of raising that child herself, should it exist. If that was the case, then the prince could take care of his own bastard child.

Robert felt a slight twinge. It could be that he himself had left a bastard in a whore's belly at some point. And had he ever taken any steps to care for his illegitimate issue, or even to find out whether he had any?

I'll make sure I find out, he thought, spurred on by the thought of Lyanna left abandoned and pregnant, though she was far from being a slut like those Robb had laid with thus far. Any bastard son or daughter of mine will at least have some provision made for them, even if it's just a payment to make sure they have a roof over their head, that their mother can care for them, and that they at least have the chance to learn a trade or carve out a reasonable existence.

Robert leapt over the last few steps into the corridor to almost crash into Ned. No doubt he'd had the same message to come to Lord Arryn.

"What is it? Did you tell you what the message is?" Robert blurted, as he narrowly avoided the collision with his friend.

Ned shook his head, his eyes wide and fearful, his posture stiff. It wasn't until that moment that Robb considered the news might be about the other captured Stark sibling. Robb laid a heavy hand on Ned's shoulder.

"It could be anything," he said in a calmer voice, as they both walked through the heavy wooden doors to find Jon sitting at his desk.

Immediately, Jon got to his feet. Robert looked at his expression. It seemed grave, but there was a strange determined set to Lord Arryn's jaw that Robb had never seen before.

"Robert. Eddard..." Jon's voice softened as he spoke Ned's name, and if Robb could sense the concern, then he was sure Ned could, too. He tightened his grip on his brother but not by blood's shoulder. "I have news from King's Landing."

Jon held up a small, curled piece of parchment. A message sent by raven.

After sucking a few deep breaths, Ned whispered, "Brandon," in a broken voice.

Jon never took his eyes off his northern ward as he unscrolled the parchment and read it aloud. "Elbert executed for treason. Lord Rickard Stark burned for treason—his eldest son died trying to save him. The king calls for the heads of Jon Arryn, Eddard Stark, and Robert Baratheon."

Robert felt Ned sway and used his weight to keep his friend upright.

"Both?" Ned shook his head in disbelief. "No, it can't be."

Jon walked around the desk, his face full of sympathy. There was a moment of sombre silence, and it was left to Robb to break it.

"Your nephew..."

Jon looked at the floor. "I knew the likely outcome when I did not present myself at King's Landing, just as I anticipated the call for my head as a rebel against the crown. I did not anticipate that both your father and your brother would die, Eddard, and that the king would want both of your heads, too. I am sorry."

Ned shrugged off Robb's shoulder, turning and walking out of the room. Robb made to follow but Jon whispered, "Wait. Give him a few moments. You remember how it feels to find out you are an orphan."

Robb's mind went back to the time when he was told that his father's ship had broken apart in Shipbreaker's Bay, within sight of home. He'd been on a mission for his cousin, King Aerys, to find a wife for his son, Prince Rhaegar. Rage bubbled up within him at the thought of the Targaryen habit of taking his loved ones from him.

"What do we do?"

As expected, Jon suggested they hold out in the Eeryie—the place they called home, the unimpregnable fortress built in such a high and precarious place that it was unthinkable that anyone without a flying beast, like a dragon, could ever take it by force. But Robb was surprised when Jon continued, "For now, at least until we determine a plan."

Robb looked him in the eyes, puzzled, which Jon saw.

"We could hold out for a good long while here, which I would be happy to do if it were just my head that was called for, but you and Ned, you are young men and have not seen enough of the world to shut yourself away from it. No, you are more than young men—you are Lords of the Stormlands and the North. Ned's bannermen, especially, will look to him for leadership. I do not doubt that it was more than just Elbert and his family that died that day."

"You want us to rebel? Against the crown?" Robert felt as if somehow his surrogate father had lost his mind, but it stirred something inside him. Something burned as he toyed with the idea of smashing Targaryens with his war hammer—one Targaryen in particular.

"I failed Elbert, but I will not fail you and the new Lord Stark. I fear that the king begins to lose his grip on his wits, grow vicious, and I cannot see any other way we can keep our heads other than to rebel. Eddard must return to Winterfell as soon as he is able. No doubt the northern lords will want to see action. And you, Robert, you must raise the lords of the Stormlands. Your lords."

Robb thought for a moment. "We're going to war?"

"Yes, the Vale, the Stormlands, and the North must rise up against the crown. The crown prince is missing, and I know how you feel about him, Robert, but Rhaegar will see sense if we can draw him out. Make him take responsibility for his father's actions. Maybe it might help us find Lyanna?"

As if he needed the slightest convincing, Jon had him persuaded with his final line. In fact, he would have went to his room and collected his things that very instant, but Lord Arryn made him wait, talking tactics as they sat and ate a meal together. Ned did not join them.

For the first time, as he used a capon leg to point out strategic locations on an imaginary map, Robert felt like the capable ward. He might never have had a talent for poetry or reading great tomes, but in war games he had always excelled.