Olenna Tyrell´s eyes opened and she difficultly lifted herself from the bed, flexing her hands. Before she could do something else, her personal maid, one that had died along with her granddaughter and youngest grandson when the Sept of Baelor exploded in green fire, entered to help her dress for the day. The former Lady of Highgarden stood in front of the mirror, a mirror showing her old, withered body unlike the image of her youth she had become in the afterlife. Her joints ached again and if she stopped breathing…

So this was it. The Mother really visited her and fulfilled her promise. She sent her to the past… and she was not the only one. But who else could it be? Her questions evaporated in her mind when she entered the Main Hall of Highgarden and was greeted by the image of her family, alive and well. Her darling rose, Margaery was laughing at something Loras said, as if they hadn´t ever disappeared in an explosion of green fire. Willas was reading something, Alerie by his side, trying to make him leave work. The both of them were slaughtered by Lannister troops before they could flee King´s Landing. Garlan… gallant Garlan that died at war, leaving his Leonette a war widow that was then killed by Jaime Lannister´s soldiers when they tried to reach Olenna. Even her oafish son, Lord Puffish, was there eating like it was his last meal…/

"Mother? Aren´t you going to accompany us?" Mace asked when he noticed her presence in the entrance of the room. When no witty response came from her, he truly worried. "Do you feel alright? Should I call the maester?"

"No, Mace, I´m… I´m alright" the aging widow then made the effort to walk towards Willas and gave him a kiss in the top of the head. "Good morning, darling."

"Morning, grandmother"

She did it with every member of her family, surprising them. Olenna had never been the most affectionate mother and grandmother… not that she starved her descendants of love, but she had her own way of showing it… but right now she was. The Tyrell matriarch allowed herself to savor that morning with her family, enjoying that she had recovered her, listening to their histories again and even telling some of her own. Then, after a tea time with Margaery and visiting Desmera and Mina, she finally got serious. But before…

"Thank you, Mother" she said, lowering her head in front of the statue in the Sept of Highgarden. "Thank you for giving me this second change. I promise you I will do whatever I need to do what you sent me to do. And that my family survives."

After leaving the Sept, the aging woman sat down in her favorite bench in the rose garden, looking at Margaery and Desmera walk through them. Hummmm… Margaery. Her first mistake was letting her priced rose marry a shiny but unworthy Stag that preferred her brother to her. No, that was Mace´s mistake. One she wasn´t fast enough to avoid. It was no surprise when Renly fell despite having the advantage of numbers. The man thought war was a tourney, for the Seven´s sake! Anyway, the next mistake had been marrying her beloved granddaughter to a Lannister bastard… both Lannister bastards. Joffrey was cruel and stupid and Tommen a little boy. None of them were worthy of her. She thought that Tywin Lannister would be able to keep them on the throne and his daughter under control… what a great mistake. And she would die before putting any of her precious grandchildren near Cersei Lannister again. But first… first they need allies

"Willas dear" she said, entering her grandson´s office that afternoon, just before dinner. "I thought that we could talk."

"Yes, grandmother?" the young man asked, pushing his books aside. The Tyrell Matriarch had been strange since that morning, almost nothing like her usual self. It almost made him worry. "Is there something you need?"

"I thought that we could perhaps invite that Dornish snake friend of yours" Olenna said, almost feeling a bitter taste in her mouth. She hated that Viper for crippling her grandson, but right now she hated the Lannisters even more. And she needed allies. They were allies in the past… the future… whatever. The thing was that she knew they would be on the Targaryen´s side. "It´s been a long time since you have seen him."

"Vi… you mean Prince Oberyn?" now Willas was worried. Olenna HATED Oberyn Martell, she would never invite him if it was her choice. And right now… "Grandmother, are you sure you are alright? Maester Lomas can give you…"

"Oh, nothing is wrong, darling. Or perhaps it´s just that Lord Puffish has done too many stupid things lately" or would. Beginning with the big Renly mistake. "My oaf of a son will never learn, I could tell you."

"Whatever Father did, I´m sure it was not that bad"

"No, Willas, they are not. The worst mistakes are made by people that are smart… or believe they are" she rose herself from her seat. "Anyway, send him an invitation. I´m sure one from you can pull him out of whatever Dornish whorehouse he has taken residence in this time of the year."

"Grandmother!"

"What? You think his reputation didn´t reach my ears?" Olenna went away as she smiled. Willas will do as she said. And he did.

Roughly a month later, Oberyn Martell, the Red Viper of Dorne, arrived to Highgarden. The Tyrell family except for Willas and Olenna were surprised and not at all amused to see the dornish prince. Mace had the biggest scowl Olenna had seen in her idiot of a son and Alerie seemed to have swallowed a lemon… not that it mattered. It was the Queen of Thorns the one that needed to talk to the Viper, not them. As the dornish dismounted, the old woman realized the small size of his entourage. And that neither his paramour nor his daughters were there. Suspicious. Anyway, she let Willas and Oberyn greet each other and catch up for a while. After they returned from a horse trip, the Queen of Thorns approached the Dornish Prince.

"Good evening, Prince Oberyn"

"Good evening to you, Lady Olenna" he answered, bowing a bit. "Frankly speaking, I was a little surprised that you asked Willas to invite me. I thought you didn´t approve of his friendship with me?"

"I didn´t, but… it´s good to cultivate relationships between nobility, no?"

"Indeed" the Viper followed her game. "As a thank you gift for inviting me, I brought some very special tea leaves from Dorne. Do you want to sample them with me now?"

"Sure, why not?"

Olenna and Oberyn sat down alone. They let the servants prepare everything and then the woman dismissed them with a shake of her hand. Then she ordered Left and Right to stand guard on the door, making sure no one listened. The Viper didn´t stop her, a knowing look on his face. As Olenna sampled her tea, her eyes opened a bit. This was a tea she had had before… with Ellaria Sand. When they were allies under Daenerys Targaryen.

"You surprised me" Oberyn said, also drinking the tea to show there was no danger. "But then again, I was warned that I was not the only one" he sighed. "Damn, it has been one hell of a ride. Especially knowing what Ellaria did to Doran and Trystane and that my girls participate in her treason…"

"So you remember" she hasn´t expected to find another one of the chosen so fast. Anyway, things were made simple like that. "I suppose that your family is a mess right now."

"Not so much, I only… prefer the company of my younger daughters now" the Prince left his tea on the table. "But that´s not why you asked me to come all the way here, no? there could be only one reason and it´s still far: Daenerys Targaryen."

"Yes, that´s the reason, but before that… who sent you? The Crone? The Smith?"

"None of them" Oberyn answered. "Mother Rhyone did. She said she needed someone with Rhyonar blood in the past and that I was a good choice to her despite having died so early" he huffed. "Guess I impressed her."

"Mother Rhyone?" now Olenna was dumbfounded. That the Seven were real was one thing, but that the Rhyonish River Goddess was…

"Why are you so surprised? The Long Night is coming, and that means the end of the Gods. All of them, not only the Andal ones" he sighed. "The only way to avoid it is to defeat the Others before they crossed the Wall and that could only be achieved if Daenerys Targaryen´s dragons become our weapons."

"She is also a rather competent leader when she puts her head into it" The Queen of Thorns commented with fondness. "I think she would make a good bride for our Willas…"

"She will have to marry Quentyn" the Prince interrupted her. "I´m sorry, but it´s the only way my brother will accept this alliance and he is still Prince of Dorne. I would suggest Willas and Arianne, but they are both heirs and wouldn´t want to lose that…"

"Me neither, Willas is my smartest grandson, I need him to rule Highgarden after I leave this world… again" she frowned. "I can accept Prince Quentyn marrying the Queen, even if I don´t get a crown for any of my grandchildren, but you dornish will have to give me something. One of your own have to marry one of us, and it can´t be you…"

"Trystane and Margaery? And one of their children marries Arianne´s heir? That would be accepted, it happens in most of noble families" suggested the Viper. "I would still have to get my brother´s permission for the betrothals, but I can present them to him… and know what he would accept."

"And won´t Trystane be betrothed to Myrcella Waters?"

"Only in name… we would never marry him to a Lannister" he frowned. "We need to keep this Alliance in secret too" he drank some more tea. "So we agree to make Quentyn Daenerys´ consort and Margaery Trystane´s wife, with the promise that one of her children marries Arianne´s heir?" Olenna accepted this, even if she didn´t like it. She wanted much more than a Dornish prince for her granddaughter, but she also wanted to keep her alive and the Dornish were much better than the Lannisters. "Great, Doran will accept that."

"Unfortunately, we need this alliance more than a crown right now to survive" the Widow of Highgarden sighed. "And I hoped so much to spare Margaery for Robb Stark…"

"That would never work and you know it" Oberyn said. "Robb Stark´s mother is already a southern lady and the lords of the North won´t accept two consecutive generations of Starks marrying southerners. He needs to marry a northerner."

"A pity, the Starks are going to become important from now" Olenna finished her tea. "But perhaps we can work around that. After all, it would be a waste to let pretty Sansa Stark marry a Lannister bastard too when she can have Willas."

"A good match too" the Prince said as he lifted from his seat. "I will take my leave now and return to Dorne in the morning. Expect to hear of my brother soon."

"Oh, and one more thing" Olenna stopped him before he could leave the room. "One of your own girls gets legitimated and marries my grandson Horas Redwyne" she said. "You have to understand that, if I send Margaery to Dorne, I also need a… security that she is going to be safe there."

Oberyn left without another word. As he said, he returned to Sunspear in the morning. The Queen of Thorns waited, counting the days until Prince Doran received the news and then the ones that would take for a raven to reach Highgarden from Dorne. A little bit later than she would expect, the answer arrived. She picked it up even before Lomas could even see it. The small piece of parchment didn´t have a long message, only Prince Doran´s seal and a word: DEAL. Olenna smiled. An Alliance was now made.

-In Winterfell-

Theon didn´t know what to do. When the Drowned God talked to him and tell him he would send him into the past, he thought that he would be able to make up for his mistakes, that he would feel the warmth of the Stark family again and be Robb´s friend, the brother the redheaded boy thought he was. Unfortunately, things never worked his way, not even when he was being helped by the Gods. Now Robb hated him with a passion, Lady Catelyn too, Bran was his nonfeeling self and Rickon threw him murder looks. Sansa and Arya were indifferent. Even Ned Stark had distanced himself from Theon, threating him more like the hostage he was than the foster son as he had done before. It was… cold. Made him miss the old times even more. As he couldn´t even ditch his lessons anymore, right now he had to sit down next to a murderous looking Robb in Luwin´s tower.

"Alright, my lords" the maester said when he entered the room. "We were learning about the Andal wars in our last class, how they never managed to breach Moat… Jon, what are you doing?"

The Greyjoy turned around to see the Bastard of Winterfell, who was reading a book in that moment. There was another person that had changed a lot. Jon Snow… was he even Jon Snow anymore? Considering what they had found out, what he had lived through and how much more he had surely lived than any of them, it was not strange that he wasn´t anymore. Or that he had changed so much. But, even so, it was a great transformation. Gone was the simple northern bangs that remained on his shoulder, replaced by a long hair that felt around him like a curtain, held by a half tail. The simple black clothing were still in place, probably because he didn´t have another option, but Theon could see the carefully added red details to his cloak and tunic. As if subtly declaring Targaryen. Jon´s movements have also changed. He realized when he saw him walk to breakfast the morning after arriving. He had left any pretense behind and walked in such an elegant and confident way that he was practically screaming Prince to the Stark´s faces.

"Jon, I don´t know what you are doing, but we are in class right now. Leave that" Luwin´s voice returned him to reality. And when Jon didn´t… "Do you even know how to read that? It´s written in…"

"High Valyrian, I know" Jon answered, not taking his eyes off the book. "Se Aegon, ānogar hen uēpa valyrio se kipagīros hen zōbrie dread, ūndan vesteros broken se controlled ondoso petty dāryssy. Ziry jiōraton ezīmagon zȳhon zaldrīzoti along rūsīr zȳhon wives se landed va se relgos hen zōbriēdar, hembar naejot se hills bona would aderī carry zȳhon se zȳhon wives brōzāt…"

"You speak Valyrian?" the maester asked, perplexed. To say Jon Snow spoke Valyrian was an understatement, as he had never heard someone speaking such a perfect High Valyrian in such an elegant way. Not even in the Citadel. "How…"

"I am Valyrian" Jon answered. "Well, half. I got interested in the other side of my heritage when I learned about it, so… I learned High and Bastard Valyrian."

Robb seemed surprised too. Theon knew why. He had always thought that Jon´s mother was dornish or a riverlands or even valeman woman that his father met during the Rebellion. He had never thought that she could be Valyrian. But now that they were seeing it, it was kind of obvious. Jon´s high cheeks and pretty features were definitely Valyrian, even his eyes looked purple when the light hit them in a certain way.

"Yes… it´s good that you are interested in the other side of your heritage, but leave that for later. We are learning about the Andal Wars now, not the Conquest" Luwin coughed a bit. "And if you want to improve your Valyrian, you are always welcomed here after class. Now, where were we…"

The rest of the class passed in relative peace, with Robb completely ignoring him and looking at Jon as if he didn´t know him. At this point, it might be true that those who were as close as twins in the past life didn´t know each other anymore. It showed even more in the etiquette class, imparted by Septa Mordane, one all the Stark children were forced to attend to. Even Jon, for some reason, but he seemed even more uninterested. The Septa didn´t mind it, as the bastard didn´t need it, but took it personal when she saw him snickering at Sansa´s bow.

"Maybe you can show us a bow, Jon Snow"

"Sure, Septa" Jon got up from his seat and bowed in such an elegant and perfect way that even Sansa or Mordane couldn´t find a fault in that. In fact, Sansa´s face got red when she saw her… Half-brother? Cousin?... bow in such a way. "I can also show you the correct way to drink tea if you want."

"You…" the Septa had rage in her eyes now. "If you know so much about etiquette, maybe you can illustrate us on the concept of Noblesse Oblige."

"Septa, I think…" Robb tried to intervene, as it was a concept that they hadn´t touched before.

"Of course, Septa" Jon answered with confidence. "It´s an old term which means "Nobility Obliges". In other words, it´s a concept that states that nobility extends beyond mere entitlement, that people of high status have to fulfil social responsibilities, including the protection of those that live under them. Noble ancestry constrains to honorable behavior and privilege entails responsibility."

"Ah, that´s… correct… basically" Septa Mordane still refused to accept defeat. "Can you give me an example of someone that fulfilled those responsibilities?"

"Good Queen Alysanne is one good example" he continued with confidence. "It was known that she was renowned for her charity work. She opened popular dinning places for the poor, clothed the beggars and also, during the Royal Tour gifted the Gift to the Night´s Watch. She loved her people and they loved her back. If there is a golden standar of Noblesse Oblige in Westeros, that´s the Good Queen. It´s one of the reasons the Baratheons can´t touch her even if they try to erase the name Targaryen from History. The people would still riot if they try to besmirch the good Queen."

"I… I…" the woman didn´t seem to like it at all, but can´t deny that Alysanne Targaryen had lived according to the precept Noblesse Oblige. Of course, the Septons and Septas were bound to hate her, as she had an incestuous marriage with her brother, but also couldn´t touch her. Alysanne was far too /"Anyway, let´s continue."

Theon and Robb were truly marveled at that complete answer. Of all the things Jon could know about, this was not one of them. They were even more surprised by Sansa´s anger at Jon´s knowledge. She was used to be the star of that class, yes, but there was no need to react like that. That she went straight to Lady Catelyn and asked for a punishment for Jon made Robb angry, but he couldn´t do anything. Jon Snow shrugged and walked away to do as he was told when Lady Catelyn ordered him to muck the stables. Robb couldn´t follow then, as he was called by his father, but went later to search for Jon. He ended up bumping into Theon in the Godswood thanks to that.

"Careful, Greyjoy" he answered with anger. "That you are keeping your head down won´t save you from your just deserve."

"I… Robb, I always wanted to…"

"I don´t want to hear you" the Stark answered. "You betrayed me and…"

Whatever the future King in the North was going to say, was silenced by the sound of a harp in the wind. And it wasn´t something that even Sansa, the most skilled musician between the Stark children (which meant average), could produce. This was the kind of sound only a skilled musician could produce. Following them, they found Jon in front of one of the pools. He clearly had just finished his punishment and now was resting. He was also singing a strange song in High Valyrian… such a beautiful voice. Had Jon always had such a beautiful voice?

"I see that you still do that… as if that´s going to be useful where you will end up" Sansa´s voice disrupted the beauty of the moment. Jon´s eyes opened and he lowered his harp, facing their sister. "How do you feel after being put in your place after so much time?"

"Oh, it was nothing. It´s not as if I haven´t done it before" he answered, not even the beginning of annoyance in his voice. "You and your mother are going to have to try harder if you want to get under my skin."

"Of course, scales are hard, no?" she said, anger in her tone. "Do you really think you can appoint to anything? That we are going to let you return to your wife and Essos and become the treat that we know you are going to be?"

"Do you seriously think you can stop me, sweet sister?" Robb felt a shudder run down his spine. Sweet sister… said in a way that Theon could certainly see Tyrion Lannister using to refer to his own sister. "You should know better after what happened. You are no match for me, not even with all the might of the North behind you. I will crush you… as I did before."

"Without your weapons, you are all talk. We Starks will win and the North will prevail… just look at yourself, what do you have now? Not even one sword to your name, only a name that will get you killed if it´s known. And forget about gaining allies here, no northman will follow you over a Stark… you are not even fully northern yourself, how are you going to manage it?" the redheaded girl smiled smugly. "Just look at you, only a Valyrian snake and nothing more."

"If I´m a Valyrian snake, Sansa, then you are a riverlands one" he retorted, smirking. "You even look like one…"

"Bastard" she spit at him.

"That no longer bothers me" he stated as the Lady turned around to leave. "By the way, Sansa, thank you for calling me a Valyrian snake. They are beautiful and silver… unlike those brown muddy things from the Riverlands."

Sansa left even faster, her face red with anger. Theon wondered what had happened there for a second. Why… no, that was not it. He already knew there were frictions between Jon and Sansa after he returned to Winterfell with Daenerys Targaryen. And about the mentioned wife… could it be… he had heard that Targaryens liked to keep it in the family, so… well, anyway, frictions surely developed from then on. He turned to look at Robb, who was still trying to make sense of everything they had seen and heard. He was probably going to get the wrong conclusion anyway.

"Theon, do you think… Jon wanted something else aside from joining the Night´s Watch in the other life?" he asked. "Perhaps a wife and children and a keep of his own?"

"Robb… you don´t know the entire true… and it´s not something I should talk to you about, you are not going to believe me" the Ironborn answered, remembering when he found out. "Ask your father."

And here is the next chapter! Hope you are all enjoying this fic. Review!