The door opened up to a corridor, long and dark with torches lining the wall. There was a door between each pair of torches, old and fancy and made of wood. Ned walked through the first one to his right. It brought him to a large chamber, bigger than any he had ever seen.
He sat Rhaegar on the bed and went to the lone table in the room, where a chalice of water waited for him. He did not question where that came from, nor how long it sat there. He simply took it and passed it to Rhaegar, who had stopped sobbing and was now staring blankly at the floor. The man did not take the chalice.
"Rhaegar" Ned said gently, holding the chalice closer to him.
"When I first learned of this prophecy… I thought of my people and how as a Prince it was my duty to protect them" Rhaegar began, still not taking the chalice. "Then I got married and Elia gave me two beautiful children. Then it became me wanting to protect them, to make sure both of them could have a future where death isn't clawing at their backs. And I failed even at that! I failed to protect my children… they are dead because of the mistakes I made. I-"
Ned wasn't sure how he should react to Rhaegar's words. All this time he'd been cursing Rhaegar for the entire war, for the stupid stunt the prince had pulled that got Ned's father and brother killed, for leaving his sister so far from home that she didn't have all that she needed at hand to survive a birthing.
All that hate now seemed to not want to surface right now, not when he finally understood the motivations behind it all. Would he have done it if he were in Rhaegar's place? Would he have done it if it meant that his children would be safe?
It was an easy question to answer.
The door opened and Ned looked back to find Elia there, still puffy-eyed but a lot saner than Rhaeger. Lyanna was with her, as was Brandon.
"Lord Stark, if you would let me have a moment with my husband alone."
"Of course, Princess."
Ned walked out without another word, passing the chalice of water to Elia. Brandon and Lyanna followed him out to the corridor.
"Shouldn't you be there as well? Since you are his wife" Brandon asked.
"Elia and Rhaegar lost their children, they need to be alone" Lyanna shook his head. Ned noticed the look in her eyes, the guilt and haunted look in them. He placed a hand on her shoulder.
"It's not your fault," Ned told her reassuringly. "It would have been better if you'd sent Brandon a letter before you left with Rhaegar. But the realm was already on the brink and a war was just waiting to break out. This is not on you sister."
"I did send a letter" Lyanna answered, looking thankful and still confused. "Before I left for Winterfell, I had written one for Riverrun, to Brandon specifically."
"I received no such letter," Brandon said with a frown.
"I wrote you one and sent it too. I don't know what happened to it."
"Perhaps if we keep watching, we could find out" Ned suggested.
His siblings nodded and Brandon was the first to turn around and leave. Ned went to follow but Lyanna stopped him. With a hand gripping his arm.
"Ned… Jon… does he know?"
Ned studied his sister closely before he answered her, taking in the anxiety in her eyes, and the slight wobbling of her bottom lip.
"He does not" Ned said, "only Howland and I know the secret. I promised you Lyanna that I would protect him no matter what, and I intend to keep my promise to you."
Something like disappointment mixed with gratitude flashed in her eyes.
"Do you ever plan on telling him?" she asked.
"I did once he was old enough to understand, to be able to live with the truth of who he was. But it seems he will be learning it sooner than I'd have liked."
"Perhaps this is better."
"How can it be better? If he learns it here, everyone else does. And you've heard what happened toRhaegar's children. Robert has not forgotten his rage at losing you. I can't even imagine the things he'd do to Jon."
Lyanna's grip tightened on his arm.
"He's here, with me. I will protect him if Robert so much as looks at him wrong" she said with so much venom in her tone that it made Ned flinch. But at the same time, he couldn't help but feel happy, to be talking to his sister and for Jon who would finally be meeting his mother.
"What is he like?" Lyanna asked, the venom now replaced by softness and curiosity.
"Jon is solemn and guarded. He's sulking most of the time and notices a slight quicker than the other children, but isn't as explosive as the rest."
"He sounds a lot like you brother" Lyanna teased and Ned smiled.
"He rides like his mother, though nobody would call him a centaur" Ned teased right back. "He's good with a sword as well, but he holds himself back most of the time."
"Would it have something to do with your wife perhaps?"
Ned's look of guilt was enough of an answer for Lyanna.
"I know why you wouldn't tell her Ned, but I don't think I can hold myself back if she makes the slightest of remarks against Jon. Against my boy" Lyanna hissed.
"I know, sister," Ned said softly. He did not regret telling Catelyn about Jon's parentage. When he brought the boy, he had yet to know Catelyn as a person, even if they had a son between them. He did not whether she could be trusted with this information. Would she have respected it or whether she would have gone straight to the King with this information? Nor did he regret not telling her as time went on. Catelyn's attitude towards Jon had become a good cover for protecting Jon, that if Catelyn continued to despise the boy, nobody would question Jon's parentage.
The duo heard a soft click and turned to find the door opening slowly, Elia standing on the other side.
"I think it might be a good idea if Rhaegar and I skip the rest of the viewing until we are both in a better condition to continue. I think with both of us being dead, us missing things wouldn't matter much."
"Are you both-"
"We just need some time to process it all" Elia smiled at Lyanna.
"Of course" Ned lowered his head in acceptance. Elia's eyes shifted to him.
"My brother tells me that you were the only one to demand justice for me and my children amongst the men who supported Robert. You have my deepest gratitude, Lord Stark."
"It was the right thing to do, Princess. I do not need to be thanked for doing what is right."
Elia smiled at him as well before closing the door gently.
Ned walked back into the great hall with Lyanna to find people in groups talking amongst themselves. He saw his family with his father and brother.
"Guess Catelyn isn't over Brandon yet," Lyanna said in a flat tone.
"Brandon has always been the better-looking one between the three of us" Ned shrugged.
Lyanna eyed him with a small frown.
Ned's eyes searched out Robert after that, finding him on the seat he sat on during the showing, surrounded by his brothers and Jon Arryn.
"I'll be right back" Ned mumbled and made his way to Robert and the group. Stannis and Renly looked frustrated while Jon looked resigned. He stopped right in front of Robert. Ned had known Robert for a long time, and not once had he seen the man so bloodied and lifeless.
It rubbed Ned the wrong way.
"Get up" Ned demanded, loud enough so Robert could hear.
But the man did not move.
Ned growled under his breath and yanked the man to his feet by the collar of his shirt. Which he found to be difficult. How heavy had his friend gotten?
"What the fuck is wrong with you?" the man rumbled in the man's face. Renly went to interrupt but Stannis stopped him with a hand.
"She never loved me, Ned, she never loved me like I loved her" the man whispered, his voice so weak that it took Ned everything he had to understand what the man said.
"So fucking what?!" he gripped the collar tightly. "You're the fucking King, act like it!"
Something stirred in Robert's eyes and suddenly the man was glaring at Ned, his pale face reddening slightly.
"Don't you dare say that shit Ned" the King growled. "I fought a fucking war for a woman I loved and all I have to show for it is a fucking throne! And to add salt to it turns out she doesn't even love me! What would you, who has everything, know anything about what I'm going through!"
"What you think I got everything I wanted?!" Ned hissed in the man's face. "I had a woman I loved, I had a vision of the future I wanted with her! I fought a war for my sister, to avenge my dead father and brother, and you know what I got for it? A dead sister, my only living brother in the Night's Watch, and I'm married to a woman who still holds a candle for my dead fucking brother! And you know what happened to the future I wanted" Gone in the fucking dust!" he hissed for just Robert to hear. "And you know what happened to the woman I loved? She couldn't take the loss of her brother, couldn't take the fact that I could no longer be with her. She fucking killed herself! She jumped into the ocean and fucking died!"
Robert stared at Ned wide-eyed, not expecting the man to explode like he did.
"Life is unfair but we need to move forward. Do you see me sulking about what could have been? Do you see me letting myself go because of it all? Do you see me break down when I have every right to do so as you? No! Because I have a fucking responsibility to my family, to make sure every last one of them is prepared to face the dangers of the outside world. And you need to do the fucking same!"
Robert looked away but Ned forced him to meet his gaze.
"This, this right here, it's a chance for me to fix the world for my children, so they don't have to get mixed up in what is coming as deeply as they probably would have normally. The future turns out terribly, but we have a chance to change that, for our children."
Robert's eyes shifted away from Ned, to Tommen and Myrcella who were speaking with Shireen. Occasionally Myrcella was glancing at him, and when her eyes met his, she smiled at him.
Something in Robert stirred, something warm and gentle. He hadn't felt that in a while.
Ned finally let Robert go and stormed away from him, right past his family to the winged man who seemed to waiting before the dragon glass wall.
"Elia said she and Rhaegar would join us later, and that they need time to calm down. She asks we continue without them."
"Reasonable" The man nodded his head, before placing a hand on Ned's shoulder. "If you wish, I can bring her here for you."
Ned stared at the man, his ire dropping for just a moment and he inhaled deeply. Then he shook his head.
"There is no reason for her to see me as I am now, happy with a loving family. I've put her through enough."
"You're a good man, Ned Stark" The man gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze before pulling away.
"Everyone return to your seats. We will continue the viewing now" the man declared.
"What about Elia and Rhaegar?" Jaime asked.
"They will join us shortly," the man said with a smile. Then he turned to Ned. "Till Rhaegar returns, sit Daenerys with your family so she doesn't feel left out or alone."
Ned stared at the man for a moment before he gave him a nod. Daenerys was standing to the side, watching everyone silently on her own. She jumped and then recoiled when Ned reached her.
"Sit with us until your brother returns," he told her kindly.
Daenerys stared at him for a moment before nodding.
Ned sat back down between his sister and his wife, the former of whom threw him a look. Ned smiled at her before turning to see whether the Targaryen girl had taken a seat. She had, between Jon and Robb.
"Does she have to sit with us? We don't want to give the King the wrong idea" Catelyn whispered.
Ned looked at her, then at Robert who looked better than before but not as well as he could be. He turned back to his wife.
"We will be fine."
The wall regained its glow and Ned turned away from his wife to the screen.