Jon opened his eyes and sat up suddenly, startling the other man in the room. Ghost raised his head too look at Jon with his ruby red eyes, seeing the panic etched onto his face he said "Relax Jon, you're safe, you passed out from dehydration a few hours before we reached land. This human brought us to his den to help you." Jon unwound a little, still not trusting the man sitting in front of him. The man pushed a cup of water towards him, Jon suddenly realising that his throat felt like it was on fire and his mouth was as dry as the dunes of Dorne. "Thanks." Jon croaked to the man.
"It was nothing son, any man seeing you in the state you were in would have done the same. I'm James by the way, James De Saumarez."
"Jon Snow." said Jon in between taking great gulps of water.
"Ah, you're Westerosi then, Jon?" The strange man asked.
"Yes, my Lord." Jon mumbled in reply.
"Ha, no lords here son, call me James."
"But you have a house name, you must be noble to have one."
"You're in Lisia now Jon, we don't have nobles, sure, some families are richer than others, and some are older, but here the circumstances of one's birth matters not in their social standing. I seem to recall that Snow is a name given to bastards from the region called the North, is this right Jon?"
"Yes, my lor...James"
"Tell me, what were the names of your parents?" Jon took a deep sigh at that question, James realising that he had struck an old wound was about to say he doesn't need to answer him now, but Jon got there ahead of him.
"I never knew my mother, but my father was Eddard Stark."
"Jon Stark then, as if we needed more bloody Starks"
"There are more Starks here in Lisia?"
"There are a few, but most live in Sarnia."
"Sarnia? Could you give me a rundown of this strange realm I've found myself in please."
"Of course Jon. I found you and your, um, companions on a beach on the western side of Sarnia. Sarnia is the second largest of the Lenur Islands. It houses the capital of the archipelago. Lisia is the third largest island located North-West of Lisia, it is our martial island, where the standing army and the Navy train. The Starks have been the unofficial guardians of Lisia for thousands of years. There are a couple of other Westerosi families that have settled there, still loyal to the Starks. The island technically belongs to whoever is the Chairman of the Defence Force, the man in charge of all military matters. It's a democratic position but of the 789 chairmen we've had since your family first arrived here, 787 of them have been Starks. You'll meet one tomorrow, Cregan Stark, Chairman of the Defence Force." James noticed Jon's eyes start to get heavy, not entirely sure if Jon had really heard everything he had said. "Rest for today Jon, I'll bring you dinner later."
"Thanks James, for everything."
"Nonsense Jon, just regather your strength, you'll need it for tomorrow." James said as he walked out of the room. Jon turned to Ghost who had been watching the exchange between the two men.
"What do you think of him, Ghost?"
"I don't know yet, but he seemed to genuinely care about you, I could smell the fear on him whilst he was tending to you."
"That was probably courtesy of the Bear, Shadowcat, Condor and you my friend." Jon replied with a chuckle. For the first time Jon looked around the room he was in. The bed he was sitting in was recessed into the wall, leaving only narrow channels for someone to get in and out of bed. The rest of the room was circular, in the centre stood a finely crafted oak desk and all around the edges of the room were wooden drawers and wardrobes. The room gave a feeling of finery whilst keeping its functionality, not becoming overpoweringly opulent. Light bounced in from the open door leading to a small balcony. Jon sat on one of the chairs on the balcony, the house overlooked a small bay, the sea gently lapping onto the fine golden sand was all that Jon could hear. A feeling of calm enveloped him here and he fell asleep basking in the warm sun.
James woke Jon up as the sun was setting with a tray of hot food. Jon inhaled the food before moving back to his bed, not saying a word throughout the entire meal. James couldn't help but feel there was something he was missing with Jon, the boy had barely said anything to him, then James remembered that he was a young boy who had washed up in a strange land with no one but 4 rather large animals for company, he might just need time to settle and open up.
The Next Day
Jon woke up to find a set of clothes laid on the desk in the middle of the room, a set of leather breeches dyed black, a white shirt and a black leather jacket. He put them on before heading down the stairs surveying the rest of the house. There were 4 other rooms on the ground floor, a kitchen, a room filled with deep comfy looking chairs and a fireplace in the centre of the room, a room similar to the Great Hall of Winterfell, but was a tenth the size with only one highly polished table, and the study that James was currently in. "Good morning Jon, good to see you found the clothes I left out for you. Break your fast quickly, we have a meeting to get to"
"What meeting Ser?"
"I'm no Ser, Jon, I thought I told you yesterday to call me James."
"Sorry James"
"There's nothing to apologise for Jon, and I have a meeting with The Chairman who I told you about yesterday, and you're going to meet Cregan Stark, your great great great something or other cousin."
"Ah yes, I forgot"
"Don't worry lad, you were pretty out of it yesterday, didn't say a word over supper yesterday, are you feeling better today?"
"Yes, James, I am"
"Well get your stuff together, we leave in half an hour, and maybe don't bring the giant bear and cat. I'll allow you to bring the wolf, not only because it would prove to them that you are a Stark, but also because I don't think that there would be a way for me to keep him away from you. Quite the fierce protector you have there." James said with a chuckle.
"Aye, he hated that he couldn't follow me into Winterfell before I managed to leave. But I'm a bastard, a Snow, not a Stark" Jon said in his usual quiet voice, barely above a whisper.
"Not to us you're not, they'll see you as Jon Stark, the first man to sail from Westeros to the Isles of Lenur since Brandon the Sailor."
"Bran the Sailor? Oh, we call him Bran the Shipwright back home." Jon said remembering the lessons Ser Rodrik had given him under the light of a lantern in the Godswood. He always claimed he wasn't a scholar, that a sword was more suitable for boys than reading or singing, but Jon always knew he was fiercely intelligent, however many times Rodrik had told him otherwise.
"Interesting" James said slowly before turning around to Jon again and saying "You might want to hurry up son, we leave in less than an hour."
Jon found a plate of bacon, eggs and a few slices of bread on a plate in the kitchen. He wolfed it down before gathering his things, slipping on the white cloak gifted by Ser Rodrik as well as putting Wolf's Fang on his hip and saddling Winterstorm who had followed him up from the beach and taken residence in one of the free stables. They rode on the beach for a while, watching the sand shimmering in the morning sun and listening to the waves lapping against the shore. As the headland at the end of the beach neared, they rode on to a dirt path leading them up and around the headland into another bay. Jon saw the rocks jutting out of the sea, randomly placed all along the bay. He could just about make out a castle sticking out from behind the new, larger headland in front of him. They rode on this beach for another half an hour before reaching the apex of the next headland. At the crest of the hill, Jon's breath was taken from him at the sight.
"Welcome to the Capital of Lenur, the City of Vazon." James proudly exclaimed to a bewildered Jon. It was without a doubt the largest town Jon had ever seen. Each building was made of either polished blue-grey stone or red-brown stone. He saw giant buildings with domes stretching out over buildings over 100 metres high. Every building was well built and maintained, unlike Winter Town or Winterfell itself. A castle bigger than any in Westeros stood a few hundred metres out to sea on its own island, rising hundreds of metres high and connected to the mainland by a wide wooden bridge. Docked in the harbour were hundreds of fishing vessels, as well as a fleet of several dozen war ships, each larger than any ship across the sunset sea and sporting a strange sigil, a yellow cross inside a red cross on a white background.
"That's the courts over there, where laws are made by the people." James told Jon, pointing at various large buildings. "There's the Great Hall, in that one is one of the markets and that is where we are going." He said pointing at the castle on the sea." Castle Cornet, the largest fortification in the islands, if you don't count Lisia, the island is just a big stronghold."
Riding over the wooden bridge towards Castle Cornet, Jon could see how much of a truly monstrous fortification it was, the bridge was made of wood, easily collapsed to avoid a siege, caves with large, heavy doors made of the same blue-grey rock that the rest of the castle was made from opening and closing to let friendly ships in. There were 4 sets of curtain walls, each rising higher and higher, bristling with murder holes, ballistae, scorpions and trebuchets. Jon realised when he got through the first gate that the keep inside wasn't as tall as he thought, but rather the island itself was a large hill, with the keep built on the crest, but the buildings of the keep still towered over any at Winterfell. Once they reached the main courtyard of the castle, James dismounted from his brown steed, and Jon did the same when a stableboy came over to take the reins, whispering a quiet thanks to the young boy. James led Jon through the giant double doors into the keep and he couldn't believe what he was seeing, guards dressed in armour the same blue-grey colour as some of the buildings in the city were. Dozens of guards stood in the courtyard and more were moving about inside organised in groups of 10, each group moving at the same pace as the others. They walked past sparing rooms, courtyards where hundreds of soldiers were drilling, sailors looking over maps, libraries, messes, armouries, living quarters and more. Eventually, Jon found himself walking up a staircase, this floor he found empty of people, save for a few servants scurrying about. "Officer's quarters" James told Jon, looking at all the rooms with shut doors. He walked up yet another set of stairs and James knocked on one of the doors.
"Yes." an old gruff voice said from behind the door, James opened the door and walked in. Sitting at a dark walnut desk in the middle of the room was a large man draped in a dark grey cloak."Ah, James, I thought the meeting wasn't for another few hours."
"It isn't, Cregan, I just thought you would want to meet Jon here." James beckoned Jon to come into the room. "Found him washed up on the beach in front of my home 2 days ago."
"What were you doing there, son?" Cregan asked, a puzzled look on his face, moving to shock seeing Ghost enter the room "And what the fuck is that?" James and Jon both chuckled at the pale face of Cregan before Jon's face turned serious again.
"I'm not going to tell you anything yet, I don't know you, I can't trust you, and that's Ghost, a direwolf"
"Ha, fair enough kid, let's start with the basics then, I'm Cregan Stark, the Chairman of Lenur's defence forces and some call me the Old Wolf."
"I'm Jon Snow Ser." James sighed at Jon still using the bastard name.
"Northern then, we have no need for bastard names here, who was your father?"
"Lord Eddard Stark, Lord Paramount and Warden of the North." Jon mumbled.
"Now I know why you brought him to me," Cregan said, looking at James.
"Yes, well, I'll leave you two to get acquainted, I have some work to do before the meeting, I'll see you soon Jon."
Cregan looked back at Jon before motioning to the empty chair in front of him. "What did you mean by calling your father Lord Paramount and Warden of the North, what happened to the Starks being the Kings of Winter."
"400 years ago, the Valyrian Dragonlords had conquered most of the world, one of them, Daenys Targaryen, had a dream about the destruction of the Valyrian Freehold, the most powerful empire ever, she took part of her family to Dragonstone, an island fortress off the coast of Westeros. The Targaryens lived there for years before Aegon the Conqueror and his sister wives, Rhaenys and Visenya, along with the 3 largest dragons Westeros has ever known. They conquered The Kingdom of the Isles and Rivers first, followed by The Stormlands, The Vale, The Reach and The Westerlands. They killed every foe with fire and blood before setting their sights on the North. They flew over Moat Cailin straight to Winterfell. Rather than fight and condemn the people of The North to death by dragonfire, King Torhen Stark bent the knee, saving the North. He is still known as the King Who Knelt throughout the North, and almost every Stark since has knelt before the Iron Throne, the Targaryen seat of power"
"Well shit, the Andals won in the end then."
"No, the First Men are still alive and following the Old Gods in the North. House Targaryen rarely interfered with the North, the only times being the Targaryen civil war that saw the end of the dragons 200 years ago, and Robert's Rebellion, 15 years ago."
"What happened during Robert's Rebellion?"
"King Aerys II Targaryen was also known as the Mad King, he enjoyed killing people by fire and thought everyone was a threat, his son, King Rhaegar I was trying to form a coalition to take the Iron Throne from his father, recognising the madness in him. He hosted the biggest tournament the realm had ever seen, the purpose of this was to make alliances with the Lords of the realm, but his father turned up, recognising the threat that this posed. Rhaegar was already married to Elia Martell of Dorne and had 2 children with her, but after he won the joust, he rode past his wife and crowned my aunt, Lyanna, his Queen of Love and Beauty. Lyanna was already betrothed to Robert Baratheon, the Lord Paramount of the Stormlands. She ran off with Rhaegar to Dorne without telling anyone and they married in secret on the way. Thinking that Rhaegar had kidnapped her, Brandon Stark, her oldest brother, rode down to King's Landing and demanded the head of Rhaegar to King Aerys, he was imprisoned and his father Lord Rickard Stark, Warden of the North, rode down to answer for his crimes. Whilst he was on trial, he called for a trial by combat, and Aerys chose fire to be his champion, burning Rickard alive and making Brandon Stark strangle himself to death trying to save his father. Following this Aerys sent Lord Jon Arryn a raven calling him to send him the heads of Eddard Stark and Robert Baratheon, who were fostering with him in the Vale. He refused and called his banners, as did Robert, my father and Hoster Tully, the Lord Paramount of the Riverlands. Together they led a rebellion against the Iron Throne, Dorne and The Reach. The forces of the Rebellion and the Targaryens met at the Trident, where Robert was killed by Ser Arthur Dayne, one of Aerys' kingsguard. He pardoned Jon Arryn and my father as they had legitimate reason to rebel, but sent Hoster Tully to the Wall because he didn't. Rhaegar led the combined armies of the Targaryens, the North, the Vale and the Riverlands to King's Landing, finding it already taken in his name by Tywin Lannister. Aerys had been killed by Ser Jaimie Lannister after he had called for the city to be blown up, since then King Rhaegar has been ruling over Westeros, and has been one of the best Kings the Targaryens have ever had. He sent the new Lord Paramount and Warden of the North, Eddard Stark to bring Lyanna back to King's Landing to rule alongside Rhaegar, with Elia and Lyanna both being his queens, however, when he got to Dorne, the 2 Kingsguards guarding her still believed he was a traitor to the crown and tried to kill him and the 5 other Northmen with him. Only Eddard Stark survived the fight and when he reached his sister, she had already died from birthing a stillborn child. On his way back to King's Landing, he found that he had fathered a bastard child and brought the boy with him back up North." Jon explained.
"You?" Cregan asked. Jon just nodded his head, "So why aren't you with your father now."
"He's not my father"
"I thought you said he was?"
"He is technically, but he never treated me like a son, nor did his wife so I don't think of them as my parents."
"Tell me more please Jon, what did he do to you?" Cregan asked, trying his best to speak in a soft comforting voice, Jon had a conflicted look on his face, not knowing whether or not to trust him. On the one hand, he was the only Stark to treat him as an equal, rather than a lowly bastard, but on the other hand, he had only just met Cregan, but there was something about the older man that made Jon want to trust him.
"He wasn't the same when he came back from the war. He had lost his father, his brother, his sister and his best friend over a lie. He fell into his cups to fight the depression. When he was drunk enough, he would beat me, use me as his punching bag, always muttering the phrase 'It's all your fault.' His wife, Catelyn Tully, the daughter of Hoster Tully, the one that got sent to the wall, would use me as a slave, working from sunrise to sunset. She forced my half siblings, Robb and Sansa, to stay away from me, encouraging them to join in tormenting me. She would try to starve me, never letting me eat any food from their table, forcing me to take some from the kitchens after everybody else had retired for the night. If she caught me doing this or stepping out of line at any point, she would have me beaten with a belt or whip, bringing her Septa with her to help me break the sins that a bastard is born with. That's why I left." Jon was almost whispering at this point, silent tears running down his face. He looked over at Cregan who looked enraged with tears in his eyes as well.
"How can anyone do that to their child, they should pray they never see me, it will be the last thing they do." Cregan yelled to no one, scaring Jon who had moved closer to Ghost. "Sorry Jon, I have 3 boys of my own, if anyone did anything like that to them, there aren't any words for what I would do to them. I'm leaving for Lisia later today, I'd like you to come with me. There are a few other Starks there that will want to meet you, they aren't like the ones left in Westeros."
"Maybe, I don't want to be any bother to you though."
"Nonsense Jon, you're family, we don't leave family behind." Cregan answered.
"Then I'll go, I don't know if I'll stay there though."
"Great, We'll be leaving after the meeting later, James will be coming as well I'm sure."
"Really?"
"Well, the 1st Admiral needs to occasionally be with his fleet." Cregan said with a grin on his face.
"What's a 1st Admiral?" Jon asked, puzzled.
"The leader of the Navy, like a General."
"Ah, that explains it then."
"What, don't act like there isn't a navy back in Westeros."
"There is, it's just that the North hasn't had a proper navy since Bran the Burner, who burned every ship in the North after Bran the Shipwright left him as King in the North, the only house with a fleet is the Manderleys"
"Of course he did, why leave the only Kingdom of First Men with a strong navy when you can just burn every ship as petty revenge against your father. Anyway, enough about history, fancy a spar?"
"Yes, it's been too long since I had a proper spar." Jon said as the two of them moved out of the room, turning down the corridor they were on, moving past more and more closed doors until they reached one at the end of the corridor. Cregan opened the door and led Jon out onto a wide terrace overlooking the main courtyard he had been in earlier. Jon took off his cloak as Cregan did the same and both put on training armour. Jon drew Wolf's Fang as Cregan drew his sword. Jon hadn't noticed the two swords at his hip, the shorter bastard sword had the same crosses he had seen on the ships in the harbour whilst the other was more intricate, with wolf heads engraved on the pommel and guard and when he drew the longsword, he saw it had blue ripples all across the blade, similar but a little different to the Valyrian Steel he saw from Ice. "What kind of steel is that?"
"It's not entirely steel Jon, it is steel fused and folded in with a rarer metal called Titanium. This one was commissioned by Bran the Sailor after he arrived here, whilst this one…" He said, throwing the smaller bastard sword to Jon "... has been the sword of the Chairman for thousands of years. Use it today, your dagger is too small to be used in a spar." Jon unsheathed the sword, seeing it had the same blue ripples that the one Cregan had and feeling the light weight of the sword.
"Do they have names?"
"Aye, this here is Winter, and the one you have is called Sarnia Cherie, its name comes from an old song sung during the Long Night, when Lenur sent their forces to aid in fighting the White Walkers. It is a reminder of what we fight for, and what we will be fighting for when the Long Night comes again. I've heard the song a few times, and each time it reduces this old man to tears. Anyway, let's fight." Jon raised his sword into a defensive stance, whilst Cregan slowly edged towards him. Jon, remembering all his lessons with Ser Rodrik, held his stance, looking into Cregan's eyes rather than at his blade. "The eyes tell you of the attack before the hand moves" The wise old voice spoke in Jon's head. The tiniest flicker in Cregan's eyes told him of the attack to his left, which was parried, and a flurry of attacks came after with speed that most would have thought impossible from a man so old, but Jon knew to expect this from his years of sparring with Ser Rodrik. Left, right, right, left, above, left, right. On and on this went with Jon retaining a solid stance and parrying every strike that came his way. After finding the pattern in Cregan's attacks, he parried a strike aimed at his wrist before lunging into Cregan's sword arm, this was parried and so on and on this went, Cregan eventually gaining the upper hand due to his brute strength, pushing jon back a metre or two and with this, Jon unsheathed Wolf's Fang and positioning it in a reverse grip. Dual wielding blades, he danced through Cregan's defence, using his sword to block attacks before thrusting Wolf's Fang at Cregan's neck. "Yield?"
"Aye lad, I yield," Cregan panted, sheathing his sword, as did Jon with Sarnia Cherie and Wolf's Fang. He passed Cregan back his shorter sword before pulling off his training armour. "Where did you learn to fight like that Jon?
"Ser Rodrik, the Master At Arms of Winterfell, brought me out to the Godswood at night to avoid Lord and Lady Stark, he taught me how to read and write, and how to use a sword."
"He used two blades as well?"
"No, neither have I until today. It's the first time I've used Wolf's Fang outside of skinning and butchering animals for food on the way here."
"You're a fucking natural then Jon." Cregan said, drinking from a water pouch before offering it to Jon. "Right, we need to get to this meeting."
"We?"
"Yes Jon, you'll see why."
After walking back through the castle, they came to a room with a great long table down the middle. He saw James in a navy blue uniform sitting at the top of the table on the left hand side, an empty chair next to him. He beckoned Jon to sit next to him. Cregan took his place at the head of the table. There were another 7 other men at the table, the ones sitting on the same side as James all had the same uniform as him, but lacked the red collar that James had. On the other side of the table there were 4 men dressed in dark red uniforms, with the one next to Cregan sporting a blue collar. All of the men stood up when Cregan walked in and sat when he sat, pausing a minute before opening the meeting. "Admirals and Generals, this here is Jon Stark. He was recently found washed up in front of the home of a certain 1st Admiral of the Fleet." He said, giving James a knowing look before pointing at the men opposite Jon. "Jon, this is Field Marshall Brandon Stark, General Mark Le Lacheur of the 1st Army, General Peter Ozanne of the 2nd Army and General Brian Le Tissier of the 3rd Army." He swung around, this time pointing at the men on the same side of the table as Jon and James. "You already know the 1st Admiral of the Fleet James De Saumarez, on your right is Admiral Jon Greystark of the 1st Fleet, Admiral Mathew Jones of the 2nd Fleet and finally Admiral Rickard Stark of the 3rd Fleet." He moved to addressing the entirety of the room now. "Long ago, the founders of the Lenur Isles journeyed west trying to establish themselves a new territory safe from the Empires of the West. Hundreds of years later after establishing themselves as a nation of solitude, a vision was granted to the old Chairman of the Defense Force at the one of the Weirwood trees on the island. The Old Gods told him to mass his forces and journey east, saying that death was coming for the world. In partnership with the First Men and the Children of the Forest, we pushed them back and won the war. However, years the old Chairman died a voice spoke in another's ears, speaking of a prophecy that would herald in a second long night." He picked up the scroll that was sitting on the table in front of him.
"When magic has faded from the world, and you are forgotten by all, an old foe will rise again, heralded by a boy arriving from the West, he who shares your blood will live amongst you for 5 years and find himself before leading the forces of life against the dead." A stunned silence filled the room, Jon paled, realising they thought it meant him.
"We have 5 years to prepare, 2 years before we leave for the East, we will bring every man and women non essential for the island to function to Lisia, we will train and prepare and be ready to give send the fuckers back to the land of the dead." Cregan finally said. Jon, overwhelmed ran out of the room, found his way back to the courtyard, saddled Winterstorm and rode out of the gates and back over the bridge. He rode through the city and out into the forest in the West. After riding for what felt like hours, he found himself in a clearing. His 4 companions sat in front of 4 weirwood trees. He dismounted his horse and sat in the middle of the clearing, opening his third eye to his surroundings. Waves of power emanate from the creatures and trees, stronger than anything he has felt before, he felt hundreds of beings surrounding him.
"Why me?" Jon asked to the Old Gods
"The answers you seek are in Caesarea. Cregan knows the way." Hundreds of light airy voices whispered in his ears, sounding like a summer's breeze rustling the trees. Pulling back from his vision, he noticed the stars looking down at him from above.
10 Days Later
Jon jumped from the small boat onto the black, crystal-like shores of Caesarea, the largest of the Lenur Islands. Nobody had managed to step onto the island and walk away with their life, or at least that was what the sailors had said. Jon helped Cregan disembark the boat before moving up the beach, heading to the large mountain at the centre of the island.
A/N - The Lenur Islands if you haven't worked it out are based on the Channel Islands. Also Sarnia Cherie is the unofficial national anthem of Guernsey popularised in the first world war by the Royal Guernsey Light Infantry. It is a beautiful song and I hope you can see why I decided to include it here.